Chapter 39: A New Member (Part 1)

The sun set and rose again.

The Qingfeng Brigade welcomed a brand-new day.

Overnight, the entire brigade had heard about the two big events.

First, the Mu family had been selected as a Five Good Family. They were the only family in the entire brigade to receive this honor.

Rumor had it that even the city officials were impressed, saying that this family was remarkable—harmonious, hardworking, and resilient.

There was no denying it. Even their youngest daughter was able to earn full work points. If that wasn’t impressive, what was?

The Mu siblings also got along well, unlike some families where even biological brothers would sever ties and never speak again. As for fights between sisters-in-law, those were practically common occurrences elsewhere.

It was said that there would even be certificates awarded later.

Oh my, once they’re pasted on the wall, what an honor it would be!

—

As for the other big event, that was even more incredible!

Their brigade actually made it into the newspaper!!!

The photos were printed clearly on the newspaper, with not just one, but two pictures.

One of the Mu brothers, along with the Mian girl.

The other was of the children. Though most of them only showed their backsides, they were still in the paper.

The reporter must have taken the pictures from quite a distance because many of the children’s clothes were too blurry to make out.

As a result, the whole village spent the entire day talking about identifying their children’s butts.

One person said, “That one in the middle is definitely my child. See that patch on the back? I just sewed it on!”

Another argued, “That’s clearly my child! Your kid’s butt isn’t that big!”

They went back and forth, all for one reason—

Their child had to be in the newspaper!

It was such an honor. Even if it was just their backside, they were still featured!

Those without young children at home were just as excited and kept asking Mu Mian what the article said.

After being asked so many times, Mu Mian memorized it.

The brigade leader had brought more than one copy of the newspaper last night and had left a copy for their family. Mu Mian read the article in full, and it even mentioned her. It was all praise.

Hehe, how could she not be happy!

She had read it so many times that she could even recite a few lines backward.

The newspaper was now carefully stored away by the old lady, who declared—

“This must be kept for the next generation to see.”

After all, this was a newspaper where four members of their family had their faces clearly printed. How remarkable and impressive!

It wasn’t just the old lady who thought so. The three brothers, Mu Fugui, Mu Xinglong, and Mu Xingwang, were all feeling proud of themselves.

Mu Fugui and Mu Xinglong went without saying, but even Mu Xingwang, who was usually steady and composed, couldn’t contain his excitement.

He wished he could go around telling everyone, “Hey, how did you know I was in the newspaper?!”

Of course, they all knew that the reporter had mainly photographed their Xiao Mian, and they were just included by chance.

But was it embarrassing to bask in the glory of their daughter or niece?

Not one bit!

If anything, others wished they had the chance!

Brigade leader Xu Yongshou had also been grinning for days. The commune leaders had praised their brigade’s performance. What did that mean?

It meant—

That whenever there was a good opportunity in the future, the commune would think of their brigade first!

Their brigade was trustworthy!!

—

The joyous atmosphere in Qingfeng Brigade lasted all the way until the autumn harvest was over.

Once the grain was harvested, they still had to hand it over.

But that had nothing to do with Mu Mian.

With some free time on her hands, she rested properly at home for two days aside from attending school. Then, in the afternoons, she was back to running around the mountains.

That day, the sky was overcast, making it pleasantly cool.

Mu Fugui had promised to go with her to set rabbit traps, but from Monday to Saturday, he had been too busy.

Mu Mian didn’t want to wait for her father any longer. Grabbing a bag, she took Shi Xiaolian and Xu Lele along and headed up the mountain.

With the autumn harvest over, many people were now heading into the mountains, and several rabbit burrows had already been dug up.

But with Shi Xiaolian, their walking map, they always managed to find hidden spots where fewer people had been.

Sure enough, after twisting and turning through the paths, the three girls soon found themselves in an area with no one else around.

Xu Lele, holding a stick in the middle, swung it around as she walked.

“There’s definitely a rabbit burrow here!”

Mu Mian nodded in agreement. She had already spotted signs of grass being nibbled on.

Rabbit burrows weren’t hard to find. The tricky part was that they had multiple winding exits, and they had to locate and block all of them before using smoke to flush the rabbits out.

Otherwise, they could be smoking from one end while the rabbit easily escaped from the other.

Shi Xiaolian, who had been leading, suddenly stopped. “There’s a burrow here.”

Mu Mian stepped forward in a few quick strides to take a look. “Looks like it was just dug recently. There must be rabbits inside.”

Xu Lele jumped excitedly. “Let’s hurry and find the other exits!”

Twenty minutes later.

Mu Mian lit a handful of slightly damp twigs with a match, sending thick smoke curling into the burrow.

Not far away, Xu Lele and Shi Xiaolian stood ready, holding a bag at the only open exit.

In less than a minute, there was a sudden whoosh as a dusty gray figure darted straight into the bag in a panic.

Xu Lele, quick as lightning, shut the bag and grinned from ear to ear. “Hahaha! We caught it! And it’s huge!!”

The startled rabbit thrashed around wildly inside, jumping and struggling. Xu Lele almost lost her grip from the force, and Shi Xiaolian quickly helped press it down.

Xu Lele shouted for help, “Sister Mianmian, I can’t hold it!”

Mu Mian stomped out the burning twigs in a few quick steps, then rushed over and landed two firm punches on the bag.

One second later, the rabbit went completely still.

Mu Mian wore a victorious expression. “Alright, it won’t move now.”

After all, it was going to be eaten anyway.

Shi Xiaolian’s eye twitched. That was… quite straightforward and brutal.

Xu Lele, on the other hand, was thrilled and eagerly offered to carry the bag.

Shi Xiaolian had chosen a great spot, and luck was on their side that day.

In just over an hour, they found two more burrows and successfully caught two more rabbits.

That made a total of three! A bountiful harvest!

Unfortunately, while catching the fourth rabbit, they missed an exit that was too well hidden, allowing the rabbit to escape.

Mu Mian instinctively took a couple of steps forward in pursuit but quickly gave up.

Adult rabbits run incredibly fast, and on rough mountain trails, the chances of catching one were slim.

The only reason she had managed to catch that big rabbit last time was because she had struck its hind leg first. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have caught it either.

Xu Lele was full of regret. “Ah, what a pity! That rabbit looked so big!”

Mu Mian weighed the three rabbits they had already caught and said, “Forget it. If it ran away, it ran away.”

Their luck today was already quite good. The past two days, they either couldn’t find rabbit holes or only found empty ones.

Still, the one that got away was indeed quite large, even bigger than the three they had caught.

So much so that Xu Lele couldn’t stop thinking about it even as they walked down the mountain. She pouted and grumbled, “Why did it run so fast? If Grandpa Tang’s dog were here, it definitely would have caught it!”

Grandpa Tang used to be a hunter and had a hunting dog, the only family in the brigade to own one. He had taken good care of it.

Even during the most difficult years, he never thought of eating the dog, which showed how much he genuinely loved it.

Though the dog was quite old now, it still looked energetic. Chasing chickens and rabbits wouldn’t be a problem for it.

Children’s thoughts change quickly. Before Mu Mian could respond, Xu Lele became excited again. “Sister Mianmian, do you think I can keep a dog? Would my mom agree?”

Mu Mian immediately saw through her intentions. “You want a dog like Grandpa Tang’s?”

Xu Lele nodded eagerly, her voice filled with innocence. “Of course! Otherwise, if it can’t help me catch rabbits, what’s the point of keeping one?”

Shi Xiaolian chimed in, “Grandpa Tang trained that dog. You have to teach it first before it knows how to catch rabbits.”

Xu Lele gave up within a second. “Never mind then. I can’t even catch one myself. How could I teach a dog?”

By the time the three of them reached the foot of the mountain, the conversation had already shifted from raising dogs to the best way to cook rabbit meat.

One said braised rabbit was the best, while the other insisted rabbit soup tasted better.

Back and forth they went, making Mu Mian hungry just from listening.

As she carried the rabbits home, she thought to herself that these rabbits were quite big. She could definitely cook them two ways.

Only kids make choices. She wasn’t a kid—she wanted both!

When Mu Mian arrived home, the old lady had just finished organizing the cellar and was coming up. Seeing her granddaughter smiling from ear to ear, she asked, “Why are you so happy? Did you find money on the way home?”

Mu Mian shook her head. “Hehe, no money, but we got lucky today and caught some rabbits! Grandma, can we eat half today and save half for tomorrow?”

Zhao Meihua glanced at the bag in her granddaughter’s hand. “Weren’t you out with Lele and Xiaolian? Don’t you need to share with them?”

Mu Mian replied, “We already did! We each got one!”

Zhao Meihua’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. “You three had great luck today, catching three in just one afternoon.”

The past two days, they had returned empty-handed.

Mu Mian washed her hands with some water. “Shi Xiaolian took us to a place with fewer people today. It looked like no one had been there before. We almost caught four, but the biggest one got away, which made Lele so frustrated.”

The grandmother and granddaughter chatted casually as they worked.

Zhao Meihua picked up one of the rabbits, which seemed either dead or unconscious, and sighed. “You girls are really something. Xiaolian’s sense of direction is almost as good as an experienced hunter’s.”

Mu Mian nodded. “She really is great at finding her way!”

She probably spent most of her past life running up the mountains.

Of course, she couldn’t tell her grandma that.

Since they didn’t need to share the rabbits with others, Grandma fulfilled her granddaughter’s wish and braised half of it that evening.

The other half was saved for the next day, when they would receive their grain rations. The autumn harvest distribution was always a joyous occasion.

By then, sacks of grain would be carried home, filling the house with warmth and security for the coming year.

—

Early the next morning, as soon as breakfast was finished, Comrade Liu Shuangcui rushed to the brigade square. She wasn’t the only one eager to get there.

By the time Mu Mian arrived with her mother, a long line had already formed.

Accountant Sun had set up a table, and several people were helping tally up the work points.

The amount of grain each family received depended on how many work points they had accumulated. Some hardworking families could even exchange points for money.

Mu Mian’s family didn’t have many work points. Most of the time, only Liu Shuangcui was working, and no matter how capable she was, she couldn’t compete with households that had seven or eight laborers.

But their family wasn’t short on money. Though Mu Fugui didn’t earn many work points, he had a steady salary.

Since they didn’t need money from the work points, they exchanged everything for grain.

Following behind her mother, Mu Mian made trip after trip, carrying sacks of grain like a little ant.

The once-empty cellar was soon filled again, making the house feel safe and secure.

Now that the grain had been distributed, there wasn’t much fieldwork left to do.

With free time on their hands, families started focusing on marriages—either arranging weddings or looking for spouses.

This happened every year. After the autumn harvest, there were always more weddings.

One reason was that people had been too busy working all year. While some had gotten married earlier, many preferred to wait until they had more time to plan properly.

Another reason was that after receiving their grain, households had enough food to host a wedding feast.

Qingfeng Brigade was a large village, and every year around this time, several families held celebrations.

Even the brigade leader’s family was preparing for one—Xu Lele’s eldest brother, Xu Gaoyi, was getting married in the next couple of days. He would be the first in the brigade to tie the knot after the harvest.

Mu Mian occasionally visited Xu Lele and always saw her eldest brother grinning from ear to ear.

Well, getting married was naturally something to be happy about.

However, in the end, Xu Gaoyi did not become the first in the brigade to marry after the autumn harvest. Someone else beat him to it.

That person was… Educated Youth Qian.

No one knew whether he was exhausted from the autumn harvest or had been planning this for a long time.

As soon as the grain distribution was completed, he packed his bags and went straight to the commune—getting married into his wife’s family.