The onlookers whispered among themselves upon hearing this.
"Zhang Youliang? What's his surname? ...Is Ding Youliang an outsider?"
"We moved here twenty years ago. Didn't they say they were relatives of someone else? The whole family came here to seek refuge!"
"So it was a name change! Judging from what the general said, it's someone from your past! But why change your name?"
...
Ding Youliang lowered his head in embarrassment: "Our family changed our names and moved to Dingjiatun back then to keep it a secret from my mother... She loved Mancang the most. If she knew Mancang was gone, she would cry her eyes out..."
"Alas! Did your mother pass away peacefully?" Shen Guoliang asked.
“She was very peaceful! Before she left, she told me that she went to find Mancang! My mother, actually, she knew everything later…” Ding Youliang said, wiping away snot and tears.
"That's good! That's good!" Shen Guoliang looked at the sky and held back his tears. "By the way, I heard that you volunteered to be the captain of the Qingshan Team One?"
Ding Youliang nodded: "I worked as Ding Daguo's accountant for three years. Later, he helped his cousin get promoted and then found a reason to remove me. Before that, I also worked for the village..."
"You're the one! Refer to this!" A middle-aged man who looked like an official stepped out from behind Shen Guoliang, adjusted his glasses, and handed him several sheets of paper. "Get the harvest done right! If there are no mistakes in the harvest, your appointment letter will arrive in three days!"
“Secretary Chen…” Ding Youliang recognized him as Chen Ping, the secretary of the Sanhe County Commune, who was the de facto highest leader of Sanhe County.
Ding Youliang looked at the "Dingjiatun Qingshan Team Harvesting Plan" in his hand again, which was written by Ding Changsheng.
He flipped through it and nodded solemnly: "I will do my best!"
After saying that, he looked up at the sun.
It was already noon, and the temperature had long reached 36℃. Ding Youliang waved his hand: "Go home and eat! I know Ding Changsheng told you to bring your own food to eat in the fields! But it's so hot, no one can stand it! Let's rest for an hour after lunch! We'll make up for that hour when we're threshing the grain tonight! Is that okay?"
The villagers held a deep reverence for the hero's brother. They knew Ding Youliang's plan was for their own good; how could they not know? All the villagers, regardless of age or gender, answered loudly:
"--OK!!!"
Ding Youliang then asked loudly, "Everyone, please return on time at 1:30 as planned! Can you do that?"
The villagers all shouted in unison, "We can do it!!!"
Ding Youliang continued, "Everyone fainted from the heat just now, and it was all thanks to Dr. Su's acupuncture that they were saved. Let's all thank Dr. Su! Let's give her a round of applause, okay!"
"Thank you, Dr. Su!!!"
Everyone looked at Su Ruyi at the same time and applauded loudly.
Su Ruyi felt tears welling up in her eyes, and she quickly bowed to everyone.
"Alright!" After the applause subsided, Ding Youliang shouted, "Now—dismissed!"
The villagers scattered in all directions.
Shen Guoliang and Secretary Chen of the commune both cast approving glances at Ding Youliang.
Through her slightly blurry vision, Su Ruyi saw her master, Jin Dachun, in the crowd, giving her a thumbs up.
She rushed over to help her master up: "Why did you come out in such hot weather? Didn't you say you were going to stay indoors all day?"
"Someone brought me some delicious food, so I have to come out and greet them as a token of my appreciation," Jin Dachun said with a sly smile.
Su Ruyi looked behind her and saw that the two guards, Xiao Zhao and Xiao Fang, had magically produced a bunch of large lunch boxes from somewhere.
The style of the food clearly indicates it's from a state-run restaurant in Sanhe County.
Su Ruyi immediately felt her mouth start to produce saliva like crazy.
At this moment, Shen Guoliang and Chen Ping, along with Ding Youliang, walked closer.
Shen Guoliang smiled at Jin Dachun and said, "I brought the food, but I didn't prepare any wine! Old Jin, those few jars of good wine buried in your yard should see the light of day, shouldn't they?"
Jin Dachun said with a pained expression, "Only one jar! You're only allowed to dig out one jar!"
As they chatted and laughed, Su Ruyi helped Jin Dachun, then called out to Shen Heping, and walked towards the backyard of the village clinic.
Shen Heping hurried over to Su Ruyi's side and whispered, "Ruyi, I have something to tell you—Ding Changsheng sent someone to the educated youth compound early this morning, specifically asking Li Wang and Shu Lan to thresh grain tonight and to stand guard at the threshing ground!"
"What?!" Su Ruyi exclaimed involuntarily, then immediately realized the problem, "Are they being targeted by Ding Changsheng because they spoke up for me last night?"
"Who? Who's being targeted?" Shen Guoliang's ears were very sharp, and he stopped listening at this moment.
Shen Heping addressed the crowd again, recounting how Li Wang and Shu Lan had been targeted.
"Send a female educated youth to work night shifts at the threshing ground?!" Chen Ping frowned at Shen Guoliang. "Is this something a human being would do?"
Seeing that Chen Ping was about to explode, Shen Heping quickly said to the newly appointed Ding Youliang, "Captain, you just said the arrangements would remain unchanged, this..."
"I'll replace them, immediately! Threshing is the job of the night shift, how can anyone work non-stop? As for the two educated youth comrades you mentioned, since they are educated, they can be the scorekeepers for the next two days! The girl during the day, the boy at night! The original scorekeeper, go back to the fields! We'll talk about other things after the harvest is over!" Ding Youliang said, glancing at Shen Guoliang's expression.
Shen Guoliang nodded in satisfaction.
Shen Heping then said to Shen Guoliang, "Ding Changsheng just marked me absent from work. But I came to you, Uncle, to report Ding Changsheng's problems and prevent him from making a mess of Dingjiatun!"
Shen Guoliang looked at Ding Youliang again.
Ding Youliang hurriedly said from the side, "Thanks to Shen Zhiqing for reporting the problem, how can we count a good educated youth who dares to fight against evil forces as absent from work? I'll give you full work points! By the way, do you want to go back and rest this afternoon?"
Shen Heping gave him a thumbs up: "Captain, don't worry, I'll definitely work hard this afternoon! I'm full of energy!"
Ding Youliang glanced at his not-so-developed muscles and chuckled, "Just... do your job normally! Don't overexert yourself! Otherwise, you'll regret it tomorrow morning!"
Shen Guoliang also laughed and said, "He's just a greenhorn, he won't listen! Let him show off!"
After saying that, he looked at Su Ruyi again: "Dr. Su, about that new educated youth taking your dormitory room..."
"Let her stay!" Su Ruyi waved her hand. "I'll stay with Master for a while, and when my fifth brother comes back, I'm going to build my own house!"
"Build a house?" Jin Dachun was a little unhappy. "What? I still have two empty rooms in my house. Su Tie can't live there all by himself?"
“Master…” Su Ruyi lowered her head, “How can I bring my brother to live with me at Master’s house? That would be too shameless of me…”
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