For the next three days, Xu Xinghe arrived at the nursery early every day to work.
She meticulously and efficiently performed tasks such as seedling raising, watering, and arranging the spacing between seedlings.
During this time, several male educated youths approached her under the pretext of helping her, but she either politely refused them or blocked them back without making a sound as soon as they got close.
The wasteland to the east was successfully reclaimed, and the educated youth were then assigned to plant poplar saplings.
The midday sun in May was already quite scorching.
Xu Xinghe gripped the shovel and dug a hole, fine beads of sweat appearing on his smooth forehead, but he didn't stop what he was doing.
"Comrade Li Juan, you look so tired, let us help you dig a few holes!" Three former educated youths walked over, chatting and laughing, one of them even reaching out to grab the shovel from her hand.
"No need to trouble you all, I can manage on my own." Xu Xinghe took a step back, dodging the other person's hand.
But those men wouldn't listen and insisted on helping. "Don't be so polite! We're all from the same forest farm, helping each other is only right."
"Ha, being pretty makes all the difference. Wherever you go, people rush to help you. Unlike us, we have to work ourselves to the bone." Wang Lili, who was not far away, could no longer suppress her jealousy and spoke sarcastically, slamming her shovel on the ground with a loud clang.
Zhao Xiaoyan quickly tugged at her arm and whispered, "Lili, stop talking, everyone's busy working!"
"Did I say something wrong?" Wang Lili shook off her hand, her voice rising a little. "Some people just pretend to be weak to gain sympathy. They can clearly do the work themselves, but they insist on having people fawn over them. They're really something!"
Xu Xinghe frowned, about to speak, when she saw Jiang Linchuan striding over.
His face was icy, and his gaze swept over the group of elderly educated youth. "How many times have I told you, she doesn't need your help. Can't you understand human language? Get lost!"
This was the third time he had stopped these people from helping him. He had shown them some leniency before, but they had repeatedly failed to learn their lesson and were clearly deliberately looking for excuses to get close to Xu Xinghe. Jiang Linchuan's patience had long since run out!
The older educated youths were taken aback by his imposing manner, their faces flushing red. One of them muttered defiantly, "We were just trying to help, how can you talk like that?"
"Kindness?" Jiang Linchuan sneered, stepping forward to block Xu Xinghe. His tall figure exuded a sense of oppression. "My sister said she didn't need it, but you still insisted on coming over. Is this what you call kindness? If you don't leave, don't blame me for being impolite."
The former educated youth exchanged glances, knowing that Jiang Linchuan was efficient and strong, and that they wouldn't get the better of him if things got out of hand. They could only glare at him fiercely, sneer, and turn to leave.
Jiang Linchuan ignored them and turned to Wang Lili, who was still pouting. "Comrade Wang Lili, my sister did have someone help her, and it was me who helped her. We are siblings, and it's only natural for us to look after each other. If you feel it's unfair, you can have your brother come to the forest farm to help you. Nobody's stopping you."
Wang Lili didn't expect Jiang Linchuan to call her by name directly. Her face flushed red, she opened her mouth, and finally stammered, "I...I don't need it! I can do it myself, who needs help from others!"
After saying that, she swung the shovel forcefully and started digging a hole in the ground in a fit of pique, but because she was moving too fast, she almost threw the shovel away.
Zhao Xiaoyan quickly stepped forward to smooth things over, "Comrade Guowei, Lili was just saying it casually, don't take it to heart. Let's get to work quickly, otherwise we won't be able to finish today's task."
Jiang Linchuan didn't say anything more, but looked at Xu Xinghe with a questioning look in his eyes. When she nodded slightly to indicate that she was alright, he turned around, picked up his shovel, squatted down next to her, and started digging a hole for her.
Xu Xinghe felt a warmth in her heart as she looked at Jiang Linchuan working diligently beside her.
In this unfamiliar forest, with him by my side to look after each other, even in the most difficult circumstances, I felt more confident.
Xu Xinghe lowered her head and quickened her pace.
The day's work is over.
Jiang Linchuan returned to the male educated youth dormitory.
The newly arrived educated youth were sitting together chatting when he came in. The lively atmosphere instantly turned cold. No one took the initiative to speak, and some even quietly looked away.
He didn't care at all and went straight to his bed to wash up.
At the foot of the bed was an enamel basin containing the soap and new towels he had brought.
Upon closer inspection, Jiang Linchuan's expression instantly darkened.
The soap in the basin had vanished, and the new white towel was left at the bottom, covered in dark mud stains, clearly deliberately dirtied.
He picked up the dirty towel and coldly glanced at the educated youth in the room.
The other residents were all newly arrived educated youths who had just arrived at the forest farm. Faced with his sharp gaze, no one dared to look him in the eye.
They either hunched over picking at their fingers or pretended to make the bed; the room was so quiet you could hear the wind outside the window.
"Who did this?" Jiang Linchuan's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an imposing aura. "Bring out the soap and wash the towel, and I can pretend nothing happened!"
No one answered; the air in the room seemed to freeze.
At this moment, Zhang Guoming, who lived next door, sighed softly, leaned over and whispered, "Guowei, don't be so impolite. There's no need to take some things too seriously. Be more tactful in your speech to avoid offending people."
He paused, then added meaningfully, "You had a falling out with the old educated youth in the fields today, which is not a good thing. They've been in the forest farm for a long time, while we've just arrived. It's not worth going head-to-head with them, or things will definitely get tough for us in the future."
Jiang Linchuan instantly understood the implied meaning.
It was the old educated youth he chased away during the day who caused this trouble!
His gaze grew colder as he stared at Zhang Guoming and pressed, "Who exactly is it?"
"Don't ask anymore, just pretend you don't know." Zhang Guoming waved his hand hastily. "That man is close to Captain Zhang and has a lot of prestige among the old educated youth. We can't afford to offend him. A new educated youth accidentally talked back to him before and was later assigned to plant trees in the village on the very edge of the forest farm. It's far from the educated youth settlement and the conditions are poor. I heard that they can't even get a full meal now."
"I won't say it was you who told me," Jiang Linchuan continued to press, determined not to give up until he got his answer.
Zhang Guoming hesitated for a long time, but finally couldn't resist his gaze and whispered in his ear, "It's that old educated youth with the buzz cut, named Liu Hu. He's the leader of the group you chased away this afternoon."
Jiang Linchuan nodded, said nothing more, threw the dirty towel back into the basin, turned around and took out a spare towel and a new bar of soap from his bundle.
He showed no emotion whatsoever, as if nothing had happened.
The washroom was in a corner outside the dormitory courtyard. When Jiang Linchuan carried the basin over, he ran into Liu Hu, who was also there to wash up with two other educated youths.
Liu Hu chuckled when he saw what was in the basin, and deliberately raised his voice to chat with the people next to him, "Remember that clueless kid from last year? He dared to challenge us because he was young and strong. What happened? He was sent to Xipo Village to plant trees. That place is in the middle of nowhere, and he can't even get a hot meal. If he saw us now, he would avoid us!"
Another former educated youth chimed in, "That's right! In this forest farm, you have to know the rules, or you won't even know how you died. Some people, they just arrived and already put on airs, thinking they're so great, they'll get their comeuppance sooner or later!"
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