Bai Jiaojiao got into the car at Shen Heng's urging. After Shen Heng pushed her up the hill, the rest of the road was relatively flat, but some places were bumpy and uneven, which were not very obvious because they were covered by snow. She had to be careful when walking.

Shen Heng was strong and fast. He took Bai Jiaojiao home. Bai Jiaojiao told him to wait a moment, and then went to the kitchen and brought out a big bag of things: "Take this with you. I didn't know the conditions there were so bad. Take these snacks with you. If you can't get enough to eat in the cafeteria, you can eat these."

Shen Heng took it and estimated that the bundle weighed about ten pounds. He felt sorry that Bai Jiaojiao had carried it out.

He laughed and said, "I won't bring it. I'll come back to sleep tonight, and I'll come back every time from now on."

Shen Heng had just gotten a taste of the flavor, and if he were to go back and endure the ordeal for another ten days or so, he wouldn't be able to take it.

I can't live a single day without my wife by my side.

“It’s too far. If you ride your bike there, you’ll have to leave before dawn. The road is no good. What if you fall?”

"You won't fall." Shen Heng patted Bai Jiaojiao's head and returned the large bag of pastries.

"Will the farm be allowed to allow it?"

"Yes." Even if he couldn't, Shen Heng would make him able to.

Bai Jiaojiao was certainly happy that Shen Heng could come back, so that she could get up earlier every day and make some boxed lunches for Shen Heng to take with him, so that he wouldn't have to eat boiled potatoes in plain water for lunch, without even a little sauce.

Bai Jiaojiao's expression told Shen Heng that she also couldn't wait for him to come back and stay. Shen Heng was pleased and hugged Bai Jiaojiao, giving her a few kisses: "I have to go back now. I need to finish my work quickly so I can come back soon."

"Um."

Bai Jiaojiao saw Shen Heng off again, and when she got home, she started thinking about what to cook for him that night, and began preparing in the kitchen.

Now that the brigade has resumed work, Deng Min can only come over to make snacks after work in the evenings.

As soon as she entered the door, she smelled the aroma of steamed buns from Bai Jiaojiao's house.

"Sister-in-law, take two steamed buns with you when you go back later. I steamed a lot."

Now that the Bai family has income, the favor of eating two steamed buns is nothing, so Deng Min didn't refuse. She just said, "Why did you steam so many? Can you eat them all at home?"

Deng Min saw a large bag of steamed buns in a cloth bundle next to her, and another batch was steaming in the pot.

Bai Jiaojiao's kitchen has a very large iron pot, which can easily steam twelve palm-sized buns at a time. She made a total of twenty, with just the right amount of dough and vegetables. The buns were filled with shredded radish and pork, and also contained vermicelli and fried tofu cubes.

“Heng said he would still ride his bike back from today onwards. I went to check it out today, and there’s not enough to eat over there. They give each person such a big sweet potato bun,” Bai Jiaojiao gestured to Deng Min with her hands, making a circle with her thumbs and index fingers. “Heng asked for two, and that wasn’t enough for him to fill his stomach.”

“That won’t do. How can a laborer not have enough to eat?” Deng Min shook her head as well.

"That's right. Heng said he'd come back to sleep tonight. Even if it's a long way and he has to get up early and come back late, he'll still have to eat well."

"Yes, men aren't afraid of being tired, as long as they can eat well with our family, they have to come back."

Deng Min agreed. If it were when life was tough, then going home would be no different from staying there. But if you can eat rice, noodles, meat, and vegetables when you come back, then it's worth it to come back and stay.

When Deng Min left, Bai Jiaojiao gave her eight steamed buns to take back. She has plenty of time now, and Shen Heng had gathered a lot of firewood before the snow fell, so she could steam buns every day.

As soon as Deng Min left, Shen Heng returned under the cover of darkness. He rubbed his cold face, grabbed Bai Jiaojiao, and pressed her cheek against his.

Bing Dibai tried to dodge, but Shen Heng held her tightly like a hot water bottle, and then pinched her chin and kissed her for half a minute.

"Brother Heng, if you keep bullying me, I won't give you any more steamed buns."

Shen Heng immediately cooperated, saying, "Jiaojiao, please don't not give me any buns. I'm starving! Hurry up and take them out so we can finish them. After we finish the buns, I'll eat you."

As Shen Heng continued speaking, he became frivolous again. Bai Jiaojiao glared at him and said, "The buns are in the pot. Go get them yourself."

Shen Heng went to the kitchen and saw a pot of buns still covered to keep them warm, and they hadn't gotten cold.

A moment later, Bai Jiaojiao came in: "I'll cut some cabbage hearts and mix them with jellyfish skin to eat with. I didn't make any other dishes today."

"What dishes are you going to serve with steamed buns? Don't bother."

Shen Heng found a large enamel plate, filled it with five steamed buns, and took them back to his room.

Bai Jiaojiao almost finished eating one, and in the end, she left a strip of the bun edge for Shen Heng to eat in one bite.

After all that work, it was already past eight o'clock, and we hadn't gotten anything done yet; it was getting late.

Shen Heng said, "You and the captain get along quite well, don't you? Next time, talk to him and see if we can pull some strings and not give me all the good things."

Of all the people in Shili Village, the one Shen Heng couldn't control the most was Zheng Xu. If it weren't for Zheng Xu keeping an eye on him, Shen Heng might have ended up like Wang Fushun, focusing his energy on running around the market.

Zheng Xu used to visit his house four or five times a day to keep an eye on him, telling him that as long as he was a commune member, he had to work, and so on. No matter what he said, Zheng Xu just wouldn't give up.

Seeing that this person wasn't a bad person, Shen Heng didn't have the heart to hit him.

He originally thought that working in the production team was the best he could do, but instead, they made him a sailor and then sent him to a seaweed farm. It seems like they're just targeting him and bullying him.

He didn't care what kind of work he did, but being separated from Bai Jiaojiao felt like it was taking his life.

Shen Heng lit the kang (a heated brick bed), stripped himself completely naked, and crawled into Bai Jiaojiao's bed, his hands wandering inside Bai Jiaojiao's thermal underwear.

"Why are you wearing so much? Isn't Heng-ge's kang (heated brick bed) warm enough?"

It's amazing that he could have an excuse for being a scoundrel. Bai Jiaojiao really missed him, so she reached out and put her arms around Shen Heng's neck, and she cooperated quite well throughout the night.

On his second day at work, Shen Heng was refreshed and quickly planted a patch of seaweed seedlings.

Everyone else finishes work at 5 o'clock, but he wants to leave at 3:30. His teammate is unhappy about this: "Team leader, why don't you say anything when he leaves early? Are you afraid of him too?"

These are all mixed groups. Shen Heng's group has eight people, and he's the only one from Shili Village. But his notoriety has spread far and wide, and everyone knows he's not someone to be trifled with.

The people of Shili Village were a bit better off, because they all knew that Shen Heng's temper had improved a lot after he got married, or rather, that he had no time to care about others now that he had a wife.

However, people outside Shili Village still remembered Shen Heng as a "cursed relative," a "labor reform prisoner who had stabbed people," and a "speculator." In addition, Shen Heng was tall and strong, with a roguish face, making him look like someone not to be trifled with. When working, these people didn't even dare to talk to Shen Heng.

"Once he's finished his work, he can go wherever he wants! He does more work in half a day than you do in a whole day. Instead of doing your job properly, you just meddle in useless things!"

The team leader scolded.

He thought to himself: If you weren't afraid, why didn't you say anything when he wasn't far away?