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

Su Wan knew what was going on as soon as she saw Bai Hongyan's condition. She had been in the same condition during those days in the cave, so she was familiar with it.

Yu Li was still puzzled: "Sister Bai, it's just a short walk with Da Zhuang, is it that tiring? Get up and play together for a while."

Bai Hongyan said irritably, "Why don't you try it and see if you get tired? Just walk where there's no path. Tomorrow, I'll play with you until midnight again, but I really can't today!"

"Yu Li, don't worry about her, the three of us can play together." Su Wan came to her rescue.

"It's no use just grinding your fingers; let's go all out today." Niu Dazhuang grinned mischievously.

"Ah, I don't gamble," Yu Li immediately backed down.

"No gambling, just stickers, but the winner gets to decide where to stick them."

"That works too, but we'll put them on ourselves."

Yu Li knew what Niu Dazhuang was up to. But she still enjoyed teasing him; if she made him happy, she might even get some treats.

Su Wan wasn't Bai Hongyan, and Niu Dazhuang didn't go too far in front of her. All three of them were intelligent and good at counting and remembering cards.

Niu Dazhuang was starting to feel the strain; he was so tired he could barely fit any more notes on his forehead, and he kept giving Su Wan meaningful glances.

With Su Wan and Niu Dazhuang practicing, Yu Li gradually accumulated more and more slips of paper on her forehead.

Yu Li realized that the two were working together against her, so she kicked Niu Dazhuang. Now the two of them teamed up again.

The area under the table was more lively than the area above it. The fight on the table ended in a draw, and everyone ended up with a bunch of stickers stuck to their foreheads.

Under the table, Niu Dazhuang's feet were having a great time, rubbing against Su Wan's legs one moment and Yu Li's calves the next, gradually moving upwards.

Yu Li glared at Niu Dazhuang with wide eyes, but Niu Dazhuang pretended not to see it. Su Wan was also upset, but she didn't show it.

Niu Dazhuang was still careful with Li, only rubbing his foot against her calf a couple of times.

This was enough to give Yu Li a hard time. Her pretty little face was flushed, and sometimes she would furrow her brows and gently bite her lips.

Niu Dazhuang enjoyed watching her struggle to escape and her helpless expression.

Finally, the three of them had notes stuck to their faces. It was past ten o'clock when Niu Dazhuang mischievously left.

After blowing out the candle, Su Wan and Yu Li secretly changed their underwear under the covers.

Three days later, the meat in the kitchen was running out. Thanks to Niu Dazhuang's good start, two veteran soldiers volunteered to join the fight.

Niu Dazhuang wasn't going to try to earn it. He had enough meat in his space to eat for three years. Besides, hunting in the mountains wasn't a good job.

These two workers only went for three days and brought back a roe deer. They didn't have Niu Dazhuang's skinning skills, so they just dragged it back whole.

This not only made the various work units restless, but even the commune members couldn't sit still anymore.

Tonight, Niu Dazhuang and his colleagues will have a chance to improve their meals again.

The next day, each unit sent people out, and the commune members also sent people by brigade.

The forests within a fifty-mile radius have all suffered. If you can't catch roe deer, you can lasso rabbits; even foxes and badgers haven't been spared...

Those who got to eat meat were happy, but some unlucky ones were chased up trees by wild boars, and others were even more unfortunate and encountered a pack of wolves.

Winter is approaching, and this situation has only subsided somewhat. It's not that they don't want to go, but after more than a month of devastation, most of the wild animals within a radius of fifty or sixty miles have been wiped out.

"Boss, winter's almost here, and living in tents now is getting tough. I'm asking on behalf of the workers," Niu Dazhuang said earnestly from inside Su Wan's office tent.

Su Wan glanced at him and thought to herself, "This naughty boy must have taken the wrong medicine today. He's actually acting all serious in front of me. He wasn't this obedient last night. The more I talk to him gently, the more excited he gets. As long as I go out with him tonight, he won't stop until I'm completely exhausted."

Give me that bureaucratic airs, I'll see how I deal with you.

Thinking of this, her pretty face twitched: "Your awareness is so low! Look who asked? Only you! There must be arrangements from above. Why are you worrying about it!"

Seeing that Su Wan had become serious, Niu Dazhuang couldn't keep up the act anymore. He stopped trying to straighten his back, smiled in a roguish way, walked behind Su Wan, put his hands on her shoulders, and began to massage her.

"You always tell me to separate my life from my work, but I did come here today on behalf of my coworkers."

"You've been showing off our relationship to everyone?" This woman's thought process is so different from a man's.

"No way, I'd be keeping it a secret, how could I say such things?"

"Then why did they send you to ask me?"

"Don't let their usual joking around fool you; they're afraid to report to you alone. That's why they sent me. Honestly, when you get serious about your work, you really leave us speechless!"

"How can I not be afraid? How is your brain structured? How can you remember every number so clearly? None of us who are working on site can remember them as clearly as you."

"That's because you're trying to slack off. If you all sat according to the standards, you wouldn't be afraid of me asking questions!"

"They've only had a few years of schooling, how could they possibly remember so many concepts?"

"Just cubic, square, meter, trapezoidal volume, labels, proportions... oh, that's quite a lot. You haven't studied much, how come you remember all of this? Or are you just not paying attention?"

"Me? I have a secret technique that allows me to steal what's in your head every time we're together."

"Get out of here, let's get down to business. I'm worried about this too. The higher-ups say I can take a few days off to rest and arrange things at home..."

"I see, so the reservoir needs to be repaired before I can go back to work."

"Well, things are fine now. But once it freezes, more than half of the units will go back. If our unit is left behind, the comrades will probably have some complaints."

"Sister Wan, if things continue like this, and you can't go home for a month or two, people will definitely have complaints. It's even worse to live in a tent in the winter."

If we improve the pay, make the living conditions warmer, and allow workers to go home every two weeks, the other workers definitely won't have any complaints.

Su Wan tapped her pencil rhythmically on her desk, pondering what Niu Dazhuang had said.

"What you said makes sense. Here's what we'll do: tomorrow you and Hongyan go to the county town and see if there's a suitable large courtyard. If not, a factory dormitory will do, or even a warehouse. It's not as warm as sleeping in a tent in the wild."

I will submit a report regarding the salary. As for the leave, I will discuss it with the command center. Going back for half a month is definitely not feasible, but taking two days off in rotation every half month should not be a problem.

"Call all the team leaders over first, I need to talk to them."

This woman is really capable; she can come up with a solution right away.