The older educated youths were already awake. Pei Nian was a light sleeper, so the faint rustling sounds woke her as well.
Since she couldn’t fall back asleep, she threw on a jacket and went to the kitchen to watch the stove being built. She didn’t understand masonry, but it was fascinating to watch raw mud bricks gradually take shape into a neat cooking stove under a craftsman’s hands.
At some point, Gu Zheng walked over and stood beside her.
“What would you like for breakfast?” he asked.
Pei Nian looked at the newly formed stove. It obviously wouldn’t be usable this morning.
“Some peach pastries or sponge cake.”
The communal stove was occupied by the older educated youths. They would soon be leaving for work, and she had no intention of squeezing in with them.
She had steaming meat buns, flatbread, and fried dough sticks in her space, but she couldn’t take them out now. In this era, even the smell of cooking oil could travel a long distance. It would attract far too much attention.
Thinking of that, Pei Nian sighed.
If I already had my own room, I could just duck into my space, eat a couple of meat buns, and come back out. No one in the courtyard would smell a thing.
Just as she was wondering whether to return to her room and nibble on some peach pastries to tide herself over, Gu Zheng somehow produced two eggs wrapped in a handkerchief and held them out to her.
“They’re still warm. Want one?”
Pei Nian froze for a moment. She looked at the two round eggs in his hand, then up at him.
Gu Zheng smiled gently.
Her eyes lit up.
Graceful and composed, standing tall like bamboo in the wind—he really embodied refined elegance.
She didn’t stand on ceremony. Reaching out, she accepted one of the eggs.
“Thanks.”
Since they would be cooking together anyway, one egg wasn’t worth fussing over.
Even so, she immediately turned around and hurried back to the dormitory. A moment later, she returned carrying two pieces of sponge cake wrapped in oil paper.
She handed one to Gu Zheng.
“Try this. It’ll make a nice change.”
Gu Zheng looked at the golden sponge cake, rich and buttery at first glance, clearly made with quality ingredients.
He didn’t refuse.
“Thank you.”
The two stood together beneath the rising morning sun. One peeled a still-warm egg while the other took small bites of the soft sponge cake.
Neither spoke.
They simply watched Old Wang finish building the stoves.
Including Zhou Jin and Jiang Xu, who had also decided to cook together, there were two new stoves in total. Old Wang finished the job quickly.
“The stoves are done. Have a look.”
Old Wang wasn’t much of a talker. The captain had simply told him to build two stoves at the educated youth compound, and since he didn’t know anyone’s names, he addressed them all together.
Pei Nian immediately took a small bag of coarse wheat flour and a separate packet of fruit candies from her basket and handed them to him.
“Thank you, Uncle Wang. They look great. Sorry for troubling you.”
She couldn’t really judge the quality of the craftsmanship, but the stoves were finished, and she trusted that the captain wouldn’t have assigned the job carelessly. Since the work was done, the craftsman deserved to be paid.
Seeing this, Zhou Jin hurried back into the house to find something to give as well.
I’m so slow, she thought.
I didn’t even realize I should thank him with a gift.
After their simple breakfast, Pei Nian planned to gather some firewood.
She had promised to replace the firewood she had used yesterday, and she always kept her word.
She also needed to exchange for some vegetables from the villagers.
It was a pity she hadn’t even gotten to taste any vegetables yesterday.
Besides, she wanted to familiarize herself with the surrounding area.
As soon as she picked up the basket she’d bought yesterday, Gu Zheng caught up to her.
“Together.”
On the other side, Shen An grinned and jogged over.
“Brother Zheng! Comrade Pei! Going to gather firewood? Count me in!”
His loud voice attracted the attention of Zhou Jin, who had come out to inspect the new stove, and the usually silent Jiang Xu.
After glancing at the still-damp stove, Zhou Jin said decisively,
“We’re going too.”
And just like that, all the new educated youths except Gao Juan ended up going together.
The five of them headed toward the woods behind the village.
The houses of Qu Liu Production Brigade were scattered across the hillside.
The educated youth compound sat at the edge of the village near the foot of the mountain, with only three or four households beyond it.
Not far into the walk, they spotted several older children cutting pig fodder in the woods.
One little boy looked up at them, his eyes sparkling.
“Are you the new educated youths?”
Smiling, Shen An pulled a handful of fruit candies from his pocket and handed them out.
“That’s right. Can you tell your big brothers and sisters where there’s the most firewood on the mountain?”
The children happily accepted the candy and immediately began chattering.
“Go to the eastern slope! The trees are bigger there, and there are lots of fallen branches!”
With directions in hand, they headed deeper into the mountains.
The morning air was wonderfully fresh, but the trail wasn’t easy to walk. Thick weeds lined the path, and the dew soaked through their pant legs.
As she walked, Pei Nian kept an eye out for fallen branches, casually picking them up along the way.
Gu Zheng walked slightly ahead and to her side, occasionally using a stick he’d picked up to sweep thorny vines out of the path.
Shen An was an incurable chatterbox.
One moment he was talking to Pei Nian, the next he was chatting with Gu Zheng.
Unfortunately for him, Gu Zheng usually responded with nothing more than a quiet “Mm.”
Zhou Jin and Jiang Xu were even quieter.
Other than bending down to collect firewood, they hardly spoke.
Eventually, the mountain path split into two.
Looking at the steeper trail on the left, Zhou Jin turned to the others.
“I want to check over there.”
“I’ll go with you,” Jiang Xu said.
The two of them turned onto the left-hand trail.
Watching their figures disappear one behind the other, Pei Nian’s inner gossip enthusiast came alive again.
Those two definitely have something going on.
The remaining three—Pei Nian, Gu Zheng, and Shen An—took the gentler path to the right.
The deeper they went, the denser the forest became.
Suddenly, Gu Zheng stopped.
He raised one hand, signaling them to stay still.
His sharp gaze fixed on a clump of bushes ahead as he held his breath.
Instinctively, Pei Nian and Shen An quieted their own breathing.
In the next instant, Gu Zheng flicked his wrist.
A pebble shot through the air like lightning, disappearing into the brush.
Whoosh!
A gray blur burst from the bushes.
Another pebble immediately followed.
Gu Zheng walked over and emerged holding two plump wild rabbits.
Both had obvious blunt-force injuries to the head and were already dead.
“Holy—Brother Zheng, that’s amazing!”
Shen An exclaimed excitedly.
“We’re in for a feast!”
Pei Nian looked at Gu Zheng in surprise.
His technique…
His accuracy…
He really was the big boss.
Without changing expression, Gu Zheng handed the rabbits to Shen An.
“Find somewhere and clean them.”
Clearly experienced at this sort of thing, Shen An cheerfully accepted the rabbits and headed to a nearby clearing where a small stream flowed. He skillfully skinned and cleaned them.
Meanwhile, Gu Zheng gathered dry branches and quickly built a small campfire.
Watching them work together so seamlessly, Pei Nian could immediately tell they had done this many times before.
What surprised her even more was that Gu Zheng took a small oil-paper packet from his shoulder bag.
Inside was fine salt.
He also produced a tiny bottle filled with mixed barbecue seasoning.
“You actually carry that around?” Pei Nian couldn’t help asking.
As he handed the seasonings to Shen An, who was threading rabbit meat onto sharpened sticks, Gu Zheng answered calmly,
“It’s a habit. Better to be prepared.”
Shen An grinned.
Taking the seasonings, he began showing off his grilling skills.
His control over the fire was excellent.
The rabbit sizzled over the flames as fat dripped into the fire, sending up tempting bursts of flame.
Before long, the aroma of roasting meat mixed with spices filled the forest.
The finished rabbit was crisp on the outside and tender on the inside.
Shen An tore off the plumpest hind leg first and handed it to Pei Nian.
“Comrade Pei, try my cooking!”
“Thanks.”
She blew on it gently before taking a careful bite.
Her eyes immediately lit up.
Giving Shen An a thumbs-up, she declared,
“Mmm! It’s delicious!”
The flavor really was professional.
Watching her satisfied expression, the corners of Gu Zheng’s lips unconsciously curved upward.
He quietly picked up a piece of rabbit and began eating as well.
Encouraged by the praise, Shen An grilled with even greater enthusiasm.
The three of them sat around the campfire, eating fragrant roast rabbit.
As Pei Nian happily gnawed on her rabbit leg, watching Shen An busily tending the fire and Gu Zheng quietly eating with his unmistakable presence, she couldn’t help thinking…
Life in the countryside wasn’t so bad after all. At least, it could be surprisingly enjoyable once in a while.