When Xia Lunong asked, he hoped that his brother would say no.

After being awake for so many days, he already knew very well how dangerous it was outside.

His brother looked at him and nodded silently.

Xia Lunong looked at his brother eagerly, "Did you say it was dangerous outside? Why did you go?"

"It was dangerous for your brother to lead the team alone. It won't be dangerous if I go with him." Xia Huoqu reached out and rubbed his head. "Before you woke up, we went on so many missions, and nothing happened. I know it in my mind."

Xia Lunong said nothing.

He sat under the eaves, lowered his head and scrubbed his feet, one by one, as if his feet were a big carrot covered with mud.

Xia Huoqu reached out and rubbed his head, "Liao Cheng and I have agreed that he will watch over you while you are away. If you have any questions, just go to him."

"Oh."

"I'm leaving tomorrow, and I'll bring you something delicious when I come back."

Xia Lunong became even more frustrated. He said in a low voice, "I'm not greedy. I don't want you to bring me anything delicious."

"If everything goes well, I'll be back in six or seven days." Xia Huoqu said, "Haven't you always wanted to go out for a walk outside the base? When I come back, I'll take you out for a stroll around the neighborhood."

Xia Lunong raised her head and frowned, "Brother, don't tell me. I don't want your promise."

"Okay, I won't tell you." Xia Huoqu curled his lips, "Would you like to have stewed eggs tonight?"

"No!" Xia Lunong said, "A normal meal will be fine."

Xia Lunong didn't want to eat anything.

However, there was an extra meal in the evening. Yan Xinian specially asked the canteen to prepare a plate of dried small fish, with fifteen pieces in total, fried with dried chili and vegetables. When it was served, Xia Lunong was so greedy that his saliva was drooling.

In his heart, he blamed Yan Xinian for abducting his brother, and he didn't want to eat Yan Xinian's food. He suppressed his blame and didn't even look at the dried small fish.

Yan Xinian looked at Xia Huoqu: What's going on?

Xia Huoqu personally picked up a chopstick of dried fish and gave it to Xia Lunong, "Try this dried fish. Your brother Xinian and I led the team to catch it last year. I have finished mine, but your brother Xinian doesn't eat much at the base, so he saved some."

"Oh." Xia Lunong responded dryly, but still took it.

He didn't want to eat. Thinking that they were going out tomorrow, he didn't want to be too upset, fearing that his brother would miss him when he was out and something would happen.

Xia Huoqu said, "It's dangerous outside, but there are also abundant supplies. Sometimes you can collect a lot of good things."

"Oh."

"Don't be like that." Xia Huoqu said helplessly, "Didn't you hear that everyone calls me Deputy Captain Xia? It's my responsibility to lead the team out. I just need to be careful."

Yan Xinian also picked up a piece of fish for him and said, "It seems that in Xiao Nong's heart, I am not reliable."

"No." Xia Lunong reluctantly praised, "Brother Xinian, you have always been great. You used to be my idol."

Xia Lunong's words were not polite.

Yan Xinian has been a top student since he was a child. He studied Wing Chun in his interest class and represented the country in competitions. He is a complete all-round male god.

Xia Lunong used to like following him and her brother around, watching them play ball, playing musical instruments, and playing games.

She followed them wherever they went, like a real follower.

Yan Xinian asked, "Isn't he your idol now?"

Xia Lunong poked at the sweet potato cubes in the bowl, didn't say anything, and nodded slightly after a while.

"That's it." Yan Xinian said, "But no matter what, I will let your brother come back and trust me again."

Xia Lunong frowned and said, "You bring my brother back."

Yan Xinian heard the hidden meaning of his words, "Okay, we will definitely come back together."

Xia Huoqu said, "There is danger, but it's not that big. We all cherish our lives. Don't think about it and scare yourself."

Xia Lunong muttered, "If only I could transform into a beast, I would go with you."

"There will be such a day." Xia Huoqu picked up some food for him, "Eat more."

After dinner, the three chatted for a while, and when the food was almost digested, Xia Lunong was sent to bed.

He was worried about something, and he tossed and turned in bed for half the night but couldn't fall asleep. The next day, he got up with a dizzy head, and the sun was already high.

The house was empty, with him being the only one left.

A stack of meal tickets was placed on the living room table, and two bags of rice were placed on the sofa. His brother left a message asking him not to save and to exchange whatever he wanted.

He stood in the living room for a long time in his slippers, and then walked around the house slowly.

Breakfast was on the table, with water in the water tank and hot water in the thermos.

He didn't know how early his brother got up.

After brushing his teeth and washing his face, he carried a hoe on his back and walked around the field, pulling weeds, watering the fields, and catching insects. He

came back to eat, and then loosened the soil, watered the fields, and caught insects for the fruits and vegetables in the yard.

After a busy day, it was soon time for lunch. After lunch, he read a novel and continued to work in the fields.

Xia Lunong came like this for several days in a row.

That day, he had just come back with a hoe in the morning, and before he reached the door of his house, he saw a familiar middle-aged woman standing outside his house, looking around.

Xia Lunong walked over and looked at the person in confusion.

"Xia Lunong?" the middle-aged woman said, "I'm in charge of the committee, and I'm responsible for the notification and coordination of Gangding. You can just call me Aunt Hu. It's like this, everyone has to take turns to do the foundation task, you know?"

Xia Lunong nodded hesitantly.

He had heard this saying that everyone has "corvée labor", but no one had ever told him.

Aunt Hu breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "I was still thinking about how to explain it to you. It's good that you understand it. There is not enough firewood at the base. The higher-ups have decided to cut a wave of firewood next week. You are not in good health, so you can help bundle the firewood on the top of the Great Wall and provide support."

Xia Lunong nodded.

"Next Monday to Wednesday, go to the section of the Great Wall behind the house before 7 o'clock in the morning. You will know it when you go up. It is very easy to recognize it."

Aunt Hu took out a small notebook from her backpack, opened it and put it in Xia Lunong's hand, and took out a ballpoint pen, "Here, this is the task book, please sign it to make sure I have notified everyone."

Xia Lunong looked carefully and saw a table on the notebook, which carefully wrote down the content, location, and time of the task, and there was a signature column at the back.

Some people have already signed their names on it, many of whom are people he knows.

Xia Lunong signed her name neatly and returned the notebook to Aunt Hu.

Aunt Hu said, "Okay, I'll go back first. Remember this next week."

Xia Lunong nodded and called her, "Come in and have a glass of water."

"No." Aunt Hu smiled brightly, "I still have to notify other people. Maybe next time. If you have time, come to Aunt's house to play. It's over at Sanjiaoping. If you have any difficulties, you can come to Aunt."

Xia Lunong thanked her. Aunt Hu put on her backpack, waved to him, and walked downstairs with her hat on.

Xia Lunong watched her until she reached the door of another house, talked to the family, and then retracted her gaze and went into the house. After

finishing breakfast in the cafeteria, Xia Lunong took a look at the sky and took advantage of the early hours to go to Liao Cheng's house.

Liao Cheng had just finished washing clothes and was carrying a bucket of clothes back. When he saw him, he hurriedly greeted him, "I haven't seen you for a few days. Are you adapting these days?"

Xia Lunong nodded and directly explained the purpose of her visit, "Brother Liao Cheng, next week it will be my turn to do the base mission. Is there anything special I should pay attention to?"

"So soon? What is the base mission this time? What did Aunt Hu say? Tell me."

"The firewood in the base has run out, and we need to organize people to chop firewood temporarily. I will go to the top of the Great Wall to help bundle the firewood and meet you there."

"Hey, why is it such a heavy job?" Liao Cheng quickly put the washed clothes on the bamboo poles, "No, we have to hang the firewood up and down on the Great Wall, and you can't do it with your thin arms and legs. Don't go, I'll go and tell Aunt Hu later and take your place."

Xia Lunong was unsure and didn't know if she really had to do the base mission.

Hearing Liao Cheng say this, it was certain that everyone had to work.

He smiled and said, "No, thank you, Brother Liao Cheng. It's just bundling firewood, the work shouldn't be too heavy, I'll try it first, and if it doesn't work, I'll ask you for help."

"It's okay, I'll switch with you first, at worst I'll wait until you recover and switch back next time." Liao Cheng said, "I don't have anything to do recently."

"Let me try first, and tell me if there are any difficulties."

Xia Lunong resolutely refused Liao Cheng's help.

On Monday, he finished his breakfast early, carried his water bottle, and went up the Great Wall.

After going up, he found that the Great Wall was wider than he had imagined. The wall was more than two meters high and was all solid. There were

already several people standing on the wall, both men and women, all very thin, but not the kind of thin that was fragile, but the kind of thin that was thin and strong.

Xia Lunong smiled at them.

Everyone greeted each other.

Xia Lunong had fair skin and a particularly young face, standing out from the crowd.

Everyone was very curious about him, and asked him a lot of questions.

Xia Lunong answered all the questions he could.

Someone asked him to smoke, but he declined. After asking a few more questions, everyone started talking about other things.

Xia Lunong was in the crowd and didn't quite understand what was said. His mind gradually shifted to the outside of the city wall.

It was his first time here and his first time seeing the outside.

According to his imagination, there should be many mutant animals outside, with two heads and three legs.

But that was not the case at all.

Looking around, there were plants everywhere, densely packed, layered, and all growing tall and big, often hundreds of meters tall, covering the earth tightly.

As far as he could see, he couldn't see even a trace of exposed land outside.

These plants were in a mess, with broad leaves, narrow leaves, needles... tall and short, all kinds.

There were also many huge vines in the middle, winding and climbing on the trees, like giant pythons.

The colors were also a mess. In addition to green, there were also yellow, red, and brown. It was a mess, so messy that it could cause a person to have claustrophobia.

He rubbed his arms and looked down. Outside the city wall, there were dense plants, many vines climbing on the wall, and various grasses and green trees growing in the cracks of the wall.

He now understood why this two-meter-wide wall was built. If the wall was not two meters wide, it would probably be collapsed by these plants in a few days, and there would be no room for repairs.

"Come on, come on, get to work!"

someone shouted from behind.

Xia Lunong came back to her senses and looked back.

Everyone stood up, put out their cigarettes, and went to gather.

Xia Lunong followed and stood over.

The leader took out a pamphlet and said, "Today I, Liao Quannan, will organize the firewood chopping. Do you have any objections?"

He glanced at the crowd and saw that no one objected. He said, "There are a total of thirty of us here. The goal given by above is 500 kilograms of wet firewood per person per day. We have to collect a total of 15,000 kilograms of firewood today. Everyone should finish early and go back early. Now let me divide the work."

"The firewood chopping group has five people, me, Niu Chao, Zhao Linjian, Zhao Lucheng, and Zhang Gangding. The firewood transporting group has fifteen people, ten outside the city, five inside the city..." "The

firewood hanging group has eight people... The firewood bundling group has two people, Xia Lunong and Hao Juanlian. Does anyone have any objections?"

Liao Quannan took the lead and took on the hardest job. No one had any objections.

He looked around and said, "First of all, when cutting and transporting wood, you don't have to hand in the things you get, but you can't delay your work. If you go out of your way to get things, your mission will be void and you will be fined one more day."

Everyone nodded.

Someone shouted, "Don't worry, Lao Liao, it's not our first day working at the base."

"That's right."

"Okay, then, let's do this, everyone be alert, pay attention to safety, watch out for each other, and try to finish the work as soon as possible and come back as soon as possible!"