AYLS – Chapter 124

The provincial city’s breeding farm couldn’t exactly be called bad. There were dormitories and a cafeteria, and since the meals were good, the workers all looked energetic and spirited.

After getting past the initial period of adjustment, everyone had begun to accept the environment here.

During their first meal in the cafeteria, people were still curiously and excitedly observing everyone around them.

Except for Li Yan, who didn’t finish her meal and ended up giving the rest to Sister-in-law Wang.

Lin Qiao didn’t pay attention to her either, as she was busy chatting with Master Sun, who had previously taught her about raising chickens.

Comrade Sun Xiaofang was now a seasoned veteran, capable of managing a whole section of chickens. Seeing Lin Qiao, whom she hadn’t met in a while, she proudly spoke of her own accomplishments before asking how Lin Qiao’s work was going now.

Lin Qiao shared what she was currently doing.

“Oh, you’re way more impressive than me—building something from nothing!” The young Master Sun blushed, excited.

Lin Qiao smiled, “It’s not just me. I have many comrades helping me. Now our team has expanded, and this time they’re here to train our team.”

“You’ve come to the right place. Our farm has been doing better and better.”

She smiled, took a bite of her food, and then noticed Li Yan sitting beside her, unable to eat. She couldn’t help but laugh, “Xiao Qiao, she looks just like you did when you first came. Hahaha, exactly the same.”

Lin Qiao: “…”

There wasn’t any spare time for everyone to rest. Every day spent learning here was considered a cost.

So after finishing their meal, they began assigning work positions.

Each person was assigned to a different department, as they were planning to rotate positions for learning.

Lin Qiao had thought that learning technical skills would be tough, but now she realized that learning management wasn’t any easier.

Just taking notes alone filled many pages.

“Managing a single breeding farm is already this complicated. If it were my dad’s company…”

Lin Qiao now realized that back when she had been so eager to snatch the inheritance, she had been too hasty. She had been overly confident in herself—she really should have taken a class on management first.

Although they could hire a manager, if she didn’t understand things herself, accidents could easily happen.

After a full day of learning, everyone brought their meals back to the dormitory in the evening, eating while sharing what they had learned that day.

The technicians selected for training were thrilled—each of them saying they had finally seen the wider world.

It was their first time seeing such a large farm and so many chickens.

They had always thought their own chicken farm was impressive, producing plenty of eggs, but after seeing this provincial farm today, they realized others were even more capable. The eggs here were carried in baskets.

Sister-in-law Wang said, “What’s there to envy? We can achieve this too. Isn’t that why we came to learn in the first place?”

Xiao Ming’s mother said, “If we could raise this many chickens, we’d never run out of eggs!”

Another technician added, “And we’d need a lot of grain too.”

“Then we just grow it ourselves. We’ve got the strength for it anyway.”

Listening to them while eating, Lin Qiao felt extremely happy.

It seemed everyone had great confidence in this work. Confidence was good; it meant they could get things done.

Much stronger than she had been back then. When she first raised chickens, she had only persisted out of sheer stubbornness.

Sister-in-law Wang and the others, however, relied on belief.

After finishing their meal, everyone went together to wash up.

Seeing Li Yan looking a bit down, Lin Qiao specially comforted her: “Just hang in there. Everyone feels like this when they first arrive. Don’t push yourself.”

Li Yan felt deeply sad. She had always believed that she had changed, overcome difficulties, and gained the ability to face challenges. Yet she had still lost.

And lost so miserably in front of everyone. Even the food she forced herself to eat could come back up.

“Xiao Qiao, how did you overcome it back then?”

“Me…” Lin Qiao thought of how she hadn’t really overcome anything at all; she had just endured it, counting the days, and when the time came, she had rushed away eagerly.

This time, she could endure it probably because she had prepared herself mentally in advance, and because she had spent more time at the farm, it didn’t feel as unbearable as before.

“Maybe it’s belief,” she said.

Lin Qiao, being proud, couldn’t admit the truth: “I kept thinking it was all up to me. Only I could get the farm running. If I gave up, who would take care of everyone’s chickens? That belief helped me finally overcome the difficulties.”

Li Yan nodded, somewhat puzzled. “Belief… I have that too… maybe I just wasn’t strong enough.”

Lin Qiao cleared her throat. “Then be stronger. Believe firmly that we can overcome any difficulty and move forward courageously.”

“Yeah, I’ll try my best and won’t hold everyone back.”

Lin Qiao felt embarrassed, realizing she was giving pep talks again, and quickly changed the topic. “Come on, let’s go back to the dorm and share the management knowledge we learned today. Did you take notes?”

“Yes.”

“Perfect, then we can swap and go through them together.”

Lin Qiao pulled her toward the dorm.

For this training, Lin Qiao had truly made up her mind.

Even at night, she recalled what she had learned during the day. She imagined herself in that position, thinking about how she would manage. She even dragged Fat Cat into role-playing, making him a worker while she acted as the leader.

She couldn’t help but marvel at herself—never thought her management knowledge would come from a 1960s chicken farm.

…

Their study period wasn’t long; after ten days, the training ended.

They returned with plenty of learning materials.

Deputy Director Yang even saw them off, commenting that the chicks they brought were very adaptable and hadn’t fallen ill at all—stronger than typical chicks. He hoped for regular exchanges in the future and planned to purchase another batch from them.

Lin Qiao said, “If you need a large number, I can discuss it with the team and provide hatching eggs in the future. You can trade eggs with us.”

After all, they consumed eggs every day, so ordinary eggs could be used.

Deputy Director Yang laughed: “Good, then we’ll wait for your good news. Comrade Lin Qiao, you’re always welcome to come exchange and learn. Let’s develop our farming business to its fullest.”

On the way home, everyone reminisced about the training days and worried about their homes—wondering how things were being managed without them, feeling uneasy leaving the children to their husbands.

Lin Qiao felt both excited and a bit down—there was no one at home waiting for her, nothing for her to worry about.

She also wondered how Gu Huayuan was doing.

Sighing, she looked at Li Yan.

Li Yan’s face was pale, her exhaustion obvious.

There was nothing to be done. She had truly tried to overcome it mentally, but couldn’t stop vomiting. She had no appetite, worse than Lin Qiao had been at the same stage, and she was visibly thinner.

Lin Qiao had planned to take her to see a doctor, but Li Yan didn’t want to make a fuss, worried others would look down on them as soldiers.

Finally back home, Li Yan didn’t look much better.

Lin Qiao said, “You can take a couple of days off to rest, and organize your study notes. Then share them with everyone.”

“Yes, Comrade Li Yan. Don’t push yourself. You really shouldn’t be in this condition,” Sister-in-law Wang also advised.

She wasn’t one to look down on anyone—this was truly a matter beyond human control. If one could endure it, who would skip meals every day?

Xiao Ming’s mother munched on sunflower seeds. “Watching you vomit like this reminds me of when I was pregnant with my Ming.”

“Stop it, she’s unwell,” Sister-in-law Wang said. She knew Li Yan and Zhang Tuo had been married a long time without children. Unlike Li Ermei, their health wasn’t the issue, so she guessed they might be having trouble conceiving and told Xiao Ming’s mother not to mention their heartbreak.

Li Yan didn’t take it to heart; she felt she was just useless.

Xiao Ming’s mother smiled awkwardly and looked at Lin Qiao: “Comrade Xiao Qiao’s better—Commander Gu isn’t home, and you don’t have to manage the household. But when we go back, we still have to take care of the elders and the kids.”

Lin Qiao: “……” It’s actually worse that Gu Huayuan isn’t home—there’s no one to cook for her.

She felt frustrated and thought of Gu Huayuan again.

At this moment, Sister-in-law Wang really felt like knocking some sense into Xiao Ming’s mother.

She thought young couples like them were just like them—inseparable every single moment.

……

At a border unit, a group of soldiers was crouched behind rocks, scouting enemy positions.

Although it was peacetime now, and there had been wars in the past couple of years, the border had never truly been peaceful. Unscrupulous elements were always trying to cross the boundary line.

Their neighbors weren’t strict enough about weapons either. The armed forces of these vicious militants were comparable to the neighboring regular army.

Plus, the neighbors weren’t particularly friendly, so the soldiers on the border were under considerable pressure.

Gu Huayuan examined the area carefully with binoculars before passing them to others, leaning against a rock to rest.

He was now in charge of a newly formed reconnaissance company, made up of elite soldiers drawn from various units.

After quickly adjusting to each other, they began official operations. If Lin Qiao saw him now, she probably wouldn’t recognize him. The face he had carefully maintained with clam oil and snow cream was now rough and had some wounds from reconnaissance missions—some inflicted during sparring with the more unruly members of his team.

Thinking of Xiao Qiao, he smiled.

A soldier with a dark expression beside him asked, “Company commander, why are you smiling?”

“What else? Thinking of his wife. My previous company commander used to grin like this after getting married… Unfortunately…” He had died in the past two years.

Gu Huayuan’s face turned serious. “Don’t talk nonsense. Focus on your reconnaissance and make sure to relay information to the scouts in other squads.”

At this time, they were still using telegraphs. The soldier on duty reported immediately, “No abnormalities.”

A scarred soldier said, “These people are like that. When they meet a tough opponent, they behave.”

“Exactly. Back then, they almost came to our home every day. Didn’t see we weren’t afraid of them? We’re a polite nation; we just let things slide.”

“Anyway, if they come, we’re not afraid. Our fists have never softened.”

Once talking about fighting, everyone felt fearless.

No one who came to the border was afraid—they were always ready for combat.

They had all participated in the war from two years ago, forged in fire. Some had fathers who fought in the Korean War or even the Anti-Japanese War.

Talking about war excited them.

Gu Huayuan finally had a brief moment of peace to think of his wife.

He was so busy he didn’t even have time to call or write letters.

Xiao Qiao must be missing him, probably so much that she can’t eat.

But there was no choice; defending the country was their duty as soldiers.

At the Construction Corps, Lin Qiao was eating heartily.

Since she was coming back today, Su Weizhen had specially prepared several dishes for her and Li Yan as a welcome. She modestly said her cooking couldn’t compare to the provincial city’s and hoped they wouldn’t mind.

Lin Qiao was so touched she almost cried. “You’re too modest. Really, far too modest.”

In the provincial city, she ate just to survive. Here, with Zhenzhen, she lived to eat.

“Come on, eat, Li Yan, eat quickly. You haven’t eaten much in the provincial city lately. Even less than me.”

Li Yan swallowed hard. She wanted to eat but couldn’t after picking up a chopstick. The heaviness in her chest was unbearable, and she even felt like gagging.

Lin Qiao looked at her while serving food. “Why are you still uncomfortable after coming back? You have to learn to let go.”

“I didn’t try,” Li Yan explained, helplessly.

Zhang Tuo was worried. “We should go see a doctor later.”

Li Yan shook her head. “No. If people find out, they’ll think I’m weak. Just a study trip and I’ve made myself sick. They won’t trust me again.”

Lin Qiao hurriedly said, “No, no. Health is the foundation for everything. We need to take care of ourselves to do more. Do you care more about what others think, or your work?”

Li Yan: “……”

Zhang Tuo laughed. “Comrade Xiao Qiao makes sense. Let’s see a doctor after we finish eating.”

Only then did Li Yan nod.

Because he was concerned for Li Yan, Zhang Tuo barely ate and led her to see the doctor.

Most of the remaining food went into Lin Qiao’s mouth.

Su Weizhen laughed. “Is it really that good?”

“Really. You don’t know, I was already thinking about Gu Huayuan’s cooking on the way here. I never cared for his cooking before.”

Implying just how unpicky she had become.

Su Weizhen said, “I don’t know if you’re complimenting me or criticizing me. But your Gu Huayuan must be upset—you think about his food, not him, and you can still eat and drink.”

Lin Qiao ate happily. “I can’t stop eating and drinking because of him. He wouldn’t want me to do such a silly thing.”