Chapter 49: One Piece of Gossip Even Comes With After-Sales Service
After chatting with Chen Yechu for a while, Ning Xiyue and she stopped talking. They didn’t even go into their spatial space to study — instead, they closed their eyes and took a nap.
If she didn’t rest well at noon, Ning Xiyue worried she wouldn’t have the energy for work in the afternoon. She needed to be in good condition.
When it was time to return to work, the sharp, penetrating sound of gongs and drums rang out. Even before opening her eyes, Ning Xiyue sat up reflexively, then lifted the curtain, got out of bed, washed her face, grabbed her water bottle, put on her hat, and headed out.
The whole process was a series of automatic, mechanical actions — her body issuing commands and executing them without emotion.
She stayed half-asleep until she stepped outside and felt the scorching, blistering sun beating down on her. Only then did she fully wake up.
Arriving at the drying field, Ning Xiyue rubbed her face to bring some life to her still-sleepy expression.
She walked in with a smile and greeted all the aunties in her work group.
Aunt Yangliu was sipping water from a kettle to moisten her throat. “Xiyue, how was your rest at noon?”
“Mm, I rested well. I’m full of energy now and ready to work hard this afternoon,” Ning Xiyue said with a smile, taking a sip from her own bottle. “How about you, Auntie?”
“Pretty good too. As long as you rest well. The afternoon shift is long, so you need a proper nap to have the energy to work.”
Aunt Yangliu glanced around, then sat next to Ning Xiyue and lowered her voice.
“But you don’t need to be too honest this afternoon. Don’t keep working so earnestly like you did in the morning. Look at the others — how many of them are actually working that hard? Once the work is mostly done, you can slow down. As long as you don’t stop completely, no one will say anything, and they can’t catch you slacking. When others take breaks, you should too.”
Ning Xiyue smiled in response.
The reason she had worked so diligently that morning was because it was her first day and she didn’t want to be too obvious about slacking off. It wasn’t that she hadn’t rested at all — it’s just that when she did slack, people thought she was working hard.
Aunt Yangliu then shared another little “slacking tip” for the afternoon shift.
“It’s even hotter in the afternoon. Our main job is just to turn the grain over now and then to dry it evenly. You only need to do it periodically — no need to stand under the sun all the time. We can sit in the shade under the trees for a bit, drink some water, chat a little. Just play it by ear.”
“Mm-hmm, thank you, Auntie, for sharing your experience.”
Ning Xiyue truly hadn’t expected the team leader’s wife to teach her not how to work harder, but how to slack off. It was both surprising and delightful — she liked aunties whose thinking wasn’t rigid and old-fashioned.
Sure enough, once work started, after everyone had turned the grain once, they all went to sit under the trees and chat. Ning Xiyue followed their lead, doing whatever they did, fully blending into the aunties’ group.
The aunties sat in the shade, doing little chores with their hands while gossiping about everything — who had a fight with their husband, who chased cats and teased dogs, whose daughter or daughter-in-law had done what… The gossip never repeated itself.
Ning Xiyue sat quietly on a wooden rake, listening to their chatter and gathering plenty of inside information and juicy stories.
Suddenly, one aunt surnamed Liu peeked over at another group of women — Aunt Wang and a woman named Li Cuihua who was sitting alone drinking water — and motioned for the others to lean in closer.
Ning Xiyue followed suit, scooting closer with the others and leaning in to listen.
“Go on, spill it.”
Aunt Liu stopped stitching the sole of a shoe, leaned forward, and whispered, “You know how Li Cuihua and Wang Big Mouth fought today? Well, did you know they went home and had another fight at noon?”
The other aunties: “What? There’s more?”
“They fought again? What happened?”
Seeing that no one else knew, Aunt Liu looked a little smug as she spoke excitedly.
“Apparently, Wang Big Mouth found out that Li Cuihua’s daughter went to pester her son again. So she grabbed a stool, sat in the courtyard by the wall, and started cursing at Li Cuihua’s family next door.”
As she spoke, Aunt Liu used plenty of gestures — one foot tapping as she spoke, lips pursed before continuing:
“Li Cuihua isn’t one to take things lying down. How could she endure Wang Big Mouth’s nasty words? The two started shouting insults at each other over the wall — she called the daughter shameless and brazen, and Li Cuihua fired back that her son was a useless bastard who couldn’t get a wife. It got worse and worse until they both climbed up on the wall to fight. In the end, it took both families’ heads pulling them down to stop it.”
As Ning Xiyue listened, the gossip about Aunt Wang and Li Cuihua felt very familiar — wasn’t this suspiciously similar to the gossip she’d heard at noon?
She decided to keep listening.
One aunt said enviously, “Living close by has its perks — you get to see all the drama.”
Aunt Liu nodded and went on, “You should’ve seen them fighting on top of the wall — it was hilarious! They pushed away their ladders, clinging to the wall with just their hands flailing around, too afraid to make big moves in case they missed and fell off themselves.”
The three aunties started sharing their thoughts.
One said, “When do you think these two families will stop? This has happened so many times already.”
Another said, “I doubt it’ll ever end. Li Cuihua clearly doesn’t know how to raise her daughter. That Wu Xiuli girl is basically throwing herself at them for free — who knows how many more ridiculous incidents there’ll be. If I were Wang Big Mouth, I’d make a fuss too. Lazy, greedy, and overbearing — who’d want a daughter-in-law like that?”
“Wang Big Mouth will never agree to let Wu Xiuli marry her son Li Jiandang. She’s just ruining that hardworking boy. What a pity! As long as Wu Xiuli’s around, he’ll never find a wife.” One aunt, who admired Li Jiandang’s work ethic, shook her head regretfully.
“Yeah, it’s a pity. If Li Jiandang himself were tougher and more assertive, maybe Wu Xiuli wouldn’t dare cling to him.”
Ning Xiyue’s eyes lit up — so the son and daughter they’d been cursing about earlier were none other than Wu Xiuli and Li Jiandang. Wu Xiuli was Li Cuihua’s daughter, and Li Jiandang was Aunt Wang’s son.
All the gossip she’d consumed that day was about the same two people. One piece of gossip even came with after-sales service — enough to keep her entertained all day.
Ning Xiyue continued listening to their chatter, silently munching on her “melon.” As she did, she suddenly noticed the topic shifting — and this time, it was about her. All the aunties turned their eyes toward her as they spoke.
Ning Xiyue grew alert, focusing all her attention.
