Chapter 04
Su Wanqing dug out the original owner’s small round mirror and looked at herself.
She had naturally good features, but her face looked too plain.
She remembered that the original Su Wanqing still had a tin of clam-shell face cream that someone had brought back from the county last winter. She had never been willing to use it.
She found it, scooped out a fingertip’s worth, and spread it evenly across her face.
Then she found a wooden comb, smoothed out her hair, braided it into two pigtails, and tied them with red ribbons.
After rummaging through her belongings for quite a while, she finally found a floral dress buried at the very bottom of her bundle.
The original Su Wanqing had never been willing to wear it, afraid it would get dirty while working in the fields. She had treasured it at the bottom of her trunk.
Su Wanqing shook it out and changed into it.
The dress was a little short, ending just above her knees and revealing her fair, slender calves.
She looked at herself in the mirror and nodded with satisfaction.
Zhang Hongying walked in carrying a washbasin. The moment she saw Su Wanqing, she froze.
“Good heavens! What are you doing?” Zhang Hongying set down the basin and looked her up and down. “Dressed like this… are you going to the market or trying to seduce someone?”
Without even turning around, Su Wanqing adjusted her braids in the mirror.
“Going to work.”
“Work?” Zhang Hongying’s voice rose sharply. “You’re going to work dressed like that? You’re wearing that dress to the fields? And you’ve got your face all dolled up like a New Year’s picture. Who are you trying to impress?”
Only then did Su Wanqing turn around.
Smiling brightly, she asked,
“Do I look pretty?”
Zhang Hongying was caught off guard.
“I’m asking if I look pretty,” Su Wanqing repeated, even giving herself a little twirl.
Zhang Hongying’s face turned green.
“Pretty? What’s so pretty about it? You’re dressed up like a flirt. No sense of decency at all! What respectable girl dresses like you? Look at the rest of us. Does anyone look like that?”
Su Wanqing looked her over from head to toe.
Zhang Hongying wore a faded blue cotton shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. Mud stains covered the legs of her pants, her hair was tied up carelessly, and her face was tanned dark from years of working under the sun.
“You’re right,” Su Wanqing nodded.
Thinking she had admitted defeat, Zhang Hongying was about to speak.
But Su Wanqing continued,
“I am pretty. You’re not. Maybe you don’t bother dressing up because you’d still be ugly even if you did.”
“Su Wanqing, you…!”
Zhang Hongying’s face flushed the color of pig’s liver. Her lips trembled with anger, but no words came out.
The other female educated youths covered their mouths and laughed.
Su Wanqing picked up her scorekeeper’s slip, tucked it into her pocket, swayed her hips, and walked out.
As soon as she left the courtyard, she couldn’t help laughing.
[Ding. Friendly reminder: The Host must maintain the original villainess’s spoiled troublemaker persona. Breaking character will trigger the punishment system.]
“I know, I know,” Su Wanqing replied inwardly. “I actually love this role.”
Back at her old workplace, she had always been forced to smile politely at people she disliked, flatter her bosses, and pretend to get along with her coworkers.
It had been exhausting.
Now things were different.
If she wanted to snap back, she snapped back.
If she wanted to insult someone, she did.
The original Su Wanqing was like this anyway.
She only had to stay in character.
Wear herself out internally while sparing everyone else?
Not a chance.
She would only wear everyone else out.
By the time she arrived at the threshing ground, the sun had just begun to rise.
It was her first day as the work-point recorder, so Su Wanqing had arrived early.
Several people were already waiting there.
The production team leader stood nearby with a young man in his early twenties. His skin was deeply tanned from working outdoors.
The moment he saw Su Wanqing approaching, his eyes widened.
Walking over, Su Wanqing greeted him.
“Team Leader, I’m here to report for duty.”
The team leader nodded and pointed to the young man beside him.
“This is Erhu. He’ll show you the ropes today. Our brigade has three production teams, and you’ll also need to record the work points from the two neighboring brigades. Be careful not to make any mistakes.”
Erhu didn’t know where to look.
If he looked at her face, it was as fair as tofu.
If he looked lower, the pale calves beneath her skirt were dazzling.
He had never seen such a fair-skinned girl in his entire life.
“Brother Erhu?” Su Wanqing called.
Erhu jumped.
His face instantly turned bright red, all the way to his ears.
“Huh? Ah! I’m here!” He became so flustered that he even stuttered. “D-Do you know how to write?”
“Yes.”
“Can you do arithmetic?”
“Yes.”
“T-Then that’s good.” Erhu scratched his head, too embarrassed to look at her. “Just stay with me. I’ll teach you how to keep the records.”
Su Wanqing nodded and took a small notebook and pencil out of her pocket.
Both had been given to her by Lu Shiyan a few days earlier.
Erhu led her to a shady spot beside the threshing ground, carried over an old table and a small stool.
“Just sit here,” he said. “Later, when everyone hands in their work-point slips, record them according to their names. Do you know the people in our brigade?”
“Some of them.”
“If you don’t recognize someone, just ask me.” Erhu scratched his head again. “The people from the other two brigades will also come to hand in their slips. Keep their records separate. Don’t mix them up.”
“Got it.”
Erhu stood there awkwardly, unsure whether he should leave or stay.
After lingering for a moment, he said,
“Well… you sit here first. I’m going back to work. If you need anything, just call me.”
“All right. Thank you, Brother Erhu.”
Erhu blushed again, turned around, and ran off.
Even after running quite a distance, he looked back at her once.
Lowering her head, Su Wanqing organized her notebook, listing the names from the three brigades separately.
As the sun climbed higher, more workers arrived.
The threshing ground grew increasingly crowded, and a line formed to hand in work-point slips.
Seated at the table, Su Wanqing recorded them one by one.
Whenever someone couldn’t help sneaking another glance at her, she simply smiled back.
The person would immediately look away as though they had been burned.
The entire morning passed in a flurry of work, but it wasn’t tiring.
As the sun climbed overhead, the people working in the fields began taking their midday break.
Su Wanqing was bent over her notebook recording numbers when she suddenly felt someone watching her.
She looked up.
Lu Shiyan stood not far away.
He wore a faded gray undershirt with the sleeves rolled up to his shoulders. A hoe rested in his hand as he stood there motionless, staring at her.
Su Wanqing smiled at him before lowering her head and continuing to write.
Lu Shiyan froze.
Usually, whenever this girl saw him in public, she acted as though she didn’t know him and even avoided him.
Why was she smiling at him today?
He remained where he was, quietly watching her.
After recording the last work-point slip, Su Wanqing looked up and found that he was still standing there.
After a moment’s thought, she stood up, smoothed her dress, and walked toward him.
Lu Shiyan watched her approach step by step, his brows slowly knitting together.
Dressed like this, she was wandering all over the threshing ground.
The eyes of every young man there were practically glued to her.
That kid Erhu had found excuses to run over to the scorekeeper’s table four or five times all morning.
Stopping in front of him, Su Wanqing tilted her face up.
“What are you looking at?”
Lu Shiyan lowered his gaze to meet hers but said nothing.
Whatever she had put on her face made her complexion rosy and fair.
He had no idea where she had dug up that dress.
Two buttons at the neckline were undone, revealing a small stretch of her collarbone.
“Do I look pretty?” Su Wanqing asked again.
Lu Shiyan’s Adam’s apple bobbed.
“I’m talking to you.” Su Wanqing pouted. “You’ve been staring at me all morning. At least tell me whether I look good or not.”
Lu Shiyan’s voice came out slightly hoarse.
“Dressed like that… aren’t you cold?”
Su Wanqing burst into laughter.
“It’s the middle of summer. Why would I be cold?”
She deliberately stepped a little closer.
As Lu Shiyan looked at the face now only inches away, he caught the faint scent drifting from her.
It wasn’t the smell of clam-shell face cream.
It was a soft, pleasant fragrance.
