It’s the round-faced girl named Zhou Mei.
Lin Jianxue remembered her. She was one of the new educated youth who came with her and was said to be from Tianjin.
She is not tall, with a round face and a hint of baby fat. She has two neatly braided pigtails hanging in front of her chest. Her eyes are bright, and when she smiles, there are two shallow dimples at the corners of her mouth. She looks kind and innocent.
Zhou Mei walked over to Lin Jianxue and said briskly, "The team leader is here, giving a speech in the yard outside! Hurry over! By the way, today we, the new educated youth, will be assigned to pull weeds in the cotton fields. It's not hard work, but it's quite demanding. The team leader asked us to get some work gloves, so hurry up and pick out a pair that fits you!"
Lin Jianxue found it quite strange to hear her greet her in such a familiar manner, remind her to gather, and even show concern for her choice of gloves.
Her cold gaze fell on Zhou Mei's kind baby face and she looked at her again.
Afterwards, she nodded and said lightly: "Thank you."
Having said that, she did not go to the place where the labor protection supplies were piled up, but turned sideways and took out a pair of labor protection gloves from her army green canvas shoulder bag.
"I brought it." She explained concisely.
The gloves had fine stitching and were made of much better material than the rough ones distributed by the brigade.
It was the pair that Fu Qingqing sent me this morning.
"You even brought your own gloves?" Zhou Mei's eyes lit up, and her tone was filled with envy.
Her face fell, she sighed, and clapped her hands in frustration. "You're so well prepared! None of the gloves the brigade distributed were good! They were either torn here or unstitched there. I finally managed to snag a pair that looked clean, and guess what happened?"
She spread out the pair of gray, wrinkled work gloves in her hand and showed them to Lin Jianxue.
Sure enough, the tips of several fingers were worn out with holes of varying sizes, with thread ends sticking out. It was obvious that they had been touched by countless people and were dirty and old.
Lin Jianxue glanced at the worn-out gloves, then looked at Zhou Mei's wrinkled face. Her tone was reassuring, "These gloves shouldn't be expensive. Just make do with this morning's work. After lunch break, go to the supply and marketing cooperative at the entrance of the village. I think you can buy some new ones."
"Oh, this is the only way." Zhou Mei sighed resignedly and stuffed the pair of torn gloves into her pocket.
Then, as if she suddenly remembered something, she sneaked closer to Lin Jianxue, lowered her voice, and gave a thumbs up mysteriously:
"Lin Zhiqing, you are so amazing!"
Lin Jianxue raised her eyes and looked at Zhou Mei with a clear gaze. Her voice was emotionless. "Hmm?"
"That Liu Liwen!" Zhou Mei's indignant expression reappeared as she mentioned it. "Those three slaps you gave her just now, oh my, it was so satisfying!"
"I just can't stand those gossipy women! They gossip about others behind their backs and spread their private affairs everywhere. They're so annoying! They deserve to be beaten!"
She originally thought that her "shrew" behavior just now was enough to make everyone stay away from her, but she didn't expect that Zhou Mei... was a bit unexpected.
"You don't hate me?" she asked directly.
"Hate you? Why would I hate you?" Zhou Mei retorted immediately, her tone matter-of-fact. "Besides, it was Liu Liwen who started the fight first. She's so foul-mouthed, and what she said was so unpleasant! From the looks of it, it seems like she wants to ruin your reputation!"
"Even a clay figure still has some earthiness," Zhou Mei waved her little fist, speaking up for Lin Jianxue. "She bullied you so much, you had the right to fight back! In my opinion, those few hits she received were too easy for her!"
The little girl's cheeks turned slightly red as she spoke, and it was obvious that she was really angry about Liu Liwen's behavior.
The corners of her lips curved slightly, and her voice softened a little: "Thank you."
As soon as he finished speaking, the loud and gruff shout of the team leader Liang Bin came from outside the yard.
"What are you all dawdling about for? Come out and gather! It's time to get to work!"
Zhou Mei immediately perked up and grabbed Lin Jianxue's wrist, "Hurry up, hurry up! Gather together! It's time to weed the cotton field! If you're late, you'll be scolded!"
Lin Jianxue was held by her and did not struggle to break free.
Although Zhou Mei's enthusiasm was a bit abrupt, her sparkling eyes showed sincerity and were not annoying.
The two of them hurried out of the dormitory and came to the open space in the yard. Many educated youth were already standing in groups of three or four, with male and female educated youth standing separately, clearly separated.
Team leader Liang Bin stood in front of the crowd, his dark face expressionless. He was wearing a washed-out blue work suit and holding a peeling enamel pot. He was loudly assigning tasks:
"...Listen up, newcomers! We're weeding the cotton fields! This is an important economic crop in Hulan County, so be careful!"
"Separate a few of the veteran educated youth from the village and guide them, showing them how to work! Remember, each person is responsible for one acre of land, and they must pull out all the weeds in their fields every day before they can be considered done! Do you understand?"
"I understand—" the crowd responded sparsely.
Liang Bin seemed unhappy with this reaction, but he was too lazy to say anything more. He waved his hand and said, "Alright, everyone, get moving!"
After saying that, he turned and walked towards the brigade headquarters, leaving the educated youth looking at each other in bewilderment.
Lin Jianxue glanced at the crowd and saw Liu Liwen and Zhang Ruichen standing not far away.
Liu Liwen was standing with her boyfriend Zhang Ruichen, whispering something, her face still looked ugly, and faint fingerprints could be seen on her cheek.
When Liu Liwen noticed Lin Jianxue's gaze, her body shrank noticeably and she subconsciously raised her hands to cover her neck.
But the next second, intense humiliation and resentment surged into her eyes. She raised her head and glared at Lin Jianxue fiercely.
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