"Gu An'an, may I come in and talk to you?"
Seeing Li Yumei speaking in a low voice and glancing left and right every now and then, Gu An'an didn't guess why she came, but she didn't stop her from entering.
"Come in."
The four of them went inside and placed the pine cones in the yard. Gu An'an then took the lingzhi mushrooms and other items inside and put them away. Only then did she look at Li Yumei, who was watching all of this with envy.
What brings you here today?
Li Yumei turned her gaze away from the mountain goods, and remembering the purpose of her visit, she quickly nodded and said, "Yes, I have something to tell you."
He then took a few steps toward Gu An'an and said in a low voice, "Guess who I ran into at the commune today?"
After saying that, she realized that Gu An'an probably wasn't interested in guessing, so she continued, "I was going to the commune to pick up a package today, but I didn't expect to see Lin Qingqing with the man who tried to harm you last time as soon as I got there. I felt that there must be something bad going on between them, so I went closer to listen, and I heard that they were plotting to harm you."
Gu An'an wasn't surprised by this, after all, Lin Qingqing had done the exact same thing in the original work. The difference was that this time she targeted the female lead, Qin Xue, but Qin Xue was protected by the male lead, Xie Yuan, so of course she didn't get any benefit.
At this moment, Qin Xue lost her protagonist aura, and Lin Qingqing repeatedly targeted her, ultimately just because she felt that Lin Qingqing had stolen her limelight.
Gu An'an had seen far too many people like this, so many that they no longer stirred any emotion in her.
"Don't you believe me? Although I did do some annoying things before, I've really changed now. Even though we can't be friends, I think you're better than that Lin Qingqing. At least you're more genuine, unlike her..."
Speaking of Lin Qingqing, she remembered the theft of her belongings, and her expression turned extremely sour.
Gu An'an shook her head. "I believe you."
Seeing that Gu An'an believed in her, Li Yumei was unusually proud.
“I was too far away to hear the specifics clearly. I only heard Lin Qingqing say that you were going to the commune or something. I was afraid that the man might ambush you on the way, so it was best not to go to the commune alone.”
Although she wanted to stay and talk some more, Li Yumei knew she wasn't well-received here, so she decided to go back after finishing her business.
"Wait a minute."
Li Yumei immediately stopped, a hint of anticipation on her face. Was she going to invite me to stay for dinner? Should I refuse or accept? If I had known that informing her would allow me to taste the delicious food I'd been longing for, I would have come much earlier.
Unfortunately, she was overthinking it.
Gu An'an took a half-grown rabbit out of her basket. "This is a thank-you gift for you."
Although she couldn't taste the delicious food, Li Yumei was still delighted to receive such a large rabbit.
"Is this for me?"
This is meat! No wonder everyone says Gu An'an is generous.
Thinking about this, Li Yumei wanted to slap herself twice. Why didn't she see through Lin Qingqing's true colors sooner? Otherwise, maybe she and Gu An'an wouldn't have ended up like before, and they could still be friends now.
A rabbit was indeed a great gift for Li Yumei, who didn't know how to hunt, but it was nothing to Gu An'an, whose space was practically overflowing with wild rabbits.
For someone like Li Yumei, she didn't have any particular thoughts. Since they couldn't be friends anyway, she didn't need to care too much.
As for the idea that past conflicts must now turn them into mortal enemies, Gu An'an had no such thought.
Simply put, it's unnecessary.
"Give it back to me if you don't want it."
Li Yumei quickly took the rabbit, "Yes, yes, yes! Who said I didn't want it? I can have my first meat tonight!"
These days, anyone who complains about having too much meat is a fool.
"But you have to do me another favor?"
"What kind of help?"
The two exchanged a few words, and then Li Yumei left.
Zhou Yue watched as Li Yumei happily walked away with a rabbit in her arms. She quickly went inside to find out what had happened. She heard that Lin Qingqing was trying to frame Gu An'an by colluding with others. She almost ran next door to tear that person apart, but Gu An'an stopped her.
"An'an, we can't let this go like this."
Gu An'an nodded, "It definitely won't end like this."
"Then why won't you let me settle the score with her?"
Zhou Yue was somewhat unconvinced.
"If you go to confront her now, do you think she'll admit it? Not only will you fail to deal with her, but you'll also easily alert her. Since she's caused me trouble time and time again, I should deal with her once and for all."
When it came to dealing with Lin Qingqing once and for all, Zhou Yue got excited again. After listening to Gu An'an explain her plan, Zhou Yue was still a little worried.
"What if they bring in other helpers?"
Finding help is a given, but it's unclear how many they'll be able to catch.
"Don't worry, what are you afraid of with my skills?"
Zhou Yue believed in Gu An'an's skills, but she still had many worries in her heart.
Gu An'an gave Zhou Yue a lot of coaxing, and Zhou Yue finally stopped worrying about it. The group then worked together to get the pine nuts out of the yard.
Mature pine nuts can be eaten raw, but they taste rather astringent. The group ate a few and then stopped. When Gu An'an was cooking, she threw a few into the stove, and soon the oily aroma of the pine nuts began to waft out.
"Hmm, roasted ones taste better. It's a pity about this one; I wasn't paying attention and it burned to charcoal."
The meal was ready, and all the pine nuts were successfully shelled.
"Let's go get a few more bags in a couple of days, this isn't enough to eat."
There are many pine forests, large groves of them, so getting plenty to eat is no problem for them.
"Shall we go again this afternoon?"
Zhou Yue immediately waved her hand, "No, my legs are so sore, let me rest for a few days first."
The four of them chatted about interesting things in the village while eating delicious food, occasionally bursting into hearty laughter.
The atmosphere wasn't so good at the educated youth compound next door. Lin Qingqing had been delayed at the commune for a while, and when she came back, the rabbit meat was just coming out of the pot. She was so hungry for the meat that she picked up her chopsticks without thinking and was about to eat it when Li Yumei slapped her chopsticks away.
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