Yang Xiaoxiang hurried to the village party secretary’s house.

She knew that people from the city would usually stay there first.

“Auntie, open the door. I’m Yang Xiaoxiang.”

Yang Xiaoxiang knocked excitedly, feeling incredibly happy.

But as soon as the door opened, her mood changed.

“Yang Xiaoye!”

Her voice was sharp, almost breaking.

Yang Xiaoye rubbed her ears. She hadn’t expected to see her cousin at this moment.

“Cousin, I’m back. Aren’t you happy?”

Yang Xiaoye smiled, narrowed her eyes and emphasized the word “happy.”

In contrast, Yang Xiaoxiang looked uncomfortable, as if she had just swallowed something bitter.

Happy? Not at all!

How could she have come back? Wasn’t she supposed to be sick? Then I could go to the city instead.

“What’s wrong, cousin? Aren’t you happy I’m back?”

Yang Xiaoye waved her hand. She still remembered that her original self had always been close to this cousin.

“Of course, happy.”

Yang Xiaoxiang snapped back to reality and stammered.

“Perfect timing. Xiaoye is back and will stay at your house. Xiaoxiang, you’re just in time, so take your younger sister^[1]In Chinese culture, cousins are often referred to using terms that translate to “brother” or “sister” in English. This is because Chinese kinship terms are specific, … Continue reading home.”

The branch secretary held the newspaper with a pleased expression, not noticing Yang Xiaoxiang’s reaction.

“Cousin, you must have heard that I was back, so you came to pick me up, right? Let’s go home.”

Yang Xiaoye kept smiling, but her words were meant to annoy Yang Xiaoxiang.

She enjoyed seeing the disappointment on Yang Xiaoxiang’s face when she realized Yang Xiaoye had returned.

In a daze, Yang Xiaoxiang led Yang Xiaoye back to the old Yang family’s house.

Their arrival created quite a stir.

Old Yang has three children. The eldest, Yang Guowei, married Li Shujing from a neighboring village. They have a son, Yang Jiaxiang, two daughters, Yang Xiaoxiang and Yang Xiaohua.

The second son, Yang Guorui, married Sun Juan from the same village. They have a son, Yang Jiaqiang and a daughter, Yang Xiaoyue.

The third son is Yang Xiaoye’s father, who was not well-liked in the family. He joined the army as a teenager, later settled in the city through his own efforts and was never close to the Yang family.

If not for Yang Xiaoye’s visit, the Yang family would have stayed out of touch.

“Xiaoye? Why are you back?!”

Second Aunt Sun Juan, who is hot-tempered and direct, asked immediately upon seeing Yang Xiaoye.

“Well, my mother was seriously ill, so I went back to see her. Now that she’s better, I’ll continue my work in the countryside.”

Yang Xiaoye repeated what she told the secretary earlier, without mentioning the newspaper.

Old Yang’s family members sighed, each with a look of disbelief, though they kept quiet.

Yang Xiaoye noticed everything, smiling without saying anything.

Since she had returned, they couldn’t just send her away.

On the surface, Yang Xiaoye is the granddaughter of the old Yang family, but in reality, she is officially an educated youth staying in the village.

Currently, the youth settlements ^[2]refer to areas designated to house young people relocated to rural areas are unable to accommodate everyone, so some of them live with local villagers. The village provides some subsidies ^[3]a small financial aid or provisions to support the families hosting them and the host families are responsible for feeding the youths.

This arrangement is usually beneficial for villagers because most of these educated youths come from cities, where their families often send them additional support, making the youths inclined to help out in the households they stay with. Plus, the subsidies from the village make it even more worthwhile.

Because of this, villagers generally compete to host youths in their homes.

In this arrangement, the Yang family actually gains something from hosting Yang Xiaoye.

“Alright, since you’re back, just stay. It’s not like we’re lacking space,” said Old Yang as he smoked his pipe and the rest of the family went along with his decision.

“Can we go get some extra food? I heard that the educated youths who arrive in the village can get food allowances in advance,” suggested Aunt Li Shujing, who was calculating things carefully.

Since Yang Xiaoye would be staying with them, she would be eating with the family. The family’s food supplies were limited and adding one more person would mean less food for everyone else.

Educated youths in the village could receive an advance on food from the local team, which would later be deducted from their work points ^[4]refers to points earned by labor, which are converted into food or other necessities at the end of the year.

“Oh, by the way, here’s the food I brought.”

Yang Xiaoye interrupted Li Shujing and took out 20 kilograms of coarse grain and 5 kilograms of fine grain from her bag.

“White flour!” exclaimed Yang Jiaxiang.

Last time Yang Xiaoye came back, she had listened to Yang Xiaoxiang’s advice and moved into Old Yang’s house without bringing anything. Not only did she arrive empty-handed, but she also demanded white flour, which offended nearly everyone in the Yang family within a single day.

This time, Yang Xiaoye took out the food immediately to silence everyone. After all, she is from the city and the old Yang family’s granddaughter, so arriving empty-handed would be inappropriate.

She wasn’t naive, though. She knew she likely wouldn’t get to eat any of it herself, so she only saved enough for one person.

When Sun Juan saw Yang Xiaoye taking out food, her expression brightened. Being straightforward, she had treated Yang Xiaoye coldly the last time she visited because Yang Xiaoye had come empty-handed and acted like a guest of honor.

This time, she was surprised to see Yang Xiaoye bringing something back. Those five kilograms of white flour were something their family probably didn’t even have.

However, Li Shujing wasn’t impressed. She pursed her lips, thinking Yang Xiaoye was being stingy.

Coming from the city, shouldn’t she have brought more flour?

Hadn’t she always said they ate fine grains and meat with every meal? At the very least, she could have brought a bit more.

Li Shujing believed that Yang Guoyao, as a member of the Yang family, should share his good city life with them. Why should his family enjoy the luxuries of city life while everyone else here struggled to make a living farming in the countryside?

After Yang Xiaoye set the food down, everyone showed different reactions. She observed it all with faint amusement. Just a few kilograms of food could shift the family’s frustrations off her. She was curious to see how much drama this small amount of food might spark.

Everyone’s eyes were fixed on the food Yang Xiaoye had brought except for Yang Xiaoxiang, who glared at her cousin with an increasingly bitter expression.

“Cousin, you’re so beautiful,” said Yang Xiaoyue.

Yang Xiaoyue, only two years younger than Yang Xiaoye, seemed a bit timid as she admired her cousin’s stylish clothes.

Yang Guorui and Sun Juan, both known for their fiery temperaments, were surprised to see the daughter they raised acting so shy.

“You look nice too,” Yang Xiaoye replied with a smile.

Yang Xiaoye responded casually.

“By the way, Xiaoyue, do you know which family in the village has a mule cart?”

Yang Xiaoye still remembered that the man hadn’t accepted her money. It was barely light at the time and she had covered herself well, so she hadn’t gotten a clear look at him. Fortunately, since they were from the same village, she could ask around to find out.

“The secretary’s house, Uncle Li’s house near the village entrance and Uncle Zhang the accountant…” Yang Xiaoyue counted each family one by one.

“Which mule cart has a canopy?”

Yang Xiaoye continued to ask.

“Ah?”

Yang Xiaoyue seemed startled and looked around cautiously.

Everyone else was still focused on the food that Yang Xiaoye had brought, not paying attention to their conversation.

“What’s wrong?” Yang Xiaoye asked, puzzled.

“Cousin, that family isn’t good. My mom said you shouldn’t go looking for trouble with them. So why are you asking about them?”

Yang Xiaoyue spoke in a low voice, clearly afraid of her mother, Sun Juan.

“Huh?” Yang Xiaoye was confused. “What family?”

“That Gu Huai is known as a troublemaker, a real hooligan. He was criticized and struggled against a few years ago. His reputation is very bad, cousin, you shouldn’t get involved with him,” Yang Xiaoyue said, looking more worried as she glanced at her cousin’s pretty face.

“A hooligan?”

Yang Xiaoye didn’t quite believe it. She hadn’t seen his face clearly, but his voice and manner didn’t seem to match what Yang Xiaoyue was describing.

Could a troublemaker refuse to accept a yuan?

“Okay, I get it. Just tell me his name. I’ll stay away from him next time,” Yang Xiaoye said gently, trying to reassure the innocent and timid Yang Xiaoyue.

Leaning closer, Yang Xiaoyue whispered in her cousin’s ear.

“Gu Huai.”