Educated Youth in the Countryside: She is the Village's Embroidery Queen!-Chapter 290: Pure and Simple Airhead

When Ji Jian returned from the infirmary, Zhang Xin and the old man were busy tending to the soldiers with fractures.

"My Old Huang is here."

Yang Qing sighed, "Old Huang will have to write another self-critique."

Yi Chichi, "??? Your Old Huang led the team?!"

"Yes, indeed."

This was quite a major incident, injuring so many at once.

"He won’t have to write a self-critique."

Tong Nian reassured her, "On the contrary, your Old Huang is being praised for his contributions this time."

The previously downcast Yang Qing instantly perked up.

"Really?"

Tong Nian nodded, and Yi Chichi and the others also nodded. If it were during training that so many soldiers were injured, the officer in charge would indeed have to take responsibility.

But Old Huang’s situation was different. You could say it was an act of bravery or on a larger scale, protecting the lives and property of the people.

Not only did he not make a mistake, but he achieved merits.

Yi Chichi was puzzled, "You’ve been with the military for over a year, how do you not know about clear rewards and punishments?"

Yang Qing twitched the corners of her mouth, explaining pitifully, "It’s not my fault, my Old Huang is just an ordinary person, since I came over, he has neither achieved merits nor faults."

If that were the case, it’s understandable.

"There’s no way Zhang Xin is going clam digging now."

Checking the time, Tong Nian stood up and asked, "Are you going now, or later?"

"Let’s go now."

They decided to go early rather than late, so when they arrived leisurely at the beach, they caught the tide just as it was receding.

Perfect.

"Let’s go then." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

So, the four of them headed to the seaside with a bucket, inside were tongs, salt, and a small hammer.

There was a big tide today, and almost every family member who was off work or unemployed was present in the residential area.

Once on the beach, they saw many locals as well.

And many kids too.

Looking around, it wasn’t exactly a sea of people, but it was still crowded.

At this time, the tide hadn’t completely receded, but some people couldn’t resist and had rolled up their pants to wade in.

Yi Chichi and her group stood on the beach, seeing people on both their left and right sides.

Looking ahead, there were even more people.

Looking behind...

Oh, no need to look back, it was land with hardly anyone around.

"We’re clam digging here?"

Unfamiliar with the island, Yi Chichi doubted they would find anything here.

Probably not even a shrimp.

Yang Qing and the others all looked at Tong Nian, and Yi Chichi, noticing their change in gaze, also looked over.

"Sister-in-law, you’ve been here a while, we’ll follow your lead."

Tong Nian paused, "I do know a good place for clam digging, but it’s a bit far."

She then looked at Ji Jian, "I’m worried you won’t be able to walk that far."

Ji Jian didn’t confidently claim she could do it, but asked about the specific distance. Learning it would take half an hour, she smiled.

"I can handle that much distance."

"You’re sure you can make it?"

"I can."

Nevertheless, Tong Nian still reminded with concern, "If you can’t handle it halfway, don’t push yourself, just speak up."

"Don’t worry, I won’t joke with my health."

Since Ji Jian could manage, they decided to walk.

The four of them strolled westward along the fine sand, while the sunset scattered glimmers of light on the beach and sea.

Flocks of seabirds circled over the water, occasionally diving down to grab a fish.

The loud and clear calls of seagulls echoed across the sea.

A few coconut trees stood scattered on the beach, and with a thud, a coconut fell.

Yang Qing’s eyes lit up, "I’m going to pick up the coconut."

Before the words were finished, she darted away like the wind.

Yi Chichi and the others walked leisurely, watching Yang Qing rush like a Labrador to the coconut tree, picking up fallen leaves.

Tong Nian sighed, "I feel Old Yang is incredibly carefree."

"Perhaps she still has a child’s heart."

Yi Chichi jokingly replied, and Ji Jian laughed, "Child’s heart my foot, she’s just missing a brain cell."

Almost as soon as she finished speaking, the supposedly simple-minded Yang Qing joyfully called out to them.

"Come quickly, I see a few more coconuts ready to fall."

This was inviting them to help shake the tree to make the coconuts fall.

Exchanging a glance, they quickened their pace.

Then—

"Let’s wait for them to fall naturally."

Glancing up at the coconuts, Yi Chichi pulled Yang Qing away.

Tong Nian and the others quickly followed.

Being pulled along, Yang Qing protested, "Why not give it a shake?"

"Afraid of getting hit on the head."

The weight of a coconut is already considerable, if one were to fall and hit someone from high above, a concussion would be considered lucky.

If it caused death, that would be truly unfortunate.

Seeing her look back regretfully with every step, Yi Chichi said, "Stop looking, if you want coconut water, wait for Old Huang to have time and get him to fetch some for you."

Shaking coconut trees is not a good idea, most people lack the ability to predict trajectories of objects.

Especially falling objects from high up, which can seem far but may actually be directly overhead.

It’s too dangerous.

"Actually, we could climb the tree."

Tong Nian suggested.

"You climb?"

Yi Chichi asked sharply, to which Tong Nian shook her head, admitting she couldn’t.

"Funny enough, I can’t climb trees either."

Yi Chichi smiled, in any lifetime she was a city girl, and in her original world, she couldn’t even tell wheat from weed before she was ten.

Coming to this world, she learned a lot, recognized many crops, even knew when to plant what.

But as for tree climbing, there was no difference in any life.

Turning to ask Yang Qing, "Old Yang, can you climb?"

"My hometown was on the Loess Plateau."

There were trees, but not many, and they weren’t large, as there was little water.

"I can."

Ji Jian replied. Yi Chichi and the others glanced at her, then looked away, not bothering, and Yang Qing even remarked, "Even if you can, we wouldn’t let you climb."

They’d be insane to let a pregnant woman climb a tree to fetch coconuts, it wasn’t worth the risk.

Sighing, she said, "Let’s divide this coconut among the four of us, I’ll ask Old Huang to pick more when he’s free."

"No, take it home and drink it yourself."

They didn’t have tools to open the coconut anyway, so sharing it was pointless.

As they joked, they walked further, with fewer and fewer people around them.

After five or six more minutes, they reached a stretch of reefs connected to the tidal flats up ahead.

Strangely shaped, sharp-edged reefs stood at the intersection of sea and land, covered with a mass of bumps.

Yi Chichi’s eyes lit up, "So many oysters."

Tong Nian looked around, seeing no one nearby and said quietly, "There are lots of abalone here too."

Oysters weren’t the main attraction; the real prize was abalone.

"I’ve found abalone as big as the palm of my hand here."

Before Yi Chichi could express her delight, Yang Qing spoke first, "Abalone doesn’t taste good."

"How do you cook it?"

It was the first time Yi Chichi heard someone say abalone wasn’t tasty, she couldn’t comprehend it. She loved abalone, especially braised abalone, her absolute favorite.