An Ning returned home, carrying a large grass carp and a rabbit.

Lin Cuihua was so happy her eyes vanished into a smile.

"This is wonderful. We can eat meat without spending a dime."

An Ning didn’t explain where the meat came from. She just washed her hands and sat down to tend the fire.

She wasn’t alone by the fire; An Guoping was sitting beside her.

An Ning was helping An Guoping with his schoolwork.

A short while later, An Guoqing came over, holding a handful of peanuts and two sweet potatoes.

"Sis, put these by the edge of the stove pit."

An Ning knew just what to do. She raked out some embers and buried the peanuts and sweet potatoes beneath them.

An Guoqing didn’t leave, either. He pulled up a small stool.

Soon, An Ning finished the lesson. An Guoping left, and An Guoqing scooted closer.

"They’re not ready yet, Brother."

"I know. I’ll keep an eye on them so they don’t burn."

An Guoqing poked the embers a couple of times with a stick and kept watching.

"I can smell them now."

An Ning took a big sniff. The toasty, slightly burnt aroma was intoxicating.

"You bet! Oh, right, Sis. Last time I mentioned raising chickens... what do you think about me raising a few pigs, too?"

An Ning tilted her head.

"You can, but where do you plan on raising them? How many? Can you handle it all by yourself? And where will the feed come from?"

An Ning’s four questions made An Guoqing scratch his head in embarrassment.

"You should ask your sister-in-law. She told me the plan, but I forgot."

An Ning laughed along with him. "Alright, I’ll go talk to her after dinner."

An Guoqing gave a simple nod and pulled the peanuts out of the embers first.

"Sis, the burnt ones are for you. I’ll take these others to your sister-in-law."

An Ning stared at the small handful of blackened peanuts, unsure whether to laugh or cry.

’He loves me, but not that much, I guess!’

Still, she blew on the scorching peanuts in her palm, hissing as she juggled them. A couple of them still had faint, glowing embers. An Ning looked up and called out to An Guoping.

"Guoping, have some peanuts!"

"Coming, Sis!"

When An Guoping came over and saw the peanuts in An Ning’s hand, his expression was one of pure resistance.

"Sis, are you trying to be Lord Lao Zi of the Great Monad, brewing some immortality pills? I’m not the Monkey King—I can’t eat charcoal!"

An Ning didn’t say a word, just gave him a look. An Guoping immediately grinned and squatted down.

"How’d you know I love them burnt to a crisp, Sis?"

The two siblings sat in front of the stove pit, each nibbling on a few roasted peanuts, their hands and mouths turning black as they laughed at one another.

Nearby, Lin Cuihua dropped some lard into the large wok. After a loud SIZZLE, she scooped out a couple of pork cracklings and gave one to each of the siblings.

"Look at you two, so old and still hovering around the stove like little kids."

Lin Cuihua grumbled in mock disapproval, but her face was all smiles.

That evening, the An family ate braised grass carp, a recipe Lin Cuihua had learned from Yin Xuemei.

Two of the rabbit’s legs were stewed with potatoes and green peppers in a large pot. It tasted wonderful.

By contrast, at Jiangxia’s house, they were eating stir-fried shredded potatoes.

Da Huang shot Jiang Xia a resentful look before tearfully eating his shredded potatoes.

"Alright, alright, I’ll get you some meat tomorrow. You like her, don’t you? So what if she took a little meat from you?"

Just as Jiang Xia finished speaking, he turned and met his grandfather’s amused gaze.

"Hey, why are you looking at me like that? It’s creepy. I feel like you’re setting me up for something."

Grandpa Jiang Xia just gave a mysterious smile and went back to eating.

"Not at all, not at all."

After muttering the classical phrase, the old man didn’t elaborate, simply continuing with his meal.

「The next day」

Another page was torn from the calendar, and November began.

An Ning rose early and went up the mountain, bagging two wild pheasants.

The north wind was now biting cold. If past years were any indication, snow wasn’t far off.

If the snow was too heavy, the mountain would be off-limits.

Coming down from the mountain, An Ning went to the Educated Youth house.

By now, only four people were left at the Educated Youth house.

An Ning found Yin Xuemei and told her she could come for her lesson today.

"Great, I’ll be there on time."

An Ning glanced inside the house and happened to spot Yang Jianguo, who hadn’t been quick enough to hide.

"Yang Jianguo, you can come too."

At her words, Yang Jianguo practically jumped out like a kangaroo.

"Really?"

"No, I mean—I’ll go! I’ll definitely go."

Yang Jianguo clamped a hand over his own mouth, not daring to say another word.

An Ning just nodded and left.

After returning home, An Ning washed her hands and went to her sister-in-law’s room.

"Sister-in-law, it’s me, An Ning."

"Come in, quick."

Her sister-in-law was tidying the room, sweeping the floor.

"Sit on the kang. I’ll get you some water."

"Don’t worry about it, Sister-in-law. We’ll be eating soon anyway. I just came to ask about what Big Brother mentioned yesterday."

"Oh, right."

Gao Guifen sat on the edge of the kang and laid out her plan.

"I want to lease the land over by the old cowshed from the village. It’s spacious and hasn’t been used in a long time."

"For the chickens, I want to start with two hundred. I’m planning to go around the village and ask for pullets. If we offer to pay, I’m sure people will hatch them for us."

"As for pigs, I think we should try raising just two or three at first. I’m worried they might be hard to manage. Once we have more experience, we can raise more."

"For the rabbits, we’ll stick to the current scale. Those things breed fast and grow up quickly."

"As for the labor, we’ll see how it goes. If we can’t handle it ourselves, we’ll hire some help."

An Ning listened intently, nodding in agreement with each point Gao Guifen made.

Seeing An Ning nod and smile at her, Gao Guifen felt a great sense of relief.

"So, what do you think, Sis? Will it work?"

"Perfect."

With that one word from An Ning, Gao Guifen felt completely confident.

An Ning left her sister-in-law’s room and began the lesson for An Guoping, Yin Xuemei, and today’s newcomer, Yang Jianguo.

As An Ning taught, Yang Jianguo finally realized that the gap between them wasn’t just large—it was immense.

And to think he had once dismissed her as a useless village girl.

’I must have been out of my mind.’

A month and a half of chopping firewood had made Yang Jianguo much sturdier.

An Ning had only required a month of him. Even after the month was up, and despite some delays, Yang Jianguo hadn’t stopped.

He was diligent, reliably delivering two or three loads of firewood to the An family’s home every day.

Even Lin Cuihua had started to look at him in a new light.

After the morning lesson, An Ning showed no favoritism.

She had made her decision, and she was committed to it.

"Yang Jianguo, these are your exercises," she said. "They’re different from the others because you’ve missed a few lessons. Once you finish these and catch up to their level, your assignments will change too."

"Yes, yes, of course. I understand, I understand."

Yang Jianguo clutched the workbook, which An Ning had written out by hand, to his chest as if it were a priceless treasure.

He still had to go chop firewood today.

There’s a difference between doing something because you have to and doing it because you want to.

An Ning was unaware of Yang Jianguo’s thoughts. After class, her students left, and the An family started their meal.

They hadn’t even finished breakfast when a villager ran in, shouting for everyone to head to a meeting as soon as they were done eating.

The village didn’t have electricity yet, so there were no loudspeakers. Announcements had to be made by runners.

"This must be about leasing the mountain," An Sancheng said, quickening his pace. An Ning did the same.

Once they were finished, the father-daughter pair headed for the brigade headquarters where the meeting was being held.

Forty minutes later, seeing that most people had arrived, Sun Dazhuang began the meeting.

"Today, we have four items on the agenda, and they’re all important."

"First, after this meeting, we’ll be distributing the grain!"

"That’s great!" 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"We have a good harvest this year."

"We’ll be able to have a good New Year."

Sun Dazhuang waited for the chatter to die down, then pressed his hands down in a calming gesture.

"Alright, alright! We have other business to discuss. We can’t distribute the grain until we’re finished, so quiet down!"

"Second, we’re drawing lots to divide up the land today."