Yu Rujia paused for a moment, not telling the two innocent little ones that they had been rejected: "It's nothing, you can go to the backyard and learn how to chop vegetables from your older brothers."

The little guy is already over four years old. In addition to simple chores like washing his own clothes and sweeping the floor, he also has to learn other household chores from his older brothers.

Dorjee agreed without question and pulled his younger brother to run to the backyard.

Since the group worked together, they inevitably chatted, and the face that Yu Rujia had saved for the two silly boys was ruthlessly torn away by Duoshou.

Dorje's tender little face was full of confusion: "Third Brother means that Uncle Shen is lying to us, but why would he lie to us?"

Duo Shou glanced at the little guy with a hint of mockery: "Naturally, it's because he's about to succeed and doesn't want you guys getting in the way."

The naive Dorjee was completely bewildered: "What trouble could we possibly cause?"

Duo Xi chuckled and said, "Uncle Shen likes Aunt Zhang and wants to marry her. Your presence there will interfere with his conversation with Aunt Zhang."

Dorjee was even more confused: "It doesn't matter. When we're here, Uncle Shen talks to Aunt Zhang just the same way. We didn't tell them not to talk."

Duole nodded his little head, affirming his older brother's words with a childlike voice: "Uncle Shen talks a lot, more than we do, and we never stopped him."

Duolu laughed and said, "You two little fools, there are some things that adults don't want us to hear. For example, when Uncle and Aunt are together, if we go to their room, Uncle will throw us out."

"Uncle Shen and Aunt Zhang are the same; they don't want you to hear them talking."

When the children were first assigned rooms, they would often sneak into Yu Rujia's room, but after only a few words, Gao Shujing would throw them out.

Duolu, who prides himself on being an experienced person, says he knows all too well what happens between adults.

Duole looked up and asked cutely, "Second Brother, what can't I listen to?"

Duolu casually replied, "I don't know, you'll have to ask Uncle Shen."

Dorjee immediately put down the vegetables he was holding, quickly washed his hands, and stood up: "I'll go ask right now."

Duole, who always followed his older brother, stood up and strode after him with his short legs.

Even if you call out to someone, they won't stop.

Yu Rujia saw the two brothers running out from the infirmary and casually asked, "Duoji, Duole, where are you going?"

Dorjee ran out without looking back, saying, "I'm going to ask Uncle Shen why he won't let us hear him talking to Aunt Zhang."

Du Le Nen Nen said, "Yes, let's ask."

Yu Rujia quickly called out, "Come back, don't go."

Dorjee, who had just run out of the courtyard gate, turned back and asked dumbfoundedly, "Why aren't you going?"

Yu Rujia: "If you go, your Uncle Shen will throw you out, just like your dad usually throws you out. You can't know things that adults don't want you to know. Be good, go back and wash the vegetables."

This is a crucial moment for Shen Yan; how can he let these two little guys cause trouble?

If they mess things up, Shen Yan will be furious.

Yu Rujia coaxed him a few more times with gentle words, and Dorje pouted as he led his younger brother back to the backyard.

Yu Rujia thought Shen Yan would succeed, but she didn't expect him to return with a worried look on his face.

Gao Shujing had already guessed his whereabouts from the children. Seeing him return looking like this, he asked, "What happened? Didn't you succeed?"

Shen Yan said sullenly, "She ran away. She looks scared. Am I that scary?"

He thought that his relationship with Zhang Pandi was already quite natural, so he tricked his brother, Duoji, into coming back, intending to confess his feelings to Zhang Pandi.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Pandi paused for a moment after hearing what he said, then grabbed her things and ran away.

Shen Yan really couldn't understand what was going on with her.

Gao Shujing: "How do you two usually get along?"

Shen Yan said, "I feel quite at ease, otherwise I wouldn't have told her about it; does she really think I'm too old?" After saying that, she touched her face.

Shen Yan practices martial arts regularly and is in good physical condition. He doesn't look old; he's nearly forty, but has only a few shallow wrinkles on his face, making him look about the same age as the people in their early thirties in the village.

Gao Shujing: "She probably needs time to process what she just heard. You know Zhou Beifa, right? You could ask him about it. His wife is Comrade Zhang's sister, so it would be the most appropriate person to ask."

The reason he brought this up was to prevent Shen Yan from having Yu Rujia sound out Zhang Pandi, as he knew she never liked doing such things.

Shen Yan did have the idea of ​​having Yu Rujia investigate, but after hearing Gao Shujing's suggestion, he felt that it would be more convenient to find Zhou Beifa.

Shen Yan said, "I'll go to the steel mill tomorrow to find Abei and ask him for help."

He wanted to get closer to Zhang Pandi, so he didn't want to appear in front of Zhang Zhaodi, a woman, too often. Zhou Beifa became the person he was trying to win over, and the two of them are now on good terms.

Zhang Zhaodi only learned about this from Zhou Beifa the following evening.

Zhang Zhaodi: "Last night I saw that my sister was very upset, and I thought something had happened to her, but I didn't expect it to be this."

Zhou Beifa: "What do you think of the two of them?"

Zhou Beifa is rather introverted and not the type to actively talk to outsiders, so he has very few friends.

He finally found a friend he could talk to. Although he now realized that Shen Yan approached him because he wanted to pursue Zhang Pandi, he was indeed a good person, so Zhou Beifa asked him on his behalf.

Zhang Zhaodi recalled the time when Shen Yan often came to Shangfen Brigade and her sister's daily life: "My sister has been going out more often in the past month or so, and she often has a smile on her face. She definitely doesn't dislike Comrade Shen."

Zhou Beifa: "Should we let Brother Shen continue the pursuit?"

Zhang Zhaodi shook her head: "Let my sister adjust for a few days, and I'll find an opportunity to sound her out."

Zhang Zhaodi thought it would be a good idea for Zhang Pandi to marry Shen Yan, since Shen Yan had a high salary and relatively fixed working hours, and didn't need to work overtime often.

If a person like that is willing, he can find a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl in the countryside with just a few hundred yuan.

Instead of pursuing younger girls, he approached Zhang Pandi, a divorced woman, which shows that he was genuinely interested in her.

Instead of trying to get information from Zhang Pandi first, Zhang Zhaodi went to Yu Rujia's place first.

Everyone in the team knew that Shen Yan and Gao Shujing were close, so it was perfectly reasonable for Zhang Zhaodi to come to Yu Rujia to sound them out.

Zhang Zhaodi: "Rujia, you know that Comrade Shen is pursuing my sister, right?"

Yu Rujia nodded: "I know. He often comes to my house and takes Dorje Dorje out to meet people. How could I not know?"

Zhang Zhaodi: "Why didn't you tell me about this? If you had told me earlier, I could have had more information. But Comrade Shen comes from the military and has close ties with you, so I trust his character."