She soon spotted a group of raggedly dressed children carrying small baskets as they played and chased one another ahead of her. They were probably out gathering pig grass as well. Li Lezhi quickly walked over and called out gently, “Little comrades, wait a moment. I want to ask you something. If you tell me, I’ll give you some candy.”
The children immediately scattered in all directions upon hearing her.
Speechless, Li Lezhi called after them, “I’m not a bad person. I’m here to gather pig grass and earn grain too. I just don’t know which grasses pigs can eat. If any of you can teach me, I’ll give you a piece of candy.”
In the end, a sturdy-looking boy with a round face could not resist the temptation. He turned back and asked suspiciously, “Are you telling the truth?”
Li Lezhi opened her palm to reveal the candy and answered sincerely, “I never lie. Look, it’s real candy.”
The children all gasped in surprise.
The others immediately stopped running and crowded around her, their eyes shining with excitement as they stared fixedly at the candy. In this era, candy was one of the most irresistible things imaginable for children.
“Why are you coming with us to gather pig grass instead of working in the fields?” one boy asked curiously.
Li Lezhi smiled slightly. “Big Sister isn’t very healthy. My stomach hurts whenever I do heavy labor, so I can only do easier work with you.” As she spoke, she deliberately put on a pained expression.
The tactic worked perfectly. The children immediately looked at her with sympathy.
Just like that, Li Lezhi successfully joined their group. The whole scene made her feel like a trafficker luring children away with candy.
After learning which grasses could be collected as pig feed, she secretly dug up some and transplanted them into her space, keeping them growing within a designated area. Afterwards, she gave each child two White Rabbit milk candies before leaving their group. The children even offered to help gather grass for her, but she politely declined. Their enthusiasm made her feel rather embarrassed.
At that moment, she was already climbing through the outer region of the Qingshan mountain range, slowly making her way forward.
The paths in the outer area were still fairly easy to traverse. Since the entire village relied on firewood for fuel, only tall trees remained standing throughout the mountains.
She cut herself a wooden stick and used it to probe the ground ahead while heading toward more secluded areas.
The outer mountain yielded almost nothing. Since she had the spiritual spring space, she wasn’t particularly afraid of wild animals and could roam freely. At this time of day, there were usually no people around either.
Once she reached the middle region of the mountain, the sounds of insects and birds echoed continuously through the forest. Remaining alert to her surroundings, she suddenly noticed a pheasant sitting in a nest within a patch of grass ahead. Had her eyesight not improved after drinking the spiritual spring water, she probably would never have spotted it.
Sneaking forward, she suppressed her excitement and struck swiftly and decisively.
The pheasant died instantly.
Beneath it were six eggs, which she collected as well.
She really needed to move out and live on her own soon. Otherwise, even eating meat would be inconvenient. Every day at the Sent-down Youth point consisted of coarse grains and wild vegetables. If this continued for a month, she felt she might become depressed.
Keeping a careful watch on her surroundings, she dug a suitable fire pit. Then she took out the pots, bowls, and cooking utensils she had brought from home and began cooking in the mountains.
An hour later, she had simmered a rich pot of chicken soup using spiritual spring water.
The moment she lifted the lid, she finally understood that the phrase “its fragrance travels ten miles” was no exaggeration.
Unable to wait any longer, she filled a bowl and drank eagerly.
The taste was so good that tears nearly came to her eyes.
Afterward, she wandered around the middle mountain area for a while longer and managed to catch two wild rabbits. Beyond that, she found nothing particularly useful.
In this era, everything belonged collectively to the people. Small game like rabbits could be quietly taken home and eaten, provided one had the skill to catch them. Larger prey, however, had to be shared.
After spending the entire day in the mountains, she did not feel tired at all. The cool mountain breeze brought her a rare sense of peace and tranquility.
Meanwhile, the pig grass she had secretly planted in her space had already spread into a dense patch after only a single day, meaning she no longer needed to spend time cutting it herself.
This job suited her perfectly.
It gave her plenty of time to search the mountains for wild goods and medicinal herbs while still earning work points. Truly the best of both worlds.
When she reached the outer area again, she packed everything into her basket and headed down the mountain toward the pigpen.
Soon, a kind-looking old man in his fifties came into view. He noticed her approaching and smiled warmly.
“Little girl, looks like you’ve gathered quite a lot of pig grass today.”
Li Lezhi smiled back.
“Yes, I got lucky. I got lost after wandering around and happened to find a large patch growing nearby.”
As she spoke, she set down her basket before him.
The old man examined the lush green pig grass and nodded approvingly.
“Not bad at all. But don’t go wandering into the deep mountains by yourself. Even the best hunter in our team, Hunter Lin, wouldn’t dare venture too far inside.”
“I know. I only walk around nearby,” Li Lezhi replied with a smile.
Soon afterward, she easily earned two work points and headed back toward the Sent-down Youth point.
Halfway there, she spotted several village women gathered together gossiping about the day’s events in the fields. One of them noticed her approaching and called out loudly:
“Li Sent-down Youth, you’re in for a treat today!”
“That’s right. Who would’ve thought that Comrade Shen would be so capable? She actually caught a wild rabbit right there in the fields,” another woman added with obvious envy.
The jealousy was practically overflowing.
“And that’s Meifeng too. The rabbit ran right past her, yet she still couldn’t catch it,” another woman lamented regretfully. Then she turned to Li Lezhi and said, “Comrade Li, you’d better hurry back. Otherwise there won’t even be bones left for you.”
Li Lezhi could only nod repeatedly before quickening her pace.
Even after she had walked some distance away, she could still hear the women’s jealous chatter drifting behind her.
She truly had no way of dealing with them.
When she arrived at the Sent-down Youth point, everyone was laughing and chatting enthusiastically. The atmosphere was livelier than during a festival.
“Oh? Comrade Li finally decided to come back early. Don’t tell me you rushed back because you heard there was meat to eat?” Ruan Zhaodi’s voice rang out from the crowd.
“Don’t say that. Comrade Li is wealthy, after all. She wouldn’t care about a few pieces of meat,” Shen Yueyue said proudly.
Li Lezhi was utterly speechless.
In this era, a little bit of meat was enough to fuel gossip for three days and nights. If they knew she had two wild rabbits stored in her space, who knew what kind of commotion it would cause?
Zhou Junling adjusted his glasses and said, “Alright. Just as Comrade Zhao said, we’re all one collective. Let’s cook and eat together.”
As he spoke, his gaze drifted toward Li Lezhi.
Shen Yueyue was furious inside. She knew Li Lezhi was a vixen who would attract Zhou Junling’s attention. Maintaining a forced smile, she said, “Comrade Zhou is truly knowledgeable. His thinking is far more advanced than ours.”
Her eyes were filled with admiration as she looked at him.
These people were truly exhausting.
Li Lezhi had no interest in whatever the Female Lead and male lead were scheming.
“You all go ahead and eat. I’ve been climbing mountains all day and I’m tired, so I won’t be joining you. I won’t be contributing my grain portion today either.”
After speaking to the person in charge of the Sent-down Youth point, she turned and returned to her room.
Seeing this, Shen Yueyue deliberately said, “Comrade Zhou, since Comrade Li doesn’t appreciate it, let’s forget about it. I originally wanted to use this meal as an opportunity to apologize to her, but it seems I won’t get the chance.”
She wore a heartbroken expression.
A trace of disappointment flashed through Zhou Junling’s eyes.
“Forget it, you’ve already done your best. Don’t worry too much about what others think,” he comforted softly.