Gu Chong and Gu Fei each carried a cloth bag in their hands, and they also each carried a basket on their backs to hold grain.

As for Xue Fu, Gu Chong symbolically stuffed a vegetable basket into her hand.

As the three of them went to the back of the line to join the queue, they unsurprisingly received a few teasing remarks.

They really are a family of three, and all three of them look really handsome.

Xue Fu smiled.

Gu Fei felt secretly pleased by these words.

Gu Chongmo sighed: When will I finally be able to marry a wife? He said he wasn't in a hurry, but actually he was a little anxious.

I really want my wife and a warm bed.

When Xue Fu was first assigned a shopping basket, she was reluctant to accept it, saying that she wanted to help carry it too.

If Gu Fei, a child, could help move things, then of course she could too.

Seeing her like this, Gu Chong chuckled and then pointed to the firewood basket over there in the house, asking her to try and move it.

After one test, Xue Fu became obedient.

She's scared now, afraid that she won't be able to carry it or move it, and that she might fall flat on her face and spill the grain, which would be a terrible mistake.

So now she's content to be a quiet, useless little thing following behind the two brothers.

As they lined up one by one, Xue Fu saw the radiant smiles of uncontainable joy on the faces of those who had received their share of food.

Compared to summer and autumn, which are traditionally considered the harvest season, this moment feels more like a time of reaping the rewards of a year's hard work and sweat.

Xue Fu was also very happy.

Finally, it was the three of them's turn to divide the food.

The scorekeeper was making the entries, while Captain Zhou Jianguo and Secretary He were standing guard at the entrance of the granary, weighing and counting the grain to ensure that there was no shortfall or over-weighting.

Seeing the three of them approach, team leader Zhou Jianguo glanced at Gu Chong's indifferent face, then looked at Xue Fu and asked her, "Little Xue, is your grain packed separately for you, or should it be packed together for those two boys?"

Before Xue Fu could say, "Pack it together for me," Gu Chong interrupted, "Pack it separately for her."

Gu Chong took out the bag from his backpack.

Xue Fu turned her head to look at him, pursed her lips, and neither spoke nor refuted, but listened to him.

Team leader Zhou Jianguo gave Gu Chong an approving look, thinking he had done a good job.

Although the two are dating and even eat together, they haven't gotten married yet, and it's still uncertain whether they'll stay together or settle down.

It's best to keep rations separate. No one should take advantage of anyone else.

Zhou Jianguo gave her a number, and Xue Fu nodded.

After confirming that everything was correct, Xue Fu watched as her own rations were scooped out of the pile of grain in the granary one ladle at a time and poured into a bag.

Although it wasn't much, more than enough to fit in one pocket, Xue Fu was still happy.

This is what she earned through hard work over the past six months!

She moved closer, and Gu Chong, seeing what she was thinking, made way for her so she could feel the weight herself.

Xue Fu reached out and lifted the bag, which contained nearly a hundred pounds of grain. As expected, she couldn't lift it; the bag didn't budge on the ground.

But Xue Fu was not discouraged at all; on the contrary, she was even happier!

The fact that she couldn't lift it means that she actually earned quite a bit of food!

But her joy diminished slightly when she saw the grain that Gu Chong had received as work points.

He received three times as much as she did.

Xue Fu glanced around at the other people who had also received food, and she slowly realized that she seemed to be among the group that received the least.

Xue Fu: ...

But no matter what, she was happy!

The three people carried the grain like ants carrying food.

Xue Fu served as a watchdog for the grain.

Gu Chong and Gu Fei carried the bags one by one, and Xue Fu watched over the rest of the bags that couldn't be carried with them, while Gu Chong and Gu Fei carried them away.

Xue Fu took her job as a security guard very seriously.

Of course, no one in the village would come to steal the grain at such a time.

After everything was moved back, Gu Chong still looked relaxed, while the little boy Gu Fei next to him was exhausted, his face flushed and panting. He wiped his sweat and ran into the house to get some water.

Xue Fu looked at Gu Fei and felt a little guilty and ashamed; even a child was more capable than her.

"Xiao Fei, you're amazing, much better than your sister." Xue Fu went over to talk to Gu Fei, "Your sister couldn't help at all."

Gu Fei touched his ear, a little embarrassed: "My brother and I do this every year."

The boy's face flushed even more: "We're men... it's not hard to move some things."

Xue Fu found it quite strange to hear a ten-year-old child say that he was a man.

She touched his hair. Gu Fei's hair was much softer than his brother's, and it felt fluffy to the touch.

She praised him, "You're such a man."

Gu Fei laughed: "Hehe."

The bag of rations that Xue Fu was allocated was moved into the main room and locked in the box along with their rations to prevent rats from sneaking in.

Xue Fu watched as Gu Chong locked the door, then went over and said, "If...if I'm transferred back next year, remember to eat all that grain."

She understood what he meant when he told Zhou Jianguo to pack the grain separately. But she was also worried that he was too stubborn and wouldn't touch her grain after she left.

"Okay." Gu Chong lowered his eyes, then looked up at her again and asked about her leaving on the 25th.

"Have you packed your luggage? Do you need any help?"

His dark eyes stared at her, slightly moist and glistening, as if she hadn't finished tidying up yet, and he would say the next second, "Then I'll go and tidy up for you."

Xue Fu nodded: "That's about it."

However, when she thought of the unfinished 'thing' on her bed, she suddenly felt a sense of urgency.

Xue Fu subconsciously rubbed her hands together.

He noticed something was wrong with his hand: "What happened to your hand?"

He immediately grabbed her hand, lifted it up, and examined it closely.

Her fingers were slender and white. She was thin, and there was hardly any flesh on her hands. There was a thin layer of skin on the back of her hands, and you could see the bluish-green veins under her fair skin.

He touched her palm, then spread her fingers open to examine her fingertips; they were clean and free of any broken skin.

"It's nothing." Xue Fu felt a little guilty, so her eyes became a little unfocused and unnatural. She subconsciously tried to close her palms. "It's just a little itchy, it's nothing."

She unconsciously twirled her fingers again.

I've been knitting these past few days, and it's become muscle memory.

Gu Chong could see her expression clearly and realized that she didn't want to talk.

He suppressed the question that had been surfacing in his mind: "Okay."

Then he added, "Your hands are a bit cold. Sit in the chair for a while, and I'll get you a charcoal brazier."

After saying that, he turned into a hardworking little bee again and went to get her a charcoal brazier for a fire.

Xue Fu sat down in the chair, feeling a small surge of emotion and a warm feeling in her heart.

Oh, he's so nice.

That evening at the educated youth settlement, Xue Fu had almost finished packing up all her things.

Liu Ling and Zheng Peipei were in a similar situation. Like Xue Fu, they didn't pack much luggage. Except for Liu Ling, who wanted to bring an extra bag of local specialties home, the three of them traveled light.

They were all planning to leave immediately on the 25th, the day their holiday started. Some of the male educated youth next door even set off overnight on the 24th.