Chapter 35: He Yulan
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The Trinity brigade’s farmland crisscrossed, and there were many paddy fields, dry lands and woodlands on the mountain slopes. It was a spectacular sight when the entire production team’s labor force was working in the fields. It was late May, which was the season for transplanting rice seedlings.
In order to earn work points and plant the seedlings before the weather got too hot, most of the labor forces chose not to go back for lunch at noon and just dealt with the work.
When she left home in the morning, Su Xiu had only brought along two pieces of cornbread with her. After filling her stomach, she bent over and continued to transplant the rice seedlings.
There was no labor force in her family. Her eldest sister was the head of the family and had never done farm work since she was young.
Her second sister was an apprentice tailor, so she was the only one who could earn work points for the family.
Su Xiu’s partner was a woman in her twenties, called He Yulan. She was part of a minority group living in the mountains. It was said that their ancestors were nomads, and they had married into Trinity village. They were quite famous among the villages in the area. Whenever there were good happenings in the commune, they would take care of the minorities and He Yulan would get a share.
He Yulan had been hunting and logging in the forest since she was young. She had never done farm work, so her speed was slow. She had been a.s.signed to Su Xiu’s team, and they had been together for a long time, so their relationship was quite good.
He Yulan’s personality was fiery, and she had never liked the things Su Wen did, so she usually didn’t have any contact with the Su family. But she was good to Su Xiu. She liked Su Xiu’s hard-working, good, and kind personality. She wanted Su Xiu to marry her older brother.
At noon, He Yulan came back from lunch and heard about Su Wen and Zhang Chunxiang’s argument. As she transplanted the rice seedlings, she said, “Su Xiu, your big sister is too outrageous. Instead of going to the fields to earn work points, she only knows how to quarrel with Zhang Chunxiang. Can quarrels fill your stomach?”
After she finished speaking, she glanced at the small basket Su Xiu had placed on the ridge of the field. She guessed that she had eaten cornbread for lunch, and she could stand it no longer.
“The people who are earning work points here, which one of them doesn’t have a warm home-made meal that has been sent here? But you’re good, you’re only eating cornbread.”
“Sister Yulan, I’m full.” Su Xiu gave a warm smile. Her face under the straw hat was red from exhaustion. “My big sister is very good to me.”
“Don’t lie to me. Although I’m from the mountains, I’m literate. Do you really think I’m blind? And can’t tell what kind of person your big sister is?” He Yulan said disdainfully, “She’s idle and lazy, and only interested in men. How could you sisters matter to her?”
“That was in the past…” Su Xiu’s voice was a little softer.
Her big sister was not good in the past, but that was her big sister! She couldn’t be like an outsider and say bad things about her eldest sister.
No matter how bad she was, she was still her big sister.
Moreover, her big sister had changed for the better, and she liked her very much.
Su Xiu thought about how her eldest and youngest sister had been making and selling sleeve guards for the past half a month. They had even bought bones and meat with the money earned from the sales. She couldn’t help but smile warmly and contentedly, and was more energized as she worked.
He Yulan pursed her lips secretly. Look at her silly face. She had been bullied by her big sister, but she was still so silly.
She really didn’t know what her big brother saw in her.
She had given birth to a child last year, and her big brother had come to give her a red egg. He had unintentionally come across Su Xiu and remembered her. Although he didn’t say it directly, He Yulan had grown up with her big brother, so she still had some understanding of him.
At that time, the way her big brother had looked at Su Xiu was completely different from before. It was the way a man looked at a woman.
He Yulan’s big brother was very outstanding. When he was twelve, he had taken part in a hunting compet.i.tion and had caught a bear. After that, he had won first place in the compet.i.tion every year. There were many girls in the mountains who liked her big brother. Every morning, someone would pick a bouquet of flowers and secretly place it in front of their house.
Before He Yulan got married, she had thought it was for her.
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