Chapter 14: A New Tactic

On the road, Luo Qiao kept thinking that since school had already started, she would have to find some time in the next few days to make a trip to the commune's middle school to see if she could resolve her schooling issues.

She just wasn't sure if it would be acceptable to not attend classes on a regular basis and only show up for exams; once she was sent down to the countryside, she would be able to manage her own time freely.

By the time she reached the fields, Qiao Lanlan, the production brigade leader's wife, had already arrived. Seeing Luo Qiao approach, she waved her over to sit beside her.

When she went home at noon today, she had spoken quite highly of Luo Qiao to her husband. After all, the young girl was truly likable and worked so earnestly that it made one's heart ache for her.

During work in the afternoon, Luo Qiao spent a lot of time fishing for information from Auntie Gao and learned quite a bit about the village.

As the days passed, Luo Qiao gained a general understanding of Qingshan Village. During this time, Gao Suhua had come by twice, but Luo Qiao ignored her both times; since she wouldn't open the door, Gao Suhua could only fume outside.

Usually, while working, Luo Qiao would stay close behind Qiao Lanlan. Gao Suhua tried several times to strike up a conversation with Luo Qiao but failed every time, which nearly drove her to death with rage.

Now, Gao Suhua had changed her tactics, sending her daughters over to try and get close to Luo Qiao. It seemed like Gao Suhua was brewing some kind of malicious scheme.

Regardless, Luo Qiao now had her own independent household registration booklet; no matter what she tried to plot, it would be in vain. She was not the original owner of this body, who had been foolish enough to let the Zhao family scheme against her for a lifetime and exploit her completely.

After half a month of busy work, they had finally finished plowing all the village's fields. They planned to let the soil rest for a few days before starting to sow seeds, so there wouldn't be much heavy labor in the fields for the next few days.

Before the sowing season, the commune organized road construction, with each village responsible for its own section. All the adult laborers in the village were assigned to assist the commune with the roadwork.

Calling it "road construction" was a bit of an exaggeration; it was essentially just leveling and tidying things up, filling in holes with soil where needed. It was a matter of two or three days and wouldn't interfere with the spring sowing.

A portion of the women and semi-skilled laborers were assigned to the brigade warehouse to sort through soybean seeds. Over these few days, Luo Qiao had gradually become familiar with the people in her work team.

When work ended that day, the brigade leader announced that tomorrow would be a day of rest to tidy up one's private plots and handle personal affairs. Spring sowing would begin the day after tomorrow, and no leave would be permitted.

Regarding the original private plots at the youth hostel, the brigade leader had allocated two *mu* to Luo Qiao as her own. Luo Qiao had been tidying it up a little bit every day after work, and the ridges were now already plowed.

The backyard of the youth hostel was about one and a half *mu* in size, and Luo Qiao planned to grow vegetables there. She would use the two *mu* of private land to grow sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn, so as to avoid people becoming jealous of her growing too many vegetables.

After all, growing vegetables on that one and a half *mu* in the backyard meant she could sell them at state-owned stores in the commune or the city for money. Besides, the current situation was different from before; inspections weren't as strict.

Luo Qiao planned to go to the commune tomorrow. Ideally, she would first find a set of junior and senior high school textbooks and take the opportunity to visit the school to see if she could transfer into a class, attending only for exams rather than daily classes.

In recent days, Luo Qiao's diet had returned to normal. In the evening, she steamed rice—this was rice from her spatial dimension. Since most people in Qingshan Village grew corn and wheat, she never made rice during the daytime.

She had a stew of potatoes and green beans, along with a dish of eggplant with minced garlic. After eating and cleaning the kitchen, she stepped out of her spatial dimension to find that the water she had boiled earlier was ready, so she scooped it out and took a bath.

Just as she was about to tidy up the items in the courtyard and head back to her room, she heard someone approaching on the small path. From the sound of their voices, Luo Qiao knew it must be those girls from the Zhao family again. They really were relentless, weren't they?

(End of Chapter)