When they arrived, Senior Lu was driving a mule cart, transporting sun-dried sweet potato stalks back to the granary. He was dressed in old military clothes, washed to a faded white and patched up. He had a sweat-soaked white towel draped across his neck.
"Comrade Lu Zhiyuan!" Cheng Baoguo greeted, clasping Lu's hand the moment he approached.
Having been received with such enthusiasm—unusual enthusiasm, even—Senior Lu was taken aback. He glanced at the letter and remittance bill that Cheng Baoguo had placed in his hand, barely taking it in before he asked, "Are these from Ajiang and Xiaoxue? It hasn't been a month since I last received a letter and money from them, right? I told them they didn't need to send anything."
Cheng Baoguo was almost choked by his words, "Elder brother, you should read the contents before you speak!"
