Li Jin was digging a shrimp pit when he heard someone say that two jeeps had arrived at the cowshed. He guessed that something was wrong and quickly dropped what he was doing to come over.

When I came over, I saw Liu Donglai, Li Xiangdong, and a few other young men standing outside!

Li Jin greeted Liu Donglai, then pulled Li Xiangdong aside and quietly asked him what was going on.

Li Xiangdong whispered to his father, "This important figure from Yanjing City is Ning Ruoruo's maternal grandfather. He came specifically to take her home."

After saying that, he looked at his father and said, "Luckily, Dad, you didn't do anything immoral, otherwise, judging from Ning Ruoruo's grandfather's attitude, he would definitely have to teach you a lesson!"

The normal procedure would be to find Li Jin, the brigade leader, first. He left him behind because he wanted to see if his granddaughter had been bullied by the Lijiapo brigade.

Li Jin tapped Li Xiangdong on the head, "Don't talk nonsense!"

Over here, Zhou Yicheng's chest heaved with anger. "Have they arrested him?"

Ning Ruoruo briefly explained the situation.

Zhou Yicheng nodded. "This Li Xiangdong is actually a benefactor to our family."

Hmph! Niu Guang and Liu Baobao only received such short sentences, and it was only because someone from the province made a special effort to intervene!

He decided that when he got back, he would investigate thoroughly to find out who was so lawless!

Looking at his granddaughter, who bore a striking resemblance to his younger self, Zhou Yicheng grew to love her more and more and wanted to take her back to Yanjing City immediately.

Ning Ruoruo said she was going back to the cowshed to pack up the things her parents had left her, and Zhou Yicheng took the opportunity to meet Li Jin and Li Xiangdong.

The old man was quite dignified, but Li Jin and Li Xiangdong were not unsophisticated rural men. They accepted the old man's thanks very politely and said that as members of Lijiapo Commune, they would do the same.

Zhou Yicheng saw their poise and elegance, which made him think more highly of the Li family father and son.

After packing her luggage, Ning Ruoruo, accompanied by Zhou Yicheng, went from house to house to thank the families who had been kind to her and presented them with generous gifts.

Aunt Yuliang held Ning Ruoruo's hand reluctantly, "Great, great! Ruoruo will be able to live a good life from now on."

She wrapped the freshly baked chive pancakes in a white tarpaulin. "You probably won't be able to eat your aunt's cooking anymore. Take these chive pancakes with you and eat them on the road!"

Ning Ruoruo's eyes reddened as she hugged Aunt Yuliang.

When they arrived at Li Jin's house, Zhao Sufang gave her fifty yuan and quietly told her, "Keep it as your own private money, so you can use it if anything comes up."

She knew all too well how difficult it was to live under someone else's roof. What good was her maternal grandfather? They hadn't seen each other for over a decade. Zhao Sufang was worried that Ning Ruoruo would suffer.

Li Xiangdong watched from the sidelines. His mother had finally learned to hide money from the public. It was truly a cause for celebration.

Li Zhen, Li Ping, and Li Jiabao were also very reluctant to part with Ning Ruoruo. Li Zhen gave her a newly made plum-red jacket, while Li Ping and Li Jiabao took out all the candies they had hidden away, saying, "Sister Ruoruo, take these with you to eat on the way."

After seeing you off for a thousand miles, we must eventually part ways. Ning Ruoruo finished visiting the last house, and the sun was already high in the sky.

Ning Ruoruo took one last deep look at the village where she had lived for more than ten years, then got into the jeep and began her new life in Yanjing City.

Ning Ruoruo's departure caused a huge uproar in Lijiapo Brigade, and people talked about it all the time.

Aunt Niu felt that people were looking at her strangely these past few days when she walked on the street.

Finally, unable to resist, he grabbed a woman who usually loved to gossip and asked her about it.

"Aihua, you! I heard that Ning Ruoruo's maternal grandfather is a high-ranking official in Yanjing City. Everyone is saying that he's going to deal with your Niu Guang!"

Aunt Niu was skeptical, and couldn't sleep when she got home in the middle of the night, so she decided to go to the county town the next day to send a telegram to her relatives in the province.

Just as everyone was gossiping about Ning Ruoruo's background, the postman delivered a shipping label, and watermelon and corn seeds from Yangtian County, Qin Province, arrived!

If you're planting corn, you need three to four pounds of seeds per acre; if you're planting watermelon, you need about two pounds per acre.

Lijiapo plans to plant 300 mu of cabbage, 100 mu of garlic and other vegetables, and the remaining 1,000 mu of corn and watermelon.

Therefore, this time we bought 4,000 jin of "Pohong No. 1" corn seeds and 2,000 jin of "Qiongsu" watermelon seeds.

The 6,000 jin of seeds could only be transported by truck, and the freight alone cost more than 100 yuan. Adding the cost of the seeds, if it weren't for the cannery in Lijiapo being such a cash cow, we really wouldn't have been able to afford it.

Liu Changhai went to the county post office to pay the shipping fee and returned to Lijiapo Brigade in a Jiefang brand light truck.

People were already waiting at the village entrance, clapping and cheering as they saw sacks of seeds!

The truck drove all the way to the brigade headquarters' warehouse before stopping. Liu Changhai opened the door and jumped out. "Driver, open the truck bed door!"

The driver opened the back door of the truck bed, and several young men immediately climbed onto the truck and began unloading the seeds.

The able-bodied men threw the sacks off the truck, and someone below caught them before carrying them to the warehouse.

The aunties and older women stood by, watching and laughing, while the children ran, jumped, and played around the adults. The adults, carrying sacks, threatened the children, "Stay away! If these sacks are thrown at you, they'll break your legs!"

Soon, all the sacks were unloaded. Li Jin took out a pack of Golden Leaf cigarettes and handed two to the driver. "Little Zhao, you've worked hard. Have a smoke and take a break."

The driver was quite young, looking to be in his twenties, with a baby face and a perpetually smiling expression. He was a permanent employee of the post office, a non-agricultural resident, and specialized in delivering bulk goods.

Xiao Zhao took the cigarette from Li Jin's hand. "Captain Li, your Lijiapo has become quite famous lately! The whole county knows you."

Li Jin laughed heartily, "It's all thanks to Secretary Liu's policies!"

"Captain Li, I heard that Guo Daming from your village is quite capable, isn't he?" Xiao Zhao and Li Jin asked quietly.

Li Jin took a puff of his cigarette. Someone was trying to spy on Guo Daming, probably about his marriage.

"Capable! The young man is good-looking and capable. He's a key talent being groomed by our brigade. His family is small, so life is peaceful." Li Jin first praised Guo Daming, then asked with a smile, "Who are you eavesdropping for?"

Xiao Zhao chuckled, "My second aunt's third cousin, from the Guanyutai brigade next door. Captain Li, please keep it a secret for me!"

Li Jin nodded knowingly. They probably inquired about the other person's situation before acting as matchmaker.

Recently, the standard of living in Lijiapo has risen sharply, standing out among the three hundred brigades. Now, eligible young men in Lijiapo are in high demand, and even the old bachelors are showing signs of a second spring.

The two chatted for a while longer before Xiao Zhao drove away.

That evening, Lijiapo held a production mobilization meeting.

At the meeting, Li Jin said, "Go home and get a good night's sleep today. Starting tomorrow, we'll plant cabbage first, then corn and watermelon. Let's try to finish planting in ten days!"

"Members, time is precious. We must make the most of every minute. After we finish planting the autumn crops, we'll start digging pits to raise fish and shrimp."

Li Jin's meeting was very short.

Every member in the audience had bright eyes.

That might be the glimmer of hope.