Chapter 24: Remnant Cloth

“Fang Qing, Zhu Qing, Han Qing, are you done with work? This is my uncle. He just happened to pass by and came over to see me,” Li Lin said as she stood up to greet the group.

“Hello, Uncle,” the others chorused, greeting Chen Dong in unison.

Only Lin Meina, looking displeased, turned and walked back into the house.

“You all are doing well; I’m Little Lin’s uncle. I’m here for a couple of days, hoping not to be too much of a bother,” Chen Dong replied, standing to greet them.

“Does Uncle have a place to stay? If not, you can squeeze in at my place tonight,” Fang Mingyi said cheerfully.

Zhu Lirong, taken aback, widened his eyes in disbelief at Mingyi. He thought to himself, Is this really the same guy with a cleanliness obsession? Isn’t he the one who hates having anyone sleep in his bed?

Fang Mingyi shot Zhu Lirong an admonishing glare, urging him to wipe that expression off his face.

Quickly, Zhu Lirong suppressed his surprise and retrieved himself to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Chen Dong observed their interaction without commenting, while he turned his attention back to Li Lin.

Li Lin, seeing Fang Mingyi’s offer, smiled and politely declined, “Thank you for the offer, but I don’t want to trouble you. I’ll just let my uncle stay in my room tonight.”

“Alright, but if there’s anything inconvenient for you, just come to me; I’ll head back to cook now,” Fang Mingyi said, although disappointed, he didn’t press the matter and informed Chen Dong of where his room was before turning to leave.

Chen Dong glanced thoughtfully at the refined young man before sitting back down to continue his meal.

After finishing, Chen Dong looked at Li Lin and said, “Little Lin, the remnant cloth is still in the truck. Where should I put it?”

“You can leave it in the truck for now. After I finish up here, I’ll go find the brigade leader to see what needs to be done,” Li Lin replied, washing the dishes without looking back.

“I’ll go with you,” Chen Dong said eagerly, heading to the truck to grab two bundles and a bottle before closing the door and getting out.

“Uncle, that’s too valuable. How much does it cost? I’ll pay you for it,” Li Lin insisted as she finished tidying up and noticed Chen Dong’s cargo.

Chen Dong waved his hand with a smile, saying, “No need. I’m here as your elder to visit you. I should have a chance to visit the brigade leader anyway. Besides, you don’t need to pay me; I’ll go find your dad when I get back. He has plenty of interesting things I can ask him for.”

“Alright then,” Li Lin nodded, aware of her dad having a few good wines, and she agreed, leading Chen Dong to the brigade leader’s home.

“Is the brigade leader at home?”

“Yes, come in,” Zhang Jun, who had just finished his meal and was about to take a nap, heard Li Lin and came out, knowing there would be no rest for him now.

“Brigade Leader, my uncle came to see me today and wanted to visit you. I hope it’s not breaking your rest,” Li Lin greeted Zhang Jun as she led Chen Dong inside.

“Not at all. Please sit down. It’s not every day that your uncle visits from so far away. He must have gone through quite a bit of trouble,” Zhang Jun said, acknowledging Chen Dong.

Chen Dong smiled, replying, “It wasn’t much trouble. I came on a business trip and brought over the remnant cloth my brother arranged for Little Lin. I also wanted to see how she’s doing.” He placed the items on the table next to Zhang Jun, adding, “After all, this child has been spoiled back home by my brother and sister-in-law. I just wanted to make sure she’s not facing any undue hardship here.”

Hearing this, Zhang Jun sighed inwardly but spoke reassuringly, “This brigade is large, so there are bound to be some bumps along the way, but nothing too excessive. After all, the youth who came to the countryside are part of our brigade now.”

“That’s right. These kids are far from home, supporting rural education. If they’re being bullied, not only would the kids feel disheartened, but us parents would be just as upset.”

After Chen Dong finished speaking, he smiled and added, “Captain, I also came here for another reason—my brother and sister-in-law bought a large batch of defective fabric, and I brought some to the educated youth dormitory. Little Lin asked me to see how you want to handle it.”

Zhang Jun was initially pondering Chen Dong’s previous statement, but upon hearing about the large batch of defective fabric at the educated youth dormitory, he excitedly stood up and exclaimed, “Really?”

“Really. Why don’t we step over and take a look?” Chen Dong suggested as he stood up.

“Bring the stuff over, I can’t take something so valuable,” Zhang Jun said, reaching for the cigarettes and liquor to return them to Chen Dong.

“No need for that, this is for the captain; you should keep it,” Chen Dong insisted.

After several back-and-forth exchanges, the cigarettes and liquor were ultimately left behind.

The group then headed to the educated youth point, where Chen Dong pulled back the cover of the truck bed.

There lay twenty to thirty rolls of defective fabric: some floral, some gray, and the most eye-catching was the green—it was truly precious.

“Captain, I’m leaving this fabric for you to handle, but I need to make one thing clear first.”

Seeing the captain’s excited expression, Chen Dong’s eyes flashed with a hint of seriousness as he said, “I know there are many who bully our Xiao Lin in the brigade. I won’t allow you to give this fabric to those families. That’s my only request; Captain, you need to think carefully.”

Zhang Jun furrowed his brows at Chen Dong’s serious demeanor and replied, “You speak.”

“I understand that the brigade has many who are bullying our Xiao Lin. I won’t allow you to swap this fabric with those families. That’s my only request; think it over well, Captain.”

Zhang Jun contemplated for a while and said, “I will need to hold a meeting with the team members to discuss this. I can’t just make a decision on my own.”

“That’s fine; I’ll be staying here for a few days. You can take your time to think about it. There are so many people in the brigade; you need to consider it carefully.” Chen Dong said no more, allowing Zhang Jun to ponder the matter.

“Alright, I’ll head back then. I have to work later. Li Zhiqing, come to me this evening so we can discuss what we can trade this fabric for. You shouldn’t have to spend money or exert effort without getting something in return.”

With that, Zhang Jun turned to Li Lin and her uncle, then walked away with his hands behind his back.

“Let’s see what they say tonight. I’ll take a nap in the truck. Little Lin, wake me up later,” Chen Dong covered the fabric and stretched lazily before climbing into the truck to sleep.

Seeing that Chen Dong was going to sleep in the truck, Li Lin hurriedly suggested, “Uncle Chen, you can sleep in my room; I can squeeze into the next room.”

“No need. Sleeping in a truck with the window open is cooler. You go back to your room; don’t worry about me,” Chen Dong replied, closing his eyes and ignoring Li Lin as he quickly fell asleep.

Realizing she had no choice, Li Lin turned back to her room but sat on a stool and picked up a piece of stationery to write down what had happened since Chen Dong’s arrival.

She then tucked the letter inside a book, waiting for Chen Dong to leave so she could go to the commune to send it.

Time passed, and after work in the evening, Zhang Jun gathered everyone for a meeting at the wheat field.

“It’s not the New Year, nor a festival, and it’s not harvest season. What meeting are we having?”

“Who knows? Just go and listen, and you’ll find out.”

“Silence! The reason I called you all here today is that Li Lin’s uncle has brought a large batch of defective fabric from the capital, and it is now stored at the educated youth dormitory.”

This announcement was like a landmine, causing an uproar among the crowd.