Honestly, Yun Qinghuan didn’t feel that becoming a widow was so miserable. Instead, she felt somewhat fortunate. Luckily, she became a widow when she transmigrated, or else she wouldn’t know how to handle her relationship with Bai Wensong.
Even though Bai Wensong was a very good person.
After all, he had shared a bed with the original host for several years and knew her the best. Yun Qinghuan couldn’t bring herself to interact with him like a husband and wife. She couldn’t overcome that emotional barrier and would always feel something was off.
Though the current situation was also challenging, she could gradually solve it step by step.
After chatting with Qiao Yue for a while and learning about the important points of cutting pig grass, Yun Qinghuan was grateful for the information. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have known that cutting pig grass had its intricacies.
Not all grass was suitable for pigs, and they only ate specific types. Moreover, the grass should not be too old, or the pigs won’t eat it. After cutting the grass, she would need to chop it into pieces and pour it into the trough for the pigs. It wasn’t just about cutting the grass; there were additional steps.
Qiao Yue pointed to the eight pigs on the right side of the pigsty, saying, “You’re in charge of the pig grass for these pigs.”
Yun Qinghuan looked at those eight well-fed pigs and felt a bit overwhelmed. Feeding them would likely require a considerable amount of grass.
Suddenly, she felt the future was challenging.
Seeing her expression, Qiao Yue couldn’t help but laugh. “Don’t worry, these pigs don’t actually eat too much. Each time, cutting three large baskets of grass is usually enough for them,” she reassured.
Yun Qinghuan pursed her lips and then looked at the eight pigs on the left. Clearly, those pigs were a bit leaner than the ones on the right, indicating they didn’t eat as much. “Who is responsible for those pigs?” she asked, pointing to the left.
Qiao Yue was about to answer when she swallowed her words, glancing behind Yun Qinghuan and greeting, “Wang Shufeng, you’re here.”
She smiled and subtly nodded towards Yun Qinghuan.
Yun Qinghuan understood. The pigs on the left were Wang Shufeng’s responsibility. No wonder these pigs were visibly leaner. Wang Shufeng’s family was well-off, and she didn’t rely much on these work points. If it weren’t for the fact that the educated youth in the Zhiqing point couldn’t be idle, the villagers might find it unacceptable, thinking they were here to freeload, Wang Shufeng probably wouldn’t even want to cut pig grass.
Wang Shufeng was startled to see Yun Qinghuan here. Her whole demeanor froze for a moment, and then she quickened her pace towards them, saying, “Hey, isn’t this Yun Zhiqing? How come I can see you here today? It’s not easy to meet you. Could it be that you’re the one replacing Aunt Li to cut pig grass?”
Yun Qinghuan turned her head, glanced at her, and responded casually, “Yes, I will temporarily replace Aunt Li to cut pig grass.”
Upon hearing this, Wang Shufeng seemed somewhat gleeful. “I thought you wouldn’t have to do farm work after marrying into this village. I didn’t expect you still have to work like us to earn work points.”
Yun Qinghuan retorted with a half-smile, “I also didn’t expect someone with such a good family background like you would need these work points to support yourself.”
Wang Shufeng’s face turned a bit pale. She didn’t want to work, but if she didn’t, she might be classified as a petty bourgeoisie by the village leaders. If she got stuck here when trying to return to the city, it would be nauseating.
Moreover, although her family was well-off, she wasn’t the only child, and her parents were just ordinary workers, not influential leaders. If she offended people here, her parents couldn’t help her out, and she would have to rely on herself.
“You…” She was so furious that her eyelids were trembling.
Yun Qinghuan couldn’t be bothered and simply lowered her head, saying to Bai Naihan and Bai Jin’an, “Let’s go cut pig grass.”
Taking advantage of the sun not being too harsh yet, it was better to finish cutting the grass early. However, this task was not as easy as Yun Qinghuan initially thought. It seemed that cutting grass would take quite some time, and she also needed to take a break at noon to go home and cook.
Wang Shufeng watched the three of them ignore her and leave. Her face turned somewhat iron-blue. She lowered her head and noticed that Yun Qinghuan wasn’t wearing the newly bought small leather shoes, making her face even more gloomy.
Beside her, seeing Wang Shufeng’s dark expression, Qiao Yue hesitated and said, “Wang Shufeng, aren’t you going to get the sickles?”
“Mind your own business!” Wang Shufeng replied with impatience, glaring at Qiao Yue.
She disliked, or even detested Yun Qinghuan, so she couldn’t stand the sight of Qiao Yue, who was on good terms with Yun Qinghuan.
Ignoring Wang Shufeng’s reaction, Qiao Yue retorted, “I’m going in to clean the cow dung. I just wanted to tell you that it’s almost the end of May. When everyone is busy harvesting and sowing, we’ll surely make some extra gains. When the brigade sends someone to check the pigs, seeing your thin-fed pigs, they will definitely criticize you. Just a reminder for you.”
Qiao Yue shrugged off the comment. Although she was in charge of cleaning pig dung, if the pigs were really too thin by then, she might be implicated as well.
Initially, Wang Shufeng was assigned to do other farm work, but her performance was poor. After several changes of tasks, the village leaders were frustrated. Eventually, considering that the village couldn’t afford idle people, they reluctantly gave Wang Shufeng the relatively easy task of cutting pig grass. If Wang Shufeng couldn’t handle even this task, she would likely become even less popular among the villagers.
Upon hearing these words, Wang Shufeng’s face turned even worse. She glanced at the pigs she raised, which had already lost a lot of weight. Then, she looked at the well-fed pigs on the right. When she compared them, it seemed that these piglets were not raised by the same group of pigs. Grinding her teeth, she walked angrily towards the direction of the farm tools.
She was genuinely frightened. The village leaders were already very displeased with her. Last time, they even spoke to her with an unpleasant expression. If she continued to perform poorly in farm work, they might directly report to the unit that sent her to the countryside. At that time, not only would she be criticized, but she might also be sent to a more difficult place.
On the other side, Yun Qinghuan, with some effort, reached the foot of the mountain carrying a basket. Beside her, Bai Naihan also had a basket, and even Bai Jin’an carried a small basket woven with willow twigs specially made for holding vegetables. The little guy carried it just right.
There was another slower sickle at home, and Yun Qinghuan gave it to An’an. She and Bai Naihan used the sharper sickles they got from the toolshed.
Looking at the grass covering the foot of the mountain, she declared with determination, “Let’s work hard and cut as much as we can in the morning. This way, we can finish earlier in the afternoon.”
She didn’t think they could finish cutting all the pig grass in just one morning, considering the sheer quantity.
Bending down to start cutting, despite Qiao Yue’s advice, Yun Qinghuan, not being very familiar with these grass types, inevitably made mistakes. Bai Naihan was there to remind her kindly, “Pigs don’t eat this grass. They eat that kind of grass.”
He pointed to the side.
Yun Qinghuan pursed her lips, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and, feeling the soreness in her waist from bending over for so long, pounded her waist. She looked at the grass he pointed to, then glanced at the grass filling his basket, nearly overflowing. With determination, she gritted her teeth and started cutting the grass again.
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Translator Note
Happy new Year!
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- “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”—Galatians 6:9
