Du Shujian was so flustered, the tip of his nose broke out in a sweat. "Jia Yuan, what are you doing here?" he asked. Huo Jiayuan felt a sharp pang in her heart, but her expression remained composed. "I was just passing by." The moment he heard this, he knew it was an excuse. "So, are you heading home now, or going somewhere else?" Huo Jiayuan glanced at the other girl. "I’ve finished my business and was about to go home. You two seem busy, so I’ll leave you to it." If they were truly to become strangers, there was no point arguing with him anymore. It didn’t matter now. With that thought, she nodded to the other girl and turned to leave. Du Shujian reached out to stop her, but Huo Jiayuan walked away resolutely. Seeing her reaction, Du Shujian knew Jia Yuan was truly angry this time. Ignoring Lin Nana behind him, he hurried after Huo Jiayuan. "Jia Yuan, my family asked me to pick someone up! Please, don’t misunderstand." "What’s there to misunderstand? It’s not like we have any real relationship." True. They had been dating, but it had never been made public. How was that different from having no relationship at all? She understood now. The Du Family was likely trying to matchmake Du Shujian with Lin Nana. Regardless of Du Shujian’s own feelings, he had undeniably been seeing another girl behind her back. Ultimately, she had been too naive. Meanwhile, the atmosphere at Hua’an Agricultural Reclamation Group was very oppressive. The rıghtful source is 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹~𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮~𝚗𝚎𝚝 Chief Qiao gathered everyone for a meeting. "Time and again I have ordered you not to go to the forest farm to fetch wood on your own, yet some of you still ignore it! I will repeat this one more time: no going to the forest farm, and no going deep into the mountains! Is that clear?" After such an incident, everyone was indeed frightened. The crowd on the field responded with a scattered chorus of, "Understood!" It was too cold, so Chief Qiao didn’t keep them standing for long. "Alright, dismiss." Chief Qiao turned to Deputy Chief Geng, who stood beside him, his face etched with worry. "Jiangshan, Ding Lujun’s family should arrive tomorrow afternoon. Take some men to the train station to meet them. That poor boy. I fear his relatives aren’t coming for his sake, but for the compensation money. It’s unkind to assume the worst, but their past actions have been quite unscrupulous." As they were talking, Yunyi approached with a package. "Chief Qiao, Deputy Chief Geng." Chief Qiao saw her. "Doctor Chu, what brings you here?" Yunyi handed him the package. "I found these clothes at the county’s second-hand market. They should fit Ding Lujun. I don’t know if his family will bring anything for him, so please hold onto these for now." No more needed to be said; everyone understood. They had all seen Ding Lujun’s state that day. His clothes were covered in patch upon patch and, most importantly, didn’t fit. His ankles were bare—a pitiful sight. With a heavy heart, Chief Qiao accepted the package. "Thank you." Yunyi simply waved her hand and left without another word. Just a small act of kindness, she thought. Life was hard for everyone in those years. Theoretically, the ’sent-down youth’ in the Agricultural Reclamation Group, who received wages, should have had it a bit easier. Yet Ding Lujun’s life was as bitter as Coptis root. It wasn’t their place to judge. However, word was that Ding Lujun’s uncle and aunt constantly held the ’debt’ of raising him over his head. They frequently used his grandmother’s ill health to pressure him for money. Over the years, they had squeezed him dry—a truly pitiable man. Deputy Chief Geng sighed deeply. "To think blood relatives can be worse than strangers met by chance. How tragic." Qiao Shaoguo looked away from the distance and said to Geng Jiangshan, "Let’s go inside. I need to talk to you."