When Xu Ning returned, Lu Xiaotang and Xu An were placing thorn saplings against the wall. Xu An cast a guilty glance at her but quickly turned his head away.

Lu Xiaotang also glanced at her but did not acknowledge her.

Thinking they were busy, she did not take it to heart and called out to them before heading inside to prepare dinner.

“During the meal, Lu Xiaotang asked, ‘Have we finished the wild boar meat? When do you plan to go back up the mountain to hunt a few more?”

Xu Ning paused as she was picking up food, glancing at Xu An, who was sitting next to her with a guilty expression, his head down as he ate. She realized that he must have mentioned it.

She smiled and replied, “Brother Lu, you have no idea how lucky I am. Last year, when I went up the mountain, I happened to encounter an injured wild boar. I just hit it a couple of times with a stick, and it died.

The two smaller ones were killed in a fight between themselves, so I got to take advantage of that.”

Lu Xiaotang nodded expressionlessly and said, “You’re quite lucky. The year before last, you happened to come across two wild boars fighting. Last year, you ran into an injured wild boar. This year, you found two wild boars that killed each other in a fight. Now that we’re almost out of meat, I’ll go up the mountain with you tomorrow. I want to see where you found them. Who knows? I might be just as lucky as you and find a wild boar too.”

Xu An quickly finished his meal, set his bowl down, and said, “Big Brother Lu, Sis, I’m going to the youth commune to hang out for a bit!” Without waiting for a response from the two, he dashed off.

Xu Ning forced a chuckle.

After finishing his meal and washing his bowl, Lu Xiaotang sat in front of her and said, “Xiao Ning, please don’t go hunting alone anymore, okay? I know you want everyone to eat well and stay healthy.

But I really worry about you. The Daqing Mountains aren’t just home to wild boars; there are also packs of wolves and tigers. Even if you’re strong for a girl, do you know how dangerous it is if you run into those ferocious beasts?”

“I’ll try to come here once a year to store up more meat for you. If you want to go into the mountains, wait until I come and I’ll take you with me. Can you promise me that?”

Xu Ning nodded and replied, “Brother Lu, I understand. I won’t go hunting alone anymore.”

Lu Xiaotang took her hand and said, “Xiao Ning, you must not get into any trouble, understand? If you don’t listen, I’ll go back and apply for discharge from the army, so I can stay here and watch over you.”

Xu Ning looked at him in shock. Was it really necessary to go that far just for hunting?

Seeing he wasn’t joking, she quickly said, “Okay, okay! I promise, I won’t go hunting in the mountains anymore unless you take me with you, alright?”

Lu Xiaotang gently stroked her soft hair, thinking to himself, I like this girl so much that I can’t bear the thought of her facing even the slightest danger. What should I do? I wish I could be by her side all the time to protect her.

When Xu An returned, he first listened at the door to see if there were any sounds of an argument inside. Just as he pressed his ear against the door, Lu Xiaotang pushed the door open and entered, noticing his sneaky behavior.

“Xiao An, why are you lingering at the door? Don’t you want to go inside? You’ll scare your sister,” he said.

Xu An smiled awkwardly. “Big Brother Lu, you’re back! I just wanted to see if my sister was asleep, and I was worried about disturbing her.”

Inside, Xu Ning was reading. Hearing their voices, she stepped out and asked, “What are you two doing sneaking around at the door? Why don’t you come inside?”

Lu Xiaotang remained silent.

Xu An replied with a grin, “Big Brother Lu and I were worried about disturbing you, so we were just talking outside.”

Xu Ning glanced at the two of them and said, “Come on in, what’s the point of talking out there?”

In her heart, Xu Ning thought that Xu An was definitely telling on her again.

Walking behind, Lu Xiaotang suddenly asked, “Xiao An, did you clean the wild chicken you brought back from the mountain?”

Xu An recalled it and quickly went to find his backpack; the wild chicken was still inside.

Lu Xiaotang immediately went to boil some water. The two of them worked together in the kitchen to clean the chicken, which was still quite large, weighing around three pounds.

Since it was still a bit warm, Xu Ning was worried it would spoil by tomorrow, so she salted it for preservation.

Once they had finished, it was already late, and after a long day, they were all tired, so they returned to their rooms to sleep.

The next morning, after breakfast, Lu Xiaotang and Xu An went off to work, while Xu Ning put the wild chicken she had prepared yesterday into a pot to stew. She also added some salted meat along with a good amount of mushrooms and wood ear fungus.

As she walked near the cornfield, Xu Mo emerged with a small backpack on his back, filled with corn. He had just poured the corn onto a cart.

Seeing Xu Ning walking over, Xu Mo cleverly set his backpack down by the roadside. Xu Ning placed a clay pot inside and whispered, “It’s soup. Be careful not to spill it.”

Xu Mo nodded softly and took a moment to rest before carefully shouldering his backpack and heading toward the cornfield.

As they neared the bean field, Wang Juanjuan, sitting at the edge, noticed Xu Ning bringing food. She glanced at the man working in the field and felt a wave of jealousy distort her face.

She removed her gloves and examined her blistered hands. Having never done manual labor since childhood, even completing two work points a day was exhausting for her.

Gu Wenping had spent a lot of time helping Lin Miao, never once offering to help her out, despite their childhood friendship.

She resolved to write home that evening, asking her parents to find a way to bring her back to the city; she no longer wanted to stay here.

Xu Ning set the clay pot down and took out the stewed green beans and steamed buns from her backpack.

Lu Xiaotang said, “Tomorrow morning, we’ll bring our meals here so you won’t have to run back and forth. It’s too far.”

“It’s fine; I usually ride my bicycle here. Today, since I have chicken soup, I walked over because I was afraid of spilling it,” Xu Ning replied.

After they finished eating, Xu Ning said, “Xiao An, you should go back and rest this afternoon. I’ll stay here to pick beans.”

Xu An quickly protested, “Sis, why should I rest? I’m a guy! You should go back; I want to eat the buns you steamed. Please make some when you return.”

With no choice, she agreed and headed back. When she reached the cornfield, Xu Mo was already waiting for her. Seeing that there weren’t many people around, he whispered, “Sis, the soup today was really delicious. We drank it all up.”

He then handed her the clay pot from his backpack. Xu Ning looked at him with concern and said, “Xiao Mo, take it easy. Don’t carry so much at once, or you won’t grow tall enough.”

Xu Mo nodded and said, “Sis, I know. I’ll carry just a little each time and make a few more trips.”

“You’re such a good boy, Xiao Mo. I’ll make you something delicious tonight and bring it over,” Xu Ning promised.

Since Lu Xiaotang had been helping her with the work, she had started preparing meals every afternoon. She would send the food to the cow shed while others were still working, ensuring that they could eat well and not feel as tired.

When Xu Ning returned home, she took the meat she had retrieved from storage and chopped it into minced meat. She also diced some vegetables and added vermicelli, planning to make extra buns to deliver later.

After thinking for a moment, she decided to steam some brown sugar buns as well, knowing they could be eaten even if they cooled down, making for a good lunch for the next day.

Once everything was packed in her backpack, she gathered the bean sprouts that had grown in the past few days, filled a basket with them, and prepared to deliver it all.