Duan Pengyue’s face darkened instantly as he stared at the rabbit in Li Qinkuai’s hands.
Less than an hour after their conversation, Li Qinkuai had already gone to meet another man—clearly, she hadn’t taken him seriously at all!
“I didn’t.”
Li Qinkuai denied it, then remembered that Duan Pengyue had no idea Qin An was a woman.
“Qin An is a woman. She just has short hair. Many people in the village know that,” she explained.
“Really?”
Duan Pengyue was somewhat skeptical.
“Yes, really. Are you going to give the meat back to me?”
After confirming she hadn’t gone to meet a man, Duan Pengyue’s expression softened slightly. He handed her the meat he had just brought over. “Here, keep it for yourself.”
Li Qinkuai reached out and took it. “Alright, you can go back now.”
Duan Pengyue raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms as if unwilling to leave. “Aren’t you going to invite me to stay for dinner?”
“No.”
With that, Li Qinkuai turned and went inside.
Duan Pengyue was the son of a high-ranking official’s family—what delicacies hadn’t he tasted? Yet he insisted on competing with her family for food.
Shameless.
“Qinkuai, where did you get all this?”
Cheng Yun came out of her room and saw Li Qinkuai holding a generous amount of meat.
“Duan Pengyue bought it, and the rabbit was given by Qin An.”
Cheng Yun took the pork and rabbit, looking quite pleased. “Not bad. Duan Pengyue is quite generous. Go put the chicken in the coop—we’ll eat it on your wedding day. I’ll go pick some wild vegetables. Invite him over for dinner tonight.”
Li Qinkuai pursed her lips, grumbling inwardly. The generous one is your daughter, me, not Duan Pengyue.
But she could only think it, not say it out loud. Instead, she replied obediently, “I understand, Mom.”
Her mother now saw Duan Pengyue in the best possible light, treating him almost like her own son.
Li Qinkuai put the chicken in the coop and went to the kitchen to check the rice pot. There wasn’t much rice left—it was almost empty. Sweet potatoes and corn, however, were still plentiful.
They usually cooked porridge or sweet potato porridge, rarely eating plain white rice. They had to be frugal.
After some thought, Li Qinkuai took ten pounds of rice from her space and added it to the rice pot. She couldn’t take out too much at once, or her mother would become suspicious.
When Cheng Yun returned with the wild vegetables and went to prepare the rice, she was stunned.
The rice pot was more than half full, and the rice was pure white—clearly high-quality.
But how had so much rice appeared out of nowhere?
Cheng Yun immediately went to Li Qinkuai’s room and called out, “Qinkuai, where did the rice in the pot come from?”
“Duan Pengyue bought it just now.”
Li Qinkuai didn’t hesitate to pin everything on Duan Pengyue.
“Where did he buy such good rice?” Cheng Yun was even more puzzled. The village supply store only sold last year’s old rice.
“Probably from the grain station in town. I’m not sure. Since he bought it for us, let’s just eat it. But Mom, don’t mention this to anyone.”
Li Qinkuai continued to blame Duan Pengyue without batting an eye, then added a reminder.
Cheng Yun nodded in understanding, now having a clearer picture.
If Duan Pengyue could get so much meat and rice in such a short time, it meant his status in the city wasn’t simple. At the very least, his parents must have jobs—otherwise, where would he get so many meat and grain ration tickets to buy all this?
“Did you ask Duan Pengyue what his parents do? How many children are in the family?”
“Both parents have jobs, but he didn’t specify what they do. He has an older brother and a younger sister.”
Li Qinkuai had no intention of revealing Duan Pengyue’s true family background. Since Duan Pengyue hadn’t disclosed it even after being in the countryside for so long, he must have his own reasons.
“That’s good news. At least you won’t have to work in the fields after marrying him.”
Cheng Yun was completely relieved and said, “I’ll go cook now. You go call him over for dinner later, and while you’re at it, call your brother and father back too.”
“Alright, I’ll go call them right now.”
Li Qinkuai agreed, put on her coat, and went out.
But she didn’t go to the educated youth dormitory or the fields. Instead, she headed up the mountain, determined to exchange items in her space while she still had limited time.
Li Qinkuai climbed to the spot where she had seen the pheasant nest earlier, wanting to check if Duan Pengyue and Lin Sheng had taken the pheasant eggs.
Unexpectedly, the eggs were still there.
She reached out and took the eggs, placing all of them into her space.
“Ding! Twelve wild pheasant eggs discovered. Reward: one hundred large chicken eggs.”
Li Qinkuai hadn’t expected twelve wild pheasant eggs to be worth one hundred large chicken eggs. What a bargain!
The mountain was teeming with wild plants, spiders, and insects, and with no one around, it was the perfect time for her to show off her skills.
Li Qinkuai found a sturdy stick and used it to touch any spiders or insects she saw, while picking medicinal herbs by hand.
“Ding! Wild black spider discovered. Reward: one hen.”
“Ding! Five wild stink bugs discovered. Reward: three ducks.”
“Ding! Two wild toads discovered. Reward: two sows.”
“Ding! Wild mint discovered. Reward: five catties of sweet potatoes.”
“Ding! Wild plantain discovered. Reward: twenty catties of rice.”
…
For two hours, Li Qinkuai climbed up and down tirelessly, her mind buzzing with constant notifications, giving her a slight headache. Yet, she couldn’t hide the joy on her face.
The more notifications, the more items she accumulated in her space.
In just two hours, Li Qinkuai’s space now contained three sows, one boar, two hundred catties of rice, twenty-five chickens, ten ducks, five geese, five fish, sixty catties of sweet potatoes, over a hundred catties of pork, and over a hundred catties of pork ribs!
Li Qinkuai was panting from exhaustion, but she couldn’t contain her excitement as she looked at the items in her space. This was enough to feed her for years!
Although she hadn’t exchanged anything for money, with all this food and meat, she wasn’t worried about being penniless.
In the city, supplies were rationed. Once she moved there, she could secretly sell these items for cash.
Li Qinkuai wiped the sweat from her face, cut down a few trees on the mountain and placed them in her space to build pens for the pigs, chickens, ducks, and geese. She also dug a pit in her space to keep the fish.
On her way down the mountain, she deliberately stopped by the village river, scooped some water into the pit in her space, and released the fish to raise them.
By the time she finished all this, the sun had already set.
The people working in the fields were gradually finishing up and heading home.
Li Qinkuai went straight to the educated youth dormitory, where Duan Pengyue happened to be washing his hands in the courtyard.
However, standing beside him was a female educated youth—Yang Liwen.
Li Qinkuai remembered that in her past life, Yang Liwen had also liked Duan Pengyue and had often competed with her in subtle ways to catch his attention.
“The woman you mentioned at noon today couldn’t be Li Qinkuai, could it? Is she forcing you because her father is the production team leader? If that’s the case, you must report her! We can’t let a woman like her harm others. It must be reported, and you don’t have to sacrifice yourself by marrying her!”
Yang Liwen spoke with righteous indignation, her expression agitated.
Duan Pengyue glanced at her but ignored her.
Yang Liwen felt somewhat discouraged by his dismissive attitude, but thinking of Li Qinkuai’s smug expression made her uncomfortable.
It didn’t matter if she couldn’t have him, but under no circumstances could she let Li Qinkuai get Duan Pengyue!
“Duan Pengyue, I’m serious. Do you think someone like her will settle down after marrying you? No, she’ll definitely become even worse. As soon as she finds a man better than you, she’ll abandon you! Before you came to the countryside, she was already flirting with other male educated youths. She just wants to get into the city—she doesn’t truly want to be with you. She’s a vain woman!”
Yang Liwen spoke with conviction. She had seen it with her own eyes and wasn’t lying.
“Have you said enough?”
Duan Pengyue questioned coldly, his eyes displeased, before noticing Li Qinkuai leaning against the door outside.
Caught in the act, Li Qinkuai could no longer continue listening and could only feign embarrassment, saying, “Ahem! Could you at least talk behind someone’s back when you’re badmouthing them?”