Chapter 8: Is this still that gluttonous and lazy village bully?
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. Educated Youth Gu is on leave due to a leg injury, so you can help cut pig grass for now. Five work points per day."
Song Chu nodded indifferently: "Okay."
"If you perform well and really raise the pigs well, I will increase your work points," Tang Min encouraged.
He paused and added sternly, "But this time, don't you go 'fishing for three days and drying nets for two' on me, or find excuses to slack off or do other things while pretending to raise pigs. 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 whole village.
Tang Min and the Tang family: "..."
Being outstanding at being lazy, fighting, and throwing tantrums—that was true.
"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 uncle’s expression, which resembled someone who had lost the will to live, 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 motivated."
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 hastily 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 Educated Youth Gu. Could it be that she wants to raise pigs for his sake?"
She didn't like Tang Feng and her daughter, who were gluttonous, lazy, and often took advantage of their family.
She didn't believe Song Chu had changed for the better; she must be doing it for a 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 for the sake of a man.
The eldest aunt was also left speechless. "Let's wait and see. Maybe Chuchu has really changed this time. After all, Educated Youth Gu 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 when 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 done by the production team. After half were handed over at the end of the year, the rest were distributed to each household according to work points.
The village pigsty was near the cow shed, in a separate mud-brick house. The main person raising the pigs was her eldest brother, while Gu Yue was responsible for cutting 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 foul odor. Song Chu scanned the area and found twelve pigs.
She frowned. Not only were the surroundings dirty, 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," the eldest brother said.
"That's not enough. You have to clean the pigsty thoroughly, and the pigs need to be washed too. Otherwise, it's easy for bacteria to breed, 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 apocalypse, summarized them for those in charge, and supervised them personally, with good results.
The eldest brother laughed dismissively: "Little sister, we've been raising them like this 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 back 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’s temper, the eldest 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 brother didn't quite believe his sister, he was afraid she would report him, 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 brother, feeling miserable, waved his hand while working. "Fine, go ahead."
Song Chu carried a large basket and a sickle as she headed out.
At this time, everyone else was working. Seeing Song Chu carrying a basket and a sickle toward the mountain, everyone looked as if they had seen a ghost.
After she walked away, 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 Educated Youth Gu is the real reason."
"Oh, right! Educated Youth Gu is the one who cuts pig grass. I was wondering how she could suddenly become diligent. It turns out it's for him. That makes sense."
"Educated Youth Gu is on leave for his leg injury. It's hard for her to even pretend to go up the mountain. I wonder if she can even bring back one 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 could 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. She had learned about edible grass and wild vegetables 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 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 back up the mountain. Everyone who saw her back as she left couldn't believe it.
An hour later, when Song Chu returned carrying one large basket and holding two more, 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?
Educated Youth Gu was on leave today; even if she worked this hard, he wouldn't see it!
Could it be that she had really become diligent? They still couldn't quite believe it.
Then they discovered that Song Chu went up the mountain two more times, returning with a full load each time. In less than a morning, she had finished cutting all the pig grass needed for the entire day. They couldn't believe it—was this still that gluttonous and lazy village bully?
Thank you to everyone who voted~~~ The contract has been mailed, the status should be updated today, and I'll start posting two chapters a day tomorrow~~~
(End of chapter)