Ginseng and deer antlers are good things. He has sold quite a lot of them on the black market in the past few days. To be safe, he plans to sell them for another day and then go to other counties tomorrow to have a look. He will also visit those hospitals and family quarters to see if he can digest some.

Bai Ruozhen, who was dozens of miles away, couldn't sleep either. He got up quietly, went to the backyard to wash his face, and went to the kitchen to cook brown rice porridge. He also picked a cabbage from the vegetable garden, washed it, and grabbed a handful of dried shrimps from the ceramic jar and soaked them in water.

After stewing the brown rice porridge, Bai Ruozhen stewed the cabbage with dried shrimps. Bai Ruozhen was very glad to be assigned to Yancheng. Although he ate less meat, he could eat seafood often, especially in this season. There were villagers going out to sea every day. Except for those handed over to the commune, the team leader would distribute the remaining part to the villagers and educated youth.

The cabbage and rice porridge were stewed, and Bai Ruozhen simply took a few small sweet potatoes and threw them into the fire to bury them.

Sitting in front of the stove and looking at the fire, Bai Ruozhen suddenly felt that she missed Gu Changqing. She didn't know what he was doing in Yancheng and whether he was living well.

Also, will he come back on her birthday?

Oh, he doesn't know her birthday yet.

Bai Ruozhen suddenly felt a little lost. What if he didn’t come back on her birthday?

She sighed and made the fire burn brighter. She wondered if her parents and Bai Liqiang would think of her on her birthday. They probably would, after all, they had the same birthday.

When Li Aihong came out at dawn and smelled the aroma of food, she immediately saw Bai Ruozhen busy in the kitchen. She went over and asked in surprise, "Why are you up so early?"

Bai Ruozhen poured the cabbage into a small bowl and said with a smile, "If you can't sleep, get up early."

"Are you thinking about Gu Changqing?" Li Aihong smiled knowingly.

Bai Ruozhen looked at her angrily and said angrily, "Even you make fun of me."

Li Aihong went in and served the brown rice porridge, saying with a smile, "There's nothing to be shy about. We'll be together for a year and then we can get married when you turn 18."

Marriage seems like such a distant thing.

"Let's talk about it when the time comes." Bai Ruozhen took a few quick steps into the house.

Li Aihong stood there and sighed. She did have some regrets about dating Xu Dahe. Xu Dahe was a very nice person and treated her well. His family also treated her well. But when she thought about the fact that she used to be a city dweller and she might never be able to go back to the city after marriage, she felt panic.

But returning to the city is a distant prospect. There are opportunities to return to the city every few years, but how could it be their village's turn and it would happen to be hers?

Besides, she is already 22 years old this year. If she doesn't get married, she will become an old maid in the countryside.

"Sister Aihong, it's time to eat."

While she was stunned, Zhu Guixia called her.

Li Aihong calmed down, smiled, and then carried the meal into the house.

The tenth day of May was Bai Ruozhen's birthday. On the ninth day, Gu Xiaoli came back from school and came directly to the educated youth center without going home. "Sister Zhenzhen, I'm back to celebrate your birthday with you."

"Is Zhenzhen's birthday?" Zhu Guixia and others asked.

Gu Xiaoli nodded. "Yes, tomorrow is Sister Zhenzhen's birthday. I came back specially to celebrate her birthday with her."

Li Aihong said in frustration, "It's a pity we are so poor, otherwise we would have gotten some delicious food for Zhenzhen."

Gu Xiaoli's eyes rolled around as she said to Bai Ruozhen, "Sister Zhenzhen, take two days off tomorrow. I'll take you out and celebrate your birthday with you."

Bai Ruozhen was a little tempted. She hadn't asked for leave since she came here, mainly because she was not good at work, so she was embarrassed to ask for leave. Besides, the wheat harvest would be in a few days, so these few days would be her free time.

But, is Gu Changqing really not coming back?

Bai Ruozhen felt lost, but when he met Gu Xiaoli's pleading gaze, he nodded, "Okay, I'll go ask for leave now."

"I'll go with you." Gu Xiaoli was very enthusiastic. "My brother-in-law must give me face."

Wang Jun burst out laughing, "Then Xiaoli has to go with us."

Bai Ruozhen and Gu Xiaoli left the house. Wang Jun sighed and said, "If life were good, I could make her a bowl of noodles. Unfortunately, we only have one bowl of white noodles left. It wouldn't be enough even if we made it for her."

Zhu Guixia also sighed, "Let her go out with Gu Xiaoli and have fun."

No one said anything, they were all just making trouble.

Gu Xiaoli and Bai Ruozhen arrived at Li Xianjin's house. Li Xianjin felt a headache when he saw them. A sister-in-law and a future brother-in-law's wife, neither of them is easy to deal with.

Bai Ruozhen hesitated and asked for a day off. Li Xianjin was about to agree when Gu Xiaoli said, "It's not one day, it's two days."

"What are you going to do with two days off?" Li Xianjin's forehead throbbed, and he felt that his sister-in-law was simply a troublemaker.

The troublemaker said seriously, "We are going to Yancheng. Brother-in-law, you still need to give us two letters of introduction. We will leave early tomorrow morning and return the day after tomorrow afternoon."

Bai Ruozhen was surprised, "Why are we going to Yancheng?"

Gu Xiaoli frowned slightly, "Let's go have fun. If we don't go to Yancheng, how can we ask my fifth brother for money? We can't go anywhere without money."

When Gu Changqing was mentioned, Bai Ruozhen blushed immediately. It turned out that he could meet Gu Changqing in Yancheng.

Bai Ruozhen's heart began to beat rapidly.