The village chief had never encountered such cooperative students before, nor had he ever had students complete the sowing task for this plot of land.
In previous years, he always ended up sowing the seeds himself after the students left.
Village Chief Zhao, despite his advanced age, found himself unusually flustered over such a minor matter.
The students thought to themselves, "He really hasn't seen much of the world. Is this really such a big deal?"
After composing himself for a while, Village Chief Zhao nodded and said, "Alright, you've completed your morning task. You can return to your lodgings now. I'll send you ingredients for lunch later, which you'll need to cook yourselves."
"Alright, thank you for your trouble."
Village Chief Zhao walked home with doubtful steps. Upon returning, he first told his wife that this group of students had somehow managed to plant an entire mu of land in just one morning. The Village Head's Wife was equally astonished.
The village chief, however, had no time for idle chatter with her. He called the school to report on the situation from yesterday up until now, specifically praising how well-behaved these children were, having exceeded the planting task. He also mentioned that he had checked and found no instances of cheating.
Compared to the students from previous years, this year's group was obedient and hadn't caused any trouble. Moreover, they had done a good job sowing the seeds. Village Chief Zhao quite liked this year's batch of children, so he wanted to put in a good word for them with the school, thinking that perhaps the children might receive some praise when they returned.
The school officials on the other end of the line were also surprised by this situation. These students hadn't tried every possible method to go home, and they had even obediently planted the fields.
How could he not believe it?
But he did trust Village Chief Zhao's character. He would never engage in fraud.
So this matter could only be true.
In the teaching profession, they love to praise good work and criticize poor performance.
Since the first-year class was so sensible, the school instructed the village chief to provide them with more ingredients. As for how to cook the ingredients, he was told not to interfere.
Having received instructions from the school, Village Chief Zhao generously brought a piece of meat, a fish, and some locally grown cabbage and potatoes.
The students were elated to have meat for lunch. Although it had only been a day since they'd eaten meat, it felt as if they had been in this mountain village for many years without tasting it.
The meat and fish, which they would normally disregard, now looked particularly appealing to everyone.
It was as if these weren't just ingredients, but long-lost siblings from different parents.
Even Shi Li hadn't expected this. In her previous life, from the time she arrived in this village until she escaped, she had never seen a bit of meat. Yet here they were, on just the second day, able to eat meat. It was incredibly surreal.
Sensing that the village chief had a good attitude towards her, Shi Li decided to push her luck.
"Uncle, there aren't any seasonings in the kitchen. Could you spare us some salt and vinegar from your home? Food doesn't taste good without seasoning, and people can't work hard without eating salt. We can pay you for it."
How could the village chief possibly take Shi Li's money? The school had said not to take money from these children, as they were here to help complete certain tasks. To maintain this long-term arrangement, the village chief had long since instructed the villagers accordingly, so how could he not follow his own rules?
Cooperating with the school had brought many benefits to the village, so they certainly couldn't kill the goose that lays golden eggs. The villagers had always done well in this regard.
He thought for a moment. Providing the children with some seasonings wouldn't count as assistance.
Cooking without seasonings was impossible, and the school only wanted the children to gain experience, not to truly suffer.
So the village chief agreed.
"Alright, I'll take you back to my house in a bit, and have my wife pack a little of each seasoning for you."
Hearing that she could go to the village chief's house, Shi Li was even more pleased. With her there, she could ask for more. "That would be great."
Fu Huixing spoke up, "I'll go with you. I can help carry things."
Shi Li frowned inwardly. How heavy could a few seasonings be? You've just exposed my intention to take advantage of the village chief's generosity.
The class monitor also nodded in agreement, "You two go together. Go quickly and come back quickly, we still need to cook lunch."
Having Fu Huixing accompany Shi Li made everyone feel more at ease.
Otherwise, letting a girl go alone to a man's house, even though it was arranged by the school and should be fine, wasn't entirely reassuring. It's better to be safe than sorry.
With Fu Huixing going along, everyone could relax.
Everyone knew Fu Huixing was skilled in martial arts, so there wouldn't be any accidents with him around.
The village chief brought the two of them back to his house. The Village Head's Wife was slightly startled, seeing how beautiful these young people were, looking just like celebrities on TV.
She quickly realized that these two must be the students who had come to the village for the "remembering hardship and thinking of sweetness" experience.
The village chief spoke, "Pack some seasonings for them. The children need them for cooking."
"Oh... alright." The Village Head's Wife hesitated for a moment before quickly moving to find what was needed.
Shi Li followed behind her, standing at the door of the storage room without entering.
The Village Head's Wife asked her, "What do you need? Salt, oil, vinegar?"
"Yes, and soy sauce. Do you have any dried chili peppers..."
Once Shi Li started listing items, she couldn't stop. Some things the village chief's house only had half-opened packages of, so the Village Head's Wife told her husband to go buy new ones from the small shop.
When the village chief returned home from the small shop, the more he thought about it, the more something felt off, though he couldn't put his finger on what exactly.
The village chief was no stranger to buying things from the small shop to bring home, but his wife seemed to be in some kind of frenzy.
Hearing that the young girl said they had no toilet paper, she told him to buy two more packs. He ended up buying all sorts of odds and ends, so much so that the shopkeeper was shocked by his large purchase.
The village chief wasn't one to quibble over this amount of money, especially since the school would reimburse him later anyway.
He just had a feeling that he was being taken advantage of, especially when he got home and saw the female student carrying a bag of vegetables and the male student holding a basket of eggs.
This feeling of being duped became even more apparent.
The village chief looked sternly at his wife, "Did you take money from them?"
Shi Li stepped forward to explain, "No, no, Auntie gave us all of this for free. She didn't take any money. Auntie is really kind."
Village Chief: ...
The Village Head's Wife was displeased. Being scolded by her husband for no reason, she immediately scolded him back.
"What's wrong with giving some eggs to such a pretty young girl?"
The village chief didn't dare to speak: But you clearly said those eggs were to nourish me.
The aunt, who had been glaring at her husband just a moment ago, turned to the two beautiful students with a face full of smiles.
"Your uncle has bought everything back. If you need anything, just tell auntie, and I'll help you."
When the "left-behind children" saw the two return fully loaded, they were shocked. Weren't they just going to get some seasonings?
The eggs and vegetables could barely be considered seasonings, but what was with the toilet paper?
With fish, meat, and vegetables, along with the cooking tutorials found online, everyone's meals were quite good from that day on.
They worked for two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon, which was much easier than the work of the farmer uncles.
Outside of farm work, everyone could use their time as they pleased.
So in the remaining time, they played games and gossiped, living quite leisurely.
Except for the slight fatigue from farm work, this relaxed and happy lifestyle gave everyone a sense of peace and contentment in the present.
This spring outing was quite enjoyable.
Having become accustomed to the fast pace of city life, the tranquil countryside was also quite nice, especially with good friends for company.
When the school first heard that the students from Class 1 were well-behaved, they felt a sense of comfort and pride.
Who said their school didn't have well-behaved students? Weren't these children proof of that?
Then, upon learning from the village chief that because of their obedience, these students were living quite comfortably, in stark contrast to the students who were suffering elsewhere.
The school leaders began to feel a bit uneasy.
