"Don't say these things outside. Remember them, or you'll all be in trouble."
The four boys covered their bottoms and shook their heads vigorously; their eldest sister's beatings really hurt.
The next day, the family went to Grandpa Zhou's house for a meal. Of course, they didn't go empty-handed; they brought a lot of food. In those days, no normal person would feel at ease going to someone's house to eat for free.
Sun Kaicheng sat down next to Qian Xiao, while the children ate together. "I checked, there's not much snow on that mountain. Shall we go up and take a walk?"
"That works too, it would be even better if we could get some meat back," as there's never too much meat.
"It's settled then. Let's go up the mountain tomorrow. I'm not familiar with this area, so I'll need you to show me the way."
"Sure, I've never been out of the house before, I'd like to go and see. Do you have any chores to do?"
"No, what do you have there?" Sun Kaicheng spoke fluent Northeastern Mandarin, his accent thick with the local flavor.
Qian Xiao single-handedly transformed a refined-looking, scholarly young man into a member of the burly Northeastern men.
"What could I possibly have? Just a machete. I never bother with those big guys. I'll just bring back some small things to eat. I can't risk my life for a piece of meat."
She was terrified after seeing that wild boar once; its enormous size could break trees, and she had no confidence that she could kill and eat it.
"Aren't there any hunting rifles in the village?"
"Yes, do you think they'd lend us their rifles?" Two little brats asking to borrow a hunting rifle? Dream on.
Sun Kaicheng grinned. He always felt like an adult, forgetting that he was still in the shell of a child.
"It's alright, I'll figure something out."
Qian rolled his eyes and said, "What do you mean by finding a solution? There's one in the space, but it's not easy to use. And the wound won't be easy to explain when you come back."
"No need. With our skills, a machete is enough. We can just go around that big thing."
When she stole the calf, she had a clear understanding of herself. No matter how strong she was, she was still young and her body was still within the normal range. She didn't have a body of steel, and she would still get hurt.
It's really not the time to provoke those big things. There are plenty of small prey on the mountain, so why risk your life?
"Okay, I'll do whatever you say. I won't touch those things unless there's danger."
The two were whispering to each other when suddenly a small head popped out from the middle: "Brother Chengcheng, what were you saying to my older sister just now?"
Qian Xiao stretched out a finger and pushed his own Wu Dan's head away: "Adults are talking, kids shouldn't bother us."
"Big sister, I'm seven years old, I'm a big kid now, what can't I listen to? Besides, you're a kid too, not an adult yet."
"Nonsense. I'm already in college, which proves I'm an adult. Wait until you're in college before you tell me you're not a child anymore."
Sun Kaicheng chuckled. He knew that none of these kids had the chance to go to university, which meant they would be children for the rest of their lives at Qian Xiao's place.
Wu Dan was quite dissatisfied: "Brother Chengcheng, what are you laughing at?"
Sun Kaicheng quickly waved his hand: "No, I wasn't laughing at anything. Are you all full?"
Upon hearing this, Wu Dan quickly sat down and started eating. He was just curious because his older sister had never whispered anything to them before, so how come she was whispering to Cheng Cheng, whom she wasn't very familiar with?
At the children's table, the two big-bellied men, Qian Xiao and Sun Kaicheng, along with the smaller children, ate a great deal. They finished all the dishes on the table, leaving the plates clean without even needing to be washed.
All the children could eat it, so the two families were used to it.
After preparing the household chores, Qian Xiao and Sun Kaicheng headed into the mountains early in the morning. To get into the mountains, they had to pass by the educated youth compound. It was still early, and the compound was still closed. Qian Xiao glanced at it but didn't pay any more attention.
Yesterday, I heard from my second aunt and the others that these educated youths really caused a ruckus for a while after they came here. Now they have finally settled down. Although they can't do much work, they definitely won't cause trouble all the time.
As for that girl named Wang Xue, she was the most troublesome at the beginning. According to my second aunt, she suddenly quieted down around the end of the year and became extremely low-key, as if she was afraid of being noticed.
Qian Xiao guessed that something must have happened to Wang Xue's family. She had heard a bit about Wang Xue's background; it seemed that her family used to be in business. At this time, they were not friendly to capitalists, and the days ahead would be tough.
Sun Kaicheng turned to Qian Xiao and asked, "What are you looking at? Is this where the educated youth lived?"
"Yes, it's close to the village and separates us from the villagers, so they arranged for us to live here. This house was supposedly once lived in by a landlord, but the family moved away before I was even born."
“When we were little, we loved coming here to play. There were so many houses inside, and they looked quite grand, but no one in the village dared to live here.”
Their village is large and has a large population, but while they may lack other things, they certainly have enough land. It's impossible that no one would covet such a nice house. Initially, everyone wanted to own it, but after the overthrow of the landlords, no one dared to covet it anymore.
What if they move in and are mistaken for landlords? Then the whole family will suffer. That's why the house has been empty for so long. It used to be the office of the village chief and village cadres. It was vacated before the educated youth came.
We can't accept these educated youths who can't do anything and then build them separate houses, that would be too much of a loss. Anyway, there aren't many cadres in the village, so an empty house would be enough. We might as well just give up this house.
“I think this is actually a good thing. This house is too conspicuous. It’s hard to say who would live there besides the educated youth.”
"Do you know who lives near your house?" Grandpa Zhou's current residence is not far from the cowshed.
Although it's called a cowshed, the three cows in the village are actually kept in villagers' homes. She keeps the little wild calf that she brought back, and the one that originally lived in the village was kept at her seventh grandfather's house, so it just took the name.
Sun Kaicheng looked around and, noticing no one else, lowered his voice and said, "There's one of my grandfather's old subordinates inside. It just so happens that my maternal grandfather and the others are here, so they can help take care of him."
Qian Xiao nodded without asking any further questions. His family were just ordinary farmers, and they should stay out of trouble so they could live a peaceful life through the storms to come.
Sun Kaicheng didn't say much, just mentioned that some things are better left unsaid. Like his grandfather's old subordinate, not many people know about this matter now. He pulled some strings to send him here, hoping to save his life.
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