When Xu An and Lu Xiaotang returned, the three of them were still sitting on the kang, chatting. As soon as Xu An entered, he joyfully shouted, “Sister, sister, come out and see what Big Brother Lu has caught!”

He dashed to his sister’s room and, seeing more people on the kang, called out, “Wei Zhiqing, Yang Zhiqing, you’ve come to visit!”

Excitedly, he turned to Xu Ning and said, “Sister, Big Brother Lu caught a roe deer! And there are several wild chickens and hares too.”

As Xu An came in, Xu Ning was already preparing to get off the kang. When they all stepped outside, they saw a roe deer weighing about forty to fifty pounds on the ground, along with four wild chickens and two rabbits. Lu Xiaotang was rubbing his hands together with snow beside the catch. He glanced at the two unfamiliar girls who had just emerged from the house but quickly averted his gaze and said to Xu Ning, “Xiao Ning, go boil some water. I’ll clean these up.”

Xu Ning excitedly asked, “Big Brother Lu, did you catch all of these?”

Hearing her question, Xu An chimed in, “Sister, they’re all from Big Brother Lu! He’s really amazing—he killed the chickens with just a stone!”

The siblings looked at Lu Xiaotang with stars in their eyes.

Wei Lanlan and Yang Xiaomei, showing good awareness, said, “Xu Zhiqing, we should head back now. We’ll come to play another time.”

“Why don’t you stay here for a meal? This is my cousin, Lu Xiaotang. He’s here to visit me and my brother,” she said, making introductions. Wei Lanlan and Yang Xiaomei greeted Lu Xiaotang, who nodded in response.

However, Wei Lanlan and Yang Xiaomei didn’t stay for the meal. With the current food rationing, people generally didn’t eat at others’ homes.

After the two girls left, Xu Ning hurried to boil water, wanting to clean up quickly before everything froze. She plucked feathers from the wild chickens while Lu Xiaotang skinned the roe deer and rabbits. By the time they finished, an hour had passed. Xu Ning looked at the large bowl of meat and smiled so wide that her eyes nearly squinted shut.

Noticing the time, which was already past noon, Xu Ning decided to stew the leftover pig’s head meat with pickled vegetables and vermicelli from yesterday. She also steamed some buns. They were late for lunch, and everyone was hungry; the large bowl of dishes and over a dozen buns were completely devoured by the four of them.

After returning to the youth commune, Wei Lanlan and Yang Xiaomei were still talking about Lu Xiaotang. “Xu Zhiqing’s cousin is so tall and good-looking. He looks like he’s only eighteen or nineteen, but he has such a mature presence. I wonder if he has a girlfriend,” Wei Lanlan remarked.

Yang Xiaomei’s eyes sparkled as she replied, “Why don’t we ask Xu Zhiqing next time?”

Wei Lanlan laughed and teased, “Xiaomei, you’re not falling for him too, are you? Don’t compete with me!”

The two of them chatted and laughed as they entered the house.

Following Xu Ning’s instructions, Lu Xiaotang chopped the roe deer meat into pieces. Xu Ning placed the pickled meat into an empty jar, and the cleaned wild chickens were hung in the kitchen, safe from spoiling in the cold weather.

She asked Lu Xiaotang to chop the ribs of the deer into smaller chunks, planning to make braised roe deer meat and spicy rabbit pieces for dinner.

That evening, Lu Xiaotang didn’t let Xu Ning accompany him to the cattle shed. He packed the braised roe deer meat into his backpack and held the spicy rabbit pieces in his hands. Xu Ning wanted to add some buns for him, but he declined, saying that there was coarse grain in the cattle shed and the finer food should be left for the children.

The three siblings sat on the kang, enjoying the roe deer meat and spicy rabbit pieces. Xu An was excitedly recounting Lu Xiaotang’s bravery while hunting in the mountains. “Big Brother Lu said he’d take me up the mountain one more time before he leaves. Maybe we can catch even more and save it for the winter!”

Xu Mo chimed in eagerly, “Second Brother, Big Brother Lu promised to bring me some bullet shells next time, and he said he’d take me hunting too!”

In just two days, the two boys had become little fans of Lu Xiaotang.

“Big Brother Lu, did he say when he’s leaving?” Xu Ning asked.

Xu An’s expression turned somber as he replied, “He’s going back in three days. He only has a fifteen-day leave, and the round trip takes almost ten days.”

With the train’s speed only reaching a few dozen kilometers per hour and the need to transfer trains, the journey was long. When the original owner and Xu An came to the countryside, it had taken them four days to arrive. Lu Xiaotang’s military base was even farther away.

After Lu Xiaotang returned, Xu An and Xu Mo were still awake. Lu Xiaotang taught them how to play chess, which he had brought along. Xu Ning, uninterested in the game, went back to her room to read.

At nine o’clock, Xu Ning was about to call Xu Mo to come sleep when he returned on his own—not to sleep, but to fetch his pillow.

Xu Ning sighed, “Xiao Mo, you’re making your sister very sad like this.”

Xu Mo quickly reassured her, “Sister, Big Brother Lu is leaving soon! I want to stay with him for a couple of days. Once he’s gone, I’ll come back to keep you company!”

Xu Ning sighed to herself, “I’ll miss having you sleep beside me, you stinky boy who loves to wet the bed!”

When she got up at seven in the morning, she noticed that a drainage ditch had already been dug next to the kitchen and the vegetable patch. From now on, they could pour used water directly into the ditch, which would flow into the garden and help irrigate the crops. The small courtyard, more than two meters wide, had also been tidied up.

Xu Ning was astonished. Had they not slept at all? She asked, “You didn’t sleep?”

“I did. I got up at five. I’m used to it in the army. I dug you a drainage ditch, so you can pour water directly there from now on. It saves you from carrying it over,” Lu Xiaotang replied.

Still feeling a bit dazed, Xu Ning went to the bathroom. To her surprise, it had been cleaned as well. Calm down, calm down—eating, drinking, using the bathroom, and sleeping are all part of life!

After breakfast, Lu Xiaotang rode Xu Ning’s bicycle into town.

Xu Ning took a wild chicken, chopped it into pieces, and placed it in a clay pot to simmer slowly. She sat on the kang with Xu An and Xu Mo, peeling chestnuts together. Soon, they would add the peeled chestnuts and mushrooms to the chicken soup. The resulting broth would be sweet and clear, and the kids all loved it—so did Lu’s and Xu’s mothers.

However, wild chickens took a long time to cook, needing several hours to become tender. She started simmering it in the morning so they could have it for lunch.

Now, Xu Ning was hesitant to make soup at night since Xiao Mo often wet the bed after drinking. They would have chicken soup for lunch and then cook another pot to send to the cattle shed in the evening.