Chapter Sixty-Five: The Autumn Guardians (Rolling on the Ground, Begging for Your Continued Reading)
As soon as the voices faded, they saw Hao Hongmin and several others come in from outside, each carrying a basket on their backs. In particular, Yun Yingying nearly ran all the way up to them, barely steadying herself before blurting out, “Sister He, Zhaodi, you’re here too! We just heard as soon as we entered the village that you killed a wolf? Is that true?”
Mentioning this immediately brightened He Mi’s spirits. “How could I possibly manage that? It was Han Li who killed the wolf all by himself.”
“I’m telling you, I was almost scared to death at the time. That’s when Han Li stepped forward…”
Zhao Zhaodi thought… That doesn’t quite match what was said earlier, does it?
After He Mi finished her story, Zhao Zhaodi had also finished washing the clothes and was hanging them on the line.
He Mi suddenly realized, “Oh my, I got so caught up talking with you that I forgot to wash the clothes.”
It was only then that they noticed the two of them were washing Han Li’s clothes. Yun Jingjing remarked with a meaningful glance, “You’re even washing Han Li’s clothes now? Is this the classic ‘hero saves the beauty and offers himself in return’?”
As soon as Yun Jingjing said this, the atmosphere took on an odd flavor. But He Mi quickly composed herself and explained the situation, then promptly changed the subject by asking about their day’s harvest.
At the mention of this, Yang Xiuying grumbled irritably, “Don’t bring it up. We ran into a disgusting fly on the mountain today. It almost drove us mad.”
“A fly? What happened?”
Hao Hongmin chimed in, “That Zhang San who came with you—he… heh…”
Yun Yingying interjected, “Hongmin, is that all you have to say? Just ‘heh’? Never mind, I’ll explain. That Zhang San followed us all day—ugly as he is, he still put on this act of thinking he’s suave. It almost made me sick. He kept showing off his little tricks, and no matter how we tried to shake him off or send him away, he just wouldn’t go. He drove me crazy.”
Zhao Zhaodi asked in confusion, “What little tricks?”
Yun Yingying replied, “Just those moves to try and dupe young women. But honestly, those would only fool girls from small places. We’ve seen every trick there is in the capital. To tell you the truth, if this were back in Beijing and someone annoyed me like this, I’d have slapped him. Here, I can only hold it in, and it’s suffocating.”
Yun Jingjing spoke sternly, “Yingying…”
“Alright, sis, I’m just venting in front of my friends. I’ll be more careful in the future.”
He Mi said, “Let’s not talk about unpleasant things anymore. Han Li said tonight we’d all have wolf meat together. Hurry, put your baskets away at home, then let’s get started.”
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Han Li, at Aunt Zhang’s house, not only exchanged for enough chili peppers but also learned from her how to properly prepare wolf meat.
When he returned, he was surprised to find everyone already assembled.
Seeing him come in, Yun Yingying and Yang Xiuying immediately crowded around.
“Han Li, I didn’t realize you had it in you—to kill a wolf on your own!”
“Yeah, tell us, how did it feel at the time?”
“How did it feel? Do you want the truth or a good story?”
“What kind of question is that? Of course, we want the truth…”
Han Li said, “Let’s talk about that later. Jiangmi, bring out some wolf meat so we can take some to the Educated Youth Compound.”
“Why?” someone asked.
“No matter what, we educated youth are still a group,” Han Li replied.
He said nothing more. Jiangmi fished out some wolf meat from the basin and handed it to him. “I don’t particularly like them, and besides, I didn’t kill the wolf, so I won’t go.”
“That’s fine. If you don’t want to go, you don’t have to,” Han Li replied.
Carrying the basin, Han Li headed to the Educated Youth Compound. Behind him, Yang Xiuying muttered, “We’ve already moved out of there. They never think of us when they eat. Why should Han Li bring them wolf meat?”
He Mi responded, “If governance and education are both fair, there will be no poverty; if unity is achieved from top to bottom, there will be no want; if all are at peace, there will be no danger.”
“What does that mean?” someone asked.
Hao Hongmin explained, “Han Li already said it—we’re still one group of educated youth. This way, we can keep others from getting jealous.”
When Han Li arrived at the compound, he called out for Sun Yong and Jiang Xiaoli, the male and female group leaders among the educated youth.
“We happened to kill a lone wolf on the mountain today. The brigade divided up the meat, so I’m sharing some with everyone for an extra meal.”
In truth, everyone had already heard about Han Li killing the wolf and sharing the meat—news spreads quickly among the village aunties. Just moments ago, some of them had been gossiping about it, never expecting Han Li would actually bring some over.
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Han Li chatted with Sun Yong, and after Jiang Xiaoli swapped the meat into another basin, he took his leave. Nowadays, the Educated Youth Compound was split into several groups for meals, and how they divided the meat was no longer Han Li’s concern.
That night, Han Li’s house was lively with a crowd of people eating and drinking their fill, then clamoring to play cards. Han Li thought they must not be tired today; otherwise, how would they be in the mood for games? But with so few pastimes in this era, and so few days like this, Han Li didn’t have the heart to spoil their fun.
While Han Li's house bustled with merriment, across the village at the committee office, the three leaders of Shanghe Village were also deep in conversation.
Village Chief Zhao tapped his pipe and mused, “Don’t you think Han Li’s luck is strange? Others go up the mountain singing and come back with wild goods, but he runs into a lone wolf. Still, this is a wake-up call—we should start organizing this year’s autumn patrol team.”
Brigade Leader Liang agreed, “Han Li’s a capable young man. He came back without even a tear in his clothes, just a bit of mud. I think we should put him on the patrol team this year.”
Accountant Zhang hesitated, “But wouldn’t that cause trouble with the other educated youth, especially if there’s a big haul?”
Village Chief Zhao snorted, “Trouble? What right do they have to make a fuss? The more people on the patrol, the better, but we don’t really want ones like them. Haven’t we let them join in previous years? They just drag us down. Whenever wild boars or wolves show up, they cower like quails. We even have to assign people to look after them—what’s the use?”
The brigade leader added, “Aren’t they just jealous over a share of meat they might not even get? This year, let’s let them join, but only if they sign a pledge: anyone who causes trouble loses their work points, and if there’s no wild boar or wolf, they get no meat and can’t complain. Any injuries are their own responsibility. If anyone agrees to those terms, they can join; the more on the patrol, the safer.”
Accountant Zhang asked, “What if those educated youth want work points?”
“What work points? Don’t they eat the crops from the fields? If the villagers don’t get work points, why should they?”
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PS: Thank you for the generous rewards.
Special thanks to: Da Baofa for 100 points.
I humbly ask everyone for your continued reading and all kinds of votes.
Starting this Sunday, Maosui will add one extra chapter every day, with more to come at irregular intervals. Once the book is officially released, there will never be fewer than 8,000 words per day, and, if all goes smoothly, I’ll strive for over 10,000 daily.