A few individuals wearing red armbands stared in disbelief at the passionate young woman in front of them, thinking to themselves, “Wow, where did this female psychopath come from?”

The village chief, noticing their expressions, suppressed a laugh and said, “Xu Zhiqing has a very high level of ideological awareness. She came to the countryside with her thirteen-year-old brother when she was just fifteen, and she works so hard that she’s almost become a role model in our village.”

Xu Ning waved her hand and replied, “Uncle Village Chief, please don’t flatter me. My personal strength is truly too insignificant; I feel embarrassed.”

After saying that, her eyes brightened, and she addressed the group again, “Comrades, come and work with us in the countryside! Let’s contribute to the construction of our homeland. Look at how sturdy you all are. With your participation, the people of Yushu Village will live better and better.”

A man named Feng cleared his throat and said, “Your ideas are great, and we will consider them, but we are here on a mission today, so we hope you can cooperate.”

It was only then that Xu Ning remembered and said, “Right, right! I shouldn’t delay your work. Feel free to check anything. I only read the leader’s quotes; I’m not interested in any other books.”

After saying that, Xu Ning took the lead and walked ahead, not bothering the others to flip through the items; she did it herself.

She opened up all the jars and containers at home for the others to see and pulled out all the clothes and quilts from the cabinet.

She even lit an oil lamp and illuminated the kang and the cellar for them, letting them inspect everything. Finally, she even took them to the toilet to check it out.

The group followed her as she searched every nook and cranny of the house, but they didn’t find anything suspicious and prepared to leave.

Xu Ning called out, “Comrades, when will you join us in Yushu Village?”

Mr. Feng awkwardly replied, “We’ll discuss it with our families when we get back. If they agree, we’ll come.”

Xu Ning happily said, “That’s great! I’ll be waiting for your good news!”

Chen Xiangdong and Sun Hao watched the retreating figures and gave Xu Ning a thumbs-up.

The village chief shook his head, laughing softly.

“Jiaohua, along with that book, had been taken away. Upon hearing the news, Chunhua went to the camp to ask Wang Juanjuan for help in speaking to her boyfriend to see if he could assist in getting Jiaohua released.”

“In the end, it cost one hundred yuan to bring her back. Chunhua got the money from her in-laws, and because of this, both her mother-in-law and husband were quite unhappy.”

Wei Lanlan sat on the kang, playing with her son while chatting with Xu Ning.

Xu Ning said, “We need to be more careful in the future; we can’t be too careless.”

Wei Lanlan replied bitterly, “Wang Juanjuan is a disaster. Everyone in the camp is now speaking cautiously, afraid that one wrong word might lead to another report.”

Yang Xiaomei sighed, “You can only steal for so long before you get caught; you can’t stay on guard all the time. Wang Juanjuan appears very gloomy now, and I’m really worried she might hurt someone again one day.”

“I can see that she still despises Lin Miao the most. However, Wei Lanlan hit her last time, and given her petty nature, she probably won’t let that go easily,” Yang Xiaomei said thoughtfully. “Xu Ning, you should be cautious as well. Every time she sees you with the remittance slip, she gets extremely jealous. You both need to be careful.”

Wei Lanlan and Xu Ning exchanged glances and sighed in unison, realizing that dealing with such a petty person was truly troublesome.

Xu Ning, however, felt even more wronged. Just because she got off work earlier than her every day and earned more money each month, it seemed that she had become a target for her hatred. Where could she go to argue her case?

Chen Xiangdong placed the grain in the room and said to Xu Ning, “There aren’t many people left now; you should go get your rations quickly! I’ll put the grain away and then help you carry it back.”

It was only then that Xu Ning remembered it was the day for grain distribution, and she hadn’t gone to collect her share yet.

She helped Chen Xiangdong unload the grain from the cart and said, “You don’t need to go; I can bring it back myself.”

Wei Lanlan chimed in, “Isn’t he just at home with nothing to do? Let him help you carry it back!”

“No need, really! I can handle it alone,” Xu Ning insisted, grabbing the cart and running off.

Yang Xiaomei laughed, “She’s even stronger than you; she can pull a cart full of grain back by herself!”

This year, Xu Ning still collected all coarse grains. Uncle Dashuan was also picking up his rations, so he helped her load the grain onto the cart.

As she was pulling it back, she spotted two tall figures in military green ahead, each carrying large backpacks.

No matter how she looked at them, they seemed familiar. Xu Ning quickened her pace, intentionally clearing her throat.

The two figures turned around upon hearing her and were pleasantly surprised to see her coming back.

Xu Ning saw the two of them and asked, “Brother, Brother Lu, how come you both returned together?”

Lu Xiaotang placed their luggage on the cart and then took the cart from Xu Ning’s hands.

He smiled and said, “I wrote a letter to my brother, inviting him to our wedding. We agreed on the same date to take the train back to Qishi.”

Xu Yang sighed, “Time really flies; Xiao Ning is getting married now.”

Xu Ning laughed and asked Lu Xiaotang, “So what do you call him, then?”

Lu Xiaotang, feeling a bit awkward, replied, “Even though I’m a little older than him, since we’re getting married, I obviously have to call him ‘Big Brother.”

Xu Ning thought to herself, this guy really has some thick skin!

Xu Yang looked at the grain on the cart and asked, “Xiao Ning, is this the grain you received this year? That’s quite a lot.”

Xu Ning nodded and said, “Big Brother, I’ve already told you that we have enough grain here. I asked you not to send any grain tickets back, but you didn’t believe me. Now you can see for yourself, right?”

Xu Ning had the two of them place the grain in the room where Xu An was sleeping. While they weren’t paying attention, she discreetly took some fine grains and meat from her space and put them in the kitchen. She also placed some white flour and rice in the room where she was sleeping.

Once the grain was properly stored, Xu Ning suggested that they rest at home while she took the cart back to the youth compound.

When she returned home, she saw the two of them standing in the yard talking. Lu Xiaotang was recounting what had happened last year to Xu Yang.

“Brother, Brother Lu, you two can chat for a while. I’ll go make you some noodles,” she said.

The two nodded in agreement, not refusing. They both understood Xu Ning’s rules: dumplings must be eaten when getting on the cart, and noodles when getting off.

Lu Xiaotang said to Xu Yang, “You can take a look around. I’ll go inside and help Xiao Ning.”

As Lu Xiaotang entered, he found Xu Ning kneading the dough. He approached her, examining her expression carefully, and cautiously asked, “Xiao Ning, you’re not angry anymore, are you?”

Xu Ning shot him a sidelong glance and asked, “Angry about what?”

“About the fact that I mentioned our wedding to Grandpa Chen last time I left, and this time I wrote a letter with my brother to invite him to our wedding,” he explained.

“You’ve already mentioned it, and now that Big Brother is back, what good would it do for me to be angry?” Xu Ning replied.

Seeing the lack of any smile on her face, Lu Xiaotang felt a bit anxious. After a moment, he said, “If you really don’t want to get married so soon, then I can wait for you.”

“Really? Then how long can you wait? What if I never want to get married?” Xu Ning asked.

Lu Xiaotang replied seriously, “I can wait as long as it takes. Even a lifetime is fine.”

Xu Ning rolled her eyes at him and said, “Didn’t we already agree on this when you wrote that letter last time? Why are you asking again? Are you having second thoughts about getting married?”

Hearing this, Lu Xiaotang happily said, “No… I want to get married! I’ll talk to my parents tonight and see when we can set a date.”

Xu Ning shot him another eye roll but couldn’t help the smile that crept onto her lips. Silly guy! In fact, she had already written to her brother, informing him that she would be getting married this year.