Chapter 739 - 735: The Brigade Leader Secures the Materials

"Excellent, excellent! I never expected Gu Zhiqing to be so incredible, coming up with yet another invention. You have her rest easy at home and build the tools, and you stay home and help. As long as the items are built, I’ll record twenty work points for each of you every day."

The team leader was so excited, his hands were trembling.

He felt that as long as Leng Yuan and Gu Jiaojiao were in their Qingshan Team, the team was bound to prosper.

After looking at the wheat thresher, the team leader noticed two more blueprints and couldn’t help but ask about them.

Leng Yuan explained them to the team leader.

The team leader was so shocked his jaw trembled. All he could stammer out was, "Wonderful, wonderful! This is great, and it’s simple, too. Tell you what! You two build these first. That way, we can use them right away."

The work on the team was divided. Some people dug pits, others planted the corn kernels, and still others watered the fields and spread manure. The tasks were all done in tandem.

Gu Jiaojiao went home because she couldn’t stand the smell.

And yet, after just two days at home, she’d already come up with these time- and labor-saving devices.

"How about this: write down all the materials you need for me. Tomorrow, I’ll get someone to write up a requisition slip and go look for them at the scrap station. I’ll make sure to gather everything you’ve requested. And how many people do you need to help build them? I’ll arrange the manpower for you immediately."

If it were just one small corn planter, Leng Yuan could have handled it alone. But the team leader wanted eight or ten of them made so everyone would have one to use.

Leng Yuan didn’t refuse. He wrote down a clear list of the required items and then headed back.

The team leader was too excited to sleep. Late that night, he went and knocked on the doors of a dozen or so households, telling those people to skip their usual work and gather at Leng Yuan’s house instead. There was important work to do.

These were the main workers from the threshing ground.

Hearing the team leader’s announcement, everyone felt uneasy. ’What on earth could have happened,’ they wondered, ’to make him come around with news in the middle of the night?’

The next day, when everyone reported for work, the village chief was the one supervising. The team leader was nowhere in sight.

The village chief offered no explanation. Taking a closer look, the workers noticed that quite a few people were absent and began to whisper among themselves.

"That Gu Jiaojiao hasn’t shown up for work for three days straight. They said it was because she couldn’t stand the smell in the fields. How delicate can you get? She’s dragging down the whole team’s morale with her attitude."

"I’m telling you, if she hadn’t been slacking off, do you think Sun Yeshu would’ve gotten into a fight with Leng Qingtian and run back to her parents’ house?"

As they toiled miserably, hauling manure, they thought of Gu Jiaojiao, who got to stay home at her leisure. She didn’t have to bake under the sun or perform back-breaking labor, yet she ate well, dressed warmly, and lived comfortably. A sense of injustice festered in their hearts.

’She’s an educated youth sent to the countryside, and she married a peasant. What gives her the right not to work?’

And truth be told, that sentiment resonated with quite a few people.

For the most part, the people in the village were good-natured, but a few held a grudge against Gu Jiaojiao.

For instance, there was Li Hongmei from the educated youth quarters.

She was consumed by a sense of unfairness. She and Gu Jiaojiao were both educated youths, so why was it that when she asked for a day off, the team leader had chewed her out, but when Gu Jiaojiao did the same, he readily approved it?

’Isn’t that blatant favoritism?’

Li Hongmei was not the type to suffer in silence. For days on end, she had been out in the fields, openly and passive-aggressively criticizing Gu Jiaojiao for her "spoiled princess" attitude. She even claimed the team leader was just sucking up to Leng Yuan and didn’t dare to cross him.

Needless to say, her words had an impact.

Those who didn’t know the full story were easily swayed.

This time, none of the people on good terms with Gu Jiaojiao had been assigned to their work area, so the gossip grew louder.

Everyone was saying the team leader was playing favorites.

He wouldn’t let anyone else take time off, but Gu Jiaojiao could, apparently.