The elderly women present had lived for decades, but this was the first time they had heard someone reject an offer in such a manner. For a moment, they were all dumbfounded.
"But… my son…" Li Gaiying stared in disbelief at the young Educated Youth who looked completely serious.
"Old woman, I know your son is eager to get married, but don't rush," Song Xiu Jun said leisurely. "A comrade as excellent as me deserves to meet a few more prospects. If the other party isn't satisfied, then he's being unreasonable. I don't want such a male comrade—he's too arrogant."
Wait, who's the arrogant one here?… Li Gaiying felt utterly confused…
Wang Danniang couldn't help but chuckle.
"You few are gathered here gossiping again. Don't think I won't deduct your work points," the small team leader scolded angrily.
The elderly women scattered in an instant.
Wang Damei nudged Song Xiu Jun with her elbow: "Little Song Zhiqing, I didn't expect you to be so articulate. Li Gaiying is no ordinary person in our Production Team."
"How is she not ordinary?"
"Her fourth son rarely earns ten work points a year—usually only six or seven. He's not outstanding in the team, and his looks aren't great either. Most of what she says should be taken with a grain of salt."
"The best-looking in our Production Team is the Brigade leader's youngest son. You've seen him before."
Song Xiu Jun raised an eyebrow and instinctively glanced at Yan Xiang'an, who was slacking off in the fields.
"It's just that he's too lazy. His annual work points are about the same as a ten-year-old child's," Wang Damei said disdainfully. "Otherwise, with his looks and family background, he would have been matched long ago."
Song Xiu Jun shrugged. It wasn't her concern anyway, and she had no intention of getting married.
"Wang Danniang, I plan to host a housewarming after the autumn harvest. Would you have time to help?"
Wang Danniang lived close to the Educated Youth Spot, and the two had a good relationship. She would definitely invite her to the housewarming.
Wang Damei patted her chest: "My cooking skills might not compare to the State-run restaurant's, but they're among the best in Xianghong Brigade."
Truth be told, many people's meals didn't taste good, mostly because they were reluctant to use seasonings.
"I also want to start a vegetable patch in my small yard. Could you help with that too? I'll pay you one yuan," she whispered, holding up one finger.
Wang Damei's eyes lit up: "You can count on me. This old woman is diligent—I'll even provide the seeds for you."
Although Song Xiu Jun's house was completed, she couldn't move in immediately. The kang needed to be heated for two days before it could be used. However, with the autumn harvest approaching, she wasn't in a hurry to relocate.
She had previously ordered some furniture from Niu Dan's family—a washbasin stand, a small table, a chair, and a small stool—but these hadn't been finished due to the autumn harvest.
The autumn harvest was utterly exhausting. The Brigade leader was extremely strict. Usually, they could take breaks and chat with nearby team members, but now if you paused for more than five seconds, the small team leader's shouts would echo across the fields.
Song Xiu Jun had previously traveled through various dimensional worlds with her hosts. Some hosts had been Educated Youth or directly served as Production Team members, but back then she was just an intangible system attached to the host's brain, completely unaware of the hosts' hardships.
Only now was she truly experiencing what it felt like to be exhausted to the point of collapse.
She fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow every day. Even though the house was fully aired, she had no energy to move.
After the autumn harvest concluded and a couple of days had passed, Song Xiu Jun finally moved her luggage with the help of the other Educated Youths.
Niu Dan’s family had also finished making the custom furniture and had Niu Dan’s father deliver it.
Song Xiu Jun chose the day after tomorrow to host a housewarming banquet, inviting the Educated Youths and the Production Team leadership for a meal. She also asked Wang Danniang to help with the cooking.
So she needed to gather some presentable ingredients. Without meat ration coupons, her only option was to go up the mountain to hunt.
On the night of the move, she secretly slipped up the mountain to hunt.
Song Xiu Jun changed into black clothes and crept up the mountain. After passing the outer area, she took a headlamp from her space and put it on, gripping a firewood knife in her hand.
She fully activated the map function to search for pheasant nests.
With the cheat-like assistance, she directly raided a pheasant nest, caught one pheasant, and collected five pheasant eggs. She stored the eggs in her space and tossed the pheasant into her backpack.
She could have bought a chicken in the village, but hens were each family’s treasure and very hard to purchase—no wonder they were called "hen butt banks."
Currently, no family had a hen that wasn’t laying eggs. It was only with Wang Danniang’s help that she managed to trade for one, but one wasn’t enough, which was why she thought of hunting a wild pheasant.
After walking further in, she suddenly heard rapid running footsteps. She quickly turned off the headlamp, threw it back into her space, and swiftly climbed a nearby large tree.
Just as she settled shakily on the tree, she saw a figure dart out from the woods. She focused her eyes and recognized Yan Xiang’an—and behind him was a massive wild boar, huge in size, its tusks gleaming coldly under the moonlight.
Good grief!
This guy really had no fear of death.
Song Xiu Jun took a crossbow from her space, aimed at the wild boar, and with a whoosh, the bolt shot into the boar’s eye. After losing one eye, the boar began to lose direction but also went berserk.
This was her first time using this crossbow—it was a weapon left by a previous host, naturally remaining in her space after unbinding.
As a system connected to the Quick Transmigration Bureau’s vast database, she could comprehend astronomy, geography, and all of history, but that was limited to knowledge. Without a physical form, how could she have practical experience? So her accuracy was quite average.
Luckily, her aim was decent enough. The second bolt hit the boar’s body, and Song Xiu Jun quickly fired a third and fourth bolt, none of them missing.
Fortunately, Yan Xiang’an wasn’t useless either. He held a large machete and seized every opportunity to inflict more damage on the boar. The two cooperated seamlessly.
Song Xiu Jun climbed down from the tree and raised her firewood knife. Her knife wasn’t as sharp as Yan Xiang’an’s, but luckily the effects of the first Invigorating Pill hadn’t completely worn off.
Working together, they finally brought down the wild boar.
The boar died a rather gruesome death, covered in knife and arrow wounds, hacked to pieces with no intact flesh left.
Yan Xiang’an plopped down on the ground, panting heavily—today had nearly been his death anniversary.
After a while, his hands still trembling, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Thank you, Xiu Jun. You saved my life today. If there’s anything I can help with in the future, just say the word. I, Yan Xiang’an, will definitely assist."
He still felt his scalp tingling with fear.
Song Xiu Jun was also exhausted and waved her hand. "Alright, then always remember this favor."
"Don’t worry, I’ll sell this boar and split the money with you—how about half?"
"Sixty for me, forty for you," Song Xiu Jun said without hesitation.
Yan Xiang’an didn’t hesitate at all. "Deal, let’s split it that way."
Song Xiu Jun didn't care whether Yan Xiang'an could transport the wild boar away. Feeling richly rewarded for the night, she simply stood up and left.
She sneaked back to her house and discovered blood stains on her clothes when holding up a lamp. She changed immediately and tossed the clothes into her space – they were ruined.
The next day at noon after work, Yan Xiang'an secretly came to her yard and handed her fifty-five yuan: "I hired help to transport the boar, and the buyer took a cut. After deducting these costs, this is your sixty percent share."
"This piece of pork is for you. I heard you're having guests tomorrow," he said, pulling out a piece of pork belly from his cloth bag.
Song Xiu Jun didn't know the black market rates, but she trusted this man wouldn't cheat his lifesaver, so she accepted directly.
"But what kind of arrows did you use yesterday? They were quite effective. Want to hunt together next time? Fifty-fifty split," Yan Xiang'an invited.
"Sure," Song Xiu Jun didn't want to deprive herself of good food. She needed a way to get meat, otherwise why would she bother having this separate courtyard.
"But not too frequently," she added, "yesterday's situation was too dangerous."
She was no longer an intangible system now, but flesh and blood. When it's time to be cautious, she must be cautious.
Late last night, she had dreamed of being chased and hunted by the wild boar family in revenge, running all night long.
Yan Xiang'an explained: "I don't often go after wild boars in the mountains. I only occasionally catch pheasants and rabbits. The biggest game I've hunted are silly roe deer. Wild boars are usually hunted in winter when the militia captain leads us up the mountain. The militia has hunting guns."
He wasn't a fool who would risk his life for meat.
Going up the mountain wasn't solely for hunting either. Having learned about medicinal herbs from the barefoot doctor before, he sometimes gathered herbs to sell to the commune hospital for money.