Chapter 21
basket. "I need to take a look at the ingredients first. Smoked meat, if it's not done right, will either be overly strong-smelling or moldy."Ning Yuan immediately opened her basket for him and said,..."Xiao Ning, why must you quarrel with them" Hua Zi sighed.
After yesterday's interaction, and with his father also saying that Ning Yuan is a grateful and kind girl, he started treating her like a younger sister.
Ning Yuan merely smiled nonchalantly and picked up her load again. “It’s nothing, Hua Zi Ge. I'm too lazy to argue with them.”
These people calculate their work points day by day, but it will be fully open soon.
As long as one's mind is alive and they are diligent enough, they will never starve themselves!
She didn't want to hang out with the small group led by Tang Zhenzhen, she was happy to be spared from having to deal with her. At least she didn't have to constantly worry about that woman trying to cause trouble.
Hua Zi arranged Ning Yuan to work with the villagers, remembering her father's instructions, she privately asked the villagers she was close to to take good care of Ning Yuan.
Most people in the village thought it was foolish and pitiful of Ning Yuan to marry a "reformed" sent-down youth. They felt sorry for her and were more willing to take care of her.
Ningyuan was much more comfortable than when she was working in the peasant youth team. Although her body was tired, her heart wasn't.
When work was over at night, Hua's daughter-in-law stuffed her with several large steamed buns and freshly pickled sour beans, and also picked two handfuls of tender greens for her.
It's a little thank you for the bottle of wine and sugar.
Ning Yuan was pretty happy. She had worked hard in the fields all day and was too tired to go fishing again. She simply stir-fried the vegetables and salted beans, then ate them with steamed buns and sweet potato porridge for dinner.
Rong Zhaonan, as always, was in charge of washing the dishes and tidying up. He didn't mind that there was no meat in the dinner, and he ate it quietly and peacefully.
At night, Ning Yuan washed up as usual and continued reading. She waited for Rong Zhaonan to fall asleep first before she went to bed last.
When it rained in the latter half of the night, Ning Yuan woke up in a daze, only to find... she was alone on the bed.
Her heart skipped a beat. She stared blankly at the bed, and Rong Zhaonan had vanished again without a trace.
There was still no sign of him leaving. Ning Yuan lay in bed for a long time, before finally deciding to investigate where Rong Zhaonan had gone.
After all, the fact that her roommate was so secretive and shifty made her uneasy.
So, the next night before bed, she intentionally only ate a little bit of rice and drank a large glass of water before going to sleep.
As expected, I couldn't sleep soundly. I tossed and turned all through the first half of the night, my stomach rumbling.
Until...
A sudden breeze blew across her face.
Ning Yuan had a jolt, and suddenly came back to her senses.
She suddenly turned her head, and sure enough, there was no one around. But in the moonlight, she saw the window beside her quietly closing on its own.
A tall figure was cast on the window paper, if it wasn't Rong Zhaonan, then who else!
Ning Yuan held her breath nervously, waiting for him to close the window. Then, from the crack in the window, she pulled out a thin wire and fastened the latch from the inside.
As it turns out, Rong Zhaonan didn't leave through the door. He left through the window, and he even made it look like the window was closed from the inside.
Ning Yuan felt a chill run down her spine. If this person were a thief or even an assassin, they wouldn't leave a trace, and no one would ever be able to catch them.
She quietly watched Rong Zhao'nan leave from the crack in the window, then she quickly got up and put on her clothes, hurriedly locked the door and went after him.
What is this person doing They're always sneaking around at night, at least give us an explanation!
Those red armbands and those people who were watching him so closely, what if someone came to check up in the middle of the night How would he explain it
His cheap wife was dragged into this mess and had been living in fear for days. Ning Yuan couldn't take it anymore.
She decided to investigate on her own.
It's a good thing Rong Zhaonan didn't disappear right away.
She knew Rong Zhaonan was a very vigilant person, and didn't dare to get close. She only followed that tall and silent figure from afar.
The other party was agile, moving through the forest paths as if they were in no one's land. She could only chase desperately, barely managing to keep up.
After about an hour, Rong Zhaonan suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned his head to give her a cold look.
Ning Yuan was so startled that she jumped, quickly crouching down.
When she woke up again, she found——wtf, the person was gone!
Ning Yuan was stunned. She usually wouldn't dare to go up the mountain alone at night, what should she do now
All around was eerily silent. Under the hazy moonlight, it felt cold, dark, and ominous. There were only the chirps of insects and night birds, along with the strange calls of some unknown beast.
She was suddenly panicked. She looked around, but she couldn't see Rong Zhaonan anywhere.
She lost the person!
It was only then that Ning Yuan realized what a stupid thing she had done—a young woman who had never gone up the mountain at night, following someone around, had lost her way in the vast mountains under the cover of darkness!
That's such a stupid thing to do!
Fear made her whisper his name, "Rong Zhaonan... Rong Zhaonan..."
But only the silent night and the eerie growls of some unknown beast answered her.
No, I have to go down the mountain! It's the 1970s now, and the environment is good. She remembers the village elders saying that on the Big Green Mountain, besides snakes, there are bears, jackals, even wolves!
Ning Yuan hurried back, turning around in a rush.
But after walking for ten minutes, she realized she seemed to be lost!
Ning Yuan's eyes were red and she was panicked. She pinched her thigh hard, forcing herself to calm down.
No, don't cry, don't panic!
Panicking and running around blindly can lead to injuries, exhaustion, and even worse outcomes. If you stumble into a hole, ravine, or cliff, or scare away wild animals, it could be disastrous!
She took a few deep breaths, trying hard to remember how she had come down the mountain when she went up to chop wood that day. Where was the village in relation to the mountains Slowly, she began to make her way down.
The sky was obscured by the trees, making it impossible to see the Big Dipper. But on the north side, there were many tree trunks covered in moss.
The village is on the south side of the Big Green Mountain.
According to her prior knowledge of differentiating directions, Ning Yuan rubbed against the tree trunk and picked up a branch as a walking stick.
She carefully made her way out, stumbling slightly, and prayed fervently that she wouldn't encounter any snakes or wild animals.
>After walking for nearly half an hour, I still didn't see any lights from the village.
Ning Yuan couldn't hold back her tears anymore. She wiped them away, squeezed the branch tightly and slowly continued on her way.
She had just been reborn, she absolutely couldn't risk her life here! She had to find where the villagers often went to chop wood!
But after just a few steps, she suddenly felt her stick hit something soft.
Then the thing suddenly let out a strange chirping sound: "Chirp chirp..."
Suddenly, a large black mass stood up and let out a "grrr" sound towards her.
Under the moonlight, Ning Yuan's eyes widened in shock. She could clearly see a ferocious wild boar with menacing tusks baring its teeth at her just ahead!
The wild boar looked enormous, almost two or three hundred pounds, and was growling menacingly at her.
And she had just accidentally hit a soft, squishy thing with her stick—it was a litter of piglets!
Damn it! Ning Yuan's pupils shrank.
Black bears are not as fierce and aggressive as wild boars, nor are they as strong. If it hits you or bites you, your bones will break and you'll be in danger!
The key is that there's not just one wild boar, this is a whole litter, with four or five others with menacing eyes and sharp tusks!!
Ning Yuan's legs felt weak, and she slowly retreated.
Seeing the leader boar's green eyes glowing in the night and staring at her, she instinctively knew the boar was charging towards her!
At the moment the wild boar charged at her with a sudden fury, Ning Yuan screamed and turned to run uphill frantically!
To her credit, she remembered that when being chased by wild boars, one shouldn't run downhill. It was futile to outrun them and you were more likely to panic and trip, possibly to your death!
Ning Yuan kept running, listening to the howls of the beasts behind her and the sound of trees being broken.
The night wind whistled in her ear, she ran so fast her heart was about to leap out of her chest, her lungs ached.
Adrenaline surged through her, and suddenly she remembered — the trees! She needed to get up into one of those massive oaks, the kind wild boars couldn't even break.
Ning Yuan rushed toward a big, dry tree trunk. She didn't dare look back and climbed up with both hands and feet.
As she grabbed the lowest branch, hoisting herself up and pulling her legs in, the trunk shook violently.
A wild boar charged fiercely.
"Ah—!" She scrambled upwards, straining to pull herself up.
The enraged beasts were still wildly battering the trees, Ning Yuan almost being shaken down. She clung to the trunk with all her might.
She's not going to die here!
The next moment——
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!" Several sharp sounds pierced the air, as something unknown streaked through the sky.
Ning Yuan suddenly felt that the wild boar's impact against the tree had weakened. She instinctively lowered her head and saw several arrows deeply embedded in the backs of the wild boars.
The air was thick with the strong smell of blood.
The wounded beasts were more enraged, they lowered their heads, charging at the tall figure who was shooting with sharp fangs, like projectiles fired.
The figure, tall and nimble with a blade held high, dodged attacks effortlessly. He crouched low, drawing a bow smoothly onto his shoulder, then in a swift movement, flipped out two knives with both hands.
With a flash of his blade, he surged into the beast horde like a fierce arrow.
In the cold and cruel hands of a shadow, blades fell, blood spilled, and the roars of beasts mingled with the cries of carnage.ets, five kilograms of provincial ration tickets, and five kilograms of snacks tickets!"Besides the twenty-two jin of grain ration tickets, twelve feet of cloth ration tickets, and five jin of oil rat...