Turning to his mother, Jiang Kai said, "Mom, you too. When Ruyi went to the countryside, we brought her a lot of things, right? You weren't so worried about Jiang Jun going to the countryside either. It's been several days now, you should stop. You always have such a long face, Yangyang is so scared he doesn't dare to look at you. I'm begging you, even if it's not for anything else, just for your son, I'm exhausted after a long day at work. Can you let Dad and me have some peace and quiet when you get home?"

Wang Shuhua looked at her husband, then at her son, and suddenly she wondered what she had been living her life for, calculating every little thing. Suddenly, she felt listless. "That's it," she thought, "this is how my life will be..."

Jiang Ruyu was unaware of the commotion next door. Although it hadn't escalated, she ate her meal and went to work. When she got to her workstation, she glanced at the clock on the wall: 11:55. Oh dear, she was almost late. It seemed she needed to get a watch to keep track of time.

"Master Zhang, I'm here. You can go back and have your meal first."

"Will this work? I'll wait a bit. Wu Mei should be here soon. Um, take a look at this. I wrote down the prices of the products on this counter for you. Write it down so you don't make any mistakes." Zhang Guisheng took out a cardboard box with the names and prices of the candies written on it.

After taking the document and glancing at it, Jiang Ruyu bowed to Master Zhang and said, "Master Zhang, thank you so much. I really don't know how to thank you enough."

"Hey, no need to thank me. Just call me Uncle Zhang from now on. I like hardworking, observant, and quick-witted young people like you. You have so much energy that I feel like I'm ten years younger." Zhang Guisheng just felt a connection with Jiang Ruyu. After spending the morning with her, he felt that this girl wasn't the type to just go through the motions, so he was willing to help her integrate into the job as soon as possible.

"Alright, then I won't stand on ceremony. Master Zhang, you should go back and have your meal. With this, I'm sure I won't make any mistakes." Jiang Ruyu accepted the price list. Master Zhang had been so kind to her, and she wasn't heartless. There would be plenty of time in the future, and she would have many opportunities to repay him.

Jiang Ruyu was doing quite well at her workplace, but Jiang Ruyi, who had been in Heilongjiang Province for several days, was having a very bad time. The time she went to the countryside was the season for fertilizing and weeding corn. As soon as she arrived at the educated youth settlement, she complained about the poor environment and hygiene. The educated youth with good tempers ignored her, while the educated youth with bad tempers didn't tolerate her faults.

"Oh, where did this pampered young lady come from? What do you think this place is? If you don't like it here, then don't come."

Jiang Ruyi's face turned red with anger. Since she had just arrived, she didn't dare to offend the older educated youth. Some shrewd people noticed that Jiang Ruyi was dressed in department store clothes and had brought a lot of luggage, including new porcelain basins and thermos flasks, and guessed that she must come from a well-off family.

"Hello, my name is Li Zhaodi. I arrived two years earlier than you. You can sleep in the kang next to me. I'll tidy up for you."

Jiang Ruyi looked at the female educated youth who had spoken. She was dark-skinned and thin, and her clothes were patched. Disdain flashed in her eyes, but then she smiled and said, "Thank you, Comrade Li. Here's a piece of candy for you. Thank you for your trouble."

Li Zhaodi's eyes lit up; this man was indeed wealthy. "Oh, no trouble at all, we're all comrades," she said, deftly taking the White Rabbit candy from his hand.

The former and new educated youth standing nearby exchanged glances, saying nothing. It was a willing exchange, so they should worry about their own business.

At this time, Jiang Jun, who was in Liaoning Province, also received a letter and a package from his elder brother.

"Jiang, you have a package and a letter." The postman had become familiar with these educated youths who had been here for several years, and most of his business came from them.

"Thank you, Comrade Wei, for your trouble." Jiang Jun no longer has the same high spirits he had when he first came to the countryside two years ago. Several years of working in the fields have worn away his initial passion.

Jiang Jun smiled and greeted his friends before returning to his room and sitting on his own kang (heated brick bed). He carefully opened the package, which contained a few receipts, five yuan, and a pair of white and blue Warrior sneakers. After carefully feeling through the items, he placed them in a locked wooden box and then opened the letter.

After reading the letter, Jiang Jun sighed deeply. He hadn't expected that so many things would have happened at home in just one month between the two letters, and that his younger sister would also be sent to the countryside.

He knew his younger sister's temperament all too well. She was competitive, ambitious, and unwilling to admit defeat. At home, she would compete with Ruyu all day long in terms of grades, looks, clothes, and popularity. She always wanted to win at everything. Now that she was going to the countryside, she was going to suffer a lot.

Thinking about what the letter said about Ruyu's head being cut open and needing several stitches, all because of his mother and sister, it's truly a tangled mess.

Why can't he just give people a break? Thinking of Ruyu, he really can't face her.

He thought for a moment and then went out. There was a barefoot doctor in the brigade who made plasters that were good for treating joint pain. He would buy a few more and send them back to his grandmother. He would also get some rabbit skins for Ruyu to make a fur collar or vest. He couldn't go back right away, so he would apologize to Ruyu when he got back.

A few days later, when Jiang Ruyu received a package from Liaoning Province after get off work, she knew it was from her second brother. After opening it, she read it to her grandmother and couldn't help but sigh, "Grandma, who does my second brother take after? He's still doing hard labor in the countryside, yet he still thinks about us."

Grandma Jiang carefully put away the letter, the rabbit skin with plaster sent by her grandson, and a dried wild rabbit. She then went to the storage room partitioned off in the next room and put them away. Jiang Ruyu followed closely behind her grandmother.

Grandma Jiang took out two empty glass bottles, preparing to send some side dishes to her grandson: "Your second brother is just like your grandfather, always worrying about everything. I'll pack some pickled radishes for him. You buy two ounces of beef for work tomorrow, and I'll make him a pot of beef sauce. If the food isn't good when you're doing hard labor in the fields, your health will suffer. I'll make you a vest out of that rabbit skin another day."

Jiang Ruyu was very close to her second brother and naturally hoped that he could live a better life. In the past, she had to ask her grandmother for money, but now she could earn money on her own. With the help of the sign-in system, she could squeeze in some things to send to her second brother when her grandmother sent him things.

These past few days, she's been saving up her sign-in opportunities to sign in at work, because she's discovered that what she gets for signing in is related to where she signs in. The things she gets for signing in at different counters at work are all related to what those counters sell.

Once, she tried signing in at the post office and received ten yuan and a set of three-color military mail. She had several of them at home. Her grandmother said they were issued to her father when he was in the army, and he used them when writing letters.

When she saw the stamps, she suddenly remembered the book she had seen while she was unconscious. It seemed to have mentioned that Jiang Ruyi, after becoming a military officer's wife, remarked on how valuable her mother-in-law's stamp collection was. She wondered if she could also collect stamps and whether they would become valuable like antiques in the future.

Later, she used the ten yuan she got from that sign-in to buy several sets of stamps sold at the post office. She didn't know which set would be valuable in the future, so she decided that she would buy a set every time she got her salary, thinking that there must be some that would be valuable.