Xu Ning was busy preparing food for Xu Yang to take with him on his journey when she heard a commotion coming from the educated youth compound. She told Lu Xiaotang to keep an eye on the pot and went over to see what was happening.

Before she even reached the courtyard, she overheard a woman crying, “Wenping, you and Juanjuan grew up together. When she came to the countryside, I asked you to take care of her. Something so serious happened, and why are you only telling me now?”

Gu Wenping, sounding helpless, replied, “Auntie, I only recently found out about her relationship. I was planning to call you, but I’ve been so busy lately that I didn’t get a chance.”

Upon hearing this, Xu Ning realized that it was Wang Juanjuan’s family causing the commotion. Deciding she didn’t want to get involved, she turned around and went back home.

Lu Xiaotang was flipping the meat jerky in the pot when he saw her return so quickly. He asked, “What happened?”

“Wang Juanjuan’s family is here, making a scene at the compound. I didn’t bother going in,” Xu Ning explained.

Lu Xiaotang nodded and said, “No need to get involved.”

Xu Ning asked, “What do you think will happen to Wang Juanjuan in this situation?”

Lu Xiaotang sneered, “That depends on whether Cao Bo wants to protect her or not. If he does, she might avoid major trouble, but she’ll still suffer some consequences. However, Cao Bo is selfish and not the type to care about others. His brother-in-law’s crimes are likely to result in the death penalty, and Cao Bo himself will probably get sentenced to at least 10 to 20 years. If he doesn’t want Wang Juanjuan to get married, then she’s out of luck.”

Xu Ning didn’t know what else to say. Wang Juanjuan had brought this on herself—if you try to harm others, you can’t blame them when they retaliate.

Just then, Xu Yang and Xu An came back, each carrying a load of wood. Lu Xiaotang quickly took the load from Xu An and told them to go inside, rest, and have some water.

Seeing that the courtyard and the woodshed were already filled with enough firewood, Xu Ning said to the two, “Brother, this is enough wood to last us through the year. No need to chop more. Just rest at home. You’ll be sitting on the train for several days tomorrow—it’s exhausting.”

Xu Yang finished the water in his bowl and replied, “Rest? I’m not tired. I’ll chop a bit more wood. It’s cold here, and you’ll need to keep the kang and the fire wall warm in the winter.”

Lu Xiaotang stopped Xu Yang and said, “No need to go back out. We have more than enough firewood, and I still have plenty of coal balls left from last year. Plus, I’ll be back every year. Let’s spend the afternoon at home and chat properly.”

Xu Yang looked around at the piles of firewood and coal, realizing there really was plenty.

Xu Ning handed him a piece of dried meat and said, “Brother, try this. How does it taste?”

Xu An, feeling left out, chimed in, “Sis, what about me? I helped chop wood too! Don’t I deserve a piece of meat?”

Xu Yang, chewing on the jerky, playfully kicked him and laughed, “You cheeky brat, daring to compete with me over a piece of meat!”

Laughing, Xu An ran into the kitchen, grabbed a handful of meat strips, and stuffed them into his mouth, saying, “I won’t argue with you since you’re leaving tomorrow, but this jerky is delicious!”

Xu Ning noticed and said, “Don’t eat too much today. This is for your big brother to take with him. I’ll make more tomorrow, and you can bring it with you to school next week.”

Xu An, clutching his handful of jerky, felt a pang of sadness. Now he had to compete for attention with his older brother, Xiao Mo, and Lu Xiaotang. It seemed like his sister didn’t dote on him as much anymore.

After dinner, Lu Xiaotang and Xu Yang sat on the kang playing chess, while Xu An and Xu Ning were in the kitchen making biscuits and sponge cakes.

Lu Xiaotang asked Xu Yang, “How are things over there?”

Xu Yang smiled, “Not bad. I might be getting a promotion after this trip back.”

“That’s great! So, you’ll be promoted to company commander, right?” Lu Xiaotang asked.

Xu Yang, a bit embarrassed, replied, “It’s just to deputy company commander. You’re the one who’s really impressive. Everyone in our military district knows your name.”

He continued, “Our company commander—oh, wait, I should say our deputy battalion commander now—he was really impressed when he heard about your achievements.”

Xu Yang chuckled, “When I took leave and told them I was coming back for your wedding with my sister, you should’ve seen the look on his face! He was so shocked, you could’ve fit a duck egg in his mouth.”

Lu Xiaotang waved his hand dismissively, smiling, “Those are just exaggerated stories. Don’t believe the hype—they make it sound much more grand than it really is.”

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Xu Ning was cutting the two rabbits into small pieces, preparing to dry them as well. She remembered the jar of fermented soybean paste Aunt Dashuan had asked Jianmin to bring over a few days ago.

She turned to Xu An and said, “Xiao An, use the empty canning jars to pack up some of the soybean paste Jianmin brought. Let Big Brother take it with him since he likes it. Also, pack some pickled cucumbers and sour string beans for him.”

Xu Ning couldn’t help but think about how inconvenient it was without plastic bags. They never seemed to have enough canning jars, even after she had borrowed a few from Wei Lanlan and Yang Xiaomei just the other day.

Xu An looked into the jar of soybean paste and asked, “Sis, I remember Jianmin brought over a full jar of this. Why is there so much less now?”

Xu Ning suddenly remembered that over the past few days, Xu Yang had been dipping every steamed bun in the soybean paste, eating quite a lot at each meal without worrying about how salty it was.

She said, “Xiao An, ride your bike over to Aunt Dashuan’s house and ask for some more paste. Bring some candy for her little grandson as well. After that, take some beans to Aunt Cuihua’s house and trade them for tofu—get as much as you can. I’ll make some dried tofu for Big Brother to take on his trip.”

Xu An nodded and hopped on his bike, heading off to the village. Before leaving, he called out to the two playing chess, telling them to go help in the kitchen by stoking the fire.

Lu Xiaotang took a seat by the stove, feeding the fire, while Xu Yang stood in the kitchen, chatting with them.

Seeing him there, Xu Ning couldn’t help but scold him a little. “Brother, that soybean paste is so salty! You need to eat less of it. Eating that much salt isn’t good for you. If you keep this up, I won’t bring any for you next time.”

Xu Yang, munching on freshly cooked dried rabbit meat, nodded obediently, though whether he was actually paying attention or remembering her advice was unclear.

Seeing his carefree attitude, Xu Ning sighed helplessly. She thought to herself, It’s really time to find him a wife. I wonder if he has someone in mind in the army.

Xu Ning glanced at Xu Yang again and asked, “Brother, are there many women in your army’s art troupe? Are they pretty?”

Xu Yang raised an eyebrow. “Why are you asking that?”

Seeing his clueless expression, Xu Ning sighed deeply and said, “Brother, you’re not young anymore. It’s time to find a wife. With so many women in your unit, isn’t there at least one you’ve taken a liking to?”

Xu Yang stared at her, thinking, Why do her words sound exactly like what Mom said the other day? It was clear the two were mother and daughter.

He glanced over at Lu Xiaotang, who was sitting by the stove, trying to hide his grin but failing miserably. Xu Yang, feeling a bit embarrassed, grabbed two more pieces of rabbit meat from the basin and, while walking towards the door, said, “Where did Xiao An run off to? He’s not back yet. I’ll go look for him.”

Before Xu Ning could respond, he had already dashed out of sight. She sighed and muttered, “Such a grown man, but still so unreliable. He’s like a kid! How’s he ever going to find a wife at this rate? Ugh.”

Lu Xiaotang, watching Xu Yang flee and listening to Xu Ning mumbling to herself, couldn’t help but burst into laughter.