The brigade leader and Party Secretary Liu exchanged a glance, then looked at Zhao Honghui with a teasing expression, thinking that there would be one less bachelor in the village.
Accountant Li kept his head down, his eyes filled with gloom. His daughter had always been thinking of Zhao Honghui and had been reluctant to marry. He never expected that the high-minded Zhao Honghui would fall for the spoiled educated youth Xie.
Xie Yuyao didn't notice the expressions of those around her. She lowered her head, weighed the pros and cons of her exploration, and finally firmly refused.
She didn't think much of what Zhao Honghui said.
He was once a soldier, and the idea of serving his country and the world is deeply ingrained in his mind. As long as it benefits Qingshantun, this is nothing.
"Captain, please don't force Xie Zhiqing. She's been so busy lately, she's exhausted. In my opinion, it would be fine if she just wrote down the method and gave it to Aunt Tian to do."
Li Weidong spoke intimately, helping Xie Yuyao decline the offer.
“In that case, let’s do as Xie Zhiqing says. If there are any problems, we can ask Xie Zhiqing for advice.” Zhao Honghui said with a straight face and no expression.
"No problem, I'll go back and think about it carefully. You guys continue!"
Watching Xie Yuyao leave with light steps and a cheerful mood, Zhao Honghui felt a mix of emotions.
His original intention was to have Xie Yuyao become the factory manager or technical advisor, so that she could leave the group of children and get a good job and income.
But she directly shared the production method; I don't know whether to call her generous or foolish.
*
When Xie Yuyao walked out of the brigade headquarters, she saw many villagers carrying baskets and bamboo poles walking down the mountain.
It seems they couldn't wait to start picking fruit before the workday began.
In the afternoon, the team leader assigned tasks, dividing them into three categories: picking, transporting, and washing, cutting, and drying. Xie Yuyao and Yang Shumei chose to pick.
In the pear orchard at the foot of the mountain to the east, the rotten fruit that had fallen earlier has been swept to the outer edge.
Some people climbed the thick tree trunks and stood on the layers of branches to pick pears. Others used long bamboo poles to knock the pears down. Still others stood under the trees picking up the fallen fruit and putting them into baskets.
With a series of crackling sounds, the yellowish-brown fruits seemed to leap and hop as they landed on the grass beneath the tree and on the people picking them up, eliciting bursts of laughter.
As soon as Xie Yuyao and Yang Shumei arrived in the woods, they were spotted by the sharp-eyed grass-cutting team. The children surrounded them, chattering and asking how the dried fruit tasted, saying they really wanted to eat some.
Seeing these little gluttons, Xie Yuyao said she would bring them some tomorrow morning, and they jumped for joy.
Xie Yuyao smiled as she watched. If they hadn't shown her the way, she wouldn't have known there were wild pears at the foot of the eastern mountain. Now that she had harvested a second batch of dried fruit, she decided to let them try some.
Some daring and agile children climbed up the pear tree to pick the pears, which made Xie Yuyao and Yang Shumei very nervous, and they kept telling them to be careful.
Zhao Jianbin walked over at this moment, carrying a bamboo pole. When he reached Yang Shumei's side, he saw three unusually conspicuous wounds on her fair left cheek.
He asked anxiously, "Yang Zhiqing, how did you get your face injured?"
"It was an accident. You came here to pick pears?" Yang Shumei said casually, changing the subject.
Seeing that there were quite a few people around, Zhao Jianbin calmed down and didn't ask any more questions. He then raised his bamboo pole and started hitting the pears.
The afternoon passed quickly, and it was time to finish work. Everyone else was still in high spirits and didn't want to stop, so Xie Yuyao and her companion didn't rush to leave and planned to buy things another day.
As darkness fell, the crowd gradually dispersed.
Zhao Jianbin stopped Yang Shumei, "Yang, I have something I want to say to you alone."
"Let's talk right here."
Zhao Jianbin looked at Xie Yuyao without saying a word.
Seeing Yang Shumei nod, Xie Yuyao walked to the roadside about ten meters away where they could still be seen and waited.
"Now that no one's around, can you tell me how I got hurt?" Zhao Jianbin finally blurted out the words he had been holding back all afternoon.
Yang Shumei: "I was scratched by a stray cat."
"Who are you trying to fool? Where did this stray cat come from!" Zhao Jianbin's voice rose, but realizing he was losing control, he suppressed his emotions and asked in a low voice, "Who is it?"
Yang Shumei didn't want to get entangled with him and said impatiently, "My affairs are none of your business, and I haven't suffered any losses."
"How can you say you didn't suffer a loss? You're almost disfigured! Tell me who that person is!"
"What good would it do to tell you?"
"I'm going to find her!"
Yang Shumei felt a pang of sadness looking at Zhao Jianbin, who was trying to stand up for her. She turned to him and said, "Zhao Jianbin, how many times have I told you not to waste your time on me?"
"We'll talk about that later. Right now, someone dares to bully you. I'll teach her a lesson!"
"I've already told you, my affairs are none of your business. You're just causing me trouble, you know that?"
"If you won't tell me, I'll find out myself." Zhao Jianbin said, turning to leave.
"Stop right there!" Yang Shumei snapped, immediately halting him. "Don't you understand? If you truly care about me, then leave my affairs alone!"
"But I can't stand seeing you suffer!"
Zhao Jianbin roared, then squatted on the ground with his head in his hands, his inner bitterness completely exposed.
Looking at the man who was like a trapped beast, Yang Shumei's eyes showed pity, but she quickly said in a hard voice, "It's getting dark, I'm leaving first."
She had only taken a few steps when a hoarse voice came from behind her.
"Why?"
Yang Shumei stopped and stood still.
"Tell me what you don't like about me, so I can give up on you."
"I will go back to the city later."
Zhao Jianbin immediately stood up and said firmly, "Then I'll go to the city with you. Don't worry, I'll definitely be able to make a living and won't hold you back."
His mother's biggest objection was this very issue, and he had already prepared himself mentally to stay by Yang Zhiqing's side wherever she went.
“But I only have a high school education. If I have the opportunity, I will continue my studies. What about you?” Yang Shumei could no longer contain herself and spoke her deepest thoughts to him.
"I...I can support my family and do my best to give you the best life." Having touched upon Zhao Jianbin's weakness, he could only approach the issue from another angle.
"But I like cultured people."
"......"
Zhao Jianbin fell silent, recalling his junior high school days. Back then, the school was chaotic, and he didn't learn much. What did it mean to be considered an educated person?
According to the rural view, graduating from junior high school is considered quite educated, but Yang, the educated youth, clearly did not think so; he believed that graduating from high school was necessary.
Thinking of the several male educated youths in the educated youth team who had graduated from high school, he asked anxiously, "You haven't fallen for any of the male educated youths, have you?"
Yang Shumei's face flushed with anger, and she turned and left.
"Wait, don't go!" Zhao Jianbin strode up and grabbed her arm.
"Let go!"
Zhao Jianbin quickly let go of her hand, lowered his head and admitted his mistake: "I was wrong. Give me some time, I'll go and study high school knowledge."
How to learn?
"I'll find someone to teach me, I'm sure I can master it." Zhao Jianbin was determined to be with the girl he loved.
Yang Shumei gazed at him, a faint hope rising in her heart: what if he could also get into university...
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