Wei Lanlan and Yang Xiaomei had built their houses after the spring planting. Each of their families sent them 50 yuan, allowing the two to partner up and construct a house together. When they moved into their new home, they invited Xu Ning and her siblings to join them for a meal.

Also working on their houses were Gu Wenping and Yang Wenli, who had built another one together and had moved in a few days earlier. The village chief was thrilled to see these educated youth spending their own money to build houses, beaming with joy at the prospect that more educated youth might be assigned to the village, providing them with places to stay.

Xu Ning wasn’t concerned with the affairs of the youth commune. Instead, she focused on the row of cucumbers growing in her plot, pleased to see them bearing fruit. The three siblings ate cucumber salad and stir-fried cucumbers daily, but there were still too many to finish. With plenty more growing in the barn area, she planned to pick them all and pickle them as winter preserves.

After harvesting all the cucumbers, she placed them in a large basin and washed them thoroughly. She sliced the cucumbers and salted them lightly before preparing the seasoning. Once ready, she packed the mixture into clean jars, knowing it would keep for a year. Xu Ning pickled two jars and then shared her method with her mother and Aunt Lu, encouraging them to pick and pickle the cucumbers from the backyard as well.

As Chen Xiangdong was picking vegetables in his plot, he noticed Xu Ning harvesting all her cucumbers and realized she intended to pickle them. After asking her how she pickled them, he and his friends decided to pick all the cucumbers from their own plots to make pickles as well.

Lin Qiuhua and Li Fengjiao were quietly grumbling, thinking the three of them were being stingy. “It’s just a few cucumbers. Do they really need to pick so many?” they muttered to themselves.

Once Xu Ning had finished pickling the cucumbers, she began picking eggplants. She sliced the eggplants and laid them out to dry. Seeing her drying eggplants, Chen Xiangdong and his friends followed suit. Wei Lanlan and Yang Xiaomei, envious of their efforts, noted that they had only just built their houses this year and still shared a plot with the youth dormitory; they needed to harvest the current season’s crops before they could separate.

Xu Ning advised them, “Why don’t you ask around the village? There are families with extra vegetables. You could buy some and dry them for winter.”

Hearing this, Wei Lanlan and Yang Xiaomei’s eyes brightened. Many villagers had surplus crops that they couldn’t eat, so they quickly grabbed their baskets and headed to the village.

By the time Xu An and Xu Mo returned with pig grass, Xu Ning had already prepared dinner.

Xu An had grown taller than he was last year when Xu Ning first arrived; he now looked like an 11-year-old boy. Xu Mo had also gained some baby fat, making him all the more adorable. Grandpa Qi often took him to the village, where his sweet nature and cheerful greetings endeared him to the adults and made him popular among the children.

For dinner, they had stir-fried pork with chili, garlic eggplant, and steamed rice. Two baskets of sweet steamed cakes sat nearby—one basket was for delivering to the barn, while the other was meant for the three siblings to enjoy.

As Xu An shoveled rice into his mouth, he said, “Sister, there are a lot of mushrooms on the mountain right now. I’ve made plans with Jianmin to go pick them after we finish cutting pig grass tomorrow.”

“I want to go with Second Brother too!” Xu Mo chimed in, his mouth full. “Grandpa Qi made me a little backpack, so I can gather mountain goods now!”

Xu Ning wiped his mouth and smiled, saying, “That’s great! Little Mo can come along; he’s the most capable of us all.”

Turning to Xu An, she added, “Make sure to pack some sweet cakes for the trip. If you get hungry, you can have a snack. Pack extra to share with Jianmin.” Aunt Dashuan’s family had always been kind to them.

Xu An nodded, saying, “Got it, Sister.”

Xu Ning continued, “Little An, I spoke with the village chief today about your schooling, and Uncle Village Chief agreed. Tomorrow morning, you won’t need to cut pig grass; I’ll take you to the school to speak with the principal.”

Xu An asked, “Sister, should we go now? Isn’t it still early?”

Xu Ning explained, “It’s better to go early. If the principal agrees, you can start school right away. If there are any issues, we’ll have time to think of other solutions.”

The next day, they arrived at the school and found the principal. After explaining their purpose, the principal asked Xu An which grade he had previously attended.

“I studied half a semester in third grade,” Xu An replied, “but I finished all the third-grade textbooks at home, and I also studied the first half of the fourth-grade material. I want to start in fourth grade when school opens.”

The principal took out two test papers. “Here are the math and language arts exams for third grade. Please complete them.”

Xu An looked at the papers for a moment before bowing his head to work. After about an hour, he respectfully handed the completed papers to the principal.

The principal began grading them, and when he reached the end, he smiled at Xu Ning and Xu An, saying, “You did well. Just come back to register for fourth grade when the time comes.” The siblings were overjoyed and bowed to thank the principal.