Where are Xiao Jian and Hu Zi?
Xiao Weiguo asked casually.
Xiao Shanshan and Zhang Huihui exchanged a knowing look and burst out laughing.
"Xiao Jian has been dragged by Hu Zi to do hard labor, and he probably won't be back until noon."
"Do manual labor?"
Xiao Weiguo didn't quite understand what his sister meant.
"That's right, to be precise, he was conscripted by Hu Zi and sent to work for someone else."
Hearing Xiao Shanshan say this, Xiao Weiguo became interested.
How could Hu Zi, an outsider, have arrested Xiao Jian to work for someone else? Does he have other friends here?
"Tell me quickly, what happened? Whose work is Tiger doing for?"
You wouldn't have guessed, would you?
Xiao Shanshan smiled mysteriously and continued.
"It's to help Xiao Mengjie, do you remember her?"
Xiao Weiguo certainly remembered the little girl; she was Xiao Feng's daughter.
She had said that she would let Xiao Jian lend a hand whenever they needed it, but she didn't expect Hu Zi to be so attentive.
Xiao Shanshan continued, "A few days ago, Xiao Jian and Hu Zi took it upon themselves to go to Xiao Changsuo's house and take over the land that belonged to the mother and daughter. Mengjie had to take care of her mother and do farm work all by herself, and she was too busy to manage. Hu Zi saw this and often helped her with odd jobs in the fields."
"That's why I grabbed a hoe early this morning and dragged Xiao Jian to help people weed."
Why?
Xiao Weiguo really couldn't understand why Hu Zi was being so enthusiastic. If it was out of kindness, this was way too kind!
"Hehe, you'll see when you go and take a look."
Shanshan and Zhang Huihui tugged at each other and laughed together.
I don't know which piece of land they went to, so how am I supposed to find out?
Xiao Weiguo thought for a moment and gave up his curiosity. Anyway, he could find out by asking them when they came back.
"I'm not going. I have something to do; I need to go see the old Party Secretary."
Xiao Weiguo didn't go inside either; he turned around and led Jiao Bai outside again.
"Make more food for lunch, we'll eat at home."
Before leaving, Xiao Weiguo gave his younger sister one last piece of advice.
"Okay, I understand."
Xiao Shanshan agreed and, together with Zhang Huihui, carried the things Xiao Weiguo had brought into the house.
On the sandy land north of the village, three young boys and girls, each holding a hoe, were weeding the sweet potato field under the scorching sun, sweating profusely.
Gao Hu swung his arms high into the air, as if he had inexhaustible strength, and walked at the very front.
Despite the sweltering heat, he didn't even wipe away the sweat dripping onto the mud beneath his feet.
Xiao Jian walked in the middle, wielding a hoe, his resentful gaze occasionally glancing at Hu Zi's back.
Unfortunately, it had no lethality whatsoever, and Tiger remained completely unaware, continuing to work with great enthusiasm.
Walking at the back was Xiao Mengjie. Being a young girl, she couldn't keep up with the two boys at all in this kind of physical activity.
The little girl was dressed in clean clothes, her face was rosy from the sun, and she looked full of energy. She was completely different from a few days ago.
Xiao Mengjie wiped the sweat from her neck with the towel and straightened up to look at the sun in the sky.
It was already past ten o'clock in the morning, and the sun was starting to get increasingly scorching.
She licked her slightly dry lips and asked the two men in front of her a question.
"Brother Xiao Jian, Brother Hu, are you two thirsty?"
Without waiting for their reply, he threw down his hoe and ran towards the edge of the field.
"Wait a moment, I brought some water from home, I'll go get it for you."
Tiger finally straightened up and shouted at her back.
"Mengjie, we're not thirsty, slow down."
Xiao Jian curled his lip and said disdainfully.
"Tiger, have some shame, will you? Mengjie, tsk tsk tsk... Why don't you put in this much effort when it comes to our own work?"
Tiger scratched his short hair, which was damp with sweat, and chuckled as he spoke.
"Helping others is a joy, even a child knows that. Besides, isn't this a task your brother gave you? I'm just helping you out."
Xiao Jian spat at him with his hoe raised in his hand.
“My brother never asked me to help others like this, to neglect my own land and abandon it to help others.”
“Hey, with our land, the two of us can finish it in no time. She’s just a little girl who has to take care of her sick mother. If we don’t lend a hand, who will?”
Tiger's tone remained nonchalant, which made Xiao Jian roll his eyes in exasperation.
That sounds nice, but do you think you can just take a break from your five or six acres of land and finish it off?
Xiao Jian understood Hu Zi's thoughts perfectly well. They ate and slept in the same bed every day; how could Hu Zi possibly hide anything from him?
He said that, but he still obediently got dragged into the army and became a conscript. It was all for the sake of his brothers.
As they were talking, Xiao Mengjie ran over carrying a green military water bottle.
Here, have some water.
As she spoke, she handed the kettle to Xiao Jian.
Xiao Jian didn't reach out to take it. He just said something to her.
"Hey sis, I'm not thirsty, go give some to your brother Tiger, he's dying of thirst. Can't you see him waiting there so eagerly?"
Tiger, who was craning his neck to wait, picked up a clod of dirt from the ground and threw it at Xiao Jian when he heard Xiao Jian say that.
But Xiao Jian dodged it by sidestepping.
"What did I say wrong? Look at how you're craning your neck, it's almost touching Mengjie's face."
Xiao Mengjie blushed and gave him a push. Turning around, she handed the water bottle to Hu Zi.
"Brother Tiger, let him be thirsty if he doesn't want to drink. Here, you drink."
Tiger quickly dropped the hoe in his hand, ran over happily, took the large water bottle, and drank several large gulps.
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