Time Travel: My Comfortable Life After Going to the Countryside

A few days later, Zhang Weiguo finished cleaning the canal and had just breathed a sigh of relief when Wang Lixin's "inquiry" came again.

This time, he was assigned to be in charge of guarding the autumn harvest (guarding the straw stacks temporarily piled up next to the threshing ground after last year's autumn harvest, to prevent fire and theft). This job is not tiring, but it is time-consuming. He needs to stay in the small shack next to the empty threshing ground for a long time. It is boring and tedious, and the responsibility is not small. Once a fire breaks out, it will be a big problem.

This job is usually done in shifts, or assigned to older commune members who can endure loneliness. The fact that it was assigned to Zhang Weiguo, a young educated youth, clearly indicates a sense of "special consideration".

When Zhang Weiguo received the assignment, his face turned green. Watching the autumn harvest! A single shift would take several days! He wouldn't be able to sleep soundly at night, and during the day he'd have to brave the cold wind and stay in that dilapidated shack! This was even more torturous than clearing a ditch!

He was almost certain that this was definitely Liu Xiangyang's doing! Wang Lixin was in cahoots with him!

"Captain Wang, this job of watching over the autumn harvest, isn't it...?" Zhang Weiguo wanted to argue.

Wang Lixin glared at him: "What do you mean, 'Is it'? We're just giving you some responsible work to toughen you up, and you're still not happy? This is the organization's trust in you! Stop talking nonsense, let's start tonight!"

Zhang Weiguo gritted his teeth and accepted the task. Standing by the threshing ground in the cold wind, looking at the lights of the village in the distance, his hatred for Liu Xiangyang reached a new level.

The shacks beside the threshing ground were hastily built from corn stalks and old wooden planks, and were drafty from all sides. The night was bitterly cold, and Zhang Weiguo, wrapped in a cotton quilt he had brought from the educated youth settlement, curled up on the cold straw mat, listening to the howling wind outside and the occasional barking of dogs in the distance, but he couldn't fall asleep no matter what.

During the day, I could wander around outside the shack and bask in the sun, but the long nights were really hard to endure.

He cursed Liu Xiangyang, Wang Lixin, and Luo Lan, chewing over the resentment that had accumulated over the past few days in his heart.

"Damn it, that bastard Liu Xiangyang, that's all he's good for!" He spat, muttering to himself at the dark ceiling. "He made Wang Lixin give me a hard time, assigning me all these disgusting jobs! Cleaning stinking ditches, watching over haystacks... Ha, does he dare lay a finger on me? Does he dare?"

The more he cursed, the more he realized it made sense. If Liu Xiangyang was really a tough guy, he could have led a group to beat him up, or used his power as an inspector to find a more serious pretext to punish him. That would have been something to be proud of.

"Wait until I find an opportunity..." Zhang Weiguo gritted his teeth and drifted off to sleep, dreaming about how to turn the tables and at least make Liu Xiangyang or Luo Lan lose face.

Life continued as usual at Liu Xiangyang's home.

Xue Bingbing became more and more adept at teaching at the primary school, and the children called her "Teacher Xue" affectionately.

Le Qi and Le Yao organized the warehouse accounts meticulously, and even sorted out some of the stockpiled old farm tools. Zhang Tiejun praised them to everyone he met.

Luo Lan and Zuo Qingqing also began to officially participate in the team's work point recording. Although they were still unfamiliar with it, they were serious in their attitude, and the villagers had nothing to say.

One evening, as the two were cleaning up the dishes in the kitchen, Xue Bingbing looked at Luo Lan and softly asked, "Sister Lan, are you still feeling down?"

Roland paused in washing the dishes, then forced a smile: "No... much better."

"Since Xiangyang said he'll handle it, you can relax." Xue Bingbing took the bowl she had washed and wiped it with a clean cloth. "He's a methodical person; he won't let us suffer for nothing."

"I know." Roland nodded, but his voice was a little low. "It's just... I feel like I'm making a mountain out of a molehill. It's such a small thing, and it's making Xiangyang worry about it."

"What are you saying?" Xue Bingbing said seriously, "We're family. If you're upset, it's our whole family's business. Can Brother Xiangyang just stand by and do nothing? Besides, Zhang Weiguo spoke so rudely; he deserves to be taught a lesson."

A few days later, Zhang Weiguo finally finished his "hard labor" of watching over the autumn harvest and returned to the educated youth settlement. He had lost a lot of weight, had dark circles under his eyes, and smelled of the earth from the firewood pile.

He clearly felt that he was being marginalized in the educated youth settlement.

Zhang Weiguo blamed Liu Xiangyang for this again, thinking it must have been that bastard who orchestrated Wang Lixin's scheme to make him lose face in the educated youth settlement! The old and new grudges fueled his growing anger.

The next morning, Liu Xiangyang was looking through the files on educated youth in his office when there was a knock on the door.

"Please come in."

He pushed the door open and saw another new educated youth who had come at the same time enter.

"Inspector Liu, you're busy."

"Well, spring plowing is just around the corner, let's check the documents. Is Comrade Zhao Xuri busy?" Liu Xiangyang asked, looking at him.

"My family sent some things over when I came here, and I was thinking of borrowing your bicycle to go to the county town to pick them up."

"No problem, wait for me, I'll bring the car over to you."

Liu Xiangyang took Zhao Xuri to push the cart, watched him leave, and returned home, where Xue Bingbing was doing needlework.

"Who was it? I didn't recognize him, so I didn't go out."

"Zhao Xuri's family sent some things over, so I borrowed a bicycle to go to the county." Liu Xiangyang walked over and put his arm around her: "We need to be a little more careful in the future. Now that there are more people in our family, we can't let anyone have a hold over us."

"Okay, I'll tell them everything when they get back."

"Get me a bottle of wine and some meat. I'll take them to Captain Wang later."

"Is it because of Zhang Weiguo's matter? You need to comfort Luo Lan; I don't think she's recovered yet."

"Yes, I can tell too. She hasn't been in a good mood these past few days. I'll give her a good talking-to tonight."

That evening, Liu Xiangyang came out of Wang Lixin's house reeking of alcohol. It was already dark, and as he approached the educated youth settlement, he saw his bicycle leaning against the outer wall of the settlement from afar.

The wheels were locked and left out in the open, clearly indicating that Zhao Xuri had just returned; his voice could still be heard from inside.

Just as Liu Xiangyang was about to push the car away, he suddenly stopped and dodged behind a tree.

The door to the educated youth settlement quietly opened a crack, and Zhang Weiguo's face appeared. He first looked around warily, and his eyes quickly locked onto the bicycle under the wall.

Upon seeing the gleaming bicycle, a flame of jealousy and resentment immediately ignited in his eyes.

"Liu Xiangyang...you're really generous, you bastard." He cursed under his breath, his voice full of sourness and malice.

These days, Wang Lixin has been sending him to clean canals and check on the autumn harvest. He's exhausted and has long been convinced that Liu Xiangyang is behind this.

"Let you be so smug, just wait and see what you do then!" A wicked thought arose in his mind.

He observed for a while, confirming that no one was around and that Zhao Xuri was probably still inside. He quickly pulled out a piece of wire and deftly pried open the car lock—a skill he had known before, but he never expected to use it today.

As he pushed his bicycle, his heart pounded, but he felt an overwhelming sense of vengeful pleasure. "Liu Xiangyang, you stole public property! Let's see if you'll still be laughing tomorrow!"

He pushed his cart, deliberately choosing dark paths, and walked quickly towards the small river outside the village.