Meng Zhenzhen jumped up from the kang (a heated brick bed), pointed at Yang Laidi, and said fiercely, "Say that again?"

Yang Laidi retorted, "You think I wouldn't dare? I wouldn't date a man decades older than me; people would think he's my father!"

Meng Zhenzhen's eyes instantly turned red, and she pounced on Yang Laidi.

Caught off guard, Yang Laidi's face was scratched: "Ahhh, my face!"

Zhang Hongmei and Yu Lili tried to stop the two, but in the end, Yang Laidi lived up to expectations and scratched Meng Zhenzhen's face.

Both of their faces were covered in blood. Zhang Hongmei shouted angrily, "If you keep hitting each other, I'll go get the brigade leader! Do you want to go to the cowshed too?"

Her shout made both of them stop fighting. With the New Year approaching, neither of them wanted to bring bad luck.

Yang Laidi lay motionless on the kang (a heated brick bed) in anger. She was already upset because she couldn't buy face cream, but Meng Zhenzhen made sarcastic remarks to her.

So she blurted out that sentence in a moment of impulse.

Yun Ningyan knew nothing about what was happening here, but even if she did, she wouldn't care.

I won't give away the things I've worked so hard to make to unrelated people.

She and Huo Junshan spent the whole day at home doing homework, and Huo Junshan's writing has improved a lot recently.

But it hadn't met her requirements yet, so Huo Junshan still needed to continue studying Chinese language and literature.

Huo Junshan excels in science subjects, and he can easily answer questions that go beyond high school level.

She even started to admire Huo Junshan a little, as he answered more than a dozen difficult questions for her in one day.

She asked, "Huo Junshan, you're really good at science, I'm even a little envious!"

"When I was in high school, I read a lot of books from my math teacher, otherwise I wouldn't have understood them."

Yun Ningyan pinched his cheek: "Such a good student, it's a bit of a waste to have you cook at home every day. I'm even starting to look forward to our college life!"

Huo Junshan: "Where does Yanyan want to go to university? We must go to the same university!"

Yun Ningyan smiled and said, "If I don't pass the exam, will you stay home with me?"

Huo Junshan hugged her: "How could that be? My little girl is so smart, she will definitely pass the exam. If she doesn't pass, I'll stay at home with you. We have other ways to get back to the city!"

Yun Ningyan chuckled. She was just joking, but look how nervous Huo Junshan has become.

The next day was for dividing the fish, and Huo Junshan called out to her early in the morning, "Yanyan, want to go watch the fish being divided? We're dividing the fish today!"

Yun Ningyan opened her eyes and nodded: "Go, or those people will take our fish. In any case, we won't let anyone take advantage of our things in the future!"

The two got up and tidied up. When they arrived at the brigade headquarters, many people were already waiting there.

Once the captain saw that almost everyone had arrived, he began to distribute the fish with the accountant.

Everyone who participated in the fishing received ten kilograms more than others, while the rest were distributed normally.

Because the Huo family has many members, they get a larger share of the fish, especially since two of the Huo family men went winter fishing.

The captain was unaware of the previous incident, yet he had already grouped Huo Junshan and the Huo family members together.

Huo Junshan quickly said, "Captain, I'll keep mine myself, I won't stay with them!"

Although he didn't say that they had separated, everyone else looked at Huo Junshan and Yun Ningyan with some surprise when they heard it.

The captain was also a little taken aback.

Huo Junshan spoke again: "We'll cook separately!"

The captain gave him his fish separately, while the other Huo family members' fish were put together.

The captain glanced at Huo Changgen, who remained silent. He then looked at Huo Changlan, who kept his head down and also remained silent.

Everyone was talking about it.

"Is the Huo family having a fight?"

"You don't know? Huo Changlan is back and staying with them. They argue almost every few days; the last time it was a huge fight!"

"Judging from Huo Laosan's tone, it seems the family has split up?"

"I don't know. They live separately. What's the difference between that and splitting up the family? Didn't you see that the other brothers are still together?"

"Huo Laosan is living alone. There's probably something to do with Huo Changlan, otherwise he'd be doing just fine, right?"

"That's for sure, who knows? I think Huo Changlan will be kicked out sooner or later, just you wait and see!"

The Huo family took the fish and went home.

In the past, the family would celebrate the New Year together, which was very lively. Now, the third son has already told others about the division of the family property, and it's a done deal.

He sighed repeatedly.

Li Xiangyun ignored him, rolled her eyes, and walked past him.

Huo Junshan and Yun Ningyan took the fish back. Huo Junshan asked her, "Yanyan, how would you like to eat this fish? Shall we cook one for dinner?"

"I like braised dishes, do you know how to make them? Okay, I'll make them tonight! Or we can have grilled fish, which can be served with side dishes. I'll go find a big plate in my space!"

In a flash, she disappeared without a trace, leaving Dahei watching Yun Ningyan vanish suddenly.

He was startled and was about to call out to alert his master when Yun Ningyan suddenly turned around and came out with a large plate.

Yun Ningyan gestured in front of Huo Junshan's eyes: "We'll just use this big plate. We'll eat it for lunch, okay?"

Huo Junshan readily agreed, and the two began to divide the work: Huo Junshan prepared the fish, while Yun Ningyan cooked the rice and washed the side dishes.

Once everything was ready, Huo Junshan started a fire, and Yun Ningyan first fried the fish until golden brown on both sides, then added fermented bean paste, chili peppers, scallions, ginger, garlic, Sichuan peppercorns, and Sichuan peppercorn oil.

Then add the side dishes. When the side dishes are almost cooked, finally add the fish and seasonings, and the grilled fish is done!

She served the fish on a large plate, and the two of them sat down at the small table in the kitchen to eat lunch.

The flavor is unique; Huo Junshan couldn't stop eating it after just one bite. Yan Yan's cooking is really delicious.

He praised, "Yanyan, your cooking is so delicious! I've never eaten such delicious fish before. I used to dislike the fish that my mother cooked. She usually made fish soup or used soybean paste."

Yun Ningyan frowned just thinking about the scene: a pot of fish soup, a pot full of fish bones.

She smiled and said, "Then next time, let Mom come over and try the fish I made, how about that?"

Huo Junshan nodded: "I'm going to the commune tomorrow, are you coming? I'll buy some snacks for you to enjoy during the New Year. When I get back, we'll make dumplings."

Now they don't allow setting off firecrackers or putting up couplets, so we can only buy food, drinks, and other necessities.

Yun Ningyan shook her head: "I'm not going. You go and come back quickly!"

In the afternoon, Li Xiangyun arrived.

She took Yun Ningyan's hand and said, "Ningning, tomorrow is the Little New Year. You all need to go over for a meal, and Lao San also needs to go over to do chores. We need to do a big clean tomorrow."

Yun Ningyan nodded: "Mother, we will go, don't worry!"

She glanced at Huo Junshan, but Huo Junshan didn't say anything, guessing she wouldn't be able to go to the commune tomorrow.