"Brother Qin, you should also try the braised eel and garlic crayfish I brought." Afraid that Qin Mi would continue to put food on her plate, Wen Xi urged Qin Mi to eat quickly, "The crayfish is for eating the meat on the tail, you can just peel off the shell."

"Okay," Qin Mi replied with a smile, and then began to eat.

At this time of year, the ingredients, whether meat or vegetables, have no residue of chemical fertilizers or pesticides, and have a pure, natural flavor that is incredibly delicious.

After the meal, everyone shared the yam and pork rib soup. Each person received a full bowl. The yam was soft and sweet, and the pork ribs were very delicious. Drinking the hot soup warmed everyone up instantly, and Wenxi even broke out in a sweat on the tip of her nose.

All four of them were sweating profusely from drinking so much steamed buns.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Qin Mi brought them hot water and soap so they could wash the oil off their faces and hands. It was perfectly normal for them to be oily after peeling crayfish.

Qin Mi took the pots and pans to the well to wash them. Wen Xi finished first and went to the well to find Qin Mi. "Brother Qin, we live far away in the countryside. It will take several hours to get back. We won't stay here any longer. We'll go straight back in a bit."

"Have dinner before you go back. I'll have the driver take you home." Qin Mi looked at Wen Xi with reluctance. He was always alone and didn't have anyone to care for him.

Wen Xi shook her head, "No, I have things to do when I get back!"

"Alright then!" Qin Mi said, "I plan to buy some furniture next week and decorate the house nicely. Can you come over and help me then?"

Wen Xi thought for a moment and said, "If I have time, I'll come and help you."

"You came alone," Qin Mi said softly. "I'm not familiar with your two friends, and we don't have much to talk about. I'm afraid I'll neglect them and make them feel uncomfortable."

Most importantly, he didn't want to associate with them because he knew Uncle Wang and Aunt Chun, and he knew Wenxi quite well.

Wen Xi nodded. "Okay."

Qin Mi smiled happily.

After Shen Jiaojiao and Jiang Yue finished packing, the three of them picked up their empty baskets and went to the well to say goodbye to Qin Mi. "Brother Qin, we're going back now."

Qin Mi nodded, looking at Wen Xi with some reluctance, "Be careful. If strangers approach you, remember to run away or shout to attract their attention."

The tone was as if they were warning a child to be wary of human traffickers.

Wen Xi chuckled, "Brother Qin, we're not children anymore. We know how to protect ourselves."

The group waved to Qin Mi, opened the courtyard gate, and walked out. Qin Mi looked at the closed gate and immediately felt like a wilted eggplant, utterly dejected.

Wenxi and the other two walked to the gate of the compound, nodded to the guards, and then left the compound.

Today is the day of Tian Xiaoke and Xia Minglei's wedding and also the day of their housewarming party. Tian Shengnan came to find Wenxi in the morning and found the door locked. There was also a note next to it saying that they had to go out and asked Tian Shengnan to help them give the wedding gift money.

Three cents per person.

Tian Shengnan took out the nine cents hidden in the crevice, then went to find Tian Xiaoke, gave her the nine cents, and told her that it was a blessing from Wen Xi, Shen Jiaojiao, and Jiang Yue.

Everyone had a housewarming lunch at Tian Xiaoke and Xia Minglei's place, then took a handful of wedding candies and went back home. After that, Tian Xiaoke and Xia Minglei moved into the thatched hut.

Their thatched huts were only a few hundred meters away from Wang Caiyun's thatched huts, so they didn't have to worry about others hearing embarrassing noises at night.

After Tian Xiaoke moved out, only Tian Shengnan remained as a female comrade at the educated youth settlement, while the male comrades were Song Lan, Zhou Bai, Jiang Mo, Cheng Yu, and Gu Xiangbei.

With so many men around, Tian Shengnan felt apprehensive. She had to keep the doors and windows closed at night and even prop the door shut with a table. This way, if someone tried to break in, it would make a loud noise and wake her up, thus increasing her safety.

In the evening, Wenxi and the other two arrived at their doorstep.

Wen Xi took out her key to open the courtyard gate and saw the letter inside. She quickly picked it up; it was from He Chen'an.

Wenxi had told the postman that if no one was home, he should slip the letter under the door, which is why the letter was on the floor today.

After putting the basket back in the storage room and quickly tidying herself up with water, Wenxi went back to her room to read the letter He Chen'an had written to her. They had really explored all the places in the town and county that were fun to go, and they couldn't find any more places to visit.

That valley filled with flowers—Wenxi and the other person had been there at least five times to collect flower seeds.

In his letter, He Chen'an said that when he had his next day off, the two of them would go to the city together and he asked her to prepare the letter of introduction.

When traveling, it's best to have a letter of introduction ready, just for safety reasons.

Wenxi is from Beijing. She has only seen Beijing in this era and has never been to this city before. She doesn't know what this city is like and she really wants to go and see it because there are really no places for dates nearby.

So Wenxi immediately wrote back to He Chen'an, telling him not to come pick her up early that day, but to wait for her at the county bus station. Once she arrived at the bus station, they would take a bus to the city together.

After writing her reply, Wenxi put the letter into an envelope, sealed it, and handed it to the postman when he came the next day.

It was already evening when they got back, and now that they were a little late, it was long past dinner time, so Wenxi went to the kitchen to cook dinner.

Wenxi didn't want to eat rice today, so she made tomato and egg noodles. Tomato and egg noodles are actually very easy to make. She just made a pot of tomato and egg soup, then put a handful of noodles in, and waited for the noodles to cook before eating.

Wenxi served the tomato and egg noodles, then went to the door of the main room and called out, "Jiaojiao, Xiaoyue, dinner is ready, come out and eat!"

"Okay, coming." Shen Jiaojiao and Jiang Yue responded and ran out of their respective rooms.

The three of them then sat around the table and began eating tomato and egg noodles.

Having lived together for so long, Wenxi knows everyone's appetite very well, and there's always enough food in everyone's bowl.

Wenxi picked up a mouthful of noodles with her chopsticks and slurped it into her mouth. The noodles were made from rice flour, like rice noodles, but they were dried. After cooking, they were very smooth and slippery, and she slurped them down her throat in one go.

Then I picked up a piece of tomato and egg soup. The tomatoes were sweet and sour, the eggs were tender and fresh, and the soup was sweet and sour. It tasted very good.

Wen Xi squinted her eyes contentedly, thoroughly enjoying herself.