Chapter 11
The two of them walked to the door of Song Jiefang's house. Just as they asked, they saw Liu Yuezhen peeking out from the door next door. She said vigilantly, "Are you looking for Comrade Ai Ling? She just fell asleep after drinking brown sugar water. Don't disturb her. Let her rest well."
Song Jiefang's wife, Sun Yuhong, came out of her house and also smiled and declined their visit, saying, "Comrades, please come back tomorrow. Ai Ling is asleep."
Seeing the two of them acting so protectively of their child, Zhou Jiani took advantage of the situation and said jokingly, "Then please keep an eye on it, Auntie. We're going back."
Before the snacks were delivered, Yu Wanxia gave one to Zhou Jiani. They ate as they walked. She said, "Jiani, why do I feel like that aunt is weird?"
Zhou Jiani also noticed it and laughed, "She probably thought we were the ones who instigated Liu Ailing to cause trouble, so she's protecting her."
"No way!" Yu Wanxia was so angry that she almost crushed the snack in her hand. "They don't understand the situation and make random judgments?"
Zhou Jiani smiled and said, "This also shows that the fellow villagers are kind-hearted and not angry!"
She had to thank Liu Yuezhen for stopping her, so that she didn't have to go in and watch Liu Ailing put on a show. If Liu Ailing weakly begged her to help stop the troublemakers in the team, would she go?
Whether I go or not, I'll get into trouble. Now it's good to have some peace and quiet.
At Song Jiefang's house, Liu Ailing came out holding onto the door frame, staggering as if she would fall down at any moment. Frightened, Sun Yuhong rushed over to help her and said, "Ailing, what are you doing out here?"
Liu Ailing glanced towards the gate a few steps away, then turned and asked, "Aunt, was Zhou Jiani here just now?"
Sun Yuhong said, "Two girls came just now. I don't know if they were the girls you mentioned. Your aunt Yuezhen and I were worried that they might incite you to cause trouble, so we sent them back. You should go inside and have a good rest."
Liu Ailing heard them talking from inside the house. She thought that Zhou Jiani would be so anxious that she would not care about anything. If Sun Yuhong dared to stop her, she would make a scene. However, she waited and waited but nothing happened. So she bit her lip and asked desperately, "Did Meng Jiandi come with her?"
Sun Yuhong curled her lips and said, "No, it's Comrade Xiao Meng who is ignorant. When she comes back, don't listen to anything she says and don't join them in making trouble." She enthusiastically helped Liu Ailing back into the house.
Liu Ailing really wanted to know whether Zhou Jiani had joined the team in causing trouble. Based on her usual personality, she would definitely get involved.
But I can’t tell now. I feel like Zhou Jiani has been a little different since yesterday afternoon.
After being helped to lie down, she smiled and sighed, saying, "Aunt, we should let those two comrades in. Just in case... I can still persuade them."
Sun Yuhong said angrily, "Don't worry about it. Let them make trouble if they want. We have the captain. Why do you worry about it?"
After Sun Yuhong left, Liu Ailing turned over and couldn't help but half-sitting up and listening carefully. It seemed that Zhou Jiani had really left.
She couldn't understand Zhou Jiani's attitude, which made her feel a little irritated. She lay on the kang and thought about how to deal with it tomorrow.
Song Jiefang's house is not far from Zhang Laosi's house, and Zhou Jiani dragged Yu Wanxia to visit again.
Aunt Zhang saw that it was the girl who had bought her straw hat before, and she greeted her warmly, not mentioning the incident of the educated youth causing trouble. She said with a smile, "Two young comrades, please come in and sit down."
Zhang Laosi's son and daughter-in-law also greeted them warmly.
Seeing that dinner was almost on the table, Zhou Jiani didn't want to interrupt them for too long, so she simply explained her purpose. "Auntie, I'd like to ask if Fourth Uncle can weave those little rectangular baskets with wavy lace. Well, when I was a kid, we had two of those, but we lost them when we moved. My mom has been wanting them for ages and hasn't been able to find any at all. I heard Fourth Uncle is quite skilled, so I thought I'd try my luck."
Zhang Laosi rarely spoke, and said, "Miss, show me how to do it."
Zhou Jiani raised her hand and gestured, saying, "The basket doesn't need to be too big, this size will do... The wavy edge is this big, and the edge has a hollow piece this high. You can weave the hollow flowers as you like, the general shape is fine."
Zhang Laosi thought about it and nodded: "It's not difficult to do. Come and see me the day after tomorrow."
Zhou Jiani smiled and said, "That's great. Regardless of whether it's what I want or not, I won't let you work in vain. So, uncle and aunt, you guys are busy. I'll come and bother you the day after tomorrow."
The two went back to eat, and when they got home, Sun Ping had returned.
"Jiani, Wanxia, did you go to see Comrade Liu Ailing?" Sun Ping came forward to greet them enthusiastically, looking a little embarrassed, not as cheerful as yesterday.
Zhou Jiani acted as if nothing had happened and said with a smile: "I didn't see her. She fell asleep and we didn't dare to disturb her."
Yu Wanxia couldn't wait to ask her in a low voice: "What did the team say?"
Sun Ping pursed her lips uncomfortably.
Their protest was successful, but they felt uncomfortable and didn't know what was going on.
"They said... they agreed that we should take a few days off."
"Really?" Yu Wanxia raised her hand to cover her chest. She pouted and looked at Zhou Jiani, crying bitterly as if she had dropped a hundred yuan: "Jiani——"
Zhou Jiani poked her on the forehead in amusement.
Yu Wanxia made a noise by nudging Zhou Jiani's shoulders with her head, whining. Zhou Jiani pushed her away in disgust: "Go away!"
Sun Ping, who was standing by, saw that the two of them were playing and laughing more casually than yesterday. She felt a little annoyed and blurted out, "Let's rest together tomorrow!"
She really wanted to bring these two friends along.
Yu Wanxia was about to nod, but then shook her head and said, "No, my cousin will scold me to death."
Zhou Jiani smiled and said, "Let's eat. I'm so hungry that I can hardly stand."
At the dinner table, Sun Ping held her chopsticks, looked at Zhou Jiani several times, opened her mouth several times, and finally said, "We've agreed to go to town tomorrow. Jiani, Wanxia, you guys want to go too?"
Yu Wanxia asked, "How many days should I let you rest?"
Sun Ping said vaguely, "I'm sure everyone would be embarrassed to rest for too long, as the fields are so busy."
They didn't protest much when they went to the team, and didn't use the prepared speeches. The team leader said he was very busy and asked them to directly raise their demands. As soon as they raised their demands, Zhang Baosheng agreed and said he would let them rest and let them rest as long as they wanted.
She didn't make things difficult for them and agreed readily, but she just felt uneasy and couldn't describe the feeling.
Zhou Jiani's left hand trembled. She put down her chopsticks and steamed bread, joined the group, and asked casually, "Did the team give you a letter of introduction?"
Yu Wanxia stared at Sun Ping with her eyes wide open, and felt that the steamed bread in her mouth no longer tasted delicious.
Sun Ping shook her head and said, "The captain has been busy. We plan to go to him tomorrow to get a letter of introduction. Jiani——"
A wave of electric bike hooks and durian mille-feuilles passed by the group. Zhou Jiani folded her hands regretfully, looking at the nervous uneasiness on Sun Ping's face, and whispered, "You're actually very unsure, aren't you?"
Yu Wanxia was confused and asked, "Why? Didn't you fight for the benefits?"
Zhou Jiani touched upon the conflict deep in her heart, and Sun Ping let out a sigh of relief. She put down her chopsticks and said angrily, "Yes, I was very dissatisfied with the team's arrangement before I left, but when the captain agreed, I felt bad. I, I kind of regret it."
She felt an indescribable discomfort.
"Jiani, do you think I can still salvage this?" Sun Ping said pitifully, "I really regret it."
"If you've made up your mind, come work with us tomorrow. Eat first, and then we'll go to the river to wash clothes."
After a moment of hesitation, Sun Ping nodded heavily, and now that she had spoken her mind, she felt more confident and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you. I'll go to work as usual tomorrow!"
Lying on the kang at night, Zhou Jiani calculated the red envelope income for the day, 1.36, which was very good, and it was considered a guaranteed high income.
Today, not only are people’s incomes high, but their consumption is also high. And according to the current consumption level, this is considered a waste.
——I spent more than a hundred yuan on braised eggs.
By clicking on the '+' sign, she got six boxes of braised eggs, which are now neatly placed on the shopping shelves.
Temporarily stored goods cannot be taken individually. If you need to take them, you have to take them in batches. They can only be taken and cannot be stored.
Fortunately, the access is good on the other side. The row of shelves in the warehouse used to store items can be accessed freely, and the expired item destruction box in the warehouse can also handle packaging bags and boxes.
The food was right there, so there was no need to sneak a bite in the dark night. Zhou Jiani closed her restless little hands, swallowed her saliva, closed her eyes and fell asleep.
The next day, when they gathered at the village entrance, Zhang Baosheng glanced at Sun Ping, then looked away and glanced at the other new educated youth who came to work. He nodded in his heart, without even mentioning the new educated youth's protest yesterday. He waved his hand and asked everyone to go to work, leaving yesterday's arrangements unchanged.
As for those who didn't come, it doesn't matter if they are included or missing from the team, and it won't affect the progress of the harvest.
Zhou Jiani looked around the crowd and didn't see Liu Ailing, but she saw Liu Yuezhen and Sun Yuhong. They were talking to Zhang Baosheng on his left and right.
From then on, this group of educated youth were tacitly divided into two small groups.
While Zhou Jiani and others were sweating profusely in the fields, Zhao Weiguo and others dressed smartly and went to Zhang Baosheng to get a letter of introduction so that they could go to the town to play.
Due to Comrade Sun Ping's "betrayal", Zhao Weiguo and others kicked Sun Ping out of their small team.
After the letter of introduction was opened, they became more demanding and wanted the team's ox cart to take them there. Zhang Baosheng snorted coldly and left with his hands behind his back.
Although they were dissatisfied, they had no choice but to resign themselves to their fate and walk to the town to play for a day.
Liu Ailing did not go to the town with them. She rested for the morning and went to work as usual in the afternoon.
After work, she went to find Qiu Zeming and found out that Zhou Jiani and Qiu Zeming were in the same team. She was stunned for a moment before saying, "Jiani, I heard that you went to see me yesterday afternoon? I later found out that Aunt Liu and the others misunderstood you, but I have already explained it to you, so don't blame them."
Zhou Jiani smiled and said, "Look at what you said. They took such good care of you, why should I blame them?" She then said with relief, "I'm relieved to see that you're okay."
The words were spoken beautifully.
Liu Ailing smiled and turned to talk to Qiu Zeming. "Comrade Qiu, I just found out today that I had something to do with what happened with Zhao Weiguo and the others yesterday. I heard there was some misunderstanding between you and me. I'd like to apologize to you on their behalf. I hope you don't take it to heart. Let's find an opportunity to sit down and clear up the misunderstanding. We can still be good comrades in the future. What do you think?"
Qiu Zeming said calmly, "No need. We are not on the same path."
He put the basket on his back and walked out.
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