"What a waste of money! I don't know what the eldest son's wife is thinking, treating this little girl like a treasure."

"Even eating can't shut you up."

Xu Xinning and Xu Mingyang walked out of the courtyard, followed by a barrage of complaints from their grandmother.

"Don't listen to your great-aunt, that's just how she is," Xu Mingyang said embarrassedly.

"It's alright, there are quite a few people in the village who say things like that, I'm used to it," Xu Xinning smiled.

"That's just how the villagers are; they don't mean any harm."

Xu Xinning pursed her lips and didn't reply. Sometimes, even words without "malicious intent" can be a double-edged sword. The person who said it might have just been talking nonsense, but it's hard to say whether it caused any serious consequences.

"You're not dressed warmly enough. You'll get cold when the tractor starts moving," Xu Mingyang said with concern.

"It's okay, I'm not cold."

Xu Xinning has been learning military boxing from Xu Yaozu. After regaining her memories of her past life, she has been secretly practicing martial arts formulas. Although her martial arts skills have not recovered, her physical condition has improved a lot.

Xu Xinning's uncles have a unique characteristic: they are all quiet, but they are all tall and handsome. If the five brothers sit together, the scene will be both awkward and harmonious. They can sit there without saying a word.

Perhaps they communicated with their eyes and their breathing? (Haha, just kidding!)

It was completely different with Xu Xinning and her generation; each of them had undergone genetic mutations and possessed their own unique characteristics.

Xu Mingyang was driving the tractor, and Xu Xinning sat next to him, exuding the air of a master driver.

After getting a meager amount of medicine from the commune hospital, they rushed to the supply and marketing cooperative's pesticide station.

The fertilizer they gave us this time was very little. Xu Mingyang checked it over and over again, pleading and begging, but there were only a few packets left. There was nothing he could do but wait until next time.

"Uncle, are you back yet? I'm going to the food station to buy some pork. The technicians from the power company are having dinner at our house today."

"Okay, there probably isn't any good meat left right now."

"It's okay, offal or bones are fine too, my grandma is a good cook."

When they arrived at the food station, there really wasn't much meat left. Xu Xinning used her meat ration coupons to buy some meat that wasn't very juicy, and then asked for a large intestine.

In the village, Xu Xinning's family was considered unique. Xu Yaozu's salary was not low, Yang Chunqin, the brigade leader, also received a salary, and Xu Zexi sent a stipend back every month. In addition, Xu Xinning earned wages and work points as a barefoot doctor, and the work points of the old man and woman were also not low. Xu Laosan was not idle either.

No one in this family is a freeloader. There are quite a few people in the village who envy and are jealous of them, but there's nothing they can do. Other families have the power and resources, and they can't do anything about it, so they can only obey.

Bullying the weak and fearing the strong is an incorrigible bad habit.

After buying the meat, Xu Xinning thought she could go back, but unexpectedly, Xu Mingyang drove the tractor to the back gate of the grain station and stopped it.

"Uncle, is there anything else?" Xu Xinning asked.

“My comrade works here. A while ago, the grain station got a batch of newly bred hybrid rice seeds, and I asked him to secretly save some for me.”

Is this okay?

"There's no question of whether it's allowed or not. There's no rule specifying which brigade it should go to. Whoever acts first gets it."

After Xu Mingyang finished speaking, he jumped off the car and went into the grain station. Not long after, he came out with others carrying sacks.

Xu Mingyang and his comrades quickly secured the six or seven sacks with ropes. "You guys should hurry up and go. If others see us, they'll definitely try to steal it. I heard that rice grown from these seeds not only has a higher yield than ordinary rice, but also tastes much better. A few days ago, I heard that a brigade came to our station chief to pull some strings!"

"Thanks, brother. Come over to my place sometime, and I'll have your sister-in-law cook you something delicious."

"Let's talk about it after you've divided the family property!"

It seems he's experienced firsthand how formidable his grandmother was.

Xu Mingyang lowered his eyes, feeling utterly helpless.

"This must be Director Xu's daughter, you should leave quickly." Xu Mingyang's comrade waved his hand and said anxiously, afraid that someone would see them.

Xu Mingyang had just started the tractor when someone from the grain station chased after him, asking, "Which brigade are you from? Why did you take this grain seed away?"

Upon realizing he had been exposed, Xu Mingyang quickly got on the tractor, started it, and drove off, not forgetting to smile and wave back.

This was the first time Xu Xinning had ever seen Xu Mingyang with such a sunny and proud smile, like the sunshine after the rain, warm and clear.

This is very different from the Xu Mingyang we know. Perhaps he used to be unrestrained and flamboyant, but long-term frustration has swallowed his sunshine.

Xu Xinning always felt that Xu Mingyang's personality didn't match his name, but after considering his past, she understood where his sinister nature came from.

He was forced to leave his beloved army due to injury. After returning, the job he earned with his military merits was forcibly replaced, and he was even forced to marry a wife who was not very good. However, he could not resist because the person who made these decisions was his biological mother, unless he left the family.

But can he leave?

Where can he go?

Xu Xinning felt very sorry for Xu Mingyang.

"Uncle, they're catching up!" Xu Xinning said anxiously, her blood surging with an unprecedented fervor, her eyes shining brightly.

"Ningning, hold on tight," Xu Mingyang said, then sped up.

Xu Xinning gripped the railing of the truck bed tightly, wanting to shout with excitement.

"You little punks, you even came chasing me in a tractor? If you catch me, I'm not Xu anymore!" Xu Mingyang looked very excited, his fighting spirit was suddenly aroused, a feeling he hadn't had since he retired from the army.

"Uncle, don't worry, I'll keep an eye on these people for you," Xu Xinning shouted.

How many of them are there?

Five!

"Damn it, they've got guts. There are only five of them, and they still want to chase us."

"Uncle, they also brought rakes."

"It's alright, watch out for your uncle."

"Uncle, they've caught up, they're less than a kilometer away from us."

Xu Xinning and her tractor was loaded with goods, while the tractor chasing behind was empty, so there would definitely be a difference in speed.

"It's okay, as long as they don't get ahead and block our way."

"Uncle, to the right, to the right."

"Okay, okay, Uncle, left, left."

"Uncle, we're going downhill, downhill, ah—"

The slope was long and steep, so Xu Mingyang boldly released the brakes, and the tractor sped down the slope like a wild horse. The tractors chasing behind were also startled by their maneuver.

"Damn it—" the people chasing behind said angrily. They didn't have the guts to do what Xu Mingyang did, and even if they did, they couldn't match their speed, given the weight of the tractor Xu Mingyang and his crew were carrying.

"You're really asking for it," the person chasing behind cursed again.

Life? In this era, food is life. A few years ago, many people couldn't even afford to eat tree bark.

If this grain variety can really increase yield, the villagers won't go hungry and lose sleep at night, and no children will die young.