Lin Xiaoguai’s heart skipped a beat, and she quickly ran over. The other employees couldn’t stay seated either, thinking, "Could they have accidentally gathered a snake or insect with the rice?"
Worried, Lin Xiaoguai felt relieved when she saw that Qiaoqiao’s finger only had a red scratch. She then said to the somewhat panicked employees, "It’s okay, she was scratched by a rice spike, not bitten."
It turned out the rice spikes were too sharp, and Qiaoqiao’s skin was tender, which caused her hand to be scratched.
"There’s blood..." Qiaoqiao sobbed.
"It’s not bleeding, just red," Lin Xiaoguai said with a sense of helplessness toward the delicate young girl.
"Mommy, blow on it, it won’t hurt," Qiaoqiao held her finger up to her mouth.
"Okay, Mommy will blow on it and make the pain go away," Lin Xiaoguai affectionately kissed her finger and blew on it.
The children learned not to touch the rice spikes carelessly, and Qiaoqiao was coaxed into laughter. The employees also breathed a sigh of relief - having the little miss bitten on their watch would have been a disgrace to them.
"Boss, when are we shipping out this batch of rice that’s been threshed?" asked Mr. Feng, who had been silent until now.
"I’ve already arranged with the military canteen; once the rice is threshed, we’ll give them a call to come collect it." Pausing, Lin Xiaoguai inquired, "Mr. Feng, how many days do we need to dry the rice after threshing?"
"That depends on the sun, but if the sun is good, it can be threshed in three to four days. We’re lucky; I reckon the weather won’t turn too bad any time soon," Mr. Feng said with a squint and a smile.
"That’s good news," Lin Xiaoguai smiled. This was the farm’s first major deal with the military. Although they harvested wheat last year, the quantity was small and without a contract with the military, most of it was taken by Shen Chi as welfare for his subordinates. The remainder was distributed to friends and relatives.
"I’m not one to boast, but our farm’s rice yield is top-notch," Mr. Feng said, thumb upright. "I’ve been tending farmland for most of my life, and I’ve never seen land that produces crops . It’s the clever minds of you educated college graduates. If the old land was in our hands, it would be nothing but a low-grade field, nowhere near as fertile as this."
Lin Xiaoguai smiled sheepishly; it wasn’t her intelligence but the effective items from the exchange store that had made the farm’s land so fertile without much effort.
"Boss, it’s not good, someone is causing a commotion!" Just as she sought to divert the conversation, she heard someone running towards them, shouting.
"Chu Liuya, what happened?" seeing the female employee running over and gasping for air, someone immediately asked.
Chu Liuya looked at Lin Xiaoguai, "Boss, Ma Dongqin’s family is making trouble; they’ve even grabbed her and are threatening to hit her. Shuanzi is crying out of fear, and they’ve brought a large group of people. All of us are just the wives, we can’t stop them."
Lin Xiaoguai’s eyebrows furrowed, and she quickly said to the surrounding employees, "Let’s all go and deal with this."
There was no need for her to ask; the men had already grabbed their hoes and rakes and stood up.
Lin Xiaoguai looked on perplexedly, wanting to stop them, yet realizing that the aggressors meant trouble and a civilized approach was clearly unsuitable, she let them be.
Telling Mrs. Yu to take good care of the children, Lin Xiaoguai led a group to resolve the trouble.
Chu Liuya led them toward the South Gate, explaining as they ran, "We were originally going to wash some dirty clothes by the moat when that group came through the South Gate."
"Dongqin is usually tight-lipped, and no matter how foul the insults, she wouldn’t respond. I only learned what happened from Yun Shengnan, who’s from the same hometown."
"Dongqin was bought as a child bride by the Yang Family and was betrothed to Yang Tiezhu, the eldest son, when she was seven or eight. However, before they could marry, Yang Tiezhu joined the military and sacrificed his life. The Yang Family didn’t want to waste their money, so they made Dongqin marry Yang Tieniu, the second son. That Yang Tieniu was a good-for-nothing, treating Dongqin terribly. If not for her mother-in-law’s help, her life would’ve been even worse."
"Later, Yang Tieniu took a fancy to a rich family’s daughter in town and eagerly moved to marry her and bring a sizeable dowry home. Naturally, Dongqin then became the thorn in his eye, whom he couldn’t wait to remove."
"Afterwards, Yang Tieniu and his father, Yang Youfu, hatched a plan. Since there was no official certification of marriage between Dongqin and Yang Tieniu, they decided to say it was Yang Tiezhu, the deceased, who had married her. Then Yang Tieniu could marry the rich family’s daughter with a proper certificate."
"Dongqin was almost driven out by the father and son, but fortunately, she was pregnant at the time. Her mother-in-law insisted she stay."
"As time went by, Yang Tieniu married another wife. With the mother-in-law’s care, Dongqin got by, and with a child, her life had some hope. But after her mother-in-law passed away, nobody protected her. The new wife, familiar with the village, naturally knew the situation between Dongqin and Yang Tieniu, and she disliked Dongqin, not treating her like a human being, almost drowning baby Shuanzi in the toilet when he was just a month old."
"Dongqin couldn’t bear it anymore, and just then, Yun Shengnan’s husband returned and mentioned work at the farm. Dongqin, at Yun’s house, heard this and begged Yun’s husband to take her along. Considering that Dongqin was nominally Yang Tiezhu’s widow, he agreed to try. It turned out successful, and Dongqin followed him to the Capital."
By the time she finished the story, they had reached the South Gate, where they heard a haughty voice shouting.
"Ma Dongqin, who do you think you are to claim the title of a military wife? I never got to enjoy the blessings of my son, so there’s no way I’m letting you take advantage. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll pack up and scram. Regardless, this job isn’t yours anymore. Go back to where you came from."
The speaker was a skinny, short old man with wrinkled skin but eyes that shone bright, making him uncomfortable to look at. (To be continued. If you work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommended tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)