"Okay, thank you, Yiwan." In order not to disappoint Lin Yiwan, Wen Xi ate the crayfish just like someone eating crayfish for the first time, following the method Lin Yiwan taught her.
The crayfish meat is firm, spicy, and fragrant, making it especially delicious. Even the crayfish shells are flavorful to suck. But today, there are plenty of crayfish, so there's no need to suck the shells at all.
After that, both men and women used their hands to eat with gusto. The crayfish in the bowl collapsed rapidly at a visible speed, while the crayfish shells piled up like small mountains.
When they were almost finished with the crayfish, Wenxi looked at the Lin brothers sitting side by side across from her and asked shyly, "Brothers Lin, do you know how to catch snakes?"
Lin Chuyang nodded. "Yes, I know how to catch snakes. Most boys who grew up in the countryside probably know how to catch snakes, right? Do you need one?"
Wen Xi nodded, "Then I'll trouble you to catch some snakes for me. I plan to make snake meat soup for everyone the day after tomorrow, just enough for one meal for the team."
"Aren't you afraid of snakes?" Lin Yihui looked at Wen Xi, still remembering the scene of her trembling with fear after being frightened by the stinging snake that afternoon.
Wen Xi was a little embarrassed. "Actually, I think snakes are quite cute, so I'm a little more accepting of them. Snakes don't scare me."
"Xiaoxi, you can even cook snake meat?" Lin Yiwan was full of admiration, since she certainly couldn't.
"I learned it from the elderly people in my neighbor's family. They have relatives in the countryside, and every time it's snake season, their relatives in the countryside will send them snakes. My family has also gone to exchange snakes a few times when we were short of meat," Wen Xi explained.
That was obviously a lie, but that was all she could say!
Lin Chuyang said, "I will deliver the snake to the cafeteria the day after tomorrow morning, don't worry!"
"Thank you so much! Please try my braised flounder." Wen Xi smiled happily and then pushed the braised flounder a little closer to the center.
Everyone was so busy eating crayfish that they hadn't even tried the three dishes she brought yet!
After hearing Wenxi's words, everyone picked up their chopsticks to pick up the fish. After tasting it, they praised Wenxi's cooking skills. They knew that Wenxi's cooking skills were good, as they had known during the spring planting season.
During the spring planting season, everyone ate the meals cooked by Wenxi every day. However, it seems that Wenxi's cooking skills are better in private than in the cafeteria. It seems that Wenxi did not put in her full effort back then.
Everyone ate crayfish, drank the fruit wine that Lin Yiwan brought back, and chatted happily, creating a wonderful atmosphere.
On the other side, the former educated youth settlement was deserted and quiet.
Everyone ate dinner quite early. Before it got dark, the nine of them sat around the table in the kitchen. The table was old and unstable; it wobbled slightly at the slightest touch.
Dinner was simple for everyone: a bowl of cornmeal porridge, a steamed potato, two plates of stir-fried vegetables with little oil and salt, and a small dish of pickled vegetables.
Tian Shengnan was the only woman in the entire educated youth settlement. She didn't cultivate her own plot of land because if she did, she would have to feed everyone, and she wasn't that kind-hearted.
In addition, since she, Song Lan, and Zhou Bai were eating together, the three of them didn't eat much, and buying vegetables from the villagers didn't cost much, so they always bought vegetables from the villagers to eat.
The remaining male educated youth at the settlement didn't know how to grow vegetables, and since no one wanted to be taken advantage of, they weren't united. So no one grew vegetables, and everyone just ate whatever they could find, occasionally going to state-run restaurants for a treat, never letting anyone else have a free meal.
Looking at the food, Tang Xiaoyun had no appetite at all. She had never suffered like this at home!
She looked at Xia Minglei with a mournful expression, but Xia Minglei was whispering to Tian Xiaoke. Of course, it wasn't anything nice; Xia Minglei asked Tian Xiaoke to do his laundry the next day. Tian Xiaoke already considered herself Xia Minglei's wife and felt that it was a wife's duty to do her husband's laundry, so she sweetly agreed. Her eyes were full of love when she looked at Xia Minglei, and she couldn't wait to go to the cornfield with him right now.
On her way here today, Tian Xiaoke saw vast expanses of lush cornfields. She could hide there for a date and no one would find her.
"Is this food fit for human consumption? Didn't we get rice? Why isn't this cooked?" Tang Xiaoyun picked up the cornmeal porridge and tried to drink it, but after one sip, the gritty texture in her mouth was unbearable, so she put the bowl down and complained with a frown.
But the men across from her were all eating their dinners and no one paid any attention to her. She couldn't make a scene on her own, so she gradually gave up.
She then looked at Xia Minglei with resentment. She had endured all this suffering that she shouldn't have had to suffer, all for the sake of marrying Xia Minglei. If Xia Minglei couldn't treat her well, he would be letting her down after all the suffering she had endured.
Some people finished eating quickly, took a shower, and then went to bed early to rest. After all, the wheat harvest was tomorrow, and the new educated youth could rest for a day to recuperate, but the old educated youth no longer had this benefit.
Tang Xiaoyun didn't want to go to bed hungry, so she picked up the bowl, frowned, and swallowed the cornmeal porridge in big gulps. She didn't know how the cornmeal was ground, but it was ground so coarsely that it scratched her throat.
She managed to eat the steamed potatoes, but choked and drank a lot of water. Tomorrow was her day off, and she was determined to call her parents from the post office to complain and ask them to send her more money and tickets so she could go to the state-run restaurant for a good meal and treat herself.
They ate early, so by eight or nine o'clock in the evening, the dormitory at the educated youth settlement was filled with snoring. Tang Xiaoyun and Wang Caiyun were really exhausted, so they lay down on the large communal bed and fell asleep immediately.
Tian Xiaoke was still thinking about her date with Xia Minglei. She kept her eyes open in the darkness until she was sure that Tang Xiaoyun, Wang Caiyun, and Tian Shengnan were all asleep. Then she quietly got out of bed, slipped out of the dormitory, and went to the outside of the educated youth settlement. She threw herself into Xia Minglei's arms and said, "Brother Minglei, I missed you so much! What have you been busy with these past few months? Why didn't you come to see me?"
"This isn't the place to talk, let's go." Xia Minglei grabbed Tian Xiaoke's hand and pulled her away from the educated youth settlement.
Tian Xiaoke followed behind Xia Minglei with a sweet smile on her face. She knew that Xia Minglei couldn't wait to go on a date with her.
Xia Minglei led Tian Xiaoke to the cornfield, but they didn't go to the very center. There was no shortage of smart people at this time. If he wanted to go to the center, others would naturally want to go to the center too. If they ran into a pair of adulterers, they would be handing over their weakness to the other party.
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