Courtyard houses: Those who are capable are rewarded, and many children bring many blessings.

Niu Dazhuang had to slow down again, and it took another half hour of bumpy driving before they arrived.

Both women were very tolerant, and the half hour had shaken them quite a bit. In the last ten minutes or so, they stopped holding onto the handrails and instead crossed their arms in front of their chests.

After getting off the bus, Su Wan displayed the demeanor of a strong woman, quickly putting her hair up and clapping her hands: "Everyone's gathered here. I want to emphasize one thing first: be sure to pay attention to safety and discipline. You guys wait a moment while I go to the command post to see how we'll set up our tents over there."

Less than ten minutes later, Su Wan returned and directed the convoy to climb up the newly repaired mountain road to the middle of the hillside, where a fairly flat platform had been prepared.

Everyone got to work. Half of the twenty drivers were retired military truck drivers. With their help and direction, the tent was set up quickly and securely.

Since the tents were on a hillside, the task of getting water for the twenty people became a task that each member of the group had to take turns doing.

There were more than 20 male comrades, but only two large tents in total. There were two female comrades in one small tent, and the other large tent served as the canteen.

After the tents were set up, Su Wan called on several comrades to erect five colorful flags around the platform.

"General Su, we don't have any mosquito repellent, so the comrades won't be able to get a good rest at night." Niu Dazhuang has a lot of experience in the field.

"That's true, how come I didn't think of that? Do you have any ideas?"

"Just buy it with money, go to the nearby commune."

"Alright, Hongyan, you two go and buy some fire rope." Bai Hongyan now has multiple roles.

Damn it, Niu Dazhuang is overthinking it. Anyway, he lives in a dormitory-style room and doesn't really need a fuse. Those old men with their shoes off are an eyesore, and it's unbearable to stay there.

The first rule for the communal sleeping area was thus established: you had to wash your feet before entering the tent...

The initial preparation phase was the most arduous. We had to do everything: leveling the road, hauling stones, sand, cement, and even manually sifting sand...

With such a strong body, Niu Dazhuang would go straight to sleep after work and dinner, his mind completely blank.

On Sundays, students would come to help, led by their teachers. As the construction site grew larger and the work area expanded, commune members began to arrive one after another, organized by commune.

On a construction site with tens of thousands of people, just one coordination task is enough to keep the command center busy. Hundreds of smaller groups, what tasks they do each day, and how they are assigned—these are all complex issues.

With the addition of other members, Niu Dazhuang's work at his unit became much less demanding. Whenever a truck was needed, General Manager Su would go to collect the assignments in the evenings.

As for the courtyard house, a month later, both Qin Yueru and Qin Ningru were summoned back by a letter from the brigade. It wasn't for any other reason than that their Qinjiawa brigade was also sending people to participate in the construction of the Ming Tombs Reservoir.

Half of the able-bodied men were sent away at once, leaving the village with half the able-bodied men. The brigade sent a letter to everyone whose household registration was still at home.

However, there is one thing that Niu Dazhuang and his friends can only envy: the other commune members can take turns coming, rotating shifts every month.

These workers were exhausted. They had Sundays off at their workplace, and the workers were engaged in technical labor. If they rested, many projects could not be carried out.

In particular, their transport team never had a break. A large amount of materials for the construction of the reservoir needed to be transported, and twenty trucks were far from enough. They also requisitioned many donkey carts and horse-drawn carriages.

The women were not to be outdone, so they formed a March 8th Red Banner Women's Team to compete with the men.

Colorful flags were planted on both sides of the hillside. A national flag was also erected in front of the command post.

The shouts that rose and fell were truly soul-cleansing. Although it was hot and tiring, the smiles on people's faces were filled with longing for a better future.

The construction site finally quieted down on August 14th.

The commune members had to go back to harvest the autumn crops. No matter what work they did, they couldn't delay the people's autumn harvest. It happened to be the day before the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Niu Dazhuang and his team became even more sought after; not every unit that came to them had a truck.

Early this morning, Su Wan had received more than a dozen groups of people, all of whom wanted to take a truck back to Beijing.

"President Su, let's hurry up and get going, or we'll offend people if we leave too late!" After seeing each other every day for two months, their relationship had become much more familiar, and they could talk much more casually.

Is this appropriate?

"There's nothing inappropriate about it. In less than half an hour, I believe all the leaders in the units here will come to see you. Who will you invite and who won't?"

"That's right. Dazhuang, go and call them. Don't bother making breakfast. Let's set off now."

Niu Dazhuang has been so busy lately that he's practically become Su Wan's messenger.

After the assembly, Su Wan said a few more things. First, she emphasized the return time: meet at the workplace at 1 p.m. on August 16th, and no one was allowed to ask for leave!

Twenty trucks came down from the camp in one go, picking up people from whichever unit they encountered along the way.

As soon as we came down from the hillside camp, the area behind the twenty trucks was packed with people.

Niu Dazhuang was very familiar with the mountain roads, and this time he drove even more aggressively on his way home. The two beautiful women trusted Niu Dazhuang's driving skills quite a bit, and hugged him tightly as soon as they got in the car.

As they turned a 90-degree bend downhill, Bai Hongyan, sitting next to Niu Dazhuang, stumbled unprepared and instinctively reached for something. By sheer coincidence, she grabbed Niu Dazhuang's inner thigh.

Then Niu Dazhuang let out a loud howl and almost stood up.

The two beautiful women were startled.

"Let go!" Niu Dazhuang shouted with a grin.

Her fair and pretty face immediately turned red, and she quickly let go, saying, "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" She apologized profusely.

This amused Su Wan again: "You two are really a pair of sworn enemies. You can't stand not causing some trouble when you're together, can you?"

"Who says he's my nemesis? I think he was sent by heaven to annoy me. Every time I get angry at him, my chest hurts!"

"President Su, is there really such a nemesis? I'm always the one who gets hurt, and this is even worse..."

"Didn't I already apologize to you? Who told you to drive so fast? You didn't even brake when you turned."

When you come back, let Sister Su sit next to you. Did I really catch you there just now?

"Nonsense, why would I lie about this?"

"You're bragging again. It doesn't seem like it to me!"

"If you say it's not true, then it's not true. I have no way to prove it to you."

With the two of them bickering, the journey wasn't boring at all. After about two hours of bumpy travel, we finally entered Beijing.

They didn't stop halfway and drove straight back to the company, where the passengers got off.

Dazhuang handed over the car keys, hopped on his bicycle, and sped off. He hadn't tasted a woman's touch for almost two months; only a fool wouldn't be in a hurry to go home.

When I got home, I was stunned. Ningru, whom I had been longing for, was not at home.