"How's the thing I asked you to ask about?" When Ye Zi came out just now, she had agreed with Shuan Zhu to ask his friends if there were any strangers coming to the village.

"We asked, and they are the five new educated youth, Aunt Xie's son who has returned, and a few relatives who are visiting. However, we have seen all of them before. The only ones we haven't seen are these six."

"Also, those male educated youth just hang around in the mountains around the village when they have nothing to do. They don't collect firewood or anything like that, they just wander around aimlessly. The women in the village all say that these guys are just lazy bastards."

"That young woman loves to chat with others. She says she's always asking about the village's past. Sister, what's the reason for her asking about these things?"

Chen Ye shook his head. He always felt that if these people were bad guys, they really looked down on the people in their village. They thought that the villagers were all fools, so why couldn't they notice that something was wrong with them?

They are too unscrupulous. Is it intentional or is this just their style?

"Anything else?"

"Well, it's said that he's Aunt Xie's son. He always likes to run around when he has nothing to do. He's been out for several times since he came back. But he looks rich. He always buys things when he goes out."

"They also said Aunt Xie's family stewed meat almost every day, and it was delicious. The neighbors near Aunt Xie's house used to beat their children because they kept asking for meat."

Chen Ye...

This is the bad thing about living in the village. If someone cooks meat or something, people nearby can smell it. Adults can bear it, but can children?

Aunt Xie's house was very close to the foot of the mountain. Chen Ye took Shuanzhu with him and did not cross the bridge. He walked towards the foot of the mountain and picked up some firewood on the way back.

When passing by Aunt Xie's house, she almost bumped into a man who was walking out in a hurry. Chen Ye dodged for a moment and avoided being bumped into. When she stood firm and saw the person who almost bumped into her, her pupils shrank suddenly.

The man who almost hit someone looked to be about forty years old, with a very weathered face. If you just look at his face, you would think he was a farmer who worked all year round, with dark, rough and weather-beaten skin.

His eyebrows were thick but not at all even, with distinct wrinkles on his forehead, and his eyes were small and a bit triangular. He looked at people with his eyes slanted, which did not match his overly honest and simple-minded face at all.

The clothes on his body were half old and half new, but there were not many patches on them. When he bumped into someone, he didn't say a word. He just glanced at Chen Ye and turned away.

Chen Ye looked back at the man's walking posture and his meaningless little movements, and confirmed something. He pulled the rope and quickly walked a few steps to the foot of the mountain. This was a place where villagers often came, and there was really no firewood to pick up.

Fortunately, the wind was strong now, and occasionally some twigs were blown off. Chen Ye and Shuanzhu quickly grabbed a small bundle of twigs on the ground, tied them up, and walked towards home.

Shuanzhu was very sensitive to people's emotions. After seeing Aunt Xie's son just now, he felt that his sister was in a bad mood. He also shut up his talkative mouth and followed Chen Ye obediently.

When they were almost home, Chen Ye handed the small bundle of thin branches he was holding to Tie: "Don't go out to play when the weather is cold. Stay home quickly and don't go across the river to play these few days."

Shuanzhu took the small bundle of firewood and nodded. His sister's words were like an imperial decree to him: "Then I'll go back first. Do you want to come over for dinner tonight?"

"Don't go today. Go back quickly and put on your jacket tomorrow. Don't catch a cold when the weather gets colder."

"Oh, I see, sister. You should be more careful too."

Chen Ye nodded and watched Shuanzhu walk into the gate of her grandfather's house. She didn't go home but went directly to knock on the door of Cen Zixiang's yard.

People living here usually don't open the yard door, mainly because it's not as safe here as in the village. What if a wild beast comes in? Closing the door can help.

"I'm coming, I'm coming, who is it?" Cen Boxu was only wearing a sweater and ran out shivering to open the door. He didn't know why the wind was so strong here, making his body feel cold.

"Fourth brother is me."

When Cen Zixiang heard his little sister's voice, he quickly opened the door and said, "Why are you here? Why are you strolling around in this weather instead of staying at home? Come in and let's talk in the room."

As soon as Chen Ye entered Cen Zixiang and his family's house, she found that the house was even colder than outside: "No, why don't you light the kang in such a cold day?" She had started burning the kang in her house every day a few days ago.

Cen Zixiang slapped his forehead and said, "I was wondering why I felt so cold. I forgot to heat the kang. Hey, Feizi, why didn't you remind me?"

Gao Fei...could he say he had forgotten too? Although the room was a little cold, it was not unbearable.

"Hurry up, hurry up, light up the kang! It's really making me not want to get out of bed anymore. Ye Zi, wait a minute, let's light the fire first."

Chen Ye glanced at the kang. These two people were really amazing. They didn't even think about lighting a fire when it was so cold. They just sat on the cold kang with a quilt each, not afraid of getting hemorrhoids from the cold.

"You two take care of yourselves, I'm not in a hurry. When we have time, why don't we go to Ershuang to get some coal?" In winter, it's still cold to rely on firewood to survive the winter, and in the second half of the night, you have to rely on the residual heat, and you might even wake yourself up with the cold.

"Why, did Ershuang bring a message?"

"Well, I got a little letter yesterday. I thought the weather was bad, so I'll go when the weather is better."

"Okay, let's go as soon as the weather clears up. I'll drive the ox cart and bring back more coal this year. Your little tricycle can't carry much."

The last time Uncle San sent a letter, the envelope contained a lot of coal tickets. He was asking him to buy coal for Ye Zi. He entrusted it to Er Shuang, and it seems that he really bought it.

After lighting the kang, Cen Zixiang spread a mat for Chen Ye and said, "Hurry up and sit on the kang. I see you're not from home. Did you go out to the village?"

"Well, I went to see the second girl and picked up some firewood."

This is just to fool others. He and Gao Fei's younger sister went to get the firewood from his younger sister's house. Even if they didn't buy coal, they wouldn't be able to burn it all in the winter. Why should she go and collect firewood at this time?

Gao Fei placed a teacup of hot malted milk on the table: "Drink it quickly, it will warm you up."

Cen Zixiang also got on the kang, and the three of them sat around the small kang table: "Tell me, what have you done?"

Chen Ye didn't hesitate either. He first picked up the teacup and gulped down several mouthfuls of malted milk. A warm feeling spread throughout his body and he almost sighed with comfort.

"I've been feeling something's not right lately, so I went to the second girl to get some information. I have a feeling those two people who came over last time wouldn't just leave like that. Isn't that what they're thinking?"