Chapter Twenty-One: Busy Farming Season

Ma Liang brought three roasted sweet potatoes and three roasted potatoes.

It wasn't anything good, but they ate it happily, even though the sweet potatoes had a lot of fibrous parts and weren't as soft, sweet, and fragrant as the ones from later generations. The potatoes were also tasteless, and they even choked a bit while eating them.

However, they were very happy, and Ma Liang was even happier that his sisters did not look down on his family's belongings.

After more than ten days of intensive harvesting, all the educated youth except Gu Zuozuo were exhausted, collapsing at the educated youth settlement, too tired to move.

After harvesting wheat, they harvested rice, then corn, then sweet potatoes, then peanuts. With such intense labor every day, Meng Tian and Qi Meng, who were already not fat, became even thinner. Even eating several milk fruits a day couldn't make them regain their lost plumpness, which made Gu Zuozuo very regretful, as she could no longer pinch their soft, bouncy, and wonderfully fleshy bodies.

After finishing the work in the fields, all that's left is to thresh, dry, winnow, bag, and then transport the grain to the grain station to deliver it.

The subsequent grain delivery was no longer their concern; that was for the village men. The rest of the people began preparing for the winter.

That evening, when Gu Zuozuo strolled back carrying a dead rabbit, the entire educated youth settlement was in an uproar.

Meat!

That's meat!

How long has it been since they last ate meat? It seems like the last time was during the Lunar New Year when meat was distributed.

"Gu Zhiqing, where did you get this rabbit from?"

When the rabbit was mentioned, Jiang Yiyan almost drooled, her eyes fixed on the plump wild rabbit that Gu Zuozuo was carrying.

Goodness, it must weigh six or seven pounds! It's so fat!

As a native of Sichuan province, the sight of a rabbit immediately conjures up images of rabbit recipes in her mind.

"Caught on the mountain."

Upon hearing this, the female educated youths were somewhat dejected. There were many things on the mountain, but they dared not go there because there were wild boars and tigers.

“Gu Zhiqing, everything on the mountain belongs to the collective. Isn’t it wrong for you to take over the collective’s property without permission?”

Ye Hua's malicious intent was blatantly obvious, making no attempt to conceal his malice.

Gu Zuozuo sneered, looking at him with utter contempt.

A grown man who stares at this and that all day long is more annoying than the gossipy women in the village.

"Then don't use firewood from the mountains, and don't eat mushrooms and wild vegetables. Those belong to the collective, and if you eat them, you're taking advantage of the collective!"

Ye Hua choked. Was that what he meant?

Gu Zuozuo left after arguing with the man; it would be foolish of her to even glance at him.

After handing the rabbit over to Qi Meng and the other person, she left it alone. Who could believe that the seemingly soft and gentle Qi Meng would be the one who skinned the rabbit without batting an eye, and whose movements as she chopped the meat were swift and clean, without any hesitation? She must have shocked many people when she wielded the knife.

Unlike her, she can only cook instant noodles and boiled eggs; she really can't cook anything else.

The aroma of meat for dinner made many people's mouths water. A bowl was sent to the female educated youth, and the three of them closed the door and began to feast, completely ignoring the longing looks from the male educated youth next door.

"Hmph! What's the big deal? We'll go catch rabbits tomorrow! I refuse to believe that if she, a woman, can catch one, we, a bunch of grown men, can't!"

Ye Hua angrily smashed the bowl and turned to go back to her room.

Kan Lei lowered his eyes, seemingly lost in thought. He didn't try to persuade her, but simply ate his meal quietly.