"It's true that I'm an educated youth, but I didn't just arrive. I've been here for half a year, before the autumn harvest. However, I'm not from this brigade; I'm from the Qianjin brigade next door."
"No wonder you looked unfamiliar; I've never seen you before. Oh, was that your boyfriend just now? Are you both from the Forward Brigade?" The Forward Brigade members don't usually come here to collect firewood.
"She wasn't from the Forward Brigade, she was from the Victory Brigade. We were from the same city and came here together to work in the countryside. Unfortunately, we weren't assigned to the same brigade. Luckily, the two brigades we were assigned to were adjacent."
"Haha, it's truly a stroke of luck amidst misfortune. These two brigades are adjacent, so you can still look out for each other."
"yes."
Although Lai Chunyang was cautious, he couldn't be completely restrained; he had to be more natural to avoid arousing suspicion.
Xue Yanchen led him to a usable trap. "This one is pretty good. I used this trap to catch two pheasants and a rabbit before. You've been studying science at school all this time, do you still have a knack for catching prey?"
"I'll give it a try. Don't we still have animal bait and animal traps? With bait and tools, we're not afraid they won't come."
"Smaller animals are fine, but if you encounter a wild boar, you need to be careful."
"I will."
Xue Yanchen helped him find the hunting pit and was about to leave. "I've found the hunting pit for you. You stay here and see how to set it up. My girlfriend is waiting for me over there. See if there are any other problems. If there's nothing else, I'll go back."
He looked into the pit and said, "It's fine. I have nothing else to say. You can go back to your partner. Thank you."
"You are welcome."
Xue Yanchen didn't linger for another second. After giving instructions to Lai Chunyang, he turned and left to find Luo Jingyan.
When Luo Jingyan returned, she asked in confusion, "Why did you ask someone to carry the firewood? It's not like I couldn't carry it myself."
"It's nothing, I just didn't want you to get tired."
He picked up two bundles of firewood, one on each side, and placed them on his shoulders.
Give me a bundle.
"No."
You want me to go back empty-handed?
"Or, let the firewood be in front of me and you lie behind me, or let the firewood be behind me and you hang in front of me."
Upon hearing his words, Luo Jingyan immediately imagined the scene of her hanging in front of him and burst out laughing.
"I don't want to! It's broad daylight, so many people will be watching." She said, "If we're going to hang it up, it'll be after we get married." She tugged at him, "Alright, alright, I'm not going to argue with you anymore, let's go back."
"Okay." Xue Yanchen slung the firewood over his shoulder and told Luo Jingyan to stay by his side.
Halfway there, Xue Yanchen asked Luo Jingyan about the man they had just met. He asked Luo Jingyan, "That man said his family is from the Shengli Brigade. Do you know him? He said he's in college and came back on leave this time."
Luo Jingyan was surprised: "Why are you suddenly so interested in a stranger? This doesn't seem like your style."
Xue Yanchen is a rather cold person. He never meddles in the affairs of unimportant people, let alone interferes in other people's business.
"It's nothing, I'm just curious about how these people who can get into worker-peasant-soldier universities got in. Is it because of their family background or their own abilities?"
“I think he looks somewhat like the family of the Party Secretary here. It’s easier for the children of the Party Secretary to get into the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University than for anyone else here. It’s very likely that he is a member of the Party Secretary’s family here.”
"That's true."
After reaching the foot of the mountain, the two delivered the firewood to the cowshed and returned together to the educated youth settlement of Shengli Brigade.
Xue Yanchen found an opportunity to call Zhao Jun out of the educated youth settlement, saying, "I just met someone on the mountain, and I think he's very strange."
Zhao Jun immediately realized something. Usually, when Xue Yanchen chatted with him alone, it was either about the new fuel samples for the mission or about enemy agents. He instinctively looked around, his expression became serious and cautious, and he lowered his voice.
"Tell me in detail."
"Today, Jingyan and I were gathering firewood on the mountain when we accidentally saw that person looking for something on the mountain. I noticed that the shoes he was wearing were a bit unusual, somewhat similar to ours, but I wasn't sure if they had the same function. Later, I found an excuse to get closer to him. He said he had just come home from school, but I noticed that he had calluses on the base of his thumb and forefinger, and his arms looked particularly strong, unlike someone who often holds a pen. It seemed like he had undergone some kind of training over a long period of time."
"You mean, he usually carries a gun, has undergone intensive physical training, and then pretends to be a student? Is he friend or foe?" He couldn't rule out the possibility that the training of certain special talents was carried out in secret for the purpose of carrying out special missions.
Zhao Jun frowned deeply. He subconsciously took out a cigarette case from his pocket, put a cigarette in his mouth, and then put another one in Xue Yanchen's mouth. He then lit both cigarettes with a match.
"We still don't know if they're friend or foe. If they're the enemy, it means there's a traitor within our ranks, which is extremely dangerous. Only one or two people in the military region know our true purpose here. We can't call the military region to inquire before we're completely certain of their motives. Given our current situation, we haven't found that thing after all this time. We don't know if the higher-ups will send someone over again, especially if they suspect us. So they definitely won't tell us. Let's observe for a while longer."
"Okay, we'll do it your way. We need to keep track of how often we go up the mountain these days, so he doesn't notice anything amiss. Whether he's friend or foe, we've been searching for that thing for over half a year and haven't found it. Do you think it might not even be on this mountain?"
"Even if there's only a one percent chance, we can't give up here. If the stuff falls into enemy hands, the consequences will be unimaginable. Not only will all the hard work of so many researchers be wasted, but it will also pose a huge threat to our country's security. We absolutely cannot let our guard down. I heard from Jingyan that the person is likely the son of the village secretary. Keep an eye on the village secretary's family and see if you can find any clues."
"Um."
After the two finished discussing this serious topic, Zhao Jun suddenly asked quietly, "Brother Chen, I've discovered something unusual. I don't know if you've noticed it either. You might have known all along, but you've chosen to pretend you don't."
"What is it?" Xue Yanchen's gaze deepened.
"Luo Zhiqing's parents live in the cowshed here. You must have been to the cowshed a long time ago. But you will have to go back to the army in the future. How do you and Luo Zhiqing plan to get married? After all, there is still a political review."
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