Once out of the woods, Lu Fangfang untied the reins and led the black horse westward along the edge of the forest.
She had heard from her sister-in-law in the family compound that there was a sizable lake upstream of the small river to the west, so she decided to go and take a look.
After walking for a while, Lu Fangfang thought it was too slow, so she rode her big black horse and galloped over.
She ran for less than ten minutes before she saw the lake her sister-in-law had mentioned.
"Whoa~"
Lu Fangfang, riding on horseback, gripped the reins and stared blankly into the distance.
On the distant lake, a flock of water birds, resembling wild ducks, swam.
On the opposite bank, at the edge of the forest, a herd of white-lipped deer were drinking water by the lake. There was no one else in the area except her.
Lu Fangfang's arrival broke the tranquility of this place.
The white-lipped deer looked up and immediately ran into the forest, while the water birds, unafraid of people, continued swimming on the lake.
"Deer, there are deer here..."
Lu Fangfang muttered to herself, and it took her a while to come back to her senses.
She had never heard of deer on the plateau in her previous life, and needless to say, in her later life, they would definitely be a first-class protected animal.
She was a little annoyed; she wished she had a camera.
After looking around carefully, she noticed a stream meandering through the woods to the north, its waters flowing from the mountain into a lake.
South of the lake, the flowing water converges into the river downstream.
Downstream, along both banks of the river, there are also large birch forests.
Lu Fangfang was also curious about whether birch trees grew there, and she would like to come and see for herself when she had time.
After tying up the black horse, she went to the lake and washed her face.
Some unidentified saplings grew by the water. Lu Fangfang took out a dagger and cut off two Y-shaped branches, intending to use them as slingshots when she got back.
She felt uneasy if she didn't take something back with her after all the trouble she had gone through to get here.
Seeing that there were still birch seedlings in the wetland nearby, Lu Fangfang hugged them and pulled them out by force.
"Huh?"
As Lu Fangfang was pulling up the tree, she vaguely saw several "red dogs" flash by in the woods opposite.
She squinted and looked closely, and found that the several red dogs with big tails were looking at her.
"Jackal!"
Lu Fangfang recognized the animal. Startled, she grabbed her things and turned to leave.
Jackals, despite looking like dogs, are quite ferocious.
Jackals, wolves, tigers, leopards—look at the rankings, Lu Fangfang doesn't think she can handle them.
Riding her big black horse, Lu Fangfang quickly ran off.
...
"Giddy up!"
Back on the grassland, Lu Fangfang was still somewhat dazed.
Looking at the birch sapling in my hand, everything felt so real.
Feeling a bit scared, she didn't dare go anywhere else and rode her horse back to the regiment.
She returned the black horse to the logistics department, then carried thirty pounds of grain on her back, an air rifle slung over her shoulder, a cloth bag on her left arm, and a birch sapling tucked under her arm, and headed towards the family compound.
Lu Fangfang almost couldn't carry all these things.
She was somewhat annoyed, wishing she had gone home to the family compound first.
"Comrade Xiao Lu? Comrade Xiao Lu?"
Xu Jinbu saw her in the troupe and quickly caught up with her. "Hey, Comrade Xiao Lu, give it to me, I'll take it back for you."
"No need, no need, I can manage on my own."
Lu Fangfang didn't want to get too close to Xu Jinbu, so she quickly asked, "Comrade Xu, did you call me for something?"
Xu Jinbu smiled, nodded, and said, "Comrade Xiao Lu, I want to thank you this time. Tingting and I are having our wedding in the regiment's auditorium the day after tomorrow. You must come."
"The day after tomorrow? Congratulations, congratulations, I'll definitely be there."
Lu Fangfang was somewhat surprised. Xu Jinbu was too efficient; he had won over Xiao Ting so quickly.
As she walked out of the group, she couldn't help but look back.
Xu Jinbu stood still, smiling and waving.
Lu Fangfang forced a smile and then quickly left.
Carrying a bunch of things, as soon as she entered the family compound, she saw Zhuang's mother and Zhu Haiming chatting happily in front of the first row of houses.
That old lady only talks to people she's had a grudge against; she's so annoying.
Lu Fangfang frowned and strode over.
When she reached Mrs. Zhuang, she simply tossed the birch sapling and cloth bag to the old woman, saying, "It's getting late, let's go home!"
Several other women from the family compound nearby looked at Zhuang's mother and Lu Fangfang in surprise upon hearing this.
Mrs. Zhuang was a little embarrassed, but she forced a smile and said, "Well, Hai Mei, let's talk again another time."
After saying that, she picked up her things and walked away quickly.
"Oh? Auntie? Come to my house tomorrow, I'll be waiting for you."
Zhu Haiming looked at Lu Fangfang and called out with a smile.
...
Back home, Mrs. Zhuang threw down the birch sapling and glared at Lu Fangfang, "What kind of attitude is this? Do you even know who you are? How dare you talk to me like that?"
Lu Fangfang carried the grain and went into the house on her own.
She's afraid of red dogs, but not of "troublemakers."
Mrs. Zhuang followed angrily, "Speak!"
"Comrade Zhou, I advise you not to associate with Zhu Haiming anymore. She is the daughter of a capitalist and she is not honest in the family compound. She is smuggling tickets with some of the women."
Lu Fangfang pointed at the cordyceps in the box on the table, her face full of sarcasm.
"The cordyceps you're soaking in water must have been bought by Zhu Haiming from someone else. This is speculation and profiteering. If something goes wrong, it will be a big deal. Don't drag me and Mingcheng into this."
Mrs. Zhuang stood there, mouth agape, stunned.
Turning her head to look at the cordyceps, she protested somewhat indignantly, "This was clearly a gift from Tingting..."
"Tingting?"
Lu Fangfang almost choked on her breath; that was such an intimate way of addressing her.
This old lady really should replace Old Xu and let her be properly reformed.
Seeing that Mrs. Zhuang was still being stubborn, Lu Fangfang said directly:
“Your Tingting didn’t recognize this cordyceps before. She’s quite close to Zhu Haiming. Maybe Zhu Haiming gave it to her, but she didn’t want it and gave it to you instead. Anyway, keep your distance.”
She drew the dagger from her waist and reached out her hand to Zhuang's mother.
"What...what are you going to do?"
"Give me the bag."
Mrs. Zhuang's hands trembled slightly as she hurriedly placed the cloth bundle into Lu Fangfang's hands.
After seeing the person leave, she sat down with a thud, thinking about what Lu Fangfang had just said.
"Meow~"
A sharp scream rang out, startling Zhuang's mother.
Seeing that Xiaohua under the table was still meowing, she quickly called out, "Lu Tong... Fangfang, Xiaohua is hungry, please feed her quickly."
Zhuang's mother forced a smile and pointed outside, "Your mother is outside, she's outside, hurry up and go."
"Little Flower, come here."
From the courtyard came Lu Fangfang's voice, and Xiao Hua then stepped out.
"I can't stay here anymore, I really can't stay here anymore..."
Zhuang's mother muttered to herself, wanting to leave but unwilling to give up, and hesitated for a moment.
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