"He's lucky to have you," the captain said. Ruan Xianxian chimed in, "I only took a few days off. Did you really have to block the door and wait for me?"

The captain was furious. He suddenly stood up from the threshold, his finger almost poking Ruan Xianxian's forehead. "Do you think I came here willingly? Who came here willingly?"

My brigade has been perfectly fine for years, but you troublemakers have been causing chaos every single day. If you're so capable, why are you beating up a blabbermouth? Go fight the Japanese on the battlefield!

Ruan Xianxian: ...

She became the target of the insults!

Hearing her voice, a black goose waddled back from around the corner, and Ruan Xianxian grabbed it by the neck:

"Son, tell Mommy, who angered our brigade leader and made him so angry?"

【Gah! Gah gah!】

The fat guy beat people up! He pinned Wang Mazi and his family of three down in the paddy field and kicked them repeatedly. He fed that sickly guy leeches, squeal! I ate one too.

Is the fat guy talking about Mu Xia?

Wang Mazi... that's the place Li Dazui recommended to Mu Xia the day she arrived. She blurted it out to the team leader:

"It must have been that brat from the Wang family who provoked Xiaxia first! The educated youth were so kind, why would they hit a villager on their own initiative?"

The team leader was already furious because of her talking to the goose, and hearing her constant talk of being annoying and kind made him even angrier.

"You think you can just kick someone and break their leg because you're being unreasonable? Are you so kind you'd sleep under a roof beam?"

Speechless, Ruan Xianxian wiped her face. At this moment, Mu Xia came out and pulled her behind her, facing the captain's anger without flinching.

“I’ll treat his broken leg. I’ll kick him again next time he comes, until he has to have his leg amputated. Arms, legs, and even lives have value. The brigade leader said Wang Mazi’s leg was worth how much?”

Meeting her cold, unvarnished eyes, the captain's anger was extinguished. He rubbed his face vigorously and left with a parting remark:

"You are not allowed to hit people anymore, and you are not allowed to sleep on the roof beam anymore."

Anyone who dares to outwardly comply but inwardly defy the rules, will be carrying manure for me starting tomorrow.

Upon hearing the word "manure collection," the two women sprang to their senses, retreated, and locked the courtyard gate in one swift motion.

Back in the strangely smelly dormitory of the educated youth, I saw Wenrou using a comb to remove lice by the bedside, and Liu Xiatian sitting on a stool, talking strangely.

She felt she couldn't live a single day longer in a communal living situation.

"Mu Xia, Zhao Di, would you like some steamed buns?" Ruan Xianxian opened her lunchbox.

Chen Zhaodi glanced at it, swallowed hard, looked away, and said she wouldn't eat it.

Mu Xia generously took a few, and after finishing eating, she took out the money and handed it to Ruan Xianxian, saying, "Thank you for thinking of me and bringing me back from so far away. Here, take the money."

Ruan Xianxian only took the money and returned the ticket, saying, "The state-run restaurant has a limited number of meat buns; they only sell that many each day, so no ticket is needed."

Wenrou, sitting on the edge of the bed combing her hair, waited in vain for Ruan Xianxian to call her to eat steamed buns. She was extremely annoyed and covered her mouth with one hand while giggling:

"You two are such good sisters, why do you need money for a few steamed buns? I'm telling you, Xianxian, you're being too stingy."

Ruan Xianxian closed her lunchbox; there were three meat buns left, just enough for breakfast. Hearing this, she smiled and said, "Yes! I'm the most calculating person."

Unlike Comrade Wen, who could make steamed buns from the lice he combed off his head—saving money!

Wenrou Ningmei said, "Are you implying that I'm dirty? Who in the countryside doesn't have lice? You'll have them too in a while, so you'd better get used to it soon!"

She knows how to be disgusting.

But Ruan Xianxian is stubborn and won't listen to reason. Whoever disgusts her, she'll make them even more disgusting than herself.

She grabbed Wenrou by the collar and dragged her to the outer room, shoving her head into the water tank while muttering something under her breath.

"I told you not to wash your hair..."

"I'll fucking call you lice-ridden..."

In April, the water drawn from the well was comparable to the water of an ancient, frigid pool. When Wenrou dipped her head in, she felt a shiver run down her spine.

She struggled with her hands and feet, but how could her strength compare to Ruan Xianxian's after her body was transformed by the spiritual spring water? She was repeatedly pushed in and out of the water while having her head washed for five minutes.

Finally, after climbing out of the water, I heard a devilish whisper in my ear: "As long as I'm in this house, you wash my hair twice a day."

I want to see if getting lice is the fault of the environment, or the fault of not bathing or washing one's hair.

Wenrou cried, hiding under the covers, trembling and shedding tears.

Ye Guo knocked on the door and saw Ruan Xianxian open it. His eyes flashed and he thought, "Why does she look even fairer and prettier than when we first met?"

Concerned, she asked, "I haven't seen you for three days. Did something happen at home? What's wrong inside? I hear someone crying."

Ruan Xianxian said "Oh": "My grandfather died, and Wenrou is mourning him!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he slammed the door shut, nearly knocking Ye Guo's nose off.

He stood outside, his face somber, while behind him came Taishan's complaints: "Working every day, then coming home to do laundry, all I need to do is find a woman to marry..."

"What?" Ye Guo turned around abruptly. "What did you just say?"

Taishan stammered, "I... I just said that washing clothes is too tiring."

"No, the next sentence."

Taishan: "Just find a woman to serve me!"

Ye Guo laughed and patted Taishan on the shoulder as he passed on his way back to the house. "No need to get married. It's only natural for women to wash men's clothes. We'll talk to the female educated youth about it at dinner."

He had planned it all out, but neither Ruan Xianxian nor Wenrou showed up until dinner was served. She asked Wenrou why she had been crying.

Wenrou: "No! Comrade Ruan was doing this for my own good by putting my head underwater. She never intentionally made things difficult for me or humiliated me."

As she said this, she glanced at Chu Li and saw that Chu Li's brows were slightly furrowed. She was overjoyed and put on an even more enthusiastic performance.

After the meal, Ye Guo coughed lightly, "This is what I'm thinking: the female comrades will take turns washing the clothes at the educated youth settlement."

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