There was a commotion outside the house. Zhong Yuxiu hurriedly gathered her things, stuffed them back at the foot of the bed, and quickly walked out of the room.

One woman and four men came in one after another from the gate of the courtyard. The four male educated youth were of different heights, thin bodies, and looked depressed. When they saw Zhong Yuxiu, they were all stunned and no one spoke. It was not until Sun Ruhong came out with a wooden bucket that the silence was broken.

"Everyone's back. Lunch is ready. Everyone, wash your faces and you can eat. There's hot water in the pot. It's up to you whether you want to wash with cold water or hot water."

"I'm going to take a cold shower." The tallest man turned around and went to the well in the yard.

Zhong Yuxiu moved her ears. The man's voice was quite nice, similar to the voice of an interstellar admiral she once knew; it was deep, rich, magnetic, and unforgettable.

"I need to take a hot shower." The female educated youth Jiang Mei walked into the kitchen with a smile.

The rest of the people followed in one after another, but few of them wanted to take a cold shower; the weather was too hot, and the heat in their bodies was too thick, and they would easily get sick if they were suffocated by the cold water.

"Comrade Zhong, let's go and bring the food to the main room. The main room is cooler, so it won't be so hot when we eat." The wooden barrel was placed at the door, and Sun Ruhong led people to the kitchen.

As soon as I entered the kitchen, it was crowded with people. The heat mixed with the smell of sweat was really unpleasant.

Zhong Yuxiu helped to carry out the dishes and chopsticks and put them in the main room, and then went to help Sun Ruhong serve the dishes and dumpling soup; the four male educated youth and the female educated youth Jiang Mei came back after washing their faces and sat down at the table. Sun Ruhong pulled Zhong Yuxiu to sit down.

The tallest man glanced at Zhong Yuxiu and asked, "Is Comrade Zhong Yuxiu feeling better?"

"She just woke up when I came back and helped me cook." Sun Ruhong introduced with a smile: "Comrade Zhong, Jiang Mei, you know her, so I won't introduce her."

After Sun Ruhong finished speaking, she pointed at the tallest person and said, "This one is Yan Rushan, we usually call him Comrade Yan. The one next to Comrade Yan is Luo Jianmin, followed by Wang Yishan and Feng Jianjun. They are all old educated youth who went to the countryside. They arrived here before me."

"We all came here before you." Jiang Mei glared at her.

Sun Ruhong chuckled, "That's right! We all come from different places, and it's fate that we can get together. Comrade Zhong is young and has been sick for two days since he arrived. He's not familiar with anyone here, so we should all take care of each other from now on."

"I will, Sister Ruhong." Zhong Yuxiu stood up and introduced herself. "I'm young, so I have the audacity to call you all brothers and sisters. Brother Yan, Brother Luo, Brother Wang, Brother Feng, Sister Ruhong, Sister Jiangmei. My name is Zhong Yuxiu. I'm new here, so I'm really sorry to cause you all any trouble. Please bear with me."

"No problem, no problem." Luo Jianmin, who had a small face, laughed and said, "Comrade Zhong and my sister are about the same age. We can look after each other from now on."

Wang Yishan nodded lightly as a greeting.

Feng Jianjun smiled, a little shyly, scratched his head and said, "Look after each other."

"Just work hard when you get here. There's nothing else to say. You don't understand the life of educated youth yet; you will after a while. I won't say much. You are young, so Ruhong and I will take care of you. But we hope you can stand on your own feet and don't bother us with everything." Jiang Mei said both good and bad things, giving a good shot of prevention.

Zhong Yuxiu had no objection to this. People like Jiang Mei were clear about gratitude and resentment, and were not the type to take advantage of others in life.

Yan Rushan was tall and well-defined, with bright eyes and a dark undercurrent. "It's good to be here. We are quite easy to get along with."

"What do you mean by relatively easy to get along with? We obviously get along very well." Luo Jianmin said with a playful smile: "Comrade Zhong, don't listen to Yan Rushan. We are all easy to talk to."

Yan Rushan glanced at him coldly and said to Zhong Yuxiu, "Stay away from him. He's so playful and smiling, it's obvious he's not a good person."

Luo Jianmin tutted his tongue in indignation, but Yan Rushan ignored him completely, feeling bored: "Let's eat first? I've been hungry for a long time."

"Yes, let's eat first." Feng Jianjun smiled, scooped a bowl for Yan Rushan first, then served a bowl to Zhong Yuxiu and other female comrades, and then the three of them.

Luo Jianmin took a sip of the dumpling soup and sighed comfortably, "It's so nice to have dumpling soup! I wish I could have a bowl every day."

"It's not dark yet." Wang Yishan is a man of few words and rarely jokes with others.

"I won't dream of eating dumpling soup even if it's dark." Luo Jianmin replied smoothly, earning a roll of the eyes from Wang Yishan.

With dumpling soup and cold wild vegetables, everyone was very satisfied with the meal. After the meal, Luo Jianmin and Yan Rushan cleaned up the dishes and washed them, while Zhong Yuxiu looked at them in surprise.

Sun Ruhong said, "It's like this in our educated youth camp. The male comrades can't cook, so we female comrades are responsible for cooking; they are responsible for washing dishes, cleaning the kitchen, and sweeping the yard."

"Division of labor and cooperation, everyone doing their job, the arrangement is very reasonable." He nodded repeatedly. In the original owner's memory, there were very few men who would take the initiative to cook and wash dishes. In the interstellar era, there were also very few men who washed dishes and cooked.

Jiang Mei kept looking at Zhong Yuxiu while eating. After spending a short time with her, she had developed a liking for the new female comrade. She had good eating habits, was not bad looking, and knew how to behave. It all depended on whether she could endure hardship.

"Let's go back and get some sleep. We have to get up and harvest again when the gong rings."

Sun Ruhong nodded and called Zhong Yuxiu to go back to the house together. The male comrades who had nothing to do also went back to the house to sleep.

It was not until the gong was struck that Zhong Yuxiu understood the deeper meaning of Jiang Mei's words. The sound of the gong was too loud and harsh, and it was impossible to ignore it.

"Sister Jiang Mei, Comrade Zhong, get up quickly; we have to go to the assembly. If we are late, the captain will blame us." Sun Ruhong hurriedly dressed and got out of bed, shouting while putting on her shoes.

Jiang Mei got used to it and rolled over to sit up. Zhong Yuxiu was still a little dazed. Having just recovered from a serious illness, she was more sleepy and prone to drowsiness. However, no matter how sleepy she was, she couldn't sleep any more. She dressed and put on her shoes and followed them out of the yard.

The heat came over us, and the sun in the sky was scorching and burning our hearts.

A group of seven people rushed to the drying yard. The yard was spacious and there were a lot of rice drying. The members surrounded the team leader under the high-lit umbrella. There was a shady place near the team leader.

“Knock, knock, knock…”

The captain struck the gong, and the scene fell silent. "Is everyone here?"

"All gathered." The members responded lazily.

The captain struck the gong again and shouted, "It's good that we've arrived. I'll say a few words and then we'll continue working in the fields."

"Everyone, cheer up. We must not be afraid of hardship or fatigue. We must have the steely spirit of never giving up. Are you tired?"

In a word, even if the members were not in high spirits, they had to cheer up. The atmosphere on the scene suddenly changed. In an instant, the fighting spirit was high and everyone shouted together.

"Are you tired? Think about the old revolutionary veterans."

“Are you afraid of hardship?”

"If you want to know if it's hard, think about the 25,000-mile Long March."

"Okay, let's go. You have to finish the land allocated to you today. If you don't, you will be deducted points." The captain waved his hand, and the crowd dispersed one after another.

Jiang Mei asked the male educated youth to go to work first, then turned around and led Zhong Yuxiu to the team leader with Sun Ruhong.