At this time of year, most people go into the mountains to collect firewood every day, so the educated youth compound is still very quiet during the day.
Chen Shuning ladled out the cooked dishes and divided them up. He first sent over the portions to Gu Xinyi and Wang Chunni, who were at home, and then sent over the portions to Liu Shumei and Zhou Jihong when they returned.
After lunch, Chen Shuning also wanted to go into the mountains with Wang Chunni and the others. She hadn't been up the mountain for a while and really missed the mountains.
Chen Shuning had barely mentioned it when she received a resentful look from He Chaoyang, so she had no choice but to abandon her plan to go up the mountain.
Around 1 p.m., the vendors from which Chen Shuning bought the mountain products began to deliver them to her.
Having nothing else to do, Chen Shuning started processing the mountain produce, planning to send it back to his family when he went to town the next day.
The two spent the entire afternoon busy in the kitchen. He Chaoyang couldn't be chased away and insisted on helping the others.
However, it is indeed faster for two people to work together. Although He Chaoyang knows nothing about kitchen work, he is obedient and will do whatever he is asked to do.
Of course, Chen Shuning knew that the person in front of him was a patient, and the only thing he asked him to do was easy work like tending the fire and watching the pot.
As people returned from the mountains in the evening, Chen Shuning first delivered the dishes he had set aside for Liu Shumei. Although the dishes were cold, the braised pork chunks and solidified lard on them made this person, who rarely ate meat throughout the year, look very appetizing.
When Liu Shumei returned the bowl, she brought Chen Shuning a full bowl of wild raspberries. This is a good thing no matter when, especially in this era of scarcity, wild raspberries are very hard to find.
To Chen Shuning's surprise, Zhou Jihong not only accepted the vegetables she brought generously, but also filled the bowl with roasted melon seeds when returning the bowl.
Normally, people would understand that Chen Shuning's purpose in sending her the food was to repay the favor of those few grain pancakes. Under such circumstances, most people wouldn't bring a return gift when returning an empty bowl.
However, Zhou Jihong returned the gift, as if she wanted to continue the exchange, which puzzled Chen Shuning.
Logically speaking, she and Zhou Jihong were not familiar with each other, having only met a few times. She didn't know what Zhou Jihong's purpose was in befriending her.
For some reason, Chen Shuning had a very bad impression of this female educated youth who smiled at everyone she met. She always felt that her kindness was just an act, and that her true self was not like what she showed.
That's why Chen Shuning was unwilling to have too much contact with her.
But as the saying goes, one can't hit a smiling face, and looking at Zhou Jihong, who was smiling and holding a melon seed, Chen Shuning really couldn't bring himself to refuse.
Reluctantly, he reached out and took the bowl, thanking the bowl in return.
To everyone's surprise, Zhou Jihong showed no intention of leaving. Instead, she smiled and said, "Sister Shuning, I heard that you and Sister Xinyi are going to town to buy coal tomorrow. I wonder if you could take me with you? I can't collect much firewood by myself."
Everyone says it's cold here in winter, so I'd like to buy some coal, but I don't know where to buy it. So, Sister Shuning, if you go, could you take me with you?
What could Chen Shuning say? The people were blocking the doorway; she couldn't just kick them out. Besides, they were neighbors who would be living together all the time.
So all I could say was, "Okay, then get up early tomorrow."
"Okay, thank you, Sister Shuning." Zhou Jihong happily agreed, and then finally left.
After everyone left, Chen Shuning closed the door, but she didn't notice the triumphant smile that appeared on Zhou Jihong's lips as she turned to leave.
The next day, Chen Shuning and Gu Xinyi got up early, packed their things, and went to knock on Zhou Jihong's door.
After waiting for a while, Zhou Jihong opened the door sleepily. When she saw Chen Shuning and the other woman, she said with some surprise, "Sister Shuning, why are you here so early?"
"It's getting late. It takes more than four hours to get from our village to the town by oxcart. If we leave now, it will be almost eleven o'clock when we arrive in town. We still need to buy things, and it will be dark by the time we get back."
Oh, by the way, Xinyi told me you're eighteen this year. I still have more than three months until my seventeenth birthday, so you can just call me Shuning from now on.
Chen Shuning started school earlier than many others of this era, so even though he's been a sent-down youth for almost two years, he's still younger than many of the newcomers who just arrived this year.
Chen Shuning felt a little embarrassed that someone who was clearly older than her kept calling her "sister."
Furthermore, Chen Shuning had clearly told Zhou Jihong yesterday that she needed to get up early today, but looking at Zhou Jihong's sleepy eyes, Chen Shuning felt somewhat dissatisfied.
Upon hearing Chen Shuning's words, Zhou Jihong was visibly taken aback, clearly not expecting the married Chen Shuning to be so young. She nodded somewhat shyly.
She replied, "Alright then! Please wait for me a moment, I'll be right there after I've tidied up." After saying that, Zhou Jihong closed the door.
Chen Shuning and Zhou Jihong stood outside the door for a while before Zhou Jihong finally came out of the room.
Upon seeing Zhou Jihong's new clothes, Chen Shuning asked in surprise, "Zhou Zhiqing, we're going to buy coal today, it'll be quite dirty. Are you sure you want to wear these new clothes?"
"Ah, no, Sister Shuning, no, Shuning, I brought this dress with me when I came here, but I haven't been willing to wear it. Today I wanted to dress nicely when I went to town, and I really forgot that I was going to buy coal today."
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