When Xu Ning and her siblings arrived home, Lu Xiaotang had already dug the cellar quite deep and was in the process of hauling out the soil.

Xu Ning emptied the basket of wild mountain goods onto the ground and went to the kitchen to check if the dough she had prepared that morning had risen.

It was almost time for the food rations to be distributed. The family still had a bit of sorghum left from last year’s rations. A few days earlier, Xu Ning had taken it to be milled, and she planned to mix it with some white flour to make a batch of steamed buns.

She also went out to the field and cut a cabbage. There were still quite a few bits of pork fat in the jar, so she planned to stew the cabbage with vermicelli. Using the wood ear mushrooms soaked from that morning, she also made scrambled eggs.

During the meal, Xu Ning asked, “Brother Lu, should one of us stay home this afternoon to help you?”

Lu Xiaotang replied, “No need, you all go ahead and gather. There’s not much left to do. I’ll have it dug out by tomorrow.”

Once the cellar was finished, Xu Ning went down to take a look. It wasn’t very large, just a few square meters, but it would be enough to store vegetables. It was quite good.

The day after Lu Xiaotang finished digging the cellar, he rode Xu Ning’s bicycle to the city.

When he returned, he was accompanied by Old Chen, who was driving an ox cart loaded with a full load of coal.

After they unloaded the coal, Lu grabbed a basket and headed to the foot of the mountain to dig up some clay, intending to make coal briquettes that afternoon.

When Xu Ning and Xu Mo returned from the mountain, Lu Xiaotang had already mixed the coal and clay together and was using the coal briquette mold he had bought two years prior to make briquettes.

Xu Ning thought to herself, what efficiency! He had built a shed the afternoon before, dug a cellar over the next two days, and today he had brought back the coal, with plans to make briquettes in the afternoon.

Feeling grateful, she decided to prepare a special meal to reward this great contributor.

The duck they had brought back from the county was still untouched, so she made a simple version of ginger duck, along with scallion tofu, stir-fried bean sprouts, and steamed rice.

During the meal, everyone praised Xu Ning’s ginger duck. The ginger and broth were savored by several people as they soaked their rice in it.

In the afternoon, when Xu Ning offered to stay home and help make the briquettes, Lu Xiaotang insisted he could handle it alone and told her to focus on her own tasks.

Xu Ning and Xu Mo continued up the mountain. Tomorrow, the food rations would be distributed, and by then, the plots of land in the village would be nearly harvested as well.

The aunts and uncles were also planning to head up the mountain to gather wild goods. With everyone taking their own patches, it wouldn’t be as easy to collect everything.

During the food distribution, Xu Ning requested a bit more sorghum and yellow beans. The yellow beans could be sprouted in winter, and mixing sorghum flour with white flour made delicious steamed buns. Plus, sorghum was a coarse grain, so they could afford to take a little more.

Lu Xiaotang transported the grains she had received using the village cart, placing them on the shelf. He also brought a bag of sorghum and half a bag of corn to the village mill to grind into flour.

Xu Ning stood at the door for a while, feeling as though she wasn’t needed, and quietly picked up the basket to head up the mountain with Xu Mo.

Ever since Lu Xiaotang had arrived, it seemed she didn’t have to do much anymore—she just took Xu Mo up the mountain to gather some wild goods and prepare a meal.

During dinner, she said to Lu Xiaotang, “Brother Lu, starting tomorrow, you should rest at home. You haven’t had a moment of free time since you arrived, and there’s not much to do at home now. Besides, I’m here with Xiao An.”

Lu Xiaotang smiled and said, “It’s fine; this little work won’t tire me out. You’ve been working hard while I’ve been away. Now that I’m here, you don’t need to.”

Xu Ning was taken aback, her eyes warming with unshed tears. Ever since she had crossed over, she had kept her nerves tightly wound, afraid to let her guard down for even a moment. She needed to consider everything carefully, worried that any oversight could make their situation even harder.

Although Xiao An and Xiao Mo were both very sensible and eager to help with everything at home, they were still just children. Their parents, Uncle Lu and Aunt Lu, were adults, but given their positions, they wouldn’t dare to greet anyone outside, even if no one was around.

Now, there was someone who thought of everything for her and helped her out. It felt as if the tightness in her chest had loosened, and tears began to roll down her cheeks. She quickly lowered her head to shove rice into her mouth when, all of a sudden, a piece of meat appeared in her bowl.

Xu Ning paused, looked up, and saw Lu Xiaotang just pulling his chopsticks back, gazing at her gently as he said, “It’s okay. From now on, I’ll be here for you.”

Xiao An, with reddened eyes, added, “Sister, I’m already grown up. From now on, I’ll help with whatever needs to be done.”

Xiao Mo chimed in, “Sister, I’ll be good too. I’ll eat well, sleep well, and when I grow up, I’ll protect you.”

Seeing her siblings like this, Xu Ning felt a bit embarrassed. She served a piece of meat to both Xiao An and Xiao Mo, saying, “Sister knows you’re both very good. Now, eat up.”

After a moment’s thought, she also served a piece of meat to Lu Xiaotang and said, “Brother Lu, you should eat too. You’ve worked hard all day.”

Once she finished, she lowered her head and stuffed rice into her mouth, thinking to herself that it was so awkward—why was she crying? It felt as if she had suffered some great injustice, and it was really embarrassing.

The next morning, Xu Ning still felt a bit shy around everyone. After breakfast, she took her basket and headed up the mountain with Xiao Mo.

When Xu Ning and Xiao Mo returned with chestnuts, Lu Xiaotang had already peeled the ones they had gathered the day before. The chestnuts were laid out in the sun at the entrance, and the spiky husks were placed outside the small door to dry, ready to be used as firewood.

Seeing the two return, Lu Xiaotang hurried over to take their baskets, pouring the chestnuts onto the ground to begin peeling them.

Noticing that it was still early, Xu Ning planned to go gather more.

Seeing her plan to head back up the mountain, Lu Xiaotang said, “Don’t pack so much at once; take it easy.”

Xu Ning nodded and replied, “Got it, Brother Lu.”

She didn’t let Lu Xiaotang come with her to gather wild goods. After all, he wasn’t from the village, and people were quite protective of their resources. Locals could gather without anyone saying anything, but if an outsider tried to collect, it would make people uncomfortable.

These days, there were many people foraging in the mountains, making it inconvenient for firewood collection. Lu Xiaotang decided to wait until the villagers finished gathering before he went up to chop wood.

With Lu Xiaotang at home, Xu Ning was also hesitant to take out the wild goods she had stored in her space. His gaze seemed to be like radar, always watching.

Yesterday, when the rice supply was low, Xu Ning took a few kilograms from her space and poured it into the grain jar. He noticed while she was filling it and asked her if she had bought more rice.

Fortunately, she reacted quickly and said it was from the last purchase, kept in her room, and since there wasn’t much left, she had taken it out.

Her heart raced in anxiety, but luckily, Lu Xiaotang had never entered her room and didn’t know what she had stored there.

Now that Xiao An was older, Xu Ning knew she needed to be even more careful when using her space.

She spotted Aunt Dashuan and the village’s Fourth Aunt gathering chestnuts nearby and decided to approach them to ask which family in the village had a good supply of cabbages and radishes. She wanted to buy some.

This year marked Xu Yang’s third year in the military. He had written last month to say he would have a family visit leave, but he hadn’t mentioned when he would come.

Lu Xiaoran had also written recently, saying she might come to see their parents after the autumn harvest.

If both of them were coming this year, the cabbages and radishes from her two-mu plot would definitely not be enough. She planned to buy some more to pickle into sauerkraut; there was plenty of room in the cellar. Even if the two didn’t come, it wouldn’t matter—she could just give out less bean sprouts and eat more radishes and cabbages.

When Aunt Dashuan saw Xu Ning approaching, she warmly called out, “Xu Zhiqing, come over here; there are plenty here! I heard from my son Jianmin that your cousin came to visit you?”

Xu Ning smiled and replied, “Aunt, my cousin is heading to military school in the capital and just stopped by to see me and Xiao An. Since he came, our family’s vegetables won’t be enough to eat. Do you know which family in the village has a good supply of cabbages and radishes? I want to buy some.”

Aunt Dashuan casually said, “Why spend money on a little cabbage and radish? This afternoon, I’ll have Jianmin carry a basket over to you.”

Xu Ning hurriedly replied, “Oh no, Aunt, I know your family has grown a lot of cotton this year and not much vegetables. Besides, I’m not just looking to buy a little; I want to buy quite a bit. I plan to pickle more sauerkraut this year. Sister Hongmei in the city said my sauerkraut is delicious and asked me to buy some cabbage in the village to help her make a jar.”

Nearby, Aunt Si chimed in, “Xu Zhiqing, we have plenty of cabbages and radishes this year. How much do you want?”

Xu Ning answered, “Aunt Si, I plan to buy 200 jin of cabbage and 100 jin of radishes.”

Aunt Si smiled and said, “That’s no problem! When we chop the cabbages in a couple of days, I’ll have my son Er Wa bring them over to you.”

Xu Ning replied with a smile, “That would be great! I’ll send Xiao An with the money this afternoon.”

Aunt Si said, “There’s no need to have Xiao An run an errand. Just bring the money when Er Wa delivers it.”

Xu Ning nodded with a smile, feeling grateful for the help.