Zhong Yan was surprised that they would turn away the large meat buns that were offered to them. She glanced at what was cooking in the pot and found that it was a mess of vegetable leaves, corn grits, and some yellowish stuff mixed together, without a trace of oil on it.

Moreover, with so many people here, this small pot is clearly not enough to feed everyone!

She forcefully shoved the basket into Du Zhenguo's hands, her expression utterly sincere: "Old man, please accept it. I promise I won't utter a single word about what happened today, or may I be struck by lightning and die a horrible death!"

After saying that, she left without lingering.

"Hey..." Grandpa Du quickly chased after her, wanting to return the basket to her. He took it from her, but Zhong Yan was running very fast, and he didn't dare to chase her out of the yard, so he had to stop.

After Zhong Yan left, Grandpa Qin picked up the broken fan from the ground and continued squatting by the fire to cook porridge. Grandpa Du put down the basket he was holding and then called the others over to ask, "What do you all think?"

Zheng Weiguo walked over and rummaged through the basket. He saw eight plump, white meat buns inside, swallowed hard, and then took a couple of steps away.

"I think that girl is cunning. It's best not to eat this, lest something bad happen."

Although he was craving the big meat bun, he wasn't so greedy as to lose his mind over such a small amount of food.

They had no idea who this woman was, and she suddenly came to the shed to bring them food. It was so strange.

Xie Zhicheng said, "This is a new educated youth who came this spring named Zhong Yan. I heard Xiao Ning mention her; she's a restless one."

Old Master Du sneered: "He is indeed a restless person, with the words 'harboring evil intentions' practically written on his face."

He grew up in a family of merchants and had seen all sorts of people. Zhong Yan was really not a smart one; she was obviously lying.

I just don't know why she went to such lengths to get close to them.

Grandpa Qin said in a deep voice, "Bring the basket with you when you go to work later. Give it to the village chief or the brigade leader, they will handle it."

No one objected.

Zheng Weiguo clicked his tongue twice: "Could it be that he heard something and came here specifically to curry favor with Old Qin? These are the big meat buns from the state-run restaurant in town."

It takes nearly two hours to walk from Daqingshan Village to the town, and a round trip takes up the whole morning.

It's so deliberate that it's hard not to be on guard.

Old Master Qin said, "Besides you, only Weiwei and Huo Xiao know about my affairs. They are the kind of people who would never talk about it carelessly. Where did she get the information?"

Grandpa Du looked at Xie Zhicheng, who quickly said, "I didn't tell Xiao Ning."

Is he the kind of person who doesn't know what's important?

Before the official documents were issued, there were already uncertainties surrounding Old Qin's matter, so naturally, the fewer people who knew about it, the better.

Grandpa Du frowned and looked at Grandpa Qin: "You suspect that someone leaked information to her?"

If that's the case, then Zhong Yan's identity is not simple.

Grandpa Qin said, "Let's go see the three little ones tonight; I miss them."

Grandpa Du immediately said, "Okay, I'll go with you!"

Zheng Weiguo said with dissatisfaction, "Why is it you again! This time it's my turn!"

Xie Zhicheng and the others also looked at Old Master Du with dissatisfaction. Old Master Du said confidently, "I made an agreement with Weiwei last time that I would teach her little nephew mental arithmetic."

Zheng Weiguo gritted his teeth in anger: "You swindler!"

That old fox, so what if he can do math?

That's as if no one can teach a four-year-old!

Xie Zhicheng glared at Old Master Du, annoyed. This guy was cunning and scheming; he had even bribed Little Star long ago so he could go see Weiwei and the child.

Why didn't he think of that?!

The vegetable porridge is cooked.

The group of people took bowls and first took out a sealed jar from under the bed. After opening it, they used a spoon to scoop a spoonful of lard from the jar and put a little in each bowl. Then they went to the yard to divide the vegetable porridge into portions, one bowl for each person. They stirred it with lard, and the bowls were oily and fragrant.

The group remained silent, each taking a steamed cornbread that had been prepared earlier, and quickly began eating it along with the vegetable porridge in their bowls.

This is their usual way of eating. To avoid being discovered, they almost never cook oily food in large pots, for fear that the smell will be too strong and cause trouble if it gets out.

They wouldn't be alive today if they hadn't been so careful all these years.

Zhong Yan thought her first encounter with Old Master Qin was perfect, and fantasized about relying on this powerful figure to rise to the top of Beijing's elite circles, just like Ye Wanwan in her previous life.

As a result, when it was time to go to work in the afternoon, he was kept behind by the village chief, Lu Mingfa.

At first, she thought it was because of Lu Xiaolan that the village chief wanted to talk to her, and she quickly figured out how to deal with it.

To her surprise, Lu Mingfa silently handed her a basket, the very one that had been delivered to the shed at noon, with all the large meat buns still inside.

Zhong Yan's face turned pale instantly.

Lu Mingfa stared coldly at Zhong Yan without saying a word.

This female educated youth was a troublemaker. She had just arrived in the countryside when she shamelessly went to someone's house to demand that the couple get a divorce. Not only did she not work properly all day, but she was also thinking about crooked ideas. She even had designs on the people in the shed.

I really don't know what she's up to!

Lu Mingfa gets a headache whenever he encounters anything related to the educated youth settlement.

Originally, I thought that all the troublemakers in the educated youth settlement had left, and the few people who remained, such as Hou Zheng and Xie Ning, were all honest and law-abiding. Who knew that these new educated youths would be even more troublesome!

Seeing that he had put enough pressure on him, Lu Mingfa finally spoke with a gloomy face: "Zhong Zhiqing, you came to the countryside to support rural development. You'd better focus your mind on the important things and stop being idle all day! You are not allowed to go to the shed anymore!"

Zhong Yan looked up, her eyes red, and said, "Village chief, I didn't mean anything by it. I just felt sorry for them, so I wanted to give them some food. I really didn't mean anything by it. Xie Ning often gives things to people over there, right? I wanted to help them too..."

Lu Mingfa said coldly, "Xie Ning is helping his father. Is your father over there too?"

Zhong Yan weakly retorted, "Didn't Xie Ning already sever ties with his father a long time ago?"

Lu Mingfa narrowed his eyes: "I will talk to Xie Ning and tell him to be careful in the future and not to associate with the people from the shed anymore. The same goes for you!"

Upon hearing Lu Mingfa's words, Zhong Yan immediately sensed something was wrong and quickly said, "Village Chief, I made a mistake this time. It has nothing to do with Xie Ning. I won't go there again."

Among the educated youth in the settlement, Xie Ning is the only one who is easy to talk to. She is willing to lend a hand if there is anything. If you offend Xie Ning, your position in the settlement will be even more awkward.