Xiang Hongjun sat by the telephone in the brigade headquarters, watching Ruan Xianxian pour water from her teacup into her cup, and soon gulped down the entire teacup...

Did you die of thirst in your past life?

Ruan Xianxian: "He was struck by lightning and died."

He waved to the Red Army in frustration, saying, "Turn your face to the wall."

See? He insisted on asking, and then he didn't believe me. Ruan Xianxian obediently turned her face to the wall, leaving Xiang Hongjun with a back of her head that looked like it deserved a punch!

Finally, unable to contain his curiosity, he asked, "The hospital in Beijing called. Is your grandfather really going to die?"

“If he doesn’t die a few times every month, even the sows next door can’t eat.” Ruan Xianxian turned around and discussed with him, “Captain!”

"If they call again later, just tell them I fainted after hearing the news of Grandpa's serious illness and was rushed to the emergency room, okay?"

“No way! You can’t just say you’re going to rescue him yourself? I’m not going to make up a lie for you.” Xiang Hongjun refused.

"Do you know why my grandfather dies several times every month?" Ruan Xianxian asked in a low voice, "It's because he never makes up lies for people."

To the Red Army: ? ? ?

As the two were locked in a standoff, the phone rang again. This guy had an arrogant expression that said, "If you don't answer, I won't answer either. If you make me answer and the phone breaks, don't blame me for it."

He picked up the phone wearily: "Hello! Yes! Flathead Brigade, you're looking for Ruan Xianxian? She said that after hearing the news of her grandfather's serious illness, she was also taken to the emergency room!"

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone before the captain said "hello" a few times. "What? You want her to focus on getting better and taking care of her health? Okay, okay! I'll definitely pass that message on."

After hanging up the phone, the captain took the cigarette that had been tucked behind his ear all night.

He glanced at Ruan Xianxian, held the cigarette to his nose and smelled it, then glanced at her again, smelled it again, and glanced at her once more…

He's worried so much about her that some of his hair has turned white. Asking her for a cigarette isn't too much to ask, is it? Can't she understand the hint?

Ruan Xianxian understood, picked up a match, lit one, and held it to the captain's face, saying, "You smoke, you smoke! I don't know how!"

Xiang Hongjun angrily threw his cigarette on the table and glared at her sideways. "Tell me! Why don't you want to answer the phone? I know the reason, so I can help you deal with it if the other end calls again."

"My grandfather has sons and daughters, but when he was hospitalized, he didn't look for his children. Instead, he looked for his granddaughter who had severed ties with his family and moved to the countryside. What else could it be? He just wanted money!"

The captain was silent for a moment, then put the cigarette back behind his ear, locked the phone, picked up his coat, and stood up.

"Let's go! It's getting late. I'll take you to the educated youth settlement, and then I should go home and get some sleep."

The two left the brigade headquarters and turned on their flashlights for the Red Army. Ruan Xianxian laughed, "Brigade Commander! What year is this flashlight from? It's not even as bright as moonlight."

"Yes! It was my last mission. I traded serious injuries for my comrade's life, and that's why I was rewarded by the organization."

"Oh wow! That must have been five or six years! Captain, have you ever seen any wild mandarin ducks in this village?"

The topic changed so quickly that Xiang Hongjun almost couldn't keep up. He quickened his pace, dropped the guy off near the educated youth settlement, and then turned and left.

After taking a few steps, he turned around and met the gaze of the little girl who stood quietly in place, watching him go.

He took a deep breath, paused, and said in a gruff voice, "Before you came to the countryside, our county had a flood. A section of the river embankment was washed away, and it's being urgently reinforced."

Be prepared to provide support at any time.

He had just received news that the flood discharge outlet was temporarily blocked and the river dam needed to be reinforced. With a shortage of manpower, the villagers and educated youth had an unshirkable duty to provide support at any time.

This shouldn't have been told in advance. Every winter, countless people die in accidents while reinforcing the river embankment, for various reasons. The village trembles at the mere mention of repairing the embankment.

However, the village officials could not refuse the orders from above, so it was better to be informed in advance so that they could be prepared and avoid being caught off guard.

After getting to know her for a while, Xiang Hongjun could tell that although she was a bit of a rascal, she wasn't the kind of child who would desert in the face of battle.

Whether they were villagers or educated youth, the light in their eyes had long been worn down by the endless farm work in the fields. He hoped that this particularly troublesome little guy would come back alive and not kill himself!

Ruan Xianxian: ? ? ?

No! You trusted her too soon. Before the battle even began, she was already thinking of running away…

She has a system in place, so her life safety will be guaranteed to the greatest extent, but carrying stones and earth is too tiring!

She's been successfully treated, will she go back to Beijing to see Old Man Ruan later?

Ruan Xianxian was on the verge of tears!

Let her think about... how she escaped this catastrophe in her past life?

Oh, right! She asked for leave from the team to send her grandmother's remains back to her hometown, and when she returned, spring plowing was almost over!

Why isn't Old Man Ruan dead yet? I want to... I want to attend my grandfather's funeral!

Back at the educated youth settlement, Wenrou held a stack of small bills in her hand, looking exhausted. "The remaining 48 yuan is here."

Ruan Zhiqing, you know perfectly well what happened with that money. Whether we took it or not, you should know the truth. I hope you won't push people too far, or things could easily come to a standstill.

This is not a threat, just a friendly reminder.

Ruan Xianxian sneered, "I don't know either. Why don't we go ask the police? Do they know anything about it?"

After speaking, he leaned forward, his face close to Wenrou's, and pushed open the window through her shoulder, picking up a black and silver tape recorder from the windowsill.

Press the red stop button.

She raised an eyebrow at Chen Zhaodi, who was giving her a hint from behind the window, before turning around and patting her now stiff and gentle face.

"There's a tape recorder too? Great, it's confiscated to pay off the debt, ten yuan off."

"No! No, that won't do. I borrowed the tape recorder." Gentle, recovering from the shock, hugged the tape recorder tightly.

She's going crazy!

This was the last resort they came up with when they were raising money: recording. If they could get a recording of Ruan Xianxian admitting that she had set up the scheme and that no money had been lost, they could negotiate with her smoothly.

I didn't expect to be seen through again, and my tape recorder was confiscated. Is she a devil?

The tape recorder was absolutely out of the question; she had endured being groped all over by some scoundrel before finally borrowing it from the village ruffian.

It's supposedly the betrothal gift for the groom's wedding. If it gets lost, won't I be forced to marry a good-for-nothing who drinks, gambles, beats his parents, and curses them? Absolutely not!

"Please! No, I don't want to marry that scoundrel."

Wenrou cried. She didn't cry when the whole village laughed at her, she didn't cry when she was forced to pay back the money, and she would rather die than marry Erlaizi. This time, she truly broke down and cried out loud.

"Please, I beg you."

Ruan Xianxian watched coldly. The debt hadn't been paid off yet, so of course she wouldn't let this 'precious treasure' get married.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re not insolvent, but your work points will be allocated to my account as long as your debts aren’t lower. Starting tomorrow, the five of you will need to collect all the work points you need to earn and transfer them to my account.”

"What? Get all the work points?"

The Pingtou Brigade has ten men and eight women with full work points. Does Ruan Xianxian want to work them to death?

"If you don't want to work, that's fine too. I'll take the tape recorder. Although I'm a creditor, I'm not a creditor who exploits the working people. It's all up to you."

After saying that, Ruan Xianxian snatched the recorder and walked away.

Wenrou gritted her teeth until her gums bled, then lunged forward and hugged the tape recorder tightly. "I'll do it, I'll voluntarily work all the points so they can be used to pay off your debts, okay?"