Ye Weiliang knew nothing about the events unfolding in the Ye family.
At this moment, she was full of joy, carrying the rabbits and wild chicken, and walked briskly back to the youth cadre compound.
As soon as she entered the gate, she called out excitedly, “Sister Xingxing, come look! See what I brought back for us!”
Her voice was brimming with uncontainable excitement and delight.
Hearing her call, Li Xingxing came out of the house. When she saw the wild rabbits and chicken in Ye Weiliang’s hands, her face instantly lit up with a smile of surprise: “Liangliang, you’re amazing! Did you catch all of these by yourself?”
Her words were full of admiration for Ye Weiliang.
Ye Weiliang nodded proudly, then handed the game to Li Xingxing: “Hehe, of course! Look, I even got some really delicious treats for us!”
Then, as if remembering something, she asked, “By the way, Sister Xingxing, did you get any chili from Aunt Erni? Today we can make a fragrant, spicy rabbit dish!”
Li Xingxing laughed as she replied, “Got it! With this plump rabbit of yours and the chili, we’ll make a dish that goes perfectly with rice. But… what should we do with the wild chicken?”
As she spoke, she lightly stroked the chicken’s feathers, her eyes showing a hint of hesitation.
Actually, she was thinking of saving the chicken to eat tomorrow so they wouldn’t run out of meat.
But Ye Weiliang didn’t consider any of this. She said without hesitation, “Make it into a soup! I even picked some fresh mushrooms on the mountain—add them to the soup and it’ll taste amazing.”
After speaking, she mischievously winked, as if she could already smell the rich aroma.
Seeing Ye Weiliang so confident, Li Xingxing worriedly asked, “But, Liangliang, if we eat the chicken today, what about tomorrow? We can’t eat vegetables forever, right? Should we save it for tomorrow?”
Ye Weiliang waved her hand nonchalantly and reassured her: “Don’t worry, Sister Xingxing! I’ll go hunting again tomorrow. And after this trip, I realized I’m still not skilled enough at using my strength. If I practice more, next time I might catch all the wild chickens in one go!”
She even raised her fist, brimming with confidence.
“All right! No problem! Then I’ll follow your plan, Liangliang! I trust you completely—you’ll surely catch more delicious game!”
Li Xingxing said this as she expertly carried the rabbit and chicken to the food preparation area.
Her movements were skilled and efficient, and soon the game was cleaned and ready.
At the same time, Ye Weiliang bent down to carefully sort the small pieces of firewood she had collected along the way.
She focused intently, calculating how long the wood would burn.
Each piece was carefully selected and arranged by size and dryness.
As they enjoyed the fragrant, spicy stir-fried rabbit, the other youth cadres returned from a day of hard work; except Shao Song and Yi Manyu, who had overslept and arrived late for work.
Ye Weiliang specifically served a bowl of tender, juicy rabbit to Ao Jiarui and softly said, “Comrade Ao, I was lucky to catch two rabbits in the mountain today. This portion is specially for you.”
Ao Jiarui accepted the bowl, filled with gratitude: “Little Ye, thank you so much!”
Even if the meat was divided among everyone, each person would still get several pieces of tender rabbit.
After discussing briefly, they decided to save some rabbit for Shao Song and Yi Manyu, who hadn’t returned yet.
After all, as youth cadres sent to the countryside, they should help each other.
Ye Weiliang didn’t interfere with their decision, only hoping that the rabbit wouldn’t cause any trouble for them—especially Yi Manyu, who wasn’t known for gratitude.
She would probably even complain that the portion left for her was too small.
As long as that woman didn’t provoke her, she could ignore it; otherwise, she wouldn’t hesitate to teach her a harsh lesson.
After tidying up the kitchen, Li Xingxing noticed a wild chicken near the wall by the gate with a note attached—addressed to Ye Zhiqing.
The only Ye youth cadre here was Ye Weiliang, so Li Xingxing quickly called her out: “Liangliang, come here!”
Ye Weiliang came out, puzzled, as Li Xingxing handed her the note; she immediately recognized it as from Ye Jianjun.
“Put it away,” she said calmly.
Li Xingxing looked at her in surprise: “Liangliang, you know who it’s from?”
“Yes, my biological father,” Ye Weiliang said lightly.
Li Xingxing exclaimed joyfully, “You found your family?”
Ye Weiliang shook her head. She didn’t know how to explain.
Seeing this, Li Xingxing didn’t press further, just took the chicken inside to store it.
Their work points for the day were already full, and they had agreed to go collect firewood in the mountains that afternoon.
As they were settling down, they heard Shao Song and Yi Manyu returning.
Soon after, Ye Weiliang heard Yi Manyu shouting: “Just a few pieces of meat—how’s that enough? And it’s so spicy! How am I supposed to eat this?”
Then they heard someone knocking at the door: “Ye Weiliang, what’s your deal? Only leaving this much meat for me? Are you targeting me? You’re so stingy! You eat so well yourself, and leave only a little for others.”
Ye Weiliang’s face darkened with anger. She flung the door open: “Eat if you want, don’t if you don’t! I wasn’t even giving it to you—I was saving it for Comrade Ao. They were kind enough to leave it for you, and you’re still not satisfied? They shouldn’t have even left it! You get food and still complain.”
“Am I wrong? If you’re giving, give more—who’s going to be satisfied with so little?”
Ye Weiliang slapped her across the face: “You’ve spoiled yourself! I’m not your mother; I don’t need to worry about how much you eat! I caught these rabbits—I don’t have to give them to you. Beggars still complain about food. Stop whining here, or do you want me to really press you against the wall?”
Shao Song, seeing Yi Manyu slapped, frowned: “Ye Zhiqing, aren’t you being unreasonable? Manyu just said it’s too spicy. She can’t eat spicy food—why be so aggressive?”
Ye Weiliang’s anger flared. She slapped Shao Song as well: “If you can’t eat it, don’t! I wasn’t giving it to you! Who are you to boss me around? Really, I gave you face enough already!”
Shao Song looked stunned: “You dare hit me?”
“What about it? I did hit you—why ask if I dare? Idiot! Come whining at me again, I’ll hit you again,” Ye Weiliang said angrily. “Unbelievable! Just trying to share some meat, and this is what happens.”
Just then, Ao Jiarui and a few others returned with firewood. Seeing Ye Weiliang furious, Yi Manyu crying, and Shao Song scowling, they immediately sensed something was wrong.
“小 Ye, what happened?” Ao Jiarui asked, dropping the firewood and rushing over.
“You saved the rabbit meat for them?”
“Yes, they’re all youth cadres…” Ao Jiarui tried to explain.
Ye Weiliang interrupted: “Yes, you treated them like comrades, but they see you as a fool! Complaining the portion I gave is too small and the dish is too spicy for them. They came to my door to make a scene. Beggars still complain about food!”
“I’m sorry, Little Ye, for causing you trouble.” Ao Jiarui’s face darkened. This meat was given to him by Little Ye, and he was supposed to share it, yet they were still ungrateful.
He decided from now on, he wouldn’t give them a single bit of anything.
He was utterly speechless.
The others, like Hao Jianguo, were also displeased—they had intended to leave some meat for these two, but not only did they eat it, they complained it wasn’t enough.
With people this ungrateful, it was better to keep them at a distance.