Chapter 45 Captain Zhou, please introduce a girl to our Xiao Jiang.
Jiang Zhizhi found it rather interesting; how did this man and three women get along so harmoniously?
Sun Xiaoyue likes Jiang Donghua, and Jiang Donghua has slept with Chen Shuangyan. Li Simin also has feelings for Jiang Donghua.
Three women who were originally rivals in love were able to walk hand in hand with the men they all liked.
Don't they feel any resentment at all?
Yang Fengmei was reluctant to eat in the canteen, so she took two sweet potatoes and two potatoes with her when she left home in the morning. She gave one sweet potato to Jiang Zhizhi and said, "After we eat the sweet potatoes, we'll go buy white sugar, candied fruit, and walnuts. The mooncakes I made are pretty good."
Jiang Zhizhi had no objection and squatted with Yang Fengmei under the wall, eating sweet potatoes while listening to Yang Fengmei talk about the village's troubles: which family had a feud with which family, which wife was having an affair with which husband, which husband couldn't have children, and which husband ended up having a child through his father-in-law.
She listened with great interest to the unofficial histories of the countryside.
I never dared to imagine such a carefree and leisurely life in my past life.
...
Yang Fengmei, being the village party secretary's wife, had considerable influence in the village. In just one afternoon, she gathered all the women in the village together, with each family contributing some flour, cooking oil, and one or two eggs to make mooncakes at her house.
Jiang Zhizhi helped start the fire, placing the glowing charcoal into the homemade mud oven and sticking mooncakes around it.
The final mooncakes, golden and glossy, looked incredibly tempting.
The air was filled with a sweet fragrance, which attracted a group of children to twirl around outside the gate.
While making mooncakes, Widow Ma recounted the harrowing experience of delivering her baby yesterday, thankfully ending with both mother and child safe and sound.
Jiang Zhizhi was horrified to hear this; people were really bold these days, but there was nothing she could do, given the limited medical resources.
We made several hundred mooncakes, gave three to each family, and packed up the rest to be delivered to the camp in the mountains tomorrow.
That evening, Yang Fengmei secretly slipped two mooncakes to Jiang Zhizhi: "Eat these if you get hungry tonight. They won't spoil for half a month."
He then instructed Jiang Zhizhi, "Come over early tomorrow morning for breakfast. After breakfast, we'll deliver the mooncakes."
Jiang Zhizhi readily agreed and went home clutching the sweet mooncake.
...
When the educated youth at the settlement heard that the village was making mooncakes and sending them up the mountain, a girl who was usually quiet asked everyone out of curiosity, "Why don't we make something and send it over too?"
The others readily agreed and began brainstorming ideas, as their food and money were also limited.
Upon hearing this, Sun Xiaoyue went inside and took it all on: "Leave this to me. I'll buy some things and deliver them tomorrow. It's too much trouble to do it myself."
The others who were discussing the matter frowned and fell silent.
In reality, the dozens of people in the educated youth settlement had unconsciously split into two factions. One faction, led by Sun Xiaoyue, wanted to gain benefits from her. The other faction disapproved of Sun Xiaoyue's actions but didn't want to cause trouble; they just wanted to work hard and return to the city smoothly.
They disdained the actions of those around Sun Xiaoyue and her group, and even more so, they hated that it was because of them that the reputation of the educated youth settlement had been tarnished.
So when Sun Xiaoyue spoke, everyone fell silent and started looking for excuses to leave.
Chen Shuangyan rolled her eyes, watching the backs of the group as they left: "What's so arrogant about them? What's so great about them?"
Sun Xiaoyue said she didn't mind and waved her hand generously: "It's okay, they may have gone to do something else. We can discuss it and send it over in the name of our educated youth settlement."
Chen Shuangyan admired Sun Xiaoyue's magnanimity and even felt that it was only right for Jiang Donghua to like her: "Xiaoyue, you are really too good. It's easy for people to bully you because you are so easy to talk to."
Although Li Simin was angry that Jiang Donghua had been getting close to Sun Xiaoyue recently, she also wanted Sun Xiaoyue's father to help her get a spot to return to the city, and preferably a job after returning. So she suppressed her disgust and tried to please Sun Xiaoyue: "Xiaoyue, you really have no airs at all. If you act like this, Jiang Zhizhi won't be able to ride on your head."
Sun Xiaoyue smiled nonchalantly: "It's okay, we won't mention her anymore. We'll just focus on doing our own things."
Standing to the side, Jiang Donghua felt that Sun Xiaoyue was kind and forbearing, and that his disgust for Jiang Zhizhi was extreme.
...
The next morning, Yang Fengmei and Widow Ma pushed a cart full of mooncakes to the mountains to deliver them.
Old Liang didn't go. He was afraid that if he went, Zhou Xiye and the others wouldn't accept the mooncakes. He thought that if he sent a few female comrades, Zhou Xiye and the others would feel embarrassed to refuse and would accept the mooncakes.
Jiang Zhizhi wanted to help push the cart, but Yang Fengmei refused: "No need, no need. Your arm is injured. Just follow us."
Jiang Zhizhi felt very embarrassed and followed behind the two of them.
On their way into the mountains, they passed a checkpoint. Hearing that they were there to deliver mooncakes, someone led them inside, and a young soldier even helped push the cart.
Zhou Xiye and his colleagues were in a meeting when they heard that Qingquan Village had sent mooncakes, which surprised them.
He led Zhang Zhao and Wang Changkun out to greet them.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Zhizhi came along and stood prettily to the side.
Yang Fengmei greeted Zhou Xiye with a cheerful smile: "Tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival, so we made some mooncakes to bring to you."
Zhou Xiye politely declined, saying, "No need, you should take it back and share it with everyone. We have everything here."
Widow Ma waved her hand: "Yours are different from ours. These are all homemade. They taste like home. I know you have many children here who haven't been home for several years. They must miss home for the Mid-Autumn Festival, right? So we made some homemade mooncakes to share with the children. It's a small token of our appreciation."
His words were so touching that Zhou Xiye couldn't refuse. He could only thank him and ask Zhang Zhao and the others to call people to carry the mooncakes downstairs.
Yang Fengmei quickly added, "There are still a few buckets of pears here. This year's fruit harvest was bountiful, and every family received a lot. We're bringing these over for you all to try."
We've already accepted the mooncakes, so we have no choice but to accept the fruit too.
Zhou Xiye pondered looking back, trying to figure out what he could send back.
First, invite the three people into the tent to sit down.
Yang Fengmei waved her hand: "No need, no need, we're not thirsty. We'll just talk for a bit and then we'll leave. We have to go back to work."
Zhou Xiye had no choice but to ask the soldiers to bring over a few stools and to pour some tea.
Widow Ma looked around and asked, "Have you been living here all this time? The conditions are too harsh. It's going to get cold soon. Aren't you cold sleeping in tents?"
Zhou Xiye glanced at Jiang Zhizhi, who was sitting obediently next to Widow Ma, then looked back at Widow Ma and said, "It's not cold. We'll prepare to go down the mountain when it gets freezing."
Widow Ma looked around carefully, then looked at Zhou Xiye with a smile: "Are there any unmarried young men here? If you have good prospects, could you introduce them to our Technician Jiang?"
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