The sky collapsed, and in the blink of an eye, I found myself transported to Nanluoguxiang.

Time passed slowly, and the aroma of stewing meat gradually wafted into the courtyard, making everyone in the courtyard swallow their saliva frequently.

The children in the village stopped playing and ran over to smell the aroma.

One of the dark-skinned, thin boys ran up to Li Kaixin, tilted his head back, and said in a clear voice:

"Big brother, big brother, my dad said you hunted those three wild boars. I want to be a hunter like you when I grow up!"

"Kaixin, this is Zhao Laosi's eldest son, Zhao Tiegen. He's so mischievous every day."

Zhang Youfu, who was standing to the side, immediately smiled and introduced.

Li Kaixin bent down and reached out to pat the boy's head.

"Sure! How old are you this year, Tiegen?"

"I'm eight years old!" Zhao Tiegen raised his chin and puffed out his chest. "In a few more years, I'll be able to hold a gun."

"Really? You're not young anymore."

As Li Kaixin spoke, she took out a few milk candies from her pocket to tease him.

"Tiegen, I was going to offer you some candy, but you're a big kid now, you probably don't like it anymore, right?"

Zhao Tiegen's Adam's apple bobbed, but he stubbornly maintained his composure:

"Yes! I'm a big kid now, I don't like sweets."

But his eyes seemed glued to those few candies, he couldn't look away.

Li Kaixin suppressed a laugh and pretended to take the candy back.

"Oh, is that so? Then let's forget about it!"

"No, no, no! Big brother, I was just joking."

Zhao Tiegen panicked and grabbed Li Kaixin's sleeve, saying, "I'm still a child, please don't take it back."

The villagers in the courtyard burst into laughter upon seeing this.

Old Zhao stood in front of the chopping board with a boning knife, then turned to his son and scolded him with a smile:

"Tiegen, you little brat, are you asking for trouble? You keep embarrassing your old man!"

Zhao Tie ignored his father's words and cautiously held up one finger: "Big brother, can I just try one?"

Li Kaixin couldn't resist looking at his adorable face and shoved the candy into his hand:

"Here you go, I'm not teasing you anymore."

Zhao Tiegen's eyes immediately lit up.

He turned to his group of friends behind him, raised the candy in his hand, and shouted excitedly:

"Look, look! Big brother gave me some pretty candy!"

Upon seeing this, the group of children swarmed over.

Zhang Youfu, who was standing to the side, watched this scene with a smile on his face, then turned to Li Kaixin and said:

"Comrade Li, I'm afraid this candy isn't cheap? I haven't seen it sold at the supply and marketing cooperative in the county town."

"It's just a local specialty of Beijing, nothing special," Li Kaixin replied casually.

Seeing that he said that, Zhang Youfu didn't ask any more questions.

After a while, several more children looked over expectantly.

"Comrade Li, it seems you've really whetted the appetites of all the kids in our village," Zhang Youfu joked with a smile.

Li Kaixin looked up.

Sure enough, a dozen or so teenagers were standing at the gate, craning their necks to look this way, wanting to come over but not daring to.

"Children, come here! Big brother has some candy here."

He reached into his pocket, pulled out a handful of milk candies from the secret space, and waved towards the courtyard gate.

The children shoved each other a few times, but eventually couldn't resist the temptation of the candy and rushed over in a swarm.

Because there were many people, Li Kaixin only gave each of the remaining children two pieces.

Zhou Zhiming, who was working, saw it.

He rubbed his hands together and hurried over, chuckling, "Master, are there any more? Can I have one too? I haven't had one in almost half a year."

"You're such a glutton." Li Kaixin glanced at his apprentice, took out a piece, and tossed it to him.

Zhou Zhiming hurriedly caught it, unwrapped it, stuffed it into his mouth, and squinted his eyes: "It's so sweet! Master, you still love me the most."

Zhang Youfu, standing to the side, asked in confusion, "Comrade Zhou, isn't this candy worthless where you are?"

"How could that be!"

Zhou Zhiming opened his eyes and looked at the village chief. "Village chief, this is White Rabbit milk candy! It's famous all over the country, didn't you know?"

However, he didn't notice that Li Kaixin's face had already darkened.

"This is White Rabbit Creamy Candy!" Zhang Youfu murmured. "Comrade Zhou, I've only ever heard of it from others, I've never actually seen it before!"

Zhou Zhiming wanted to speak again.

Li Kaixin coughed twice, interrupting him directly.

Zhou Zhiming was confused. He glanced at his master's face, then wisely shut his mouth, turned around, and ran back to continue working.

As dusk approached, the wild boar meat stewing in the pot was already fully cooked.

The village women started busily serving dishes to each table, their faces beaming with smiles.

Just then, four or five figures appeared at the village entrance in the distance.

They walked quickly and soon arrived at the gate of the courtyard.

Zhang Youfu took a closer look and quickly went to greet them: "Director Zhang, your presence truly honors our Kaoshantun village!"

The visitors were Secretary Zhang and Captain Cui from the commune, followed by several other commune cadres.

"Village Chief Zhang, you're not right about that."

Secretary Zhang responded with a smile, his gaze passing over the crowd and landing on Li Kaixin in the center of the courtyard.

"Coach Li is our honored guest; how could we possibly not come?"

As he spoke, he adjusted the two bottles of wine he was carrying, saying, "We can drink and chat about our Kaoshantun matter later."

"well!"

Zhang Youfu's smile deepened, and he turned to the side, gesturing for Zhang to proceed.

"Director Zhang, please come in. Seats have been prepared for you!"

Actually, it was he who sent someone to invite Director Zhang and his group to come.

Secretary Zhang didn't stand on ceremony and led several commune cadres into the courtyard.

As soon as he entered the courtyard, Secretary Zhang went straight to Li Kaixin and stretched out his hand from afar: "Instructor Li, we meet again!"

Li Kaixin stood up, smiling as she shook hands with them: "Secretary Zhang, Captain Cui, what brings you here too?"

"Since you're a guest in our commune, how could we not come and keep you company?"

Secretary Zhang laughed heartily, "Besides, this pig-slaughtering feast is a rare and lively occasion; we haven't had any meat in a long time."

"That's wonderful! Secretary Zhang, please have a seat." Li Kaixin smiled and offered his seat.

Secretary Zhang and Captain Cui exchanged glances and sat down next to Li Kaixin.

Because village chief Zhang Youfu was still busy directing the serving of dishes, no one at the table touched their chopsticks and started chatting.

After getting to know each other, Li Kaixin learned about the other three people.

They were Director Liu, Deputy Secretary Shen, and Director Ma from the commune; almost all of the top three leaders in the commune were there.

Thinking about this, Li Kaixin could only exclaim in his heart, "Wow!"