Chapter 8 "How about we make a bet?"

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Ma Zhiming clutched his chest and said, "Team Leader, I need to take a day off today." After recounting the events of the previous day, without any embellishment, he added, "Team Leader, you have to take this seriously and find out who did this." Su Fu raised an eyebrow and said, "Ma Zhiqing, are you pretending to be sick here just to avoid work? Yesterday you were already picky and difficult, and now you’re staging this show for me." His voice was loud and clear, drawing the attention of everyone nearby, who began to murmur among themselves.

Ma Zhiming rolled up his sleeve to reveal the bruises on his arm. "Team Leader, look, I really was beaten last night."

Su Fu replied, "Such minor injuries aren't a reason to skip work. This is just shirking responsibility. There's no one like you in our entire team. You should ask around—if this happened in another team, you’d be punished by being assigned to clean manure or sent to the farm."

Those around chimed in, "Exactly. No team leader is better than ours. It’s just you city youths causing trouble. The team leader might as well send you all to the farm."

Ma Zhiming found it impossible to argue with these uneducated peasants and was about to retort when a local troublemaker shouted, "Kids in the field fight without telling their parents, and you expect the team leader to protect you? Is he your father or mother?"

Laughter erupted around him, and Ma Zhiming’s face flushed red.

Su Fu raised an eyebrow, glanced at Wang Biao, then turned back to Ma Zhiming. "Go ask about Biaozi’s past. Look at him now—he works every day and behaves well. If you don’t show up today, you’ll be cleaning manure for a month starting tomorrow. If everyone acted like you, would the work even get done?"

Wang Biao puffed out his chest proudly upon hearing the team leader’s praise, shooting an arrogant look at Ma Zhiming.

As a scholar, Ma Zhiming would never stoop to cleaning manure. He would rather starve for days than do that. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he took up his tools and went to break new ground.

The night before, he had asked everyone at the youth work team, but no one had seen who beat him. It seemed the assailant wasn’t from their group, deepening his suspicion.

Today, Su Heng deliberately had Su Fu transfer Ma Zhiming from the western cornfield to the eastern one just to watch how he worked the land. If he didn’t work hard enough, Su Heng planned to beat him again tonight.

Meanwhile, Xie Beishen had gone to the western cornfield, missing Su Heng altogether. If Xie had seen him even once, he surely would have recognized the attacker.

Ma Zhiming had never endured such hardship before. The cornfield had some shade, but breaking new ground meant full exposure under the sun. After just a little work, blisters had formed on his hands.

His hands were also scratched by thorns, looking pitifully battered.

Other youth workers had gloves; he hadn’t even thought to bring any.

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His body ached more and more. He had barely sat down for a minute when he heard Wang Biao’s loud voice from the cornfield ahead: "Ma Zhiqing, are you slacking off again?"

Wang Biao’s voice was loud enough to draw the attention of everyone nearby toward Ma Zhiming.

Gritting his teeth in hatred, Ma Zhiming stood and continued working. By noon, Wang Biao came over and said, "Lin Zhiqing, you just don’t work enough. This afternoon I’ll keep an eye on you. You won’t be a deadweight anymore. I’ll turn you into an active worker and cure your delicate sickness."

After saying this, Wang Biao strode off. He was pale and fair, a pretty boy who always wore a white shirt. The village girls and female youth workers liked him, which left him still single and frustrated. Could he not be angry?

Ma Zhiming’s face twitched with rage as he limped back to the youth work team.

Su Heng passed by with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. "Ma Zhiqing, work hard this afternoon. You did well today. I’ll praise you properly in front of my father. Soon you’ll be transferred somewhere else."

Ma Zhiming eyed Su Heng suspiciously, wondering if he knew what he had done to Su Heng’s sister. Holding back the pain, he said, "Alright, thank you."

Su Heng went home, cursing inwardly. How could someone so foolish dare to bully his sister?

When Su Heng returned, he found his sister sitting dazedly in the courtyard, her gaze fixed toward the chicken coop.

In recent days, he had noticed a change in her—a look he had never seen before. She had never appeared so lost.

He blamed that scoundrel. His sister had surely suffered a heavy blow this time.

Seeing his father smoking worriedly in the main room, he called out, "Father."

Su Fu took a long drag and asked, "Did you handle that person last night? Was anyone watching?"

Su Heng didn’t expect his father to know so quickly he had been the one to intervene. He rubbed his nose and replied, "No."

Even if someone had seen him, Su Fu would have helped clean up the mess. "Go, comfort your sister," he said, his heart aching at the sight of his daughter.

Su Heng moved a chair to sit beside his sister. "What are you thinking about?"

Su Wanwan glanced at her second brother. "I’m planning how to navigate the future."

She had been upset these past two days since arriving here. She realized she couldn’t return to her previous life.

Since she was here, she had to make the best of it.

In this era of scarcity—where you needed a pass to go anywhere and tickets to buy anything—what could she do? Born into luxury, she certainly wouldn’t work in the fields. She was planning her future path.

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Given the timing, the college entrance exams would resume next year. With the reform and opening up, opportunities to earn money would emerge.

Right now, doing business was impossible—it would be labeled as speculation and profiteering, and getting caught could mean being sent to the farm.

She should focus on getting her diploma first. Before, she graduated from a top university and always won scholarships—a definite academic achiever.

There was no doubt she could pass the university entrance exam in this era.

Su Heng frowned. "Sis, don’t scare me. What kind of plan is this? Let me tell you, I beat up Ma Zhiming last night."

He described how he had dealt with him and mentioned the morning’s work in the fields.

Su Wanwan listened happily. In her book, the original owner had destroyed his entire family. She was determined to do something and make sure this man was sent to the farm.

Thinking of her second brother’s fate, she said, "Bro, do you know Liu Caixia? I know she’s entangled with many youth workers, especially Ma Zhiming. You mustn’t find a sister-in-law like her, understand?"

Su Heng poked Su Wanwan’s head. "What are you thinking about all day? I’m only eighteen—not in a hurry to find someone."

Su Wanwan rubbed the spot he poked. "Second Brother, have you thought about what you want to do? Or do you want to follow Big Brother and join the army?"

Su Heng said, "Never thought about joining the army. What can a farmer do? Just scratch a living in the fields."

"But I can’t work in the fields," Su Wanwan said. "I had a dream that the college entrance exam would resume next year. Let’s take it together—get into university first, then get to the city where Big Brother’s unit is."

She was making things up to have a reason for her second brother to take the exam with her.

"Ha ha ha..." Su Heng nearly laughed tears. "Sis, do you want to kill me with laughter? Forget the truth of your dream—did you even finish elementary school? And you talk about college? Do you know where Big Brother is in the capital? Is that a place we can get to?"

Su Wanwan was speechless.

Her second brother’s disbelief was understandable. The original owner hadn’t even graduated elementary school; no one would believe her, much less her dreams. How could she make him believe?

She rolled her eyes and smiled. "How about we make a bet?"