She bought a bottle of wine, and just then, the sales clerk at the counter went to the restroom, so she asked her to cover for her for a while. At that moment, two men in military uniforms came in to buy wine. She glanced up and immediately took a liking to the man walking in front; it was Shen Xi.

She's been absent-minded at work these past two days. It just so happened that it was her day off, so she swapped shifts with someone and went back to the village. When she got back, she heard from her fifth uncle's daughter, Fangfang, that two soldiers had come to the village recently, saying they were Li Mianmian's brothers.

That's why she told her mother that she had met Li Mianmian's brother in the city and had fallen in love with him. Grandma Gu also took a liking to this young man from the Li family and thought he was a good match for her daughter.

That's why the scene just now happened, but they never expected Li Mianmian to disregard the Gu family's feelings. However, they couldn't do anything about it.

There's not much to take, just some mountain produce and dried peaches. As for dried apples and persimmons, it's too early to give them now, so let's skip that. That's all. Since there aren't many mountain produce items, let's give a few extra pounds of dried peaches. That way, each family will have one pound of wood ear mushrooms, one pound of mushrooms, three pounds of dried peaches, and five pounds in a small package. We also packed five pounds of dried peaches for my third and fourth brothers to take to the army or school.

However, it was already dark when my third and fourth brothers came back today, so I prepared the food early and kept it warm in the pot, then stood at the foot of the mountain waiting for them.

Seeing them return, I rushed over, but as I got closer, I smelled blood. Just as I was about to ask what was wrong, I heard my third brother say, "We'll talk about it when we get back."

"oh"

I quickly took a bundle of firewood and carried it home. There have been fewer people loitering around the door these past two days, and not many people at the foot of the mountain either. However, they're all stuck on the road near their homes. The reason is that they're home alone, and people at the foot of the mountain might come down from somewhere else, so they can't wait for them and have to wait on the road. But they never expected that I'd be by their side every day, and they'd never have a chance to talk to me alone.

After returning home, the third brother said, "Let's eat first, and then in the middle of the night, you, the fourth brother, and I will go hiking together."

"What's wrong, Third Brother?"

"We caught a big guy on the mountain today."

What is it?

"My third brother and I killed two wild boars. One was a large one that weighed three or four hundred pounds, and the other was a small one that weighed about two hundred pounds."

"Should we go into town to sell them first thing tomorrow morning?"

"I'm not selling it, keep it for yourself," the third brother said.

"But with the weather so hot right now, will it be able to stay in there?"

"No problem, give them all to be cured into salted meat, or dried and eaten."

"Yes, Mianmian, it's too much trouble to get meat here. Even though you need meat coupons to eat meat in the city, you work in the fields every day to earn work points, so you can't do without some meat."

"Alright, Third Brother, Fourth Brother."

"However, the two of us don't have time to help you pack it up; you'll have to do it yourself."

"That's no problem."

"After we leave, take some time to dig a cellar in the yard or inside the house, make sure it's well hidden, okay?"

"Don't worry, Third Brother, I know."

"Is the water tank at home sufficient?"

"Pretty much. There's not much grain left in the jar. When I arrived here, the brigade only gave me an advance of one month's worth of grain for the first month, which totaled about 35 jin (17.5 catties). The rest I got by exchanging grain coupons at the grain store when I went to the county town to collect my subsidies."

"Isn't the grain only distributed after the autumn harvest?"

"Yes, Fourth Brother."

"Now that we have this meat, you can save some money. Also, if you run out of food stamps, just write to us. Don't starve yourself."

"Don't worry, Third Brother. When I came here, Uncle Shen, Sister Nan, and the elders in the military compound all gave me some money. Not counting the monthly allowance I receive, it's enough to last me for more than half a year."

Besides, the autumn harvest is just over a month away. I can use the work points I earn to buy some food or trade with others to make sure I have enough to eat by next year's harvest.

"That's good, that's good. Let's go to sleep right after we finish eating, and we'll go together at two in the morning."

"Third Brother, is it safe to put it there?"

"Don't worry, there's a cave there, blocked by rocks. Besides, I already released the pig's blood. It's a bit far from where the wild boars were released, so they won't find it. Even if they do, they'll be heading for the pig's blood."

"That's good"

"Go to bed early, that place is quite far."

"OK"

Around 2 a.m., instead of going through the main gate to avoid being overheard, my third brother and his brothers climbed over the fence into the yard. Armed with flashlights and sticks, they went into the mountains and walked for about an hour before finding the cave. After checking and finding no other large animals, they quickly moved the stones aside. My third and fourth brothers carried the larger wild boar, while I carried the smaller one, hurrying back. By the time we reached the foot of the mountain, it was already 4:30 a.m., almost dawn. I quickly carried the wild boar home. Luckily, I lived in the last row of houses, with few other houses nearby. I put the boar down, jumped into the yard, opened the gate, and quickly let my third and fourth brothers in. I then dragged the boar inside. If there was no room, I put it in a corner and covered it with dry firewood. After my third and fourth brothers finished, they didn't say a word and climbed over the fence into the next house to rest. I didn't sleep, but quickly started kneading the dough. The dumpling filling was prepared yesterday. I just traded some chives with other families in the village. I planned to make pork and chive dumplings. The pork was brought back from the county town by my third brother a couple of days ago, and I secretly added two ounces of pork from my storage space.

Grandpa Huang sets off at six o'clock every morning in the summer. The midday sun is strong, and he doesn't want the old ox to suffer, so he gets off early to catch the bus. Once there, he feeds it well and lets it rest. Another group, like Third Brother's, usually finds out around 10 am. So, they need to hurry and prepare the dumplings. But it's quick; everything is already prepared.

The dumplings were ready by 5:20. I threw a stone into the neighbor's yard and then boiled water. A little while later, my third and fourth brothers came over: "Third brother, fourth brother, hurry up and wash your hands, the dumplings will be ready in a bit."

Why make it so complicated?

"It wasn't much trouble, I didn't make much. I boiled a few eggs, but that's all I prepared. It's hot standing up, and even hotter on the train, so I didn't bring anything else. You'll have to make do with what you have on the train."

"No need to prepare anything. If you do, the food will spoil quickly and will give you diarrhea."

So the third and fourth brothers each ate two large bowls of dumplings, and there were still two large bowls left. They handed them to the fourth brother, saying, "