Perhaps even the heavens couldn’t bear to see Zhou Jiao idle without anything to do.
Sure enough, the notice specifically instructed the school’s students, Zhang Guoqing and Zhou Jiao, to gather at school on a certain day and ti.
Gather for what? To dig river mud at the farm.
In early March, the snow in the Northeast had just begun to lt. Thinking about having to dig river mud for fertilizer in this season, Zhou Jiao felt like fainting.
Facing Zhang Guoqing’s worried eyes, she could only smile.
In her three years of high school, besides attending a few ideology classes and participating in two publicity activities, she hadn’t taken part in any labor activities. This ti it concerned her personal files and future prospects. She had no choice but to go, so it was better to be proactive.
Zhang Guoqing knew that even with the old principal allowing the powerless Zhou Jiao to take part, it was a task that couldn’t be escaped. But he understood the difficulty of the task better than she did.
In the bitter cold, with the ice and snow just beginning to lt, in the desolate wilderness with no shelter, a gust of wind felt like it was cutting into your skin. What’s more, they had to go down into the river.
In previous years, when fertilizer was scarce, Mr. Zhang often took the three brothers to dig river mud to accumulate fertilizer, but never this early in the season. Usually, it was another month later. Back then, besides the tiring work of moving the river mud, everything else was okay.
Zhang Guoqing looked at his own delicate palms and could only imagine them becoming bloodied. In such situations, wearing gloves and staying apart from the crowd was not an option. What frustrated him even more was that even the als were personally prepared by the school cafeteria staff—cutting off even that bit of respite.
No matter how worried, the day still ca.
Early in the morning, after dropping off Ping’an at Zhang Guofu’s ho in the care of Mr. Zhang and Mother Zhang, the couple headed to school to gather.
Zhang Guoqing, who had always been a competent class monitor, even though he had stepped down to self-study, still commanded high popularity and obedience from everyone.
Zhou Jiao always felt that so people were born with leadership skills. Take Zhang Guoqing, for instance, from an orphan background in a past life, with no one cultivating him. Yet his talent was innate, from primary school to university as class monitor, and elected as the student council president by unanimous vote in college.
At this mont, seeing him being called over by the school teachers, she was not surprised at all. Watching him skillfully delegate the task of carrying the flag, Zhou Jiao lowered her head and smiled faintly.
The entire staff and students of the county school ford a massive group, singing as they marched forty miles to the farm.
Starting at dawn, the group walked briskly and finally arrived at the farm by noon.
Arranged by the old principal, everyone barely had ti to catch their breath before being handed two corn and vegetable dumplings. They ate as they walked to the task location—a piece of riverbank downstream.
On the tributary of the entire large river, the flags were flying everywhere along the banks, with people working enthusiastically both on the riverbed and the banks.
This downstream section was dry because the upper stream had a dam, and the middle stream had soone using a waterwheel to draw water, leaving only a thin layer of ice at the bottom.
After raising the flag that represented the county high school, the students were quickly assigned tasks by their respective class teachers.
Seeing Zhou Jiao being assigned to dig mud at the river bottom, Zhang Guoqing proactively volunteered to dig mud himself. With him there, he could watch over his wife a bit more.
Zhou Jiao, wearing straw sandals, stepped onto the river surface and began smashing the surface with a stone. Initially, she found it quite amusing. The thin layer of ice shattered with a smash, and she finished quickly.
With Zhang Guoqing protecting her side, she stayed mostly in the thin ice areas, but gradually, as silt appeared, her feet sank, and the straw sandals no longer worked. The piercing cold seeped from her feet into her entire body, causing her to shiver from ti to ti.
She clearly felt all the blood vessels in her body stop flowing, and her feet had already lost sensation. Stealing a glance at Zhao Yuanyuan’s bare feet, she gritted her teeth, removed her straw sandals and thick socks.
She shot a look at Zhang Guoqing, who was always watching her. Now everyone was full of enthusiasm, afraid of being outdone by others, working hard. She absolutely couldn’t let anyone catch her slack.
Zhou Jiao chanically dug up the silt, shoveling it into a bamboo basket. After a while, she started sweating all over. As the wind blew, it sent chills through her again and again.
Zhou Jiao didn’t know how much she had done, only knowing that even with Zhang Guoqing sneakily adding mud to her basket, she couldn’t keep up with Zhao Yuanyuan and her group. Seeing the two classmates assigned to carry her baskets looking relaxed, she knew she lagged far behind everyone else.
She didn’t have ti to envy Zhao Yuanyuan and her group, nor to listen to the broadcast. Taking a deep breath, she pressed on, trying to speed up, but over ti she realized the shovel’s design was indeed unreasonable, dead heavy.
Zhang Guoqing, shoveling quickly on his own, saw that the classmates carrying the baskets hadn’t arrived yet. He looked at Zhou Jiao with heartache and began forcefully adding the silt in front of her into Zhao Yuanyuan and her team’s baskets. He wished he could imdiately clear all the riverbed silt so his wife could quickly get ashore.
What Zhang Guoqing regretted most at this mont was how easy this was for him, it felt like playing, but unfortunately, he couldn’t substitute for his wife’s duties.
Finally, when the loudspeaker announced dinner, Zhou Jiao was so exhausted she couldn’t even pull her feet out. Her body relaxed entirely, leaning on her shovel, she looked around, wanting to cry. The valiant won, excited and determined, refused to leave the riverbank until they finished the patch in front of them.
Seeing Zhang Guoqing, with mud sared on her face and noticing her eyes, he bowed his head and chuckled silently. Everyone put in their best effort now, so he couldn’t suggest she take a break.
The class teacher personally called everyone to stop for dinner, finally giving the students a break. This ti Zhou Jiao was determined not to be the first to leave. Slowly, she pulled out her feet, lifted her shovel leisurely, shoveled mud into the bamboo basket, and only when soone carried it away did Zhao Yuanyuan drag her onto the riverbank.
Yes, dragged!
Zhou Jiao was very grateful to Zhao Yuanyuan at this mont. Without her brute strength, she couldn’t have gotten up the riverbank herself. If Zhang Guoqing had to pull her up, it would have been a joke.
Dinner was three corn and vegetable dumplings per person and a bowl of corn porridge, which made everyone cheer happily. Zhou Jiao noticed so classmates saved a dumpling in their pockets.
A big bowl of corn porridge accompanying the three dumplings entered her mouth, but Zhou Jiao didn’t taste anything. She suspected her senses had shut down, yet why did fatigue hit her imdiately?
After eating, Zhou Jiao didn’t care if the ground was dirty or cold, leaned against the earthen wall, stretched her limbs, and collapsed onto the ground. She secretly mocked herself, thinking any obsessive cleanliness was worth nothing in such harsh reality.
Zhao Yuanyuan, holding Zhou Jiao’s straw sandals, compared them to her own and chuckled quietly. She discovered Zhou Jiao had a penchant for anything exquisite. These straw sandals were probably handwoven by her. Skillful hands but no strength. Finally, she felt she wasn’t inferior in everything and stopped feeling useless.
Zhou Jiao had no idea her re presence dented Zhao Yuanyuan’s confidence. She was now wondering how to get through the night. Should she pretend to faint, or would that be too much?
User Comments
0 comments from readers