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Hearing Tang Yue's words, Lai Xiang, who had been holding back her tears for so long, could no longer hold them back and let them flow. She wiped away her tears while forcing a smile, "Little Yueyue, I'm... fine."

Tang Yue now knows how to comfort others, especially her good friend. "Sister Lai, don't be sad, everything will be alright."

Tang Yue first took out a yellow talisman from her pocket, then took out a fine brush and ink. As soon as Tang Jianye saw these things, he looked outside. Fortunately, there was nothing outside.

Tang Yue quickly drew a few strokes on the talisman paper, which neither Tang Jianye nor Lai Xiang understood. Then Tang Yue handed the still-wet talisman paper to Tang Jianye, saying, "Put it on the roof."

Although the wooden house is a bit low, that's only relative to a man like Tang Jianye. He has to bend over a lot to enter the door of this wooden house, and the height is only a few centimeters higher than the top of Tang Jianye's head.

Tang Jianye took it and looked at it from all sides. There was no paste on it, so how was he supposed to stick it? Meeting Tang Yue's dark gaze, Tang Jianye didn't dare to delay for a second. Regardless of the position, he slapped the talisman paper onto it with a "smack".

Then Tang Jianye opened his eyes wide in disbelief, because a wave of heat spread out from the talisman paper. Since Tang Jianye was closest to it and his face was exposed, he was the first to feel the warmth.

Soon, Lai Xiang also felt that the wooden house seemed much warmer than usual. She looked at Tang Yue in disbelief, opening her mouth several times but not knowing what to say.

Tang Yue drew a few more talismans. The talisman was strange; it disappeared immediately after the warmth flowed out. Actually, Tang Yue had added a concealment effect to it. These days, people are already wary of such things, and with Sister Lai in her current condition, having these things would be even more dangerous.

After drawing the talisman, Tang Yue put the things away. By this time, the temperature inside the wooden house had risen, and Lai Xiang felt her hands and feet slowly regaining feeling, though they were very itchy, but she didn't say anything.

Tang Yue pulled Lai Xiang to sit on the bed covered with a thin mattress. "Sister Lai, how come you live in a place like this?" They live in the Northeast, near the border. It starts snowing almost as early as October. The snow outside is very thick. If it weren't for special tires, the car wouldn't be able to move at all.

In winter, the farmers here don't go out at all; they all stay home to hibernate. Yet, even in such conditions, they only allocated this wooden hut to Sister Lai. It's as if they're trying to kill Sister Lai.

Lai Xiang quickly shook her head, "No, no, Xiao Yueyue, listen to me first. They didn't assign me here; I applied on my own initiative."

Seeing that Tang Jianye and Tang Yue were looking at her, she continued, "When I came here yesterday, I secretly inquired about it. The cowshed where my parents live is not far from here. If I live with those educated youth, I will have no way to go and see them."

So I told them I had a skin condition and that contact with me would infect everyone. They were all so scared that they didn't want to live in the same house as me.

"The housing for the educated youth was already very tight, and there were no spare rooms for me. Naturally, since I had an infectious disease, the villagers on the farm did not want to be near me."

The captain thought for a long time before remembering there was a simple wooden hut here. He had said that such a place was uninhabitable in winter, and people might freeze to death. It was my own insistence that I come here.

Tang Yue still frowned, "Sister Lai, you have nothing here. It's not safe for a young lady like you to live alone."

Lai Xiang smiled and said, "Yes, that's what the brigade leader said too. But it's okay. I said I'll get through this winter and when spring comes, I'll ask someone to build a yard for me and make the wall higher so it'll be safer."

Tang Yue sighed, "Well, we'll have to survive this winter."

As the group was talking, the brigade leader led several men from the village over carrying a lot of firewood.

Tang Jianye went out to greet him, saying, "Thank you, Captain, you've worked hard."

The brigade leader put down the firewood on his shoulder. "Hey, don't be so polite. I was busy arranging things for the educated youths late last night, so I didn't bring any firewood for Lai. Lai, were you alright last night?"

Lai Xiang had already left the wooden house. "Thank you, Captain. I'm fine."

"Okay, that's good."

The battalion commander's attitude was much better than yesterday. Lai Xiang knew this was because Tang Jianye was in military uniform and driving a military vehicle.

Tang Jianye spoke to the brigade leader, "Brigade leader, this is my relative. The young girl wanted to support the country's construction and came to this most impoverished place. She has a lot of ambition, but she has been pampered since childhood. I hope the brigade leader can take good care of her."

As he spoke, he shook hands with the battalion commander. The moment their hands clasped, the battalion commander felt something between them, but he took it without making a sound. His attitude was even better than before.

"Comrade, you're too kind. Now that Comrade Lai has come to our farm, we're practically from the same village. I'll take care of him as I can, so don't worry about it."

Tang Yue walked forward and said, "Captain, could you ask the villagers to help me build a house for my sister Lai? This wooden house isn't warm even with firewood, and it's impossible for one person to spend the whole winter here."

The captain was in a dilemma. "Young comrade, it's not that we don't want to help. It's just that it's freezing cold, and the ground is frozen several feet deep. We simply can't dig it out."

Tang Yue understood this, but she came up with a solution: "Captain, every household in the village should have some stockpiled mud bricks, right? Can you exchange them all for us? I can offer grain in exchange."

Also, could you find some strong laborers to help us? I'll give each person a pound of flour for a day's work.

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