An Moxue returned to her home after a few days' absence and felt especially warm and welcome. The two little ones circled around her, having grown even bigger in just a few days. She gave them some food, which they ate happily.

The house hadn't been lived in for a few days, so it was covered in a layer of dust. I filled a basin with water and cleaned it thoroughly.

I took a nice rose essential oil bath in the space, had a big meal, and felt completely relaxed. When I came out of the space, I collapsed on the kang (a heated brick bed) and fell asleep.

She had no idea that her situation had caused such a stir in the village these past few days. Someone saw her return, and the village became lively once again.

The militia members both respected and feared her; the women were polarized. Those who liked her said she was amazing, their eyes sparkling with admiration; those who disliked her said all sorts of things, some saying she might lose her innocence and that she should just die, that someone so fierce would never get married. Aunt Meihua and Aunt Guo even got into a fight with those gossipy women over her.

An Moxue was completely unaware of all this; she was fast asleep on the kang (a heated brick bed), dreaming of drinking fine wine and admiring handsome men in a bar.

Just as she was engrossed in watching, someone kept calling her "Mo Xue! Mo Xue! Mo Xue!" She wouldn't give up until someone called her.

An Moxue slowly woke up, feeling like someone was calling outside the door. She peeked out the window and saw a group of people.

He quickly opened the window and shouted, "Wait a minute, I'll be right there!"

Then she put on her shoes, put the two little ones into her spatial storage, went out to open the door, and invited the big ones into the house.

"Aunties and sisters-in-law, come in quickly. I was sleeping too soundly and didn't hear you. I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long."

Aunt Mei replied, "No, we just arrived. Someone saw you come back, so we came to see you."

"Please sit down first. I'll get you some sunflower seeds to crack open, and we can chat while we eat them."

"Mo Xue, don't bother with all that. Just coming to see you is enough. Keep the food for yourself," Aunt Guo said.

"Auntie, you've come to see me. I still have some melon seeds." An Moxue said as she reached into the box (actually, her spatial dimension) and filled it to the brim. She then placed a handful of melon seeds in each person's hand on the kang (a heated brick bed).

"Everyone, please don't be shy, eat up!"

"Mo Xue, how are you? Why didn't you stay in the hospital a couple more days? Why did you rush back? Getting better is the most important thing," Aunt Guo said with concern.

"That's for sure. You can't take your youth for granted and not take things seriously. You'll regret it when you're old." The plump aunt said as she took An Moxue's hand and examined it closely. "This has been a real ordeal. Your Aunt Guo came back saying she was covered in bruises and welts. The nurses cried when they saw her. That must be so serious! Why isn't her hand healed yet? She needs to take good care of it." This plump aunt was a hand fetishist. Ever since she first saw An Moxue's hands, she had been captivated by them. She loved An Moxue because of her hands.

Xiangxiu's sister-in-law chimed in, "You need to take good care of yourself, get plenty of rest, and don't go up the mountain. Your health is important."

An Moxue replied with a smile, "I'll listen to everyone. The doctor told me to go home and not do any work for ten days or so. Aunt Guo, after you go home, please ask my Uncle Guo for seven days off."

“Okay, I’ll talk to her when I get back,” Aunt Guo said.

Sister-in-law Da Hong asked curiously, "Mo Xue, were you scared when you were alone? How come you're so strong! You're so good at fighting!"

"Sister-in-law, I wasn't scared at the time. There were only two people at first. I caught one off guard and beat him into incapacitated. The next day, when he saw that he couldn't beat me, he blew his whistle to call for reinforcements. I didn't care about anything else; I just ran as fast as I could into the woods, shook him off, and ran far away. I subdued the other three one by one. If they had been together, I really don't know if I would have been caught. I started practicing martial arts when I was very young, and after all these years, I've made some progress. I could easily take on a few ordinary people."

"We used to have people around here who practiced martial arts. It was really tough. They didn't stop all year round, did they?" This was Hongxing from Aunt Pang's family. The little girl was curious about everything.

"Of course, I start practicing at 4:30 every morning. After a while, I got used to it and it didn't feel hard anymore. Auntie, what chores do we need to do after we finish husking the corn?"

"Rolling corn, bundling corn stalks, transporting fertilizer to the fields, composting, repairing river channels, clearing river channels, repairing roads—there's a lot of work, just scattered bits and pieces, no rush. Salted vegetables, pickled vegetables. Mo Xue, you need to harvest the vegetables in your yard, otherwise they'll all wilt after the next frost and you won't be able to eat them." Aunt Guo recounted the tasks as if they were her own treasures.

"I'll accept it tomorrow."

"If you collect them, you can store them in the cellar; they'll last longer."

Just as the group was getting into their conversation, a voice called out from outside, "Mo Xue! Are you home?" An Mo Xue invited the group to eat some melon seeds and hurriedly went out again. "Yes, come in, the door isn't locked." As she spoke, she walked to the middle of the courtyard. All the educated youth, men and women, had arrived, not one missing.

The aunties and sisters-in-law inside looked out and saw a lot of educated youth. Well, Aunt Guo said, "We've been here for a while too. This room is too small to fit us and the educated youth. We've seen everyone, let's go back."

Everyone agreed, "Okay." The group rushed out of the house, met the educated youth in the yard, and left. An Moxue turned around to see her aunts and sisters-in-law off, and didn't forget to say to the educated youth, "You go inside first, I'll see the aunts and sisters-in-law off."

After seeing off her aunts and sisters-in-law, An Moxue went back into the house and brought out some more melon seeds. She put them on the kang (a heated brick bed), and everyone grabbed handfuls and cracked them open without saying a word.

"Mo Xue, are you alright?" Zhang Xiu was the first to speak, and the rest of them looked at An Mo Xue expectantly.

An Moxue chuckled as she looked at everyone, "You don't need to be so careful, I'm fine, except for some minor injuries."

Then everyone breathed a sigh of relief, "It's good that you're alright."

An Moxue was puzzled by the way these people looked like they were facing a formidable enemy, so she asked Qi Hehua and Qi Taohua, "Why are you all acting like this? I'm perfectly fine."

Seeing the two sisters' hesitant expressions, An Moxue became even more curious. Wang Jie cautiously asked, "Moxue, didn't the aunts and sisters-in-law who left just now say anything?"

"They just came to see me, they didn't say anything. What's wrong?"

The male educated youth didn't seem to have as many concerns as the female educated youth. The honest Hu Dong asked, "An Moxue, didn't Aunt Guo and Aunt Meihua talk to you about this just now?"

"What are you talking about? Tell me! I don't know!"

Hu Dong replied, "There were some gossipy women in the village talking badly about you. When the two aunties found out, they got into a fight with them."

"You two aunties didn't suffer any losses, did they?"

"No, we were just worried that you might get upset and sad if you heard those words, so we didn't know whether to tell you or not."

Seeing that she wasn't upset about what she said, everyone relaxed a lot and asked her about what happened that night. She picked out some details to tell them, saying that she would need to rest for a while after being discharged from the hospital before she could go back to work. She stayed there for half an hour before leaving.

The educated youth had just left when someone else came: "Mo Xue, are you home?"

"Yes, come in, sister-in-law."

Er Gouzi's wife brought their child, Xiao Huzi, over. As soon as she came in, she said to An Moxue, "Moxue, I'm so sorry. If my Xiao Huzi hadn't been so naive and sent you a message without checking who it was, you might be alright now. Come, bow to your Aunt Moxue and apologize."

Xiao Huzi walked up to An Moxue respectfully, bowed, and said, "Aunt Moxue, I'm sorry. I'll make sure I see the person clearly next time I deliver a message. Please forgive me!"

After bowing, she stood up, her eyes full of expectation, as if saying, "Please forgive me!"

An Moxue looked at Xiaohuzi and replied earnestly, "Xiaohuzi, your aunt doesn't blame you. You did nothing wrong. Xiaohuzi's act of helping to deliver messages shows that he is a kind-hearted and good child, and he deserves praise."

Then An Moxue looked at Er Gouzi's wife and said, "Sister-in-law, you didn't hit Xiao Huzi, did you? If you did, I would be a sinner. He's such a good child."

"I didn't fight, we just exchanged a few words." Then he held out his hand and handed An Moxue two eggs. "Here you go, little sister. Take these to nourish your body. Don't think it's too little, it's just a token of my appreciation."

"Sister-in-law, you really can't take this. Besides, I don't need it. You can take it back and save it for your little tiger."

"Auntie, here you go." Little Tiger took the egg from his mother's hand and stuffed it into An Moxue's hand.

An Moxue couldn't resist the mother and son's enthusiasm, so she had no choice but to accept the eggs, go inside, grab a handful of candy, and put it in Hu Zi's pocket. "Sister-in-law, I've accepted your eggs, but please don't refuse the candy I'm giving Hu Zi, or I'll get angry."

Er Gouzi's wife smiled broadly and said "okay," her earlier nervousness undiminished.