That day, after work, the village chief came over to inform the educated youth that they would have a few days off and would be notified when they returned to work.

The educated youth all had smiles on their faces, and some even threw their tools aside and chased each other around.

An Moxue was also happy. She wanted to go to the town tomorrow. She had been here for so long and had only ever been to the county. She had never been to the town before.

An Moxue isn't going up the mountain today. The vegetables she planted at home have sprouted, so she'll pull some weeds and water them.

Then I went into my online space and made myself a steamed sea bass and boiled prawns, paired with a glass of dry white wine. As I ate, I thought, "This is what life is all about."

After eating and drinking my fill, I strolled around the space, took a rose petal bath, did a hydrating face mask, and ate strawberries while soaking in the bath.

After coming out, I put on a beautiful makeup, changed into the clothes in the room, and kept taking selfies with my phone, but I still felt unsatisfied.

After leaving the space, I changed into a green military uniform, put on a military cap, and braided my hair into two loose braids. I took many more photos in the house and in the kitchen, repeatedly looking at the photos I had just taken on my phone. I deleted the ones I wasn't satisfied with and looked at the ones I was satisfied with again and again.

I regret not buying a camera like this when I was in Kyoto. This is the most relaxing day An Moxue has had since arriving here.

The next morning at six o'clock, An Moxue set off on her bicycle.

When going uphill, pedal hard; when going downhill, hold the handlebars firmly. With a burst of momentum, you'll rush far ahead, like an arrow released from a bow.

After pedaling hard for more than an hour, rushing downhill, we finally arrived at Ankou Town.

An Moxue rode her bicycle around the town. The whole town had only one main street, where the government, police station, hospital, supply and marketing cooperative, state-run restaurant, grain store, and grocery store were all located. It was really small—that was An Moxue's most immediate impression.

They went to a state-run restaurant, which was nearly empty. They ate a breakfast called red bean buns, which were filled with red beans. Each bun was about the size of an adult man's fist. An Moxue really liked them and bought ten more to take away after finishing them.

After leaving, she went to the grocery store to queue up. When it was An Moxue's turn, she bought two pig trotters, a pig liver, several large bones, and three catties of lean pork. The pork cost 58 cents per catty, and she spent a total of 2.49 yuan, plus three catties of meat coupons.

After leaving, I went to the supply and marketing cooperative and bought a pound of brown sugar, which I'll keep for gifting. The ones in the space are a bit different from this one. I also bought a five-foot piece of blue cotton cloth, a pound of glutinous rice strips, and a pound of roasted fruit.

I went to the grain store, but there wasn't much to buy. I rode my bicycle back home.

As she walked into a forest, she vaguely heard a gunshot, but upon listening again, she heard nothing. Suspicious, she quickened her pace and left. Not long after she left, several people chased after her past the spot where she had just heard the sound. One of them was Wu Sicheng.

Back in the village, when she rode to Yang the carpenter's house, a dozen or so people were chatting under a tree. Some had children, some had needles and thread in their hands. When they saw An Moxue riding back with large and small bags, they all surrounded her, asking her all sorts of questions.

One of the young women, holding her child, was the most enthusiastic: "An Zhiqing, did you go to town? What delicious food did you buy? Quickly order some for my little one, he loves you so much, his aunt."

As he spoke, he reached out to grab something hanging on An Moxue's handlebars, but An Moxue slapped his hand away with a loud "smack," and everyone fell silent instantly.

An Moxue's face turned serious, her usual smile gone: "I don't even know you, comrade. You just came up and tried to take my things without asking. This is blatant robbery, which will be criticized. If the police are called, you'll go to jail. You're blatantly bringing shame to our village, which is wrong, especially since you were holding a child and doing this in front of the child. You're setting a bad example for the child, and the child will learn bad habits. You're harming the seedlings of our nation. I'll forgive you this time because it's your first offense, but if it happens again, I'll call the police. Even the village chief won't be able to stop you."

An Moxue's outburst left everyone stunned. She took the opportunity to ride away on her bicycle. It was too scary. She would definitely try to avoid the villagers when she came back from buying things in the future.

The women surrounding them were also incredulous. This educated youth, An, usually greeted everyone with a smile, but if you offended her, she could be quite ruthless and not to be trifled with. They were making a big deal out of it.

Some, however, felt that An, the educated youth, was rich; all he needed was a house and a bicycle.

An Moxue returned home, put down her things, and took the blue cloth and a pound of roasted fruit to Old Ma's house.

Aunt Ma was sewing shoe soles at home when An Moxue put down her things and said to Aunt Ma, "Auntie, these are for you and Uncle Ma. Thank you for your help these past few days."

"You silly girl, I'm helping you because I think you're a decent person, not because I want anything from you. Take it back, it's not easy for a girl like you."

"Auntie, this is just a small token of my appreciation. Please accept it. I'll be troubling you and Uncle Ma a lot in the future."

"Just this once, there can't be a next time."

"Okay, Auntie, I'll head back now. I'm going to collect some firewood this afternoon so I can get up the mountain as soon as possible."

"Don't go deep into the mountains, it's dangerous."

"I understand, Auntie, I'll be more careful."

An Moxue went home, ate lunch, grabbed a machete and a stick, and set off. She entered from the back of the mountain and followed her mother's description, walking along a winding path for more than an hour until the path ended, revealing a black pine forest ahead.

Beyond the black pine forest lies a vast valley surrounded on three sides, with a lake of about several dozen acres in the middle. The lake's surface shimmers, reflecting the green mountains, and patches of yellow wildflowers line the shore. Birdsong can be heard from time to time, clear and melodious.

Continue walking northwest along the lake.

An Moxue walked along, tapping the ground with a stick as she went, carefully observing her surroundings. She occasionally used her machete to chop at the weeds and branches in front of her, and her progress was not very fast.

After walking for a long time, they finally saw an open area. Inside, it was even more open, but it was densely packed with graves. An Moxue hurriedly walked to a grave with a tombstone and looked at the epitaph. She saw that it had the same surname as her mother. She read through all the epitaphs and confirmed that this was her mother's ancestral grave. The oldest graves all had tombstones, but the more than two hundred most recent graves did not have any tombstones. An Moxue thought that perhaps there was no time to erect tombstones during the war, and they were just buried hastily.

This family, in both timelines, only she remains. According to her maternal grandparents' recollections, in that timeline, their family also sacrificed themselves fighting against foreign enemies; they were a large and prestigious family.

Is this fate?

An Moxue returned to the front of the tomb complex and cleared a small open space. She knelt down properly, kowtowed three times, and muttered, "Ancestors, I didn't know I could find you so easily today. I didn't bring any offerings, but I will definitely make up for it next time I come. Please forgive me. Today, I can only do some simple repairs for your houses."

Then she took out a shovel from her spatial storage and began filling the graves with soil, starting with the oldest ones. She filled the intact graves with three shovelfuls of soil, and filled in the holes in those. After filling each grave, she stood still, bowed, and paid her respects. Once she had filled all the graves and counted how many there were, there were 487. Two hundred and ninety-one of the most recent graves had no tombstones; these were likely the graves of those who had died in battle.