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

Chen Da and his three companions, carrying ropes and harpoons borrowed from somewhere, said they were going into the mountains.

"Widow Yu has just died, you must be home before dark," the eldest uncle said sternly.

Chen Da nodded, "We know what we're doing."

After the four of them left, Chen Zhi also went out.

"What are you going to do?" Mrs. Chen frowned.

"I'm going hunting to trade the game for cloth. Yesterday I went all over the mountains and didn't see a single sisal plant." Chen Zhi looked innocent. "Mom, the method you suggested won't work."

"Are you crazy? You're going to engage in speculation and profiteering!" Mrs. Chen was terrified.

"I won't speculate or make money; I'll just barter and exchange some homespun cloth with others. As for speculation and making money, I don't even know where the black market is. Mom, you overestimate me," Chen Zhi said, half-jokingly.

Mrs. Chen said sternly, "That had to be the case. If you want to die, don't drag your whole family down with you."

"If you give me a set of your clothes, I won't go." Chen Zhi pretended to put down the basket.

Mrs. Chen turned her face away and left.

Chen Zhi pouted, "Stingy."

Chen Zhi didn't go up the mountain; instead, she went around to the educated youth settlement.

Xi Lang woke up late and was frying fish. There was only one fish in the heavy frying pan, and the fish was bigger than Chen Zhi's palm.

"Is this yesterday's herring?" Chen Zhi asked.

"Yes, I kept one," Xi Lang replied, pointing to the wooden basin next to him. Inside were five or six slices of bluefish, weighing about four or five pounds in total. "They were all sliced ​​from the bluefish, and these are just the tail parts."

Its tail is already this big, so its belly will only get bigger.

Chen Zhi picked up a piece of fish and looked at it in the sunlight. The fish was crystal clear and had almost no fishy smell. "It looks pretty good."

Xi Lang didn't look at the fish; his gaze fell on Chen Zhi's face, then moved to her clothes and pants. The clothes and pants were covered in patches, and the pants were clearly made from two pairs of pants joined together, with four horizontal lines running down the trouser legs, and the ends of the legs were of different lengths.

It was quite perfunctory.

You can tell the person altering the clothes wasn't very attentive.

Xi Lang felt a pang of sadness. What kind of life had she been living all these years?

"The three fish we sold yesterday weighed a total of 600 jin (300 kg), at 55 cents per jin, for a total of 330 yuan. I'll take out 50 yuan to buy you a set of clothes and some fabric."

He made the clothes, using the fabric he bought by selling the black bear to make three outfits for her. He hadn't had a chance to give them to her before, and he was afraid she wouldn't accept them, but now he finally had the opportunity.

Chen Zhi blinked. "Three hundred and thirty yuan?"

Did she hear that right?

Xi Lang nodded, "Yes, three hundred and thirty yuan. I spent fifty, so I have two hundred and eighty left. I'll take it out and give it to you in a bit."

"No, no need, you hold it for me." Chen Zhi swallowed nervously. She had nowhere to hide the money, and she was afraid that someone else would take it or that she would lose it.

Xi Lang curled his lips into a smile. "You trust me that much?"

Chen Zhi: "Don't use someone you suspect. If you want to keep my money, you can easily lie to me and say you only sold it for twenty or thirty yuan."

Xi Lang seemed thoughtful. "That's a good idea."

Chen Zhi's face immediately darkened. "You dare try doing that!"

Xi Lang immediately admitted his mistake, "I wouldn't dare."

The oil sizzled in the pan, and the aroma of the caramelized fish was rich and overpowering, almost pervasive.

"Aaaaaah, I'm going crazy! That guy Xi Lang made something delicious again!" Yang Wenyu roared to the sky.

As Zhao Jinbao smelled the aroma of fish and ate his bland mixed grain porridge, he thought, "I don't want to be his neighbor anymore."

"I didn't want to either." Zhou Zhengping wanted to cry. After the spring planting season, he was skin and bones, and his eyes were blurry. He hadn't even gained any weight after going to the supply and marketing cooperative.

Zhu Yuan's eyes darted around. "Why don't we go ask Xi Lang where he got the fish, and we can get some too?"

Li Zhou'an gestured with his hands, "This fish is so big, it doesn't look like it's from here. He must have bought it."

Zhao Yiqing: "Where did he buy it? We've never seen such a big fish in town."

Yang Wenyu: "Really? There really are fish that big?"

Li Zhou'an confirmed, "I didn't see wrong."

Zhou Zhengping: "Shall we go take a look?"

Everyone looked at each other, their hearts fluttering.

Xi Lang placed the fried meat on a plate, sprinkled some chili powder on it, and handed it to Chen Zhi, saying, "You eat first."

"Such a big fish, let's each have half." Chen Zhi said, taking a bowl and dividing the fish in half. She took the bowl herself and gave the plate to Xi Lang.

The two of them held chopsticks, eating fish while waiting for the next piece.

The fish fillets were marinated in salt and scallion and ginger water until they were flavorful, and when paired with chili powder, the taste was absolutely amazing.

"I thought such a big fish wouldn't taste good." After all, the catfish we cook at home doesn't taste as good as smaller fish.

"That's the general rule for freshwater fish, but there are always exceptions." What Xi Lang didn't say was that he suspected that the feng shui of that place was good, and the fish raised there tasted better than those from other places.

"That's because you're a good cook." Chen Zhi felt that nothing Xi Lang made was bad.

Xi Lang smiled, pleased by her words.

Cough cough--

All the people from the educated youth settlement have arrived; there are eight of them in total.

Chen Zhi couldn't help but feel nervous. What was he planning to do?

"Hey, Xi Lang, we'd like to discuss something with you," Yang Wenyu said.

Xi Lang gave a faint "hmm," not even glancing at the other person, and went about flipping the fish pieces in the frying pan.

"The closer I get, the stronger the smell becomes. What kind of fish is this? It smells so good!" Zhao Jinbao said, swallowing hard.

Xi Lang's expression remained indifferent. "Bluefish."

"Does the grass carp smell so good?" Zhao Jinbao squatted down, as if he wanted to jump into the pot.

How embarrassing!

The other educated youth couldn't bear to look.

"Xi Lang, we'd like to ask where you bought this fish. We'd like to buy some too," Li Zhou'an said.

Chen Zhi paused in her chopsticks-holding motion, then looked at Xi Lang, wondering what to say.

"Last night, on my way to town, I saw someone carrying fish, and I traded them for meat coupons," Xi Lang lied through his teeth.

It was exchanged, not bought, so you can't definitively say he was speculating or profiteering.

"So there's only one?" Li Zhou'an was somewhat disappointed.

Xi Lang: "That person indeed only had one."

Yang Wenyu: "Could you exchange some for us? These fish pieces are so wide, this fish must be quite big, right?"

"No trade." Xi Lang refused decisively.

The educated youth looked at each other, their eyes filled with resentment.

"I have malted milk powder," Zhao Jinbao said. In order to eat fish, he took out the last of his malted milk powder, which he himself didn't even consider edible.

Chen Zhi blinked, her face full of doubt. What is malted milk powder?

Li Zhou'an: "Keep the malted milk powder. I also have two 1-pound bags of milk powder. Milk powder is better than malted milk powder. Xi Lang, I've noticed you often look pale. Milk powder is good for your health, you can drink more of it."

Xi Lang's face darkened; he didn't need any tonics. But Chen Zhi did.

He glanced at Chen Zhi beside him. Despite feeding her for several months, the girl was still skin and bones.

"One pound of milk powder and four pounds of fish, we'll switch if you agree," Xi Lang said.

Li Zhou'an disagreed, "Four catties is too little. Milk powder coupons are hard to come by. One catty of milk powder is equivalent to six catties of fish and meat."

Xi Lang: "Five jin, fine if you don't want to exchange it."

Li Zhou'an: "Deal."

Xi Lang went back into the house and brought out a basin filled with fish pieces, which looked to weigh thirty-four pounds.

"The fish has already been marinated, so you don't need to add salt when you cook it."

"Okay. I'll go back and get the formula and scale now."

Two packs of milk powder were exchanged for ten kilograms of fish. Judging from the prices of both, Xilang made a profit.

But Xi Lang doesn't think so. He believes that the fish is delicious, and only those who eat it will know whether it's worth it.

The people from the educated youth settlement took the fish and went back.

"Shall we follow Xi Lang's example and fry the fish?" Zhao Jinbao asked.

"We don't have much oil left," Zhao Yiqing reminded them.

Yang Wenyu: "The pickled fish is pretty good. We made some pickled cabbage a while ago, is it ready to eat now?"

Zhou Zhengping: "Add more chili peppers, and more pickled cabbage too."

With so many people, there's definitely not enough fish to go around, but the pickled cabbage with the aroma of meat is also delicious.

Everyone agreed to make boiled sauerkraut fish.

"Shall we have pickled fish for lunch too?" Xi Lang asked Chen Zhi.

Chen Zhi didn't care. Actually, she wanted to eat tofu and fish head soup more, but they didn't go to town and they didn't have any tofu at home.

"Or how about we make tofu and fish head soup?" Xi Lang asked again.

Chen Zhi's eyes widened. "How did you know what I was thinking?"

"I don't know," Xi Lang said truthfully. "I just happened to buy tofu."

But the fact that she liked it means he bought the right tofu.

The two of them fried four pieces of fish and were full.

Chen Zhi took the initiative to wash the pots and pans, and Xi Lang didn't compete with her, instead making her a cup of milk.

"Wasn't this saved to help you recover?" Chen Zhi asked.

Xi Lang's face darkened. "I don't need to replenish my body."

He is in good health; he just looked pale and weak because he was injured before.

Chen Zhi thought Xi Lang was just putting on a brave face, but she didn't want to discourage him. "I'll only drink one glass. You can keep the rest for yourself."

Xi Lang didn't agree and went back into the house. He took out the clothes and pants he had made for Chen Zhi, as well as a piece of fine cotton fabric with floral patterns. The fabric was very soft, but not large, about three meters long and wide.

The clothes and pants were light blue, without any patterns, very plain.

Chen Zhi touched the fabric; it wasn't rough to the touch, yet it was resilient enough to withstand wear, which made her quite satisfied.

"The length is just right." Chen Zhi was surprised.

Xi Lang: "I bought it for you because the length was just right. I'm not sure if the size will be right, but the clothes and pants are quite loose, so you should be able to wear them."

Chen Zhi smiled, her eyes crinkling. "I think I can wear it too."

She'll finally have new clothes to wear.

It's been seventeen years, and this is the first time she's worn new clothes.

"What are you going to do with the rest of the fabric?" Sir Lang asked.

"Make a few sets of undergarments." The thought of making undergarments made Chen Zhi hesitate. If she took the fabric back, it would definitely be stolen. It would be best if she could have them made here with Xi Lang. So she asked, "Do you have scissors and needles and thread here?"

"Yes. I'll go get it for you right away."

He bought this piece of fabric specifically to make her underwear.