Chapter 8

After approaching, Xiang Nuan greeted him and then introduced the people around her to him. When she introduced Gu Wenshu, she always felt like she was matchmaking.

Yang Bin greeted several female comrades and introduced the young men around him to them.

“This is Ergang, Accountant Zhang’s youngest son.”

As soon as Zhang Er saw Xiang Nuan, his eyes were frozen. It was not until Yang Bin bumped his arm that he reacted and greeted everyone.

Li Qinghe, an educated youth from Shandong Province, burst out laughing when he saw this and teased him in a familiar way, “Isn’t our Nuan Nuan beautiful? Look how engrossed you are!”

Everyone laughed when they heard this. Zhang Ergang raised his hand and scratched the back of his head foolishly, and glanced at Xiang Nuan with an embarrassed look. If it weren’t for his dark face, it would have turned red like a monkey’s butt.

Xiang Nuan glanced at the harpoons and baskets beside them and asked with a smile, “Are you going to catch fish? Let’s come over to catch crayfish.”

Yang Bin nodded. “Well, it just so happens that I don’t have to go to work these two days, so Ergang took me out for a walk and familiarized myself with the environment.”

“Then let’s get started quickly. It won’t be fun when it gets hot at noon.”

After Xiang Nuan finished speaking, everyone started to get busy. The four educated youth from the city rarely felt the joy of a spring outing.

Xiang Nuan thought that crayfish were something else, but they looked similar to crayfish. However, the shell of crayfish is green, so it is not easy to be found at the bottom of the river, and they usually hide under rocks.

They all had no experience and mainly relied on the help of Zhang Ergang and Taohua. The two little girls, Shuangxi and Xinghua, were also very capable and they always caught the right person.

Gu Wenshu might have had the halo of the heroine turned on. She always failed at the beginning, but later her luck started to explode, and she gradually distanced herself from the crowd without realizing it.

After a while, the small basket on her waist was full. She was about to show off to everyone, but when she turned around, she stepped on a sharp stone and fell uncontrollably into the water.

“ah!”

Everyone heard her scream and waded over to check. Yang Bin was the one closest to her and he dropped the harpoon in his hand and hurried over.

“Gu Zhiqing, are you okay?”

When they arrived, Gu Wenshu had already fallen into the water, her round, tender face wrinkled in pain.

“Hiss, there’s a stone in the water that pricked my foot.”

“Which one?”

“Right foot.”

Hearing this, Yang Bin wanted to lift her right foot to check. As soon as he touched Gu Wenshu, she screamed, “It hurts, it hurts, hiss, maybe your ankle is sprained.”

Seeing that there was no blood around her feet, Yang Bin guessed that they were not broken and the main problem should be on her ankle.

At this time, Xiang Nuan came over and heard their conversation, so she looked at Taohua and asked, “Taohua, is there a clinic in the village?”

Taohua shook her head, “No, but if you sprain your ankle, Master Sun can treat it.”

Xiang Nuan said quickly, “Then don’t delay any longer, and quickly send Wen Shu to find Master Sun.”

Gu Wenshu couldn’t walk in her current state. She needed someone to hold her or carry her on her back. A female comrade definitely didn’t have the strength to do that, so only a male comrade could help. Xiang Nuan was right there. Zhang Ergang was a little hesitant. Just as he was about to reach out, Yang Bin squatted down beside Gu Wenshu.

“Help her up, and I’ll carry her over.”

“good.”

Everyone worked together to slowly help the man up. Gu Wenshu endured the pain and lay on Yang Bin, thanking him in a low voice.

Gu Wenshu was soaked all over, and Zhang Ergang carefully took off his thin coat and put it on her.

We couldn’t continue catching crickets now, so we packed up our things and accompanied the two of them to Grandpa Sun’s house.

On the way, they met a few villagers who were chatting under a big tree in the village. Seeing their appearance, they were curious and asked about it. They just answered with a few words and continued walking forward.

Outsiders were not allowed to enter the village for many years, and when a few educated youth from the city finally came, everyone was keeping a close eye on them. Soon the news of Gu Wenshu falling into the water and spraining her ankle spread everywhere.

Fortunately, there were several men, women and children among them at the time, and the villagers thought the incident was funny and did not escalate to other levels.

“Okay, go back and rest, don’t go out, you’ll be fine tomorrow!”

When the few of them arrived at Sun Erye’s house, Sun Erye straightened them out in a few seconds after taking a look.

It was just a matter of moving your fingers, and Master Sun didn’t charge any money. Gu Wenshu thanked him and went home with everyone.

After sending them home, Xiang Nuan said a few words of concern and was about to take Shuangxi home. When they reached the gate, Zhang Ergang stopped her.

“To the educated youth.”

Xiang Nuan turned and looked at him, “What’s the matter, Comrade Zhang?”

Zhang Ergang swallowed nervously and stammered, “I, I caught two fish and can’t eat them all. I’ll give you one.”

Xiang Nuan smiled and declined, “Thank you, but no thanks. We caught a lot of cicadas.”

“No, you’re welcome. Take it. I can catch more in the river later.”

Zhang Er just finished speaking, and without further ado, he took the basket from Shuangxi’s hand and dumped the biggest fish into it. He did it so fast that it made people doubt that he was the one who stuttered just now.

Shuangxi looked at the big fish that was longer than her arm and smiled so hard that her teeth were showing.

“Really.”

Xiang Nuan didn’t want it. This thing is considered a valuable item nowadays. She also saw that this man liked her, but she couldn’t respond, so she didn’t want to accept it.

Zhang Ergang smiled and said, “You don’t want me to give it to Shuangxi, Shuangxi likes to eat it.”

“Thank you, Brother Ergang!”

Shuangxi was very familiar with Ergang, and when he heard that it was a gift for him, he didn’t bother to be polite and accepted it happily.

“Sister Nuannuan, it’s okay, Brother Ergang is fine!”

Children are children after all, and they don’t have so many twists and turns in their minds. Brother Ergang is not someone else, so just take it if it’s given to her.

Zhang Ergang nodded, “Take it. I can catch it in the river anytime.”

Xiang Nuan smiled helplessly, “Okay then, thank you.”

The two said goodbye, and the big one and the small one went back home carrying the fish and crickets. Before they reached the door, they ran into Wu Xiaoying who was walking out in a hurry.

“mother!”

“Aunt.”

Wu Xiaoying was relieved to see that the two were fine. She had just heard from a neighbor that a female educated youth had fallen into the river. Although it was not Xiang Nuan, she was still worried and wanted to go over to check.

“I heard someone fell into the river. I was worried about you guys, so I went to check it out. What happened?”

“It’s nothing, Gu Wenshu just sprained her ankle accidentally in the river. Master Sun has already checked it out, don’t worry.”

Wu Xiaoying nodded, “That’s good. Did you catch this? Oh! There’s a big fish!”

The basket is almost full, and you can tell we have harvested a lot.

Shuangxi raised the basket in his hand as if presenting a treasure, “Mom, this fish was given to me by Brother Ergang, and the crayfish were caught by Sister Nuannuan and me!”

Wu Xiaoying smiled and praised, “You two are quite good. Grab these old ones, wash them in a basin, and I’ll stew them for you tonight!”

“Yeah! Mommy is the best!”

Shuangxi shouted loudly and hurried home with the basket on his back.

Today’s dinner is very sumptuous, with braised carp with pancakes, crayfish tofu, and stir-fried shredded potatoes. Shuangxi is so happy that he is celebrating the New Year!

When the last dish was served, Wu Xiaoying looked out the door and said, “Why hasn’t your father come back yet? Shuangxi, go check on the brigade headquarters.”

“Okay!”

Shuangxi responded and ran out. As soon as he reached the door, he bumped into someone.

“Ouch!”

She was knocked almost to the ground, but the man was quick enough to grab her.