Chapter 21

The villagers of Bafang Village worked until 11:00 PM. During this time, Hou Yong swapped shifts with Li Dongqiang three times. Because he usually worked in the factory rather than in the fields, his hands had developed two blood blisters. It was fortunate that Gu Panpan had come up the mountain in the afternoon to bring him food; otherwise, in this sweltering heat, working on nothing but water, Hou Yong would have collapsed into the irrigation ditch before long. When Gu Panpan saw the blood blisters on her sweetheart's hands and the places where the skin had worn raw, tears welled up in her eyes. She borrowed a needle from another woman who had come to deliver meals and carefully pricked the blisters, then reached for her own handkerchief to wipe them. That handkerchief was a personal item of hers, likely brought with her before she was sent down to the countryside. Hou Yong, not wanting to ruin it, dodged away and washed his hands in the ditch with a nonchalant smile. "It's nothing, just a minor injury. It'll be fine by tomorrow."