"Alright, that's enough. Go help out in the mess hall."
The captain glanced at Chen Zhaodi and the other woman, "And you two too."
Seeing Ruan Xianxian open her mouth several times as if to question him, he slowly helped a passing villager's earthen basket before smiling and saying:
"The province wants you to report for duty in a week to familiarize yourself with the factory and products."
I was going to ask you to go back to the village to prepare, but since you said you can insist on working despite your injury, then please go ahead!
Ruan Xianxian would swear on Shen Meihua's head that this old bastard never intended to let them go back so early.
I said these things on purpose to upset her, just because I see that I'm making her unhappy every day, and I want to upset her too!
If that's the case...
Ruan Xianxian slowly said "Oh," and added, "Really? I was hoping to get some credit for the team when I went to the provincial capital this time!"
Seeing the captain's righteous indignation, it seems he doesn't want it.
Seeing Xiang Hongjun's face darken as she wished, she happily waved her little hand and followed Mu Xia and the other to the open space to meet up.
Young bodies are resilient. After a night's rest and taking their medicine on time, the three of them were basically cured of their illnesses, although their complexions were slightly poor.
When they arrived at the riverbank, it was a scene of bustling activity.
Villagers pushing carts and soldiers in military green carrying baskets on shoulder poles crisscrossed the area.
The breach has been temporarily plugged; now the most important task on the riverbank is to build a levee.
In addition, personnel are needed for tasks such as dredging, mud removal, loading, climbing slopes, and transportation.
Ruan Xianxian climbed to a high place and looked around. After searching for a long time, she finally found the unlucky five-person group in the mud-digging army.
There wasn't a clean spot on her body, her back was bent, and her muddy, wet hair clung to her cheeks. She even saw Wenrou raise her arm and vigorously wipe her face.
The action made the already unrecognizable face even more so.
As if sensing something, Wenrou followed the gaze and looked up, meeting Ruan Xianxian's eyes. The former was disheveled and exhausted, while the latter was like morning dew.
This little guy even raised his little hand and waved, like a leader inspecting work, putting his hand to his mouth like a megaphone and shouting loudly: "Wenrou, keep it up! You're the best."
She walked away with her hands behind her back, under the gaze of resentment and jealousy.
Enraged, Wenrou kicked over the mud basket beside her, drawing angry glares from the four Ye Guo people.
"Can't you even do this anymore? I finally dug out a basketful and you kicked it over again. What do you mean by that?"
Liu Xiatian was almost going crazy. "Wenrou, were you sent by Ruan Xianxian to torture me?"
Finally, amidst the complaints and accusations from the four of them, Wenrou could only tidy up the overturned basketball hoop with tears streaming down her face.
Not far away, several old river workers chuckled at the sight. One of them, a tall, handsome young man, walked up to Wenrou and silently helped her smooth out the mud under her feet.
"Thank you, thank you!" Seeing someone help her, Wenrou felt like she had been granted a pardon. Exhausted, she collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.
Seeing the strange man about to leave after finishing a basket, the gentle little hand quickly grabbed his arm. "Comrade, comrade. Could you help me again?"
The five of us were all framed by the female educated youth in our dormitory, forced to sign confessions, and sent here to earn full work points for her every day.
"I twisted my ankle, please help me, comrade."
Framed? A confession? Forced to earn full work points for others? What kind of old-fashioned landlord behavior is this?
The man frowned. "Is no one in the brigade or the educated youth office taking care of this?"
Wenrou noticed the red and green collar peeking out from under the man's coat; it was a corner of a standard military uniform. Her eyes suddenly reddened, and she shook her head, her voice choked with emotion.
"No, it's no use! Ruan is from Beijing. I heard that my grandfather is a brigade commander. The battalion commander and other educated youths are too busy sucking up to him to help me."
She noticed that after hearing that Ruan Xianxian had the brigade commander backing her up, the man did not show any fear, but he also stopped talking and silently helped her with the work.
I'm already very happy with her gentleness.
An old educated youth who used to work on the river once told her, "Don't think that working on the river is the hardest thing; there are opportunities here."
Many bad elements who had been sent down for reform were sent here to work. Some of them were outstanding individuals in their respective fields, while others, even when imprisoned, still had family members working for the organization.
By sheer chance, the old educated youth saved an old man who was about to freeze to death while digging a river channel. Not two months after returning home, his transfer order came down.
It is said that her family found a job for the educated youth in the city, and at the farewell dinner, she took the opportunity to get the other party drunk and used some tricks to find out the real reason.
It turned out that the elderly man who was rescued had a nephew who was a factory manager in the city. Out of gratitude for being saved, he gave the educated youth a job so that he could return to the city.
It was because of this past that Wenrou deliberately lingered here all morning, pretending to be weak and frail, and deliberately fell down several times before bravely getting up again.
The result was of little use. A group of old men and women nearby were barely able to take care of themselves and had no energy to meddle in other people's business. Just when she was about to give up, she finally caught one.
Wenrou's heart pounded. Was he a soldier? She wondered why he hadn't rejoined the main force, but if she could take advantage of the situation to marry him and accompany him to the army, wouldn't she be able to completely get rid of that devil surnamed Ruan?
Even if they cannot accompany their husbands to the military, having the status of a military dependent or living in the husband's hometown can help them escape their current predicament.
Thinking of this, she performed even more diligently.
...
On the other side, walking along the long riverbank with about a dozen patients, Chen Zhaodi whispered to Mu Xia, "Where are we going?"
"Didn't the captain just say that we should have been transferred to the cooking squad to help out?"
"Then we don't have to pick out clay pot bags anymore!" Chen Zhaodi exclaimed excitedly, her voice rising involuntarily.
Not only them, but the other seven or eight were also excitedly whispering among themselves.
The soldier leading the way frowned. "Don't talk, hurry up."
Apart from Ruan Xianxian, it was the first time the others had been so close to the embankment, and they were all stunned by the scene before them!
The floodwaters were turbid and swift, swirling and crashing against the riverbanks with tremendous force, as if they were about to sweep away all obstacles in their path.
Even Mu Xia couldn't help but swallow hard at the sight.
Following the gaze of the crowd, a hint of sadness flashed in the eyes of the soldier leading the way.
"In this flood control effort, out of a regiment of 1,500 men, 8 fell seriously ill, 52 went missing, and more than 90 died."
"They are all heroes of our country," Mu Xia said softly.
Upon hearing this, the soldier's sadness faded, and he smiled gently, "You're right, they will be remembered forever in history."
Then, changing the subject, he said, "I'm telling you this so you won't go near the riverbank without permission; it's very dangerous there."
The group silently followed to the cooking squad, thinking they would just be helping out. But to their surprise, the head cook was already standing at attention in front of the makeshift tent, his bundle neatly packed.
"What is this?" someone asked.
Ruan Xianxian knew that during wartime, regardless of the branch of the military, if they came to take over the cooking work, the original cooks would have to rush to the front line to provide support.
“Defending the land, the days grow longer, every stroke and every line is a beam.”
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