As soon as Niu Dan finished speaking, a neatly dressed woman came out from inside with a winnowing basket. The woman was none other than Aunt Jin, Li Liangcai's wife.

"Auntie! Where's my uncle?!"

"He went to your second uncle's house to discuss something, he should be back soon!"

Aunt Jin looked Xie Ming over carefully and, finding that he hadn't changed much, felt relieved.

"Give!"

Xie Ming went over and took the winnowing basket from her hand, then handed her the cloth bag he was carrying in his other hand.

Aunt Jin opened the door, peeked inside, and joked, "Oh! You even brought grain with you!"

You should know that Xie Ming used to be so focused on supporting his brother and women that he would come here to eat empty-handed.

If it weren't for the fact that his uncle and Li Liangcai had a really good relationship and that his uncle would occasionally send things to the Li family, they wouldn't be so close to him.

"Isn't this because you've grown up and become more sensible?" Xie Ming helped Niu Dan clean up the bean husks on the ground, and smiled at her with a simple and honest expression.

"Are you feeling better after you were sick the other day? I was too busy to go see you, and your uncle didn't even tell me when he came back." Aunt Jin muttered to herself as she walked inside, carrying her things. A little while later, she came out carrying a teacup.

“Drink it. It was stewed for you this afternoon. Your uncle was going to bring it to you later, but it’s good that you came over so that those people won’t be jealous.”

Xie Ming missed this taste terribly. Whenever Li Liang had free time, he would go to catch loaches. If he caught a big one, he would keep it in spring water for two days until it expelled all the mud and sand.

Just add some salt and ginger, simmer it in an earthen stove for a few hours, and then sprinkle with chopped green onions after it's done. It smells amazing!

When Xie Ming arrived at Lingxia Village, he was never short of the loaches he caught, which made the people who knew about Qingdian envious and resentful.

"Did Uncle go and catch it the day before yesterday?" Xie Ming could tell from the look that the loach had been purged of mud, and the soup didn't have any muddy taste, so he guessed that Li Liangcai had gone to catch it on purpose.

"Of course, we're waiting for you to feel better so we can give you some nourishing food!"

"Emma! It's all worth it to have this disease."

"Pah! What nonsense are you talking about! If you want to eat, just tell your uncle! It's not worth getting sick over."

Xie Ming grinned foolishly and, without saying much, pulled Niu Dan to sit down at the table and started eating.

"I'll steam some workers' food for you tonight, so save some room!" Aunt Jin reminded them as she saw the two of them eating heartily.

Xie Ming's mouth started watering again.

"Workers' meals" is actually the local term. Lingxia Village is backed by the Yangling Mountains, which cover an area of ​​more than 10,000 square kilometers.

Every year, the government sends forestry workers into the mountains to cut down trees.

Most of the workers' meals were arranged by the villagers, with each person receiving a fixed amount of grain, but it was always made with high-quality grains. The villagers were very envious and called it "workers' food."

Aunt Jin is the villager in Lingxia Village who is responsible for cooking. In addition to steamed buns and multigrain pancakes, she can also cook rice. Right now, she is talking about rice.

She has excellent control over the heat. She can cook the rice perfectly until the firewood is extinguished and the rice is fully cooked, without any burnt bits at the bottom. When she adds lard, the rice is glossy and fragrant.

Aunt Jin doesn't usually cook like this; she only arranged this special meal for Xie Ming because he was sick.

Niu Dan looked at Xie Ming with envy. Xie Ming grinned at him, revealing his big white teeth. It was obvious that the special meal that night would only be for him!

A short while later, Li Liangcai returned with a bundle of thick hemp rope, clearly intending to take it into the mountains.

"Uncle!" Xie Ming stood up and called out.

"Sit down and have your drink!"

Li Liangcai hung the rope on the wooden nails on the pillar and then took a half-twisted hemp rope and twisted it.

"Uncle, aren't we going to need enough rope for tomorrow?"

"No, this is for home use. Oh! I have something to tell you. Fourth Uncle from the village went to town and said those bandits have reappeared in the mountains. Since you'll be traveling around these next few days, don't go to the southern mountains; the village can't control that area!"

Xie Ming obediently agreed, knowing that it was a follow-up to the bandits he had dealt with before. Sure enough, Li Liangcai soon told him about it.

After the two surviving individuals were arrested by the police, they confessed, based on the memories Xie Ming had given them, that they had fought over the division of the spoils.

The two testimonies were identical, corroborating each other, and the matter was quickly resolved. The one who died was dead, and the one who survived was still sentenced to death.

Before the news reached the educated youth settlement, Xu Rongqing must have been hiding in fear, too afraid to go to town.

Xie Ming stayed at the Li family's house until they returned and continued eating dinner, feeling quite happy and carefree. Meanwhile, things weren't so peaceful at the educated youth settlement.

Zhu Meihong stared blankly at the cornbread in her hand, the words of Chen Guizhi, a fellow educated youth, hitting her heart like hammer blows.

What? Xie Ming lent money to Xu Rongqing! What? Xu Rongqing is just a fake generous person! And what? Xie Ming broke ties with Xu Rongqing and is demanding repayment...

What are all these?

She couldn't believe it was all true. If it was really as they said, what would she do?

Unsurprisingly, she was pregnant with Xu Rongqing's child! What should she do? What should she do?

At this moment, Zhu Meihong completely lost her composure, and her right hand unconsciously went to her flat stomach.

Chen Guizhi, who was staring at her from the side, leaned over and asked in confusion, "Is your period here?"

"ah?"

“Your hand…” Chen Guizhi pointed to her hand, which was still resting on her lower abdomen.

Zhu Meihong realized what was happening and quickly put her hand down, laughing it off and saying, "It just ended a few days ago, I don't know if it's from the cold. It's been aching slightly."

Chen Guizhi didn't think much of it and assumed what the other person said was true, so she quickly advised, "Sister Zhu has some brown sugar, you can exchange some with her. The weather here is really tough on women, you should be careful."

Zhu Meihong hummed in agreement a few times, picked up the dry cornbread, took a bite, and tears welled up in her eyes.

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