The poor girl from the 1970s was forced to kiss by the damp educated youth.

Chen Zhi had just hit someone when her mother arrived and raised her hand to hit Chen Zhi, but Chen Zhi ran away.

"The squad leader didn't even make me write a self-criticism, what are you doing?"

"You're always causing trouble, am I not allowed to teach you a lesson?"

Mrs. Chen couldn't catch up and was so angry she gritted her teeth.

"No!" Chen Zhi ran off. "You're getting in my way. I'm going to complain to the squad leader."

"Stop right there!"

Mrs. Chen stopped her, saying, "I won't hit you, but you can come back and do the work."

After saying that, Chen's mother left. Chen Zhi didn't return to work until she was far away.

Watching this scene, Liang Xiaoqiu admired Chen Zhi even more and sincerely said, "You're really amazing."

Chen Zhi suspected Liang Xiaoqiu was being sarcastic, but the other woman looked completely serious. Chen Zhi thought for a moment, "Someone like me wouldn't have a good reputation if word got out."

"But I think you did the right thing." She had always wanted to do this, but didn't have the courage. That's why she admired Chen Zhi; not everyone is as willing to go all out as Chen Zhi.

Being recognized by her peers for the first time, Chen Zhi couldn't help but feel happy. "I also feel that I did nothing wrong."

In the evening, after finishing work, Chen Zhi killed a few more sparrows. There were more than twenty sparrows today. If she keeps killing them like this every day, the sparrows in their village might become extinct.

Chen Zhi thought that if her uncle's family didn't come back, she would roast sparrows at home tonight.

However, when she got home, her family was already there. Her grandmother had prepared the meal: a mixed grain rice dish and leftovers from her eldest cousin's in-laws' house. Don't underestimate these leftovers; they contained meat, just a few slices, but with the meat and various seasonings, even the vegetarian dishes became very fragrant.

No one spoke at the dinner table; the atmosphere was heavy and filled with sorrow.

Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle, and Aunt didn't have much of an appetite; they ate a little and then went back to their rooms to rest.

Without her grandmother watching over her, Chen Zhi quietly ate two bowls of rice and quite a few vegetables.

"Mom, can I roast sparrows?" Chen Zhi asked.

"No." Mrs. Chen refused very decisively.

Chen Zhi was unwilling to give up, "Then all the sparrows I caught would have been wasted."

Mrs. Chen: "Clean it up, marinate it with salt, and we'll eat it tomorrow."

The next day, my uncle and aunt went to work as usual.

The dead are dead, but the living must continue to live, and life goes on as usual.

Liang Xiaoqiu's attitude towards Chen Zhi improved considerably, and the two would exchange a few words throughout the day.

Spring planting continued until early May, and many people fell ill. For example, my aunt fell ill on the third day after returning from my cousin's in-laws' house and remained ill for more than half a month. Those who didn't fall ill also lost a lot of weight, looking pale and emaciated, like refugees who had fled from famine.

On the contrary, Chen Zhi was fed "snake meat" by Xi Lang every day. After eating it for a month, her complexion became more and more rosy, and she even gained some weight.

"Mom, these pants and clothes are too small, I can't wear them anymore."

Several months have passed, and Chen Zhi has grown from about 1.5 meters tall to 1.65 meters tall, and it seems that she will continue to grow taller. Her clothes and pants are too small, and she can no longer squeeze into them.

Mrs. Chen remained silent. She could tell that her youngest daughter wasn't lying, but she had no money or ration coupons and couldn't afford the fabric.

"You can wear Mom's clothes for now."

Chen's mother is 1.62 meters tall, and her clothes are slightly loose, but Chen Zhi can barely wear them.

Chen Zhi had no choice but to wear her mother's clothes and pants for the time being.

"I've cut up your two sets of clothes these past two days and combined them into one set, so you'll have a change of clothes. Now that you have some free time, go to the mountains to find wild sisal and make clothes from it," said Mrs. Chen.

Chen Zhi: "...There is very little sisal in the mountains."

Chen's mother knew this all too well, but what else could she do if she didn't go looking for them? She couldn't just go out naked.

"If you want to wear clothes, go find some. Look for older leaves, the young ones won't do."

Chen Zhi carried a basket on her back and went out, but she was in no hurry to go into the mountains. She went to the educated youth settlement to find Xi Lang first.

"Does the black market have everything?" she asked.

"Of course, not everything is available. But most of the things you see on a regular basis are available." Seeing her frowning, as if she were struggling with something, Xi Lang asked, "What's wrong? Do you want to go to the black market?"

"I have no clothes to wear," Chen Zhi said awkwardly. "My mom told me to go to the mountains to find sisal to make clothes."

Xi Lang: "Sisal? This stuff is quite rare. I've only seen it twice in the mountains, and judging from the leaves, it's probably just sprouted, maybe a few months old at most. If you're going to use it to make clothes, it's best to get sisal that's over two years old, as sisal fibers from sisal that's over two years old are better."

Chen Zhi: "So I don't plan to look for sisal. Whether I can find it or not is one thing, but even if I do find it, the process of making the clothes will be troublesome."

Xi Lang: "So you're planning to go to the black market?"

"Yes, yes. I'm going hunting, selling the game on the black market, and saving the money to buy cloth." Chen Zhi's eyes sparkled, her face serious.

Xi Lang wanted to say that he had some and would give them to her, but seeing her like this, he suddenly couldn't say anything.

She probably wanted to earn her own clothes through her own efforts.

"If you trust me, I'll help you sell your game and buy you clothes, how about that?"

"Of course I believe you." With Xi Lang's help, she didn't need to go to the black market, saving her a lot of trouble.

Chen Zhi went up the mountain.

The weather in May is quite hot, and after a spring of breeding, the number of mosquitoes in the mountains has reached a terrifying level.

In previous years, when Chen Zhi went up the mountain at this time, he would always return home with his whole body swollen and in great pain.

But this time when she went up the mountain, Chen Zhi found that the mosquitoes all avoided her. After half an hour on the mountain, there wasn't a single red spot on her exposed calves and arms.

It's incredible.

Are mosquitoes not biting this year?

Chen Zhi quickly put the matter out of her mind, and before she knew it, she arrived at the place where she had last discovered the black bear.

I wonder if that bear is still around.

Chen Zhi stopped outside the cave. There were fewer prey on this side of the cave, so she decided to try her luck on the other side.

Chen Zhi had never been inside the cave; she had only heard about it from Chen Mu, who said there was an underground river beneath it and that the sound of water could be heard. Chen Mu said they often walked back and forth in the cave, so presumably they were safe.

She comforted herself.

Take a deep breath and stride into the cave.

The cave was damp, and Chen Zhi felt a wave of moisture as soon as she entered, which instantly dissipated some of the heat on her body.

There was no sunlight in the cave, and the further in you went, the dimmer it became. But this didn't affect Chen Zhi; she had night vision.

Chen Zhi gripped her slingshot. Aside from the sound of flowing water coming from somewhere, the only sounds in the cave were her footsteps and breathing. She had the unsettling feeling that she was the only person left in the world, a feeling that inexplicably made her uneasy.

At this moment, Chen Zhi actually hoped that a snake, or some other living creature, would come out.

It's too quiet; it's frightening.

Whether it was heaven hearing her prayers or not, suddenly, a rushing sound of water came from the cave, as if something had broken through the water. Chen Zhi was startled at first, then turned her head sharply to look in the direction from which the sound came.

That place is clearly a jumble of rocks, where did the water come from?

Chen Zhi was even more frightened. Could it be a ghost?

Chen Zhi wanted to leave, and almost immediately she did so. Just as she was about to turn around, the ground suddenly shook, rocks fell from the cave ceiling, and the ground caved in. The spot where Chen Zhi was standing cracked open. In the chaos, Chen Zhi only had time to grab the slingshot in her hand and cover her head.