As long as she ran fast enough, trouble wouldn’t be able to catch up with her!
Su Meier sprinted all the way home in one breath.
“Little Sister, you’re finally back. Everyone’s been waiting for you to come home so we could eat!”
Zhang Aiyuan greeted her the moment she arrived, and surprisingly, her tone was unusually friendly.
The sudden change left Su Meier feeling a little uncomfortable, causing her to take half a step back.
“Sister-in-law, you’re all back already?”
Smiling, Zhang Aiyuan replied,
“We only got back about fifteen minutes before you.”
The moment she returned and smelled the aroma of meat, she had thought she was dreaming.
Who would have guessed this little sister-in-law had such skills?
She definitely couldn’t keep mocking her in the future.
“Meier’s back! Hurry and wash your hands. Time to eat.”
Mother Liang emerged from the kitchen carrying a plate of braised rabbit meat.
Su Dabao followed behind her.
The moment he spotted Su Meier, he excitedly ran over.
“Auntie! Grandma said we could start eating as soon as you got back!”
He had been craving rabbit meat all afternoon.
After washing her hands, Su Meier sat down with Dabao beside her.
“Alright, let’s eat.”
She had been craving it too.
“Daughter, how was your first day at work? Did you adapt well?”
Father Su looked at her complexion and thought she seemed alright, but he still asked.
“Dad, it was pretty good.”
Su Meier wasn’t exaggerating.
The day had been manageable, aside from being a little tiring in the morning.
“What do you mean ‘pretty good’? Look at all the blisters on your hands.”
Mother Liang’s eyes immediately reddened.
Su Meier hadn’t expected to be caught.
Most of those blisters had actually come from making the compound bow.
“Mom, it’s nothing serious. They’ll heal in a few days.”
“Old man, once this replacement job ends, can’t Meier come home and stop working?”
Mother Liang would rather work harder herself than let her daughter suffer.
Father Su rubbed his teacup thoughtfully.
“Daughter, what do you think?”
Even record keepers still had to participate in labor and earn work points.
If she could endure it, adapting now might be beneficial.
Su Meier knew very well that in this era, she couldn’t stay at home living off her parents forever.
But she could certainly choose an easier job.
After all, her father was the production team captain.
Besides, in an era without phones, television, or the internet, doing absolutely nothing all day would be unbearably boring.
“After Chen Qingqing returns from leave, I’d like to switch to a job with a little more freedom. I don’t mind earning fewer work points.”
A hint of relief appeared on Father Su’s face.
His daughter really had grown up.
“Then go cut grass. How many work points you earn will depend on how much grass you cut.”
Cutting grass?
Perfect.
That was exactly what she wanted.
She could even hunt along the way.
“I’ll do that.”
Zhang Aiyuan wanted to object, but the words never left her mouth.
Grass cutting was certainly easier, but it earned fewer work points.
There was no point arguing over it.
In her opinion, with Su Meier’s physique, earning four or five work points a day was already her limit.
Mother Liang’s mood brightened considerably.
At least her daughter wouldn’t have to work herself to exhaustion anymore.
“Eat, eat! Old man, try the rabbit your daughter caught.”
She placed a rabbit hind leg into Father Su’s bowl.
Once the elders began eating, Su Mingding first picked up two pieces for his wife and child before eagerly helping himself.
After one bite, he narrowed his eyes in satisfaction.
“Little Sister, Mom said you caught this rabbit using a bow you made yourself.
All that studying really wasn’t wasted.
You actually turned knowledge into something useful.
Unlike me—I only made it through middle school.”
Even then, he had been forced by his father to continue studying.
After all, becoming the production team’s accountant required education.
Zhang Aiyuan quickly agreed.
“That’s right! Little Sister is amazing!”
Then she asked eagerly,
“Are you going hunting again tomorrow?”
She wanted meat at every meal.
Su Dabao lifted his greasy little face.
“Auntie, I want to go catch rabbits with you too!”
Mother Liang, however, was worried about her daughter constantly running into the mountains.
“Meier, do you think the food at home isn’t good enough? Are you not getting enough to eat?
How about I stop saving those eggs and start boiling some for you every day?”
In a few days, the tomatoes in the yard would be ready to harvest.
Three eggs would be enough to make a large plate of tomato and egg stir-fry for the family.
She could even save an extra egg specifically for her daughter.
“Grandma, me too! Me too!”
Su Dabao immediately raised his hand.
He hadn’t eaten eggs in several days and missed them.
Zhang Aiyuan hadn’t expected her usually frugal mother-in-law to be so generous.
Unfortunately, the generosity was directed toward her daughter, not herself or her son.
That left her feeling slightly jealous.
Mother Liang placed another piece of rabbit meat into Dabao’s bowl.
“Of course everyone gets a share.”
Dabao’s eyes lit up.
“Thank you, Grandma!”
Then he immediately buried his head back in his food.
Su Meier shook her head.
Eating eggs every day wasn’t enough.
Wild game and snacks were her ultimate goals.
“Mom, I’ll only look around the foot of the mountain. I won’t go anywhere dangerous.
Don’t worry. Nothing will happen.
And if I’m lucky, maybe I’ll even catch a wild boar.”
She glanced at Dabao’s enthusiastic eating.
Seeing everyone enjoy the food gave her a sense of accomplishment.
The moment Mother Liang heard the words wild boar, her expression changed.
“That’s absolutely not happening! Listen to your mother and stay away from wild boars.”
“Got it, got it.”
Su Meier nodded repeatedly.
“I’ll just check around the foot of the mountain tomorrow.
Maybe I’ll find some wild chickens.
If I’m lucky, we can have something different for dinner.”
Seeing that her daughter appeared to be listening, Mother Liang finally relaxed.
At that moment, Father Su suddenly spoke.
“Daughter, always do what you can and know your limits.
Accept that everyone has limitations.
Don’t force yourself.”
He had never restricted his children’s ambitions.
But hunting was inherently dangerous, especially for a young woman.
Naturally, he worried.
Su Meier looked at him blankly for a moment.
She understood exactly what he meant.
Do your best.
The result isn’t the most important thing.
Your safety is.
Parents this open-minded and loving were rare even in the 1970s.
Especially in a rural village.
She thought to herself that perhaps this was the silver lining amidst all her misfortune.
“I understand, Dad. I’ll be careful.”
After dinner, Father Su sat leisurely in a rattan chair in the courtyard.
From his well-worn tobacco pouch, polished smooth with years of use, he pinched out some tobacco and skillfully packed it into his pipe.
With a soft click, he lit it.
Thin wisps of smoke drifted upward.
Leaning comfortably against the backrest, he narrowed his eyes.
“She has my spirit from back then.
She’d make an excellent soldier.
Too bad she’s a girl.”
Mother Liang laughed.
“Oh, please. We only have one daughter.
We already spoil her enough.
If she were a son too, wouldn’t that just give you even more headaches?”
Just look at their second son.
He used to spend all day away from home.
Now he was practically invisible.
Occasionally, he would send a letter to let them know he was safe.
If their daughter were another son, she’d probably be just as troublesome.
Then she’d have nothing left to look forward to.
Father Su said nothing.
His silence seemed to confirm her words.
Back in her room, Su Meier picked up several pieces of wood stacked in the corner.
After thinking for a moment, she decided to make a few more arrows.
By the time she finished nearly her eighth arrow, the courtyard had finally grown quiet.
Only the sounds of frogs and cicadas echoed through the night.
She quietly opened her door and stepped outside.
Under the faint moonlight, she seemed to spot a tall, slender shadow standing beneath the locust tree near the entrance.