After Xie Yun finished washing the dishes and returned to the main room, she saw a pile of things on the table. A bag of milk powder, two cans of malted milk, a packet of White Rabbit candy, a piece of floral cloth, and two boxes of cakes. Qin Minghao said, "These are given to you by your old leader. He also said that if you encounter any difficulties, you can come to him."

Xie Yun saw these things and thought, I must accept them, and then think about what gift to return. Xie Yun smiled at Qin Minghao and said, "Comrade Qin, please tell my old boss that I'm fine and don't worry about me."

Qin Minghao looked at the little girl in front of him who was smiling and talking to him, and for some reason his heart beat faster.

"good"

"Comrade Qin, can you please bring something for my old leader before you leave?"

Qin Minghao saw the little girl looking at him, so he just said "OK"

Xie Yun said happily, "Comrade Qin, please sit down first. I'll go pack my things now."

Qin Minghao looked at her and said, "Don't worry, I'll leave in a few days."

"Ah? Oh, then Comrade Qin, tell me when you leave and I'll give you the things." Xie Yun thought that his home might be nearby.

Qin Minghao went out of the house to see if there was anything he could do. The vegetables in the yard were growing well, and there were no weeds. He looked at the firewood shed. There was a lot of firewood in the shed, but there were few large pieces. In winter, you still need some large pieces to burn on the kang.

Thinking about it, I asked Xie Yun, "Who here has a cart?"

"Both the captain's family and Carpenter Yang's family have them," Xie Yun replied.

"Do you know how to get to the captain's house?"

"I know, I'll take you there," Xie Yun said and walked out. Qin Minghao followed her. When they arrived at the captain's house, they saw the captain about to leave. Xie Yun smiled and said, "Captain, are you going out?"

The captain saw Xie Yun and Qin Minghao coming together and asked, "What do you two want to see me about?"

Qin Minghao said: "Captain, I want to borrow your cart."

When the captain heard about this, he said, "The car is in the yard, I'll push it out for you."

"Captain, I can do it myself." Qin Minghao hurried in to push the cart, and borrowed a hatchet and rope from the captain.

After leaving the captain's house and returning to Xie Yun's, Qin Minghao asked Xie Yun to go home first, saying that he was going out for a while. Xie Yun entered the yard and began to pack the things for the old leader: a dried chicken, a dried rabbit, a small bag of dried mushrooms, a small bag of pine nuts, and a small bag of hazelnuts. These were a lot.

In the evening, Xie Yun fried three more vegetables and made soup with dried seafood. When it was almost dark, there was a knock on the door. Xie Yun opened the door and saw a cart of firewood outside. She quickly opened the door and pushed it into the yard with Qin Minghao.

Qin Minghao looked at Xie Yun and said, "I see there are no large pieces in your firewood shed. I'll chop some for you and put them aside. You can use the large pieces to resist burning when you heat the kang."

Xie Yun hadn't really thought of this. Although Niu Dan and Gou Dan had been bringing firewood, they were still children after all, and they couldn't move them if they were too big. Now that Qin Minghao had said this, it really was the case.

"Thank you, Comrade Qin. Let's eat first. The meal is ready." Xie Yun quickly fetched a basin of water and placed it in the yard, then turned back to the kitchen to set the table. After the two of them finished their meal, Qin Minghao chopped some firewood in the moonlight and ran back to town, where he booked a room at the guesthouse. He had originally planned to leave after delivering the food, but he changed his mind after seeing Xie Yun.

The next morning, as soon as Xie Yun opened the door, she saw Qin Minghao stacking firewood in the yard. It was still dawn, so what time did he get up?

"Good morning, Comrade Qin. You get up so early," Xie Yun greeted with a smile.

"Thank you, comrade, good morning," Qin Minghao said without stopping the work in his hands.

Xie Yun went into the kitchen and took out the dough she had made last night. She steamed a pot of buns stuffed with chives and eggs, mixed some vegetables, added some pickles, and cooked some sweet potato porridge. After finishing the meal, she went out to call Qin Minghao to eat. Seeing that the firewood was already stacked, she said, "Comrade Qin, wash your hands and eat now."

After the two of them finished their meal, Xie Yun went to get her work. Today was harvesting soybeans again. After getting a sickle and going to the field, Qin Minghao told Xie Yun to go back and rest while he was harvesting the land. Xie Yun refused to listen no matter what she said. Xie Yun had no choice but to start pulling soybeans nearby. Although she was slow, she was still working. She couldn't let Qin Minghao work while she went back to rest. When lunch was almost over, Xie Yun went back to cook. When the meal was ready, she would call Qin Minghao. After they finished the work together, they would ask the scorekeeper to record the work and go home. After dinner, Qin Minghao would pull a cart up the mountain to chop firewood. After chopping and stacking it, he would go back to town to live and come back to work in the morning.

Four days later, after returning from harvesting soybeans, Qin Minghao said, "I'm leaving tonight and will be returning to the army on the bus tomorrow morning."

Xie Yun said, "Then I'll give you the things. Please help me take them to my old boss and tell him that I'm doing well here so he can rest assured."

After dinner, Qin Minghao pulled up the cart and headed out. Xie Yun made some food for him to take along on the road, and also brought him some pine nuts and hazelnuts. She had wanted to make some dried meat, but since she hadn't been out for the past few days and couldn't explain the meat's origins, she decided against it.

After dinner, Qin Minghao went to the captain's house to return something. When he came back, Xie Yun gave him the things, and Qin Minghao put them into the luggage bag. Xie Yun handed him the cloth bag and said, "Comrade Qin Minghao, thank you for these days. Here are the food I made for you to eat in the car. There are also two cans of sauce I made before, which you can take to the army."

Qin Minghao looked at the cloth bag in his hand and didn't expect that there was also his. "Thank you"

Xie Yun sent Qin Minghao to the village entrance. "Goodbye, Comrade Qin, have a safe journey."

Qin Minghao said "goodbye" and left without looking back.

Xie Yun went back home and cleaned up. She saw the money and banknotes piled under the teacup in the main hall. She thought that this was what the old people said in the past: the People's Liberation Army does not take a single needle or thread from the people.

Qin Minghao returned to the guesthouse and lay on the bed feeling a little depressed. Could it be that he was a little tired these days?

Xie Yun put away the money and tickets, thinking about what kind of work she would be assigned tomorrow after the soybeans were harvested. She fell asleep while thinking about it.

She slept until the alarm went off, then got up, made breakfast, and went to work. Today, she was assigned the task of peeling corn, which was to be paid into the grain tax. Xie Yun, along with several other female educated youth and other women from the village, were peeling corn kernels together. One woman asked Xie Yun, "Is that soldier who came to you a few days ago your boyfriend?"

Everyone pricked up their ears when they heard this.

Wang Hong heard someone muttering quietly, "You say they're not a couple, who would believe that?"

Xie Yun glanced at Wang Hong, and Wang Hong immediately shut her mouth. She couldn't argue with Xie Yun.

Another aunt asked, "Is that your relative? I think that young man works really well."

"Well, it's my distant relative who passed by here to see me." If I don't say this, I don't know what else these people will say.