Tang Min had always been worried about his niece. Now that she was willing to work, regardless of whether she had some ulterior motive, it was still better than her being lazy at home.
He thought for a moment and said, "Alright, then you can start working in the pigsty today. Gu Zhiqing has injured his leg and is on leave, so you can help out by cutting pig grass for now. You'll get five work points a day."
Song Chu nodded indifferently: "Okay."
"If you perform well and really raise the pigs properly, I'll increase your work points," Tang Min encouraged.
He paused, then added sternly: "But don't you dare go fishing for three days and drying nets for two, or use raising pigs as an excuse to be lazy or do other things. Otherwise, don't come looking for me if you have trouble in the future."
"Big Brother, how can you say that? My Yaobao is so outstanding, how could she possibly be lazy or inconsistent?" Tang Feng felt that her daughter was the best in the entire village.
Tang Min and the rest of the Tang family: "..."
Being lazy, fighting, and throwing tantrums were indeed her most "outstanding" traits.
"Go to work, and do it well." Tang Min felt mentally exhausted. His niece’s behavior was spoiled by his sister, and you couldn't even criticize her, or she would get upset with you.
Song Chu looked at her eldest uncle’s expression, which resembled someone who had lost all hope in life, and chuckled: "Mm, I will."
After Tang Feng left with Song Chu, Song Chu’s eldest aunt smiled and said: "Chuchu finally wants to be diligent."
Tang Min nodded with relief: "Yes, as long as she is willing to work, that's good."
He only hoped this was a good start and wouldn't end up half-baked like before.
He had two younger brothers and only one sister, Tang Feng. Among the children born to their four families, except for Song Chu, they were all boys. Because of this, even though his niece was usually unreliable, they couldn't help but spoil her.
Song Chu’s second cousin-in-law couldn't help but say: "I heard Chuchu is pursuing Gu Zhiqing. Could it be that she wants to raise pigs because of him?"
She didn't like Tang Feng and her daughter, who were lazy and often took advantage of their family.
She didn't believe Song Chu had changed for the better; she was sure it was all for the man.
Hearing this, Tang Min’s smile faded instantly. He felt that what his daughter-in-law said might be the truth: "This girl, I really don't know what to say anymore."
He hoped she wouldn't cause any trouble because of a man.
The eldest aunt was also somewhat helpless: "Let's wait and see. Maybe Chuchu has really changed this time. After all, Gu Zhiqing has been on leave for the past few days."
"That's all we can do." Tang Min said to his wife: "Keep an eye on her while you're working."
"Mm, I know." The eldest aunt nodded.
Song Chu went home for a moment before heading to the pigsty with her eldest brother.
It was still a special period, so pig farming was basically handled by the production team. After half were handed over at the end of the year, the remainder was distributed to each household based on work points.
The village pigsty was near the cowshed, in a separate mud-brick house. The main people working there were her eldest brother and Gu Yue, who cut the pig grass.
Because Gu Yue took on the task of cutting pig grass alone, he received six work points, plus three for feeding the cows, totaling nine points a day, which was quite good.
As soon as she entered the pigsty, she smelled a stench. Song Chu looked around and saw twelve pigs.
She frowned. The pigsty was not only dirty all around, but the pigs themselves were filthy. "Brother, why don't you clean the pigsty?"
"I clean it every day. I've already shoveled the pig manure to use as fertilizer for the crops," the eldest Song brother said.
"That's not enough. You have to keep the pigsty spotlessly clean, and the pigs need to be washed too, otherwise, bacteria will breed easily and the pigs will get sick."
Although Song Chu hadn't raised pigs herself in the apocalypse, she had looked up many scientific pig-farming tutorials from before the end of the world, summarized them for the people in charge, and supervised them personally; the results had been quite good.
The eldest Song brother laughed dismissively: "Little sister, we've been raising them this way for so many years. Who washes pigs? Don't mess around."
Song Chu raised an eyebrow: "I read this in a book. If you don't follow my instructions, I'll go home and tell Mom that you aren't listening to me."
Her eldest brother was an honest man. She couldn't bring herself to beat him, so she had to bring up the person he feared most in the family.
Sure enough, thinking of his mother flying into a rage, the eldest Song brother’s face soured: "Little sister, is this really useful?"
"Definitely. Besides, it's not good for you to stay in such a poor environment every day. Cleaning it up will also help your health," Song Chu replied.
Although the eldest Song brother didn't quite believe his sister, he was afraid she would go complain, so he had to resign himself to cleaning the pigsty according to her instructions.
Song Chu was quite satisfied with her brother's work: "After you finish washing the pigsty, use warm water to scrub the pigs. I'm going to cut pig grass first, and I'll check when I get back."
The eldest Song brother felt bitter as he worked and waved his hand: "Fine, go ahead."
Song Chu carried a large basket and a sickle as she headed out.
At this time, everyone else was also working. Seeing Song Chu carrying a basket and a sickle up the mountain, everyone looked as if they had seen a ghost.
After she walked away, some people started whispering.
"What is she going to do?"
"I heard from the brigade leader's daughter-in-law that Song Chu asked to work in the pigsty herself. It looks like she's going to cut pig grass."
"Her, raising pigs and cutting grass? It'll be a miracle if she doesn't kill the pigs."
"The sun must have risen from the west today. The Song family's precious treasure is actually willing to come out and work."
"I think raising pigs is a lie; pestering Gu Zhiqing is the real reason."
"Oh, right! Gu Zhiqing is the one who cuts the pig grass. I was wondering how she could suddenly become diligent. It turns out it's for Gu Zhiqing. That makes sense."
"Gu Zhiqing is on leave for his leg injury. It's pathetic that she's still putting on a show going up the mountain. I wonder if she can even bring back a basket of grass."
"At most one basket. That won't even be enough for one meal for the pigs. They're going to starve."
"This won't do. If the pigs get thin or die, how will we divide the meat at the end of the year? We have to talk to the brigade leader."
"Keep an eye on Song Chu later. If she only brings back one basket today, we'll go find the brigade leader after work."
The villagers didn't believe Song Chu would be diligent. Although cutting pig grass wasn't very tiring, cutting enough for twelve pigs wasn't easy either.
So, everyone prepared to keep an eye on Song Chu, not letting her ruin the brigade's pigs.
Song Chu didn't know she was being watched by the villagers. She had learned about the grass and wild vegetables that pigs could eat from her research, and she found them quickly.
She was strong, and her hands were nimble and agile. Soon, she had cut a full basket and carried it down the mountain.
This stunned the people working in the fields who were supposed to be watching her. It had only been about half an hour, and she had already finished a basket?
Song Chu put the pig grass in the pigsty. Thinking it was too much trouble to run back and forth, she grabbed two more large baskets and headed up the mountain again. Everyone watched her retreating figure in disbelief.
An hour later, when Song Chu returned carrying one large basket and holding another large basket in each hand, all filled with fresh pig grass, everyone was completely stunned.
Song Chu was actually cutting pig grass seriously. Not only was she fast, but she could bring back so much at once—what was going on?
Gu Zhiqing was on leave today; even if she worked this hard, he wouldn't see it!
Had she really become diligent? They still couldn't quite believe it.
Then they noticed that Song Chu went up the mountain two more times, returning fully loaded each time. In less than a morning, she had cut all the pig grass needed for the entire day. They couldn't believe it—was this still the lazy, gluttonous village bully?
Thank you to the dears who voted~~~ The contract has been mailed, the status should be updated today, and there will be two chapters starting tomorrow~~~
(End of chapter)