Lin Zhiheng sped up and finished his work in half an hour. Then he followed Lin Qingyan to find sticks to make rabbit burrows. When they returned to the educated youth settlement, the other educated youth had already returned, and lunch was still being prepared.

Lin Zhiheng chose a spot near the wall where he raised rabbits, so that he could simply surround the other three sides with sticks.

He first used the shovels from the educated youth settlement to dig a narrow and deep trench in the ground, then stuck one end of the wooden sticks into the ground side by side, covered it with some freshly dug soil, and tamped the loose soil down firmly.

You also need to find some ropes to string the sticks together and tie them together to make a fence before you can consider the job done.

Right now, the weather is beautiful and clear every day. When it rains, I'll have to make a rain shelter for the rabbit.

Lin Qingyan put the little rabbit inside the fence, and the other educated youths gathered around to watch.

"Qingyan, this rabbit is white and very pretty. Did you catch it when you were cutting pig feed?" Chen Lu asked.

"I didn't catch it; someone gave it to me."

"Wow, Qingyan, who's so kind as to give you a rabbit?" Hu Jiajia exclaimed in surprise.

"He's just an acquaintance; neither of you knows him."

Hearing her say that, the two people stopped asking questions, since it wasn't really their concern who that person was.

Gu Mingzhou and Lin Sisi were sitting next to him, and Gu Mingzhou felt very uncomfortable.

This rabbit was given to Lin Qingyan by Lu Zhengting, and Lin Qingyan was so happy. Didn't she know what Lu Zhengting's purpose was?

Gu Mingzhou felt uncomfortable, and Lin Sisi next to him also felt awkward.

She glanced at Gu Mingzhou with a hint of resentment. Everyone else knew to give Lin Qingyan something, but Gu Mingzhou traveled so far to see her and didn't even give her a fart.

She was also jealous of Lin Qingyan. Lin Qingyan used to be inferior to her in every way, serving as her maid every day and using her leftovers. Why is she able to surpass her now?

She was so unwilling to accept it!

Hu Jiajia and Du Xiaoyue specially picked some tender leaves to feed the little rabbit. The group was overjoyed to see the adorable rabbit.

After Lu Zhengting and Lin Qingyan parted ways outside the pigsty, in order to avoid attracting attention, he first released the pheasants and doves at the Li family's house, then went to the fields to help Old Mrs. Li with some work. After finishing the work, he went home with Old Mrs. Li.

He first went to the kitchen to boil water and gave the dead pheasants and doves a hot bath, which made it much easier to pluck their feathers. He and Grandma Li plucked all the feathers off the pheasants and doves together.

Next, you need to gut and clean the pheasant and dove. After that, cut the killed pheasant and dove into pieces and put them into a pot to stew.

Wild game is generally not easy to stew. First, it was boiled over high heat for half an hour. Then, after sticking whole grain cakes to the side of the large iron pot, it was simmered over low heat for another half hour until the meat was tender before it was taken out of the pot.

As soon as the Li family returned, they smelled the delicious aroma of meat and were very excited.

When Lu Zhengting saw that they had all returned, he ladled all the meat out of the pot. Li Qinqin and her mother washed their hands and came over to help, carrying the meat and flatbread to the dining table in the main room.

Just as everything was ready and they were about to start eating, a slender figure suddenly flashed through Lu Zhengting's mind.

He said to the others at the table, "I want to send some to Lin Qingyan, the educated youth. She helped me before, and she's not in good health. I want to send her some so she can improve her health."

No one at the dinner table objected. The brigade leader waved his chopsticks and said, "Send it over, send it over. Xiao Lin, the educated youth, has made so many contributions to our brigade. Of course, her contributions to the brigade cannot be rewarded with this. She will be rewarded when the autumn harvest is distributed and meat is distributed during the New Year. This is your personal sentiment. I just want to say that Comrade Xiao Lin is a good person, and good people should be rewarded."

Li Qinqin had already brought a bowl. After filling the bowl, Li's mother brought a bamboo basket, put the bowl in the basket, and covered the basket with a layer of coarse white cloth.

Li Qinqin asked, "Cousin, do you need me to go with you?"

Li's mother said, "It's not appropriate for you to go alone to deliver things to that girl's house. It won't be good for her reputation. Let Qinqin go with you."

Lu Zhengting wanted to say that Lin Qingyan hadn't even planned to find a boyfriend yet.

However, he didn't refuse, saying, "Alright then, Qinqin, come with me."

Li Qinqin, holding the basket, said, "Let's go, cousin."

After the two went out together, Grandma Li said with a smile, "Oh dear, look at this silly boy, hasn't he finally figured things out? Look how diligent he is, rushing off to deliver meat to that young educated youth. Could it be that he's fallen for her?"

Mother Li smiled and said, "Mother, you're right. Every time Zhengting comes to visit, matchmakers come to arrange marriages for him. Zhengting doesn't even look at those girls. His mother says he's the same at home. Now that he's so caring towards a girl, it's like he's finally seen the light."

"Haha, when he gets back, we'll ask him if he's taken a liking to someone. If he really comes to his senses, I won't worry about him becoming a monk."

"ah?"

The group of people stared in astonishment at the old woman's words.

Li Fang said, "Grandma, now that you say that, it means you used to worry that my cousin would become a monk."

"Hmm, he doesn't get close to girls, doesn't that mean he has the potential to be a monk?"

“Just because someone isn’t interested in women doesn’t mean they’re cut out to be a monk. What if they’re attracted to men instead of women?” Li Fang spoke without any restraint.

The next second, he was warned by his father's cough and the glare he received.

"Xiao Fang, stop talking nonsense. Say what you should say, and don't say what you shouldn't say."

Li Fang lowered his head after being scolded and took a big bite of the multigrain pancake.

Educated Youth Settlement

Just as the educated youth had finished scooping the rice out of the pot and were about to start eating, Lu Zhengting and Li Qinqin arrived.

Because Lu Zhengting was tall and handsome, with a face so good that even women would envy him, he became the focus of attention for the educated youth as soon as he appeared.

But as soon as he entered, he focused his attention on Lin Qingyan, ignoring all the other people who were unrelated to him.

Lin Qingyan was sitting on a stone stool eating her meal, holding a bowl in her hand. Lin Zhiheng was sitting on the stone stool next to her, also holding a bowl and eating with his head down. Neither of them had yet noticed the arrival of Lu Zhengting and Li Qinqin.

It wasn't until Lu Zhengting and Li Qinqin walked up to them that the two of them called out to Lin Qingyan at the same time.

"Comrade Lin."

"Sister Qingyan."

Hearing the sound, Lin Qingyan suddenly looked up at them in surprise, then her gaze fell on the basket in Li Qinqin's hand, before quickly shifting back to the two people.

She stood up, intending to ask them what brought them here, but before she could speak, Li Qinqin said, "Sister Qingyan, my cousin hunted some pheasants on the mountain today, and he even cooked them himself. He wanted to bring you some, so I came with him."

Lin Qingyan immediately felt embarrassed. Lu Zhengting was being too polite, constantly giving her things.

Lu Zhengting brought out the pheasant meat and handed it to Lin Qingyan: "It seems we've arrived at the perfect time. You've just started eating, so you can eat this pheasant meat now."