I don't know if the silly roe deer understood that Gu An'an wanted to roast them, because it suddenly ran a little faster.

But the silly roe deer's nature cannot be changed; it still habitually looks back at what's behind it.

In just a short while, the three of them caught up. Gu An'an swung the rope in her hand and accurately looped it around the neck of the silly roe deer. With a pull of the rope, the silly roe deer fell to the ground with a "thud".

The capture of one roe deer startled another silly roe deer, which was then caught one after the other by Xiao Yuheng and Zhao Hu who were chasing after it.

Although roe deer are not as good as wild boars, two roe deer are enough for them to eat for a while, and they are all very satisfied.

The group took a shortcut home and didn't encounter many people along the way. Even when they did, people assumed they had only managed to get two pheasants and some mushrooms.

Once they arrived at the courtyard, the group closed the door and got to work. The boys were in charge of butchering the mushrooms, while the girls were in charge of picking out any impurities from them.

Before they could finish what they were doing, a commotion erupted outside the door, along with a man's furious shouts.

"Xie Yuan, if you're so capable, then don't try to run away. Didn't you hear me telling you to stay away from my sister?"

"No, Brother Jianyi, I just like Xiaoling and want to pursue her. Our country advocates free love, you can't stop us."

Xie Yuan cursed inwardly, "What bad luck! How did I end up being caught by this brute?"

"Free love? My sister doesn't like you. You're the one taking advantage of her. What kind of free love is that!"

Upon hearing that Xie Yuan was the one being scolded, Zhou Yue immediately perked up. "An'an, shall we go and see what's going on?"

Not only Zhou Yue wanted to see the excitement, but the villagers did too, with people constantly rushing over after hearing the commotion.

"Arrest him immediately! How dare he harass the girls in our village! This kid has some nerve!"

"That's right, Xiaoling is such a good girl, how could he possibly be worthy of her!"

This man was speaking from the heart. The daughters of the Party Secretary and the Brigade Leader were both quite beautiful, and with their unique advantages, they were the best choice for eligible young men in the village.

What kind of person is Xie Yuan? He used to want to pursue Zhou Zhiqing and even flirted with Qin Zhiqing.

Now, it's absolutely unacceptable to try and cause trouble for the people in their village.

"Jianyi, beat this kid to death!"

When the village chief arrived, he heard these words and was immediately in a state of utter confusion.

It wasn't that he thought Xie Yuan shouldn't have been beaten, but there's a method to dealing with people. If Jianyi had gotten seriously injured in front of so many people, he himself would have suffered as well, and even a justifiable situation could have become unreasonable.

It was only with great difficulty that An'an managed to secure orders and boost sales for the village, thus mitigating the impact of the Qian Zhiqing incident. They even promised that if they achieved good results at this trade fair, the village would be given the advanced honors this year.

If something else goes wrong, the spot for advancement might not go to anyone.

"What's all the commotion about! What's all the commotion about! Is everything alright at home?"

As soon as everyone saw it was him, they immediately made way for him.

"Village chief, this guy surnamed Xie is bullying that girl Xiaoling."

"Exactly, he's like a toad trying to eat swan meat, he needs to be taught a lesson."

The village chief was extremely annoyed by people like Xie Yuan. They were useless at everything and couldn't even finish a single bite of food. Compared to An An, they were worlds apart.

Annoying as it may be, as the village head, I still have to solve the problem.

"Xie Zhiqing, is there anything you'd like to say?"

Xie Yuan's face was grim, but he still tried his best to defend himself, "Village chief, now that freedom of marriage is advocated, is it a problem for me to pursue the girl I like?"

The village chief nodded. Of course, there was no problem. If he dared to say there was a problem, he would be an old-fashioned supporter of arranged marriages, and if someone caught him doing something wrong, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Xie Yuan was somewhat smug. "Since marriage and love are matters of freedom, and I haven't done anything illegal, yet he beat me up like this, village chief, you have to stand up for me, right?"

"How do you want to handle this?"

The village chief frowned deeply. Of course he wanted to help his own people, but he had already found out what had happened on the way here. It was indeed Jianyi who had acted impulsively.

"I don't think I did anything wrong. I really like Xiaoling. Jianyi hitting me was also to protect Xiaoling. I just need him to apologize to me."

In the past, he certainly wouldn't have made this choice, but he had just received a letter from home. The Zhou family had suddenly turned against them. His father and elder brother had been dismissed for embezzling state property by abusing their positions, and the next step might be execution. The best outcome would be to be sent to a farm for reform through labor.

His mother wrote the letter for only two purposes: one was to scold him for being incompetent, failing to marry Zhou Yue, and angering the Zhou family, thus harming them; the other was to ask for money to bail out his father and older brother.

He has no money, and even if he did, he wouldn't give it to me.

He hated Zhou Yue and the Zhou family, and tried to kill her many times, but there were always people around her, so he couldn't find an opportunity to do so.

Given Qian Xiaojun's experience, he dared not break in at night.

After much thought, he realized that Wang Xiaoling, this village girl, was the most suitable for him. As long as Wang Xiaoling was determined to be with him, the people in the village secretary's family were no problem.

He felt he had been magnanimous enough, and looked at Wang Xiaoling in the crowd with affectionate eyes.

"I didn't want to make a big fuss; I just wanted justice."

Although everyone felt that Xie Yuan was at fault, it seemed to make some sense.

Gu An'an was almost laughing at this shameless thing. "Xie Zhiqing, it's true that you have the freedom to love, but have you asked Xiaoling for her opinion?"

Wang Xiaoling was overprotected by her family and had a very introverted personality. Even when she was anxious, she didn't know what to say, which was one of the reasons Xie Yuan chose her.

Indecisive, lacking in insight, and easily controlled.

When Wang Xiaoling heard Gu An'an's voice, her eyes lit up.

Although she herself was indecisive, she heard her father boast about Gu An'an every day, saying that Gu An'an was the most capable person and would definitely solve the current problem.

She was happy, but Xie Yuan felt uncertain.

"This has nothing to do with you, Gu Zhiqing."

Gu An'an, still holding two hazel mushrooms in her hand, smiled sarcastically upon hearing this, completely ignoring Xie Yuan's clamor, and looked directly at Wang Xiaoling, "Xiaoling, do you like Xie Zhiqing?"

Wang Xiaoling immediately shook her head, "I, I don't like it, but he keeps contacting me, and I've refused him many times."

"Did you hear that? He doesn't like you."

Gu An'an's words were sharp: "Your so-called freedom in love is just shamelessly clinging to a girl who doesn't like you. It seems you're still incorrigible."