Chapter 15 "He's messing around with this capitalist's daughter..."

Xu Junjun turned around and rummaged through the medicine cabinet, finally finding a small brown glass bottle in a corner, which contained dark-colored medicinal wine.

"This is all that's left. It works okay, but the smell is a bit strong." She poured some into her palm, rubbed it to warm it up, and then pressed it firmly onto the painful area on Shu Ran's lower back.

"Hiss—" A spicy, burning sensation made Shu Ran gasp.

"Bear with it, it'll heal faster once it's rubbed in!" Xu Junjun's hands kept moving, her movements swift and professional.

As she rubbed the wound, she couldn't help but grumble, "You, why didn't you stay in Shanghai? You came to teach in this Gobi Desert and even hurt yourself... Those kids must be hard to manage, right? I heard it was quite a commotion this morning, even Old Tuerdi's kid showed up? You really dared to take them in! Director Zhao must have given you a hard time, right? But," she lowered her voice, a hint of excitement in it, "I heard that Officer Chen spoke up for you? He's really powerful! He's a big shot from the division headquarters! With him protecting you... uh, supporting you, Zhao Weidong won't dare to make things too difficult for you!"

Shu Ran lay on the bed and mumbled a soft "hmm". Xu Junjun's hand accidentally touched Shu Ran's wrist. She exclaimed "Eh!" and grabbed Shu Ran's hand to look at it. There were several abrasions on the palm, as well as several red marks and marks left by popped blisters.

"My God! Your hands... how did they get like this?" Xu Junjun exclaimed as she examined them. "This doesn't look like chalk dust! What... what kind of heavy work have you been doing?"

Shu Ran felt a little embarrassed and tried to pull her hand back: "It's nothing, it's just... we made mud bricks to use as desks. The children can only write and draw on them while lying down. They're hard and cold, and their arms are all red from the hardness. I was thinking, could we find a way to get them some low stools to sit on, or even just a few nailed together from scrap wood?"

Xu Junjun immediately understood, feeling both angry and distressed: "Oh dear! Are you stupid! That shabby shed is barely usable! You really think you can tidy it up like your own Western-style school? Do you think you can handle those things? Making stools? Where's the wood? Where are you going to find wood?"

Remembering something, she lowered her voice, a hint of helplessness in it, "I went to the warehouse to pick up disinfectant a couple of days ago, and I overheard the old warehouse manager talking to someone. Zhao Weidong is keeping a close eye on those spare pieces of timber in the warehouse, saying they're reserved for meeting quotas, and he'll get angry if anyone touches them. Even getting approval from Chen, the clerk, is probably unlikely; he's a very principled person and won't make an exception for this." She spread her hands helplessly.

Shu Ran's heart sank, but she didn't show it on her face. "I understand, I'll think of another way. We can't always make the children write on mud bricks."

"Okay, leave your waist like this for now." Xu Junjun finally stopped rubbing, wiped away the excess medicated wine from Shu Ran's waist with a piece of tissue paper, and helped her pull her clothes up. "Here, give me your hand, this broken skin needs to be treated too, it'll be troublesome if it gets infected!"

Shu Ran did as instructed and extended her hand. Xu Junjun deftly took out a saline bottle and a small piece of absorbent cotton from the medicine cabinet, moistened it, and carefully wiped the chafed and red marks on Shu Ran's palm.

The salt water stung the broken skin, causing Shu Ran to flinch involuntarily.

"You feel pain now? Why didn't you think about it when you were carrying the mud bricks?" Xu Junjun complained, but her movements became even gentler.

After cleaning, she took a small bottle labeled "red medicine," dipped a cotton swab in the purplish-red liquid, and carefully applied it to the broken skin and swollen areas.

"This is all we can do for now," Xu Junjun sighed, looking at Shu Ran's fair and delicate hands, which were covered in wounds. "We don't have any better anti-inflammatory ointment available due to limited resources. Try not to get your hands wet these next few days, and don't lift heavy things or rub anything! Otherwise, the wounds will heal slowly!"

After treating the injury on her hand, Xu Junjun shoved the brown medicinal liquor bottle into Shu Ran's hand: "Take this. Before you go to bed tonight, have your roommate massage the injury on your waist again. Make sure it's warm! And this hand, apply the mercurochrome again tomorrow morning."

She helped Shu Ran sit up, her tone becoming serious and concerned: "Shu Ran, listen to my advice, don't push yourself. Your back and hand injuries need rest! As for work... no one will know if you're just slacking off in the classroom!"

"Thank you, Junjun. The medicinal wine and red medicine are very effective." Shu Ran stretched her waist and felt much better, but it still hurt when she moved a little too much.

Xu Junjun knew she couldn't persuade her, so she shook her head helplessly: "Sigh, you've always been like this since you were little. Fine, fine, I can't change your mind! But remember, take it easy! Don't strain your waist or your hands! If you feel something's wrong, come back immediately! Don't push yourself! Your health is your capital; if it collapses, you'll have nothing left!" She reminded her again.

"Yes, I'll remember. Junjun, it's all thanks to you." Shu Ran turned her head and gave Xu Junjun a sincere smile.

In this unfamiliar Gobi Desert, encountering an old friend who genuinely cares about you is a warmth that is truly precious.

"Don't be so polite with me!" Xu Junjun waved her hand, a smile appearing on her face. "Go back and lie down for a while, rest as long as you can! Come find me anytime if you need anything!"

After saying goodbye to Xu Junjun, Shu Ran walked back to the dugout in the female workers' dormitory with a heavy heart.

My back injury has eased, but the problem with the desks and chairs hasn't been solved yet.

Zhao Weidong's path is blocked, and as for Chen Yuanjiang... just as Xu Junjun said, he would never use principles to approve a few tables and benches; that would not be in line with his status and style.

Everything still depends on yourself.

Back in the dugout, Zhou Qiaozhen wasn't there; Sister Wang was mending clothes, and Li Xiulan was taking a nap. Zhou Qiaozhen, however, was lying on her bunk with her back to the entrance and facing the inner wall.

Hearing the noise, Sister Wang looked up and saw that it was Shu Ran. Her face immediately lit up with a smile, full of admiration and concern: "Comrade Shu Ran is back? Is your back feeling better? Take a rest!" Her voice was not soft, obviously meant for Zhou Qiaozhen to hear.

Li Xiulan rubbed her eyes and sat up: "Sister Shuran, what did Medical Officer Xu say? Is it serious?"

Shu Ran smiled and said, "It's nothing, just a muscle contusion. I applied some medicated wine, and it'll be fine in a few days. Thank you, big sister, Xiulan."

Just then, Zhou Qiaozhen, who had her back to them, suddenly rolled over, making a loud movement that caused the straw mat beneath her to creak.

She sat up, her face ashen, her eyelids red and swollen, clearly having been crying.

She glared fiercely at Shu Ran, her eyes filled with resentment, but she suppressed it with fear. Her lips moved as if she wanted to say something sarcastic, but in the end she only let out a heavy "humph" from her nose, then abruptly turned her head away, grabbed a piece of clothing, and threw it forcefully.

Sister Wang pursed her lips, ignored her, and continued to say to Shu Ran, "It's good that you're alright! Lie down and rest! This morning was really... It's a good thing you managed to keep things in order! And Officer Chen arrived just in time!" She gestured towards Zhou Qiaozhen, the meaning of which was self-evident.

Shu Ran didn't look at Zhou Qiaozhen again, nodded to Sister Wang and Li Xiulan, and said softly, "Yes, we need to rest for a while."

Shu Ran tiptoed to her bunk, carefully lay down on her side to avoid putting pressure on her lower back.

She closed her eyes but couldn't sleep: wood...where else could she find wood besides the warehouse? Discarded farm tools? Broken doors? Collapsed sheds? Her gaze swept over the earthen walls of the dugout, the beams of the roof...No, these were all structures, she couldn't touch them.

Suddenly, she remembered that when she was cleaning the classroom yesterday, there seemed to be some discarded broken planks and sticks piled up at the back wall of the shed! She was in a hurry to clean the ground and build the platform at the time and didn't have time to look closely.

Thinking of this, she immediately got up, ignoring her back pain, and quickly walked towards the tool shed.

Shu Ran walked to the back wall of the tool shed. Sure enough, a pile of forgotten garbage was half-buried in the sand and withered grass: several pieces of broken door panels with rotten edges but still relatively thick in the middle, several wooden sticks of uneven thickness covered with mud, and even half of a rusty plowshare, made of hardwood.

"These are the ones!" Shu Ran was overjoyed. But without a saw, an axe, or nails, she had the idea, but even a skilled cook can't make a meal without ingredients.

Should we go directly to Old Zhang, the company's storekeeper? No, Xu Junjun said Zhao Weidong was extremely tight-lipped about supplies, especially timber. She'd just gone through Chen Yuanjiang's connections to get mattresses; if she went back to Old Zhang for tools, Zhao Weidong definitely wouldn't be happy.

Moreover, given Old Zhang's strictly businesslike attitude, you can forget about getting anything without a written agreement.

She straightened up and looked around. In the central area of ​​the company, the male workers had already gone to work in the fields, and occasionally a shepherd would drive his flock of sheep along the empty dirt road.

Her gaze swept over the row of adobe houses at the company headquarters and landed on a shed next to the production office with a sign that read "Machine Repair Team". There, Technician Ma was squatting on the ground, smoking a cigarette and fiddling with a pile of rusty parts. Scattered around him were a few wrenches, a worn-out hacksaw, and an axe.

A sudden idea flashed through Shu Ran's mind. She quickly walked back to her classroom and rummaged through the pile of junk she had cleared out in the corner. She found several metal parts that were so rusted they were unrecognizable, like bearings and pieces of iron that had fallen off abandoned farm tools.

She carefully wrapped it in a handkerchief before walking toward the maintenance team.

"Technician Ma, are you busy?" Shu Ran asked with a smile that seemed to be asking for advice.

Technician Ma didn't even look up, just grunted an "Mmm" in response. He had absolutely no liking for the school run by this capitalist's daughter, thinking it was a complete waste of resources.

Shu Ran didn't mind his coldness. She squatted down, keeping her distance, and spread the parts wrapped in a handkerchief on the ground in front of him: "Technician Ma, could you take a look? I was cleaning the classroom just now and found this in the pile of scrap materials by the back wall. It looks like something from a machine? I don't know if it's still usable? Or... if it has any recycling value? If it can be reused, it would save the company some expenses, right?"

Technician Ma then lifted his eyelids and glanced at the pile of rust. Having spent most of his life in machine repair, he had an instinctive sensitivity to parts. Although heavily rusted, it seemed that some useful balls could still be salvaged from the base of the bearing. Those few pieces of iron could be polished and used as shims or to repair something.

He exhaled a smoke ring and mumbled, "Hmm...it's still somewhat useful. Let's leave it there."

"That's great!" Shu Ran exclaimed with delight, as if she had done a wonderful thing for the company. She then changed the subject, pointing to the hacksaw and axe covered in grease and grime on the ground, her tone natural yet slightly embarrassed: "Um... Technician Ma, I see you have a full set of tools. There's a pile of scrap wood against the back wall of my classroom that's all messy, and I'd like to clean it up so the kids won't trip over it. Could I... borrow your saw and axe for a bit? This afternoon, I'll clean them up and return them to you immediately! I promise it won't delay your use!"

Technician Ma frowned, glancing at Shu Ran, then at the saw and axe on the ground, and finally at the bag of rusty parts. Lend tools to this pampered young lady? His instincts told him it was a bad idea. But her reasons were valid, and she had even contributed her tools; refusing outright would seem petty.