Tietui, however, was overjoyed. He pattered over to the man and shouted,
“Uncle Yuan!”
The man reached out with his iron clamp-like hands, grabbed Tietui under the armpits, and lifted him—backpack and all—straight into the air.
Miao Qing’s eyes went wide. This wild man was incredibly strong.
Tietui laughed happily and shouted toward the yard,
“Taohua, open the door!
Mom, Uncle Yuan is here! Uncle Yuan is here!”
Taohua came running and threw open the gate, still holding a kitchen knife. When she saw it really was Uncle Yuan, she jumped up and down excitedly.
“Uncle Yuan! Uncle Yuan!”
The man put Tietui down and lifted Taohua up the same way.
Miao Qing…
He had a bit of a robotic vibe.
Yang Xiaomei was visibly moved at the sight of the man, tears streaming down her face. She kept saying he was their family’s greatest benefactor—if it weren’t for him, she would have died long ago.
Only then did Miao Qing learn that the man’s name was Yuan Zhang. His father had been a hunter in the village. After his mother died tragically, he took three-year-old Yuan Zhang to live in the mountains.
Two years ago, Sanluzi had gone into the mountains to gather herbs and was attacked by wolves—Yuan Zhang saved him, and the two became close friends.
Sanluzi helped him sell his game and buy salt, grain, and medicine, while Yuan Zhang helped him find wild goods and herbs.
Sanluzi always said he had no brothers, but he and Yuan Zhang were the closest—as good as blood brothers.
Unfortunately, when Sanluzi met his end, Yuan Zhang had gone hunting deep in the mountains and couldn’t make it back in time to see him off one last time.
Yuan Zhang felt deeply guilty about this. After hearing the news, he’d made a special trip to deliver twenty yuan and a bundle of ginseng whiskers his father had left behind.
Without that money and those ginseng whiskers, Yang Xiaomei wouldn’t have survived her difficult labor.
Miao Qing looked at the man who had taken off his leather hat and coat—messy hair, unshaven, dark-skinned, but with eyes like cold stars and a nose as sharp as a blade—and couldn’t help frowning.
His appearance didn’t match “warm-hearted good brother” at all.
No matter how she looked at him, this guy exuded a fierce, murderous aura.
Was it because he’d been a hunter too long and killed too many animals?
But she’d seen people who worked at slaughterhouses before, and they didn’t look like this.
Miao Qing’s suspicions grew. Meanwhile, Li Youzhang, who had slipped into the village disguised as Yuan Zhang, was even more unsettled.
He hadn’t expected to run into this girl so soon—nor had he expected her to be an educated youth from the city, a distant relative of Yang Xiaomei’s, now staying with her family.
A city girl, sickly from childhood, so frail she couldn’t even take care of herself without help—yet she could beat a grown man senseless with her bare hands, and go alone into the mountains in the dead of winter to pick persimmons and catch pheasants.
How could that not be suspicious?
And that lump on the back of the good-for-nothing’s head—he still had no idea what had caused it.
In short, this female educated youth was off—very off.
Her appearance at Sanluzi’s house at this time might not be a coincidence, but something carefully planned.
Thinking of Sanluzi’s death, and the target who had gone into hiding somewhere, Yuan Zhang made a firm decision.
He would stay in the brigade through the New Year and keep an eye on this girl named Miao Qing.
If she was an accomplice of those people, he would protect Sanluzi’s family and use her to track down the target.
If she wasn’t, he would still get to the bottom of her suspicious behavior—he could not allow a dangerous element to infiltrate the masses.
Both found the other suspicious, but neither showed it. They maintained a polite, distant courtesy while covertly observing each other.
Tietui was overjoyed. His sister had caught a pheasant, and Uncle Yuan had brought dried meat—so much meat he didn’t even know how to cook it all.
He chopped the pheasant into pieces, had Taohua soak all the remaining vermicelli and a handful of dried beans.
He cut up some potatoes and cabbage, mixed some cornmeal for sticking to the pan, and decided they were going to have a proper feast today.
Miao Qing was already starving. She took a bite of roasted potato, followed by a bite of stir-fried pickled vegetables, and when she felt it was too dry, she turned to Yang Xiaomei.
Yang Xiaomei quickly raised the enamel mug to feed her a sip of water. Watching her wolf down the food, she couldn’t help but fret,
“Don’t go into the mountains alone again—look how hungry you are.
That young man surnamed Zhang—I’ve already sent him away. He won’t be coming back. Don’t go putting yourself through hardship just to avoid him anymore.”
Miao Qing was curious.
“How did you send him away?”
Yang Xiaomei laughed.
“That boy’s soft-hearted—easy to talk to.
I told him you’re a young girl, and it wouldn’t be appropriate for him, a grown young man, to come eat with us—people would gossip.
He didn’t bring up the meal arrangement again. He left, but then came back and gave me a tin of that stuff—what’s it called… malted milk?
Said it was nutritious and I should take it to build up my strength.
Also said he’d help find out how to buy powdered milk and told me not to worry too much.
He went on and on about how tomorrow would be better—all very scholarly. I didn’t really understand, can’t remember it clearly.”
Yang Xiaomei said, handing the tin of malted milk to Miao Qing.
“This stuff looks pretty valuable. We can’t accept it. You should take it back to him.”
Miao Qing nodded while gnawing on her potato. Yang Xiaomei really knew how to handle people—a few words and she’d sent that clingy Zhang Jingshan packing.
Yang Xiaomei was still a little worried and reminded Miao Qing,
“Qingqing, when you talk to that boy, don’t be too blunt.
I can tell he’s a good kid. He just wanted to eat with us—he didn’t mean any harm…”
Miao Qing mumbled in agreement.
“Mmhm, I know, Auntie. Don’t worry.”
She turned and asked for another sip of water. After finishing one roasted potato, she finally felt better.
She took off her damp cotton shoes and socks, tucked her feet into Yang Xiaomei’s quilt, and played with Tangdou.
Yuan Zhang sat in front of the stove, tending the fire while chatting casually with Tietui and Taohua.
Before long, he’d learned all about Miao Qing’s relationship with Yang Xiaomei, and everything she’d done since arriving—big and small.
He even knew how many people were at the educated youth dormitory and who had conflicts with her.
There were many suspicious points. For example, she was a city girl who knew how to grow vegetables—a few tips from her had revived the dying vegetables in Tietui’s private plot and produced a bountiful harvest.
Then there was her incredible luck—finding good things wherever she looked, and catching a pheasant on her very first trip into the mountains.
But in some ways, she was almost too open.
When she first arrived, she could barely speak and stumbled when she walked. Gradually she’d improved, but she still pretended to be unwell in front of others—only Tietui’s family knew she’d recovered.
She said she didn’t want to work, just wanted to slack off, and was perfectly happy drifting along on the scavenging team.
And she truly was lazy—when not working, she’d sleep at the dormitory, rarely went out, and didn’t like chatting with people.
She’d always been hard to mess with—if bullied, she’d fight back, deliberately cause trouble, and even extort people. She’d even taught Taohua how to fight.
Though the techniques she taught were all low blows—eye-gouging, crotch-kicking, and if you can’t win, pinch yourself and cry. Yuan Zhang’s temples throbbed just listening.
A person full of suspicious points who made no effort to hide them—even a seasoned operative like him found it hard to know where to start.
After much deliberation, Yuan Zhang decided to begin his investigation with Miao Qing’s identity.
Especially her illness—he needed to examine carefully whether she was faking it.