Shoulders back and chest out, Gu Jiaojiao grabbed an ear of corn, ready to get to work. She held it in one hand and started picking off the kernels with the other.
When the others saw how Gu Jiaojiao was working, the looks on their faces were filled with utter disdain.
Finally, Aunt Zhao couldn’t stand to watch anymore and went over to give Gu Jiaojiao a hands-on lesson.
As it turned out, the proper way to shell corn was to rub two ears of corn together forcefully, using the friction to strip off the kernels.
Not only was this thod less tiring, but it was also much faster.
Gu Jiaojiao thought Aunt Zhao was incredible, and the look of utter adoration in her eyes made Aunt Zhao chuckle.
"It’s normal for you city kids not to know how. The other educated youth didn’t know how when they first arrived either. You’ll get the hang of it after a while."
Gu Jiaojiao nodded seriously. "I’ll do my best to learn."
Her obedient and sweet deanor made Aunt Zhao, who didn’t have a daughter, wish she could take Gu Jiaojiao ho as her own.
’If I had a daughter this beautiful and well-behaved, I’d never let her do hard labor.’
’I can’t imagine what Gu Jiaojiao’s family was thinking, being willing to let such a pretty daughter be sent to the countryside.’
Aunt Zhao felt a growing sense of pity for Gu Jiaojiao.
Gu Jiaojiao was oblivious to this, still battling the corn. Although she had resolved to work hard, her hands turned red after only a short while of rubbing, and they ached with a raw pain.
Gu Jiaojiao had learned the technique for shucking corn, but her hands had never done rough work and were very delicate. They were red after just an hour, and that was even with gloves on.
Gu Jiaojiao took off her gloves to look at her hands, then put them back on and continued without a single complaint.
That was just her nature; once she decided to do sothing, she wouldn’t complain about the hardship or fatigue.
Aunt Zhao observed Gu Jiaojiao’s actions and beca even more convinced that she was nothing like the rumors claid.
Nearby, however, Wu Cuizhi was growing displeased.
"Gu Zhiqing, you’re working so slowly. It’s not fair that you’ll get the sa number of work points as us later."
"Yeah, it’s really not fair to us."
When they were grouped together, it was true that so people did more work and others did less, but the difference was usually minimal. Now that soone exceptionally slow had been added to the mix, they naturally felt resentful.
Gu Jiaojiao had no intention of taking advantage of anyone, so she imdiately said, "Then let’s divide our portions now. That way, I won’t be taking advantage of you."
The others hadn’t expected her to be so assertive and were montarily left speechless.
And so, they divided the corn into ten portions, allowing everyone to work on their own share without interference.
The other won were stunned into silence.
’We got what we wanted, so why are we still unhappy?’ they wondered collectively.
Aunt Zhao comforted her, "Don’t you worry. I’ll help you with yours in a bit."
Gu Jiaojiao forced a smile. "You’re so good to , Auntie. You don’t look down on at all."
Aunt Zhao was amused. ’This girl is sothing else,’ she thought. ’All her little expressions... She’s so endearing you just want to dote on her.’
Gu Jiaojiao huffed and puffed away for a long ti, but only managed to get through a small part of her corn pile.
"Jiaojiao, let’s go back and eat!"
Having spent the morning working together, Aunt Zhao felt much closer to Gu Jiaojiao and had started calling her by her given na.
Gu Jiaojiao stood up and glanced around. The others’ piles of corn were at least halfway done, while she had only managed to clear a small section of her own.
But that "small section" was actually a substantial amount. The village had well over a hundred acres of corn, with each acre yielding thousands of pounds of kernels. Before shelling, the cobs and husks at least doubled the weight. The total harvest amounted to hundreds of thousands of pounds of grain—an unimaginably huge pile.
This work would take at least ten days or so to finish.
After the corn was shelled, it had to be dried in the sun for several days. Only when the dried corn was sent to the granary would the work be considered more than halfway done.
After that, the peanuts and soybeans also needed to be threshed.
This was why the Qiushou harvest was so arduous. Everyone rushed to work every day without rest; it would be a miracle if they weren’t exhausted.
The reason for the rush was the fear of bad weather. A single downpour could wash away a whole year of hard work.
Thinking about the many days of work still ahead, Gu Jiaojiao couldn’t help but feel miserable.
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