Quick Transmigration: Underdog Turns out to be Untouchable

Chapter 1084: Chapter 994: Those Years 4

Inside the suitcase, there were over four pounds of fruit candies because Wen Shuangshuang loved these sweet little snacks. In the past, unless it was a festival, the family was reluctant to let the children eat more. This time, as Wen Shuangshuang was leaving, her parents and brother prepared a large pile of fruit candies for her.

This stuff wouldn’t last long, and even five years later, it wouldn’t be anything precious, but at this time, fruit candies were certainly a good thing, perfect for winning people’s hearts.

Just like today, Wen Shuangshuang gave Qi Juan a few pieces of fruit candy, and Aunt Qi’s attitude towards her immediately became much more sincere and warm, without the vague barrier that existed towards the educated youth.

After tidying up her luggage and changing her clothes, she prepared to wash the clothes she was wearing. After traveling on a bus for a whole day and night and walking on the ground for several hours, her clothes were already dirty.

When Wen Shuangshuang went out, Aunt Qi had already boiled water and was preparing to cook. It was a simple meal, soup with wild vegetables and not a trace of oil, accompanied by cornmeal buns.

Wen Shuangshuang stepped forward to help with the cooking and stopped Aunt Qi, who was about to bring foot wash water to Zhou Meijuan. If you have intact limbs and it’s not a heavy chore, why not get it yourself, instead of acting like a pampered young lady expecting others to serve you and bring things directly to you.

Wen Shuangshuang directly called out for Zhou Meijuan to come and get her foot wash water and then pushed Aunt Qi to start cooking together.

Aunt Qi didn’t insist on delivering the water to Zhou Meijuan. Her hospitality was to thank Wen Shuangshuang for the candy she gave her daughter, not to thank Zhou Meijuan.

Aunt Qi, a widow raising a daughter alone, was not the type of person to be overly nice. In fact, she was rather tough-minded; otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to keep her household running by herself.

Now, seeing that the one she truly wanted to thank, Wen Shuangshuang, was so good-natured and willing to help with chores, while Zhou Meijuan, who was benefiting by association, was putting on airs, Aunt Qi wasn’t going to tolerate such behavior.

Aunt Qi had originally been worried that Wen Shuangshuang, who came from the city, might not be able to handle the farmhouse wood stove. Unexpectedly, after a bit of teaching, Wen Shuangshuang managed to light the fire, burn the wood, and steam the rice all by herself.

Seeing Aunt Qi’s astonished expression, Wen Shuangshuang smiled and said, ”Aunt, don’t think I can’t work just because I come from the city. Our family has been poor peasants for three generations. It’s only by chance that we moved to the city, but we’re still a family of workers.”

”I’ve been helping with chores at home since I was young. These household tasks are nothing to me. But I really haven’t worked in the fields before, so I’ll have to trouble you, Aunt Qi, to teach me how to plant. I really don’t know one crop from another, and I worry I might pull out the seedlings when we’re farming.”

Hearing that Wen Shuangshuang’s family had been poor peasants for three generations and seeing how efficiently she worked, Aunt Qi genuinely felt a sense of kinship with her. Her grin grew even warmer.

”Farmers are like one big family. Don’t worry; seeing how deftly you work, I’m sure you’ll pick up the fieldwork quickly. I’ll teach you carefully, and you’ll manage soon enough. No wonder you work so smoothly, turns out you’ve got the blood of a farmer in your veins.”

Now Aunt Qi was increasingly fond of Wen Shuangshuang. She found her gentle, generous, and well-spoken. Most importantly, she didn’t detect a trace of disdain for rural people in her eyes, which was what made Aunt Qi feel most comfortable.

When Zhou Meijuan came out, she saw the two chatting happily, and for a moment, she felt very displeased, snorted coldly, and took her foot wash water back to the room without saying a word.

Aunt Qi, who originally had something to say, couldn’t help but frown at this. What she dreaded most were young people just arriving from the city, spoiled at home, who still acted delicate and unaware of reality, unable to do anything. She worried they wouldn’t even earn enough for their own food when working in the fields.

If Zhou Meijuan was at the educated youth spot, whether she earned her own food or not didn’t matter. But since she was staying at Aunt Qi’s house now, and if Zhou Meijuan couldn’t earn her own food, then Aunt Qi would have to support her.

Aunt Qi agreed to let the educated youth stay at her house because Lin Cheng’an, the brigade leader, promised to give her subsidies. But if the youth under her roof starved, could she bear to watch someone starve?

Thanks to Zhou Meijuan’s interruption, Aunt Qi, who had been in a good mood and ready for a nice chat, suddenly became gloomy, losing the enthusiasm for conversation. Wen Shuangshuang, being considerate, said no more and efficiently helped finish making the meal.

During the meal, Qi Juan still had a piece of fruit candy in her mouth that she hadn’t finished. She was reluctant to bite into it and savoringly wrapped the unfinished candy in candy paper to finish after the meal.

The meal was very simple. At this time, the cornmeal buns were far from the exquisiteness of those made in later times. The cornmeal was coarsely ground, and in order to conserve grain, the innermost layer of the corn kernel skin was included. The corn buns were very rough on the throat, nearly impossible to swallow.

Wen Shuangshuang soaked her corn bun in wild vegetable soup to make it into mush, stirred in some salted shredded radish, and managed to gulp down a big bowl, feeling somewhat full.

Wen Shuangshuang knew that if she couldn’t adapt, she would have to go hungry. At this time, there was no fine grain to eat, and besides, she had to go out and work tomorrow. Without enough to eat, where would the strength come from?

But Zhou Meijuan wasn’t holding up as well. She reluctantly drank half a bowl of wild vegetable soup, took small nibbles of the corn bun, and stopped eating. She put down her chopsticks and went back to her room.

After Wen Shuangshuang and Aunt Qi finished eating, they cleaned up the table and washed the dishes. Aunt Qi held Qi Juan, preparing to go out to the fields with Wen Shuangshuang. Before heading out, she noticed Zhou Meijuan hadn’t yet come out, which made her frown.

Everyone knew that the educated youth sent to the countryside had to work; not helping clean up after a meal was one thing, but retreating to your room and not coming back out was another. Didn’t she know they had to go work in the fields?

Aunt Qi was someone accustomed to hard work and held little regard for those educated youth who liked to slack off and couldn’t do labor, hence her disdain for the delicate and clueless Zhou Meijuan.

Despite her frustration, Aunt Qi still called out loudly to Zhou Meijuan before leaving, reminding her not to forget to join them for work.

The weather was still cold, not planting season yet, so the only task in the fields was to loosen the soil.

Breaking up the clumps of soil as thoroughly as possible; this task was not easy. After wielding a hoe all day, those unaccustomed wouldn’t be able to lift their arms the next day, and even seasoned farmers often ended days with aching backs and shoulders.

When Wen Shuangshuang reached the fields, she happened to run into Lin Qianqian, who had just been reborn two days ago.