A Cannon-Fodder Alpha Marked The Future Villainess After Transmigrating Into A Novel - Chapter 6

It rained during the night, but the rain had stopped by morning.

Zhao Cui’e had already prepared breakfast. She added some cornmeal to the mushroom soup left over from the previous day, turning it into a thin cornmeal porridge.

After eating, Xie Huai left for work at the factory in town, while Xie Dahai headed to Lijiazhuang.

That left Xie Jing, Zhao Cui’e, and Xie Zhenzhen. Once they finished getting ready, the three of them went to the production brigade to collect their tools.

They happened to run into Liu Fen there.

The moment Liu Fen saw Xie Jing, she smiled and said, “Well, isn’t this Xiao Jing? You’re going to work in the fields today? Your aunt has to warn you—look at that delicate skin of yours. Farmwork isn’t something you can handle.”

Xie Jing looked at her and smiled.

“Whether I can work is none of your concern, Auntie.”

“Hmph!”

Liu Fen glared at her.

“I was only giving you a kind reminder.”

Xie Jing glanced at the man beside Liu Fen.

He was scrawny, with the same mean-looking features as his mother. There was no need to guess. This had to be Liu Fen’s son and the original Xie Jing’s cousin, Xie Jianjun.

“Isn’t this Cousin Jianjun? Why does he look even thinner than before?” Xie Jing said mildly.

Everyone struggled to get enough food in this era, so being thin was perfectly normal.

But Xie Jing had cleverly added the word “even.”

On one hand, she was retaliating against Liu Fen’s claim that she could not handle farmwork. On the other, she was implying that Liu Fen’s entire family worked in the fields and still could not afford enough food.

Liu Fen’s face immediately darkened.

She snorted at Xie Jing, shoved past the villagers ahead of her, and squeezed to the front of the line.

Her brazen queue-jumping immediately drew complaints from the others.

In the end, Liu Fen merely collected her tools before leaving in embarrassment with Xie Jianjun.

Zhao Cui’e gave Xie Jing a sidelong glance and pursed her lips.

“You were right. You can’t indulge people like her.”

Xie Zhenzhen quickly agreed from the side.

Xie Jing smiled.

The three of them stepped forward.

The scorekeeper was Lin Qingqing. Her father was the production team leader, so naturally, an easy job like this had been given to a member of his own family.

The moment Lin Qingqing saw Xie Jing, she instinctively looked at her hands.

When she saw they were empty, anger rose inside her for no apparent reason.

With a sullen face, she asked impatiently, “How many people?”

“Two,” Xie Jing replied.

Xie Zhenzhen was still a child. Even when she came along to work, she was mostly there to play and did not count.

Lin Qingqing recorded it.

Xie Jing and Zhao Cui’e each collected a hoe and left the brigade office, while Xie Zhenzhen followed behind carrying a basket.

When the three of them reached the fields, they learned that the Xie family had been assigned to clear wasteland.

The harvests had been poor for the past several years, so the production brigade had decided to reclaim more land. Their plan was that even if each plot produced little, planting more would give every household a better chance of having enough to eat.

Xie Jing surveyed the wasteland.

It was overgrown with weeds and scattered shrubs. Clearing it would probably be exhausting.

Fortunately, the rain the night before had been heavy enough to soak the ground, so turning the soil would not be quite as difficult.

When Zhao Cui’e saw Xie Jing standing motionless and staring at the field, she assumed her daughter did not want to work.

“If you get tired, go rest under that tree. We can wait until your father comes back to finish the rest.”

Xie Jing rolled up her sleeves.

“If everyone else can do it, why can’t I?”

Zhao Cui’e smiled at her daughter with relief and pride.

The plot assigned to the Xie family happened to border the Ning family’s land.

When Xie Jing saw Ning Yunqing, she froze.

Ning Yunqing walked behind the rest of her family with her head lowered. She looked so thin and frail that a light gust of wind might knock her over.

Every member of the Ning family carried a hoe, including their youngest daughter.

Xie Jing recognized her as the little girl who had greeted Ning Yunqing at the village entrance the previous day.

Her brows knitted slightly.

Zhao Cui’e gestured toward them with her chin.

“The Ning family won’t even spare a child that young. They truly have no humanity. I heard that girl is ill and isn’t supposed to do heavy work.”

At Zhao Cui’e’s words, Xie Jing looked more carefully at Ning Niannian.

The girl was small and thin, appearing about two years younger than Xie Zhenzhen.

Ning Yunqing stood beside her younger sister, helping her along.

Xie Jing had not noticed before, but now she saw that Ning Yunqing was limping.

Her brows tightened.

Ning Yunqing’s leg had been fine when they parted the previous evening.

Had she twisted it on the way home?

She was already injured, yet she had still come to work in the fields.

Did she not care whether she kept that leg?

The more Xie Jing thought about it, the angrier she became.

Frowning deeply, she lifted her foot to walk over.

At that moment, Ning Yunqing’s eldest brother moved first.

He deliberately slammed his shoulder into Ning Yunqing.

Her already unsteady body immediately lost its balance. She stumbled several steps to the side and only barely managed to remain standing.

Xie Jing: “…”

“Stop blocking the way. Go work somewhere else. Just looking at you annoys me.”

Ning Dabao cast Ning Yunqing a disgusted glance.

Ning Yunqing said nothing. Supporting herself with her hoe, she moved to the other side.

Xie Jing tightened her grip around the hoe handle.

Following her gaze, Zhao Cui’e looked over as well.

“Ning Dabao has always been lazy and gluttonous. Everyone in all the surrounding villages knows it. He’s almost thirty and still hasn’t found a wife. All he knows how to do is bully that younger sister of his.”

Xie Jing’s expression darkened.

“Does he bully Ning Yunqing often?”

Zhao Cui’e snorted.

“Their family is notorious throughout the area for favoring sons over daughters.”

Xie Jing put down her hoe and started toward Ning Yunqing.

“Hey, where are you going?”

Quick-eyed and quick-handed, Zhao Cui’e grabbed her.

“I’m warning you, don’t stick your nose into other people’s business.”

Xie Jing turned to look at her.

“That Ning Fugui is a shameless scoundrel, and when Liu Dani starts throwing a fit… Goodness, I don’t want that entire family latching onto us and demanding compensation,” Zhao Cui’e said, glancing toward the Ning family.

Xie Jing pressed her lips together tightly.

Could Ning Yunqing’s eventual descent into villainy have something to do with the family she had grown up in?

“System! System!” she called inside her mind.

“I’m here, Host. What can I do for you?” 007’s electronic voice replied at the perfect moment.

“Do you know why Ning Yunqing turned evil?” Xie Jing asked.

“I truly don’t know that, Host. You’ll have to investigate it yourself,” 007 replied.

“…”

Damned system!

Xie Jing took a deep breath and looked at Ning Yunqing again.

She had lowered her head and was working.

The rest of the Ning family had also stopped causing trouble and were quietly turning the soil.

Xie Jing said nothing more. She picked up her hoe and began clearing the land with Zhao Cui’e.

Even if her original family was what caused Ning Yunqing to turn evil, would that really explain why she later committed suicide?

Xie Jing frowned.

She had never done this kind of work before.

By noon, she was so exhausted that she could barely straighten her waist.

Holding her lower back, she followed Zhao Cui’e beneath a large tree.

Xie Zhenzhen hurriedly handed her some water.

Xie Jing gulped down an entire bowl before finally feeling some relief from the heat.

The Ning family also finished their morning’s work and gathered beneath the trees.

When Ning Dabao saw Xie Jing, he walked over.

“Xie Jing, you came to work too?”

Xie Jing stared at him coldly without answering.

Having embarrassed himself, Ning Dabao did not dare lose his temper.

Xie Jing was a top-tier Alpha. She was nothing like his family’s Third Son, who was merely an ordinary Alpha, let alone Ning Dabao himself, a Beta whose pheromones were practically nonexistent.

He obediently shut his mouth and returned to where the Ning family was sitting.

Xie Jing looked toward Ning Yunqing.

She was pouring water for the rest of her family.

Xie Jing’s gaze moved downward and settled on Ning Yunqing’s ankle.

It was covered by dark blue trousers, so she could not see anything else.

“What are you looking at?”

Zhao Cui’e handed Xie Jing a cornbread bun.

“Nothing.”

Xie Jing came back to her senses.

“Hurry and eat. You’ve worked all morning,” Zhao Cui’e said.

Xie Jing nodded and took a bite of the bun.

After pouring water for the Ning family, Ning Yunqing carried half a bowl over and sat beside Ning Niannian.

She took a small sip.

Ning Niannian leaned closer and whispered, “So Xie Jing is the one who gave Fourth Sister that cornbread bun yesterday. She’s the top-tier Alpha in our village. She’s really pretty.”

Then she looked up and blinked at her sister.

“But Fourth Sister is still the prettiest in Niannian’s heart.”

Ning Yunqing froze.

Ning Niannian was in poor health and rarely left the house. At most, she accompanied the family to work in the fields.

Since Xie Jing normally never did farmwork, it was natural that Ning Niannian had never seen her before.

Ning Yunqing raised a hand and gently rubbed the little girl’s head, a trace of heartache flashing through her eyes.

“Hurry and eat. Fourth Sister will get you a bowl of wild-vegetable soup,” she said gently.

“Okay,” Ning Niannian replied obediently.

Ning Yunqing poured the remaining water from her bowl beneath the tree.

Supporting her aching body, she went to serve some wild-vegetable soup.

The moment her hand touched the ladle, Liu Dani slapped it away.

“What are you eating for? Can’t you see that your father and brothers haven’t eaten yet?”

Ning Niannian sensibly tugged at Ning Yunqing’s clothes with her small hand.

“Fourth Sister, I’m not hungry yet,” she said timidly.

Ning Niannian was already seven years old, but she was so small and thin that she looked no different from a child of four or five.

Ning Yunqing gritted her teeth and said to Liu Dani, “Niannian is still young, and she isn’t well. Besides, she doesn’t eat much…”

“Since when was it your place to tell me what to do? She’s only a girl. Is she really going to starve to death?”

As Liu Dani spoke, she raised her hand and shoved Ning Yunqing hard.

Ning Yunqing had already been forcing herself to remain standing.

The push immediately sent her crashing to the ground.

Xie Jing, who had been secretly watching the Ning family, felt her heart tighten.

She sprang to her feet and rushed over.

Crouching down, she reached for Ning Yunqing’s wrist to help her up.

But the instant her fingers touched her, Ning Yunqing abruptly pulled her arm away.

“…”

Xie Jing knew Ning Yunqing might hate her, but she had not expected such a strong reaction.

After a moment of hesitation, she said, “Get up by yourself, then.”

Ning Yunqing pressed her lips together and nodded.

Under Xie Jing’s concerned gaze, she slowly climbed to her feet.

She was still unsteady.

Knowing that Ning Yunqing rejected her touch, Xie Jing flexed her fingers but held herself back.

Only after seeing her stand firmly did she lower her hands.

Then Xie Jing turned toward Liu Dani and said bluntly, “What’s wrong with being a girl? I truly don’t understand how your mind works. Aren’t you a woman yourself? Does your daughter stop being human just because she’s a girl?”

Liu Dani froze.

She had never expected someone to suddenly step in while she was disciplining her own daughter.

Worse still, the person standing before her was not someone she could afford to provoke.

Xie Jing was a top-tier Alpha.

When it came to fighting, there probably was not a single person in the entire village who could defeat her.