The field over here is not idle at all, while tidying up the mess on her body, she listens to the movement next door.
She glances angrily at the hole in the wall, not knowing when the wall peeled off, and leaked such a big hole. Fortunately, the neighbor, Lao Zhu, pasted the wall with a stack of firewood, otherwise she would have been spied on long ago.
Putting on her pants, she grabs a shovel and yellow mud from the corner of the wall and starts to fill the hole in the wall.
Thinking about the stack of firewood next door, she feels particularly insecure. If someone has ill intentions, stepping on the stack of firewood would allow them to jump into her yard.
In addition to what Lao Zhu said earlier, the field feels even more uneasy. As the saying goes, "It's not that I'm afraid of thieves stealing, I'm afraid of thieves thinking."
After walking around the yard wall a few times, she digs a trench half a meter deep under the wall with a pickaxe from the mud shed. If someone tries to jump over the wall, they will definitely break their arms and legs, if not die, they will be half crippled.
The field is strong, and she finishes the work in no time, but she is covered in sweat again.
As for the stack of firewood next door, the field can't do anything about it for a while. She can make decisions inside the yard, but not outside.
If she is too particular and doesn't allow others to stack firewood against her wall, she will be criticized by the village women.
In Shanggang Village, every household has a yard surrounded by fences. There are no more than three households with mud walls: the team leader's house, the team's warehouse, and her field's house.
The three large rooms in the field's house were left to her by her father. Her father was a disabled soldier who settled in Shanggang Village. When he was alive, he received monthly subsidies from the county, making their family slightly more prosperous than others in the village.
When her father just passed away, there were people eyeing this yard. If her father hadn't died to save the team's property, a lone girl like her wouldn't have been able to keep this yard and the backyard.
After inspecting the yard wall, confirming that it was safe, and finding no more holes, the field put away her tools.
She washed the dirty towel in a large basin and draped it over her arm. She effortlessly lifted the large wooden basin that reached her knees and poured the dirty water into the vegetable garden. She then tidied up the wooden basin. Sometimes the field wonders where she gets such strength from with her small stature.
She had to admit that she didn't starve to death here, but she lost a lot of her strength. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been easy for a teenage girl like her to live alone in the countryside.
After hearing the conversation at the Zhu family, the field lost her appetite for cooking.
Although it was despicable for Mrs. Zhu to scheme against her, she also gave her a wake-up call. Since she arrived here without parents and grew up like this, she couldn't afford to be calculated in her marriage. She had to plan ahead and be vigilant.
Thinking about all the messy things, the field's face darkened. The villagers are simple and kind, but that's only when you don't touch their interests.
Every household is short of food and drink these days. For a handful of grain, even siblings would curse each other. Otherwise, how could they be self-sufficient without conditions to help others?
The field has been in Shanggang Village for three or four years. When she first arrived, she looked like a seven or eight-year-old child at the age of ten. She was not well-received in the village, and the rumors of her being an orphan and being mistreated by her parents made people reluctant to approach her. She was often bullied by the village children.
The women in the village were not so particular. They would protect her, and sometimes they would say that the wild girl had a hard life. But if the field lost in a fight with someone's child, it was okay. If the field won, the village women would chase her and beat her.
Those days were so bitter.
The field suffered a lot in the village during those years. Even if she were a real young girl, she didn't know if she could survive.
As she grew older, life got a little better, but then came the unpleasantness. She heard about the Zhu family's plans. Although she looked like a black monkey outside, as Mrs. Zhu said, there were probably many people plotting against her.
It was better to be bullied as a child.
This kind of thing is too disgusting. Mrs. Zhu's disdain for her is still good, but the lecherous and lascivious looks from idle men are truly disgusting.
After the sky darkened, a cool breeze blew into the yard. The weather was no longer so hot that it made it hard to breathe, and the field finally felt like cooking for herself.
Seeing that it was dark, she put on a clean thin shirt and opened the door to fetch firewood, intending to meet with Mrs. Niu in the west yard.
Touching her face, she was lucky that it was dark, which could hide her skin color. To prevent Mrs. Niu from noticing any difference from usual, the field didn't even dare to raise her eyelids and greeted her in a low voice, "Mrs. Niu."
Mrs. Niu was surprised and said, "Oh, what are you doing so late at night? Why does your face look so bright tonight? Wild girl, let me tell you, when you go on a blind date in the future, you should pick a night when you look a little fairer."
The field's face darkened. Mrs. Niu was mocking her, "Mrs. Niu, are you saying that people should see my white teeth?"
Niu Danni laughed and said, "Yeah, how can a black girl have white teeth? It turns out your teeth are white." "You really are not likable," she added. "By the way, I came to tell you that when I passed by the captain's house earlier, his wife said for you to come over tonight. Don't forget, I made sure to pass on the message."
Tianye replied in a muffled voice, "Got it."
The villagers were not known for being polite, and Tianye became even more rough and curt after moving to this area. She didn't waste a single extra word. Her unlikable image had become deeply ingrained in people's minds.
Niu Danni had already turned and walked away, grabbing a handful of firewood from her own stack as she went. She said to herself, "It just so happens that I need some kindling. This stuff is much better than leaves and straw."
Tianye rolled her eyes. Of course it's useful, but it's not like it belongs to me. Niu Danni wasn't a bad person, she just liked to take advantage. Whenever she visited someone's home, she never left empty-handed.
Everyone in the village knew about this bad habit of hers, and she had quite a reputation. No one wanted to get on her bad side.
Tianye's good habit of locking the door when leaving and latching it when entering was all thanks to her.
Tianye didn't want to indulge her bad habit. If she took some firewood from her own home today, tomorrow she might start eyeing their large water jar. "If it's so convenient for you, when autumn comes, I'll have my father bring back a couple of bundles from the mountain for you. There's plenty of it up there."
Niu Danni didn't take offense and replied to Tianye's sense of justice, "You talk so lightly. It's a long way, and your father doesn't have your strength. Otherwise, when autumn comes, you can help me carry back a couple of bundles. You're strong, so walking a bit won't be a problem."