"Yes."
Xie Jiaojiao replied.
Her soft, gentle Mandarin, tinged with the Wu dialect, instantly struck a chord in everyone's hearts. The villagers waiting to be assigned farm work began chatting among themselves.
"Xie Zhiqing's way of speaking really isn't bad. Can't quite say why, but it feels just right."
"That's true. She's a city girl, a cultured educated youth — how could she compare to us country bumpkins?"
"Not necessarily. Look at Liu Zhiqing; her way of speaking still has that rough, earthy flavor if you listen closely. Now Xie Zhiqing, her words have a little hook to them, like they're tickling your heart."
"You're just missing women, Er Paizi!"
…
The villagers weren't fools — of course they knew when someone was talking behind another's back. They all leaned close, lowering their voices, whispering this and that. But country folk naturally spoke loudly; even when they tried to hush, the words still slipped through like an invisible wind, piercing ears with ease.
Xie Jiaojiao kept her gaze fixed on Jiang Xiu, deep in thought, ignoring the villagers' chatter. Liu Niannian wore a sour expression — seriously, why was Xie Jiaojiao dragging her into this? She had only moved to the Xie family at seven or eight years old and had spent years shaking off her Northeastern accent and rough countryside tone. She was doing pretty well now.
A bunch of narrow-minded, small-town bumpkins who knew nothing, yet couldn't keep their mouths shut.
Annoying beyond belief!
More displeased than Liu Niannian was Jiang Xiu, who had been called the village's "flower" since childhood.
Xie Jiaojiao was like a thorn in her side!
Right after arriving in the countryside, she had stolen Jiang Xiu's title as village beauty and persistently chased after the male educated youth Jiang Xiu liked. Just yesterday, she even got Jiang Xiu scolded by her father and punished to kneel for half an hour.
Jiang Xiu's eyes burned with fury as she slammed the table and shouted at the villagers waiting in line behind her, "Quiet down! If anyone talks again, you're going to hoe fields on the west side of the village!"
The west side was all barren land. "Hoeing the fields" there was just clearing the wasteland. One strike of the hoe would crack the hard, dry earth — nothing like other places where a light scrape would bring up soft, loose soil.
Everyone understood the reality behind the task and shook their heads, lips immediately sealed.
Having shown off her authority, Jiang Xiu gave Xie Jiaojiao a contemptuous glance.
So what if the city educated youth was prettier than her?
In Jiangjia Village, even a tiger would have to bow to her.
Jiang Xiu handed Xie Jiaojiao a poor-quality hoe and said, "You city educated youth have high ideological awareness. Go work the west side fields and help develop the countryside!"
"Caw, caw."
[Zhuge Beauty, don't be foolish and agree to that. The ground's tough to till, and it's all men there — no women at all.]
Xie Jiaojiao listened to Black Crow's words and gave Jiang Xiu a cold glare.
Good.
She had been hesitating whether to let Jiang Xiu off for Jiang Tao's sake, but now there was no need.
That one look alone made Jiang Xiu's skin crawl.
When Jiang Xiu snapped out of it and realized she had been intimidated by Xie Jiaojiao, she was about to scold her again — but saw Xie Jiaojiao obediently take the hoe from her hand and turn away.
Jiang Xiu felt a heavy weight building in her chest. No matter if she went or not, it was unbearable.
"Scorekeeper, where should I go?" After Xie Jiaojiao left, Liu Niannian's face was pale and innocent as she quietly asked.
Who was so insensitive?
Hadn't she just been sulking?
"You…" Jiang Xiu caught sight of Liu Niannian and twisted the words "west side of the village" on her tongue, "You go to the east side."
Liu Niannian's timid appearance annoyed Jiang Xiu — how grown-up was she, yet she had no backbone, always trailing after Xie Jiaojiao like a servant, putting in effort but gaining nothing.
If not for the fact that Liu Niannian had inadvertently helped her before, Jiang Xiu wouldn't bother with her.
Hearing this, the unease at the corner of Liu Niannian's brow vanished and was replaced by a gleam of joy.
She had expected Jiang Xiu to assign her the same hard work as Xie Jiaojiao, since outsiders saw them as inseparable sisters. She hadn't expected to be sent to the east side.
Liu Niannian was no fool who, after only a month in the countryside, ran after men like Xie Jiaojiao. Over the past month, she had quietly gotten a good grasp of the village dynamics — otherwise, Jiang Xiu's ploy to sow discord between her and Xie Jiaojiao wouldn't have been so easily spotted.
The land on the east side was good — fertile and soft, and the work was easier.
She gratefully took the hoe and headed off to work.
"Caw, caw."
[Er Paizi, did you see? When trouble comes, that Honeycomb Coal doesn't care about you at all — she happily took the easy work and left.]
[Honeycomb Coal only sings sweet words. But look at how her eyes dart around. Crow Master doesn't believe she doesn't know the tricks of land distribution.]
[You're such an Er Paizi — sold out and still counting the money for them.]
The hawk excitedly jabbered on, oblivious to Xie Jiaojiao's increasingly dark expression.
"Caw!"
Suddenly the hawk let out a piercing scream!
It glared furiously at Xie Jiaojiao, who had cruelly pulled out its feathers without mercy.
"What are you glaring at? One more time calling me Er Paizi and I'll pluck you bald."
The hawk muttered insults under its breath about Xie Jiaojiao's cold heart but smiled ingratiatingly on the surface.
"Caw."
[Zhuge Beauty, it's all Honeycomb Coal's fault for always calling you Er Paizi. Crow Master just says it out of habit. But don't worry, Crow Master remembers and won't do it again.]
Alas, life as a crow is hard.
From now on, Crow Master will whisper so no one thinks he's foolish.
Xie Jiaojiao withdrew her gaze from Liu Niannian and glanced at Jiang Xiu, who was busy assigning tasks, her eyes flashing with thought.
After a moment, she said, "Hawk, do something for me. I'll give you ham tonight."
"Caw."
[That's the one you sneak to nibble on at night?]
Xie Jiaojiao raised an eyebrow — the hawk had been tailing her for a while and knew all her secrets.
Seeing Xie Jiaojiao nod, the hawk got excited. That ham smelled delicious, and it had been craving it for ages, but the cabinet was locked and it couldn't reach any.
"Caw!"
[What is it? Leave it to Crow Master — I'll get it done beautifully for you.]
Xie Jiaojiao quietly gave the hawk some instructions, then watched as it strutted off arrogantly.
Of course, this was only how the hawk imagined it.
Xie Jiaojiao watched the staggering black crow and couldn't help but doubt whether the creature could really find what she was looking for.
But she couldn't afford to be careless either — she couldn't just trespass into someone's yard and rummage around wildly.
All she could do was hope that the hawk would be reliable enough to help her find the evidence.
If not, maybe she'd have to try Jiang Ye?
As these thoughts ran through her mind, she made her way toward the worksite.
"Xie Zhiqing, you're in the wrong place. This isn't where women are supposed to be,"
"Yeah, with those skinny arms and legs, one strike of the hoe and you wouldn't even make a crack in the soil."
As Xie Jiaojiao stepped closer to the west side of the village, the men laboring there put down their hoes, casting teasing glances her way and talking among themselves.
Some were genuinely helpful, some looked down on her, and others tried to butter her up…
At first, the comments were fairly decent, but as Xie Jiaojiao's graceful figure became more visible, the men's gazes grew bold, and their words took on a more suggestive tone.
"Xie Zhiqing, come work here. If you can't handle the hoe, just call out 'Brother,' and I'll help you."
"Call him 'Brother'? Or 'Beloved Brother'?"
…
Xie Jiaojiao kept a cold expression and ignored their teasing completely. She found a patch of ground where no one was working and prepared to start.
But just as she raised the hoe, a chilling voice sounded from behind her.
"What are you doing here?"