Chapter 199: Too Bad

Feeling like this had nothing to do with him, Lin Xiangnan happily ate melon seeds, refraining from offering opinions and only whispering to Sun Yi.

“Actually, Jin Gong is right. The male comrades in our technical department have the worst physical fitness.”

Sun Yi disagreed, “Nonsense. Isn’t there also the propaganda department?”

He might not be able to compete with frontline workers in terms of strength, but compared to the guys in the propaganda department, he was still pretty strong.

Lin Xiangnan tilted her head, sizing him up, her expression strange, without making any comment.

“What do you mean? Am I wrong?” Sun Yi confidently declared, “I might not be able to beat you, but I can easily crush those weak scholars from the propaganda department.”

Before Sun Yi could finish his sentence, he heard Jin Baoguang boasting, saying that the male comrades in the department couldn’t even compare to Lin Xiangnan.

Every time he spoke, he would criticize a whole group, even comparing them to Lin Xiangnan. Except for her occasional headaches, Lin Xiangnan never even had a cold.

“Why compare with him? Why compare with you!” Sun Yi rubbed his nose, grumbling in disgust, “This Jin Gong is really shameless! If he hadn’t infected us, would we have gotten sick? He’s the culprit, yet he dares to blame us for our poor physical fitness.”

As if he knew what his subordinates were thinking, Jin Baoguang brazenly said, “This time, many people were infected by me. I definitely bear some responsibility, but the bigger problem lies with you!”

Lin Xiangnan couldn’t help but nod in agreement, “Good, don’t internalize the blame, just point it at others.”

Jin Baoguang wasn’t just blaming anymore, he was going further, organizing everyone to run and exercise.

The intention was good, but Lin Xiangnan hoped he wouldn’t start.

As soon as the meeting ended, Lin Xiangnan directly asked for leave, “Jin Gong, my feet have been uncomfortable these past two days. I’m asking for leave, I won’t be participating in this running activity.”

“Okay, okay, you can go.” Jin Baoguang was helpless.

Day after day, he would claim headaches and foot pain when there was work, but when there wasn’t, he would be bouncing around.

But Lin Xiangnan wasn’t a regular employee of their factory, so Jin Baoguang couldn’t force her. He could only lead his own subordinates to exercise and improve their physical fitness.

“Let the others suffer, not me,” Lin Xiangnan was quite happy to watch the show.

However, the weather had been bad recently, so Jin Baoguang’s plan couldn’t be implemented yet, he could only plan it for now.

When the rain stopped and the sun came out, Lin Xiangnan received a call from the family compound.

“I’m back.” The first thing Gu Zhenhua did upon returning was to report his safety.

Hearing that familiar voice, Lin Xiangnan’s heart settled, she couldn’t help but smile, “It’s good that you’re okay.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just got back and there’s a lot to do, so I’ll go busy myself first.”

Lin Xiangnan also guessed that they would be very busy, so she didn’t say much, “Then go ahead and get busy. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

Gu Zhenhua’s clothes were still dirty, and there was mud in his hair. After hanging up the phone, he quickly changed clothes.

They had been exhausted these past few days, visibly thinner.

Knowing that Gu Zhenhua was safe, Lin Xiangnan felt relaxed and took on many tasks, working a full four hours in the afternoon and even putting in some overtime.

“What’s wrong? You received a call from Gu Zhenhua and you’re in a good mood?” Sun Yi teased.

Even if she was in a good mood, it wasn’t enough to make her use work as a distraction.

Lin Xiangnan replied, “I’m going to ask for leave tomorrow. I’ll do tomorrow’s work in advance so I don’t hold you guys back.”

Asking for leave without pay, she took the initiative to make up for the workload, purely out of a sense of camaraderie.

As soon as she got off work, Lin Xiangnan put aside her work and excitedly rode her bicycle home.

Usually, she didn’t miss home at all, disappearing without a trace, but now, she just wanted to go home, she couldn’t even wait for Sunday, she directly asked for leave.

When she got home, Gu Zhenhua wasn’t there, so Lin Xiangnan could only ask Hu Meili.

“Is he okay?”

“He’s fine. He’s just lost a bit of weight and has a few small cuts on his hands.” Hu Meili said with heartache, “Yesterday I cooked, he ate three big bowls, he must have been starving. They weren’t able to eat properly out there.”

After spending so much time together, Gu Zhenhua was like a son to Hu Meili, seeing him like this made her feel sorry for him.

Hu Meili knew her cooking skills, they really couldn’t compare to Lin Xiangnan’s, who had studied cooking, they were a bit bland, even she herself was a bit critical of her own cooking.

Even so, Gu Zhenhua had eaten three big bowls of rice, which showed how hard he had been living these past few days.

“Haha, I knew he was fine.” Lin Xiangnan waved her hand, “It’s okay to lose a bit of weight. He can gain it back. I even bought a whole old hen today.”

“Lower your voice when you laugh.” Hu Meili reminded her.

Lin Xiangnan cautiously asked, “What’s wrong? Did someone die in our family compound?”

“Yeah.” Hu Meili frowned, explaining, “Captain Wang died. Our families are so close, if you laugh too loudly, Liu Feng might hear you and who knows what she might do.”

Hearing this news suddenly, Lin Xiangnan was also shocked, she covered her mouth and whispered, “How? How did he die?”

Captain Wang gave Lin Xiangnan the feeling that he was old but could still torment children, Lin Xiangnan always felt that he could live a long time, and live better than anyone else.

Who knew that upon returning this time, she would hear of his demise.

“Xiao Gu didn’t say much. I heard it from another older lady in the family compound.”

Hu Meili explained softly, “Captain Wang was punished a while back, demoted, so this time he was eager to make amends, he took a risk and… I heard that only he died this time.”

Captain Wang was someone who didn’t care about his personal life, but he valued his career tremendously. Hearing this news, Lin Xiangnan also fell silent.

The dead are to be respected, even though she wasn’t close to Captain Wang, she couldn’t say anything bad about him at this time.

After a while, Lin Xiangnan asked, “What about the two children? Does Luo Caixia know about this?”

“The army leaders have already notified Luo Caixia, she hasn’t reacted much. Luo Caixia has her own salary, without Captain Wang’s monthly allowance, she can still support her children on her own. It’s Liu Feng who can’t accept it, she’s making a fuss.”

Before this, the reputation and image of the Wang family had already been tarnished in the family compound.

But now, everyone was giving them face, no longer mentioning Captain Wang’s private affairs, and even caring about Liu Feng and the two children.

Hu Meili sighed, “If his family had been stable and there hadn’t been any trouble in the backyard, Captain Wang probably wouldn’t have taken such a risk. It’s too bad.”