Recently, many unfamiliar faces had appeared near Xiaoba Village.

Some were people passing through from Qingnan Village, some were farmers looking for work after hearing about the commotion, some were reporters from newspapers and magazines, and some were plainclothes soldiers on patrol.

The first three groups were easy to identify; the last one had been discreetly revealed to the village militia by Director Zhao. They would now conduct joint patrols together.

After two months of training, Su Rui’s militia team had begun taking turns patrolling in their spare time after farm work.

Who wouldn’t want to rest after a long day’s labor? But Xiaoba Village was the closest among all the surrounding villages to the new military base, and it was also near the half-built dam—the site of the future hydroelectric power station. Staying vigilant was a must.

After being absent for over a week, Guo Jiarong reappeared.

He showed up before Su Rui, carrying pastries from the People’s Department Store. Holding the box of treats as if it were a carrot dangling in front of a donkey, he waved it temptingly under Su Rui’s nose.

Su Rui’s father hadn’t returned yet, and she was carrying a sugarcane stick while on patrol. It was an old sugarcane, specifically given to her by Aunt Song—tough and fibrous, just like Guo Jiarong’s father. Simply looking at it was enough to be annoying.

Since she didn’t need to return it, she felt completely at ease using it.

She swatted away the box of osmanthus cakes, just as two plainclothes soldiers approached side by side. Su Rui exchanged a subtle nod with them.

It made her feel good—her role as acting team leader was proving valuable.

Guo Jiarong still had a bruise on his nose. It seemed that getting beaten last time had knocked some sense into him because, for once, he was being somewhat restrained.

Maybe he was just reluctant to let go of the pastries. Seeing that Su Rui wasn’t tempted, he stuffed them into his own mouth, mumbling, “Like a dog biting Lu Dongbin—failing to recognize a good person’s intentions.”

Su Rui swung her sugarcane stick—which was even taller than her—causing Guo Jiarong to jump back in fright. She grinned. “Huh? How come my dog-beating stick missed the dog?”

Guo Jiarong stared at her, utterly smitten. She was just too pretty—he couldn’t even get mad. He sulked and muttered, “Forget it. A real man doesn’t argue with women.”

Su Rui despised the lingering remnants of male superiority in Qingnan Village and remarked, “A man who gets chased and beaten by a woman must be worse than a dog.”

Guo Jiarong had never won an argument against her. He chalked it up to his reluctance to go all out, but in reality, his brain just wasn’t up to the task.

Seeing Su Rui frequently glancing at the two plainclothes soldiers standing straight behind them, he recalled what Su Chang’e had said yesterday and asked, “Did Su Chang’e really introduce you to a deputy company commander?”

Su Rui reluctantly responded with a single “Mm,” then added, “Maybe.”

Guo Jiarong scoffed, “What’s so special about a deputy company commander?”

Su Rui replied, “He’s an officer. A hero.”

Guo Jiarong teased, “Oh, you’re thinking about the past again, aren’t you? Who knows if that guy is even still alive?”

Su Rui remembered the original owner’s childhood. She had experienced a devastating flood that ravaged her hometown. Her mother, who was the director of the granary, organized the villagers to evacuate and told Su Rui to wait for her. But in the end, she never came back. Instead, the news of her death arrived.

It was a young soldier who had saved Su Rui. Before the second wave of the flood hit, he had told her to wait for him. But in the end, he also broke his promise.

Guo Jiarong used to be somewhat decent. When Su Rui first arrived and had no friends, he had accompanied her for a few days. But as time passed, she saw through his hypocrisy and gradually distanced herself from him.

Yet, this secret of hers had been discovered by him, and the older they grew, the more he held onto it.

“He’s alive. Someone capable of pulling me out of a flood wouldn’t have perished himself.”

“Fine, fine. I won’t talk about him anymore. Every time I do, we end up arguing.”

Guo Jiarong had been rejected from military service due to his poor eyesight, but he still had relatives in the army. Trying to get Su Rui’s attention back, he said, “I have a distant uncle in the military. He’s supposedly a regiment commander, which is way more impressive than a small company commander. If you really get together with Su Chang’e’s match, I’ll have my uncle make things difficult for him.”

“Oh, please. Who knows how distant that relative of yours really is? Your mouth is full of nonsense. I don’t believe a word of it.”

Su Rui carried a sugarcane stalk as she made her way toward the foot of the back mountain. The orange and peach trees they had planted there were now bearing fruit. Director Zhao had reminded them to keep a close watch on the orchards to prevent people from Qingnan Village from sneaking in and cutting down the trees.

When they first planted the trees, the people of Qingnan Village had mocked them, claiming that the trees wouldn’t survive.

Now that the trees had not only survived but were full of fruit, those same people had nothing to say.

Seeing the potential for additional income, which would go straight to Xiaoba Village’s collective funds, the people of Qingnan Village were upset.

Lately, they had been walking past, comparing the two neighboring mountain slopes. One was thriving with fruit trees, while the other had been chopped barren. Their eyes darted around as they schemed for a way to get their hands on what wasn’t theirs.

Noticing that Su Rui was heading up the mountain alone with her sugarcane stalk, Guo Jiarong tried to make conversation. “Why aren’t your team members coming along?”

Su Rui shot him a glance and said, “None of your business. I just like going alone.”

Guo Jiarong was met with silence again. He subconsciously looked around—he had been traumatized by the foolish man’s violent outbursts.

“Well, I’m off then. If you ever find that guy unreliable, remember to come to me. I’m always available.”

Bah, leave that to your cousin who you were engaged to since childhood. She’s your true match made in heaven.

Su Rui rolled her eyes at him and didn’t bother responding.

While other patrol teams had three or four members, she certainly didn’t want to go alone either.

Old Lady Ah Xi had bound feet and couldn’t climb the mountain. Si’er could scale it faster than a wild donkey but was impossible to control. Wanzi was obedient but only six years old, stuck at home crying over learning how to read.

Sigh. Not a single one was reliable.

Being a leader was tough.

Mimicking Guo Qingwang’s annoying swagger, she clasped her hands behind her back and strolled up the mountain. However, her leader-like act wasn’t quite convincing—she nearly tripped and had to steady herself with the sugarcane stalk, making her way up with uneven steps.

She didn’t inspect every tree; just a rough estimate was enough. Afterward, she went to the small wooden hut, signed in, and, as usual, ate a boiled egg.

She took another round through the mountain. Seeing no unfamiliar faces, she leisurely made her way back down.

When she reached the supply and marketing cooperative, she saw that peanuts were no longer being sold today. Instead, they had switched to selling bellflowers on behalf of Yi Wang Village.

The villagers of Yi Wang traveled far and wide to treat livestock, which wasn’t easy. Selling a few bellflowers for them was no big deal. Though Su Rui’s pockets were nearly empty, she could still afford to buy some to pickle and eat later.

It would go perfectly with the wild mountain onions she had picked earlier. Absolutely delicious.

Feeling a little better, she spotted Su Chang’e pacing anxiously in front of the supply and marketing cooperative. She was eagerly looking in the direction the postman would come from, shifting from foot to foot as if she were a bird impatient to take flight.

Not that she was any good bird, anyway.

As luck would have it, even though Su Rui hadn’t been expecting anything, the postman called out her name and handed her a letter that had traveled over a thousand kilometers across the country.

Su Chang’e got one, too.

This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. According to the original story, wasn’t Su Chang’e supposed to storm over to the matchmaker’s house, demanding her money back?

Su Rui stuffed her letter into her pocket and walked ahead of Su Chang’e, planning to hide in the west room at home and read it in peace.

However, Su Chang’e walked even faster. Unable to contain her excitement, she started humming a completely off-key tune as she practically skipped toward home.

She couldn’t wait to tell Su Yuqin the good news.

She had received a reply!

What did this mean?

It meant the man was interested in her!

The two sisters entered the house one after the other.

The first thing Su Chang’e did was run inside to find Su Yuqin. Su Rui wanted to sneak into the west room, but Su Yuqin called her over too.

This big-mouthed woman.

Su Chang’e eagerly tore open her letter and read aloud the sloppy handwriting, “Dear Comrade Su Chang’e, receiving your letter was truly shocking. I never imagined there could be such a charming woman in this world. You have brought so much electricity to my life? What does that mean?”

Su Rui couldn’t help but laugh. It seemed Su Chang’e and the deputy company commander had about the same level of literacy. Hadn’t he kept up with his studies in the army?

Hearing the commotion, Su Hongpei came over, her hair still half-washed, and kindly offered, “Maybe he meant you’ve brought light into his life? But why does he need light? Is he blind?”

Su Rui couldn’t hold back her laughter, her shoulders shaking.

“Don’t talk nonsense… Oh!” Su Chang’e suddenly squealed in delight. She tossed the letter aside and gazed intently at the photo inside. “He’s so handsome!”

Su Rui and Su Hongpei immediately leaned in to take a look.

Su Hongpei spoke bluntly, “Oh, so just having a nose and eyes makes someone handsome? Handsomeness sure is cheap in your house.”

Su Rui also took the chance to jab, “His jaw is as square as a brick. Put him on a wall, and you wouldn’t be able to tell if he’s a person or a brick.”

As they spoke, Su Yuqin shoved them aside. She figured they were just jealous of the second sister. After all, the man was at least a military officer; how could they talk about him like that?

She picked up the photo, looked at it again and again, and finally managed to squeeze out a comment, “He seems like an honest man.”

Su Chang’e refused to accept that and said meaningfully, “No matter what, he’s definitely more honest than Su Rui’s man.”

Seeing this, Su Rui simply tore the letter open right in front of them.

Well, that was interesting. Su Chang’e could at least recognize a few words, but the handwriting in the letter was wild and sprawling, with each character taking up two lines and even pressing against the margins.

‘The mountains are in full bloom, the land is covered in gold. Today, I ate twenty sauerkraut dumplings; they were very delicious…’

Su Chang’e and Su Yuqin exchanged a knowing smile—this made perfect sense. A labor reform prisoner getting a rare good meal would surely want to write about it.

‘Unfortunately, I don’t have a photo at hand. To show my sincerity, I’ve drawn one myself. Please… take a look.’

Su Chang’e slapped her thigh. That made even more sense. There was no photo studio in a labor reform farm, so of course, he had to draw one himself.

Su Rui, unaware of Su Chang’e’s thoughts, struggled through the words. The only useful information was that the person called himself “Ye Chifang”—nothing else.

Annoyed, she muttered, “Forget being a deputy company commander. He might as well become a pilot with that imagination.”

Su Hongpei, squeezing the water out of her damp hair, bent down to pick up a piece of white paper from the ground. “You dropped something.”

Su Chang’e snatched it up and, the moment she saw it, burst into uncontrollable laughter. “A self-portrait? No way, is this even human?”

Su Hongpei and Su Yuqin leaned in for a look—terrifying. If they hadn’t known better, they might have mistaken it for King Kong.

Su Rui took Ye Chifang’s self-portrait, her small hands trembling in silence.

A gaping mouth full of teeth, covered in hair.

Others went on blind dates to find love. She? She was risking her life.

Su Hongpei, in the end, spoke a fair word. “At least Second Sister’s match is actually human.”