She didn't stop working all day, and neither did Xiao Yuheng. Whenever someone tried to cause trouble, he would just stand there and they would slink away.
The way they were so attentive made the older women's eyes look strange; it was obvious they were gossiping about them behind their backs.
Although she's thick-skinned enough that these people wouldn't say anything inappropriate to her face, she really doesn't care.
But you don't have to follow them around all the time.
"Um, something's come up. I can go by myself. You go ahead and do your thing."
Even if Xiao Yuheng was slow to understand emotions, he knew that now was not the time to pursue her relentlessly. "Okay, then you go ahead and do your work. You can leave this to me and my uncle."
Gu An'an didn't try to back out or insist on seeing things through to the end; she simply nodded and prepared to leave.
The village chief still gave them full work points even though the delivery only took half a day.
Not only that, because this order was brought in by Gu An'an, the village chief and the village party secretary discussed it and gave her an extra 100 work points.
After transferring the set of silver needles from her spatial storage into her pocket, Gu An'an headed straight for Wang Laonian's house.
"Gu Zhiqing, you're here."
When Gu An'an arrived, Wang Laonian was sitting on a small stool weaving a basket. Upon seeing her, he immediately put down what he was doing, brushed the debris off his clothes, and looked at her with great excitement.
Gu Zhiqing made furniture for him, which earned him some money. He also helped his wife take care of her leg and got an order for the village. Although his family didn't have any wild mountain products, several families in the village ordered baskets from him to pick goods from the mountains in the past two days, which brought in another source of income.
In his heart, Gu An'an was her benefactor.
"Yes, I have some time today, so I'll make two hairpins for Auntie."
The two entered the house one after the other. The house had changed. When they first came, the windows were closed. Even though Wang Laonian cleaned up diligently, there was still a lingering smell.
After more than a month of treatment, Qiaomei has seen hope. She is in a good mood and is willing to open the windows for ventilation, which makes her feel much more comfortable.
Upon seeing Gu An'an, Qiao Mei's eyes crinkled with a smile. "Gu Zhiqing, you're here! I can feel the pain in my leg now!"
For someone paralyzed in bed, feeling pain is a luxury.
Gu An'an wasn't surprised. She examined him little by little, asking him from time to time if it hurt.
Qiaomei cooperated very well, and after the examination, Gu An'an was quite satisfied with the result.
"The recovery is going well; it seems Uncle Nian has put in a lot of effort."
Upon hearing this, Qiaomei glanced at Wang Laonian, the affection in her eyes speaking volumes.
"I'm so glad I married a good man in my life."
Given her situation, she would be lucky to escape being beaten to death in an ordinary family; how could she possibly survive for so many years?
"Qiaomei, don't say that. It's all what I should do."
The two gazed at each other tenderly.
Gu An'an: ...Today I have one kilowatt.
Not wanting to be a third wheel, Gu An'an could only quickly get the acupuncture needles.
"The recovery is faster than I expected, and I'll be able to get out of bed and exercise in another two weeks."
"real?"
The couple looked very excited.
"Well, don't rush at first. It's best to have Uncle Nian help you walk. If that's not possible, you should at least get a cane for support."
"Okay, okay, I understand."
Having been bedridden for so many years, although she was eager to stand up, she understood that Gu An'an was doing it all for her own good, and she could endure it.
"Alright, I'll come every three days from now on. I'll have to trouble Uncle Nian to continue the massage."
Wang Laonian would never refuse; he would do anything as long as his wife got better.
Seeing that Gu An'an was about to leave, he quickly stopped her and took out a very exquisite bamboo basket from the kitchen.
"I wove the basket myself, thinking that you young girls would like this kind of thing. I traded the eggs in the village. You can have them, Gu Zhiqing."
Seeing his expression that he absolutely had to accept it, Gu An'an didn't hesitate, "Then thank you, Uncle Nian."
Wang Laonian escorted Gu An'an out of the courtyard before turning back to continue weaving bamboo baskets, occasionally exchanging a few words with Qiaomei inside the house; their conversations were almost entirely about Gu An'an.
Back in the courtyard, Gu An'an placed the bamboo basket on the table, and many more ways to make money popped into her mind.
In the end, I sighed. It's really hard to get anything done these days.
However, if there is an opportunity in the future, Gu An'an would like to help Wang Laonian out, perhaps because they are both cannon fodder?
When Gu An'an returned, Zhou Yue was preparing dinner. Zhao Hu happened to be carrying water in and greeted Gu An'an naturally, but blushed instantly when Zhou Yue called him.
"Coming right away, coming right away."
Gu An'an observed how the two interacted and realized that Zhao Hu was indeed quite capable.
"An'an, tonight we'll have spicy chicken, stewed pork bones, and stir-fried daylily buds. Oh, and Brother Zhao is thinking of paying for our meals so we can treat ourselves a little better, is that alright?"
Looking at Zhou Yue's expression, Gu An'an felt that Comrade Zhao Hu's revolution had not yet succeeded and that he still needed to work hard.
"OK."
Seeing that Gu An'an had agreed, Zhou Yue pressed her advantage, "Sister An, how about you make the spicy chicken? I can never quite get it right, and I'm afraid I'll ruin Brother Zhao's wild chicken."
Zhou Yue blinked her big, dark eyes; she was incredibly cute.
"Then I'll just be in charge of cooking."
Zhou Yue was delighted. "Okay, Brother Zhao, you can clean it up and cut it into chicken pieces. I'll prepare the other dishes."
Thinking of Gu An'an's skills, Zhou Yue was full of energy. Not only did she do the work herself, but she was also very good at ordering others around. Fortunately, Zhao Hu was also willing to be ordered around by her.
Once everything was ready, Gu An'an deep-fried the chicken pieces until they turned slightly yellow and then took them out. She then added the prepared spices to the pan and stir-fried them until fragrant. Finally, she put the fried chicken pieces back into the pan and stir-fried them. Soon, the aroma filled the kitchen.
"Brother Chen, our food supplies are almost gone. Shouldn't we borrow some from the brigade? Otherwise, we'll starve to death before the autumn harvest."
Chen Jianguo knew exactly what they were up to. They were good for nothing, and they ate everything without leaving a trace. They were just nominally affiliated with the village chief.
Knowing full well that their work points would barely cover their own food rations, why would the production brigade be willing to lend them grain?
They knew this all along, yet they always encouraged him to negotiate the matter. The village chief, considering his usual honesty and obedience, would lend him a little money, enough to not eat his fill but at least enough to last until the autumn harvest and grain distribution.
In previous years, even if he didn't lack food, he would help out out of consideration for the fact that they were in the same educated youth compound. But now he felt that everything was meaningless.
“Last time you took leave from work, the village chief said he wouldn’t lend you any more grain. You should go to the commune and buy some grain instead.”
Qian Xiaojun was surprised that Chen Jianguo, who was usually easy to talk to, would refuse. It had always been the same before; even if the other party tried to lecture him, he had never refused so directly. This was hard for Qian Xiaojun to accept.
"Brother Chen, what do you mean? You're unwilling to help?"
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