Yun Fujin wasn't as optimistic as Yun Jianzhou. What he feared most now was the villagers' gossiping. After all, the last time they ate meat, the news had spread like wildfire, forcing them to hand over all their sweet potatoes.
"Big brother, cheer up! It's not a bad thing. If you're afraid of everything, is it still worth living?" Yun Jianzhou said helplessly.
He pulled out a small stool, plopped down on it, and crossed his legs.
"The villagers all say our family works fast. Look, isn't this a good thing?"
Yun Fujin slapped Yun Jianzhou on the back of his head. "Sit properly! Put your legs down!"
"Hey? Do you have to even care how I sit at home?"
Although Yun Jianzhou grumbled, his body honestly sat up straight.
"Let them look down on us usually. This time, they'll all be envious!"
Yun Que'er, who was adding firewood beside the stove, let out a soft laugh. "Silly brother, do you really think they're praising us? They're just jealous."
"Really?" Yun Jianzhou scratched his head like a simple-minded fool. "You're just a little girl. You're thinking too much. If they praise you, it's just praise. How can it be related to jealousy?"
Yun Que'er tossed her braids and sighed.
Yun Jianzhou was good in every aspect, especially as a strong laborer. If he used the same knife as Yun Yi, he would definitely be the fastest worker in the family.
The only problem was that his mind was a bit inflexible. To be precise, he was straightforward. He didn't know how to hide his emotions and couldn't guess what others were scheming.
Seeing that Yun Que'er didn't say a word, Yun Jianzhou felt a bit uneasy.
"Are they really jealous of our family? What's there to be jealous of? The capable should do more. Don't they understand this truth?"
Yun Fujin picked up Yun Que'er and moved her away from the fire. Then he turned to look at Yun Jianzhou and couldn't help but give him another slap on the head.
"You're not even as good as little Que'er. Learn from her. Be more low - key. Don't let everyone know how capable our family is. Even if they do know, we should try to keep a low profile. Don't show off when you're happy."
"Okay, okay, I got it." Yun Jianzhou picked up a poker and prodded the firewood in the stove pit. "By the way, we finished the grass - collecting work yesterday afternoon. There's nothing left to do in this area. Where can we earn work points now?"
Yun Que'er, who was drooling at the smell of the rice in the pot, turned around. "Of course, we should ask for more work. I heard big brother say yesterday that we're going to plant the last batch of rice seedlings soon, right?"
It was already midsummer. After planting this last batch of crops, there wouldn't be much work left to do. They just needed to weed and catch pests.
This meant that before the autumn harvest, except for the daily task of collecting pig grass, there would be no other way to earn work points in the fields. So they had to seize this last opportunity.
Reminded by Yun Que'er, Yun Jianzhou got excited and quickly stood up, planning to go find the village head.
But just as he reached the door, he suddenly remembered something and turned to look at Yun Que'er in confusion.
"Didn't you just say that others are jealous of us? Is it appropriate for us to be so prominent?"
Yun Que'er looked at Yun Jianzhou twice and couldn't help but giggle.
Yun Fujin also rolled his eyes at Yun Jianzhou. "Are you stupid? Every year when it comes to transplanting rice seedlings, the work is evenly distributed according to the number of people. How could you forget?"
Yun Jianzhou slapped his forehead hard. Damn it! He only remembered to ask for a larger plot of land for his family and forgot about this rule.
Every year in the village, when it was time to transplant rice seedlings, all the villagers were gathered together. They didn't care whose land it was. They just worked together.
But when it came to distributing food and work points in the end, it was allocated according to the size of each family's land. It was really unfair.
But now it didn't matter. Their family had got a larger plot of land. Working more now was actually a good thing for them.
So Yun Jianzhou quickly went out and found the village head. He completed the matter smoothly.
He came back and gobbled up his breakfast, then was eager to go out.
"Why are you in such a hurry?" Yun Fujin asked.
Yun Jianzhou wiped his mouth. "I've already talked to the village head. After breakfast, I'll go to him to get the rice seedlings. We have to get more. First come, first served. Only in this way can we earn more work points!"
Yun Que'er looked at Yun Jianzhou in surprise. Would the village head be so kind?
Yun Jianzhou's smooth handling of this matter had already surprised Yun Que'er. And the village head had directly said that he would distribute the rice seedlings immediately. It was really suspicious, as if he was deliberately inciting something.
"Is he up to no good?" Yun Que'er said. "We've had so many conflicts with him before. He's disliked us for a long time. Would he be so willing to help our family?"
"Maybe he's scared." Yun Jianzhou said indifferently. "After all, we fished him out of the stinky ditch. Maybe he's afraid that we'll tell others and he'll lose face as the village head. Anyway, as long as our family benefits."
But Yun Que'er still felt something was wrong. She always felt that something was off, but she couldn't tell exactly why.
Then she thought, if it was a blessing, it wouldn't be a disaster; if it was a disaster, she couldn't avoid it. If it was really a good thing, they should definitely take the opportunity. Anyway, they would deal with any problems that came their way. If the village head really intended to harm them, Yun Que'er would never let him get away with it.
So she finished the porridge in her bowl and ran up to tug at Yun Jianzhou's sleeve.
"I'll go with you."
Yun Que'er wanted to help with the work on the one hand, and on the other hand, she was afraid that Yun Jianzhou, this simple - minded fool, would fall into the village head's trap. So she went with him.
As expected, when they got there, the thing that Yun Que'er least wanted to see happened.
The village head did allocate a lot of rice seedlings to them and marked out the area where they should work. But when Yun Que'er got there, she found that it was on a slope. It had just rained heavily, and the land was wet and muddy.
It was already difficult to work because of the terrain. And with so much water, it was easier for the new rice seedlings to drown. Wasn't this deliberately making things difficult for them?
Not to mention how much effort their whole family would have to put in to finish the work, if the seedlings drowned, the blame would fall on them!
Yun Jianzhou finally believed Yun Que'er. He was so angry that he almost threw the rice seedlings in his hand on the ground.
"This old bastard is really up to no good. I'll go back and find him!"
"Hey, second brother, forget it." Yun Que'er quickly stopped Yun Jianzhou. "Didn't you notice when we came out? There were a lot of people on the way rushing to get the seedlings. Obviously, the village head spread the news. Everyone knows that our family is going to work, so they're all rushing here. Even if you go back to find him now, you'll just make a fool of yourself. Besides, he did allocate this land to you. There's no problem."