Lan Yanchen had never felt so embarrassed in his life. He touched his nose and said, "Sorry, I got distracted just now... I'll have Ding Shaoyang go to the mainland to buy more seeds and seedlings for you later to make up for it."
Gu Ling sighed, "It's okay, I just dug these out. I'll plant them again."
She squatted down, firmly planted a chive root, and Lan Yanchen took a look and immediately learned how to do it, following suit to dig out chive roots and plant them.
Gu Ling had only planted about four or five chive roots when she looked up and found that Lan Yanchen had already planted all the others...
She was stunned and couldn't help but sigh in her heart, "This person is really capable of working!"
However, she didn't say much to him. After all, this person is Peng Xiaoyue's heart, and it would be troublesome to say too much.
But Lan Yanchen looked at her sincerely and said, "I haven't properly thanked you. If it weren't for you, the snake venom on my leg wouldn't have been cleared so easily. We'll be stationed on this island for ten days. If you have any needs during this time, you can find me for manual labor or if you need to go to the mainland to buy things."
Gu Ling thought to herself that there were male educated youth in their team who could go to the mainland to buy things, like Zhou Cheng and Wang Haohan, so there was no need to find Lan Yanchen. Of course, on the surface, she still said, "Well, thank you."
After speaking, she turned and left. Lan Yanchen felt as if there was a faint lingering fragrance in the air, like an illusion. He wrinkled his nose, quickly calmed down, and went back to the tent where they were stationed.
After digging for a while just now, he now felt like the wound on his leg was oozing blood and becoming more and more painful.
He limped back to the tent, unable to help but ponder a question along the way.
The scene of the female educated youth pouncing on him as he had imagined seemed to have happened, yet also seemed like it hadn't...
After all, this time, it wasn't just a simple act of her coming to him to deliver dry rations. She had come up and "kissed" his leg. Of course, later he also found out that Gu Ling had simply seen that his injury was severe and had immediately gone to help him suck out the snake venom without a second thought.
But thinking about this, Lan Yanchen's feelings became even more peculiar. He always felt that this female educated youth was not simple.
If she were to try to get close to him like the other female educated youths, he would definitely refuse her in no uncertain terms, telling her that life should not be solely focused on finding a partner, and that there are more important things to do!
Lu Yanchen looked serious, as if contemplating national affairs. Ding Shaoyang walked over with a big bone covered in lean meat, his belly full and a satisfied smile on his face. It had been almost half a year since he had enjoyed such a hearty meal!
Ding Shaoyang grinned, "Leader! Educated Youth Gu asked me to bring a big bone..."
Lu Yanchen sneered inwardly. He had guessed it right - this female educated youth must have taken a liking to him!
"I've already said I don't want it. Can't you all understand?" Lu Yanchen coughed, even though he was very hungry.
Ding Shaoyang was taken aback and quickly explained, "Leader, I didn't say it was for you to eat! Educated Youth Gu saw that I liked it, so she asked me to bring an extra one for me to eat when I'm hungry. She's such a good person, isn't she?"
Ding Shaoyang couldn't help but take another bite of the big bone, exclaiming, "It's so delicious! This is really, really delicious!"
Struggling, Lu Yanchen swallowed a mouthful of saliva. "Have you never eaten before in your life?"
Ding Shaoyang was surprised and offered the bone, "It really is delicious! Try a bite!"
Lu Yanchen immediately waved it away, "Go away, don't dangle it in front of me! Hurry up and eat, you still have to patrol the island after you finish!"
Ding Shaoyang burped contentedly, unable to eat anymore. He wrapped the bone in a leaf and put it in the tent, then sat down comfortably on the ground, gazing into the distance at Gu Ling, who was busy drying fish.
At that moment, Gu Ling was arranging the dried fish, her figure graceful and her black hair shining with a soft luster in the sunlight. Her silhouette in the courtyard by the sea seemed like a painting, with everything and everyone else serving as her backdrop.
Lu Yanchen noticed that Ding Shaoyang was looking at the educated youth, and suddenly felt somewhat uncomfortable in his heart, immediately interrupting him: "Stop staring."
Ding Shaoyang, also realizing his inappropriateness, asked with a smile, "Leader, what do you think of Educated Youth Gu?"
Lu Yanchen almost didn't spring up, pointing at Ding Shaoyang with a warning: "Ding Shaoyang, you must not randomly pair me up with people!"
Ding Shaoyang hurriedly explained: "Leader, you've misunderstood, I mean... hehe..."
He scratched his head: "I mean, I feel that Educated Youth Gu is particularly good. She's so beautiful and cooks so well! I love to eat delicious food the most. Although I feel I'm not worthy of her, I still want to give it a try... Leader, if I pursue her, is there any hope?"
Lu Yanchen paused, looking seriously at Ding Shaoyang: "You stand out too much, she might not be up to your level."
Ding Shaoyang was a bit surprised: "Huh? How do I stand out?"
Lu Yanchen suddenly tapped his forehead, "You have a herniated disk!"
After saying this, he stood up and limped away.
Lu Yanchen felt inexplicably annoyed, maybe it was due to the pain in his leg, he comforted himself this way.
After resting for a while, he led the group, limping, to patrol the island, checking if there was anything unusual.
They walked for over an hour. Lu Yanchen, despite his injured leg, hadn't complained of fatigue. On the other hand, everyone else looked extremely tired. Lu Yanchen ordered a rest in place.
During this break, Ding Shaoyang went to chat quietly with a few comrades.
Lu Yanchen sat a bit far from them but managed to hear their conversation word for word.
"Educated Youth Gu is really beautiful today!"
"You're shallow; she's not just beautiful. She made that wooden house, cultivated the vegetable garden, and even built that boat! She's also caught a lot of pheasants, rabbits, and does the work better than most men! If someone marries such a girl, it's like having burnt incense in a past life!"
"Brothers, do you think if I pursue Educated Youth Gu, would she agree?"
The speaker was drowned in a neat spit by others and could only give up in frustration.
Lu Yanchen couldn't help but smile. These little brats didn't know how to read people. Perhaps they hadn't realized that Gu Ling was not a simple and easily fooled girl.
The next moment, one of the brats' words caught Lu Yanchen's attention.
"I'll confess tonight, I dare if you don't! I love the food cooked by Educated Youth Gu, I fell in love with her at first sight!"
The phrase "fell in love at first sight" echoed in Lu Yanchen's mind, and he instinctively wiped his face.
Is there really such a thing as love at first sight in this world? He didn't believe it.
He was curious to see how Gu Ling would respond to someone's confession.
***
Gu Ling underestimated the snake venom. She thought that sucking out the venom in an emergency and immediately spitting it out would be fine, but after lunch, she clearly felt something unusual. Her mouth felt a little numb. She drank a large bowl of Banlangen water, which eased it a bit, and then went back to work.
There were many birds on the island, as well as mice, and the vegetables in the garden grew fast. She had to immediately make a scarecrow to put in the garden, to deter the small animals and birds.
When the scarecrow was made, everyone was amazed because Gu Ling's scarecrow was so lifelike and beautiful!
Sure enough, when the scarecrow was placed in the garden, the birds didn't dare to come near.
After making the scarecrow, Gu Ling discussed with the other educated youths and decided to dig a canal to bring fresh water from the depths of the island to their wooden house. Because seawater cannot be used for irrigation, and when their crops and vegetables in the fields gradually grew, they would need frequent watering. It would be difficult to bring water from the freshwater source in the woods without a road.
Calculating the distance from the freshwater source to here, and considering that there were no roads along the way, just weeds and trees, digging a water channel was a very complex project.
It would even take a long time, and it might not be completed in a month or two. They also had other work to do, so they couldn't spend all their time here.
Li Haixia worried, "Why don't we bring in more water pipes and use the water from the pipes?"
Anyway, the water they use for daily purposes is currently being channeled from a fresh water source using bamboo as the water pipe.
However, the water flow is quite small, which would be too slow for irrigation.
The other educated youth were all worried and discussing this issue. Fresh water was a big problem!
Suddenly, Gu Ling spoke up, "Why don't we dig a well?"
As soon as she said that, everyone was shocked. Zhou Cheng looked at her in astonishment, "Dig a well? How can we do that? In our hometown, digging wells is done by professional craftsmen. It's not easy to find someone who can dig a well within a radius of ten miles!"
Moreover, they didn't have the professional tools for it.
But Gu Ling was confident, "Digging a well is difficult, that's why we should not forget the person who dug the well when we drink water. If we can succeed, we won't have to worry about fresh water in the future. We still have a long time on the island. Let's try it. Maybe it will be convenient for a long time. Why not give it a try?"
With her words, everyone was convinced. So Gu Ling took out a notebook, recalled the knowledge about digging wells from her past life, and quickly recorded it in the notebook. After some discussion and planning, they divided the work.
Everyone was excited about digging the well, as they had never experienced it before. They felt that Gu Ling might not be able to do it, but they also hoped that she could.
Gu Ling directed the male educated youths to dig a small pit in the ground and then poured some water into it. With both hands, she firmly pressed a sturdy old bamboo vertically into the pit, repeatedly pressing it down and then lifting it up, and continuously adding water to the pit...
This process sounded simple, but in reality, it was very demanding and required a lot of patience.
Pressing the bamboo into the ground was a very tiring task, and it seemed impossible to dig a well this way!
Niu Dawei, who was quite chubby, was red-faced from exhaustion and couldn't help but say, "Gu Ling! You have led us to do many useful things before, but I think you might be mistaken about digging a well. How can we dig a well like this? It's going to exhaust us to death!"
Others were also tired and turned to look at Gu Ling's reaction. However, Gu Ling remained composed, "Let's keep going. We can't give up halfway."
After some thought, she added, "Don't give up, everyone. I'll make dumplings for everyone to eat tonight!"
This promise gave everyone the strength to continue, so the group grabbed the bamboo pole and pressed it down repeatedly, adding water, until Gu Ling estimated that the bamboo pole had reached a depth of ten meters before stopping.
Then, she had the male educated youths pull out the bamboo pole, leaving Niu Dawei incredulous: "It was so hard to press it down, and now we're pulling it out again?"
But in the end, the bamboo pole was pulled out, leaving a wellhead on the ground. Gu Ling inserted another processed bamboo pipe that had been completely cleared inside the wellhead, and then inserted a homemade piston and pull rod made of bamboo at the top.
The other educated youths were all exhausted, but they all eagerly watched Gu Ling. When she fixed the piston and pull rod inside and pushed and pulled repeatedly, a lot of water suddenly gushed out from the bamboo pipe!
The water, mixed with mud, was not clean, but it was indeed real underground water. Zhou Cheng couldn't help but exclaim, "We have water! My goodness, we really have water!"
Li Haixia's eyes welled up, "It's worth the exhaustion this afternoon! We won't have to worry about fresh water in the future!"
After Gu Ling pushed and pulled a few more times, the water gradually became clear. Three male educated youths directly washed their faces with the water and drank it in big gulps, all praising in unison, "This underground water is even better than the water we diverted from the mountain! It's sweet, clear, and cool, just like it's been chilled. Gu Ling, you're amazing!"
Indeed, the water was delicious. Gu Ling used her bamboo cup to pour a glass and couldn't help but drink it all in one go!
This naturally pure water was even better than the expensive mineral water praised by movie stars decades later. It didn't even need filtering, with a hint of sweetness, refreshing and cool, surpassing all beverages!
The successful well digging made the educated youth team cheer and celebrate as if it were New Year's Day!
That day, everyone took turns to take a refreshing shower in the shower room they had built, no longer having to worry about conserving water and could wash as much as they pleased!
After taking a shower, Gu Ling and Li Haixia went to prepare dumplings together. Gu Ling was in charge of the filling, while Li Haixia rolled out the dumpling wrappers, and the other educated youth were responsible for wrapping the dumplings.
Of course, they made a lot of dumplings and saved some for the soldiers stationed on the island.
Freshly wrapped dumplings, with tender and juicy filling and a smooth and delicious dumpling skin, each bite is a delight. After finishing the dumplings, Gu Ling doesn't have to worry about cleaning up the kitchen, as the other young people will take care of it. She is only responsible for cooking.
After a busy day, Gu Ling went back to her room to rest. While it was still not dark, she took out the work diary her mother had written and started reading it.
As the sunset gradually faded, when Lu Yanchen returned with a group of garrison soldiers from the depths of the island, everyone looked exhausted.
The lunch meat of the educated youths had already been digested, and they all knew that they would have to eat dry rations for dinner, or roast some potatoes or fish over the fire to satisfy their hunger. This was their daily routine, as there were many islands nearby that needed patrolling, and they couldn't stay on any one island for long, nor did they have time to figure out how to eat well.
But food is essential, and who wouldn't want to eat something delicious and satisfying?
Ding Shaoyang couldn't help but complain silently. Not only was the food not good, but the drinking water was also not good. There was a shortage of fresh water on the island, and if they didn't pass by a water source during their patrol, they had to make do with the water in their own canteens. But now, even the water in their canteens was running out, and they would have to find some coconuts to crack open and drink the coconut water.
Sometimes when people are thirsty, they don't want anything sweet, they just want water!
When the group arrived at the tent where they were stationed, they all sat down wearily. Lu Yanchen looked calm, as if he had just taken a leisurely stroll instead of walking all afternoon.
No one knew that his leg was in severe pain, and the bandage seemed to be stuck to it.
The tent where Lu Yanchen and his group were stationed was not far from the wooden house. When Li Haixia heard the commotion, she quickly sent over the dumplings she had specially saved and also sent a bowl of brewed herbal medicine water to Lu Yanchen.
"Lieutenant Lu, we know that patrolling is very hard for you, and we can't help much. We've saved some of the dumplings we made for you for dinner, so you don't have to prepare anything else. Also, you have an injury on your leg, right? This bowl of herbal medicine water is for clearing heat and detoxifying. Gu Ling recognizes these herbs, and we occasionally drink it for preventing colds, and it works very well!"
She herself is prone to catching colds, but since coming to the island and working in the rain, she hasn't caught a cold even once. So Li Haixia thought the herbal medicine water was very effective.
Little did she know, when Lu Yanchen took the bowl of herbal medicine water, his eyes darkened, as if he had finally relaxed.
He thought that Gu Ling was different from others, but it seemed that she was not.
So, Lu Yanchen smiled and seemed to be in a good mood, "Thank Educated Youth Gu for me, but there's no need to bother her with making these herbal concoctions for me in the future. We soldiers are tough and can handle it."
After saying that, he picked up the bowl of herbal concoction, which was clearly bitter, and drank it down as if it were plain water!
Li Haixia was stunned, thinking about the rumors about Lu Yanchen. He disliked getting close to female educated youth like her. She had been divorced, so she wasn't afraid of gossip, but Gu Ling was such a good unmarried girl. How could she be misunderstood?
So Li Haixia plucked up her courage and said, "Lieutenant Lu, this herbal concoction wasn't given to you by Educated Youth Gu. She's been busy all day, helping us come up with ideas for digging a well. She's the one who suggested where to dig!"
The first half of the sentence embarrassed Lu Yanchen again. He had misunderstood.
But the second half of the sentence surprised him slightly, "Digging a well?"
It could be said that every educated youth who came to the island, including their patrol soldiers, had never thought about digging a well because it was too troublesome! It was easier to find a freshwater source!
But when Lu Yanchen walked to the crude well and tried pushing and pulling the pump and lever, a clear and clean underground water gushed out, spreading at his feet!
The sparkling and translucent water made the group of soldiers behind Lu Yanchen exclaim, "Water! There's water! Haha! That's great! Brothers, come and drink!"
With each push and pull, the water gushed out, and Lu Yanchen suddenly looked at the wooden house. He remembered the first time he saw Gu Ling today, her clear eyes were just like this flowing water, effortlessly flowing into people's hearts.
She was an incredible girl.
That night, the patrol soldiers were as happy as if it were New Year's Eve, eating dumplings and drinking the fresh and sweet underground water, repeatedly praising Gu Ling.
Lan Yanchen silently finished a large bowl of dumplings. When he was hungry, he happened to encounter a bowl of indescribably delicious dumplings. He tried to control his speed, but found himself unable to restrain himself from swallowing large mouthfuls. He wanted to swallow quickly to claim them for himself, but also feared swallowing too fast, not fully savoring the delicious taste.
Setting down the bowl, Lan Yanchen unconsciously exclaimed, "So delicious!"
Beside him, Ding Shaoyang burped and didn't hear clearly, so he quickly turned and asked, "What did you say, Leader? So what?"
Lan Yanchen glanced at him and said, "Too dry, need some water."
After finishing the dumplings, as dusk fell, everyone should tidy up and go to sleep.
Lan Yanchen got some water and planned to find a secluded place to tend to his wound.
He swore he didn't mean to, he really just came to tend to his wound, but he stumbled upon a guy named Zhang Qiang talking to Gu Ling.
Zhang Qiang was very excited, standing nervously by a tree behind the wooden house, and said to Gu Ling, "Educated Youth Gu, even though it's my first time meeting you, I feel like you're a really good girl! My family is in Nan'an City, and I have a younger sister at home. I'm 20 this year, and I... "
Gu Ling smiled, "I'm 23 this year, quite a bit older than you."
Zhang Qiang was stunned and blurted out, "A woman three years older carries gold bricks..."
Woman older [by] three [years] carries gold bricks [女大三抱金砖] - A wife three years older than the husband ensures a richer life.
Gu Ling thought it was a mistake and said tactfully, "No, I think I remembered it wrong. I'm actually 26, I just look young."
Zhang Qiang paused and said, "Then, then worth two gold bricks?"
Gu Ling looked at this dazed person in front of her and said straightforwardly, "I don't intend to think in that direction, sorry."
But Zhang Qiang was persistent and directly said, "Educated Youth Gu, I know you might not like me! But I really fell in love with you at first sight. I like you, even if you don't agree, I will still pursue you! Besides you, I will never like any other girl in my life!"
At this point, Lan Yanchen was somewhat angry. He couldn't believe there was such a person under his command. Clearly, the other party had already refused, yet he persisted. Wasn't this being a hooligan!
Gu Ling also lost her patience, "Is that so? Well, I don't want to like any man in my life. I get annoyed when I see men."
Zhang Qiang widened his eyes and said, "You... you... you get annoyed when you see men? I don't believe it! Then what about when you see our leader? I don't believe you'd be annoyed by him! You just look down on me!"
Gu Ling chuckled and said, "I get even more annoyed when I see him. Alright, hooliganism is not a light crime. If you continue to harass me, you might not need me to take action, your leader might not let you off."
After saying this, she turned and walked away. Lu Yanchen felt a sudden pain in his leg as if he had been shot.
Watching Gu Ling walk away, Zhang Qiang still wanted to go after her, but Lu Yanchen couldn't contain his anger and grabbed Zhang Qiang by the collar, pressing him down.
"You little brat! Harassing a female educated youth, you're really something!"
"You're harassing her and dragging me into it! You're really something, damn it, you're so impressive!"
Zhang Qiang was greatly shocked and quickly begged for mercy, holding his head.
Of course, he couldn't escape this beating.
He was also disciplined and had to make a formal apology.