Chapter 189 Chapter 189 Appreciation

The next morning, Lin Yue made breakfast and went to help build the house with Sun Xilai. Zhang Yuandong was on leave today, and as a military officer, he went earlier than Lin Yue.

The construction site was already bustling with activity. Although it was Sunday, the soldiers arrived early in the morning, and there were more of them than usual. The soldiers were divided into several teams, each doing their own job, digging foundations, moving stones, and cutting trees.

Those who felt hot simply took off their green military uniforms and put on the uniform vests issued to the troops, not daring to go shirtless.

Several military wives nearby secretly looked at these energetic young men and laughed in low voices. One young soldier was embarrassed by the stares and his face turned red.

Zhang Yuandong was digging the foundation. Like the other soldiers, he only wore a white vest on his upper body and military pants underneath. He was very strong, and a few hoes would dig a deep pit. ①

The morning sun shines on the man's wheat-colored strong arms, as if coated with a layer of golden light. The man is tall and has long legs, and the sleeveless vest reveals his bulging muscles that he usually hides under his clothes, causing women to peek at him frequently.

Sun Xilai nudged Lin Yue with his arm and whispered jokingly, "Your Zhang Tuan usually looks thin, but I didn't expect that he is quite well-built without clothes! With his strength, you will..."

Lin Yue knew that these women were very outspoken, but she didn't expect them to be so outspoken. She quickly covered the other person's mouth and glanced around, as if she had done something shameful.

Sun Xilai pulled her hand away and burst into laughter.

Zhang Yuandong knew nothing about what was happening here. He listened to the soldiers' report and selected a few people to go to the river with him to move stones.

A few brave women exchanged glances and followed along. In this era, many married women, in particular, were much more open than they would be a few decades later. They had no other ideas, but were bold and enthusiastic, liked to make some harmless jokes, and simply admired the healthy bodies of young men.

Zhang Yuandong had a headache. In order to work more conveniently, the soldiers on the riverside often went shirtless. Looking at the eyes of these sisters-in-law, you can tell what they were thinking. This matter was just a few more days of bargaining for them, but it was a torment for those young recruits.

Yesterday, because the sisters-in-law looked too enthusiastic, several recruits were so flustered that they were almost hit by rocks. Captain Shen was there at the time and took off his shirt and threw it on the shore, saying jokingly: "Sisters-in-law, you should just spare these young men. What's so good about them? You might as well look at me. My figure is not much better than theirs!"

In response to him, the wives of the soldiers laughed and cursed. However, they were embarrassed to be pointed out, so they all ran away soon.

Before the evening, the news spread throughout the entire troop. Not only did the family quarters and the barracks know about it, but even the commander had heard about it and laughed at Regimental Commander Shen, saying, "Only Shen Biaozi can say such shameless things!"

Although the words were reproachful, there was a smile on his face.

The commander was absolutely right. Only Captain Shen could do such a thing. Now that it was Zhang Yuandong's turn, he really didn't know what to do.

He tried to persuade them to leave but failed, and was even teased a few times. He had never been able to deal with such things since he was a child, so he had no choice but to let the military wives follow him.

Sun Xilai grabbed Lin Yue's hand and dragged him over.

Lin Yue, on the other hand, was not as relaxed as other military wives. Just now, everyone was working on their own and she didn't think much of it. But now, she was followed by a group of women who obviously had ulterior motives, and her face suddenly became hot, as if she had done something and was caught.

Zhang Yuandong had already seen Lin Yue following them from the corner of his eye, but due to the large crowd, he couldn't show anything and still walked ahead. However, in this atmosphere, he couldn't help but think a little too much.

Men's desire to compare and win is particularly terrible. Thinking of Lin Yue's preferences, his neck and ears instantly turned red, and his thoughts were exposed too obviously.

These two people, who have been married for so many years, suddenly feel the shyness and embarrassment they had when they first met.

The riverside where the stones were quarried was a relatively shallow rocky beach, and many warriors were already working there. However, since they were going to start laying the foundation in the next few days, the demand for stones was too great, and there were obviously not enough people here.

Zhang Yuandong brought his men over and quickly joined the team, but the wives of the soldiers who came with them stood on the shore, passing stones while trying to fish in troubled waters, and from time to time they glanced at the soldiers who were working hard. It turned out that they had other intentions.

Lin Yue's embarrassment had long passed during this journey. Even though she suddenly saw so many shirtless young men, she didn't feel shy at all.

Now that she was here, she felt embarrassed to just sit there and take advantage of the situation like everyone else, so she simply rolled up her sleeves, rolled up her trousers, and went down to the river to work.

The stones by the river were of different sizes. She followed the example of others and picked out some stones of uniform size that could be used to build the lower part of the wall. As for the very large stones, she would use a pickaxe or other tools to break them into pieces and carry them out one by one.

Lin Yue was very strong and could smash the big rocks at will. When the basket was full of rocks, he carried them to the shore easily without help from others.

At first, some of the little warriors felt shy because of her exposed fair and smooth skin, but soon they had no other thoughts and could only marvel at the magical power of this sister-in-law.

Sun Xilai had known for a long time that she was very strong, so he was not surprised and did not compete with her. He just focused on his own work and even talked to Lin Yue from time to time.

The other wives of soldiers who followed were too embarrassed to slack off any longer, so they looked away and began to help move the stones seriously. For a moment, all the soldiers by the river couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Zhang Yuandong looked up at his wife, then lowered his head to continue working, only showing a grin from ear to ear when no one else could see.

Lin Yue was working hard when He Aini waded over, pulling her trousers to her legs. She came with the military wives to watch the fun, but she didn't expect that she would be asked to move stones. She didn't really want to come here to work, even if it was at the homestead, she didn't want to help, let alone such tiring work.

She walked up to Lin Yue and said with a smile, "Sister Lin, you really are a good worker! We all thought you were a weak and delicate lady, but we didn't expect you to be so strong. You are not much worse than men."

Lin Yue didn't want to pay attention to her, but the struggle has become more intense in recent years, and "Miss" is not a good word. She sneered: "I grew up in the village since I was a child. I am used to doing rough work. I don't dare to be called Miss by you!"

"Oh, look at my mouth, I really can't speak, Sister Lin, don't take it to heart, I just want to compliment you!" He Aini patted her mouth twice, "I just want to say that your hands are so beautiful, but they are not suitable for doing these rough jobs. You may not know if you don't do it often. If you really get blisters, you will be in pain tonight!"

Lin Yue said coldly: "Thank you very much for your reminder!"

She changed direction and didn't want to pay any more attention to this person, but He Aini kept pestering Lin Yue and kept staying by Lin Yue's side trying to talk to her. Even when Lin Yue showed a bored expression on his face, she had no intention of leaving.

Zhang Yuandong noticed this and simply called Lin Yue somewhere else. He Aini wanted to follow him, but she met Zhang Yuandong's warning gaze. Somehow, she felt a chill in her neck and a little scared, so she actually didn't follow him.

Zhang Yuandong asked in a low voice: "What does she want you to do?"

Lin Yue shook his head: "I really don't know. I don't know what's wrong with her. She always stays close to me and teaches a few kids to get closer to Lingling and Wanli in school. I don't know what she wants to do."

She frowned and said in confusion: "Obviously, Captain Ma is Captain Chen's superior, and He Aini should try to please Sun Xilai more. Why is she so indifferent to Sun Xilai, but always comes to me to show her courtesy?"

Zhang Yuandong frowned and said, "Captain Chen's transfer approval should be coming in the next few days. No matter what she wants to do, you don't have to worry for a few days."

In fact, other people would have known about the demobilization a long time ago, but Chen Deyuan had never known that he was going to be demobilized. The main reason was that his family was too noisy. The superiors were afraid that if they knew the news in advance, it would cause chaos in the army, so they kept it a secret from him and did not dare let the couple know too early.

With Zhang Yuandong as a shield, He Aini didn't dare to move forward any further, and Lin Yue's ears finally got a moment of peace.

After a morning, Zhang Yuandong led his troops back. Each soldier carried a basket of stones that had not been sent back in time. Lin Yue also carried a backpack and followed them back.

The hard work this morning had already planted a competitive spirit in the hearts of several army wives. Seeing this, they cursed in their hearts, but in fact they followed suit and each carried a backpack.

These backpacks were all brought by the soldiers, and there were basically no extra ones. Now that they were taken by the wives of the soldiers, some of them were free. Some soldiers felt embarrassed and looked at Zhang Tuan with inquiring eyes.

Zhang Yuandong wiped the smile from his mouth and whispered, "My sisters-in-law are very enthusiastic about their work. I will report it to the teacher and give them a commendation."

This means don't hold on.

The stones were really heavy, and several wives couldn't hold on any longer and put down the backpacks. Immediately, a soldier ran over to pick up the backpacks and put them on his back.

He Aini rubbed her aching shoulders and secretly glared at Lin Yue. She cursed Lin Yue a thousand times in her heart, and she didn't know what was wrong with Lin Yue. Why was he so enthusiastic about his work, forcing her to do such heavy and tiring work.

But when Lin Yue turned his gaze to her again, she hid the viciousness on her face and gave Lin Yue a friendly smile.

Lin Yue didn't care what she thought. She just did what she was supposed to do and didn't care whether others would be upset about it.

However, after this incident, military wives rarely come to watch the fun, because everyone knows that coming to watch the fun may make them exhausted.