The scene Yan Pandi's mother made at the Educated Youth Spot was known to everyone in the team. Privately, they all said Yan Pandi was foolish to casually give away food to others.
Although Zhao Shuwen returned the money, some still believed he wouldn't have paid if Zhou Erhua hadn't caused the scene.
To be honest, this wasn't Song Xiu Jun's first encounter with someone obsessed with love. Her original body's birth mother was the ultimate example—caring only about men, even abandoning her own daughter for them.
But she still couldn't understand: are men really that important?
Yan Pandi's act of stealing money for love could be explained. She had never been to school, the farthest she'd ever been was the commune, and at home, she received no affection from her parents, often being beaten. So she clung to the warmth outsiders gave her.
But her original body's mother was different. Before marriage, she was doted on by her parents and brother in the Li family, her sister-in-law was reasonable and not harsh, and she herself had graduated from high school, coming from a scholarly family.
How could she so easily fall for men's sweet talk?
At least Educated Youth Zhao was somewhat appealing to girls—fair-skinned, refined, and not short.
Aside from his height, Jiang Jian Guo's face was completely unimpressive.
When Li Qiu Ying was young, she was pretty and delicate, with a gentle, soft-spoken demeanor. Many families wanted her as a daughter-in-law. Fearing she might be bullied, her parents specifically chose Song Minghua for her—good-looking, with a job, no in-laws, and a considerate, meticulous nature.
Who would have thought that after marrying such a high-quality man like Song Minghua, she would spend so many years fawning over Jiang Jian Guo in her second marriage?
It's baffling… incomprehensible…
"By the way, Anzi Ge, I saw Educated Youth Zhao talking to your younger sister during the day today."
"What?!" Yan Xiang'an widened his eyes in anger.
"Really, although they only exchanged a few words, it didn't seem like the first time they'd spoken," Yan Xiaomi said. "But they were too far away, so I couldn't hear what they were saying."
Yan Xiang'an scratched his head irritably. "That silly girl."
"We're here," Yan Xiaomi whispered as a reminder.
Yan Xiang'an snapped back to attention. Whether his younger sister was being sweet-talked or not, the most important task now was catching rabbits. He took off his basket and directed, "Xiaomi and I have already scouted the path. This burrow should have three entrances. The three of us can each guard one. We'll block the entrances with our baskets, and I'll drive the rabbits from another entrance toward you."
"As long as you two press the baskets down firmly, the rabbits won't escape."
Yan Xiang'an had a solid plan. He had discovered this rabbit burrow by chance and, afraid of startling the rabbits and causing them to relocate—preventing a full capture—he hadn't dared to get too close. He had scouted from a distance and, unable to come up the mountain often, had spent several days locating all three entrances.
He handed his basket to Song Xiu Jun, while Yan Xiaomi carried one as well.
Song Xiu Jun thought for a moment and suggested, "How about using smoke? If you poke from another hole, you might injure the rabbits."
"I have experience; I won't hurt them. Mainly, we didn't bring any fire," Yan Xiang'an said. He was primarily worried that smoke at night might be seen, and with poor visibility, any stray sparks could cause a mountain fire, which would be disastrous.
So it hadn't even occurred to him to bring matches up the mountain.
This burrow contained a total of eight rabbits, large and small, and both baskets were filled.
Yan Xiang'an proudly planted his hands on his hips. "See, Xiu Jun? Following me brings such good luck!"
Yan Xiaomi clapped excitedly. "Anzi Ge is amazing! Anzi Ge is the best!"
"You each take one rabbit home to eat secretly. I'll sell the rest to others. We'll split the earnings with me taking four parts and you each taking three. Any objections?"
Yan Xiaomi shook her head. What objections could Song Xiu Jun have? Honestly, Yan Xiang'an didn't even need to bring her along to find the rabbit warren. Still, she accepted her share without guilt—after all, he was her lifesaver~
The three stealthily descended the mountain again. Yan Xiaomi's household only consisted of his widowed mother and younger sister, so any game they caught was usually hidden at his place. Yan Xiang'an couldn't keep such things at his home—with his large family including grandparents, parents, elder brother and sister-in-law, younger sister, nephews and nieces, there was always the risk of a child accidentally revealing something and causing trouble for the Brigade leader.
Arriving at Yan Xiaomi's doorstep, his younger sister Yan Xiaohe quietly opened the door to let them in. The siblings hid the carrying baskets.
Song Xiu Jun then headed home. Yan Xiang'an, uneasy about a female comrade walking alone at night, followed at a distance until he saw her enter her courtyard before turning back.
The entire Xianghong Brigade was exceptionally quiet. Yan Xiang'an quickened his pace and slipped in through the backyard.
Just as he was about to enter his room, he heard two coughs from his grandfather's quarters.
"Grandpa, still awake?" he whispered, leaning close to the window.
"Already asleep, just sleepwalking," came a hoarse, rough voice from inside.
"Heh, carry on then," Yan Xiang'an quipped before ducking into his room.
The next day, he skipped work again to sell the rabbits before returning. Xianghong Brigade was far from the commune, so he always dealt with a man from the neighboring brigade who had Black market connections. Though the price was lower than at the Black market, it was more convenient.
Even though he returned early, he still didn't go to work—the busiest period of the autumn harvest had already passed anyway.
"Second son, where have you been loafing off to today? Skipping work again—trying to anger your father to death, are you? You really don't care what people say!" Lin Sulan returned early from work to cook and immediately grabbed her second son's ear in frustration.
"Ow, ow, Mom, let go!" Yan Xiang'an gasped in pain, caught off guard. "Let them talk—I'm not afraid of a few gossipy remarks. It's not like I'll lose chunks of flesh. Besides, even though I skipped work, I didn't ask Dad to give me extra work points."
"Your grandpa's almost seventy and still works every day. Your annual work points can't even match the brigade's young women!" Lin Sulan lamented her son's lack of ambition. "Son, you're twenty already—well past the age for marriage proposals. Do you see any matchmakers visiting our house? When your father was your age, he already had your elder brother. Even your younger sister is old enough for marriage talks now."
"Don't worry about me—worry about your precious daughter instead!" Yan Xiang'an rubbed his sore ear meekly.
"What about your sister?" Lin Sulan glanced sideways.
"Yesterday I saw her chatting with that newly arrived Educated Youth Zhao. They seemed quite familiar," Yan Xiang'an mentioned only what he'd personally observed, leaving out Yan Xiaomi's involvement.
Lin Sulan seemed doubtful. "Really?"
"If you don't believe me, ask her yourself."
"It's all the school's fault—proper students should attend classes instead of having lessons suspended with nothing productive to do," Lin Sulan grumbled discontentedly.
"My dear mother, please don't say such things carelessly!" Yan Xiang'an quickly cautioned her.
Lin Sulan knew she had spoken out of turn, but even though they were in the yard, her voice wasn't loud enough for passersby outside to clearly overhear.
Distracted by her own words, she lost the urge to scold her son and strode irritably into the kitchen. "Help me tend the fire!"
Soon, the Yan family members returned one after another. Yan's eldest daughter-in-law and Yan's youngest daughter came into the kitchen to help.
Yan's eldest son worked at the commune and usually didn't come home.
After the meal, Yan's youngest daughter followed her eldest sister-in-law to clear the table. Seeing Lin Sulan in the yard, she hurried over and whispered, "Mom, could you boil me another egg?"
Lin Sulan was folding the sun-dried laundry. "Didn't I boil one for you this morning? We don't have that many eggs to spare. No."
"Mom, please boil me just one. Lately…lately I've been feeling dizzy. I need an egg to replenish myself." Yan's youngest daughter wheedled, clinging to her mother's arm.
"No, absolutely not. We're running low on eggs at home." They had traded eggs for brown sugar and cigarettes recently, leaving few left. The remaining ones were meant to be taken to the Commune Supply and Marketing Cooperative to barter for household necessities.
No family could afford the luxury of eating two eggs a day.
Nowadays, every household had a fixed quota for raising chickens.
Failing to get her egg, Yan's youngest daughter sulked and ran inside, abandoning the dishes for Yan's eldest daughter-in-law to wash alone.
Infuriated, Lin Sulan stood in the yard cursing.
Yan's eldest daughter-in-law, simple-natured, didn't mind at all. "Mom, I can wash them myself. No need for Younger Sister to help."
"What do you mean, no need? Doesn't she eat? Should she just grow a mouth and wait to be fed?" The Yan family had no tradition of supporting idle members.
Grandpa Yan, sitting by the main room door smoking, tapped his pipe slowly and said, "Let her have an extra one tomorrow. I'll skip mine."
"That won't do. How can she snatch food from her elders? And she's a high school student too—all those years of schooling wasted." Lin Sulan's tone softened. "Dad, pay her no mind. The older she gets, the more unreasonable she becomes. Not a single one of them gives me peace."