Chapter 32, you tell me yourself.
Lu Yezhen never expected that his momentary indulgence last night would actually worsen his injury. This morning at the hospital, Dr. Zhuang warned him that if the injury recurred and caused a chest infection, it could end his career. He loved military life and loved this olive green uniform even more. He dared not take his injury lightly again because of his youth. He made up his mind then and there that he would definitely take good care of his injury and continue to recover until he was fully healed.
Jiang Suining could tell he had learned his lesson. After helping him lie down, she comforted him for a few moments before going to the kitchen to cook with Xiao Zhao.
When Xiao Zhao saw Jiang Suining, it was like seeing a relative. The tall young man, who was more than a head taller than Jiang Suining, suddenly had tears welling up in his eyes when he saw her. He said in a wronged tone, "Sister-in-law, you have to talk to the chief of staff properly. Don't take your health lightly. That Dr. Zhuang said that if the wound reopens and causes an infection, the chief of staff will never be able to serve again. If our regiment doesn't have a chief of staff, the regimental commander will fire me too."
Jiang Suining felt a jolt of fear. She had only mentioned that the wound had reopened, without mentioning the consequences. No wonder Lu Ye was lying there obediently; he was probably terrified.
"It's alright, your chief of staff is very lucky," Jiang Suining suppressed her fear and comforted Xiao Zhao. "There's a saying that goes, 'Those who survive a great calamity are destined for good fortune,' and that perfectly describes your chief of staff."
“Yes, sister-in-law, you’re right.” Xiao Zhao thought about Jiang Suining’s words carefully and agreed wholeheartedly. The sadness she had just felt vanished instantly.
“From now on, I’ll be at work every day and I won’t be home. You must keep a close eye on your chief of staff and make sure he strictly follows the doctor’s orders. If he doesn’t listen, then mention me and your regimental commander.” Although she thought Lu Ye would follow the doctor’s orders, Jiang Suining couldn’t help but instruct Xiao Zhao.
"Don't worry, sister-in-law," Xiao Zhao patted his chest, "I'll keep a close eye on things."
Jiang Suining was finally relieved.
After lunch, Jiang Suining originally wanted to go to the supply and marketing cooperative immediately, but Lu Ye reminded her that they were closing for lunch, so she gave up and rested for a while. When it was time to go back to work, she went to the supply and marketing cooperative, only to find Liu Hong there.
Since Lu Ye was injured and Jiang Suining took leave, she had not been to the labor protection factory, and naturally had not seen Liu Hong. When they met again, they were both surprised and excited, and asked each other in unison how they got here.
“The project team’s materials have arrived, I’ve come to pick them up,” Jiang Suining asked Liu Hong, “Why aren’t you at the factory at this hour? Why are you here?”
Jiang Suining was surprised, then saw Su Donglai come out of the inner office and walk up to Liu Hong: "Comrade Liu, you wanted to see me?"
So that's how it is. Jiang Suining immediately recalled the day the two of them first met Su Donglai at the supply and marketing cooperative. She was somewhat surprised, as she had noticed Liu Hong's interest in Su Donglai at that time, but she didn't expect her to take action so soon.
Liu Hong came here today specifically to invite Su Dong to watch a movie, but unexpectedly ran into Jiang Suining. Because Jiang Suining was there, she suddenly couldn't say what she had prepared.
During this time, Liu Hong would always come to the supply and marketing cooperative to find Su Donglai under various pretexts. He wasn't stupid, so he naturally saw through the girl's feelings. However, he wasn't a local and wouldn't be staying here for long, so he really didn't want to find a partner. He also subtly expressed his intentions, but Liu Hong was very persistent. He didn't know if she didn't understand what he meant, but she still kept coming to find him.
Seeing Su Donglai frown slightly, and then seeing Liu Hong twisting the hem of her clothes with both hands, Jiang Suining thought for a moment and said, "Oh dear, I just remembered I have something to do, I have to go first. Liu Hong, let's talk another day."
As soon as she finished speaking, Liu Hong visibly relaxed and quickly left the supply and marketing cooperative.
After leaving the supply and marketing cooperative, Jiang Suining did not leave. Instead, she went around to the side and hid behind a large tree to observe the cooperative's gate.
About four or five minutes later, she saw Liu Hong walk out of the supply and marketing cooperative, her steps heavy and her face dejected. It seemed that she had not achieved her goal. She guessed that it was probably a case of unrequited love.
She waited until Liu Hong's figure disappeared into the crowd before returning to the supply and marketing cooperative, where she saw Su Donglai standing in front of the counter, facing the door.
"Comrade Su," Jiang Suining walked over, "I'm here to collect materials for the seaweed artificial cultivation project."
"Oh," Su Donglai said, somewhat surprised, looking Jiang Suining up and down. "Aren't you from the labor protection factory?"
“Yes, I am indeed from the labor protection factory, but I am currently on secondment to the seaweed farming project team,” Jiang Suining explained.
“Okay, come with me,” Su Donglai nodded slightly and led Jiang Suining to the back warehouse. “There are quite a lot of things, so let’s check the goods first, and then I’ll find someone to go with you to deliver them.”
"Okay, then I'll have to trouble you." Jiang Suining took out the materials list from her bag.
"It's no trouble at all, it's what I should do," Su Donglai said with a smile. "You mentioned artificial breeding the other day, I didn't expect it to be implemented so quickly, you're really amazing."
Jiang Suining dared not take credit, waving her hand and saying, "It's not my achievement. I just mentioned it briefly. It was the result of the organization's discussion and investigation."
Su Donglai smiled and didn't say anything more. The two of them, together with the warehouse manager, checked all the materials submitted by the project team, including the quantity and whether there was any damage. After confirming, Su Donglai asked the warehouse manager to get a tractor and found a few more people to load all the goods onto the tractor.
There was a lot of stuff, and the workers would have to wait a while to load it onto the truck. Su Donglai invited Jiang Suining to his office for tea, but Jiang Suining declined and watched the workers unload the goods from beside the tractor.
Su Donglai didn't want to go back to his office alone, so he stayed with him.
After all the goods were loaded onto the truck and the workers helped secure them with ropes, Su Jiang Suining sat in the back of the tractor. Unexpectedly, Su Donglai also got on.
"You're going too?" she asked, somewhat surprised.
"It's nothing, I'll just go ask if there are any other materials we need to purchase," Su Donglai explained.
"Oh," Jiang Suining felt that Su Donglai seemed to have something to ask her, but since he didn't say anything, she didn't know.
The farm was not yet completed; only a few temporary offices had been set up. There was no warehouse, so they found the village closest to the construction site and, after negotiating with the village secretary, vacated a room in the village committee to serve as a temporary warehouse.
The tractor arrived at the construction site first. Upon receiving the news, Lü Aiguo rushed over and took the tractor to the village. When unloading, Lü Aiguo took over and, according to the list, instructed the workers to put the materials in the room in a categorized manner.
Jiang Suining and Su Donglai watched from outside.
"Comrade Jiang," Su Donglai hesitated all the way, but finally said, "I have something I'd like to ask you for help with."
Just as expected, her intuition was still so accurate, Jiang Suining thought to herself, and asked with a smile, "What is it? Tell me, and I will definitely help if I can."
The implication is that if they can't help, there's nothing they can do.
Su Donglai was somewhat embarrassed. To be honest, he and Jiang Suining had only met twice and were barely acquaintances. Asking her for help now was indeed a bit presumptuous, but he really had no other choice.
"This matter is a bit presumptuous to say," he rubbed his hands together, deciding to speak frankly, "You saw Liu Hong at the supply and marketing cooperative this afternoon. She often comes to see me. I am actually from out of town. I came here to work for a while and will have to leave. Moreover, I have no plans to get married for the time being."
At this point, Jiang Suining understood everything. She sighed inwardly and heard Su Donglai continue, "I've actually hinted at it to Liu Hong more than once, but I don't know why, she... she doesn't seem to understand. And I can't just say it directly, after all, she's a woman."
"So?" Jiang Suining stared at Su Donglai. "What do you want me to do?"
"I... I want you to help me explain things to Liu Hong." Su Donglai only had this thought when he saw Jiang Suining today.
Jiang Suining recalled that afternoon at the supply and marketing cooperative, Liu Hong didn't even dare to tell Su Donglai her purpose because she was there. This showed that Liu Hong was very concerned that she knew about her and Su Donglai's relationship. Therefore, she couldn't help her with this favor.
“I’m sorry,” Jiang Suining said, disliking beating around the bush, “I can’t help you with this.”
"Why?" Su Donglai asked anxiously. He could tell that Jiang Suining and Liu Hong had a good relationship. "Aren't you friends?"
“Everyone has their own little secrets that they don’t want to share or let others know, and friends are no exception,” Jiang Suining said bluntly to Su Donglai, who looked puzzled. “Think carefully about what happened this afternoon. What was Liu Hong’s reaction when I was there, and what was her reaction after I left?”
After a careful recollection, Su Donglai immediately understood and couldn't help but feel anxious: "Then who should I talk to?"
"Why don't you say it yourself?" Jiang Suining suggested. "You'd better tell them yourself."
"Say it yourself? How should you say it? Liu Hong didn't give a clear answer," Su Donglai pursed his lips, "I'm a man, and a direct refusal would hurt her."
“You’ll only hurt her more by dragging this out,” Jiang Suining interrupted Su Donglai. “By not refusing, not accepting, and continuing to meet with her, you’ll only make her sink deeper and deeper. Your self-righteous approach, which seems like you can’t bear to hurt her, will actually only hurt her more in the end.”
Su Donglai was stunned and speechless for a long time.
Jiang Suining knew that she had spoken too frankly to someone she barely knew, but since she had already said it, she might as well finish it. "Sometimes, a short pain is worse than a long one."
After she finished speaking, she went to the warehouse and helped Lü Aiguo arrange the materials.
They were busy until almost the end of the workday before they finally finished. Although they didn't move any goods, they kept talking and directing the placement of items, and now they felt very thirsty.
Su Donglai had recovered and came over to thank Jiang Suining. He also signed the material handover form with Lü Aiguo before leaving with the tractor.
After a short rest, the two closed the warehouse doors and windows and returned to the construction site. In just one afternoon, construction had already begun on the shore, with workers digging the foundation according to the lines marked with lime.
“This is the seedling nursery,” Lü Aiguo explained to Jiang Suining, “and the warehouse is right next to it.”
"That's really fast," Jiang Suining remarked.
“We have to be quick,” Lü Aiguo said. “The higher-ups require that the seedling nursery, along with the adjacent warehouse, must be completed within two months.”
"Will it be enough time?" Jiang Suining was somewhat doubtful. This was all done manually, without any automated machines, which seemed a bit risky.
"Yes, absolutely." Lü Aiguo wasn't worried at all. "Don't worry, we have enough manpower."
Jiang Suining wasn't worried, since this job wasn't her responsibility. She would only be staying there for two or three days before the worker training started, at which point she would have to go back and oversee it.
After get off work, Lü Aiguo went home with Jiang Suining to visit Lu Ye. He was a little surprised to see Lu Ye lying in bed and teased, "You've been in bed for so many days, why are you still lying in bed? People who don't know would think you're in confinement after giving birth."
"Get lost!" Lu Ye threw a pillow at him.
Lu Aiguo grabbed him: "Hey, hey, hey, you won't let people talk about it? If you won't let people talk about it, then get up."
Jiang Suining washed the apples and brought them in, just in time to see Lu Ye throwing the pillow. She immediately became anxious: "What are you doing? Didn't I tell you to try not to use your arms!"
"No, I used this side, the wound is on the other side, it's fine," Lu Ye quickly explained.
"What do you mean, 'this way' or 'that way'? Neither way is acceptable. If you do it again, I'll send you to the hospital." Jiang Suining didn't back down at all. She put down the apple plate and went to shoo Lü Aiguo away. "What's wrong with you? Did you come to visit him or to cause trouble? His wound has reopened and he has to stay in bed. Don't provoke him. If his wound reopens, I'll never forgive you."
Upon hearing this, Lü Aiguo dared not speak rashly: "What happened? What kind of physical labor did you do? Could it have caused your wound to reopen?"
As soon as he said that, the bedroom fell into an eerie silence.
Lu Aiguo immediately realized he had asked the wrong question. His eyes darted around, his gaze shifting from Jiang Suining to Lu Ye. Gradually, he realized what he had said and his face became somewhat embarrassed. He coughed twice and said, "Um, I'm going to see what Xiao Zhao is making. It's settled then, I'm not leaving tonight, I'm going to mooch a meal."
He finished speaking and ran out quickly.
Jiang Suining and Lu Ye exchanged a glance and then burst out laughing.
"Don't laugh," Jiang Suining quickly stepped forward and pressed him down, "Laughing like that will aggravate your wound."
Upon hearing this, Lu Ye immediately shut his mouth and indeed dared not laugh anymore.
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