Gu Chong took a deep breath and stopped thinking about it.
Xue Fu followed Gu Chong and looked at the road, noticing that it partially overlapped with the road she took back to the educated youth settlement.
She discovered that Gu Chong's family lived in the same remote area as the educated youth settlement, near the firewood mountain at the back of the village, at the foot of the mountain.
Gu Chong led her to his front door. There were no neighbors next to his house; it was surrounded by trees on both sides.
Xue Fu glanced around and noticed that the terrain around his home was slightly higher than the educated youth settlement. She looked around and realized that it was actually very close to the educated youth settlement.
She tiptoed and stood a little higher, and she could see the thatched roof with a hole in it at the educated youth settlement.
Gu Chong pushed open the door, glanced back to signal Xue Fu to follow, and then stepped inside.
Xue Fu quickly followed him into the courtyard.
When she finally saw what his parents looked like, she was stunned for a moment, but quickly composed herself and didn't show any unusual expression.
Gu Chong's house was smaller than the educated youth settlement, and the courtyard was not as big. There was an old well in the center of the courtyard, but there were more rooms.
The main room facing the courtyard is the main hall, with a bedroom on each side. The kitchen is next to the western room, and behind the kitchen is a bathhouse made of yellow earth.
However, the house seems to have been built a long time ago and looks somewhat dilapidated.
The roof was covered with tiles, and a few tiles had fallen off, revealing the yellowish-gray wooden battens underneath.
Gu Chong is not an insecure person.
Even though his parents died early, he single-handedly raised his younger brother and supported the family. He felt that being alive was the best thing.
Upon seeing Xue Fu enter the narrow courtyard, he inevitably glanced around the house.
He wondered why he hadn't fixed the broken roof of the house before.
Why weren't those ivy vines climbing the wall pulled down?
There was also a pile of firewood in the yard that had been chopped into pieces but hadn't been neatly stacked.
He felt it was out of place.
Hearing the sound, Gu Fei came out of the kitchen. He was picking vegetables; at this time of year, the green beans and eggplants grown in their backyard were ready to eat.
Xue Fu saw this despicable person behind Gu Chong.
Gu Fei's facial features resemble Gu Chong's.
However, he was young and had a youthful appearance, lacking the profound and sharp features of Gu Chong; he was just a cute child.
Because Gu Chong didn't make Gu Fei do much farm work, Gu Fei was a fair-skinned child, much fairer than his brother.
But this suggests that Gu Chong's skin must have been quite fair to begin with. This thought popped into Xue Fu's mind.
Gu Fei was a bit thin. He looked very quiet and obedient, unlike the other children in the village who seemed wild and unruly.
Xue Fu looked at Gu Fei, who was also very curious about her, his dark eyes scrutinizing her.
Xue Fu felt that Gu Fei was quite pleasing to the eye.
Xue Fu doesn't particularly like children, especially those three- or four-year-old mischievous kids who don't know any better and are disobedient.
Xue Fu has a cousin who is four or five years younger than her.
My cousin really likes her, but he was a real troublemaker when he was little.
Knowing that Xue Fu was clean, he still touched her pretty dress with his hands, which were sticky from melting ice cream, scaring Xue Fu into screaming.
But Xue Fu was still happy to spend time with children as old as Gu Fei, who were already sensible and obedient.
Just like her little cousin who grew up to be obedient, she would do whatever she asked.
Xue Fu could pretend that none of the mischievous incidents he caused when he was a child had ever happened.
Gu Fei stared at the beautiful older sister, then his gaze lingered on his brother.
He noticed with his sharp eyes that his brother looked a little uncomfortable, but this discomfort was not unhappiness, and Gu Fei could not tell what kind of emotion it was.
"Brother, what's this?" Gu Fei glanced at Xue Fu and asked Gu Chong in a low voice.
However, the courtyard was small, so even if she spoke softly, Xue Fu could still hear her.
Gu Chong glanced at her, and Xue Fu naturally picked up the conversation.
"Hello, I'm Xue Fu, a new educated youth. You can call me Sister Afu." She squinted her eyes and smiled gently and kindly.
Gu Fei's fair face suddenly flushed red. But she couldn't bear to look away from Xue Fu, so she obediently stammered, "A... Sister Afu..."
However, after calling out, the child shyly hid behind Gu Chong, and Xue Fu could no longer see what his reaction was.
She smiled, pursing her lips.
Gu Chong watched their interaction, his fingers half-clenched in his palm. He patted Gu Fei, telling him to tidy up the pile of firewood in the yard. Then he turned and called Xue Fu over.
"This way, come here."
Gu Chong, carrying a bucket full of things, led Xue Fu to their kitchen.
The Gu family's kitchen is very spacious; there's enough room to put a table and seat about ten people for meals.
Gu Chong put the bucket on the ground and saw that Gu Fei had already cleaned and prepared the green beans and eggplants on the table, and they were just waiting to be chopped.
He washed his hands first, then gestured for Xue Fu to come over: "Didn't you want to learn how to cook?"
Xue Fu snapped to attention and, quick as a flash, slipped over, saying, "Mmm! Coming, coming."
Gu Chong thought it would be better to teach someone how to fish.
Once we teach her how to cook, she'll be able to cook for herself in any other situation, which will save us a lot of trouble.
Gu Chong rinsed the cutting board with water and then took out the cleaver and placed it on the cutting board.
He had just sharpened this cleaver a few days ago, so it cuts vegetables very quickly.
“Chopping vegetables is easy,” Gu Chong said, assessing her skill level and indicating that she could try it with a knife. “You can try chopping first.”
Gu Chongzhen felt that chopping vegetables was not difficult.
As long as you can hold the knife with one hand, control the vegetable with the other, and cut down with the knife, isn't that enough?
He stood beside her watching her movements, but his breathing involuntarily became shallow. He noticed her awkward movements and his heart tightened.
Xue Fu said she wanted to learn to cook, and she really did want to learn this skill.
The cutting board and knife were right in front of her, but when she saw the gleaming blades on the cutting board, so sharp that she felt she would cut her skin if she touched them, she immediately became intimidated.
However, with Gu Chong standing right next to her, Xue Fu didn't want people to think she had broken her promise and was lying.
She endured the tingling sensation on her scalp and reached for the knife with trembling hands.
However, because she was afraid of cutting her hand, she seemed hesitant and timid when cutting vegetables.
Gu Chong's eyelids twitched; he knew it.
This matter is not that simple.
"You won't cut your hand; just press your knuckles against the back of the knife."
Gu Chong took a meat-cutting cleaver from the knife rack and showed her how to hold it.
His fingers are long, and his knuckles are somewhat thick from working.
The back of his hand had a thin layer of skin, through which you could see the slightly protruding veins.
Gu Chong gripped the knife, making his knuckles appear even more distinct.
Xue Fu followed his example, and finally learned how to hold the knife and exert force.
Gu Chong told her to hold her fingers against the back of the knife while cutting the vegetables. Xue Fu did as she was told, but she still didn't dare to make any rash moves while cutting the vegetables.
It wasn't that she didn't trust Gu Chong's words, but rather that she didn't trust herself.
She was still afraid of accidentally drawing blood.
Xue Fu pushed the vegetables little by little, cutting them slowly, only slightly better than the first time.
She heard Gu Chong sigh beside her, then he said in a deep voice, "Move aside," ordering her to leave and give up her spot for chopping vegetables.
"You watch from the side." Gu Chong took the kitchen knife and let her observe his movements.
However, Gu Chong knew perfectly well that chopping vegetables... was out of the question.
Gu Chong didn't let her continue learning this.
Watching her chop vegetables, she herself was nervous, and the people watching from the sidelines were equally apprehensive.
But Gu Chong didn't realize at all that this was actually a form of spoiling.
Gu Chong chopped the vegetables skillfully, quickly cutting the eggplant segments into eggplant slices.
The green beans were also chopped into small pieces; he planned to stir-fry the pickled cabbage and chopped green beans later.
"You know how to start a fire?"
Gu Chong looked at her, now questioning everything she had said before, harboring doubts in his heart.
Xue Fu felt extremely guilty.
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