Chapter 26

After Sun Xiaoyan was taken away, the educated youth compound fell into an unusual quiet. The educated youths who had been talking in the main hall all returned to their dormitories.

He Xianqiu sat on her bed, tidying up the things she had taken out earlier. The others came back, but no one spoke.

The dormitory was silent. Even Yang Shuhua, who always liked to pick faults, kept her mouth shut.

But He Xianqiu didn’t care. She wasn’t close to anyone here, so whether they spoke or not had no impact on her.

Once she finished putting her things away, she returned the money and coupons she’d recovered from Sun Xiaoyan into her little pouch.

Though the pouch was small, it could hold a lot, and it was convenient for He Xianqiu to carry.

After a while, someone called from outside the dormitory that it was time to eat.

He Xianqiu got up and went out. When she arrived at the main hall, the other educated youths were already sitting on the benches. When they saw her coming, they greeted her awkwardly.

“Comrade He, you’re here.”

He Xianqiu nodded blandly. “It’s time to eat, so I came.”

Perhaps because one of them had just been taken into custody, the rest of the educated youths felt a faint dread toward her.

Even though they knew that, in both principle and reason, He Xianqiu was in the right, when they thought about how Sun Xiaoyan had been the one she sent away, it was inevitable to feel a bit awkward in her presence.

But truthfully, they still agreed with Sun Xiaoyan being taken. They felt He Xianqiu had a point—one person couldn’t be allowed to endanger everyone.

They quickly finished the meal. He Xianqiu left first, while the others stayed to keep eating.

Returning to the dormitory, she sat on the bed eating osmanthus cake. Just then, she heard a knock on the door. She set her things aside and stepped outside to look.

She glanced around but didn’t see anyone. Just as she was about to go back in, she turned and spotted Ji Chen Zhou.

He Xianqiu was pleasantly surprised and ran over to him.

“Comrade Ji, what are you doing here?”

Ji Chen Zhou smiled. “I saw what happened earlier. I was worried you’d be upset, so I came to check on you.”

As he spoke, he handed her a sweet potato.

He Xianqiu took it. It was freshly roasted, still steaming hot, and smelled wonderfully fragrant.

Holding it in her hand, she could feel its comforting warmth.

She looked up at him and asked, “Have you eaten yet?”

Ji Chen Zhou shook his head. “I brought it straight over after roasting.”

He Xianqiu took another sweet potato from inside and handed it to him. Ji Chen Zhou hesitated a moment, then accepted it.

She beamed. “Then let’s eat together. But thank you.”

Remembering she still had some osmanthus cake, He Xianqiu placed the roasted sweet potatoes in Ji Chen Zhou’s hands and turned back toward the dormitory.

“Hold these for a moment. I’ll be right back.”

Ji Chen Zhou nodded. “Okay.”

He Xianqiu went into the dormitory, opened her suitcase, and pulled out a bundle of osmanthus cake. She hurried back out.

When she reached Ji Chen Zhou, she curved her eyes in a smile and held out the osmanthus cake.

“This is for you. It’s sweet and delicious.”

Ji Chen Zhou shook his head. “I don’t need it. You keep it for yourself.”

Hearing that, He Xianqiu glared at him. “Just take it.”

Last time she had given Ji Chen Zhou a bag of White Rabbit candies, and he had secretly put money into her cloth bag. So she took out the three yuan and handed it back to him.

“We’re friends. There’s no need to be so polite. Here’s the money you left last time.”

Ji Chen Zhou was flustered by her glare and had no choice but to take the money when she insisted.

Since she refused to accept payment, he thought he’d just find another way to return the favor.

Remembering why he’d come, he pursed his lips and said, “I hunted a few rabbits and left them with Grandpa Zhong. The old man is cooking them now. I came to invite you over to eat.”

When He Xianqiu heard there was rabbit meat, she was overjoyed.

“Comrade Ji, you’re amazing!”

Ji Chen Zhou blushed under her praise and rubbed his head.

He Xianqiu thought it wouldn’t be polite to go empty-handed, so she turned to look for something she could bring along.

Seeing her rummage around, Ji Chen Zhou quickly stopped her. She looked at him in confusion, and he explained, “There’s no need to bring anything. Let’s just go. Besides, the old man still has the candy you gave him last time—he won’t accept anything else.”

He Xianqiu had no choice but to nod, and the two of them set off together down the narrow path toward Grandpa Zhong’s house.

As they walked, they nibbled the roasted sweet potatoes. The steaming sweet potatoes were sugary and delicious. He Xianqiu ate while blowing on hers to cool it.

Ji Chen Zhou chuckled softly at the sight.

Seeing him, He Xianqiu felt embarrassed. She looked over and said, “Are you laughing at me? Really, Comrade Ji, you’re mocking me?”

Ji Chen Zhou hadn’t expected her to say that. He pressed his lips together in a smile and shook his head. “I’m not laughing at you.”

Watching her puff out her cheeks as she ate, like a little hamster, he thought she looked inexplicably cute, so he couldn’t help but smile.

Afraid she’d be angry, Ji Chen Zhou hurried to explain, “I wasn’t laughing. I just thought you looked… ” —very cute.

It felt a bit hard to say aloud, so he trailed off without finishing.

He Xianqiu saw how nervous he looked and burst out laughing.

“Comrade Ji, don’t be nervous. I’m not mad.”

Seeing her expression so relaxed, with a smile on her face, Ji Chen Zhou finally let out a breath of relief.

The two of them picked up their pace and soon reached Grandpa Zhong’s house.

When they went inside, they saw Grandpa Zhong pacing around as if looking for something.

He Xianqiu asked in puzzlement, “Grandpa Zhong, what are you looking for?”

Hearing her voice, the old man looked up. “I’m looking for the sweet potatoes I just roasted. Huh, how strange. I could have sworn I left them right here.”

He Xianqiu thought about the sweet potatoes she’d just eaten and asked tentatively, “Were they purple-skinned sweet potatoes? Two of them?”

Grandpa Zhong nodded. “Yes, yes—wait, how did you know that?”

She even knew exactly how many.

He Xianqiu gave an awkward laugh. Of course she knew—she’d just eaten them.

Grandpa Zhong turned to look at Ji Chen Zhou. Suddenly, he understood.

No wonder this kid had been so eager, even bringing over a small sack of sweet potatoes to roast—he’d planned to take them back to He Comrade!

He glared at Ji Chen Zhou. So that was it—he’d roasted two big sweet potatoes and both ended up in this rascal’s hands.

Ji Chen Zhou felt embarrassed under the glare. Seeing He Xianqiu watching him, too, his ears turned red.

He opened his mouth to explain, “I told the old man I was taking them, but he must not have heard me.”

He truly had informed Grandpa Zhong that he was taking the sweet potatoes and to roast more. He hadn’t expected the old man not to hear him and then start looking all over for them.

When He Xianqiu heard the explanation, she laughed. She hadn’t imagined it would be something like this.

Grandpa Zhong waved a hand dismissively. “All right, all right, I get it now. The rest of the sweet potatoes are almost ready, and the rabbit stew is done. Come help me bring things out to the table.”

He Xianqiu nodded and followed him into the kitchen, Ji Chen Zhou close behind.

Inside the kitchen, the rabbit stew in the pot was still bubbling, sending rich steam drifting into the air.

Grandpa Zhong ladled the rabbit meat into a basin, then took out the roasted sweet potatoes and put them on a plate.

He Xianqiu smelled the fragrant aroma of the rabbit meat and breathed it in deeply.

She stepped aside to let Ji Chen Zhou pick up the steaming basin, while she carried the plate of sweet potatoes.

Together, they carried the food out of the kitchen.

A moment later, Grandpa Zhong emerged with a few white steamed buns.

Once everything was set out, it was time to eat.

Traditionally, the elder took the first bite, so Grandpa Zhong picked up his chopsticks first. Only then did the two young people start eating.

He Xianqiu took a piece of rabbit meat. The texture was tender and smooth, the taste wonderfully fresh. She squinted her eyes in satisfaction. It was so delicious.

Even though she’d already had dinner, with rabbit meat this good, she felt she could eat another full bowl of rice.

Seeing how much she enjoyed it, Grandpa Zhong chuckled proudly.

“This is my secret recipe. Good, isn’t it?”

He Xianqiu nodded eagerly. “Delicious. But I know a lot of ways to cook rabbit, too.”

“Oh?” Grandpa Zhong was intrigued. “What ways?”

She thought for a moment and listed them: “There’s spicy rabbit, dry-pot rabbit, cold rabbit, three-pepper rabbit, and so on.”

Hearing there were so many methods, Grandpa Zhong was instantly interested.

“Next time, how about you be the chef?”

He Xianqiu thought of her so-so cooking skills—just avoiding burning food was already an achievement. How could she dare waste ingredients?

She shook her head and waved her hands. “I’m not skilled enough to be the chef, but I do know the recipes.”

Grandpa Zhong saw her refusal and chuckled.

“This rascal Ji Chen Zhou here is pretty good at cooking. You can tell him how to do it. Honestly, his cooking might be even better than mine.”

Having eaten Ji Chen Zhou’s roasted snacks and soup before, He Xianqiu agreed wholeheartedly.

“Comrade Ji’s cooking really is excellent—so tasty and fresh. So impressive.”

Ji Chen Zhou was a bit embarrassed by the praise. He pressed his lips together.

“Don’t exaggerate. My cooking is just average.”

He Xianqiu bit into her sweet potato and secretly laughed. He really couldn’t take a compliment—his ears would always turn bright red.

She found his shy demeanor amusing, like a bashful little wife, easily flustered and blushing.

Noticing her staring at him and smiling, Ji Chen Zhou lowered his head.

After a moment, he asked quietly, “There are three more rabbits. How do you think we should cook them?”

He Xianqiu hadn’t expected he’d caught so many. She thought for a moment.

“How about making some snacks? Though it takes quite a bit of oil.”

Ji Chen Zhou shook his head. “It’s fine. I still have plenty of oil stored with Grandpa Zhong. Use whatever you need.”

Hearing that, He Xianqiu felt reassured and began to plan excitedly how to prepare the rabbit.

Though she thought rabbits were adorable, she had to admit—they were also delicious. So she would just have to overlook how cute they were.