Chapter 352 Educated Youth Sent Down to the Countryside in the 1960s (14)

After finishing with the firewood, Jiang Yue went inside to wash her hands and change her clothes. She then took out a sweet potato, squeezed it, and found it was soft. She took it out, patted off the dust, and brought it inside. She would eat two sweet potatoes for dinner that night.

The next morning.

Jiang Yue pushed open the door and found it was another day of snow-covered landscape. She was feeling lazy and didn't want to shovel snow today, so she sent a puppet back inside to transform into her and shovel the snow. She also cleaned the chicken coop while she was at it. After shoveling the snow, Jiang Yue went to feed the chickens and saw that they were all huddled together.

Jiang Yue had never seen chickens freeze to death before, so just in case, she added some more straw to the chicken coop and piled up a few bundles of straw next to it. This way, they could be blocked from the wind and shouldn't freeze to death.

After finishing her work, she made herself some breakfast. She had saved up some eggs over the past few days, so she made herself a special meal and steamed some egg custard. After eating, she lit the brazier. The weather was really cold today, so Jiang Yue took out the heating stone and put it inside the house.

In the morning, the captain came with two people. They were from the patrol team and came to see if Jiang Yue needed any help, whether she was frozen, or if her house had collapsed. Jiang Yue welcomed them in and poured them a bowl of hot water. The captain looked around the house and praised Jiang Yue for being good at managing her household, saying that she had kept it very tidy. Before leaving, he left her a coat and a quilt.

At noon, Jiang Yue made herself a bowl of noodles, either braised noodles or the kind cooked with potatoes until sticky, because it was easy and she didn't want to bother with anything else. After lunch, Jiang Yue curled up on the kang (a heated brick bed) to read. At that moment, she was missing a kitten, but nowadays very few people keep cats or dogs, so it wasn't a big deal; she simply couldn't afford to feed them.

In the afternoon, I went into the mountains with Xiaohu's dad and the others. This time, a patrol team also came along to prevent wolves from coming down the mountain and hurting people during the snowy weather. The group split up halfway. Everyone was lucky today. Xiaohu's dad caught two wolves, and Jiang Yuexin's trap also caught one.

After coming down the mountain, Xiao Hu's father helped with the rabbit processing as usual, since Jiang Yue didn't know how to skin it yet. Later that evening, Xiao Hu brought the processed rabbit over. While Xiao Hu was warming himself by the fire, Jiang Yue gave him two pieces of pastry. Before leaving, she also packed a few pieces for Xiao Hu to take back with him.

At the end of January, when the Spring Festival was approaching, Yao Ling sent Jiang Yue a letter. In the letter, she wrote down the date she was leaving and asked if Jiang Yue needed anything. She also asked if Jiang Yue should write down if she needed anything. After reading the letter, Jiang Yue calculated the date they would arrive home. The last letter said they would arrive home in four days, and this time it would be about the same.

Jiang Yue drew a circle on the calendar, guessing she would have to pick her up then. She just didn't know when Wang Liang and Zhang Wei would be back, but they should be around the same time, maybe a day or two off at most. After putting the letter away, Jiang Yue wrote a reply, saying that she didn't need to buy her anything and that she would pick her up from the commune herself. She also arranged a meeting place.

When she wrote to Yao Ling, little did she know that her own mother was also grumbling about her, complaining that Jiang Yue had been gone for so long without writing home or sending any food. Her stepsister's eyes flashed with disdain, but she didn't say much. It was none of her business. Ever since Jiang Yue wrote home asking for money, she knew she couldn't control Jiang Yue.

Jiang Yue was unaware that her biological mother was talking about her. Even if she knew, she would just laugh it off. If she had no one to take care of her in the future, Jiang Yue would give her some money for retirement out of moral and legal considerations, but she shouldn't expect anything else. From childhood to adulthood, the original owner of this body had done all the chores in the family and eventually died on the way to the countryside. This debt of gratitude was almost settled.

As the Spring Festival approached, the village became lively, pigs were slaughtered, and Jiang Yue began to enjoy free meals and drinks. People also started visiting the commune more often, and couplets were put up. New Year's Eve was just around the corner.

Jiang Yue spent the Spring Festival alone this year, but the variety of dishes was much richer. Since there was no one else around, she ate whatever she wanted. More than half a month after New Year's Eve, it was time for Yao Ling to return.

When Jiang Yue went out, she pulled the sled she had made recently. A section of the road was icy, so this thing was perfect for hauling things and would save a lot of effort. After arriving at the commune, Jiang Yue went to the agreed meeting place. Yao Ling hadn't arrived yet and probably wouldn't be there until the afternoon.

She found a sheltered spot and squatted down. It was cold standing up, and her feet were freezing when she squatted down. It was incredibly uncomfortable. It seemed she needed to get some bearskin boots. She found a secluded spot and changed into a pair of magical artifact boots before she warmed up. When the car arrived, Jiang Yue peered ahead and didn't find Yao Ling, but she spotted Wang Liang and Zhang Wei.

"Brother Wang! Brother Wei! Look this way!"

"Xiaoyue!?"

"Why did you come when it's so cold? Did you dream that we came back today?"

"What are you thinking? Sister Ling wrote to me saying she would be back today. How was I supposed to know that you were also coming back today? You didn't even say a word."

"Hehe, we're only a day late. According to the original plan, we would have arrived yesterday."

"Sister Ling hasn't arrived yet?"

"Well, they should have arrived by now, probably on the next train."

"Let's wait a bit, then we'll go back together later."

"Let's go, let's go. I've found a sheltered spot. Let's go there first."

Jiang Yue led the two people carrying large and small bags to the corner, had them put their things on the sled, and reached into her clothes to take out hot water, which she actually took out from her spatial storage.

"Here, everyone brought water bottles, right? Drink some hot water first to warm up."

After drinking it, Wang Liang exclaimed, "I feel like I've come back to life. This is brown sugar ginger soup, and it makes my stomach feel warm."

The three of them waiting together finally made it less boring. Wang Liang and Zhang Wei shared their experiences of going home. The two were talkative and kept the conversation flowing. After waiting for more than an hour, Yao Ling finally arrived. Jiang Yue was left to watch the things, while Wang Liang and Zhang Wei ran over to help Yao Ling get her things.

"You two are arriving today too? Did you contact Xiaoyue?"

"No, it just happened to happen today."

After arriving, Yao Ling gave Jiang Yue a big hug. Jiang Yue quickly handed the water bottle to Yao Ling, telling her to drink some water to warm up. After drinking the water, the three of them didn't exchange many pleasantries. In such cold weather, unless it was something extremely important, they decided to go home and talk. On the way home, the sled that Jiang Yue had made saved them a lot of trouble. The four of them took turns pulling the sled and arrived home in no time.

Because Jiang Yue had taken Xiao Hu to watch the heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed) when she left, the house was warm. The three of them were so cold that they all went back to their rooms and crawled under the covers. Jiang Yue started cooking noodles. When Xiao Hu wanted to leave, Jiang Yue kept him. How could she do that? She helped him all day, and then asked him to leave when it was time to eat. That's not how you do things.

The warm kang bed made everyone feel better by the time the noodles were cooked. Jiang Yue served them noodles first. Today's dish was a sauce with tomatoes, eggs, mushrooms, and diced meat. For side dishes, she made stir-fried beef and garlic beef cubes. After the meal, the three adults and one child were amazed. Zhang Wei exclaimed, "If I could eat this every day, why would I even go home?"

Xiao Hu nodded in agreement, and Jiang Yue patted Xiao Hu's head: "Then you can come anytime you want to eat."