Gu Chong gave Xue Fu breakfast and told her to take her lunch to the Gu family's house later before leaving.
Xue Fu ate her breakfast to her heart's content. After washing the rice bowl clean, she picked up her small bag and prepared to go to work.
She walked towards the fishpond, silently recalling the fish-raising tips Gu Chong had taught her the day before yesterday.
Fortunately, she remembered fairly clearly.
She walked happily toward the fishpond, and when she was still some distance away, she saw someone standing under the willow tree.
As she got closer, she recognized him as Gu Chong.
She waved enthusiastically at him, calling out, "Gu Chong!" and then jogged over.
"Why are you here!"
She was pleasantly surprised, her face beaming with joy.
Gu Chong lowered his eyelids and asked her, "You've memorized how to feed the fish?"
Gu Chong had already carried his hoe to his field, but he was still a little worried.
I'm worried that something might happen to Xue Fu's fishpond.
So he decisively threw down the hoe, turned around and walked this way again.
He thought to himself that he was really acting like a mother hen, worrying about this and that.
However, Xue Fu has the ability to make him worry and provide for him.
Xue Fu: "Mmm! I've remembered them all!"
Seeing Gu Chong's concern for her, Xue Fu smiled shyly: "Why don't you look at me for a moment? See if I've remembered correctly?"
Gu Chong nodded: "Mm."
That was exactly what he meant.
Gu Chong watched her the whole way, observing how much fish food she scooped up and how much hay she packed.
Watching her feed the fish from the first pond to the last.
Then I watched as she tidied up and bundled up all the fresh hay that had been piled up messily at the door that day.
Nothing went wrong, and Gu Chong's heart gradually settled down.
He realized that Xue Fu might just be unable to do those physically demanding jobs, and... cook.
She seems to handle other tasks very well.
She is actually very talented.
Gu Chong recalled that the educated youth were all quite well-educated.
Xue Fu must be one of them.
At her age, she should have graduated from high school, right?
And what about him...?
Gu Chong's emotions had calmed down considerably.
Xue Fu heard someone say "He's gone," and then realized that Gu Chong had already walked some distance away.
She said "bye-bye" to him and waved goodbye behind his back, but Gu Chong never turned around to look at her.
A slight doubt arose in Xue Fu's mind. What was wrong with him?
Even from behind, Xue Fu could sense his barely concealed displeasure.
At noon, Xue Fu skipped and hopped to the Gu family's house for lunch.
Gu Fei greeted her with a smile at the door.
"Sister Afu, the food is almost ready." Gu Fei had sharp eyes. He wanted to reach out but was too embarrassed to directly grab Xue Fu's clothes. He pointed to the fabric on her side with his little finger and said, "Sister, you have some leaves here."
Xue Fu looked down and saw that it was a piece of tender grass that had stuck to her when she was tidying up the hay.
She casually tore it off, then praised Gu Fei, "Thank you, you're amazing!"
When Gu Chong came out with the bowl, he heard Xue Fu's sugar-coated bullets and sweet words.
Then, turning her gaze, she saw Gu Fei blushing and happy from being coaxed by these sweet words, his eyes glued to Xue Fu.
Gu Chong: ...
He knew it!
Those two brothers were taken advantage of by these sugar-coated bullets!
She...she...she has absolutely no self-respect!
But as she walked in, Gu Chong thoughtfully placed the bowls and chopsticks within her reach, making it easy for her to take them.
Also, because he was worried that she would get hot, Gu Chong went to the back mountain to pick some moneywort when he came back from the fields at noon, and made a big pot of it to clear heat and detoxify.
The resulting infusion of moneywort is a light brown liquid.
Gu Chong poured a full bowl for Xue Fu and placed it in front of her on the table.
Xue Fu was a curious person; she had never drunk it before.
"What's this?"
Gu Chong glanced at her, took a sip from his bowl as a demonstration, and then explained, "It's infused with moneywort."
Xue Fu blinked: "Is it good?"
She felt that the color was somewhat similar to that of Isatis root.
Gu Chong thought she was afraid of hardship, so he shook his head and said, "It's not hard."
Xue Fu said "Oh," and then took a sip.
The taste was even more wonderful than she had imagined.
It's very bland, a bit stronger than herbal tea, but it doesn't taste like medicine.
It wasn't very good.
She took two sips and put the bowl down; not much water had gone down.
Gu Chong glanced at the spot on the rim of the bowl where she had just sucked, then quickly looked away, trying to cover up his gaze with his words: "This is cooling and can prevent heatstroke."
The weather has been getting hotter lately, so Gu Chong told her to bring a jar to drink when she went to work in the afternoon.
Xue Fu nodded obediently and couldn't help but say, "You're so kind, Gu Chong, you've thought of everything."
They even considered the risk of heatstroke, sob sob.
He's so kind to have food and soup!
Gu Chong's ears turned red again.
She...she praised him again.
Thanks entirely to Gu Chong, Xue Fu was able to enjoy a life of three meals a day.
Gu Chong delivered breakfast to her door in the morning. After she finished eating, all she had to do was wash the dishes.
After having a full breakfast, Xue Fu went to work at the fishpond.
In the sweltering summer, the fishpond area is shaded by many trees and close to the water, making it a cool and comfortable place for Xue Fu to rest in the wooden cabin after feeding the fish.
The only downside is that it's near water, so there are quite a few mosquitoes.
As for the mosquitoes, Gu Chong later got her some herb of unknown name, and when he put it in the room to fumigate, the slightly bitter smell drove the insects away.
During her lunch break and after work in the evening, Xue Fu went to Gu Chong's house for dinner.
I've gained back all the weight I lost during my first two days in the countryside.
Xue Fu even felt like she might have gained a little weight? It was all because Gu Chong's cooking was so delicious.
Gu Chong's steamed buns are much softer and tastier than other steamed buns.
It has to be said that Gu Chong really took good care of her.
It's still so tender.
Gu Chong was very satisfied with this.
After finishing work today, Xue Fu walked briskly and skillfully toward Gu Chong's house.
He said yesterday that if he finished work early today, he would go to the back mountain to pick chestnuts and make braised chestnuts when he got back.
Xue Fu was craving food, so she walked much faster on the way back.
Xue Fu thought Gu Chong was very capable.
The back mountain was very close to the Gu family and the educated youth settlement. Xue Fu only wandered around the foot of the mountain when she was gathering firewood and never went up the mountain.
She heard from the women in the team that Chai Mountain consisted of about ten connected peaks, and no one knew what it was like inside the deep mountains; no one dared to venture deep inside.
They said that a few years ago there was a famine, and the wild animals in the mountains couldn't find anything to eat. Wolves came down the mountain and carried away all the hens and chicks raised by the production team.
As Xue Fu listened, she also became somewhat afraid of the back mountain.
But Gu Chong wasn't afraid at all.
Gu Chong was a farmer, but he always managed to bring good things home, and he never hid it from her.
She ate at his house for a month and ate a lot of meat.
There were wild rabbits and pheasants he hunted, as well as fish he caught from the river.
She gave him meat coupons and grain coupons, but that couldn't stop Gu Chong from cooking rice and steaming white flour buns every day.
So when Xue Fu handed him the tickets the second month, she gave him much more than the first time.
But Gu Chong stuffed all the extra money back into her hands, refusing to accept it. No matter how much she pleaded, Gu Chong wouldn't take it.
The things Gu Chong brought back were not easy to obtain in this era, and it would cause trouble if others found out.
Gu Chong didn't hide anything from her at all, and Xue Fu gained his complete trust, so she behaved herself and didn't ask too many questions about the origin of things.
However, last week Gu Chong secretly brought back a pheasant, and when he was killing it, he suddenly revealed everything.
He could grab the chicken by both wings with one hand, and then swiftly slit its throat with a knife in the other, the chicken blood flowing into the basin specifically for holding chicken blood.
He suddenly spoke to Xue Fu, who was watching him kill the chicken, and said, "Xue Fu, you know what I'm doing, right?"
Xue Fu was confused and didn't understand: "I know, you're killing chickens."
Gu Chong:
The sudden burst of morbid humor made me choke.
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