Chen Ruixue limped back to the dugout, sat alone on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), feeling like crying but unable to, her shoulder aching terribly.

She knew her shoulder needed medicine, but how did she apply it?

Just as he was pondering which female educated youth he should ask for help, there was a knock on the door.

"Xiao Chen, are you there? This is Huang Ying."

"It's the female educated youth who lives next door to you. I brought you some disinfectant."

Chen Ruixue was both surprised and delighted; how could there be such an understanding female comrade?

"I'm here, I'm here."

Huang Ying thoughtfully closed the door, holding a small bottle of mercurochrome, alcohol swabs, and a dark ointment.

"Take off your clothes, I'll treat your wound. If you sleep like this tonight without treating it, it will hurt even more tomorrow."

After Huang Ying cleaned the wound with disinfectant, Chen Ruixue clenched her teeth in pain.

"Don't try to be too brave. Look at how badly your shoulder is damaged."

Huang Ying sighed. They all knew that Chen Ruixue was born with the air of a cadre's daughter.

With his hands never lifting a finger, does he look like a worker's son?

And when Chen Ruixue's brother came the day before yesterday, everyone was stunned. Chen Ruixue actually had someone give her white flour.

While everyone else was worrying about their food rations for the next day, Chen Ruixue was already able to comfortably eat white flour.

Moreover, I heard today that Chen Ruixue's brother even had candles and kerosene delivered to Chen Ruixue's dugout.

People cannot be compared.

It's inevitable that they still harbored the intention of making friends.

Chen Ruixue sighed, knowing that her shoulder was probably completely rotten.

She had never suffered like this in her life, especially now that the disinfectant was being applied—it was excruciatingly painful.

But this is the path I chose, and I have to grit my teeth and finish it.

She remembered that her brother said he would help her get a job at the textile factory in the next couple of days, but she had refused him outright. Now, thinking about it, she regretted it so much that she wished she could buy a pill to undo her mistake.

At least in textile factories, people don't have to carry such heavy loads on shoulder poles.

"Huang Ying, thank you. How did you get these medicines?"

"Don't thank me, don't thank the wrong person. I was asked to do this by someone else."

Jiang Tiecheng sent me.

These medicines and ointments also belong to him; I heard that the black ointment is very effective.

"After applying it, the wound will heal overnight, and in a few days, the shoulder will basically not break again."

"We've been using Jiang Tiecheng's ointment for the past two days, and I must say, he's quite capable."

He made this ointment from herbs he picked in the mountains; I don't know which ones, but it doesn't smell particularly pleasant, and it definitely works.

Chen Ruixue suddenly felt a warmth in her heart. She had always thought that Jiang Tiecheng was a tough guy, difficult to get along with, and didn't know how to care for people.

In fact, Jiang Tiecheng is meticulous and thoughtful.

Sure enough, after three days of continuous work, Huang Ying would come every night to help Chen Ruixue apply the ointment, and after three days, no more blisters appeared on her shoulder.

Chen Ruixue is already very proficient in her current job.

Although carrying 500 kilograms of sand every day is still an impossible task for her, it is at least getting better day by day.

Every day on the construction site, there's sand, yellow dust, and wind. Add to that sweat and the filth from wounds, and you end up smelling sour and foul.

Even though Chen Ruixue washed herself with water every night, it was no use; she really wanted to take a bath.

Jiang Tiecheng was at lunchtime again. They finished early this afternoon, and the construction site has an average of one day off every 15 days.

Everyone should rest tomorrow. Jiang Tiecheng has already figured it out; he'll go to the county tomorrow to buy some things.

She had never had the chance to buy candles and oil lamps, and both of these were given to her by Chen Ruixue.

But we can't keep relying on Chen Ruixue forever.

She was a silly girl; she actually shared a lot of her candles and kerosene with the other educated youth.

Sigh, she's a complete naive little rabbit who doesn't understand the saying "a little kindness is appreciated, but too much kindness breeds resentment."

He can't control what others do, but he has to act according to his conscience.

Thinking about it, he still can't break free from the established patterns of his past life, although he can sometimes do things in unexpected ways.

However, most of the time he still follows his usual style and way of thinking.

When they arrived at the cafeteria, they found out that it was closed tomorrow and there would be no dinner tonight.

Just as he was about to leave with his empty lunchbox, he bumped into Old Zhang, who smiled and put his arm around his shoulder.

"Xiao Jiang is off tomorrow. Come on, let's go to my house for drinks tonight."

Jiang Tiecheng shook his head.

"Old Zhang, don't bother your wife. I'm going to your house. You won't have any food for at least a week."

"You have three boys in your family."

Even though he always manages to prepare a delicious meal for everyone when he goes there.

But how could Jiang Tiecheng not know that the food on this table was the result of sacrificing the family's food supply?

Old Zhang felt a little embarrassed after hearing this, though he actually knew it too.

"Today's food isn't for my family; someone's treating us."

"Come on! With you here, your brother can still get a free meal of meat, and your sister-in-law and three nephews can also get a sip of meat soup from you."

Hearing this, Jiang Tiecheng became a little curious.

"What's wrong, Lao Zhang? Who wants to see me? I'm not going unless you explain yourself clearly."

No, no, no.

Xiao Jiang, please do me a favor and give your brother some face. He's my older brother's classmate.

Lately, things haven't been going well at home, so I'm a little worried. That's why I wanted to ask you about it.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Tiecheng's heart skipped a beat. His panel could only predict bad luck, but it couldn't predict what other people would do.

If someone actually tries to claim to be a fortune teller, they'll definitely be exposed.

"Brother Zhang, you know that heavenly secrets cannot be revealed, and every time a heavenly secret is revealed, a huge price is paid. Brother Zhang, please don't make things difficult for me."

Jiang Tiecheng glared at him and said coldly.

Old Zhang's heart skipped a beat. Of course he knew that he and Jiang Tiecheng had become so close.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Tiecheng turned his back on him so quickly.

They were also keenly aware that such highly skilled people have tempers and personalities. How could they possibly think of Jiang Tiecheng as a blind fortune teller on the street?

"I'm so sorry, Xiao Jiang, I was wrong. I'll apologize to you, okay?"

"Just show your face, and your brother will apologize to them later."

"I guarantee I won't corrupt your Daoist heart."

Jiang Tiecheng almost died of shock, and even he himself didn't know what kind of path he was cultivating.

Is it Infernal Affairs?

Since they've already gone this far, I'll just let myself show my face, okay? I'll pretend to be a master for a while, then just eat and don't say anything else.

The two went straight to Old Zhang's house. As soon as Jiang Yang entered the house, he saw two people sitting around the round table.

One of them was an old acquaintance, Section Chief Zhang, who was also Lao Zhang's older brother; the other was a middle-aged man.

He had a full beard, but he looked upright and didn't seem like a bad person.