Chapter 29: A Family of Loyal Martyrs

Chapter 29: A Family of Loyal Martyrs

Never did Ye Qing expect that the captain’s daughter would end up exposing herself in an attempt to test her!

The more Ye Qing thought about it, the more amusing she found it. In the middle of the night, she could barely hold back her laughter.

Reflecting on her encounter with Wu Yueying earlier that day, and the woman’s strange behavior, Ye Qing finally understood the sense of dissonance she had felt.

It turned out that Miss Wu had also “changed her core”!

No wonder after her illness, she had been making a fuss about calling off the engagement, even going as far as to go on a hunger strike.

No wonder from the very first day Ye Qing had arrived in the countryside, this woman had been watching her closely, testing her in both obvious and subtle ways. Even as Ye Qing was about to move out, Wu Yueying had insisted on keeping her, demanding that she teach her how to sing, regardless of the setting.

As if she would know how to sing "Asian Heroes"! Ye Qing, thinking back, still found it ridiculous.

Come on, she had come from a hundred years in the future. Songs from seventy or eighty years ago wouldn’t possibly be in her playlist. If she knew how to sing it, that would be a miracle!

When she was moving the boxes, Ye Qing hadn’t realized what Wu Yueying’s question had implied.

She had assumed "Asian Heroes" was a popular red song in the early 70s in the city. Wu Yueying wanted to learn it and, knowing Ye Qing was from Shen City, assumed she would know how to sing it and could help her learn it too.

If not for a sudden epiphany right before bed, vaguely recalling the origin of the song "Asian Heroes," Ye Qing would have remained clueless, unaware of the hidden meaning behind Wu Yueying’s simple question.

She still didn’t know whether this elder sister was reborn or had taken over someone else’s body like herself.

But either way, at least one thing was certain: this elder sister’s knowledge of the future timeline couldn’t span more than twenty or thirty years at most.

After all, if she had come from after the millennium, with the rise of Chinese entertainment and countless talented singers, her playlist wouldn’t still be stuck on "Asian Heroes."

Ye Qing estimated that before Wu Yueying returned, the song "Asian Heroes" might have been extremely popular, widely sung by everyone. So, Wu Yueying naturally used this song to test Ye Qing’s background.

The Jicheng Asian Games, early 90s—Ye Qing’s mind raced. It was a time of rapid economic growth after the reform and opening up, with collective economies transitioning to individual economies, and various companies and private businesses sprouting like mushrooms after the rain.

Having seen so much of the world, it was no wonder that upon her return, Wu Yueying had insisted on calling off the engagement, probably looking down on her poor soldier fiancé.

But this was understandable. Knowing the developments of the next twenty years gave her a head start in making a fortune.

Standing at the cusp of a changing era, even a pig could fly if it rode the winds, so it was natural that Wu Yueying wouldn’t want a soldier dragging her down.

Even married couples could divorce, let alone those who were merely engaged. After learning that Wu Yueying had changed her core, Ye Qing finally understood why her behavior had been so inconsistent and why she was so adamant about calling off the engagement. It was understandable.

Everyone has their own aspirations. If she didn’t want to be a military wife, there was no point in forcing her. This elder sister might have returned with the sole intention of focusing on her career and living her best life. If she married a soldier, she would likely have to follow him to the military base, and her life would inevitably revolve around family and children. Where would she find the energy to start a business and make money?

What Ye Qing needed to be cautious about was the fact that Wu Yueying had her eyes on her.

Before coming to the countryside, Ye Qing had planned to keep a low profile and avoid deep connections with others to hide her secrets.

But she hadn’t expected that simply lowering her presence wouldn’t guarantee safety. Since Wu Yueying had returned, she would know that in the original storyline, there hadn’t been a female educated youth named Ye Qing among those sent to Kaoshan Tun.

This meant that Ye Qing, having avoided the heart attack crisis on the train, and appearing in Kaoshan Tun, was already a variable in the equation.

But on second thought, Ye Qing realized there was no need to be nervous or afraid.

No matter what Wu Yueying asked, she could just pretend to be clueless and refuse to admit anything. She hadn’t done anything illegal, so she wasn’t afraid of being investigated. If Wu Yueying tried to report her as a time traveler, unless Ye Qing exposed herself first, such an absurd claim would only make people think the reporter was delusional and talking nonsense.

Even if Wu Yueying were stupid, as long as she wasn’t out of her mind, she wouldn’t expose her secret of being a transmigrator or reborn. If she did, what awaited her would likely be either research dissection or long-term imprisonment.

Thinking this through, the tension in Ye Qing’s heart eased.

If Wu Yueying really wanted to make things difficult for her, she would just have to deal with it as it came. If push came to shove, she could quietly eliminate the problem. She had killed before in the apocalypse and wouldn’t mind getting her hands dirty again!

With that thought, her conscience was clear, and Ye Qing soon fell asleep. Even though it was her first time sleeping on a heated brick bed in such a strange place, she slept more soundly than ever, not waking until the first light of dawn.

"Ye Qing, Ye Qing?"

Hearing someone calling outside, Ye Qing immediately got up from the bed, grabbed her watch, and saw that it was only 5 in the morning.

Murong Ah Po had already woken up but had been lying still, afraid of disturbing Ye Qing. Hearing the call, the old lady slowly got up.

Seeing this, Ye Qing helped the old lady off the bed and brought her a basin of water to wash her face. After a quick wash-up herself, Ye Qing opened the door and went outside.

Standing outside was Qin Xingzhi, the eldest daughter-in-law of Captain Wu’s family. Seeing Ye Qing come out, Qin Xingzhi sighed in relief.

"Finally, you’re up. I’ll only call you this once. Starting tomorrow, you’ll have to get up on your own. We start work at this time every day, and if you’re late, you’ll lose work points."

"Come with me; we need to get tools at the threshing ground first."

As Qin Xingzhi turned to head towards the threshing ground, a forty-something-year-old woman hurried out from the wooden gate of the neighboring yard.

Seeing Qin Xingzhi, the woman paused, her expression immediately turning sour.

Qin Xingzhi looked a bit awkward but still greeted her. "Good morning, Aunt Gu."

The woman, as if she hadn’t heard, quickened her pace and walked right past Qin Xingzhi.

Ye Qing understood. This woman was probably Gu Weidong’s mother. As for why she had such an attitude towards Qin Xingzhi, it didn’t take a genius to figure it out.

With all the fuss about Wu Yueying calling off the engagement, the entire village was talking about it. In a rural environment like this, gossip would spread like wildfire, and people probably said plenty of unkind things. It was no wonder that Wu Yueying’s family was angry and even took it out on the Wu family, refusing to acknowledge Qin Xingzhi.

Seeing Qin Xingzhi’s discomfort, Ye Qing quickly smiled and diverted her attention.

"Sister-in-law, can you tell me about the work details? How are the work points recorded in our village? What if I only work for half a day, and who should I ask for leave?"

After a long chat, Qin Xingzhi's expression finally relaxed. She not only briefed Ye Qing on the relevant matters about working in the fields but also talked about some local conditions.

For example, how far it was from the village to the town, and what shops were available in the town;

Also, where the monthly market would be held, allowing people from the surrounding villages to freely exchange goods;

And, for instance, a few kilometers away from the village, there was a large military farm established by a construction corps, covering hundreds of square kilometers and continuously expanding by reclaiming more land.

Ye Qing recalled the endless golden rice fields she saw along the way when she first arrived at the village. According to the direction Qin Xingzhi pointed out, most of the areas she passed by might have belonged to this military farm.

However, Ye Qing didn't see any connection between herself and this military farm for now. She only filtered out the useful information from Qin Xingzhi's words and remembered it.

When they arrived at the drying field, many commune members were already there. Seeing Qin Xingzhi leading a thin young educated youth, they immediately showed great disdain:

"Wu Cong's family, is this the educated youth from the city who came down yesterday? Doesn't she look as tall as my third daughter? Is she even ten years old? So young and already sent to the countryside?"

Ye Qing thought, "Thanks, the damage may be small, but the insult is huge. I feel tons of offense!"

Due to malnutrition since childhood, Ye Qing was indeed a bit short, probably not even 1.6 meters tall. But she had already checked that her epiphyseal plates hadn't closed yet. As long as she nourished herself well in the next two years, she could still catch up.

Qin Xingzhi, however, had seen Ye Qing's skill in chopping wood and didn't dare to underestimate this little girl. Small as she was, she packed a lot of energy. The essence is concentrated, and she was about to see these women's jaws drop when Ye Qing started working!

While Qin Xingzhi managed to get Ye Qing up relatively smoothly, the commune members assigned to wake the other educated youth were having a terrible time.

The new batch of educated youth who arrived yesterday were all lying in bed, unable to get up due to the suffering they endured on the way down to the village.

No matter how many times the commune members called out, they couldn't get them to come out, which made them so angry they almost cursed out loud. Finally, unable to wait any longer, they returned to the drying field furiously, cursing as they went to the fields with their tools. As soon as they saw Captain Wu, they couldn't stop complaining:

"These city kids are too much! On the very first day of work, they are so lazy and negligent. Are we supposed to feed them for free? Captain, if these educated youths are all like this, you'd better send them back. My family can't afford to keep such 'ancestors'!"

Other villagers chimed in, collectively expressing their dissatisfaction. With food already scarce, having to share it with these educated youth only added to the villagers' frustration. Now, while they worked hard from early morning, these youths were sleeping at home. How could anyone be happy about that?

Captain Wu's face darkened, and he became even more determined to quickly set up the educated youth points to get these troublesome city kids out of the village.

"Enough with the nonsense! If they don't come, you still have to work!"

Knowing that these commune members were just feeling resentful, Captain Wu urged them impatiently to get to work. He then returned to the village angrily to deal with these educated youth.

By the time Yin Shuang and the other educated youth were dragged out and reluctantly arrived at the field, they saw the female villagers competing excitedly with Ye Qing to see who could harvest the rice faster.

Ye Qing, like she had taken some stimulant, was cutting the rice with the speed of autumn wind sweeping fallen leaves. Her sickle moved so fast that it almost left afterimages, leaving the new educated youth dumbfounded.

"Who is this show-off? Can't they see everyone else is slacking off? Is it really appropriate to stand out like this? By shining so much, aren't you making the rest of us look bad?"

When they discovered that one of the educated youth was only sixteen years old, they were quite pleased. They thought, no matter what, they would have someone to cushion the bottom, so they could rest easy.

But now, seeing this young girl working so efficiently, they realized they had celebrated too soon!

Ye Qing didn't feel the need to empathize with these new educated youth's emotions or situation. As soon as she arrived at the rice field with the commune members, she felt like she had come to her battlefield.

The ripe rice ears were filled with rich spiritual energy. As soon as she stepped into the field, the rice ears around her seemed to cling to her body, enveloping her with that spiritual energy and instantly raising her excitement threshold.

Not only could she happily harvest the rice ears, but she could also secretly consume the residual wood-type energy hidden in the rice stubble and the remaining straws after the grains were threshed!

Ye Qing felt like a hardworking little bee that had just found a vast flower field. There was so much to 'eat' that she couldn't finish it all!

At first, her speed was a bit slow because she wasn't very skilled with the sickle.

But gradually, as she mastered the use of the sickle, her speed picked up and became faster and faster, leaving the village women far behind.

With timely energy replenishment, Ye Qing's stamina always recovered just in time before it ran out, meaning she was unstoppable in rice harvesting. Even if they tried to wear her out with a relay race, she wasn't afraid.

As a result, while the other new educated youth were still facing disdain and harsh words from the villagers, Ye Qing had already made a name for herself and won the favor of most of the women in the village.

In those days, the common values were that labor was the most glorious, and diligence was a virtue. Especially in rural areas, being hardworking and down-to-earth was the most excellent and likable trait. In contrast, laziness and indulgence were collectively despised.

Since Ye Qing was so capable, she quickly integrated into the new collective and easily got along with the villagers.

Even Captain Wu was quite surprised. Yesterday, he thought that Ye Qing, who was sent by military vehicle, would be the most difficult of this year's batch of educated youth. But he had misjudged her. This little girl was amazing at farm work, which really earned his admiration.

Originally, Captain Wu had some reservations about Ye Qing moving to live with Murong Ah Po. But seeing Ye Qing's abilities, he felt relieved.

Strong, capable of working, generous, and perceptive, this child was indeed excellent. Even though she was a bit young, it would be suitable to assign her to take care of Murong Ah Po. After observing her for a couple of months, if this comrade could take good care of the old lady, it wouldn't be a problem to let her stay with Murong Ah Po for the long term.

Ye Qing didn't know that because of the attention she garnered that morning, she avoided the fate of squeezing onto a large communal bed with the other educated youth.

Before the 8 o'clock breakfast, according to the rules, everyone had to work for three hours. Given that this batch of city educated youth had never done field work before, the captain didn't dare to assign them heavy tasks. He only asked them to harvest one-tenth of a mu of land.

But Ye Qing, on her own, finished half a mu of rice field early and even finished half an hour ahead of schedule.

If it were any other commune member who wanted to go back early, the captain and the scorekeeper would have scolded them already.

But looking at the neatly bundled rice ears in Ye Qing's harvested field, the captain couldn't find any reason to nitpick.

Glancing at the other incapable educated youth, the captain found it painful to watch.

The contrast was too obvious. Captain Wu didn't know what to say, took a deep breath, and waved Ye Qing back with a tired expression.

With permission granted, Ye Qing cheered and ran up the field ridge with her muddy feet.

In her pants pocket, she had secretly collected quite a handful of rice grains that had fallen during the harvest. She planned to quickly catalyze these grains while everyone was out working and the village was empty.

When she arrived at Murong Ah Po's house yesterday, she had already noticed that the old lady had a small fenced yard in front of her house, with about three-tenths of a mu of private land for growing vegetables. But considering the old lady's blindness, the vegetables were sparse and unattended, which conveniently left space for Ye Qing to "plant food."

With these seeds, she could probably harvest dozens of jin of rice, which would be enough for her and Murong Ah Po to eat for half a month!

Ye Qing was brimming with enthusiasm and had already made plans to use this piece of land every evening for long-term preparation. Before winter arrived, she intended to stock up on all the winter vegetables and food that she and the old lady would need.

When she returned, Murong Ah Po was fumbling around the kitchen, trying to cook by herself. Perhaps because she knew that an educated youth had come to stay at her home, the old lady wanted to treat this young guest properly. She even retrieved some sausages that had been hidden away for who knows how long and, with a trembling hand, tried to slice the red sausages with a kitchen knife. Ye Qing watched with bated breath, feeling quite nervous.

"Murong Grandma, why are you in the kitchen?"

Ye Qing rushed forward, took the knife from the old lady's hand, and helped her to sit down.

"Why are you back already?" The old lady was puzzled. "It's not time to knock off work yet."

Ye Qing smiled. "Because I'm capable, I finished all the tasks assigned by Captain ahead of schedule! Murong Grandma, now that I'm staying at your place, don't worry about these things anymore. Leave them to me. You can't see well, and fumbling around like this, you might fall and not be able to get up."

At her age, a fall could result in a comminuted fracture, and complications could be life-threatening.

Seeing Ye Qing's natural demeanor as she took over the breakfast preparation, chopping wood and starting the fire, all done efficiently without a single complaint, Murong Ah Po knew the girl wasn't just putting up with it. So, she heeded the advice and didn't insist on doing it herself. She didn't stand by and give instructions either, but obediently returned to her room with her cane.

When Ye Qing finished cooking and brought the food into the room, the old lady happily came over to eat.

Initially, she thought she'd be fine as long as the food was cooked, even if the taste wasn't great. But once she tasted it, she was amazed.

"Your cooking skills are really good, but the taste seems a bit different from the food in Shanghai."

The old lady gave Ye Qing a thumbs-up as she ate.

Ye Qing had noticed something off about the old lady's tone and expression when she mentioned Shanghai the previous night, but since it was their first meeting, she didn't feel it appropriate to ask.

Now that the old lady had brought it up, her curiosity was piqued, and she couldn't help but ask a couple of follow-up questions.

"You seem to know the taste of Shanghai food. Have you been to Shanghai?"

Murong Ah Po smiled and nodded. "Not only have I been to Shanghai, but I also lived there for a few years."

This response truly surprised Ye Qing. She hadn't expected to meet someone with a connection to Shanghai in this remote village.

"Really? When was that? Why didn't you stay in Shanghai and end up in this corner of the wilderness?"

It wasn't that Ye Qing looked down on the wilderness; for her, as a wood-element ability user, the spiritually rich Changbai Mountain was her true home.

But for ordinary people, Shanghai was a big city, and in terms of living conditions, it was certainly far superior to the wilderness.

Moreover, the fact that the old lady had lived in Shanghai for several years suggested it was a long time ago. If she had stayed and settled in Shanghai back then, she would have been classified as a city resident, entitled to state rations and free medical care, which would have been much better than staying in this impoverished mountain village.

So Ye Qing couldn't quite understand why the old lady had left a good city to come to Kaoshan Tun.

Murong Ah Po smiled and turned around, fumbling in a wooden box on her kang. After a while, she retrieved a cloth-wrapped package and opened it, revealing several medals and papers.

With her wrinkled and trembling hands, she placed those items on the table for Ye Qing to see:

"Forty years ago, my husband worked at the Shanghai Cotton Mill, and I lived in Shanghai with him."

"Later, when the war broke out and Shanghai fell, my husband and our two children all went to fight in the resistance."

"A group of us female workers hid outside for many years, and when we returned to Shanghai after the war, I learned that my husband and children were all gone."

"So I returned to the northeast. Shanghai is indeed very beautiful, and every spring, the streets are filled with paulownia flowers, but without my husband and children, I didn't like it there."

Ye Qing's eyes instantly welled up with tears.

The papers and medals the old lady had brought out were the death certificates issued by the state after the war, stamped with red seals, along with medals of honor.

She had not expected that the unremarkable old woman in the village had a family full of martyrs, with her husband and children having sacrificed their lives on the battlefield.

The wrinkled old woman before her gently recounted the horrors of decades past, her cloudy eyes struggling to make out the faces in the old, tattered black-and-white family photo in front of her, as if trying desperately to see them clearly.

After a while of fumbling, she realized it was in vain and, in resignation, pulled her hand back with a soft, long sigh.

That sigh almost brought Ye Qing to tears.

Ye Qing took hold of the old woman's hand.

"Don't you want to go back? To the city your husband and children gave their lives to protect, to see what it has become now? And the Martyrs' Cemetery—there may lie the spirits of your husband and child. Don't you want to visit them again?"

Murong Ah Po was taken aback, then forced a bitter laugh, a deep, unrelenting sadness washing over her face.

"They've built a martyrs' park in Shen City? How wonderful. But I'm old, and my eyes can't see anymore. Even if they're there, I can't go back. I'll just stay here in the mountain village. When my time comes, if they're still waiting for me, they'll come to take me from the village."

Realizing that it wasn't that the old woman didn't want to go, but that her physical condition limited her from having such hopes, Ye Qing felt a pang of sorrow.

"What if I told you I could help treat your eyes and restore your sight? Would you believe me?"

This question left Murong Ah Po stunned.

Thinking Ye Qing was just saying something foolish, she smiled to comfort her.

"Silly child, don't think too much about unrealistic things. My eyes can't be cured. But the villagers take good care of me, and I've lived a peaceful and content life in my later years. I have no regrets. In my next life, if I'm destined, maybe I'll meet my husband and children again."

Ye Qing said no more. She stood up and went to her bag to retrieve the set of silver needles that the old comrade had given her on the train.

"Don't move!"

Ye Qing walked over to Murong Ah Po and gently warned her before the old woman was ready. She swiftly inserted a needle into the Jingming acupoint.

The slight sting startled the old woman, and she instinctively tried to pull away.

Ye Qing quickly used her other hand to steady the old woman's head.

"Don't be afraid. I'm giving you acupuncture. I've studied Traditional Chinese Medicine and know some acupuncture techniques. I'll try them on you. Please relax and see if you feel anything different in your eyes, any sensation?"

The old woman was quite surprised but obediently sat still on the stool. After a while, she reported:

"There's a slight ache and a tingling sensation..."

After gently twirling the flying needle for a few minutes, Ye Qing swiftly withdrew it and gave the old lady a definitive answer:

"Your condition is called glaucoma and cataracts. I just tested it, and you can feel the effect after the needle insertion, which means there's still hope for treatment. However, the treatment might take a bit longer; I can't say for sure if it will be ten months or eight."

The old lady, who had just moments ago appeared detached and said she had no regrets in life, suddenly rushed forward and grabbed Ye Qing's arm. With urgency and disbelief, she asked:

"Really? Can my eyes be cured?"

Ye Qing smiled and said, "It's impossible to restore your vision to 100%, but I can help your eyes regain light perception and recover about half of a normal person's vision."

Ye Qing's response was cautious, but to a seventy-year-old woman, it was already the best answer.

The old lady couldn't help but laugh with tears rolling down her cheeks, landing on Ye Qing's hand. The scorching temperature felt like molten lava, burning Ye Qing's heart.

Just as Ye Qing was about to comfort her, the old lady stood up again.

This time, she went further than when she had rummaged through the box earlier. She knelt down and felt around under the bed, pried open a brick, and pulled out an iron box from the kang hole. She then handed the box to Ye Qing.

"I receive government relief funds every month as a supported martyr's family member, and I have enough for daily expenses. These are savings I secretly put aside when I was younger. If you can cure my old eyes, these will be your consultation fees."

Ye Qing was about to refuse immediately.

Seeing Ye Qing's refusal, Murong Ah Po, fearing that Ye Qing might look down on her, quickly opened the box:

"There are several 'Yuan Big Head' coins, some gold jewelry, and a jade bracelet inside. Although these items can't be taken out now, they are all valuable. Young girl, keep them carefully; they will make a fine dowry in the future!"

Ye Qing really wanted to cry facing this old lady who had given her everything without reservation.

Since she had traveled to this parallel world, it was as if she had changed her fate against the heavens. From Song Chunhua to Chen Youde to this old lady, everyone she met was a simple and pure good person. In the apocalyptic world, Ye Qing had seen too much deceit, so she had no resistance to these sincere people.

Knowing that refusing again would only make the old lady uneasy, Ye Qing pretended to accept the items. But these were the old lady's life savings, and there was no way Ye Qing would actually take them. She planned to sneak the iron box back into the kang hole when the old lady wasn't paying attention.

Seeing that Ye Qing had accepted the items, the old lady was indeed very happy, smiling so widely that her teeth showed. She first asked Ye Qing about the martyrs' cemetery in Shen City and then kept inquiring when the eye treatment could start.

"The treatment can start tonight. I'll give you acupuncture every night from now on. Additionally, if possible, we'll need to use Chinese herbal medicine for internal consumption and external fumigation. But I don't have any medicinal herbs on hand right now. Is there a health station or something similar in the village?" Ye Qing asked curiously.

The old lady shook her head. "No, the nearest one is at the commune. There's nothing nearby in this area."

"What do people in the village do if they get sick?" Ye Qing was very curious.

"Usually, we use home remedies, and if that doesn't work, we go to the commune health station for medicine."

The old lady spoke as if it was the most natural thing in the world and didn't think there was anything unreasonable about it.

"It's certainly not comparable to your Shen City, but this is the condition in the village. Every household gets by like this."

Before coming to the countryside, Ye Qing had already planned her future career. She didn't mind farm work but definitely preferred being a doctor. Now, hearing the old lady's words, she felt that being a barefoot doctor in the countryside had great potential.

Clearly, in this area of Kao Shan Tun, there was a significant market demand for doctors among the farmers. However, since there were no practitioners, people had become accustomed to suffering in silence.

But if a barefoot doctor suddenly appeared in the village, Ye Qing estimated that the threshold of this doctor's house would be worn down by people from the surrounding production teams.

Thinking about this, Ye Qing felt motivated.

She believed that with the right approach and her abilities, it wouldn't take long before the villagers would be begging her to be their barefoot doctor.

Unexpectedly, the opportunity came so soon!

After breakfast, since there was still some time, Ye Qing didn't let the old lady do anything.

She tidied up the clutter in the side room, storing what could be kept in the cellar and throwing what couldn't be kept into the kitchen to be burned in the stove when cooking later.

When the time was right, she went to the field again.

Ye Qing's outstanding performance in the morning had made her famous in one go. So when she returned to the field, the captain didn't lump her together with the other educated youths. He gave her more challenging tasks and even promised to give her full work points if she could finish on time.

Ye Qing had asked Qin Xingzhi about the work points system before. She knew that each commune operated on a work points system, with daily work points ranging from two to ten.

Two points were relatively easy to earn; even elderly people and children could earn two points by picking rice ears in the fields during the harvest season.

But earning full points was difficult. Usually, only the strongest young men in the family could earn ten full points by working from dawn till dusk. For women, they usually earned eight points unless they could carry heavy burdens like men and be used as labor.

So, when the captain said he would give her full points, Ye Qing had no objections.

Although one or two points didn't matter much to her, earning full points would help her build a reputation in the village. This would be very beneficial for her future work as a barefoot doctor. After all, to the villagers, a bookish doctor who couldn't do manual labor was certainly less convincing than a doctor who could earn full points. Being young, Ye Qing needed a strong reputation to gain the villagers' trust. If she didn't have a formidable title, even if she became a barefoot doctor, the villagers wouldn't believe in her.

Therefore, this busy farming season was the best time for Ye Qing to establish her persona in the village. She had to let everyone in the production team know that an educated youth who didn't want to earn full points wasn't a good doctor. She was the strongest all-around female doctor in the entire Jiaotan County Educated Youth Office!

Thus, throughout the morning, Ye Qing performed steadily, and her overwhelming strength once again proved that she was a natural farming expert, better than many local villagers.

The villagers racked their brains to praise her, while the previously jealous educated youths, who had been completely outclassed, were now utterly numb and no longer felt any resentment or envy towards Ye Qing.

That's just human nature. When people are evenly matched and in competition, jealousy naturally arises, and they might even try to sabotage the other to bring them down.

But if the other person's strength is on a completely different level, beyond their capabilities and unreachable no matter how hard they try, the jealousy and resentment naturally disappear, leaving only admiration and respect.

For someone as strong and hardworking as Ye Qing, both the veteran and new batch of educated youths had already mentally removed her from their circle. They didn't consider her to be the same species as them.

Ye Qing didn't care about being included or not. She didn't plan to have much contact with the other educated youths anyway. Having read many novels, she knew that the educated youth points were the real circle of troubles, with all sorts of issues constantly arising. To avoid getting into trouble, it was best to stay away from those city folks with eight hundred schemes!

At noon, Ye Qing finished her work half an hour ahead of schedule. As she climbed up the field ridge to go home and cook, she suddenly heard a commotion from the field. A woman exclaimed:

"Oh no, there's blood. This is bad. Xiao Xi's pregnancy is almost five months along; could something be wrong?"

"This is exhaustion from overwork, probably heatstroke in the field. Hurry, get her back to the shore first!"

Then Ye Qing saw several commune members struggling to carry a woman towards the edge of the field.

Her eyes fell on the woman, who appeared to be just in her early twenties, her lower abdomen slightly swollen, indicating that she was already pregnant.

But at that moment, cold sweat was pouring down the pregnant woman's forehead, and her lips were clenched in pain, her face turning pale. A trickle of blood was slowly flowing down from her calf through her pants.

Ye Qing's heart sank. The joyful mood from finishing work disappeared instantly. She immediately took out the box of silver needles from her bag and rushed over in just a few steps.

The group of women on the other side were flustered, trying to move the woman to the shade. Seeing that the bleeding was still continuing, they all became panic-stricken and helpless.

Those who were quick-witted and relatively calm immediately said,

"We can't just wait like this. We need to get Aunt Gu to take a look, and if it's not possible, directly send her to the commune!"

"Hasn't her family been unlucky lately? The eldest was just divorced by the Wu family, and now the second daughter, who finally got pregnant, has encountered such a thing. If she loses the baby, I shudder to think how angry Aunt Gu will be!"

"Exactly, with these continuous problems, could it be that they've offended the Yellow Immortal?"

"Oh my, don't say that. There's a big push to eliminate feudal superstitions everywhere nowadays. Be careful or the revolutionary committee will come for you!"

As they were discussing, Ye Qing had already squeezed her way into the crowd, crouching down to feel the pregnant woman's pulse. After confirming the issue, she said nothing and lifted the woman's clothes, revealing her belly, which was swollen like a small hill.

She then took out a few silver needles from the box and was about to insert them into the woman's waist and abdomen.

Seeing Ye Qing's actions, the surrounding women reacted and immediately turned anxious, rushing forward to stop her.

"Hey, hey, hey! Comrade Ye, what are you doing? You can't just do that!"