The group watched as the siblings dashed out the door, feeling both amused and exasperated.

Grandpa Qi said, “Leave a portion of the meat, and take the rest over to Little Ning’s place.”

The siblings ran home. Just as Xu An opened the door, he received a kick on his backside from his sister.

Xu Ning angrily said, “Are you stupid? Why would you bring up going to the mountains at a time like that? Do you want to get beaten up? And you dragged me into it too!”

Xu An was speechless. “Sis, you’re blaming me? You’re the one sneaking off to hunt in the mountains and making Mom mad. I got caught up in your mess!”

The two glared at each other, their eyes nearly crossing from the intense stare-down.

When their father, and Uncle Lu walked in carrying the pork, the siblings were still locked in their glaring contest.

Father Xu asked, “What are you two doing?”

Only then did the siblings notice them standing there. They quickly took the meat from them and brought it to the kitchen.

Father Xu and Uncle Xu both reminded the siblings again not to go up the mountain anymore.

After seeing the two men off at the door, the siblings returned inside, glanced at each other, and couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

Xu An asked, “Sis, did you really take down that wild boar by yourself? How are you so amazing?”

Xu Ning, afraid that he might sneak up the mountain in the future, said, “Wild boars aren’t that easy to hunt. I just got lucky today. That wild boar must have been injured by something else, and I just happened to stumble upon it. The mountains are too dangerous. I won’t be going again, and Xiao An, you can’t go either, understand?”

Xu An, having hunted wild boars with Lu Xiaotang before, knew how ferocious they could be. He also felt that his sister was just lucky. Last time, she encountered two wild boars fighting each other, and this time, she came across an injured one. It seemed a bit too coincidental, as if all the good fortune was landing in his sister’s lap.

When the second snowfall arrived, Wei Lanlan and Chen Xiangdong came by to invite Xu Ning and Xu An to their wedding banquet, which was to take place in a few days. They also asked Xu Ning to help prepare the food on the day of the event.

The couple planned to keep the celebration simple, inviting only the people from the educated youth commune, the village chief, the accountant, and a few team leaders for a meal.

Xu Ning and Xu An gladly accepted, promising to arrive early that day to help out.

Chen Xiangdong went back first to tidy up their place, while Wei Lanlan stayed behind to chat with Xu Ning. “A few days ago, three more educated youths arrived, one of them a girl from Beijing. She said she’s a classmate of Gu Wenping, and her parents both work at the same unit.”

“They’ve grown up together since childhood, and that girl is quite spoiled. She doesn’t even know how to start a fire, and she makes Gu Wenping carry water for her. Lately, Lin Miao has been pretty unhappy about it.”

Xu Ning laughed, “Well, isn’t that perfect? Lin Miao already has a close male friend, and now Gu Wenping has a close female friend.”

Wei Lanlan chuckled as well. “Now that you mention it, that’s true. But Yang Wenli hasn’t been hanging around Lin Miao much lately. He hasn’t been going out much either. Sometimes when Lin Miao goes to ask for his help, he tells her to go ask Gu Wenping instead.”

Xu Ning was surprised. “Really? Has he finally figured things out?”

Wei Lanlan said, “I’m not sure either. A while ago, did you scold Gu Wenping and Lin Miao? She told everyone that you yelled at them in front of the educated youth courtyard, and said she even argued with you over it. She tried to get Yang Wenli to back her up, but he didn’t say a word. It seems like he’s been acting this way ever since.”

Xu Ning was speechless…

What the heck, could it be that she woke him up with her yelling? What kind of drama would there be to watch if that’s the case?

Xu Ning then recounted everything that had happened that day to Wei Lanlan, down to the last detail.

Wei Lanlan couldn’t help but laugh after hearing it. Who knew it could turn out like that? Did Xu Ning really have that kind of power?

On Wei Lanlan and Chen Xiangdong’s wedding day, Xu Ning and Xu An went over right after breakfast. Wei Lanlan showed Xu Ning the ingredients they had prepared.

Wei Lanlan sighed, “Chen Xiangdong stood in line for hours just to get a set of pig offal and two pounds of meat. The meat coupons were sent by his family. The vegetables are just radishes, cabbage, potatoes, and some dried wild greens and mushrooms.”

Xu Ning glanced at the ingredients and asked, “How about this: we’ll braise the pig offal first and then stew it with pickled cabbage, make a cold dish with shredded radish, braise the pork with potatoes, stir-fry a sour and spicy shredded potato dish, and prepare a mushroom soup. What do you think?”

Chen Xiangdong and Wei Lanlan were delighted with her suggestions and said, “Xu Ning, we’ll leave it all to you then. The pig offal is already cleaned, so you can go ahead and braise it directly.”

Xu Ning and Xu An got to work prepping the dishes. Soon, Yang Xiaomei and Chunhua came over to help. Some washed, while others chopped. By the time the village chief arrived with the accountant and a few team leaders, most of the dishes were nearly ready to be served.

The village chief offered a few words of blessing to the newlyweds, and then the meal began. There were only two tables: one for the men and one for the women.

As Xu Ning ate, she discreetly observed the newly arrived female educated youth. She had double eyelids, big eyes, and a fair, rosy complexion—clearly someone who had been pampered and well cared for by her family.

Noticing Xu Ning’s gaze, Yang Xiaomei realized the two hadn’t been introduced yet, so she made the introductions.

“Xu Ning, this is Wang Juanjuan, the new educated youth from Beijing.”

She then turned to Wang Juanjuan and said, “This is Xu Ning, she’s also from Beijing.”

The two exchanged brief greetings, and that was the end of it. Wang Juanjuan didn’t seem very enthusiastic, likely because she had heard about Xu Ning from Gu Wenjing. Xu Ning, in turn, had no desire to engage with her any further.

Though the wedding didn’t have many guests, it was warm and lively. At the other table, Xu An made two new friends—Liu Shaojie and Zhang Hairong, both young men from Haishi.

They were around seventeen or eighteen years old and hit it off with Xu An. Before the meal even ended, the three had become sworn brothers.

When the siblings returned home, Xu An was still going on and on about his new friends. Xu Ning, unable to understand how people could become such close “brothers” after just one meeting, let him ramble on while she sat on the kang, sewing cotton shoes and listening to the radio.

“Hey Sis, Shaojie, Hairong, and I made plans for next week during my break. We’re going to explore the area a bit and head to the stream at the foot of the mountain. We’ll try to cut a hole in the ice and see if we can catch some fish to eat.”

Xu Ning turned up the volume on the radio a bit and said, “Xiao An, go make dinner!”

Xu An was surprised and asked, “Sis, we just ate not long ago. You’re hungry already? Didn’t you get enough to eat?”

Xu Ning nodded and said, “I want dumplings for dinner. Go ahead and chop the meat and knead the dough. I won’t be helping you tonight—I want to finish making these cotton shoes.”

Xu An glanced at his sister, speechless. How could she not be full from the banquet and still want dumplings afterward? He had been planning to make some simple corn porridge for dinner, thinking the hearty lunch would hold them over.

As Xu Ning listened to the sound of meat being chopped in the kitchen, she thought, If I don’t give him something to do, this kid will just chatter all afternoon.

Xu An prepared twenty dumplings first, boiled a bowl of them, and brought it directly to the kang table so she wouldn’t have to get up. He even thoughtfully peeled a few cloves of garlic and poured some vinegar on the side.

Looking at the large bowl of dumplings, Xu Ning suddenly felt a slight pain in her stomach.