This time, Sun Yongfu did not speak immediately.
He stared at Shiyue suspiciously for a moment, then asked, "Shiyue, are you doing something behind my back?"
"What could I possibly do?" Shiyue asked innocently.
But after thinking for a moment, she leaned closer and tugged at Sun Yongfu's sleeve, chuckling twice, "Uncle, don't be so clever. Even if you see through me, don't say it out loud. I just want to take this opportunity to go to Jiannan for a visit. I've never been there before, and I've never been to a place farther than the provincial capital!"
"Hmph!" Sun Yongfu slapped her hand away, angrily tapping Shiyue on the head with his pipe, and cursed, "I knew it! I knew you were up to something! What a coincidence!"
"I've never been anywhere farther than the provincial capital. Your uncle has lived for decades and has never even been to the provincial capital!"
"Hehe." Shiyue wasn't annoyed by being knocked on, and still leaned over to Sun Yongfu and said, "When we make money, Captain Uncle, you can go wherever you want, right?"
As she spoke, she tugged at Sun Yongfu again: "Uncle Captain, what I just said was true. Although I did want to go out for a walk, it was really my Uncle Shen's idea to ask He Zhiqing to help open up Jiannan Market."
It was Uncle Shen who suggested that I come along. He said it was a rare opportunity, and I should go and broaden my horizons.
Furthermore, he probably felt that he wasn't familiar with He Zhiqing, and thought that since they were from the same place, with him following along and supervising, He Zhiqing would be more attentive in his work.
Having gone this far with Shi Yue, Sun Yongfu found it difficult to refuse.
After all, he doesn't need to do anything; it's just a matter of issuing a letter of introduction and getting a few days' leave approved.
Although it is the busy farming season, a woman who is not good at heavy work and a clumsy educated youth are not much different in number. Their presence or absence will not make much difference.
Sun Yongfu then asked, "And what about the cost..."
“We definitely can’t pay for this! Uncle Shen said that this is considered an official business trip, and they will cover all the food, drinks, and travel expenses…”
-
Today it's He Lixuan's turn to cook lunch.
The educated youth couldn't learn from the people in the production team. Even though they were doing such heavy farm work, they still had to eat lunch no matter what.
Everyone was too tired to be picky, so they all put the food together and the six of them took turns cooking.
Today it was He Lixuan and Jiang Dong's turn.
After dinner, Jiang Dong tidied up inside the house, while He Lixuan carried the used tableware to the yard to wash it.
As soon as he squatted down, he heard Sun Sanping shouting outside: "He Zhiqing, He Zhiqing!"
He stood up: "Here I am, Sanping. What's up?"
Sun Sanping now gets along well with several educated youths, and he smiled when he saw him in a good mood.
She said to him, "That's good news. My dad said to give you a week's worth of food rations, and then wait at the village entrance. He's sending you on a business trip! Oh, and you should also bring a few clothes."
"Official business trip?" He Lixuan was stunned. "What official business trip? Does our team need to go on official business trips?"
Sun Sanping looked at him enviously: "It's not from our team, it was Sister Shiyue who applied for it for you, just the two of you. Hey, hurry up, I still need to go to the livestock shed to tell them, Sister Shiyue even paid the feed fee, and the team is going to send you a mule cart!"
After saying that, he turned and left.
Sun Sanping left, but He Lixuan stood there for a long time without moving.
Although he had told himself many times to stay away from Shiyue and to bury those thoughts in his heart forever and never mention them again.
But upon hearing her name, he couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat.
He had no idea what Shiyue was up to.
I wanted to ask, but my legs felt like they were made of lead, and I couldn't lift them at all.
Jiang Dong poked his head out of the kitchen and asked, "Brother Xuan, who's here? I heard someone call your name."
“It’s Sanping,” He Lixuan said.
With Jiang Dong's interruption, He Lixuan finally made a move.
He pointed to the basin on the ground: "Wash the dishes, I need to go find Shiyue for something."
"Why!"
When Jiang Dong heard that he was being asked to wash the dishes, he was about to glare at him, but when he heard that he was going to find Shi Yue, he shut his mouth.
He paused for a moment before saying, "Then go ahead."
But by the time he finished speaking, He Lixuan had already walked away.
Jiang Dong also noticed that his brother Xuan had been acting strangely lately, mainly because he was talking less.
In addition, he stopped speaking to Shiyue and forbade them from eating at Shiyue's house anymore.
At first, Jiang Dong thought the two had a fight and wanted to mediate, but Ye Pu'an stopped him and told him not to get involved.
Jiang Dong knows that he is sometimes a bit slow on the uptake and can't understand many things.
But he has one advantage: he's obedient.
He knew that neither his brother Xuan nor Xiao Ye would harm him, so Jiang Dong would generally listen to what they said.
Seeing He Lixuan walk faster and faster until he disappeared in the blink of an eye, Jiang Dong obediently squatted down and started washing the dishes.
I was thinking that I should talk to Xiao Ye about this later and ask him what exactly happened.
He Lixuan didn't consider Jiang Dong's thoughts; he quickly walked to the familiar courtyard.
Just then, Shiyue finished explaining things at home to Chuxia and walked out with a small, packed suitcase.
Not surprised to see him, she said directly, "Uncle Shen wants the two of us to go to the provincial capital for some urgent business. We'll probably be staying there for a while. Go back and pack your things, bring plenty, as we might not be back for three to five days."
Then she pointed to the location of the livestock shed: "You should go back and pack your things quickly. I'll wait for you at Brother Lixue's place."
Shiyue spoke in a detached tone today, never once looking up at He Lixuan, nor giving him a smile.
It's completely incomparable to what it used to be.
He Lixuan felt a heavy weight in his heart, so heavy that he didn't even have time to think about what Shen Yuanbai could possibly want from him.
He agreed and quickly headed back towards the educated youth settlement.
Because they needed to catch the train to the provincial capital, Sun Yongfu generously agreed to take them by mule cart today, and even promised to take them directly to the county town, so they wouldn't have to waste another half a day in the commune.
So Shiyue chose to set off in the afternoon, so that they would arrive in the county town around 5 or 6 p.m., which would be plenty of time to buy train tickets.
When she set off this time, Shiyue was dressed very warmly. In addition, she even brought a quilt. As soon as she got on the bus, she curled up in a corner and wrapped herself up tightly, without saying a word to He Lixuan.
He Lixuan was inexplicably notified that he had to go on a business trip. After getting on the bus, he originally wanted to ask Shiyue what was going on.
Faced with her "do not disturb strangers" attitude, he swallowed back the question he wanted to ask.
She quietly sat down in another corner, fully clothed.
The mule cart took a full five hours to travel from the commune to the county, and by the time they arrived it was already completely dark.
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