With her seated in the courtyard, the tea party began.

"By the way, you should keep an eye on He Zhiqing's situation."

Wei Sheng, who had been managing the educated youth settlement since Zhu Yang's disappearance, was the first to offer a suggestion.

Of course, these words were mainly spoken to Zhuang Xue, Ding Xiang, and several other female educated youths who lived with her.

Judging from her condition today, she seems to be seriously ill.

If they're not careful, something might happen, and it wouldn't be nice if it affected them.

"Well, Shen Zhiqing should also be careful."

After giving instructions to the people who shared a room with He Xiaolan, he turned his attention to Shen Mu Ning.

Anyone can see that their relationship isn't good.

To be precise, it was He Zhiqing who unilaterally harbored hostility towards Shen Zhiqing.

As for Shen Zhiqing, he didn't care about people at all.

"Uh, I know, thanks for reminding me, Wei Zhiqing."

Although he said it subtly, she knew he was warning her to be careful of He Xiaolan faking an accident.

Although he meant well, he had no idea that she could control her own pain.

Moreover, if you want to extort money from her, you must produce evidence, such as hospital examination reports.

"Oh, right, I was so busy chatting that I forgot to remind you that we're starting to harvest soybeans and rice tomorrow."

"According to Sister Xue and the others, the rule in our brigade is that you can't take leave during spring plowing and autumn harvest, so you have to go to work tomorrow."

After finishing discussing He Xiaolan's matter, Lin Siqi reminded Shen Muling that she also had to go to work tomorrow.

"Yes, yes, I almost forgot about it if Siqi hadn't mentioned it."

Zhuang Xue seemed to wake up from a dream and agreed with what she said.

I was mainly worried about Shen Mu Ning; it was getting dark and she still hadn't come back.

Then I was so frightened by He Xiaolan's condition that I forgot to remind Shen Zhiqing.

"Thank you for reminding me, I really didn't know that!"

Although Shen Mu Ning knew the rules for taking leave from the Johor Bahru brigade, that's why she's been wasting so many days.

But the team leader hadn't mentioned that tomorrow was the autumn harvest, so she really didn't know that she had to go to work.

It wasn't that Gu Chengde didn't want to remind her, but it was mainly because she went to his house.

Li Guihua wanted to chat with her, and then went to the brigade headquarters to make a phone call.

After finishing the call, she threw down the brown sugar and ran away, so he didn't get a chance to say his warning.

Besides, the educated youth already know this, so they can just pass it on.

See, now she knows, doesn't she?

"No need to be so polite, we're just letting you know."

"I just don't know if you've finished dealing with your business yet. The brigade leader usually doesn't approve leave during the busy farming season."

Based on her past experience, Zhuang Xue believed that unless there were truly unforeseen circumstances preventing people from working, it was unlikely that they would be able to do so.

Otherwise, taking leave would be impossible.

After all, the busy farming season only lasts a few days, and both planting and harvesting are time-sensitive matters.

Everyone in the Johor Bahru brigade must be present at the site to work.

Even those educated youth who claimed their families were wealthy and that it didn't matter if they didn't have work points couldn't escape this point.

"I've almost finished taking care of everything."

Shen Mu Ning had been preoccupied with the case of trafficking in cultural relics these past few days.

Previously, they were worried that something might happen to Chu Mingxu; now, they wanted to interrogate the people staying there as soon as possible to find out the mastermind behind it all.

This matter is now considered settled for her; the rest is up to Yan Bin and his team.

As for handing over the "Physical Skills" manual and promoting it throughout the army, there's still no sign of it happening.

She probably won't be in such a hurry, so she doesn't have anything else to do.

"That's good."

"But, Shen Zhiqing, what have you been busy with lately?"

She hasn't been to work for several days recently, and when she does, she's out all day.

They were genuinely curious, but none of them, like Ding Xiangyong, asked directly.

Although it was unclear whether Shen Mu Ning was willing to answer, everyone looked at her with sparkling eyes.

After all, life here is repetitive, day after day, year after year, and they need something new to stimulate their minds.

Well, to put it bluntly, all you do here is work, there's no entertainment at all.

They all wanted to hear new things to fill their spiritual void.

Commonly known as the Eight Trigrams.

"Of course, if you don't want to say, that's fine too. We're just asking casually."

Fearing that Dingxiang's direct gossip would annoy Shen Muning, Zhuang Xue frantically tried to smooth things over.

"Yes, yes, I was just asking casually, don't take it to heart, we can change the subject!"

After being reminded by Sister Xue, Dingxiang realized that her question was indeed inappropriate.

Remembering that He Xiaolan had just been criticized, her survival instincts surged.

"Um, you don't need to do this. There's nothing I can't say."

Seeing the two of them in such a hurry, Shen Mu Ning couldn't help but laugh and cry.

What kind of impression did she leave on them? They all seemed afraid of offending her.

But in front of them, I only lost my temper a little over ten days ago when facing He Xiaolan.

Actually, she didn't know that just once was enough.

Her image as someone who was not to be trifled with was deeply ingrained in the minds of the educated youth.

"Didn't I say before that I would make a phone call first after I got back?"

"The person I called is the reason I've been busy these past few days."

She naturally couldn't reveal the real reason.

However, the fact that he recognized Sun Tzu as a relative can still be openly told to everyone.

Since we've already told Gu Chengde and the others, it won't hurt if a few more people find out.

Moreover, if she needs to go out in the future, she can use her grandfather as an excuse.

“I found a relative here who had lost contact with our family many years ago.”

It's the same excuse again—oh no, this one is true; she didn't lie to anyone.

"Your home is in Haishi, and you've found relatives here?!"

The reactions varied and the emotions were complex, but the one thing they all had in common was the shock in their eyes.

There are also words spoken in unison, with even the pitch variations being identical.

Are you sure he's a relative of yours?

"Did that person come to you first, or did you?"

Do you know his current name, identity, and home address?

A barrage of questions rained down on Shen Mu Ning.

Although these questions come from different people, the central idea is the same.

Does she know the person she's acquainted with, and does she know what his purpose is?

"And also, you..."

"Stop." Shen Mu Ning really didn't know that she was so popular among the educated youth at the settlement.

Whether it was Lin Siqi, who was relatively close to her, or other educated youth.

It seems like everyone thinks her attempt to reunite with relatives is unreliable, as if they're afraid she'll fall into a trap.