The fluff balls formed by white pappus float to new places with the wind to give birth to new life. Looking at the white fluff balls fluttering in front of my eyes, I am afraid that this is the last wave of this summer.

Du Jiang was very ruthless and picked all the dandelions on the ground wherever she went. Dandelions, also known as dandelions, can be eaten in addition to being used as medicine. After all, this thing has the effect of clearing away heat and detoxifying, and it also has a certain effect in preventing colds. Thinking of this, Du Jiang dug out a few more with their roots and decided to take them back to find a broken clay pot to plant them first, and move them to the new pig house after it is built. If they can reproduce, they can be used as a side dish in winter or soaked in water to drink. Du Jiang, who has nothing on hand, now attaches great importance to food. After all, the last time I went to the town to sell herbs, I heard a lot of nagging from Nurse Sun. It seems that food is now in short supply in the city. In fact, it is not only in the city, but also in the village. More and more people are going to the mountains after the busy farming season. Moreover, from Daya's children, Du Jiang learned that some families in the village now only eat two meals a day, and some even only eat one meal. Potatoes and sweet potatoes are the staple foods on the table. The better ones are mixed with some beans or a handful of millet to give it a bit of rice flavor.

After waving goodbye to Daya and the other children, Du Jiang walked towards the educated youth center carrying a backpack. Unlike the cheerful atmosphere before, the atmosphere at the educated youth center was very quiet now. Even Qian Meili and Chen Xiaozhen, who were once inseparable, became estranged without Du Jiang's knowledge.

When Du Jiang came back, Qian Meili was cooking and He Jiefang was helping her by making the fire. When they saw Du Jiang enter the yard, they greeted him with a smile.

"Du Jiang, you're back"

"Du Jiang, we're digging wild vegetables again today. Meili is making pancakes today. Do you want to join us?"

Facing He Jiefang's invitation, Du Jiang was somewhat tempted. He then took out some of the ground vegetables he had dug from his backpack and handed them over. "Let's have a small dish for dinner."

He Jiefang smiled even more happily now. "Du Jiang, you're so polite. Thank you very much. It just so happens that we haven't eaten wild vegetables for a long time. We'll whet our appetite later."

As they were talking, Xu Zhizhou and Bai Yongjun walked in, each with one trouser leg rolled up. Du Jian and Qian Meili's eyes widened at the sight of the yellow mud still wet on their calves, staring intently at the fish in the two men's hands. The fish, seemingly still alive, even after leaving the water, still stubbornly curled up its tail and flapped its wings, slapping Xu Zhizhou and Bai Yongjun's trousers with a "pat pat" sound, instantly leaving behind patches of water stains.

Xu Zhizhou: "You're quite active, liberated. Make fish soup later. You and Qian Meili can pickle the other fish together and have it as a snack on the 15th."

"Okay, I'll listen to Brother Xu," He Jiefang ran over and took the fish from Xu Zhizhou and Bai Yongjun, "Brother Xu, Brother Bai, you guys go back to the house and change clothes quickly, the fish soup will be ready soon." While speaking, He Jiefang shook the two fish, the weight of which was at least four pounds, at least five or six pounds, which made He Jiefang smile even bigger.

"Du Jiang is back too. Let's have fish soup together later," Xu Zhizhou invited Du Jiang standing at the kitchen door. Du Jiang didn't say anything polite. "Okay, thank you, Brother Xu. I just happened to dig up a lot of wild vegetables and mushrooms today, which I can add as side dishes later."

"Okay, let's eat a big meal today," Xu Zhizhou said cheerfully, "You guys go ahead and do your work. I'll go change my clothes."

Bai Yongjun smiled at Du Jiang kindly and followed Xu Zhizhou into the house.

Seeing the two people enter the house, Du Jiang also put down the basket on his back, took out the wood and mushrooms inside, cleaned them and handed them to Qian Meili. He Jiefang was still burning the fire. The three of them chatted casually. Du Jiang learned a lot from Qian Meili's words. For example, when Chen Xiaozhen didn't want to work, she paid the half-grown children in the village to help her, or Chen Xiaozhen fell in love with Xu Zhizhou and wanted to help with the work but was rejected, so she had to fall in love with Bai Yongjun, and Li Hongjun and Tianniu were also in a hot relationship, and they were probably going to have a wedding in winter.

Listening to Qian Meili's words, Du Jiang felt as if she was in another world. It turned out that so many things happened during the days when she was immersed in digging wild vegetables. It really opened her eyes.

"No, I can't," Du Jiang felt a little bit unbelievable. After all, Chen Xiaozhen was not smart enough to do such a tasteless thing.

"Why not? Xiaozhen has always been spoiled by her family. How could she possibly adapt to life in the village? Not to mention that she hasn't even adapted half as well as I have. If He Jiefang hadn't been here, I probably wouldn't have been able to hold on."

Du Jiang, who was fed a handful of dog food, looked at the two people in front of him who were flirting with each other and interrupted them unhappily, "Stop, stop, stop, I'm still here, big brother and big sister, I'm still a child."

This sentence made Qian Meili and He Jiefang burst into laughter. Qian Meili even laughed so hard that tears came out. "Okay, okay, you are still a child. Du Jiang and Jiefang are going to go home for the New Year. If nothing unexpected happens, we will hold the wedding at home, and then hold another one at our educated youth camp after we come back after the New Year."

Du Jiang was not surprised at all that Qian Meili and He Jiefang were together. After all, they had been childhood sweethearts. He Jiefang even changed his place in the countryside for Qian Meili. However, if they got married, Du Jiang hesitated for a moment and couldn't help asking, "If you get married, where are you going to live?"

We can't live in separate dormitories like before.

He Jiefang knew what Du Jiang was asking about and immediately said with a smile, "We've thought about it. When the time comes, we'll build a house like Brother Huo Yang. We don't have much money, and we probably won't be able to add much to our family, so we'll just build a bedroom and a kitchen." Listening to He Jiefang's plan, Du Jiang knew that this man had a plan in mind and nodded immediately. "That's an idea, but Brother Huo bought land for his house. If you build a house, you'll probably have to buy land too."

"That's possible. I've asked around and found out this is all wasteland. There are only four families left: the village chief, Aunt Du, Brother Huo, and the educated youth. I want to build a small house, so the price is negotiable."

"Yes, Du Jiang, if you are building a house, come too. I heard from the village chief that more educated youth will come in the future, not to mention a batch coming before or after the New Year." Qian Meili couldn't help but interrupt, and advised with the look of someone who had experienced it, "I remember that your parents both have jobs, so building a small room is not a big deal. You can discuss it with your family. After all, our time here will probably be very long, and to be honest, there will be a lot of gossip." These words that were just enough to stop the conversation didn't sound like something Qian Meili would say, but they did come out of her mouth.

Facing Du Jiang's surprised expression, Qian Meili sighed deeply, "You feel surprised too, right? There's nothing we can do. We all have to grow up. Even if we're friends, we can't always have the same personality as when we were little."