Siheyuan: Yan Jiekuang's carefree life

There was no conversation that night. The next morning, Yan Jiekuang was awakened by the village broadcast on time. After getting up, Yan Jiekuang first steamed the buns and dumplings, and then took the basin outside to wash up. As soon as Yan Jiekuang finished washing up, Su Zihui appeared beside Yan Jiekuang and asked, "Brother Yan, what are your plans for today?!"

Yan Jiekuang replied, "After breakfast, I plan to go up the mountain to see what I can eat and collect some firewood. Then I will trade some vegetables with the villagers. In the afternoon, I will take some time to clean up the private plot in the backyard." Then he asked, "What do you want?"

Su Zihui replied: "I just asked casually."

Yan Jiekuang looked at Su Zihui and said, "You seem to be worried. Did something happen?!"

Su Zihui hurriedly shook her head and said, "No!"

Yan Jiekuang smiled and said, "Don't hide anything. If I can help, I will definitely help." Then he casually said, "Get ready to eat."

Su Zihui followed Yan Jiekuang into the house and asked, "Can I go up the mountain with you?!"

Yan Jiekuang smiled and replied, "Of course you can! I'm not stopping you. But before you go up the mountain, you should find two ropes to tie your trouser legs and sleeves tightly to prevent bugs from crawling into your clothes."

"Oh!" Su Zihui responded obediently, followed Yan Jiekuang to the table and sat down.

After breakfast, Yan Jiekuang and Su Zihui took a rest, and then left the educated youth camp with backpacks on their backs. After walking for about a quarter of an hour, Yan Jiekuang led Su Zihui into the mountains. Yan Jiekuang reminded them, "Follow me closely! Don't run around! I won't be responsible if you get lost!"

Su Zihui snorted and said, "If you dare to lose me, I will blame you even if I become a ghost!"

"You are just a cooked duck, but you are still stubborn!" Yan Jiekuang took a small shovel from his backpack and gave it to Su Zihui, saying, "Take it!"

"Oh!" Su Zihui took the small shovel, gestured in front of her, and asked, "You gave this thing to me. What do you use it for?!"

Yan Jiekuang replied, "I bought two yesterday! Not only a small shovel, but also a hoe and a sickle. I'll give these two things to you when I get back." After that, Yan Jiekuang took out another small shovel and axe from the backpack, then lifted the backpack, chopped a branch and threw it to Su Zihui.

Su Zihui asked: "Why are you giving this to me?!"

Yan Jiekuang looked at Su Zihui speechlessly and said, "How come you don't know anything?! This is for you to use to drive away snakes and insects in the bushes." Then he asked, "There are so many soldiers in your family, didn't they teach you?!"

"No! They won't teach me that!" Su Zihui pursed his lips and replied casually. Yan Jiekuang said, "I know you, I'm a wild one! I admit defeat!" After that, Yan Jiekuang also cut a branch for himself and started walking into the mountains.

As they walked, Yan Jiekuang signaled Su Zihui to stop. Su Zihui moved to Yan Jiekuang's side and asked in a low voice: "What's the matter?!"

Yan Jiekuang pretended to look around, then squatted down, picked up a stone, and threw it into the bushes in the northeast direction. Then Yan Jiekuang and Su Zihui ran over. When they parted the bushes, a pheasant appeared in front of them.

Su Zihui picked up the pheasant and said with a smile: "You are really amazing!"

Yan Jiekuang replied, "It's a small matter." Then Yan Jiekuang pulled a vine, tied up the chicken's feet and wings, threw them into Su Zihui's backpack, and said, "This is the trophy of your first trip to the mountain. Let's eat it tonight."

"Okay!" Su Zihui agreed, and at the same time a strange feeling arose in his heart.

Because Su Zihui was following him, Yan Jiekuang didn't dare to put the things into the space openly. Yan Jiekuang planned to accompany Su Zihui to play in the mountains today. Not long after, Yan Jiekuang brought Su Zihui to a place full of wild vegetables. Su Zihui saw Yan Jiekuang start to dig wild vegetables and asked curiously: "What is this?!"

Yan Jiekuang pointed to the weeds nearby and introduced them: "This is shepherd's purse, and the one next to it is kudzu vine. The one next to your feet is swallowtail vegetable. The bunch next to it is small garlic. These are all edible." Then Yan Jiekuang pointed to a place not far away and said: "There are some wild vegetables over there. I'll show you some later."

Following Yan Jiekuang's instructions, Su Zihui started digging wild vegetables.

After working in the mountains for more than an hour, Yan Jiekuang and Su Zihui's backpacks were half full. Yan Jiekuang looked at the time and saw that it was almost time, so he cut some dead branches and took Su Zihui down the mountain.

When they reached the middle of the mountain, Su Zihui suddenly stopped. Yan Jiekuang, who was walking in front, noticed something was wrong, stopped and turned to look at Su Zihui. Then he looked in the direction Su Zihui was looking. Yan Jiekuang saw the people who were clearing the land, frowned slightly, walked to Su Zihui's side, and said, "They live in the cowshed. The cowshed is by the small river in the northwest."

Su Zihui looked up at Yan Jiekuang. At this moment, Su Zihui wanted to ask him how he knew. But Su Zihui didn't dare to ask. She was afraid that Yan Jiekuang would notice something. In fact, Su Zihui didn't know that Yan Jiekuang had already noticed that she was different from others when she came to the countryside.

After going down the mountain, Yan Jiekuang and Su Zihui were about to walk to the fork in the road leading to the educated youth site when they saw a woman sitting on the ground, rubbing her feet. Yan Jiekuang and Su Zihui walked over. Yan Jiekuang asked, "Auntie, are you okay?!"

The woman looked up at Yan Jiekuang and Su Zihui and asked, "Comrade, you two look unfamiliar to me?! You are not from our village, right?!"

Su Zihui replied, "We are the educated youth who came here the day before yesterday." Then she asked, "Aunt, did you sprain your ankle? How about we take you to the infirmary?"

The woman said, "No need to bother you!"

Yan Jiekuang put the firewood and the backpack on the ground, then squatted down and said, "Auntie, come up! I'll carry you to the brigade infirmary."

The woman hesitated for a moment and said, "No need to trouble you. Go to the brigade headquarters and call my husband! My husband is the brigade leader. I am his wife, Tian Xiuqin. You can call me Aunt Xiuqin from now on!" Then she asked, "I don't even know your names?!"

Su Zihui said: "My name is Su Zihui, and his name is Yan Jiekuang."

"You take care of my aunt. I'm going to the brigade headquarters to call the brigade leader." After saying that, Yan Jiekuang ran away without saying a word.

After Yan Jiekuang ran away, Su Zihui sat down next to Tian Xiuqin. Tian Xiuqin smiled and said, "Girl, are you and that boy a couple?!"

Su Zihui said somewhat embarrassedly: "I'm still young, and I haven't developed in that direction yet."

Tian Xiuqin asked: "Girl, how old are you?!"

Su Zihui replied: "17 years old."

Tian Xiuqin said: "She is the same age as my eldest daughter. It is really hard for you to leave your hometown at such a young age."

Su Zihui smiled and said, "Although I just arrived, the people I met in the village are all good people. I think I will like our village."

Tian Xiuqin smiled and said, "That's a good attitude! If you encounter any problems in the village in the future, just come to me."