Autumn harvest is a season of abundance, but also a season of hard work and sweat. Chen Shuning was woken up by the vibration of her phone under her pillow as usual in the morning.
Still half asleep, Chen Shuning got dressed, fetched water to wash up, and felt much more refreshed by the fresh morning air and gentle breeze in the mountains, combined with the cool water on her face.
After carefully observing her surroundings and finding no one near the kitchen, Chen Shuning began to secretly take ingredients out of her spatial storage. The dough for steamed buns was fermenting in the fermentation machine inside her spatial storage.
Take them out and knead the dough directly into the steamer. Chen Shuning first lit both stoves, then started kneading the steamed buns. After steaming the buns, he hurriedly prepared to cook the dishes.
The chicken was pre-marinated in the space. I simply stir-fried some sugar syrup, put the chicken in the pot, added water, and started stewing.
During this time, Chen Shuning began to prepare the ingredients for the soup. The wood ear mushrooms and dried mushrooms had been soaked in advance. After preparing the other vegetables and rinsing the pickled vegetables, the steamed buns were almost ready. Then, she used the stove for steaming the buns to cook the soup and turned down the heat of the stewing chicken stove to simmer it slowly.
Thinking that there was nothing else to do while waiting for the soup to be ready, Chen Shuning used the wild vegetables hidden in her space and the peanuts left over from yesterday to make a cold dish.
It wasn't until then that the people in the next room gradually got up and washed up. They glanced at the time and it was already 5:10. They hurriedly grabbed the water bottle that their older brother had just sent them yesterday and filled it with mung bean water along with their own usual water bottle.
The mung bean water was prepared in the space a long time ago. Knowing that the autumn harvest would be very busy these days, Chen Shuning boiled a lot in advance, so that he could just put it in a kettle when he wanted to drink it.
Of course, to outsiders, it could only be said that it was cooked the night before. Because it was difficult to explain, Chen Shuning did not dare to put it in the refrigerator, so it could only be drunk at room temperature. Although the taste was not as good as iced mung bean soup, it was still refreshing and cooling.
Seeing that the soup in the pot was almost ready, Chen Shuning turned off the stove, put the food on the table, covered it with a clean gauze to prevent flies and mosquitoes from getting on it, and then planned to go next door to invite He Chaoyang to come over for dinner.
Unexpectedly, Chen Shuning saw He Chaoyang carrying two large bundles of firewood coming from the front yard as soon as he stepped out. Chen Shuning was a little surprised and wondered when this person had gone out.
"Brother He, why are you up so early? I was just about to cook breakfast before I called you."
She thought she had gotten up early enough, but she didn't expect He Chaoyang to have gotten up even earlier than her. At least she hadn't seen anyone leave while she was cooking, so he must have left before she got up.
As Chen Shuning was speaking, he reached out to take the firewood from He Chaoyang's back, but He Chaoyang dodged him. As he walked towards the woodshed, he smiled and replied, "I'm used to getting up early in the army. Your woodshed is big enough. I'll gather more dry branches for you. It should be enough for you for a while. Next time I come, I'll gather some more, and that should be enough for you for the whole winter."
"By the way, Shuning, do you have an axe? I just saw a few dead trees on the mountain. I'll go up and chop them down later. They burn well, so you won't have to get up so often to add firewood for heating the kang (heated brick bed) in winter. Later, I'll go to town and buy some coal. That should be enough for your heating all winter."
He Chaoyang, carrying two large bundles of firewood, went straight into the woodshed. While neatly stacking the firewood on the woodpile, he talked to Chen Shuning, who was standing at the door of the woodshed.
Looking at the stack of firewood that was already taller than a person, Chen Shuning couldn't imagine how early He Chaoyang had gotten up or how many trips he had already made.
Hearing He Chaoyang's words, which implied that he was thinking of her, she felt even more moved, but at the same time, she was also a little worried, wondering how she could repay such a huge favor.
So when she faced He Chaoyang, her tone of voice unconsciously softened, "Why did you pick up so much? What time did you get up, Brother He? Why don't you stop for now? Breakfast is already prepared. Why don't you wash your hands and eat first?"
"I didn't get up very early. There's plenty of firewood on the back hill. I've collected quite a bit without going far. Don't stand here. Go eat first. I'll come over as soon as I finish this."
Even if Chen Shuning wasn't hungry yet, she couldn't bring herself to eat while the guests were working. So she didn't leave and just stood outside the woodshed chatting with He Chaoyang.
"It's okay, I'm not hungry either. I'll wait for you to eat together. By the way, Brother He, where did you pick up Gu Xinyi yesterday? She must have been terrified to be alone on the roadside so late at night."
He Chaoyang was clearly very happy to be able to talk to Chen Shuning like this. He kept working and kept smiling as he said, "It's not far, about a 20-minute drive. I didn't pay attention to whether Gu Zhiqing was scared or not. I didn't get out of the car. I came back as soon as I picked her up."
What He Chaoyang didn't say was that the reason he didn't get out of the car wasn't because he was too arrogant or for any other reason; he simply wanted to stay away from Yang Wanqiu, since Yang Wanqiu, who was responsible for leading the way, was bound to get out of the car.
Thinking about the female educated youth's behavior yesterday, He Chaoyang, although not one to gossip behind people's backs, still subtly mentioned it.
"The female educated youth who came back looking for someone yesterday doesn't seem like a very good person. She seems to be somewhat hostile towards you. You should be more careful in the future and try not to get too close to her."
Perhaps it was a soldier's innate intuition, but He Chaoyang didn't like Yang Wanqiu from the first moment he saw her. Moreover, from their two encounters, he could genuinely sense the deliberately hidden hostility Yang Wanqiu harbored towards the little girl, which is why he spoke up to remind her.
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