Cheng only felt that he was fascinated by a girl for the first time, and couldn’t help but want to get closer to her and get to know her more.
Before they knew it, they were about to arrive at the production team where Xiulan lived.
Cycling was much faster than walking and it only took about thirty to forty minutes.
Cheng only felt that the journey was really short. It would be nice if it was longer, so he could spend more time alone with her.
Seeing that they were about to arrive at the production team, Xiulan hurriedly asked him to stop. If they got closer to the production team, they might be seen by others and gossip will spread.
“Comrade Jiang, you can now stop here. Thank you for sending me back today.”
Cheng also knew that there was a distinction between men and women, so he had to be careful when with her, so as not to affect her reputation. So, he did not insist on sending her directly to her home.
“You’re welcome, Comrade Xiulan. Then, I’ll go back now.”
“Comrade Jiang, be careful on the road.”
“I will!”
Cheng watched as she turned around and walked away, but he was reluctant to take his eyes off her back.
It was not until she disappeared that he started to ride the bicycle back to the county seat.
Xiulan went back earlier this time because it was only one o’clock in the afternoon, and the afternoon work in the production team had just started.
She had nothing to do while staying at home, so she went to Gensheng to get a task.
She was assigned to harvest rice, but the farm tools in the production team were limited, so not everyone could use farm tools.
She went to work late and wasn’t able to get a tool.
The tasks were arranged by the leader and there was no room for nitpicking, so she could only pull the crops with her hands.
***Original translation is from enchantesstranslations.com. Please read it on the translator’s website.***
In addition to Xiulan, many people like her needed to pull crops with their hands while working, including Lijuan.
Lijuan was used to being lazy at work. She was lazy in bed in the morning and didn’t get up in time. So, when she went to work, all the farm tools had already been distributed. Without the tools, she had to pull the crops by hand.
When did she ever work in the past? She was only raised so delicately. But today, she pulled the crops with her hands and complained that her hands hurt so much.
But to earn work points, even if she was suffering, she could only endure it. Last time, when the family lost five yuan because of her crime, Weiguo had never given her any good expressions. And now, if she was still lazy, she was afraid that Xiulan would say a few bad words in front of him, which would end up her not having anything to eat.
Who was not uncomfortable when hungry? She felt a little panicked after only not having two meals last time, and she definitely didn’t want to experience that a second time.
Seeing that Xiulan was busy, Jianguo walked up to her and handed his sickle, “Comrade Xiulan, I’ll lend you this sickle. It’s fine for me to pull the crops with my hands. You are a girl, so you should protect your hands.”
Xiulan raised her head and glanced at him.
He was tall and thin, neither handsome nor ugly. Due to long-term work, his skin was a little dark, similar to that of a countryman, and he looked honest and straightforward.
He liked the original owner and had taken care of her a lot over the years. Because he was the son of the leader, Lijuan was very jealous of her.
In the opinion of most girls in the production team, it was a great blessing to be noticed by Jianguo and marry him. After all, his father, Liu Gensheng, was the leader of the production team. So, the conditions of the Liu family were better than that of most people in the production team.
The original owner’s feelings towards him were just like a feeling of a younger sister to an older brother, and there was really no romantic love at all. As for Xiulan, although she thought that he was good, considerate, honest, and a suitable person for a woman to live a good life, she couldn’t feel any electricity or connection with him at all.