Xu Ning planned to first check the supply and marketing cooperative to see if there were any bicycles available. When she arrived, Su Hongying was behind the counter serving pastries. After the customer left, Xu Ning approached Su Hongying to greet her and asked if there were any bicycles for sale, as she wanted to buy one.

Su Hongying replied, “We just received four bicycles yesterday. There are still two left, priced at one hundred and thirty each. You’ll need a ticket. If you want to buy one, I can go get the director to approve the request right now.”

Once Xu Ning had pushed the bicycle out, she looked at the bike, which came up to her chest, feeling a mix of frustration and despair. At just over one meter fifty tall, she felt dwarfed by the bicycle. She decided to push it for now, planning to practice riding once she was outside the city where there were fewer people. She found a secluded corner and retrieved some items from her space, intending to take only a little for now and save the rest to bring home later.

Xu Ning first stopped by Old Chen’s place to say hello before heading back. After stumbling a few times, she finally managed to ride the bicycle home. Just as she returned to the village, several aunts who were sitting at the entrance soaking up the sun and making shoes called out to her, “Xu Zhiqing, is this the bicycle you bought? How much did it cost?”

Sitting on the bicycle, a gust of wind seemed to carry her past them. Her short legs couldn’t quite reach the pedals, so she squirmed a bit in the seat and called back, “This is my sister-in-law’s; she just let me ride it for a few days.” In her mind, she thought that whether she would return it or not was entirely up to her, chuckling to herself.

When Xu Ning arrived at the door, she found it locked. After unlocking it, she placed the bicycle at the entrance of the wood shed and organized the items she had brought from her space. Suddenly, she heard voices outside and recognized Xu An talking to Chen Daniu, the eldest son of the village carpenter, who was carrying firewood on his back.

Seeing Xu Ning open the door, Chen Daniu said, “Xu Zhiqing, the wooden barrel you ordered is ready. My dad sent me to deliver it to you.” He gestured to a cart that carried a large wooden barrel. As he untied the rope securing it, Xu Ning quickly opened the door wider and helped him lift it into the house. After handing Chen Daniu the payment, she also gave him half a jin of rock candy. Blushing, Daniu quickly waved his hands, insisting he couldn’t accept it.

Xu Ning placed the rock candy on the cart and said to the thirteen- or fourteen-year-old boy, “Big Brother Daniu, don’t be so polite. It’s just a little rock candy—take it home for Sanniuw to dissolve in water.”

After sending Chen Daniu off, Xu An excitedly looked at the bicycle parked at the entrance of the wood shed, grinning from ear to ear as he asked, “Sister, is this the bicycle you bought today?”

Seeing his joyful expression, Xu Ning smiled and replied, “Yes, I bought it today. When you’re a bit taller, you can ride it too.” Watching him head back inside to grab a cloth to wipe off the dust from the bike made her chuckle. Since it was still a bit early for cooking, she decided to take out a pair of pig intestines from her space to clean.

The ten pigs she had bought before her time travel had been cut into small pieces, but the intestines and heads remained intact, untouched. She needed to find an opportunity to cook them. Every time Xu Ning entered her space and saw those pig heads, she felt a pang of dread.

After placing the intestines in a large basin, Xu Ning repeatedly kneaded them with wood ash, then rinsed them with water, and finally rubbed them with salt two more times. This method not only cleaned them thoroughly but also removed any unpleasant odor. She had learned this technique from a colleague before her time travel, who came from a rural area where they used it every year when slaughtering pigs.

Once cleaned, Xu Ning stored the intestines in her space, planning to cook them in a couple of days. The kitchen was already filled with various items, and Xu An wasn’t very careful about where things were placed. This little guy preferred to gather wild goods from the mountains.

Xu Ning instructed Xu An to go fetch Xu Mo for dinner. Grandpa Qi had already spoken to the village head, asking Xu An to help bring Xu Mo along, explaining that he was too young and might slow the adults down. The village head agreed and even praised Xu An.

Now, the two of them didn’t have to hide at home every day anymore.

Xu Ning chopped half a chicken hanging on the wall into small pieces, preparing a potato chicken stew, and also cooked some rice porridge. She stewed half a chicken with three potatoes, and the three siblings finished the whole pot. Xu Ning and Xu An each drank two bowls of porridge, and even little Xu Mo, not yet three years old, managed to drink one bowl. Xu Ning noted that her appetite was increasing; she was eating more now than she had before her time travel.

After finishing their meal, Xu Ning took Xu An and Xu Mo to the small plot of land in front of their house to help with digestion. The cabbage in the garden was all harvested, and only a bit of green onion remained. In a couple of days, they would need to dig those up as well; otherwise, if it snowed, the ground would freeze hard.

Xu Mo held Xu Ning’s hand and said, “Sister, can I come with you to gather firewood this afternoon? I can run fast and help out!”

Seeing that Xu Mo’s face had filled out a bit over the past few days, Xu Ning thought it wouldn’t be right to keep him cooped up at home. All the other kids in the village were out running around with the adults, so she nodded and replied, “Alright, I’ll take little Mo with us to the mountain this afternoon.”

Xu Mo’s face lit up with excitement, turning a little red as he raised one small hand and exclaimed, “Sister, I can gather firewood! I’ll also collect lots of pine nuts to send to big brother, just like you and Second Brother!”

As the siblings prepared to head out, they were joined by Jianmin from Uncle Dashuan’s family and Er Dan from Uncle Hongjun’s family, both carrying baskets and looking for Xu An to go up the mountain together. The group set off, and the two boys were already aware that Xu Mo was being brought along by Xu An at the request of Grandpa Qi from the cattle pen.

The four boys walked ahead, with Xu An and Jianmin, who were about the same age, walking side by side. Er Dan held Xu Mo’s hand, trailing behind them, while Xu Ning followed, watching the little group of boys ahead.

Up front, Jianmin whispered to Xu An, revealing that he had discovered a spot filled with pine cones and suggested they all go gather some together.

They followed Jianmin through winding paths until they reached the area he mentioned, where many pine cones lay on the ground. Xu Ning looked at the pine cones scattered around and then at the baskets they were carrying, thinking that it would be great if they could fill them up.

They let the few of them go pick pine cones while she chopped firewood nearby. It was Xu Mo’s first time in the mountains, and he was very excited, finding everything fascinating.

After they finished gathering the pine cones, they helped Xu Ning bundle the firewood she had chopped. Xu Ning took out the steamed egg cakes from her backpack, giving one to each of them. Jianmin and Er Dan blushed as they said, “Thank you, Xu Zhiqing.”

Xu Ning smiled and replied, “You’re welcome. You helped me gather firewood and even brought Xu An along to collect pine cones.” She then offered them some water from her flask.

On their way down the mountain, Jianmin and Xu An agreed to go into the mountains again tomorrow to look for more wild goods.

When she got home, Xu Ning cleaned the bathtub, planning to take a nice soak that evening. She had been wiping herself down with water for a while now and hadn’t had a proper bath in ages.

That evening, Xu Ning intended to make steamed brown sugar cakes. The cakes would still taste good when cooled, and they could be eaten as snacks. Since they were all in a growth phase, it was easy for them to get hungry, and later they could have a cup of milk powder with the cakes—nutritious and convenient.

First, she mixed the dough with brown sugar water and soaked a bowl of red dates. Once the dough had risen, she could steam it. Two bowls of dough went into two steamers. Xu Ning cut the cakes into diamond-shaped pieces, giving one piece to each of Xu An and Xu Mo. She then took a piece for herself and placed ten pieces in a basket, planning to deliver them to the cow shed when it got dark.

After dinner, Xu Ning first went to the cow shed, bringing the steamed cakes she had made along with the cotton jacket, cotton pants, wool socks, and cotton shoes for Grandpa Qi. It was her father who opened the door. Xu Ning didn’t go inside; she handed the items to him and mentioned that she was going back to take a bath. Today, he and Xu Mo would wash up first, and tomorrow she would have her mom bring Aunt Lu over to wash.

When Xu Ning returned home, Xu An had already boiled the water. Xu Ning first cleaned up Xu Mo and laid him on the kang. She then planned to help Xu An wash, but he refused, insisting on doing it himself. He told Xu Ning to go outside and not watch him. Xu Ning thought, “Hmph, little brat, I’m not even interested in watching you.”

After both of them finished washing, Xu Ning changed the water and enjoyed a nice soak. Lying in the tub, she let out a comfortable sigh and only got up when the water was getting cold. She put on her clothes and used a towel to dry her hair, thinking how convenient her short hair was—it only took a couple of wipes to dry.

Seeing that his sister was done washing, Xu An helped scoop out the water and pour it out. Xu Mo was already asleep; he had gotten tired from climbing the mountain and had been dozing off during dinner.

It was still too early to sleep, so Xu Ning took out some yarn, planning to knit a sweater for both Xu An and Xu Mo. Xu An didn’t want to go back to sleep just yet and sat on the kang, looking through his fourth-grade textbook. The book he was reading was still from before they moved to the countryside.

Xu Ning planned to buy Xu An some storybooks and comic strips the next time she went to the county town, hoping to broaden his knowledge and increase his learning opportunities.