An Moxue was standing not far away watching, letting the three of them leave. Li Laitou turned around and walked back, only to bump into An Moxue, who had a half-smile on her face. He was startled and took two steps back.
Imagine someone suddenly jumping out and standing in front of you, and it's already dark. Even though you can still see a vague shadow, it's still even scarier.
An Moxue said, "You are Li Laitou, and I am An Moxue."
Li Laitou knew things were going badly as soon as he saw the situation, and quickly said, "An Zhiqing, what a coincidence, I have to go first."
An Moxue replied, "Unfortunately, I was waiting for you."
“An Zhiqing, you’re joking. It’s so late at night, and we’re a man and a woman all alone together. I should go home first, or it won’t be good for your reputation.”
"Oh, really? Then why did you go to other villages to spread the word that I'm rich? Didn't you see those three people just now? Why don't I find them and we can compare our accounts?"
"Hehe, no need, An Zhiqing. I didn't mean it. We were just chatting and talking about the educated youth in the various villages, and we mentioned who had better conditions, and that's when we got to you. I didn't expect them to take it to heart or cause you any trouble. It's all my fault. I'll definitely be more careful with my words next time and won't mention you again. An Zhiqing, please let me off this time, okay?"
"Didn't you do this on purpose? Tell me, who told you to do this?"
"No, no, we were just chatting casually. You see, I didn't say or do anything to you, An Zhiqing. I'll be careful what I say next time. Please forgive me this time."
"Are you going to tell me who told you to do this or not? Or you can see if this stick in my hand is obedient."
After An Moxue finished speaking, she didn't care whether he answered or not, and swung the stick in her hand to hit him.
At first, Lin Laitou ran a few steps, but then An Moxue kicked him to the ground. He rolled around on the ground in pain, but he couldn't avoid the stick that An Moxue was hitting him with.
An Moxue felt she had hit him enough and stopped: "Are you going to talk or not this time? Who ordered you to do this? If you don't talk, I'll keep hitting you."
"No, no, no, An Zhiqing, please stop hitting me! I'll talk, I'll talk! It was Wang Zhaodi who said it, but I've never had any improper thoughts about you, no bad intentions. She just told me to say a few words to those hooligans from other villages when I'm chatting. I didn't think much of it. I'll never do it again, I'll never do it again. An Zhiqing, please, please forgive me, please stop hitting me."
Upon hearing this, An Moxue exclaimed, "Great! This involves Wang Zhaodi too! Wang Zhaodi, you just wait, I won't let you get away with this!"
"Fine, I'll spare you, but you have to do something for me."
“An Zhiqing, you said that as long as it’s within my power, I will definitely help you.”
"It's not a big deal. Didn't she tell you to bring thugs to my house to cause trouble for me? Just use the same method on her. Once I see the results, I'll let you off the hook. Otherwise, just wait and see. I'll come looking for you every few days. I'll beat you up every time I do. Let's see if you can take it."
"An Zhiqing, I beg you, I promise I'll do whatever you say, please don't hit me, I beg you."
"Fine, get lost!"
Upon hearing this, Li Laitou hurriedly scrambled away.
Li Laitou left, and An Moxue also returned home.
Several thugs were injured and recuperating, and stopped going out. When other thugs went to find them and saw their injuries, An Moxue's reputation gradually spread among them.
After that, the local thugs would be careful when they heard it was An Moxue, and they didn't dare to cause her any trouble, for fear that they would be beaten up like these guys again. It was too terrible; each of them had several broken ribs.
They usually just don't like to work and do petty theft, but they've never been injured like this before. Not many of them can take a beating!
After harvesting soybeans, they harvest sorghum, and after that, they go up the mountain to pick hazelnuts. This busy farming season never seems to end.
After harvesting hazelnuts, everyone was on holiday. The next workday was corn harvesting. An Moxue hadn't heard from Li Laitou yet and was getting impatient, wondering if she should talk to him. While buying vinegar at the distribution point, she heard the news that Li Laitou was getting married to Wang Zhaodi. Now she could rest easy.
Having lived in the village for so long, An Moxue has gotten to know a few nice people, such as Aunt Guo from Village Chief Guo's family, Aunt Meihua, and Aunt Ma from Uncle Ma's family—all of them are straightforward and generous.
And so, we got a few more days off. While I was buying vinegar, I saw Aunt Guo from the village chief's house, and we made plans to go up the mountain together tomorrow to pick hazelnuts and mushrooms. We'll just pick whatever we can find and eat on the mountain and bring it home.
Having agreed on a departure time for tomorrow, An Moxue returned home.
"Those who live near the mountains live off the mountains, and those who live near the sea live off the sea"—this is absolutely not an empty saying. These vast mountains are full of countless dangers, but they have also nurtured generations of people.
The mountains are rich in resources. As long as you are not lazy and you are diligent, you can gather a lot of things, enough to feed your family.
Mushrooms, hazelnuts, walnuts, pine nuts, wild grapes, wild vegetables, wild fruits, pheasants, and wild rabbits grow on the mountain. There are always some foods to fill your stomach throughout the year.
An Moxue was busy all autumn. Today she picked hazelnuts, tomorrow she collected pine cones, and the day after tomorrow she made an appointment with some aunt to pick wild grapes, supposedly to make wine at home.
If she heard that something was available in the mountains, she would go and pick it.
She was busy all autumn, gathering so many things that she couldn't possibly eat them all by herself. She just kept picking, gathering, and carrying them home.
This also allowed the villagers of Anle Village to see a different kind of educated youth. No other educated youth had ever been as diligent and approachable as her. She never looked down on the farmers, whereas the other educated youth were always aloof and would inadvertently reveal their contempt for them.
You look down on us old farmers, and we don't even want to talk to you! Humph! So it's no surprise that An Moxue's popularity among the villagers of Anle Village soared this autumn, and she was deeply loved and welcomed by the villagers.
Along with this comes An Moxue's troubles: now that the elderly folks like you, what's the thing they'd most like to do?
You've reached a certain age, shouldn't you be thinking about finding a husband and getting married? Today this auntie says she has a nice son, tomorrow that auntie says she has a nice nephew, and they're all the right age.
At first, An Moxue politely declined, saying that she was young and not in a hurry, and would wait a few more years before making a decision.
There were just too many people, and there was nothing he could do. He could only say that her parents had left her a letter before they died, in which they wrote that she could only get married after she turned 25, and the man had to be a live-in son-in-law and have at least a high school diploma. This dispelled the enthusiasm of many people for her, but there were still some who were not willing to give up.
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