Chapter 148: Wu Lili's Inner Thoughts After Being Rebuked Once Again

Jiang Xiaoli and Wu Lili were currently sitting in the warm sunshine by the doorway, chatting just like the idle villagers.

Seeing them return, Wu Lili remained silent, while Jiang Xiaoli looked at Han Li and the others with a smile and said, "You're all back. I slept so soundly last night that I didn't wake up this morning; otherwise, no matter what, I would have gone out with everyone. After all, in just a few days, I will be leaving Shanghe Village, and I must cherish every single day spent with my sisters."

Hao Hongmin asked, "Sister Jiang, has the official notice come down?"

"Team Leader Liang said the definite news will arrive by the day after tomorrow at the latest. However, based on past years, once the news is out, the authorities give a maximum of three days to handle related matters."

"I am so envious. Sister Jiang, you are about to become a worker."

When women gather, they always have endless things to talk about, and once the conversation drifted, there was no telling how long it would go on.

Han Li greeted the two of them, handed the fish-filled back basket to Hao Hongmin and the others, and walked home.

Looking at Han Li's retreating figure, Jiang Xiaoli asked, "Why did Comrade Han hand everything over to you girls? What did you harvest today?"

"We just caught some small fish. Xiuying and I are planning to make some fish paste to save as a dish for surviving the winter. All the fish they caught were handed over to us to process."

Upon hearing this, Wu Lili's eyes lit up. She had long since inquired about the winters here, which basically relied entirely on pickled radishes and sauerkraut to get by. If she could have some fish paste, life during the winter would be much more bearable.

"Hongmin, can you help me make a portion as well?"

"That's easy enough, but you have to provide the raw materials."

"Ah, then are you going fishing again tomorrow?"

"Thanks to Comrade Han helping us go into the water to build a dam today, he has things to attend to tomorrow, so the rest of us aren't going."

"Then could you ask Han Li to go again tomorrow? If that really doesn't work, you could share some of the fish you caught with me, couldn't you?"

Hao Hongmin was so exasperated by Wu Lili's words that she chuckled angrily. Before she could say anything, Yun Jingjing piped up directly.

"You certainly have a high opinion of yourself, don't you? Asking Han Li to go again tomorrow just for your sake—doesn't he need to prepare winter supplies? And sharing some fish paste with you? When we went fishing, you were fast asleep, so how do you have the shameless audacity to say something like that?"

Seeing that it was Yun Jingjing, Wu Lili felt a twinge of fear in her heart, but unwilling to lose face, she retorted, "We are all educated youth who came down to the countryside; shouldn't we help each other? Is there any need to draw such a clear line over these things?"

Yun Yingying spat, "Bah! Someone like you who eats from the bowl and then curses the mother who cooked when you put it down—I certainly wouldn't dare let my partner help you. What if you start whining again about Han Li making strange demands of you? So you'd better just go sit wherever it's comfortable for you."

With a frail and delicate expression, looking as though tears were about to fall like pear blossoms in the rain, Wu Lili said, "What I said last time really was just a slip of the tongue. Do you all have to keep holding onto that and refuse to let go? Can't you be magnanimous and give me a chance?"

"Heh... I really don't know where someone as young as you learned these tricks, but don't try that routine on us unless you want to experience what it felt like last time."

With a look of disdain, Yun Jingjing finished speaking, picked up her back basket, and walked toward Hao Hongmin's courtyard. Yun Yingying shook her fist at Wu Lili and followed right behind.

He Mi smiled, pulled Qi Zhaodi along, and followed them. With an embarrassed expression on her face, Hao Hongmin said, "This small fish was caught collectively by everyone; I have no right to divide it and give it to you. However, if you can bring over your own small fish, I will certainly do my best to help you make it into fish paste."

After saying this, Hao Hongmin also went home. Wu Lili secretly gritted her teeth in frustration, and then, half-crying, she said to Jiang Xiaoli, "Sister Jiang, what I said last time really was just a slip of the tongue. Why won't any of them forgive me?"

Jiang Xiaoli said thoughtfully, "Isn't that simple? You should know the situation with Han Li. Among all the educated youths in Shanghe Village, he is currently the best in terms of height, appearance, personal ability, and family background. If I were his partner, I wouldn't forgive you either; after all, every female educated youth could potentially become a threat to her."

Hearing Jiang Xiaoli's words, Wu Lili's eyes lit up instantly. She had been pondering over matters after returning to the city.

However, jobs were extremely difficult to find right now, or else her family wouldn't have made her come down to the countryside in the first place.

Since returning to the city wasn't something that would happen overnight, why shouldn't she give more consideration to her life here in the meantime?

As long as she could suffer less, once her family managed to secure a job quota for her, who would care about anyone else?

Even if Han Li managed to return to the city as well, they wouldn't be in the same city, so he couldn't affect her.

The more Wu Lili thought about it, the more correct it felt. Still, out of curiosity, she asked Jiang Xiaoli, "Sister Jiang, what kind of life would it be if we could never return to the city?"

Upon hearing this question, Jiang Xiaoli fell silent. After a long while, she smiled bitterly and said, "Days passing by monotonously: going to work, leaving work, eating, sleeping. Your hometown dialect gradually replaced by the local tongue, your skin growing darker and darker, calluses forming on your hands, slowly becoming indistinguishable from the local girls. When you can no longer endure it, you find a local to marry, and then you spend the rest of your life stuck in the countryside."

Wu Lili exclaimed, "Sister Jiang, that sounds too terrifying."

"Terrifying? No, everything I said is the truth. I found out about this last year when I received a letter from a classmate. The environment on her side was rather harsh, so she couldn't hold out last year and married a local. Now she's already living a life of raising children, farming, feeding pigs, cooking, and washing clothes—just like the older sisters and aunties in Shanghe Village. She's the exact same age as me; just the thought that my own future might turn out like that makes me feel utterly wretched. Fortunately, I've managed to wait for this recruitment quota, which has given me something to look forward to in life."

Jiang Xiaoli's words made Wu Lili even more certain of her previous thought. While secretly cheering herself on in her heart, her gaze drifted toward the direction of Hao Hongmin's courtyard, her look as if she could pierce right through the wall to see Yun Yingying at that very moment.

When Han Li returned home, he felt something was slightly amiss, as if the courtyard was missing something. He looked around the perimeter and noticed that the bees active in the yard had become very few.

Han Li quickly walked over to the beehive to communicate with the queen bee. It turned out that as the weather turned colder, the bees were about to enter their dormant period.

Han Li used wooden boards and withered grass to wrap around the beehive to reduce the mortality rate during the winter for these little bees, and finally harvested the excess honey. With that, the bees—acting as laborers and little sentinels—were officially off duty for the year, and their presence wouldn't be seen again until the weather warmed up next year.

While Han Li was busy at home and Jiang Xiaoli was talking with Wu Lili, Hao Hongmin's house was bustling with lively activity because they had already started the first step of making the fish paste.