Most of them will stop in the middle of work to drink water. The sun is scorching and everyone is sweating alot, you will need to replenish liquid or else you will suffer from heat stroke.
Other than water break, the only rest they will get is at noon when everyone has to eat lunch and sometimes take a short nap.
Because its the first day for Wang Meiyun and Wang Xiayun, they were extremely tired and hungry during lunch, they quickly finished their meal and then took a short nap.
Gu Yan is no better and has been grumbling about how tiring it was. Gu Yao thought she was going to die being scorched under the sun. But Gu Kai worked without complaining, although he worked slowly. Its much better than his other siblings.
Shen Yuying on the other hand was fine after working all morning. And didn't take a nap after eating her lunch instead decided to read some books.
The old educated youth has been doing this work for a long time and somewhat got used to it already, but they still take a nap in the afternoon to replenish their energy. This except for Fang Roulan and Bai Xiuyun who doesn't like to work seriously and likes to laze around.
When she saw them working earlier, it's not that they can'tdo it, they just refuse to do it. They keep on stopping midway to rest, and stretch and grumbles. The Wang cousins are so much better than them and even Gu Yao is actually better at least she listens to Li Xiaomei. Shen Yuying just shook her head thinking about the two problematic people.
Since the Wang cousins needs to adapt, she decided to add few drops of Spiritual spring to their water bottle. So they can last longer and wont collapse.
She also added a little spring water to the water vat at home. Just to make everyone healthy.
After resting for a few minutes at noon, everyone went back to the field.
In the new policy, as long as one can finish his/her work and get 10 work points, he'll be able to rest early.
Because Shen Yuying worked fast, she was able to leave the field together with the other villagers who has been working nonstop since morning.
Under the envious gaze of several people, Shen Yuying greeted the other educated youth and left the field.
She had planned to visit Liu Caixia today but she didn't know where she lives, she thought of going to the village clinic to check if she's still there or if she had gone home, so Shen Yuying changed her direction and went to village clinic decisively.
On the way, she met with Lu Aiguo, the second son of the village captain.
He already recognized Shen Zhiqing when she was walking towards him, he was briefly stunned to see Shen Yuying due to a few reasons.
First, this is not the way to the Educated youth, so he was wondering why would she come here at this time.
Second, it's still early and many people are still in the field working, not to mention Shen Zhiqing has just arrived yesterday and for sure she's not used to farming. So he didn't think about Shen Zhiqing finishing her job early, instead she thought she left early.
Third, If she left early then it must be because of something important, and that's why she's coming this way instead of going back home.
Since he him, he greeted her first.
"Shen Zhiqing, what are you doing here? Do you need something from the village office?" He asked politely.
"Second brother Lu, I just finished my work in the field and I'm going to the village clinic to check Liu Caixia's condition."
He was stunned, he can't believe Shen Zhiqing would finished field work so early. But he thought, maybe she didn't want to earn many work points and just stop when she reached her quota.
He nodded at that, anyway farm work is really hard and Shen Zhiqing looks like someone who can afford food, so he doesn't have any problems with that.
And when he heard the second part of Shen Yuying statement about Liu Caixia , he unintentionally frowned.
"Shen Zhiqing, Liu Caixia is not in the clinic. Her condition had turned for the worse last night and her parents decided to bring her to the county hospital."
Shen Yuying frowned, she never thought it was really that bad. Liu Caixia had spit most of the spiritual spring she fed her last night, so it probably didn't have much effect on her body.
"I was planning to visit her, I didn't know she was brought to the hospital last night. Was it very serious?" She inquired.
"I brought them to the hospital last night, and Liu Caixia was unconscious and has a high fever. But before I went home at dawn, her fever subsided but shes still unconscious when I left." He explained.
He was the one who drove the Liu family to the county late last night. She was unconscious and shivering badly that she can't swallow her medicine so with the advice of the barefoot doctor, the Liu couple decided to take her to the hospital.
"I see, thank you for telling me second brother Lu, and I will just wait for Liu Caixia to come home before visiting her." She told and bow to Lu Aiguo politely.
"It's nothing Shen Zhiqing, don't worry although Liu Caixia is weak since birth, but she has been feeling rather well this past year. She will be fine. It's really lucky for you to find her on time, or else it will be a disaster. "
"I was just lucky to be walking near the river when the accident happened.
Then second brother Lu, since Liu Caixia is in the Hospital I better head home, I still have some things to do."
"Then be careful on your way Shen Zhiqing."
She was about to turn when she realized she has still things she wants to discuss with the village Captain, so instead of going back she looked at Lu Aiguo one more time and asked. "Is the Captain in the village office?"
Lu Aiguo who was about to leave stopped his steps. "The Captain is in there, do you need something from the captain?"
"Yes I have something I would like to ask him. Its about the educated youth vegetable garden. There are new educated youth that arrived and I wonder if we can get more plot of land to plant vegetables".
Lu Aiguo who heard her response was stunned. Then he realized, the village really didn't give the educated youth a separate plot of land to cultivate. And now there are many new educated youth that arrived, they must be short of food.
"Then I'll go with you to the village office and help you speak with the captain." He said smiling at Shen Yuying as if assuring her that the it will be alright.
The 2 went to the village office and found both the secretary, village accountant and the village Captain inside.
They were taken aback by the arrival of Shen Yuying since its still early. But Lu Aiguo helped Shen Yuying start the conversation with his father regarding the plot of land.
"Father, I've heard from Shen Zhiqing that their educated youth had problems with food. And theres not enough space to plant more vegetables in their yard, how about we open a new plot for the educated youth. Anyway 6 members arrived yesterday and there must be shortage of vegetables."
They have not asked what are they doing in here and Lu Aiguo already spoke with the captain. The cadres are stunned and Shen Yuying was slightly embarrassed but she smiled at everyone present, not to be intimidated easily.
But once they heard what Lu Jianguo said, they also realized that they had neglected the educated youth. Everyone will get a plot of land to grow vegetables but the educated youth was not given one. Nobody mentioned it until now and the educated youth also didn't ask about it, so it was naturally forgotten. Now that Shen Zhiqing is here and inquiring about it, they couldn't decline.
"Yes, yes, that's right. I was about to talk to the educated youth about opening a plot. It's perfect that Shen Zhiqing is here." The Captain said enthusiastically after he recovered from being stunned briefly. Which was approved and echoed by the village Secretary.
"That's right, isn't this perfect timing? Let's give them a break from the work on the field this sunday and tell them to open a plot near their educated youth house."
The educated youth house is located in a remote area, and there are no neighbors nearby. It was an abandoned house that was fixed by the villagers for the educated youth.
The area was very close to the mountain, and in the earlier days, some wild animals will come and attack villagers and the owner of this house was one of them, thus they abandoned the house and live farther away.
But its a bit safer now since wild animals doesn't go to the periphery, people are hungry and will occasionally hunt, so it is somewhat safer now.
So its okay for them to open a plot just beside their house, anyway nobody will live there for the time being, the only people who chose to live close to the mountain are hunters like old hunter Liu, Xu Cuihua's husband.
Shen Yuying was so grateful, she never thought it would be this easy, she had thought needs to convince a bunch of cadres, but it was settled easily. She was right, it was best to leave good impression on everyone.
"Thank you Captain Lu, thank you secretary Lu, we will make sure to cultivate the land well." She said bowing to the cadres.
"Then we will measure the plot of land tomorrow and it will be ready on Sunday" the captain assured her.
The 2 said their goodbyes at the village cadres and left the office together.
Once outside she also looked Lu Aiguo and thank him for helping speak. "Thank you second brother Lu"
"There's no need, it's only right that the educated will get a new plot to plant vegetables especially that the population is soaring."
Lu Aiguo bade farewell to shen Yuying, and Shen Yuying turned to the direction of the Educated youth and Lu Aiguo continued to walk forward.
Shen Yuying went back early, fetch water and took a shower. She scrubbed herself well in the space, since nobody was home yet.
She checked the vegetable fields, they look healthy and fat but not ready yet.
She also went to the animal cages, and found many eggs inside. Because of the time difference and she couldn't check them on time there's already alot of eggs on the ground.
Although she can store them in the storage space using mental power she always forget because she's too focused with the things outside.
Using mental power, she hurriedly place all the eggs in the storage and separate them from the one she bought from the market.
She also had meal while inside the space. They only had porridge for breakfast and pancake and vegetable soup for lunch. It wasn't very fulfilling and Shen Yuying did eat much because the vegetable soup really taste bland. Its too hard without seasoning.
She had beef noodles and vegetables in the morning and for dinner she planned to eat seafoods.
She had a lot of steamed seafoods in space, and took a bunch of different things and mixed it with spicy sauce and ate with noodles. While eating she thought it would be perfect to pair with cold soda, so she chose her favorite flavor and ate and drink until she's satisfied.
When she's done, she didn't forget to get rid of the food smell on her body and gargle mouthwash. After a while she flash out of space and left the shower room in a better mood.
The others hadn't gone back yet so she stayed in the room and read the textbooks she got before.
Meanwhile at the Gu house in Lushan Village.
Most of the family members had gone back after working in the field except for the women, younger members of the family and the Gu siblings who are not used to doing farm work yet.
The Gu family is one of the few families in the Lushan village to build a brick house. Their family had a total of 4 big brick houses, which is divided among family members.
The old couple of the Gu leads the whole family, they are both over 70 years old. Since they are old, they no longer do farmwork and the family had long been divided.
The old Gu couple had two daughters and 3 sons named Gu Dazhu the eldest, Gu Erzhu, the second son and Gu Sanzhu the youngest, who later changed his name to Gu Yongjun when he joined the army.
The daughters had married away, and the second son Gu Erzhu lived in one of the 4 brick houses and has long been separated from his parents.
The third son Gu Sanzhu later name changed to Gu Yongjun has been living away from home since he joined the army. When he married the woman from the city, he rarely visits his parents in the countryside although he constantly send support every month.
Old Gu couple is now living with their oldest son Gu Dazhu and his family.
The oldest son Gu Dazhu is 54 years old, had 2 sons and 3 daughters all of which are married and living away and the 2 remaining sons is living with him and his family.
The Gu eldest grandson Gu Laoda, is currently 35 years old has a son Gu Hongqi who is 14 years old. And two daughters Gu Dani, 12 and 9 year old Gu Erni.
Gu Dazhu youngest son Gu Laowu is also the old Gu couple's youngest grandson and the favorite out of all the grandchildren and is currently living with the old Gu couple.
The second son Gu Erzhu 49 years old had two sons and a daughter who was married away.
Although they have been separated they still live side by side with the Old Gu couple with the brick house they divided from their family separation.
The third son is 45 year old Gu Yongjun who worked away from home to join the army at a young age of 15.
Gu Yongjun is also the father of the three siblings Gu Yan, Gu Yao, and Gu Kai.
Because Gu Yongjun worked in the army for a long time, he was able to build all 4 houses in the Gu family which later divided to 1 for their parents and each one for the sons.
After he was discharge from the army, he was able to work in a factory due to his merit, and continued to support his family in the countryside. Thus the Gu family is quite well to do in the Lushan village.
The three siblings Gu Yan, Gu Yao, and Gu Kai was able to occupy the brick house that was intended for their father.
As soon as Gu Dazhu arrived in the house, he called the 2 children Gu Hongqi and Gu Dani, these two are the same people who pushed Liu Caixia to the river yesterday.
"Hongqi, Dani, come over here!!" And his loud voice boomed all over the house.
Upon hearing his angry voice, his wife Mrs. Gu came in from the back door and asked "What's wrong? Why are you noisy when you come back?" She asked curious abou her husband's mood.
He briefly look at his wife and answered "When I was going home the village captain stopped me and then asked me to bring Hongqi and Dani without asking any questions."
Hearing what he said the people around was stunned. Most of the family members are now present as they are curious about the commotion.
Even the old Mr. and Mrs. Gu who were resting in their house was curious about what happened and made their way to Gu Dazhu's house which is just beside their own house.
"Why are they looking for Xiaoqi and Dani? They didn't go out today and just stayed home saying they weren't feeling well." Old Mrs Gu asked as soon as she entered the house followed by old Mr Gu.
Looking at his parents, Gu Dazhu restraint his anger and changed the tone of his voice.
"I don't know, the captain didn't elaborate and just said to take them to the village office." Gu Dazhu politely responded to his mother's inquiry.
The 2 they were talking about were shaking in fear on the corner of the with pale faces especially now that everyone is looking at them.
Old Mrs Gu looked at them and asked "why is the village captain looking for you? What did you do?" She asked them while giving them an intense gaze.
The two had already been scared and refused to answer. Suddenly a loud bang was heard.
The patriarch Old man Gu hit the table with both hands and said with an emotional loud voice "Are you not gonna answer your great grandmother?"
Gu Hongqi and Gu Dani trembled more, but because they are more afraid of their great grandfather they have no choice but to answer.
Gu Hongqi stepped forward while keeping his head low and said in a small voice "Liu Caixia fell in the river near the foot of the mouth."
Although his voice was low, everyone heard what he said and the surrounding was even more quiet.
Gu Dazhu had a bad feeling and looked at his 2 grandchildren impatiently and said. "We already know that Liu Caixia almost drowned at the river yesterday and was saved by an educated youth, so how is that related to you?" He asked in a low voice but the anger and coldness can be felt by those words.
Gu Dani took a deep breath and responded "We were playing by the river yesterday and she slipped and fell. We didn't know how to save her so we ran and asked adults for help."
She tried to explain calmly. She will never admit that they pushed Liu Caixia and almost killed her.
"If she fell accidentally, what does that have to do with you?" Gu Dazhu asked slowly.
Mrs. Gu couldn't bear to see her oldest grandson Gu Hongqi so scared so she suddenly interjected. "Maybe the captain will only ask them what happened. I heard Liu Caixia had a high fever last night and was brought to the county hospital in the middle of the night."
"That's right, I heard she was unconscious and delirious. Everyone knows she was weak at birth, the captain might be afraid the worst will happen, so he will ask the two children what happened as they were present when the accident happened." Gu Laoda's wife Li Yan immediately help her own children.
Gu Laoda who was listening on the side looked at his children and said "just say it like this when youre asked by the captain later and don't add anything else."
After listening to everyone Gu Dazhu stepped forward and told everyone "let's go, the captain is waiting for us" and he lead the family out.
Old Mr Gu is not interested in joining, he still understands his family. Its not a simple accident if his two grandchildren were that scared and guilty looking. He's already old and didn't want to toss so he stayed behind.
Old Mrs Gu also knew that everything is not so simple, she is one of the oldest people living in the village and she thought if she went other will give her face.
With Gu Dazhu on the lead, His wife and daughter in law supported the old Mrs Gu and together with the 3 children and Gu Laoda, they made their way to the village office.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
It's been a while since I wrote to my readers, I had a bit of extra time to write this week so I will publish an extra chapter.
I also went over the story one more time to fix some misspellings and grammar errors.
I really have to apologize to everyone, I usually type the story when my kids are already in bed. Sometimes I get too sleepy and tired that I won't notice the spellings of the words I'm writing.
Sometimes there are capital letters everywhere in the story, It's because when I'm typing I sometimes type the first 2 letters and when the word I want appears in the saved words, I will just click it regardless if its capital letter or not.
I will go over the story from time to time and fix these things. Thank you for understanding.
I hope you enjoy reading the story.
PENZIE