That's quite direct.

"Auntie, I won't get married casually."

She won't marry just anyone, and of course, she won't readily agree to marry Xiao Yuheng. As for how things will develop in the future, that depends on whether the two are truly destined for each other.

When Xiao Ma heard this, she laughed. As long as Gu An'an didn't get married on a whim like other educated youths who were just trying to make a living, she had a lot of confidence in her son. As long as he was truly committed, even if he returned to the army, their relationship wouldn't just end.

"Okay, okay, that's fine. No matter whether you choose Aheng in the end or not, your aunt will like you. If you have any problems, go to my brother and sister-in-law. They will tell me if they can't solve them, so don't worry."

Aunt Xiao patted Gu An'an's hand before leaving the courtyard with Zhang Cuicui.

"These leaders are really something. My cousin finally got closer to Gu, the educated youth, and then they suddenly called him back. What if someone beat him to it?"

Xiao's mother thought so too, but her son had chosen this profession, so he had to bear these things; there was nothing she could do about it.

“It’s okay, I believe in my son.”

Her son will definitely find a chance to prove himself. If he's really that dull, he deserves to lose his wife.

Gu An'an carried the dumplings back into the house, and Zhou Yue kept her eyes fixed on her face, afraid that she might see any sadness or disappointment in Gu An'an.

"An'an, are you alright?"

Gu An'an found it amusing. "What could possibly be wrong with me? Aren't you underestimating me?"

Seeing that she could still smile, Zhou Yue breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good, that's good, I was worried..."

Meeting Gu An'an's smiling eyes, Zhou Yue immediately cut off the conversation, pouting her lips and saying rather arrogantly, "See! My sister is still the most reliable. She can be with you all the time. Be nicer to me in the future."

"Being good to you? What kind of 'good' do you prefer? Would you eat a fist?"

Upon seeing this, Zhou Yue immediately grabbed the dumplings and ran away, crying, "An'an, I was wrong."

Xiao Yuheng's departure did not have much impact on Gu An'an's life. She was still one of the few women in the village who earned all the work points. Moreover, she went up the mountain every day to hunt wild game, pick cucumbers and wild vegetables.

Every time they saw her carrying basket after basket of things back home, the older women in the village would regret it. How could Xiao Yuheng have taken a liking to such a good girl first?

The Xiao family's background was far beyond what ordinary people like them could compare to, and with her uncle being the village chief, they could only silently slap their thighs in despair.

"Gu Zhiqing, the truck has arrived. Go and watch it weigh and load it."

When Gu An'an came with the village chief, she saw a man who looked similar to Wang Dashan standing with the driver smoking. Seeing that she came with the village chief, he immediately guessed her identity.

"Dad, is this the Gu educated youth you were talking about?"

Wang Dahai smiled and his eyes shone. So this was the girl his cousin liked. She was indeed quite capable. "Hello, I am Wang Dahai, Wang Dashan's younger brother."

Gu An'an smiled and nodded at the other person, "I am Gu An'an, a sent-down youth who came to our Xiaowang Village. Let's weigh and load the truck quickly."

Wang Dashan had no objections and helped with the work. Before weighing, Gu An'an checked each bag again to make sure there were no problems.

After the truck was loaded, the village chief handed the driver some dried vegetables and a dried rabbit.

"Young man, thank you for your trouble. When you deliver the goods to Haishi Machinery Factory, just tell the guard that they are from Xiaowang Village, and he will arrange for someone to unload them."

"It's alright, Uncle. I know Dahai too. I'll definitely do a great job for you."

Since the other party paid the shipping fee, I didn't have to drive back empty, so I had already made a profit. It's not good to accept more goods from them.

The village chief objected and stuffed the items into the driver's seat, saying, "They're not worth much. Take them home and let your family try them."

The truck drove away amidst the expectant gazes of the crowd. From then on, the village chief began counting down the days, wondering when it would arrive and when he would receive the money.

He trusted Gu An'an, but he still felt uneasy until he received the money.

However, this did not stop him from working hard. He not only discussed the development roadmap of Xiaowang Village with Xiao's father, but also seriously considered all the villagers and finally found a few suitable candidates to go out and work in the future.

Of course, the most important thing is to focus on the village's production. However, by this time, spring planting has basically come to an end. In previous years, everyone would relax for a while at this time and then put in a lot of effort when weeding.

But this year is different. The villagers are full of energy when they see the work points they can get from exchanging wild vegetables. They go to the fields before dawn to do their work first, and then immediately carry their baskets up the mountain.

In the educated youth compound, Qin Xue still wanted to stay in bed and be waited on, but the others were not to be trifled with. When they were in a good mood, they would make sarcastic remarks, and when they were in a bad mood, they would open fire directly.

With no other options, Qin Xue had to rely on herself.

However, she was also incredibly resilient. The wild boar didn't hit her, and she only injured her foot as she rolled down the mountain. While others would need three months to recover from a broken bone, she recovered more than twice as well.

Apart from not being able to do heavy physical labor, there are really no other problems.

But she couldn't feel happy at all.

Because she was lazy and didn't want to work, Zhang Zhaodi took over the task of collecting grain. Although she kept a close eye on it every time, she always received less grain than the others.

"Zhang Zhaodi, you little slut, did you steal my grain?"

Zhang Zhaodi had just entered the house carrying half a basket of vegetables when Qin Xue pointed her finger at her and gave her a good scolding. She glanced to the side and said, "No, you were watching me every time I took the food. How could I have had the chance to do that? Don't wrong me."

Of course, she actually stole some. Qin Xue was too lazy to even move from the kang (a heated brick bed), so how could Qin Xue, lying in bed, notice if she took a little more than she needed?

But she didn't regret it at all. Ever since Qin Xue came back injured, she had been the one running around taking care of things, so it was only right that she take some food.

"You're lying. If you didn't steal it, how could so much of my food be missing?"

Qin Xue slammed the grain sack on the ground. "Do you dare to bring out yours for comparison?"

Both of them were newly arrived educated youth and had always eaten from the same pot, so the leftover grain should have been the same.

Qin Xue thought that this would be enough to completely shame Zhang Zhaodi, the thief. Little did she know that Zhang Zhaodi was prepared. She had already packed and hidden the grain she usually obtained and the original sacks, and took out her own grain sack without any guilt.

"See for yourself."

When the two bags of grain are placed side by side, it is almost impossible to tell the difference.

Zhang Zhaodi burst into tears, saying, "I really didn't take your food. I never thought that after helping you every day, I would suffer such injustice. I... I don't want to live anymore."

After saying that, Zhang Zhaodi rushed towards the base of the wall, specifically targeting the spot where Wang Erzhuang was.

Sure enough, she was stopped.

"Qin Xue, how can you be so ungrateful? No matter what bad things Zhang Zhiqing has done, you can't use this to frame her."

Li Yumei leaned against the door watching the show, almost cracking some melon seeds. "I told you long ago that she's a heartless wretch, but you wouldn't believe me."

Qin Xue suddenly became the target of public criticism.

Qin Xue glared at Zhang Zhaodi, who was hiding behind Wang Dazhuang, with murderous intent, but she knew that words alone wouldn't work. Her mind raced, and suddenly a brilliant idea came to her.