Chapter 138: Li Xiaolan Jumps into the River, Saved by the Second Brother

Shen Chuning was unaware of these events in the production team.

Lin Shulan dropped her off at the entrance of the commune and returned on Luo Laohan’s donkey cart, reminding her before leaving, “Ningning, Mother will be here to pick you up after work.”

Shen Chuning’s work hadn’t been easy lately, although the public grain had been collected.

But the commune still needed to prepare various financial reports to submit to higher authorities.

In Shen Chuning’s dream, after her third brother’s death, she lived with Zhou Yubai.

Seeing her constantly depressed, sometimes not speaking a word all day, Zhou Yubai worried about her mental health and suggested she learn a skill she was interested in.

Although she felt like a living corpse at the time, she didn’t want Zhou Yubai to worry too much, so she accepted his suggestion and signed up for accounting training.

Although the Shen Chuning in her dream was preoccupied with avenging her father and brothers and had no heart for studying, because she was naturally sensitive to numbers, she still learned something.

After waking up, she carefully recalled everything she had learned in the dream.

She found that she could effortlessly remember all the details she had learned in her dream, which was one of the reasons she believed that if she didn’t make a change, everything in the dream would become reality.

Shen Chuning used the DuPont analysis method she learned in her dream to prepare the financial reports, which she submitted to Ma Guosheng, the commune secretary.

Upon seeing the reports, Ma Guosheng’s eyes lit up.

No wonder Old Peng had chosen Comrade Shen as his student; Comrade Shen truly had a talent for accounting.

This was her first time preparing the commune’s annual financial report, and it was so clear and concise. Not only was it no worse than Old Peng’s work, but it could even be said to surpass it.

Even as an outsider, Ma Guosheng could see the commune’s financial situation and areas for improvement through Shen Chuning’s report.

Extremely satisfied with Shen Chuning’s report, Ma Guosheng specifically highlighted it when reporting his work to the town leaders.

The town leaders, upon reviewing it, found that Shen Chuning’s report was indeed clearer and more concise than the methods used by other accountants.

They immediately instructed the town government accountant to organize a training session for accountants from the subordinate communes and brigades to learn this method.

When Shen Chuning received the task of training and sharing her knowledge with accountants from the entire town, she was a little stunned.

She knew that DuPont analysis was a method of preparing financial reports that was introduced from abroad after the reform and opening up, and it wasn’t yet used domestically.

But she hadn’t expected it to attract the attention of the leaders and be required to share and promote it.

However, now that the task had been assigned, she would certainly do her best to ensure that every accountant in the town learned to use this method.

When Lin Shulan came to pick up Shen Chuning in the afternoon, she was still preparing the content for her presentation.

Only she and Yin Linjiang were left in the office.

Yin Linjiang didn’t have any overtime work; he simply stayed because Shen Chuning hadn’t left yet.

Although after several confrontations with Zhou Yubai, he had completely given up on his feelings for Shen Chuning, he still couldn’t help but want to protect her.

Shen Chuning was busy with her work and didn’t notice that someone else hadn’t left the office.

It wasn’t until Lin Shulan came to call her.

She suddenly realized that it was long past work hours.

She smiled apologetically at Lin Shulan, “Mother, I’m sorry, I didn’t notice the time because I was busy.”

Lin Shulan waved her hand, “It’s okay, you should be busy with your work. I didn’t have anything to do anyway, and if you weren’t finished, I would have waited a little longer.”

After Shen Chuning put her notebook into her bag and was about to leave the office, she noticed that Yin Linjiang hadn’t left yet.

She politely greeted Yin Linjiang, “Comrade Yin, haven’t you finished yet? I’m going home first, goodbye.”

Looking at Shen Chuning’s confident smile, Yin Linjiang’s heart skipped a beat uncontrollably, and he pretended to be busy, saying, “Yes, I still have some work to finish. Comrade Shen, goodbye.”

After getting on the donkey cart with Lin Shulan, Shen Chuning noticed that Lin Shulan’s expression was also a little off; several times, she looked at her hesitantly.

Finally, Shen Chuning couldn’t help but ask, “Mother, is there something you want to tell me?”

Lin Shulan sighed and asked Shen Chuning, “Ningning, do you know Li Xiaolan from our production team?”

Shen Chuning nodded.

Although she had been immature and looked down on the girls in the village, she still knew who was in the production team.

Moreover, Li Xiaolan’s pursuit of Zhou Yubai and her delay in finding a partner were well-known.

When she and Zhou Yubai were engaged, Li Xiaolan even confronted her hostilely.

“I heard from my second sister-in-law a few days ago that she was engaged to the eldest son of a team leader from the neighboring brigade,” Shen Chuning said.

“Sigh!” Lin Shulan sighed, “She’s engaged, both families have agreed, and the wedding is scheduled for the twenty-eighth of the twelfth lunar month. But when we came to the commune by donkey cart today, Wang Guiying, with her loose tongue, said something, and the girl was so upset that she jumped into the river.”

Shen Chuning’s pupils dilated, and she looked at Lin Shulan in disbelief, “Was she rescued?”

Lin Shulan hesitated, looking even more hesitant to speak.

Seeing her expression, Shen Chuning suddenly felt a chill.

Although she wasn’t close to Li Xiaolan, she was still a living person; could she be gone?

Perhaps because of the dream, Shen Chuning felt a tightness in her chest upon hearing this, and her eyes involuntarily reddened.

Seeing her daughter-in-law about to cry again, Lin Shulan remembered that her daughter-in-law was a crybaby, but she shouldn’t cry while pregnant.

Without hesitation, she quickly said, “She was rescued, she was rescued, by your second brother!”

Shen Chuning was so shocked that her tears stopped, “My second brother saved her?”

Lin Shulan nodded, “Yes.”

Shen Chuning: …

She didn’t know what to say for a moment.

Although the country now promoted new ideas and thoughts, the idea that if a woman is saved by a man, she should be responsible for the man is unacceptable and considered ungrateful.

But in the countryside, if a woman jumps into a river and is saved by a man, if they don’t get married, the woman’s reputation is ruined, and the man will be criticized for being irresponsible.

Because of this incident, after returning to the village, Shen Chuning went straight to the Shen family home.

As soon as she entered the courtyard, she saw her father, elder brother, and second brother sitting in the main room, their faces serious, and the atmosphere was far from good.