Chapter 14: Getting Down to Work

After Zhang Qian brought the water back, he first rinsed the large water vat, then began fetching water for it trip after trip; it took a full seven trips to fill the large vat.

An Yinan first boiled some mung bean soup, then added some rock sugar.

She also minced the Chinese cabbage she had traded for from Aunt Li, added a little meat and chives, and steamed a pot of dumplings.

"Dinner is ready, come and eat." The table was placed in the courtyard; three large steamed dumplings were scooped into each bowl, while Zhang Qian and An Yinan each got four, and there was a bowl of mung bean soup on the side.

Zhang Qian was teaching An Xiangbei, and upon hearing the call, he quickly stood up and took An Xiangbei to wash his hands.

"From now on, when it gets dark, read less; it hurts your eyes," An Yinan said.

Little Xiangbei nodded obediently; seeing his sister's increasingly frequent smiles, little Xiangbei felt happy inside.

Xie Yuanyuan rubbed her round belly, "Nan Nan, why are your steamed dumplings so fragrant?"

Although there was little minced meat in those large steamed dumplings, the savory flavor was enough to make one bite off their own tongue, especially since there was a burst of juice with every bite; the taste was so delicious it was indescribable.

Even the mung bean soup was sweet, and after drinking it, one felt refreshed all over, with all their fatigue washed away.

Life with Nan Nan is just too wonderful!

An Yinan shook her head with a smile, thinking about checking the mountain tomorrow to see if there were any wild hawthorns, so she could boil more hawthorn water to aid digestion.

Early the next morning, the three of them headed straight for the Chestnut Forest; this time Zhang Qian did not hold back his strength, and An Yinan and Zhang Qian made three trips that morning.

Each person carried a basket and a large cloth bag on their back.

In the afternoon, they made another two trips, and more than half of the chestnuts on the ground had already been cleared.

They would have to start working in the fields tomorrow, so the three of them agreed to return early in the afternoon.

The heated brick beds for Xie Yuanyuan and Zhang Qian were finished, and Zhang Qian had someone deliver an iron pot, bringing one for Xie Yuanyuan as well.

The two of them dried out their beds with fire and officially moved out of the communal dormitory.

At the edge of the field, the Captain looked at the four people in front of him, "Educated Youth An, you go to Team One."

The Captain's wife, Aunt Li, was waving at her from afar; she was the captain of Team One, which showed that Aunt Li had specifically asked for her.

"Yes," An Yinan nodded and went to find Aunt Li.

Aunt Li was warm and enthusiastic, and the atmosphere of the entire Team One was very good, "Today we are snapping corn; one row is one Work Point. Our village doesn't care how much you can do, the more you do, the more Work Points you get, as long as the work is done well."

If one is just looking for speed and the corn in the field isn't snapped clean, the Work Points will be halved or deducted directly.

"Cutting the corn stalks is one Work Point for three rows; snapping the corn requires carrying the corn to the edge of the field. If you don't carry the corn yourself, you have to give up half the Work Points to let someone else carry it," Aunt Li explained, then had An Yinan stand next to her and arranged five rows for her first.

In just a short while, An Yinan had left everyone far behind; just as the others had finished half, An Yinan had already walked to the edge of the field carrying a large bag, a full two large gunny sacks, carrying them on her shoulders as if they were nothing, and she was even smiling and greeting everyone.

Aunt Xie Er, who was on Aunt Li's side, patted Aunt Li, "This Educated Youth An has great strength; even the young men who are used to farm work don't have this kind of strength."

Aunt Li smiled, "Educated Youth An is a good one."

Everyone stopped talking and hurried to finish the work at hand.

When it came to carrying things, An Yinan was even more efficient; before everyone else had finished snapping, she had already moved on to the next five rows.

In one morning, she had finished a full twenty rows, and that was even with her holding back slightly...

In the countryside, if a woman can earn eight Work Points, she is considered capable.

Not to mention twenty Work Points; even a big, strong young man couldn't do that.

"Oh my, my waist is aching after just five Work Points this morning; Educated Youth An, you are just too capable." At noon, when work ended, Aunt Li and An Yinan were walking side by side.

An Yinan smiled shyly, "I eat a lot because I work a lot; if I don't work hard, I'm afraid I won't have enough to eat later."

She used to want to be a salted fish and slack off, but now her mindset had changed significantly; since she was reborn in this era, she would enjoy this era.

Aunt Li looked amused; she had been so generous when buying things before, how could she be short of money?

This girl is quite interesting.

Returning to the Educated Youth Station at noon, An Xiangbei had already heated up the food, which was the steamed dumplings An Yinan had wrapped yesterday, but this time they were chive and egg.

She had traded half a catty of brown sugar for the right to pick vegetables at Aunt Li's house whenever she wanted.

Chives grow back after being cut; she had cut the chives and made chive and egg steamed dumplings to save herself from having to cook after coming back from the fields.

"Sister, I earned one Work Point this morning, and I'm going to cut pig grass this afternoon," An Xiangbei said, smiling and showing off to his sister.

An Yinan rubbed An Xiangbei's head, "Beibei is truly great."

She did not stop him; she wouldn't prevent An Xiangbei from working just because she could earn Work Points herself and had hundreds of millions in supplies.

Little Xiangbei needed his own circle of friends, and he also needed to endure some hardship to grow.

She loved him and protected him, but she did not want to raise him to be useless.

Sometimes, what parents think is good is not truly good for the child.

Although Beibei had a dark period, it did not prevent him from having a wonderful childhood.

The beauty of the future will slowly heal him.

An Yinan stewed potatoes and eggplants in the iron pot, then grabbed two handfuls of rice, washed them clean, put them in a small basin, placed a steamer rack in the iron pot, and set the small basin on the rack.

She put a piece of wood in the stove, the fire burned continuously, and bursts of fragrance wafted from the large iron pot.

Then An Yinan put on gloves and went into the courtyard to snap chestnuts.

The outside of a chestnut is a prickly ball; you have to break the prickly ball open to see the chestnut.

"Sister, I'll help you." Little Beibei put down the pen in his hand, put on a small pair of gloves, and was sweating on his face after breaking a few.

It made An Yinan laugh.

She collected the dried and snapped chestnuts into a cloth bag and threw the prickly balls into the innermost part of the walkway; these dried prickly balls were good for starting fires in the winter.

Xie Yuanyuan, who was nearby, looked helpless, "Nan Nan, you freak, you actually earned twenty Work Points in one morning; are you even human?"

You have to know that the news of a female Strongman in Team One had already spread throughout the entire Quanshui Village.

Originally they weren't in the same direction, but they couldn't stop the spread of this news.

An Yinan pursed her lips, "It's only twenty Work Points, isn't that normal?"

That innocent little look made Xie Yuanyuan gnash her teeth in hatred, yet she was helpless.

"Pfft." Li Xiue really couldn't hold it in.

Never mind Xie Yuanyuan; even she had been astonished when she heard about it out in the fields.

Looking at those slender arms and legs, how could there be so much strength?

"You two continue..." Li Xiue covered her mouth, brushed the dirt off her body with a towel, and watched the two of them clowning around with amusement.

The new Educated Youth this time were actually quite good; at the very least, the two in front of her were not troublemakers, nor did they casually take advantage of Public Economics.

Furthermore, they didn't pretend to be weak to get people to help them with all sorts of things; overall, she liked these two girls very much.