Chapter 67 Strike first, or you'll miss out.

The first to notice the actions of the Tonggan production team was the guardian deity of Lawangou. After all, the land is a continuous whole, and as the local earth goddess, Hu Kunxin naturally sensed it.

Gradually, the people in the Liwangou production team also heard about it, but they were tied up with their work in the fields, and although they didn't know the reason, they couldn't spare the time to come to the Tonggan production team to inquire.

They were so busy that on the day when several production teams went to the commune to distribute grain, the people of Liwangou ran into people from the Tonggan production team and remembered this incident, so they asked about it.

When asked, Nie Jinlong suppressed the urge to smile and casually replied, "Oh, it's land reclaimed by our production team."

The people from Lawangou who asked the question were incredulous and asked in shock, "You reclaimed wasteland during the summer harvest season?"

For rural people, the "Three Summers" is the busiest time of the year. They are so busy that they eat their meals in the fields. Clearing land is time-consuming and laborious. This work can be done during the off-season, but it is absolutely impossible during the busy season.

The person asking the question even wanted to utter a soul-searching question: Has the wheat been harvested? Has it been winnowed? Has it been dried?

But when he saw the bags of grain that the members of the Tonggan production team were carrying to deliver to the state, reality had already given him the answer.

The question that was about to come out of his mouth turned into, "How do you have time to clear wasteland? How many acres have you cleared?"

“Someone in our production team modified a combine harvester, so we finished harvesting the wheat early,” Nie Jinlong said, still unable to resist praising himself. “It’s not much, only about ten mu, and we’ve already planted beans and started raising livestock.”

After clearing land, the first crop to be planted is beans to nourish the soil. This is an agricultural wisdom passed down for thousands of years. Even the most illiterate farmers know this well. After planting beans, the soil fertility is improved, and then wheat, corn, and other staple food crops can be planted.

The people of Liwangou were green with envy, while they were still busy with the "Three Summer Harvests" campaign. The Tonggan Production Team even had the spare capacity to reclaim wasteland and plant beans.

This scene was repeated more than once in the queue waiting to deliver grain, because Tonggan Production Team, which was remote, sparsely populated and had low grain production, had always been the last production team in Liuzhang Commune. This was the first time they had ever held their heads high in front of other production teams.

The waiting process of queuing to hand over grain was long and arduous.

This applies to people in other production teams.

Tonggan Production Team members: Hey, let me tell you, we were clearing wasteland a while ago, and those thorn rollers were really useful... Not much, just about ten mu, but the revolution still needs to be worked on... Ah, it's our turn to deliver grain?

The grain station's inspectors this year were the same two people as last year. The younger man's eyes lit up when he saw Zhong Ying, and he couldn't wait to step forward and lend a hand.

Li Linshi, who was secretly helping to share the weight of the sacks, saw the man squeeze in. As the man reached out, Li Linshi let go of his hand and stepped aside to watch coldly.

Dong Guang helped Zhong Ying put the grain sack in her hand onto the scale painted green. Perhaps because of the hot weather, his face was flushed.

He first wrote down the weight on a piece of paper, then inserted an iron rod into the sack, cut a hole in it, and caught the grain that flowed out.

While inspecting the grain, Dong Guang kept glancing at the girl in front of him. Only then did he notice the change in Zhong Ying's hairstyle. She no longer wore the double braids that unmarried girls often wore, but instead put her hair up in a bun, which looked particularly refreshing and neat.

The surroundings seemed to suddenly turn cold, including his chilling heart. Dong Guang murmured, "You...you're married?"

Zhong Ying's gaze had been focused on the scales and the grain. She only looked up when she heard someone speaking. After thinking for a moment, she quickly recognized the person in front of her. "It's you. I remember you were the inspector last year too. Yes, I'm married now."

The boot that had been lifted landed on the ground, and Dong Guang staggered back a step, looking dazed. His budding affection, which had been brewing for a year, had ended in nothing. He had missed his chance if he had been a step too slow.

Li Linshi, who was watching from the sidelines, let out a very soft sneer. Sure enough, the principle of "striking first is the best policy" is not deceiving.

However, Li Linshi seemed to have forgotten that he was the one who was attacked first.

This year, it was still Deputy Director Ding from the commune who came to oversee the grain collection. His gaze swept past the young woman's back and landed on Dong Guang's dazed face. Deputy Director Ding was worried that the young inspector had suffered from heatstroke, so he immediately walked towards him.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?" Ding Bingrui asked with concern.

Dong Guang immediately lowered his head, composed himself, and said, "No, I'm fine."

Deputy Director Ding was relieved, and then noticed that the young woman standing to the side looked somewhat familiar. He quickly recognized Zhong Ying, "I remember you, the woman who helped settle things last year. I remember your name is... Yingshan, Zhong Ying!"

Hu, who was standing behind Zhong Ying in line, opened his mouth wide in surprise. Wow, the leaders of the commune actually knew Yingni'er?

Zhong Ying was also surprised to be recognized one after another. After all, her only interaction with them was last year when she delivered grain to the commune. It was just a chance encounter, and she was no different from a stranger. Zhong Ying herself had no idea what the young inspector's name was, and she only remembered that the middle-aged man in front of her seemed to be the deputy director of the commune. She had forgotten his surname.

"Hello, I really didn't expect you to still remember me." Zhong Ying didn't reveal at all that she had long forgotten the other person's surname, and readily exchanged pleasantries with the deputy director.

During a casual conversation, Deputy Director Ding learned that Zhong Ying had now become the women's team leader in the production team, and made no attempt to hide his admiration, saying, "Good, I always thought you had potential..."

As a result, another wave of discussion about Zhong Ying broke out in the Tonggan production team.

Li Gang had never taken Zhong Ying seriously, thinking she was just a woman. But when he came to his senses, he realized that the people in the production team were actually starting to admire her more and more.

Although such a thing had happened once before, his fourth brother, Li Linshi, was a proper college graduate, a true golden phoenix that had flown back home, so it was only reasonable for people to admire him so highly.

But Zhong Ying, what makes her so special?

Li Gang was inwardly furious, but he still put on a smiling face. During the casual conversation, he subtly refuted his second sister-in-law's words, "Perhaps the leader is impressed by the fourth sister-in-law's face. He probably thinks she is the most beautiful girl in our production team."

Nie Jinfeng glanced at him and muttered to herself, "No one used to mention that Zhong Ying was good-looking. Everyone just said that she was shrewish and had a bad temper. How come now that they're praising her for her abilities, they're bringing up her looks again?"

“Everyone’s getting more and more excited as they talk,” Li Gangshi said, picking up food with his chopsticks and shaking his head. “The notes were left by my fourth brother, and Chengzi earned her military merits herself. Why is everyone praising my fourth brother’s wife?”

Zhong Ying glanced up at Li Gangshi, finding it truly laughable. Throughout history, countless women's achievements had been stolen by men, their names never even recorded. She had never been so shameless. Everyone knew Li Linshi's name and her brother Zhong Cheng's name, yet this alone was enough to make a man furious?

Zhong Ying suddenly curled her lips into a smile and giggled, "My brother is very happy. Saying that praising me is the same as praising him."

The implication is that even my brother didn't mind, so what are you saying here?

Li Gang's expression froze.

Liu Hongyan tried to smooth things over, saying, "Eldest brother, stop talking and help your wife look after the kids. She's been taking care of three children all by herself and hasn't even had a proper meal yet."

With his mother offering him a way out, Li Gangshi immediately accepted it and turned to take care of his son, Li Guangzong, saying, "What do you want to eat? I'll get it for you..."

However, even the most lively discussions have their limits, especially now that Li Ming is still firmly in charge of the production team. After something new happens, people change their topic – another group of educated youth will be sent to the countryside!

Captain Jia of the Liwangou production team came to inform Li Ming, "Get on the oxcart and come with me. The commune has received another batch of educated youth who have gone to the countryside this year. They will be assigned to various production teams, and your Tonggan production team will also be included."

Without saying a word, Li Ming took action. Before leaving, he called Zhong Ying over, "Yingni'er, come with me."

Last year, when he went to pick up the educated youth, the female educated youth surnamed Chen burst into tears on the spot when she saw the oxcart he brought. Li Ming knew that these city kids were experiencing a huge psychological gap and were having difficulty accepting it, but he didn't know how to comfort them. So this time, he specially asked Zhong Ying to come along, in case another female educated youth cried. Since they were all women, she could offer some comfort.

Zhong Ying nimbly jumped onto the oxcart. No need to walk, she could just go.

A few days later, people from several production teams arrived in town again, and a line of oxcarts and donkey carts blocked the entrance to the commune to pick them up.

Zhong Ying remained seated on the oxcart, while Li Ming and several other production team leaders went into the commune's general office to retrieve the people.

"I wonder how many educated youths were assigned to our production team this year." Zhong Ying seemed to be talking to herself, but she was actually talking to Li Linshi next to her.

Zhong Ying just casually mentioned it out of boredom, but Li Linshi thought about it seriously. "It shouldn't be more than last year. Accepting educated youth also depends on economic conditions. 'Rich teams' with more land and better harvests are more likely to be assigned to receive educated youth, after all, they have the ability to provide food and accommodation for the educated youth."

Soon, the people who came out confirmed Li Linshi's words.

The largest group of educated youths followed behind the production team leaders of Panpokou and Zhoujiawowo production brigades, numbering seven or eight, while Li Ming led only two men and one woman toward Zhong Ying.

Zhong Ying stood up, stood by the wooden planks of the oxcart, and extended her hand. "Hello, my name is Zhong Ying, and I am the current women's team leader of the Tonggan production team."

The round-faced, almond-eyed female educated youth grasped the hand extended to her, used it to lift her foot onto the oxcart, and said, "Thank you. Hello, my name is Yu Jing, and I'm from the capital."

She was wearing a light blue collared short-sleeved shirt and gray trousers, which didn't look ostentatious or bourgeois. However, she was wearing black leather shoes on her feet as she stepped onto the bike. Combined with her refined and cultured demeanor, it was clear that she was a child who had been carefully pampered and raised in the city since childhood.

The two male educated youths who followed behind boarded the oxcart on their own. One looked indifferent and only nodded slightly to Zhong Ying, saying that his name was Han Yanqun. The other looked more cheerful, like a sunny puppy, and was the most talkative of the three.

"My name is Yang Tongjie. We all specifically requested to come to your production team for re-education," Yang Tongjie said, unable to hide his excitement.

Li Ming drove the oxen pulling the cart forward, secretly relieved that none of the educated youth assigned this year had cried.

“Yingnier, these young comrades are all college graduates who have come to the countryside for labor training. Unlike the previous educated youth, they will only stay in our production team for a year,” Li Ming said to Zhong Ying without turning his head. “After a year, they will go back to the city to be assigned jobs.”

Zhong Ying was slightly surprised, but quickly nodded to indicate that she understood.

Yang Tongjie sat opposite Zhong Ying, leaning forward and gripping the wooden beam in front of him, showing some anxiety. He asked, "Captain Li, you're also surnamed Li? I have a classmate from your production team, and he's also surnamed Li. A few of us asked to come to Tonggan Production Team because of him..."

Upon hearing this, Zhong Ying had a vague idea in her mind. She turned her head and first saw that the female educated youth named Yu Jing sitting next to her was secretly pricking up her ears. Zhong Ying paused for a moment, and then turned her gaze to Li Linshi, who was sitting further away and making room for others.

Li Linshi's expression did indeed show a slight change; clearly, he knew these three people.

Zhong Ying raised an eyebrow slightly: Oh, there's a story behind this?

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The author's note: These three newly sent-down youths were college graduates from the "Old Three Classes" who went to the countryside for re-education. They were different from ordinary sent-down youths. They usually underwent one to two years of labor training before being reassigned.

The male lead's acquaintances have arrived!