The Delicate Darling with Her Rough Man novel Chapter 33

Chapter 33: Chapter 33: Tender Hands

Shoulders back and chest out, Gu Jiaojiao grabbed an ear of corn, ready to get to work. She held it in one hand and started picking off the kernels with the other.

When the others saw how Gu Jiaojiao was working, the looks on their faces were filled with utter disdain.

Finally, Aunt Zhao couldn’t stand to watch anymore and went over to give Gu Jiaojiao a hands-on lesson.

As it turned out, the proper way to shell corn was to rub two ears of corn together forcefully, using the friction to strip off the kernels.

Not only was this method less tiring, but it was also much faster.

Gu Jiaojiao thought Aunt Zhao was incredible, and the look of utter adoration in her eyes made Aunt Zhao chuckle.

"It’s normal for you city kids not to know how. The other educated youth didn’t know how when they first arrived either. You’ll get the hang of it after a while."

Gu Jiaojiao nodded seriously. "I’ll do my best to learn."

Her obedient and sweet demeanor made Aunt Zhao, who didn’t have a daughter, wish she could take Gu Jiaojiao home as her own.

’If I had a daughter this beautiful and well-behaved, I’d never let her do hard labor.’

’I can’t imagine what Gu Jiaojiao’s family was thinking, being willing to let such a pretty daughter be sent to the countryside.’

Aunt Zhao felt a growing sense of pity for Gu Jiaojiao.

Gu Jiaojiao was oblivious to this, still battling the corn. Although she had resolved to work hard, her hands turned red after only a short while of rubbing, and they ached with a raw pain.

Gu Jiaojiao had learned the technique for shucking corn, but her hands had never done rough work and were very delicate. They were red after just an hour, and that was even with gloves on.

Gu Jiaojiao took off her gloves to look at her hands, then put them back on and continued without a single complaint.

That was just her nature; once she decided to do something, she wouldn’t complain about the hardship or fatigue.

Aunt Zhao observed Gu Jiaojiao’s actions and became even more convinced that she was nothing like the rumors claimed.

Nearby, however, Wu Cuizhi was growing displeased.

"Gu Zhiqing, you’re working so slowly. It’s not fair that you’ll get the same number of work points as us later."

"Yeah, it’s really not fair to us."

Having spent the morning working together, Aunt Zhao felt much closer to Gu Jiaojiao and had started calling her by her given name.

Gu Jiaojiao stood up and glanced around. The others’ piles of corn were at least halfway done, while she had only managed to clear a small section of her own.

But that "small section" was actually a substantial amount. The village had well over a hundred acres of corn, with each acre yielding thousands of pounds of kernels. Before shelling, the cobs and husks at least doubled the weight. The total harvest amounted to hundreds of thousands of pounds of grain—an unimaginably huge pile.

This work would take at least ten days or so to finish.

After the corn was shelled, it had to be dried in the sun for several days. Only when the dried corn was sent to the granary would the work be considered more than halfway done.

After that, the peanuts and soybeans also needed to be threshed.

This was why the Qiushou harvest was so arduous. Everyone rushed to work every day without rest; it would be a miracle if they weren’t exhausted.

The reason for the rush was the fear of bad weather. A single downpour could wash away a whole year of hard work.

Thinking about the many days of work still ahead, Gu Jiaojiao couldn’t help but feel miserable.