Chapter 28: Sweeping the Cow Shed
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Yu Yan didn’t go to work today, so she was so free at noon. She thought of Yu Bing and came over.
However, Yu Yan definitely wouldn’t foolishly say this. “I’ll rest later. I just heard that the back mountain has been haunted, so I came in a hurry to tell you. You should move to a villager’s house closest to the youth dormitory. We’re all people who support rural construction. If we’re closer, we can take care of each other.”
The ghost haunting the back mountain was indeed a rumor in the village, so everyone cut firewood on the mountain during the day. As long as it got a little late, they would hurry down the mountain. They didn’t dare to stay any longer. This wasn’t new. ...
Yu Yan only wanted to use this as an excuse to coax Yu Bing to move closer to her. She could only control Yu Bing when she was under her watch.
Yu Bing had been reborn. Moreover, she didn’t go up the mountain at night. Yu Yan’s abnormal actions made Yu Bing even more wary. After all, sometimes, human evil was more terrifying than a ghost.
Yu Bing couldn’t be bothered to beat around the bush with Yu Yan. She stared into Yu Yan’s eyes and said, “Yu Yan, are you superstitious?”
Yu Yan retorted loudly, “Don’t talk nonsense!”
Many people in the countryside still believed in ghosts and gods, but they wouldn’t say this on the surface. After all, the country advocated believing in science.
Yu Bing deliberately angered Yu Yan because she didn’t want to waste any more time with her. She planned to end things quickly and go back to sleep. Yu Yan didn’t have to work in the afternoon, but she still had to work.
At this moment, Yu Yan suddenly acted out of character. She tugged at the corner of her shirt and looked very aggrieved. She said with tears in her eyes, “Yu Bing, I’m just reminding you out of kindness. It’s fine if you don’t appreciate it, but how can you falsely accuse me? I’m just worried about your safety.”
Yu Bing was shocked by Yu Yan’s sudden pitiful act and looked at her in confusion.
At this moment, she heard a low and magnetic voice beside her. “Please make way.”
Yu Bing and Yu Yan stood opposite each other in the middle of the road. Yu Bing turned around and saw Xiao Sheng carrying the basket while trying to pass by. However, it wasn’t convenient to walk towards the middle or behind them, so he spoke.
Yu Bing hurriedly walked to the side and said, “Sorry!”
Xiao Sheng walked over without looking at the two of them. Previously, Xiao Sheng and Yu Bing had discussed that when there were people around, the two of them would try their best to avoid contact with each other lest they attracted attention.
When Yu Yan saw that Yu Bing was treated coldly by Xiao Sheng just like her, she knew that Xiao Sheng wasn’t always aloof because he didn’t like her. She was a little happy and was even a little mesmerized by Xiao Sheng’s cold personality.
Yu Bing was very surprised when she saw Yu Yan looking at Xiao Sheng’s back in a daze. According to what she knew, Yu Yan and Xiao Sheng didn’t have much interaction in her previous life. However, she couldn’t be bothered with this. She prepared to leave while Yu Yan was staring at his back in a daze.
Just as she was about to go home, she was shouted at by Sun Wang, who was passing by. “Yu Bing, I happened to meet you. After you’re done with work this afternoon, go clean the cowshed.”
After Sun Wang finished speaking, he left expressionlessly. As for Yu Yan, she looked like she was full of schadenfreude.
The cowshed was filled with cow dung. After entering for 10 minutes, one would smell like cow dung. This place was usually for the Black Five, those who were sent to the countryside to do labor reform. They were usually the ones who cleaned it. Occasionally, there would be villagers punished by the village chief to clean the cowshed.
The Black Five referred to farmers, traitors, criminals, and people who opposed the country’s policies.
Most of them weren’t bad people, and there was no lack of intellectuals and knowledgeable people among them. They should have contributed more to the country in their respective positions, but now, they could only appear in cowsheds and farms to do manual labor. It was the bad policies of this era that caused the current situation.
Yu Bing could guess why Sun Wang did this today.
Li Ping was Sun Wang’s sister-in-law. Li Ping hated Yu Bing for causing trouble and stopping Jiang Chun from staying in her house. Two days ago, she told Sun Wang that Yu Bing had offended her and asked him to arrange something for Yu Bing to do. This wasn’t a big deal. Moreover, they were family. Sun Wang couldn’t reject her.
Therefore, when he saw Yu Bing today, Sun Wang arranged for her to do some dirty work. This way, he would have an explanation for his sister-in-law.
Yu Bing had done all kinds of dirty and tiring work in her previous life. She picked up feces and fertilized it, repaired roads and river embankments, and once, she was working while she was sick and almost died. What was the big deal? Yu Bing ignored the gleeful Yu Yan and directly went home.
Although Yu Yan didn’t successfully change Yu Bing’s mind, Xiao Sheng’s performance and Yu Bing being called to clean the cowshed made her feel that this afternoon trip wasn’t in vain. She returned to the dormitory in satisfaction.