AYLS – Chapter 9 Lin Qiao: Earned Two Work Points!

The whole morning passed, and Lin Qiao truly felt exhausted to the extreme. This kind of fatigue—both mental and physical—was something she had never experienced before.

Every single step felt like a struggle.

She wanted nothing more than to plop down on the ground and not move at all. Just then, one of the soldiers’ wives who had been working with her pulled her along. “Come on, Lin Qiao, we need to go sign.”

Lin Qiao blinked. “Sign what?”

“To record your work points! Otherwise, all that work this morning would’ve been for nothing.” The woman was anxious, dragging her forward.

If Sister-in-law Wang hadn’t specifically asked her to look after the newcomer, she really wouldn’t have had the patience.

Once Lin Qiao realized it wasn’t a bad thing, she quickly followed.

Everyone was lining up to sign.

Sister-in-law Wang happened to be one of the people responsible for recording work points. When she spotted Lin Qiao, she called out, “Lin Qiao, come over here. We’ll head back together later.”

Lin Qiao rushed over at once.

She stood behind Sister-in-law Wang like a student, watching as the others signed their names.

Sister-in-law Wang smiled, “You’ve never done this before, right? This is how we record work points. You’ve got two points today. Later, you can exchange them for grain.”

The moment Lin Qiao heard that, her whole body jolted with excitement. “I can exchange them for grain? And I earned them myself?”

“Of course, this is what you worked for.”

Lin Qiao felt as if she were floating, instantly ten feet tall. She was amazing—she could earn food to feed herself!

Half her fatigue vanished in an instant. She clenched her fists in excitement, eager to sign her name.

Stretching her neck, she noticed some people wrote their names, but many just drew circles or crosses on the sheet.

“Why do they draw these?” she asked curiously.

“They don’t know how to read or write, so this is how they ‘sign,’” Sister-in-law Wang explained. Then she added, “Don’t worry, I’ll sign for you later.” She assumed Lin Qiao, who’d been a servant girl, probably couldn’t write.

Lin Qiao immediately raised her hand. “I can write my name!”

Sister-in-law Wang froze, then laughed. “Alright then, you sign it yourself.”

Soon, it was Lin Qiao’s turn.

She carefully wrote her name, stroke by stroke. Then she realized she’d forgotten the “little” character in her name, so she squeezed it into the middle.

She thought to herself that maybe she should change her name at some point—otherwise, it was too easy to get confused. When she finished, her whole face lit up with joy. It felt less like signing for work points and more like signing a big business contract. She imagined that when she reclaimed her family’s fortune and helped her company seal deals, she’d feel exactly like this.

Sister-in-law Wang wasn’t thinking that deeply. But when she saw Lin Qiao’s neat handwriting, she was startled. “Lin Qiao, you’ve got good handwriting!”

“Of course,” Lin Qiao grinned. At one point, she’d been obsessed with copying song lyrics, and when she thought her writing looked ugly, she even found a teacher to practice with.

Although she hadn’t studied for long, from then on she’d often been praised for her handwriting.

As she packed up the work point records, Sister-in-law Wang asked curiously, “How come you learned to write?”

By now, Lin Qiao had learned to be cautious, no longer blurting things out recklessly. She carefully replied, “I used to practice with the young miss. She didn’t like writing, so I helped her with her homework.”

“Oh my, the young miss of a capitalist family wouldn’t even bother writing herself? Had to have others do it? That’s real decadence—truly spoiled, not knowing how good she had it.”

Lin Qiao: “…”

On the way back, several of them walked together. Sister-in-law Wang shared this ridiculous story with the others.

The other army wives were all shocked.

“This is the first time I’ve ever heard of someone disliking writing so much they got someone else to do it for them. Doesn’t know how blessed she was.”

“Exactly. Back then, I wanted to learn to read a few words, but I never even got the chance. That young miss was utterly useless.”

“We poor folk really do have stronger awareness. Look at Comrade Lin Qiao—she worked hard and picked up knowledge while helping out.”

“That’s right. Comrade Lin Qiao, you’re making us poor folks proud.”

Lin Qiao shrank her head, her earlier pride vanishing completely. Each of their words felt like a blade poking her heart.

Awkwardly, she said, “Well… it’s not really such a big deal.”

“Of course it’s a big deal. We still can’t even write our own names.”

“Exactly. Back when we attended literacy classes, we didn’t even have time, too busy working for work points.”

Feeling conflicted, Lin Qiao offered, “If you want to learn, I can teach you.”

Sister-in-law Wang perked up. “From the way you say it, you must know quite a few characters?” She herself was literate, thanks to attending literacy classes and studying on her own, but she hadn’t learned enough to actually teach.

In truth, Lin Qiao had gone to university. Her father had donated enough money to secure her a spot in a pretty good school.

But… she always felt she hadn’t really learned much there. So, under the expectant gazes of these women, she decided to quietly erase her university past. “About the same as high school,” she said cautiously. Maybe. Sort of.

“So Comrade Lin Qiao is actually a high school student? What a waste of talent!” the others exclaimed.

To them, high school was an extraordinary achievement. In the city, factories recruited high school graduates as official workers.

That was practically the seed of a college student.

Everyone’s view of Lin Qiao shifted even more.

She was a cultured person!

At this time, people were still simple and genuine. They had no thought that Lin Qiao might be lying. After all, knowledge wasn’t something you could fake. If she dared to say it, it must mean she really had the learning to back it up.

Mrs. Wang was also pleasantly surprised. “That’s really something. Then this literacy class idea can really be carried out. It’ll just be hard work.”

Lin Qiao had been feeling guilty and awkward, but as soon as she heard this, she immediately wanted to prove herself. “I’m not afraid of hard work!”

Mrs. Wang clapped her hands. “Good, I’ll talk it over with the others later and see about setting up a literacy class. When we’re free, we can all attend. Since we’ve followed the troops, we’re all members of the Corps now. We should learn a few characters. We can’t keep being illiterate.”

“As long as it doesn’t interfere with our work, we want to learn too.”

So on the way back, everyone’s topic shifted to discussing how to arrange the literacy classes in the future.

Lin Qiao had only said it casually, never expecting everyone to take it so seriously. It left her feeling uncomfortable, like she didn’t quite fit in. From the perspective of minority versus majority, it seemed that the abnormal one was actually her.

When they were nearly home, Mrs. Wang and Lin Qiao separated from the others.

Mrs. Wang asked, “Are you still eating at the cafeteria today?”

Lin Qiao nodded.

“It’s better to make something at home. Saves grain. The cafeteria is convenient, but not cost-effective.” Mrs. Wang had completely taken Lin Qiao as her disciple to teach.

After all, Little Gu trusted her.

And Comrade Lin Qiao was so obedient. A good student.

Lin Qiao really couldn’t understand why it wasn’t cost-effective. “Isn’t it better to just eat what’s already prepared?”

Mrs. Wang replied, “Better? Not at all. It’s not convenient to improve meals at the cafeteria. Every family wants to eat some meat, some eggs now and then, don’t they? Little Gu’s allowance is high, and you can earn work points too. Since you don’t have children yet, you can afford to eat well. If you nourish your body, you’ll be able to give birth to a big, healthy boy.”

That made so much sense that Lin Qiao nodded again and again.

Yes, of course every family eats meat. And she didn’t want to eat such awful food every day either! As for who would cook—obviously that would be Gu Huayuan. She didn’t know how to cook.

Maybe because she had managed to earn work points with her own ability today, when Lin Qiao got home she was floating with pride. Instead of sitting inside, she took a little stool to the doorway, propped her chin on her hands, and waited for Gu Huayuan. She looked just like a child who had received a certificate of merit and couldn’t wait to show her parents.

Gu Huayuan saw her from afar and guessed that something was up. So he deliberately kept a stern face as he walked in, not giving her a smile—afraid she’d start another ruckus.

Lin Qiao jumped up excitedly, her expression full of pride. “I went to work today!”

Gu Huayuan gave a short “mm.”

“I earned two work points!” Lin Qiao raised two fingers very seriously.

Gu Huayuan did a quick calculation. Two work points weren’t even enough to cover one lunch. But since Comrade Lin Qiao didn’t eat much, it should still be enough.

When Lin Qiao saw he didn’t react, she got unhappy. She felt he wasn’t cooperating, not respecting her hard-earned results. So she picked a fight. “I did my part, now you have to fix the toilet! And the bathroom!”

“Got it.” Gu Huayuan sat down at the table. “Eat.”

“Hmph, don’t think you can get away with it. I’ll remember.” Lin Qiao squinted at him.

After that, she began eating her lunch in misery. It was tough, and she was hungry, but she still couldn’t get used to the taste or texture. Even though she tried hard to convince herself this coarse rice was pure, pollution-free, natural grain.

But this coarse grain was nothing like what the family chef used to make!

Now eating was nothing but a procedure to keep her alive. No longer an enjoyment.

She really wanted something delicious. She wasn’t asking for much now—just a bowl of meat, a bowl of egg custard. If not, even one of those scallion pancakes she’d had back in Yuan’an would do.

She glanced at Gu Huayuan, then coughed lightly. “Gu Huayuan, when are we going to start cooking for ourselves? Mrs. Wang said it’s better to cook at home.”

Gu Huayuan raised his brows in surprise. He’d mentioned it before, but she always looked extremely displeased, so he hadn’t pressed it.

He thought she preferred eating at the cafeteria. Since she had this idea now, of course he’d support it. It wasn’t good to keep burdening the organization either.

“Alright, I’ll go to the county tomorrow.”

The moment Lin Qiao heard he was going to town, her whole face lit up with expectation. She had money—she could get tickets from the big boss and shop till she dropped!

Gu Huayuan ignored her gaze and continued eating calmly. “I can’t take you tomorrow. I’m going on official business, it’ll be busy.”

Lin Qiao’s face instantly collapsed. Her little face looked as bitter as a bitter melon. A perfect demonstration of how quickly her expressions could flip like pages in a book.

Gu Huayuan rubbed his temples. “I’m going to get materials for… that repair.” He really didn’t want to be discussing toilets at mealtime. “Whatever you need, I’ll bring it back for you.”

Lin Qiao’s face lit up again. She pursed her lips into a smile, her eyes shining. Then she asked eagerly, “Do you have tickets? A lot? I have money.”

She generously pulled out her private stash of cash, didn’t even bother counting, and shoved several bills at him. “Buy lots of good stuff.”

Seeing her lavish behavior, Gu Huayuan pressed a hand to his forehead. “I have money and tickets, you don’t need to worry.”

Lin Qiao didn’t mind. She’d never cared much about money anyway. Since they were a family now, there was no need to divide things.

“That works too. Just buy a lot.” She had never realized happiness could be this simple.

This good mood lasted until Mrs. Wang came in the afternoon to call her to work.

Lin Qiao slumped over the little stool, on the verge of tears.

Earning work points was nice, but she really, really didn’t want to go do labor…