The next day, Zhao Jianshe went to the village committee to see the village chief. He informed him about Liu Fang’s sentencing and told him that she would be sent to the logging camp to serve her sentence in a few days, requesting the village to help transport her belongings.

He did not go to Xu Ning’s house, knowing that it was the autumn harvest season and everyone was working in the fields. Instead, he asked the village chief which piece of land Xu Ning was assigned to.

The village chief told him, “Xu Zhiqing, went to the city today. Her partner is helping her out. You can find them in the eastern soybean field; her partner and Xiao An are working there.”

Zhao Jianshe found the two and relayed the sentencing results to them. “Wang Daqiang and Wang Ergou were each sentenced to ten years, while Liu Fang received eight years. She will serve her time at a farm in the neighboring county.”

Lu Xiaotang chuckled and said, “Brother Zhao, thanks! Don’t rush back today; stay for dinner. In the evening, let Xiao Ning cook a few dishes, and we can have a drink.”

“Brother, I really can’t today. There’s still quite a bit of work to do at the bureau. After you finish up here, come to my place with Xiao Ning and Xiao An, and we can chat properly then.”

After a few polite exchanges, Zhao Jianshe rode his bike back home.

During the lunch break, the village chief gathered a few educated youths and informed them about Liu Fang’s sentencing. He asked who would be willing to help deliver her belongings.

The educated youths in the camp fell silent, unwilling to volunteer for the task. Seeing this, the village chief shook his head and said, “Discuss among yourselves. Tomorrow, whoever can spare a bit of time to help deliver her belongings will not have their work points deducted.”

After some discussion, the educated youths agreed that a female youth would return from work to pack Liu Fang’s things, while Gu Wenping and Yang Wenli would ride their bicycles to take them over the next day.

Once the village chief left, several of the educated youths began to discuss the situation. Gu Wenjing asked, “Wasn’t Xu Ning fine? How could she receive such a heavy sentence?”

Jiaohua chimed in, “Yeah! The sentence is too harsh—eight years! By the time she comes back, she’ll be thirty.”

Wang Juanjuan and Chunhua didn’t speak up, but they shared the same sentiments.

Wei Lanlan sneered, “According to what you’re saying, it seems Xu Ning must first get into trouble before Liu Fang can be sentenced to a heavy punishment. This really proves the old saying: anyone can be a bodhisattva—until it happens to them.

Don’t forget, Xu Ning is a military dependent, and intentionally persecuting a military family member is a serious crime.”

After finishing her words, she pulled Chen Xiangdong away, with Yang Xiaomei and Sun Hao following closely behind, along with Yang Wenli, Liu Shaojie, and Zhang Hairong.

Their actions were clear; they supported Liu Fang’s harsh sentence. Lin Miao also took Gu Wenping with her and left, while the remaining youths looked visibly upset.

Xu Ning was unaware of the discussions surrounding her. She had gone to the city today to retrieve some items from her space. Over the years, she had gone hunting in the mountains, and the meat and grain stored in her space had hardly been touched. She and Xiao An had earned quite a few work points, allowing her to take out some fine grains regularly.

Today, she planned to take out a pig’s head. Out of the ten heads stored in her space, only two had been used, and she had grown accustomed to it, no longer feeling as frightened as before. After all, she was now someone who dared to hunt wild boars.

Upon returning home, she began to clean the pig’s head, removing the hair and then placing it in a pot to boil.

While pulling up cucumber vines yesterday, she had noticed several curled cucumbers still attached, so she retrieved a few more from her space, planning to make a cucumber salad with the pig’s head meat.

Once she finished preparing the dish, she served a bowl to Grandpa Qi and took the rest in two basins to bring to the fields. First, she detoured to the section of land assigned to the cow shed workers. There, Xu Mo was sitting at the edge of the field, his little face flushed, drinking water.

On the opposite side, the educated youths were busy harvesting beans. Xu Ning didn’t greet them but quietly placed a large package of food next to Xu Mo.

The little boy was quite clever; he quickly picked up the package and placed it in his backpack before heading toward the cornfield.

The adults were also preparing to eat before getting back to work. Upon seeing Xu Mo come back in, one of them asked, “Xiao Mo, weren’t you supposed to wait at the edge of the field? Why did you come back?”

Xu Mo replied, “My sister just brought me a package. We should find a quiet spot to eat.”

The adults took out the food they had brought back and settled down in an open area. Xu Mo opened the large package to reveal a big bowl of pig’s head meat mixed with cucumber, topped with several white steamed buns.

Xu Mo’s mouth watered at the sight. “My sister really cares for us. Let’s eat! Everyone, dig in!” he said, immediately serving everyone a piece of meat.

He took a bun for himself, took a bite, and then added a piece of pig’s ear to his mouth. Squinting his eyes, he exclaimed, “This is so delicious! Dad, Mom, Uncle Lu, Aunt Lu, what are you being polite for? Hurry up and help yourselves!” He kept eating while encouraging everyone to take some food.

The others couldn’t help but laugh at his adorable expressions.

Xu Ning took out the food, while Lu Xiaotang shared the sentencing results of the three people Zhao Jianshe had brought with him.

Xu Ning nodded, indicating that she understood, and urged the two to eat quickly.

After the three finished their meal, they sat back to rest. Lu Xiaotang said, “Last time I went back to Beijing, I asked Wen Qing to look into Gu Wenping and Yang Wenli’s family situations. I didn’t find anything unusual. There are a few minor issues at work, but they pose no threat to us here.

Lin Miao’s family situation is also quite simple. In the first few days after coming to the countryside, she was throwing tantrums and refusing to work as an educated youth. But somehow, she came around and decided to come on her own.

So far, none of these individuals present any significant issues, but you still need to be cautious, especially when interacting with our parents from the cow shed.”

Xu Ning knew that as long as she kept her distance from them and avoided their spotlight, she wouldn’t attract trouble. It was already 1973, and there were only four years left before she could leave this place—time would pass quickly.

She nodded and replied, “Brother Lu, I understand. We rarely go to the cow shed area now, and even Xiao Mo hardly visits us.”

Lu Xiaotang and Xu An finished their assigned tasks by three o’clock in the afternoon. Instead of going home, they headed straight up the mountain to cut thorn saplings.

With nothing else to do at home, Xu Ning also went up the mountain to look for early-ripening wild produce, planning to bring some back for Lu Xiaotang when he left.

The thorn saplings were located at the foot of another mountain. Lu Xiaotang wore thick gloves as he chopped them down, while Xu An bundled the cut saplings together, ready to haul them back later.

The noise from their chopping was quite loud, and suddenly a wild chicken darted out from the bushes. Lu Xiaotang quickly grabbed his machete and threw it. In an instant, the chicken’s head was severed, and it flapped around on the ground for a few moments before going still.

Xu An happily picked it up and said, “Big Brother Lu, your aim is really impressive!”

Afterward, Xu An continued to praise Xu Ning for her impressive feat of hunting wild boars. “Brother Lu, my sister is amazing! Last year, she went up the mountain alone and shot a wild boar weighing over two hundred pounds. This spring, she managed to hunt two more, each over a hundred pounds. We still haven’t finished the meat! The salty pork you had the other day was from the wild boar my sister hunted.”

Hearing this, Lu Xiaotang’s expression turned serious as he asked, “Your sister went hunting alone? Why didn’t she write to tell me? The mountains in winter are very dangerous—you know that! How could you let her go up there by herself?”

Xu An opened his mouth, hesitating for a long moment before responding. “Brother Lu, I wanted to write to you about it, but my sister wouldn’t allow it. She confiscated the letter I had written and made me start over.

My parents, Uncle Lu, and Aunt Lu all mentioned it to her, but she wouldn’t listen. This spring, she secretly went back up the mountain again.”