Qiao Ci looked at the reduced quota for the day and nodded, not rushing to grab work.
Zhou Ye was full of energy, his strong arms wielding the sickle with great vigor. Little Spoon exclaimed in the space, "Good heavens!"
"Host, I've found that it's quite good for your cub to be like this now. At least you can completely kick back and retire."
A cute electronic voice reached Qiao Ci's mind.
Qiao Ci looked at Zhou Ye with deep eyes and replied earnestly, "As long as he's happy."
Li Wushuang saw Qiao Ci shamelessly hiding aside to rest while she toiled hard, and her heart felt unbalanced.
She touched her sun-reddened face. If she got tanned, there would be no more spiritual spring water to fix it!
She tiptoed to look at Lu Ming, then put down her sickle and walked to sit beside Qiao Ci.
She said sarcastically, "Some people really have the temperament of a spoiled young lady. They're assigned the same work, yet they secretly hide and slack off. Truly shameless."
"I am indeed a young lady, and Zhou Ye is willing. What does it have to do with you?" The sweltering weather made people inexplicably irritable. Qiao Ci took out her water bottle, poured a cup of water, and drank it leisurely.
Perhaps it was a psychological effect, but whenever Li Wushuang saw Qiao Ci drinking water, she couldn't help but think of her own spiritual spring. Seeing that Qiao Ci's skin was even more delicate than hers, who frequently drank spiritual spring water, she became green with envy. "What water are you drinking?"
Qiao Ci glanced at her lazily. "Naturally, it's good water."
"Is it... spiritual spring water?" Thinking of Qiao Ci's kick, she wondered if that kick had somehow taken away her spiritual spring. She thought it impossible, but Li Wushuang couldn't help but question, "Qiao Ci, did you use some sort of sorcery to steal my things?"
"Heh, steal? Aren't you always the one who likes to steal things?" Qiao Ci gave her a meaningful look.
"What do you mean?" Li Wushuang looked at her warily.
"Shuangshuang?" Lu Ming was hot, tired, and thirsty. He looked up and saw Li Wushuang resting in the shade, feeling a bit unbalanced, he called out, "Shuangshuang?"
"Yes!" Li Wushuang immediately forgot what Qiao Ci meant. She picked up the water prepared nearby and walked to Lu Ming, saying considerately, "Are you thirsty? Have some water."
"Mm." Lu Ming thought Li Wushuang wanted to slack off, but he didn't expect her to get him water. He felt his thought was unmanly. Seeing Qiao Ci also resting nearby, he blurted out, "It's too sunny today. You should rest a bit longer before working."
Li Wushuang felt Lu Ming was becoming more considerate of her. She immediately responded shyly, "Okay, Ming Ge, you've worked hard."
Lu Ming: ...
He didn't expect her to agree so quickly, thinking she would share more of the burden. But the words were already out, so Lu Ming had no choice but to continue cutting rice stalks.
In the more than a month since he came to the countryside, he had become considerably tanned.
Zhou Ye would occasionally look up at his wife, then plunge back into frantic harvesting. He felt he had endless strength. Thinking that Qiao Ci would move into his place after work, his anticipation grew even stronger.
Soon, Zhou Ye finished his work with nimble hands and feet. With his long limbs, he ran to Qiao Ci's side, looking at her with a face eager for praise. "Wife, I'm done with the work!"
"Mm, good boy." Qiao Ci patted his head as a reward. His short hair was a bit prickly.
It wasn't as soft as she'd imagined. Qiao Ci frowned slightly, smoothed his hair a couple of times, then let go.
Just then, a black sedan drove towards them and stopped beside them.
The car window rolled down, and a dignified, elegant noblewoman, her chin almost lifted to the sky, looked at them and asked, "Is this Longtian Village?"
Zhou Ye was too busy looking at his wife to reply to the noblewoman. Qiao Ci was feeling a bit irritated and didn't want to speak.
The noblewoman waited for a while without a reply from the two, feeling displeased. She had stopped to ask for directions because the two had good looks, but they were so impolite. Her voice grew louder, "Can you hear me? Is this Longtian Village? I'm looking for Lu Ming."
Qiao Ci then deigned to cast her a glance, but only a glance before turning her head away.
Zhou Ye, disliking the noblewoman's condescending tone, also didn't reply. He simply shouted towards Lu Ming, "Lu Ming, someone's looking for you."
Lu Ming had also finished most of his work, almost exhausted. Hearing this, he looked over and saw his family's car. He dropped what he was holding and ran over happily, "Mom."
Lu Mu's heart ached at seeing her son so tanned and thin. She opened the car door and held up an umbrella. "Son, you've suffered. Poor thing, you're almost carbonized by the sun. I told you not to come to this poor and remote place, but you insisted. Now look, where's the trace of a young master you used to have?"
Lu Ming knew his mother was worried about him and just smiled foolishly, "Why didn't Dad come?"
"Your dad has business matters to attend to and couldn't get away."
"Oh, Mom, let me introduce my new girlfriend."
He then waved towards Li Wushuang, who had stopped in the field and was watching him, "Shuangshuang, come here."
Li Wushuang was incredibly nervous. In this life and her previous one, this was the first time she was meeting Lu Ming's mother. She walked over shyly, appearing very flustered and uneasy. She didn't dare to look directly at Mrs. Lu, lowering her eyes like a bullied young wife, and said in a small voice, "Hello, Auntie."
Mrs. Lu saw that she looked decent and her skin wasn't as rough as a village girl's, but her disposition... Mrs. Lu looked at her with disdain and said unceremoniously, "Why are you so timid?" httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
Li Wushuang's eyes immediately turned red at being spoken to like that.
Lu Ming quickly stepped in to smooth things over, "Mom, Shuangshuang is shy with strangers. Wait here for me for a moment, I'll finish today's quota, and we'll leave together soon!"
Seeing her precious son working like a wild man cutting rice stalks, Mrs. Lu glared at Li Wushuang, who was standing there blankly, "Aren't you going to help? Standing there blankly while my son works alone?"
Li Wushuang quickly ran over. In her haste, she tripped and fell, feeling very embarrassed. She secretly resented Mrs. Lu.
The driver brought a folding chair from the trunk. Mrs. Lu told him to place it in the shade for her to sit.
As if forgetting the young man and woman in front of her who had ignored her, Mrs. Lu, wearing a sun hat that only revealed her nose and below, asked Qiao Ci, "Hey, young lady, I have something to ask you. That Shuangshuang who was with Lu Ming just now, what's her reputation like in your village?"
Qiao Ci curved her lips. This time she replied, "Reputation? Very good."
Mrs. Lu was no easy person to deal with. Having been tormented by Lu Ming's grandmother, she was particularly harsh on her daughters-in-law. Even the original host, the richest daughter, had suffered much grievance. One could imagine the fate of Li Wushuang, who had nothing.