Zhou Huanan also gave a box of pastries to Accountant Li: "I heard that Comrade Li Lanhua is pregnant. Comrade Zhang Bing is also an educated youth. This box of pastries is for them."

Accountant Li happily accepted it, thinking that Zhou Huanan was a good person and a good team leader.

Zhou Huanan received more than eighty yuan, which was a huge sum of money.

This was the first time he had earned money on his own, and this wage was more meaningful than the money he earned in exchange for work points in the fields.

Although those orders were secured through connections with his relatives, he actually put in a lot of effort to network with those leaders, communicate with them, and introduce his products.

He didn't get the cold shoulder, but he did experience rejection. It was the first time Zhou Huanan had tasted the bitterness of trying hard but failing.

Many things can only be understood through personal experience; they are not as simple as they seem.

He was born into an ivory tower and was too naive, taking it for granted that he could achieve great things.

But in reality, despite his vast knowledge, he was less literate than even the most illiterate elderly people in the fields.

In sales, if it weren't for his family's help, he wouldn't be able to compete with Li Dahui and Lin Yuan from the Lianhua brigade.

This made Zhou Huanan even more humble, wanting to learn from the strengths of those around him and to apply what he learned from practice to practice.

He has made significant progress in both his thinking and his actions.

Even his grandfather and father are now very satisfied with Zhou Huanan, thinking he is "a good man".

Zhou Huanan felt that he had finally awakened from the chaos from this moment on.

From then on, he knew clearly what he should do.

Many years later, when he mentioned this experience of "being sent to the front lines" in his autobiography, he was filled with nostalgia and gratitude.

...

On the tenth day of the Lunar New Year, Gu Yunze returned.

"I'm sorry, I won't be here for the New Year." The two had originally agreed to meet again during the New Year.

Gu Yunze received a sudden message that his partner Lu Yunfeng's side had been exposed, and he needed to go there immediately to provide support.

Lin Yu knew this was his duty, so he shook his head and said, "It's alright, you're back now."

Gu Yunze felt very guilty, as his profession inherently made him feel guilty towards his lover and family.

But it's impossible for him to let go.

This mission will end sooner or later, and when that time comes, he must try to spend more time with Lin Yu.

Gu Yunze brought back a message: "My contact partner has been exposed, and the Qingshan Commune should have come under the enemy's surveillance."

Lin Yu's eyes widened: "Then what do we do?"

We can't let anything happen to her; she's already considered this place her hometown.

"Don't worry, each brigade has our own people. If anything seems amiss, the army will be deployed to protect you."

In other words, there shouldn't be any major problems for ordinary members.

The key issue is that their base is in danger of being exposed!

But Gu Yunze didn't tell Lin Yu, after all, it was a military secret, and it wouldn't be good for her to know too much.

Lin Yu knew they must have some secrets, but she was just an ordinary person. Since she couldn't help, it was best not to pry too much, lest she become a hindrance.

This is why, after discovering that Gu Yunze and Qiao Feng had a mission, she stopped having Song Meili keep an eye on them.

At that time, she was afraid that Song Meili would be arrested as an enemy agent.

Fortunately, with Gu Yunze and Qiao Feng acting as guarantors, the ordeal ended without serious incident.

Song Meili was unaware of these things, and Lin Yu had not told her either.

Later, Song Meili joined the workshop and spent less time at the educated youth settlement, and gradually forgot about the matter.

After talking with Gu Yunze, Lin Yu was certain that the enemy had already noticed the commune and would soon also pay attention to the Lotus Brigade.

According to Gu Yunze, the Lotus Brigade should have been infiltrated by spies, and Lin Yu should be on high alert.

Now both the enemy and Gu Yunze are lurking in the shadows; it remains to be seen who will prevail.

The thought that there were spies in the brigade now terrified Lin Yu.

These people are determined and able to infiltrate the brigade, so there must be others who have been lying in wait within our own ranks for a long time.

Lin Yu thought about it for a while, then shook her head. She couldn't let others boost their morale and diminish her own.

I am on the side of justice and will never bow down to evil forces.

Of course, there was no need to be too anxious since those things hadn't happened yet. Lin Yu gradually let go of her worries and turned her attention to the spring plowing of the brigade.

Spring will arrive soon after the New Year. After a winter of idleness, the land needs to be turned over, loosened, and made softer and more fertile to prevent waterlogging.

So Lin Yu started working again to earn work points.

She's strong; she can turn the soil with a hoe and finish a day's work in one morning.

In the afternoon, she took Xiaobao and Tiedan to the brigade warehouse to select sweet potato seedlings to plant.

And so, the whole team worked on it for a few days, and a few more days passed before they started planting in April.

They call this "planting," which involves setting the row spacing for each seedling before planting it.

The planting process requires no other tools; each plant must be planted manually, one by one.

If you sit in a half-squatting position for an afternoon, you won't be able to straighten up, and your back and waist will ache.

Only those who have experienced it know what it feels like.

Lin Yu admired those elderly men and women; they seemed to have no need for rest and worked even faster than she did.

"It seems that being strong isn't always useful."

Hearing Lin Yu's complaint, Lin Yi nodded and said, "I think this doesn't require much strength. It would be great if we could plant the seedlings while standing or squatting."

Lin Yu suddenly remembered a tool she had seen on an agricultural channel in her later life. She rolled her eyes, squatted down, drew a diagram with a twig, and said to her younger brother:

"I think I've seen something like this before. It's a long tube. You put the seedling inside, press it down, and it's planted."

Lin Yi's eyes lit up; if only he had such a tool, things would be so much more convenient.

He then pleaded with Lin Yu, "Sister, where can we find one of these? Let's buy one?"

Lin Yu rolled her eyes: "Where are we going to buy it? Besides, we don't have any money."

Lin Yi sighed: "Then why did you say it? It's pointless."

He shook his head and went back to work.

I'm not in the mood to listen to Lin Yu's useless talk.

Lin Yu grabbed him: "Hey, hey, no, look at this tool, don't you think you could make one yourself?"

She remembered that the book described how Lin Yi did carpentry at home after he became lame, and he could also repair all sorts of things.

Later, they made a good living with this skill.

That's why Qiao Mingming felt even more resentful that the Lin family refused to help her.

This shows that Lin Yi definitely has a talent for this. If he could learn to do these things earlier, wouldn't that benefit the whole brigade?

To Lin Yi's surprise, he looked incredulous upon hearing Lin Yu's words: "You mean me? Sis, I'm still a primary school student! You want me to make a farm tool?"