"Her? Who are you talking about?" Lu Zhengting's expression darkened slightly.

Gu Mingzhou said, "Company Commander Lu hasn't told us how he got this handkerchief yet."

"Oh, that day I went to take Chief Sheng back to his hometown. On the main street of Jinshi, I encountered a thug wielding a knife and attacking people. I was injured in the arm while subduing the thug. A kind girl used her own handkerchief to bandage my wound. I wanted to return the handkerchief to her, but I haven't found the opportunity yet."

"Jinshi, she happens to be from Jinshi too, her name is Lin Qingyan, right?"

Lu Zhengting paused for a moment before nodding, then looked at Gu Mingzhou and asked, "You know her very well? What is your relationship with her?"

"We had arranged marriages when we were kids."

"A marriage arranged since childhood!" Upon hearing his words, Lu Zhengting felt a sudden sense of loss.

Gu Mingzhou, however, looked smug: "Yes, our parents said we were good friends and arranged a marriage for us when we were very young."

He glanced at the handkerchief again: "Um, Company Commander Lu, she's been sent to the countryside to work. If you're in a hurry to return her handkerchief, I can probably do it for you."

Lu Zhengting did not deny that he was an outsider to Lin Qingyan, while Gu Mingzhou was her boyfriend.

Since he doesn't yet know where Lin Qingyan is cutting in line, having Gu Mingzhou pass on the message would indeed save him a lot of trouble.

He turned around to take the handkerchief off and hand it to Gu Mingzhou, but after taking two steps, he changed his mind and said to Gu Mingzhou, "Company Commander Gu, I think it's better if I hand it to Comrade Lin Qingyan myself."

Is there any difference?

"Yes, Comrade Lin Qingyan gave it to me personally, so naturally I should give it to her personally as well. That would be appropriate."

Gu Mingzhou: "..."

At first glance, it does make sense.

But upon further reflection, something seems amiss.

"Company Commander Lu, do you think it's appropriate for you to keep her handkerchief?"

“What’s inappropriate about it? It’s not a token of love.” Lu Zhengting said matter-of-factly, “Comrade Lin Qingyan showed her kindness by bandaging my wound with a handkerchief. I should return it to her personally to express my gratitude. Asking you to do it for me would be too insincere.”

Gu Mingzhou felt a lump in his throat. He never expected that Lu Zhengting, who was usually a man of few words and only spoke with his fists and guns, could be so eloquent.

"You, you returned it to her yourself? Do you even know where she is now?"

"Where?"

"Yes." Gu Mingzhou almost blurted it out. Hmph, since Lu Zhengting didn't know, he wasn't going to tell him: "You don't even know where she is, how are you going to give it to her?"

"There will be a day when we meet."

"Wouldn't it be easier for you to have me bring it to her?"

"Since you know where she is, tell me and I'll go there and return her to her myself."

"I... I don't know where she is right now, but I'll find out soon. Never mind, since Company Commander Lu insists on having that handkerchief, you can keep it. I have other things to do, so I'll be going now."

"Goodbye and don't come back!"

Gu Mingzhou felt uneasy even after leaving Lu Zhengting's dormitory.

What exactly is Lu Zhengting up to?

Mopantun Brigade

Lin Guanghui was also going to work. His workplace was the pigsty, and his job was to clean up the pigs' excrement. To put it simply, he was taking care of the pigs' needs for defecating and urinating, acting as their servant.

Lin Guanghui was already too afraid to approach the pigsty because of the stench before he even reached it.

The pigsty keeper, Wu Fatian, greeted Lin Guanghui and asked, "Are you the new educated youth, Lin Guanghui?"

Lin Guanghui really wanted to say no, that would be perfect since he wouldn't have to go in and do any work.

But when he recalled being caught on the train by the staff of the educated youth office when he went to the countryside, he immediately changed his tune: "Yes."

Anyway, there's no way to change my fate of doing hard labor here.

Wu Fatian said, "Come with me. You'll work here from now on. I'll tell you exactly what you'll be doing."

The pigsty reeked and was swarming with flies; Lin Guanghui practically had to block his nose to walk in.

As soon as I entered, I saw a woman wielding a shovel, shoveling manure in the pigsty.

Wu Fatian said, "This woman used to shovel and carry manure here, and I was in charge of feeding the pigs. However, an old sow is about to give birth, and we happen to be short-handed, so your arrival is just in time."

From now on, your main responsibility will be shoveling and carrying manure. This woman can help you, and also help feed the pigs. In short, the three of us will take good care of these pigs.

Li Guanghui had his nose blocked the whole time, and felt a bit oxygen-deprived in his brain. Only then did he remove his hand and take a deep breath of the foul air, almost gagging from the stench.

Wu Fatian said expressionlessly, "It's like this at first. You'll get used to it after smelling it a few more times. Why don't you smell it for a few days and you'll get used to it sooner?"

Lin Guanghui shook his head painfully: "No, I'll just smell it slowly."

I'm afraid if I smell it too much, I'll throw up.

Wu Fatian pointed to two manure baskets filled with pig manure and a carrying pole covered in pig manure next to him, directing Lin Guanghui.

"First, carry this manure to the open space over there, pour it on the ground, spread it out with a manure pitchfork, and wait for the pig manure to dry in the sun before using it as fertilizer."

Lin Guanghui reluctantly picked up the carrying pole. Having learned from his previous experience carrying water, he knew how to carry things.

They carried the two baskets of pig manure over, poured the manure on the ground, and then spread it out with a pitchfork.