An Moxue sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) at home, looking at the letters. She was a little confused. They were all from her friends in the compound. An Moxue looked at the addresses on the letters and saw that they came from all over the country: the Northwest, the South, Beijing, and the North.

The first letter was from Li Aidang, and the address was near Kyoto. When I opened the letter, I was delighted.

The entire letter was about how she was double-whammy from her parents and sent to the countryside because Uncle Zhang had returned with news and gifts. It was full of complaints about the countryside, saying that everything was terrible, and she demanded material compensation from An Moxue.

An Moxue recalled that the original owner had a good relationship with many of her peers in the compound, especially this one who was a foodie, and the two of them often exchanged delicious food.

An Moxue put away this letter and picked up another one. This one was from Zhao Dongmei, sent from the North Khay Province. The meaning was similar, but it contained more caring words than the previous one. She was clearly a quiet and delicate girl.

The third letter was from Wen Tao, addressed to the Northwest Military Camp. This guy had joined the army and considered himself older than An Moxue, the older brother. The letter was full of instructions to An Moxue, and he didn't forget to complain about their parents at the end. It also had a reason, because of her, he was sent to join the army.

The fourth letter was from Ai Guo, who was sent to the countryside on a small island in the south. The worst thing was that he got seasick. The whole letter was a complaint, but the way the words were written was like a fast-paced storytelling performance, which made it funny to read.

Finally, there's Guo Zhijia, who went to a small mountain village in the south. He said he broadened his horizons and experienced a completely different life from before. However, transportation was inconvenient, and there were serious bad habits, especially among women, some of whom were bought and sold.

All five people expressed the same sentiment: because they were being packed up and sent away, and because a group of people in the compound had also been sent away because of them, An Moxue felt that she was doomed, that she had become the public enemy of her fellow residents, and that she had aroused public resentment.

After thinking it over, she wrote back to each of them, starting with sincere apologies and offering suggestions and points to note based on their situations. She also wrote a letter to Zhang Jing, subtly expressing that the elders had made enemies of her and hoping that they would restrain themselves.

After thinking about it, I sent everyone a little something to express my apology and concern. It wasn't much, just a token of my appreciation. Who knows, there might even be letters of condemnation on the way! I feel sorry for myself for three seconds.

The next morning, just as dawn broke and before anyone could be seen, several voices called out in unison, "Sister Moxue, Sister Moxue."

An Moxue had already gotten up, tidied herself up, agreed, and went out with a large bag. The children ranged in age from seven or eight to eleven or twelve, and included both boys and girls.

The group chattered and urged them to hurry up, but An Moxue didn't understand why they were in such a rush. She advised them, "Don't rush, take your time. It's just dawn, we have plenty of time." Then she gave each of them a sorghum-filled candy, and the children were delighted to receive the candy.

Xinghua put the candy in her mouth and said, "Oh dear, Sister Moxue, you don't understand. When the sun comes out and it gets warmer, it's hard to find toads. They've all run away. It's cold in the morning now, so we can go and pick them up." After saying that, she took An Moxue's hand and ran off, urging the other children to hurry up. An Moxue had no choice but to follow.

The group jogged along for nearly an hour before reaching their destination, a place surrounded by mountains on three sides with a small irrigation ditch in the middle, fed by mountain spring water. There was a meadow in the ravine, and the group dispersed into the meadow.

Once inside, looking down, wow, it was swarming with toads! (These are also called forest frogs; they have high requirements for water quality and natural environment, are smaller than frogs, and have red or yellow bellies.) An Moxue took out a bag and squatted down to pick them up. As she picked them up, she secretly transferred them into her spatial dimension. By the time her friends had filled their bags, and An Moxue's bag was full, the sun had risen, and the toads were harder to catch; they were all hopping around.

Having found food, everyone was happy on the way back. The friends shared their family's recipes with An Moxue as they walked, mentioning that if they couldn't eat it all, they could dry it to save for winter, and where and what kind of places it was available.

Back home, An Moxue packed some things, wrote a letter of greeting to her mother's colleagues at the hospital, and together with letters for her friends, rode her bicycle to town.

The staff at the town's post office immediately remembered An Moxue. The reason was simple: although she wore large glasses, they couldn't completely hide her appearance and temperament; she was still outstanding, just less flamboyant.

There were also many parcels. It was the first time someone had mailed so many things to so many people. After mailing them all, I bought a stack of envelopes, letter paper, and stamps.

The staff checked the items and found nothing wrong, but they were still not at ease. They questioned An Moxue about her relationship with these people and the reason for mailing the items. An Moxue was quite helpless. She not only answered his questions, but also showed him her educated youth certificate and martyr's child certificate to dispel his doubts and send the items out smoothly.

After leaving the post office, An Moxue headed straight for the state-run restaurant.

At the restaurant, she saw Qu Bing, a fellow educated youth from the same village, having dinner with a tall man who was 1.8 meters tall. The two were chatting enthusiastically, and when they saw An Moxue come in, they naturally got up to greet her.

An Moxue immediately took the opportunity to chat with them. During the conversation, she learned that he was Qu Bing's cousin, named Fan Zijian, who worked at the forest farm in the town. She only ended her conversation with the two of them and went to another table to eat after An Moxue's food was ready.

Qu Bing and his companion finished their meal and left. When An Moxue saw the two of them, she was reminded of the film projectionist in the county. The three of them connected and she felt that some important clue had been overlooked, but she couldn't remember it no matter what.

If you can't remember, just leave it there; time will tell.

After finishing her meal, An Moxue stopped worrying about the problem that she couldn't solve at the moment and rode her bicycle back to the village.

Back in the village, they found people heading in twos and threes towards one place. When they asked one of the women who was eager to see what was going on, they learned that they were all going to Li Laitou's house to watch the excitement.

During the off-season, as soon as the village aunties and sisters-in-law heard that someone in a family had suffered some mishap, they would immediately swarm over like cats smelling fish.

The crowd had gathered outside Li Laitou's courtyard. From the outside, all that could be heard was the buzzing of their conversations; it was impossible to make out what was happening inside. All that could be heard was Wang Zhaodi's shrill screams and Li Laitou's mother's rhythmic sobs. Just imagine how many people had gathered to watch the spectacle.

An Moxue parked her bicycle by a courtyard wall and locked it, then squeezed her way into the inner area.