Chapter 4

“Don’t know how to do anything? We’re only saying this for your own good?” Zhong Xixi smiled. “If that’s how you want to put it, then let’s talk about this properly today. The Party says that labor is glorious. I do the most work in this family, so I should be the most glorious one here. If we’re talking about who has the right to eat…” She glanced at Zhong Chuchu and pursed her lips. “She’s the one who has the least right!” “Let’s not even talk about anything else. Just look at her hands. Do they look like the hands of a working person? She never lifts a finger around the house. I’m afraid she can’t do anything at all!” “But I suppose that doesn’t matter either. Auntie, you dote on your daughter, and I’m only saying this because I’m thinking of everyone. If word gets out and people find out about this, who knows whether the Bai family will still marry her? We might even end up getting the entire family dragged into it!” “I’m only saying this for everyone’s sake!” Compared to the jade bracelet, the threat of the entire family being implicated was obviously much more powerful. The expressions of the people in the eldest and second branches immediately changed. Even the third son, who was inside the house, suddenly looked troubled. He was the only unmarried man left in the family. If a slacker like this became a stain on their family’s reputation, who would still be willing to marry him? No, absolutely not! He immediately jumped into the conversation. “That’s true! I think Big Sis is right. Little Sis is a little too lazy. She needs to work from now on, too!” As soon as the second son’s wife heard this, her expression changed as well. Her voice was sour as she chimed in. “I might not believe everything else she says, but she’s absolutely right about this. Little Sis, you have to work. From now on, you need to help with the washing and cleaning around the house, and you need to work in the fields, too. Look at everyone else in this family—they all earn work points. You’re the only one who stays at home doing nothing every day.” “It’s not that we insist on making you work, but at the very least, you need to know how. Otherwise, when you marry into the Bai family, won’t you be the one who gets bullied? Your sister-in-law is saying this for your own good, too.” Zhong Chuchu’s face immediately turned pale. She hurriedly defended herself. “No, that’s not true! I can do it! I really can! Mom has already taught me!” Liu Meili quickly came to her daughter’s defense. “Exactly! Who says my daughter can’t work? Why are you all sticking your noses into other people’s business? I taught her everything a long time ago. She can do anything better than any of you!” Zhong Xixi’s eyes lit up as she watched the situation unfold with great interest. Then she turned around and pointed toward the few cotton plants growing in the family’s small private plot. “If that’s the case, Auntie, why don’t you let us see for ourselves? The thing everyone is doing most these days is topping the cotton plants. Let Chuchu top a few cotton plants for us and show everyone how well she can do it.” “If she really knows how, I won’t say another word!” Cotton plants had to be topped once they reached a certain stage of growth. The top shoots were removed to eliminate the plant’s apical dominance and allow nutrients to be distributed to the other branches and leaves. Topping simply meant removing the top shoots. It was considered one of the easiest farming tasks and wasn’t particularly tiring. There was no hiding anything in a rural village. With little else to entertain themselves, everyone loved watching a good spectacle. Whenever there was an argument in someone’s household, the neighbors would immediately stick their heads out to see what was happening. By now, a crowd had already gathered outside. Liu Meili suddenly found herself caught between a rock and a hard place. But how could Zhong Chuchu possibly know how to do this? An eighteen-year-old girl who had never once worked in the fields or earned a single work point was practically unheard of in the entire village. She instinctively looked toward her parents. But several villagers had already begun shouting from outside. “We heard that Chuchu is good at farm work! We’ve never seen it ourselves. This is the perfect chance to see what she can do.” Liu Meili was anxious and furious, but there was nothing she could do. Thinking about what Zhong Xixi had said earlier, she didn’t dare say anything now. She was terrified that if she opened her mouth, the entire family would get dragged into the mess. With no other choice, Zhong Chuchu bit her lip and walked over to the few cotton plants in the private plot. Then she slapped the top of one of them. The surrounding villagers immediately fell silent. This… This really was “topping” the cotton! Zhong Chuchu viciously slapped the top of the cotton plant several more times until she knocked off an entire cluster of leaves. Only then did she stop. “See? I… I can do it, right?” The surroundings fell completely silent. Zhong Xixi sneered. Sure enough, people really did bring trouble upon themselves. After this, Zhong Chuchu’s every action would probably be seen as proof that she was a parasite on the people. Zhong Xixi didn’t even need to do anything herself. The matter was already settled. In this era, the people hated those who refused to work more than anything. It wasn’t just something that could turn an entire village against you. Even members of the same family could become enemies over it. Zhong Chuchu had managed to provoke the anger of the entire crowd with nothing more than her “topping” technique. The villagers around them frowned one after another. “That girl from the Zhong family really is something else!” “She clearly doesn’t like working. She’s a parasite on the people! We can’t let her off easily!” “Exactly! Sister-in-law Liu, this isn’t how you should raise a daughter. I heard she’s supposed to marry the brigade leader’s son. Would his family even dare take a girl like this?” “She’d be marrying a spoiled ancestor!” The moment they heard that, the faces of both mother and daughter turned red, then white. Was this really going to affect the marriage they had worked so hard to secure? Liu Meili knew that she had to make a sacrifice to get what she wanted. She gritted her teeth and stomped her foot. “Well, it’s just that I haven’t gotten around to teaching her how to top cotton yet. She’s actually very good at other kinds of work! I’ll teach her this later. Starting tomorrow, I’ll send her to the fields to work. Everyone can keep an eye on her. How about that?” The moment Zhong Chuchu heard that she would have to work in the fields, she immediately put on a pitiful expression. “Mom… I…” “All right, all right, stop talking! Everyone, tell me, is this acceptable? My daughter isn’t a parasite!” The villagers had originally gathered just to watch the spectacle. Hearing this, they didn’t have much else to say and nodded one after another. “That works. If she doesn’t know how to do something, we can all teach her.” “Exactly. We’re only saying this because we want what’s best for your Zhong family. You can’t let such a good girl become lazy!” Liu Meili listened to them, so angry that smoke practically came out of her nose, yet she could only swallow her anger. She glared venomously at Zhong Xixi. It was all this damned girl’s fault! Just wait. She would make sure to teach her a lesson later! Zhong Xixi had accomplished exactly what she wanted. Once everyone dispersed, she didn’t even wait for her aunt to say anything. She took her little brother and announced that they were going to work in the fields to earn work points. Then she turned around and left. However, once she was outside, she had no intention of actually going to the fields. If she remembered correctly, both her and her brother’s household registrations were still under their uncle’s family. Their work points were also recorded under the uncle’s household account. So what was the point of working harder? Everything they earned would only benefit that family. Therefore, she first had to find a way to move their household registration out and establish a separate household for herself and her brother. She took her brother to a small alley behind the houses and told him to keep watch for her. Then she took a shortcut toward the eastern end of the village. To transfer their household registration, she first needed to prove that her uncle’s family had failed to fulfill their responsibility to support and care for her and her brother, and that their conduct was morally reprehensible. Fortunately, she already had the perfect evidence. As long as she exposed the fact that Zhong Chuchu had stolen her fiancé, caused her disfigurement, and then turned around and falsely accused her, the village party secretary would surely agree to let her and her brother separate their household registration. But dealing with this matter would be troublesome. She needed an ally. Without a doubt, the man who had been accused of hooliganism along with her was the best choice. After all, she had heard that the two of them would have to stand on a platform in front of the entire village tomorrow and make a public self-criticism! Who would willingly endure that kind of humiliation? Zhong Xixi walked all the way to the very edge of the village. She stopped outside a small house surrounded by a bamboo fence. Inside the yard, an elderly woman was sitting there, sewing a shoe insole.