84: Planting crops, weeding, feeding pigs, and cleaning the pigsty.

Deputy Regimental Commander Wu was currently on the phone with Hu Pings Mother.

"Sister Hu, don't worry, everything has been arranged..."

Hu Pings Mother was very happy to hear that Xiao Niannian had been assigned to feed pigs and grow vegetables. How dare a hick like Xiao Niannian bully her daughter? She wanted to ensure that Xiao Niannian would never earn merits and would live in obscurity during her years in the Military Unit.

"Thank you for your hard work, Old Wu. Next time, my Old Hu will treat you to a meal..."

After Deputy Regimental Commander Wu finished the call, he sneezed several times in a row.

He didn't know that this single action would cause him endless regret later on.

Xiao Niannian was teaching Zhao You and Cao Huan how to weed more easily.

After working busily for over an hour, everyone cleared the weeds in their area.

"Report."

Xu Jia stepped forward to report.

After a moment, Xu Jia walked back and said.

"The Platoon Leader said we can rest for fifteen minutes. After fifteen minutes, we need to go organize the warehouse."

Fifteen minutes later, Xiao Niannian and the others arrived at the Reconnaissance Battalion's warehouse. Looking at the six large warehouses, Xiao Niannian's mouth twitched. Surely their platoon wouldn't be tasked with organizing all six large warehouses?

Just then, someone suddenly ran over.

"Platoon Leader Feng, we just received notification that the newest assignment for Third Squad is to pull the weeds in the vegetable patch, and then plant radishes, cauliflower, cucumbers, and coriander..."

Feng Lin was somewhat surprised to hear this.

Usually, farming was done by the male Soldiers. Although they participated in weeding and other tasks, why were they suddenly being asked to plant vegetables now?

"In the future, Third Squad will also be responsible for raising pigs and cleaning the pigsties..."

Feng Lin felt even more strongly that something was wrong when she heard this.

"Deputy Battalion Commander Chen, these tasks were always handled by the male Soldiers before. Why the change now?"

Hearing this, Deputy Battalion Commander Chen frowned.

"In the Military Unit, men and women are the same. These jobs don't distinguish between male and female Soldiers. Every squad will be scheduled for a month of work in the future. Here, no one can slack off or cheat..."

Deputy Battalion Commander Chen reprimanded Feng Lin.

"Yes."

When Xiao Niannian heard this, how could she not realize that someone high up was targeting her? This Platoon Leader Feng was quite good, daring to voice her objection.

"Third Squad, follow me."

Feng Lin led them toward the vegetable patch.

The vegetable patch of the Reconnaissance Battalion was not small at all.

After walking for more than ten minutes, they reached the rear vegetable patch. Looking around, they saw organized plots of land everywhere.

Several vegetable plots were empty not far away.

"Why would they suddenly ask us to grow vegetables?"

"This is too strange."

"I've been in the Military Unit for over a year, and this is the first time I've ever come to plant vegetables."

"They also want us to raise pigs? That used to be the male Soldiers' job!"

Hearing the female Soldiers' comments, Feng Lin said with a serious expression.

"This is a task assigned to us by the higher-ups. We must complete it well. Do you have confidence?"

"Yes."

Although some of them had planted vegetables before, they had never actually raised pigs or cleaned pigsties. Feng Lin went to find Squad Leader Li and the others.

Squad Leader Li of First Squad was also confused when he heard this.

Previously, raising pigs and growing vegetables were tasks handled by the male Soldiers, not just those from the Logistics Platoon; the battalion would also send Soldiers from other companies to work. Each company rotated.

Why were the female Soldiers being asked to do this kind of work now?

Cleaning pigsties was dirty and smelly, and required good physical strength.

After Squad Leader Li arrived, he began teaching everyone how to turn the soil.

After explaining for a while, he had everyone pick up hoes and start hoeing the ground.

Everyone watched Squad Leader Li hoeing the ground effortlessly, and they thought it would be easy too.

After digging a few times, they felt that the ground was very hard to hoe.

"You need to use technique. These large clumps of soil must also be broken down later..."

Xiao Niannian listened to Squad Leader Li and started digging the soil. She already knew how to farm, so it felt very easy for her now.

"Ding, Farming Ability +1."

Xiao Niannian was slightly surprised to hear the voice in her mind. Farming could even increase her Farming Ability. This was truly interesting.

"This comrade is doing very well..."

After Squad Leader Li explained things to the female Soldiers, he watched Xiao Niannian's movements for a while and praised her.

Squad Leader Li glanced at Xiao Niannian and saw how effortlessly she was hoeing the ground.

After working busily for over an hour, it was time for lunch.

"Assemble."

Except for Xiao Niannian, who had good strength, everyone else felt like they were about to collapse from exhaustion.

Farming was not an easy job. After working busily for over an hour, only a dozen plots of land had just been prepared. In the afternoon, they still had to plant vegetables, water them, and fertilize them... Everyone put their tools in the designated storage area and walked toward the mess hall.

While eating, they found they had great appetites and ate half a bowl more rice than usual.

After eating, everyone returned to the dormitory.

"We need to find gloves to wear this afternoon."

"My hands are already blistered today."

"I used to think farming was easy, but I never expected it to be so tiring now."

"Yes, we must find gloves to wear this afternoon."

"But where can we find gloves? I wonder if the Service Center has any?"

"I previously had a pair of wool gloves my mother knitted for me, I wonder if they will be useful?"

Xiao Niannian rummaged through her bag and pulled out two pairs of gloves.

These gloves were new ones found at Wang Dazhuang's house, without any markings. She had also seen identical gloves at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative here.

Therefore, taking them out now would not arouse suspicion.

"Use these two pairs of gloves when you are hoeing. I bought them previously."

"Niannian, what will you use?"

Xiao Niannian put on the wool gloves her grandmother made and said.

"These are the gloves my grandmother made for me. I'll use these this afternoon."

"Thank you."

These gloves weren't cheap, and Xiao Niannian had bought two pairs, which were now proving extremely useful.

"Niannian, you are so kind."

"Thank you, Niannian."

Listening to their words and seeing their grateful expressions, Xiao Niannian curled her lips. These comrades-in-arms were easy to get along with, just like Qian Si and Zheng Wu.

It was a pity they hadn't been assigned together. But maybe they could be assigned together in the future; that would be even better.

Besides training, Xiao Niannian's squad was busy farming, weeding, and cleaning. A few days passed, and the vegetables they planted sprouted and were growing very well.

Not only that, but they also kept the hygiene exceptionally well.

Feng Lin had been leading them these past few days and participating herself. She found that this squad was much easier to lead than she had imagined.

Especially Xiao Niannian, whose ability was outstanding and who also fostered unity among her comrades-in-arms. Her training results were the best in the entire platoon. She didn't know how Xiao Niannian ended up assigned to their platoon.

If she had the chance, she would genuinely recommend Xiao Niannian to another company.