When Xu An arrived, Aunt Dashuan was at home taking care of her grandson. She had already prepared the vegetable seedlings for him, and he was now heading home with them on his back.

Xu Ning had already gone back to dig holes, waiting for him to return with the seedlings so she could

plant them.

The siblings finished planting just as it got dark. Looking at the rows of seedlings in the yard, it seemed as if the eggplants, cucumbers, and tomatoes were waving at them.

Xu An went to cook, while Xu Ning prepared to fetch water to water the plants.

As she picked up the bucket and yoke to fetch water, she saw her parents and Uncle Lu and Aunt Lu returning from the fields. Xu Ning nodded slightly and walked over.

By the well, Yang Wenli was drawing water, and Xu Ning waited beside him for a moment.

As he left with his water, he nodded to Xu Ning.

Xu Ning was momentarily taken aback, thinking to herself that it was rare for him to greet her. In the past, whenever they crossed paths, everyone would just pass by expressionlessly, but today he had actually acknowledged her.

However, Xu Ning did not respond; she simply picked up the bucket and went to draw water. They weren’t familiar with each other, and maintaining the status quo was just fine.

In the youth commune, Wang Juanjuan sat on the kang, while Chunhua and Li Fang were helping her tend to the blisters on her hands. Her eyes were red from crying.

If she had known that work would be this exhausting, she wouldn’t have come to this cursed place to do farm work. Life in the city was so much better—there was no worry about food or clothing, and everything at home was prioritized for her. Even her two sisters-in-law wouldn’t dare to compete with her.

Seeing her so upset, Jiaohua tried to comfort her. “Just wear gloves tomorrow; you’ll get used to it in a few days. I was the same when I first came here. It was Chunhua who saw Xu Ning wearing gloves and decided to make me a pair too. Once I wore them, it didn’t chafe my hands as much. Look at Xu Ning; she still wears hers when she works.”

It was better not to mention that person, but just the thought of Xu Ning reignited her anger. That little brat, Xu Ning! Why did she get to finish work earlier than them? Was it just because she knew how to flatter people?

Wang Juanjuan took a few pieces of snacks and gave them to Chunhua, asking her to help sew a pair of gloves. She had gone to the squad leader to request a leave of absence that day, but the squad leader had refused, citing the village regulations that prohibited taking leave during spring planting and autumn harvest.

Xu Ning finished watering the vegetables, and Xu An had also prepared dinner. After a long day of work, both of them were tired, so they had dinner and went to rest.

The next day, when it was time to work, Wang Juanjuan rushed over to Gu Wenping, complaining about the pain in her hands. Gu Wenping felt helpless; he could only earn eight work points a day and still had to help Lin Miao and Gu Wenjing. He was genuinely at a loss. He went to find Yang Wenli, hoping he could assist Wang Juanjuan, but Yang Wenli didn’t even spare him a glance.

Sighing, he said, “Juanjuan, why don’t you talk to the squad leader and ask him to give you a lighter workload? You receive subsidies from home every month and aren’t lacking for food anyway.”

Wang Juanjuan’s eyes lit up at his suggestion. “Wenping, could you help me talk to him? I’m not familiar with the squad leader.”

Feeling exasperated by her insistence, Gu Wenping eventually agreed to take her to the squad leader. The squad leader told her, “You can do less work, but if you don’t have enough food later, you can’t borrow from the village.”

Wang Juanjuan quickly agreed. If she ran out of food, she could just write home for more money and grain tickets.

After a month of hard work, the crops were almost all planted in the fields. After a rain shower the day before, Xu Ning finished breakfast and planned to head up the mountain to see if there were any mushrooms.

As she reached the foot of the mountain, Xu Ning saw her father and Uncle Lu coming down, each carrying a woven basket on their backs. Their shoes and pant legs were wet, indicating they must have left early that morning.

Surprised, Xu Ning asked, “Dad, Uncle Lu, why did you go up the mountain so early with such heavy dew this morning?”

The two men smiled and replied, “Well, it rained yesterday. We went up to gather some mushrooms. You don’t need to go; we brought back enough for you to eat.”

Seeing that both baskets were nearly full, Xu Ning chuckled and said, “You can take those home to eat. I don’t have anything planned today, so I’ll go up the mountain for a while.”

As she walked up the mountain, she was thrilled to see mushrooms everywhere on the ground.

Since there weren’t many people on the mountain yet, she decided to put the mushrooms she collected in her space first, planning to transfer them to her basket later when others arrived.

Xu Ning buzzed around like a diligent little bee, gathering mushrooms and feeling ecstatic at the sight of the pile accumulating in her space. Her smile was so wide it seemed to stretch from ear to ear.

Noticing the time, she realized it was getting late and that villagers would be coming soon. So, she stopped putting the mushrooms in her space and started placing them directly into her basket.

When Aunt Si and several other women from the village came up, they saw Xu Ning singing and picking mushrooms, with her basket already quite full. They laughed and said, “Xu Zhiqing, why are you out here so early?”

Xu Ning noticed them and replied with a smile, “Aunt, it’s because I live closer! There are so many mushrooms on the mountain today. Look at how many I’ve picked already!”

Seeing that her basket was nearly half full of mushrooms, the women didn’t bother with idle chatter and quickly went on their way.

Once the women had walked far enough away, Xu Ning resumed her search, picking up two mushrooms, putting one in her basket and the other in her space.

After returning home, she emptied her basket of mushrooms in the yard and took out half of what she had stored in her space. She decided to leave the other half for later that afternoon, as taking out too many at once might scare Xu An.

Later in the afternoon, Grandpa Qi and Xiao Mo also came up the mountain to gather mushrooms. Xu Ning didn’t join them; instead, she found a more secluded spot where she could continue placing mushrooms in her space and her basket.

When Chunhua, Jiaohua, and Liu Fang arrived, Xu Ning was happily busy collecting mushrooms. She merely smiled at Jiaohua without saying anything.

Since Jiaohua was also present that day and felt that Xu Ning was making Chunhua lose face, she returned the smile but chose not to say anything.

Xu Ning turned back and continued humming a song while picking mushrooms, completely unaffected by the few people around her. On the other hand, Chunhua and Jiaohua felt a bit uncomfortable; they had expected Xu Ning to greet them.

As Xu Ning turned away, Liu Fang glared at her with malice.

Feeling the glare, Xu Ning turned around and immediately spotted Liu Fang’s venomous expression. She stood up straight and glared back fiercely, saying, “If you keep staring, I’ll dig your eyes out!”

Liu Fang quickly looked down and hurried up the mountain, followed by Chunhua and Jiaohua.

Xu Ning snorted and resumed her mushroom picking.

After returning home, Xu Ning took all the mushrooms out of her space. Noticing that the sky was still bright, she was about to head back up the mountain for another round when Xu An came home from school. The siblings were just in time to go together.

As they reached the well, Grandpa Qi and Xiao Mo came down, each carrying a basket. Noticing that the road was clear, Xiao Mo whispered, “Sister, Second Brother, be sure to put some of my dinner in for me tonight. I miss you both! I’ll come over to see you later, and we can have a nice family gathering. Second Brother, make a couple of your special dishes; I want to taste your cooking!”

Xu Ning and Xu An both chuckled at his words, and Grandpa Qi laughed along.

Xu An replied with a grin, “You little rascal, are you feeling greedy again? Just tell me what you want! Tonight, your brother will show off a bit.”

Xiao Mo smiled and flattered him, “Second Brother, I really do miss you guys! I love everything you cook, especially those fried tofu balls. The taste is simply out of this world!”

After saying this, he gave Xu An a thumbs-up.