While Xu Ning was in the yard picking worms off the vegetables, she heard a lot of commotion coming from the youth camp. However, she didn’t pay much attention, as this kind of noise often happened from time to time over trivial matters, and she had become accustomed to it.

But this time, she guessed wrong. Before long, Yang Xiaomei came over to call her, saying they were going to the village for the meat distribution.

Xu Ning asked in surprise, “Distributing meat? What kind of meat? Is the village going to slaughter a pig?”

Yang Xiaomei replied excitedly, “Lin Miao and Gu Wenping just brought down a wild boar from the mountain! They’re going to distribute it in the village. That boar weighs over 100 jin, so each family should get about half a jin of meat.”

Xu Ning recalled what she had read in books, which mentioned that around this time after the spring planting, the male and female protagonists often encountered wild boars in the mountains, where the male hero would save the damsel in distress and ultimately win her heart.

Xu Ning said, “Forget it, I’m not going. I don’t have a good relationship with them, and it wouldn’t be right to go and take someone else’s meat.”

“What’s the big deal? I heard from Sun Hao that the last wild boar you killed, they still ate it,” Yang Xiaomei argued.

No matter how much Yang Xiaomei tried to persuade her, Xu Ning refused to join the festivities, so Yang Xiaomei had no choice but to go by herself.

However, even though she didn’t go, Yang Xiaomei brought back a small piece of pork for Xu Ning, saying, “This is for you from the village head. He said every household got some, and that kid from the cattle shed was there watching, so the village head gave him a piece too.”

Since they had already brought it, Xu Ning accepted it.

Yang Xiaomei asked, “Are you going to Chunhua’s wedding the day after tomorrow?”

Xu Ning shook her head and replied, “No, I don’t have that kind of relationship with her.”

Deep down, she thought, if she didn’t want to have anything to do with me, why would I want to waste my time attending her wedding?

On the day of Chunhua’s wedding, the groom arrived on a bicycle. Only a few people from the commune—Wei Lanlan, Gu Wenping, Yang Wenli, and Lin Miao—didn’t go, while everyone else went to see her off.

A few days after Chunhua’s wedding, Xu Ning heard that Gu Wenping and Lin Miao had also gone to register their marriage.

The two of them weren’t planning to hold a wedding ceremony right now; Gu Wenping said they would organize one later when they returned to the city, as having a wedding here would be too much of a sacrifice for Lin Miao.

The people who had held their weddings at the youth compound chuckled at this.

Wang Juanjuan had been crying for days, her eyes red. She felt trapped; she couldn’t return to the city, and the person she liked was getting married. It made her feel as if she wanted to die.

During this time, Xu Ning was also feeling distressed. That jerk had written that letter but had since gone silent. She was only 19 this year; in both of her lives, she had never considered marrying at this age.

Yet, he had submitted the marriage application. She wondered if there was a way to back out. Sigh.

Hearing her sigh, Xu Mo set down the book he was reading and asked, “Sister, what’s wrong? Why are you sighing? Are you missing Big Brother Lu? Didn’t he say he would come back this year to marry you? It won’t be long now; don’t be anxious.”

Xu Ning sighed again.

“Who’s thinking about him? Who’s anxious?”

“If you’re not thinking about him, then why the sighs? You’re not lacking food or clothing; life is pretty good. What’s got you so down? Dad and Uncle Lu both say that women love to overthink.”

After saying this, he shook his head and continued to look at his drawing book.

“Xiao Mo, you’re not as cute as you used to be when you were little.”

Xu Mo set down the drawing book again, sighed, and said, “Sister, I’m an adult now. I’m responsible for over twenty people. If I act like a child, my subordinates won’t take me seriously.”

Xu Ning looked at him, speechless.

Meanwhile, in the cattle shed, Uncle Lu, Aunt Lu, Father Xu and Mother Xu were discussing the marriage of the two young couples.

Uncle Lu said, “With our current situation, we can’t help the two kids out with their wedding, which makes it hard on Xiao Ning!”

Father Xu reluctantly said, “Xiao Ning is only 19; isn’t it a bit early for her to get married?”

Uncle Lu chuckled and replied, “Brother Xu, I know you’re worried about your daughter, but don’t worry. Once they’re married, Xiaotang will definitely take good care of her. My wife and I will treat Xiao Ning like our own daughter.”

Both couples knew each other’s characters well, so Xiao Ning’s parents weren’t worried about those matters; they were just reluctant to see their only daughter get married.

Unbeknownst to Xu Ning, before she had even decided whether to marry, the two families had already settled the details of their marriage.

Today was Saturday, and Xu An was coming back. Xu Ning picked a watermelon and soaked it in cold water, waiting for him to return so they could eat it together.

When Xu An returned, he was followed by Fan Sizhe and Jin Dapeng, both pushing their bicycles. Upon seeing Xu Ning, they politely greeted her, “Sister.”

Xu Ning urged them to hurry inside, then took the watermelon out of the cold water and cut it open for them to eat.

Fan Sizhe and Jin Dapeng took off the bags of grain and canned goods from their bicycles and said, “Sister, this is our grain. We’ll be bothering you again for the next few days.”

Xu Ning accepted the items with a smile. “What’s the trouble? If you ever want to come and hang out, just come back with Xiao An during your breaks. We have plenty of space here. Now, come and eat some watermelon! After you’re done, let Xiao An take you around.”

After finishing the watermelon, the three of them grabbed baskets and bags and headed to the creek to catch fish.

Several male educated youths from the camp were fishing with nets, and Xu Mo was there with his group of friends, all having fun with their small baskets.

Seeing this scene, Xu An knew they wouldn’t catch much fish today.

When Fan Sizhe and Jin Dapeng saw so many people fishing in the creek, they assumed there must be plenty of fish, so they excitedly jumped into the water with their baskets.

The male youth volunteers recognized them and greeted them cheerfully, “You three arrived just in time! We’re blocking the fish with baskets downstream. You can drive them down from upstream, and then we’ll share whatever we catch!”

Seeing they had already set up a blockade upstream, Xu Mo realized there wouldn’t be any fish left below, so he and his friends dashed upstream as well.

The people at the youth commune watched the group of kids causing chaos and said, “You guys stay to the side and play. Later, we’ll give each of you a fish when we catch them.”

Xu Mo replied, “We won’t accept anything without earning it. You all wait down there while my brothers and I use sacks to catch the fish from above. We’ll share the catch equally.”

The male educated youths couldn’t help but laugh at him. “Alright then, you guys drive them down from upstream, and we’ll block them here.”

Xu Mo had his friends take off their clothes, and together they pulled a worn sack to slowly drive the fish into their baskets.

After two or three hours in the creek, with a mix of big and small fishers, they had caught over twenty fish, just enough for everyone to have two.

Xu Mo and his friends took the fish and started to leave, reminding everyone, “Take the fish home and have your mothers cook them for you to replenish your strength. I’ll bring you all back next week to catch some more!”

The people at the youth commune watched the group of little ones joking and calling each other brothers while holding the fish, unable to suppress their laughter.

Xu Ning cooked all the fish that the three had brought back, stir-fried some green beans, and prepared a cold cucumber salad.

Fan Sizhe said, “Sister, your fish-cooking skills are really impressive. It’s even better than what the chefs at the state-run restaurants make!”

Jin Dapeng chimed in, “Not only is the fish delicious, but the vegetables are great too.”

Xu Ning smiled and replied, “If you like it, eat as much as you want! All these vegetables are grown in our own garden. Tomorrow, when you go back, take some with you.”