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

Chen Zhi got hungry as she dug, so she glanced at the lotus root, picked out the two largest and whitest sections, and hid them inside her clothes.

"Mom, I need to pee. Could you watch my lotus root for me?" Chen Zhi said to her mother.

The mother straightened up and looked at Chen Zhi with suspicion in her eyes, "We've only been here for a little over an hour."

"The porridge this morning was too thin, it was all water, and I felt like I needed to pee after drinking it," Chen Zhi said innocently.

The mother couldn't say anything more, and only said, "Go quickly and come back quickly."

Chen Zhi nodded and walked towards the reeds by the river. The reeds there were tall enough to hide someone. If she walked through the water plants and continued into the river, she could reach a place with water.

Chen Zhi first went to the water's edge to wash the lotus root. Once it was clean, she didn't bother to dry it before taking a big bite. The lotus root was crisp and sweet, with a refreshing fragrance and plenty of moisture. Chen Zhi crunched it down, exclaiming, "Delicious!"

"Your brother and sister are coming from over there."

Xi Lang arrived at some unknown time and suddenly spoke, startling Chen Zhi.

Chen Zhi looked in the direction Xi Lang pointed and ran into the reeds without saying a word.

Xi Lang watched her hide, and then saw Chen Ye and Chen Mu walking towards him, each carrying a few sections of lotus root. He lowered his eyes and continued walking towards the water.

After eating two sections of lotus root, Chen Zhi was finally less hungry and went back to dig for more lotus roots.

"Thanks for earlier," Chen Zhi whispered to Xi Lang.

Xi Lang paused, then remained silent.

Chen Zhi knew he had an eccentric personality, so she didn't argue with him. She was lucky; she dug up another clam. This clam was bigger than her palm, clearly several years old, and its meat must be very plump.

Chen Zhi hid the clam, then turned her head and met Xi Lang's unfathomable eyes, which seemed to hold a hint of confusion.

Chen Zhi put her index finger to her lips and shushed, "Don't tell anyone."

Xi Lang didn't respond, and continued digging for lotus roots with his head down.

He didn't agree, but Chen Zhi inexplicably believed that he wasn't a gossip.

She already has two clams, how is she going to eat them?

Chen Zhi was having a headache. She had no fire, no salt, and no way to secretly cook the river clams under the noses of her family.

We need to think of a solution.

Just then, Chen Zhi saw a group of boys from the village smoking out field mice in the distance. They were carrying straw, fans woven from reeds, a few dried chili peppers, a mousetrap, and iron tongs.

Some people were responsible for starting the fire, some for fanning the flames, and others for guarding the entrance of the cave with iron pliers.

A rat hole usually has several entrances. If you light straw at one entrance, the smoke from the straw will travel into the hole and emerge from the other entrances, along with the rats.

Chen Zhi heard the boys shouting excitedly; they must have caught a mouse.

meat!

Chen Zhi swallowed hard; she hadn't eaten meat for two months.

Not only Chen Zhi, but the rest of the Chen family were also drawn to the boys.

The first to be unable to contain himself was eleven-year-old Chen Fu, "Brother, let's go catch mice too?"

The eldest cousin, Chen Da, and the second cousin, Chen Gui, exchanged a glance, both somewhat tempted. In the end, the eldest cousin made the decision, "Xiao Fu, go back and get your tools. We'll wait for you here."

"Okay!" Chen Fu replied and turned to run towards home.

Chen Zhi didn't have high hopes for her three older brothers because they weren't very good at catching mice. Other people's brothers would go up mountains and down rivers and catch some mice, unlike her brothers who always came back empty-handed.

Of course, it's also possible that they ate out before going home.

Chen Zhi had no hope of eating rat meat today, but luckily she found a few more river clams, bringing her total to six, which was quite a lot.

Chen Zhi didn't want to bring the river clam home; if she did, she'd be lucky to get even a piece of meat.

She wanted to eat alone.

As she hid another clam, Xi Lang stopped beside her, looking at Chen Zhi's territory and then at his own. They were only a step apart, so why did she have a clam there but he didn't?

Chen Fu quickly returned, carrying tools, and called out to Chen Da, Chen Gui, and Chen Mu from afar, "I brought the tools, let's hurry and find the rat hole!"

Chen Da, Chen Gui, and Chen Mu put down their shovels, dusted themselves off, and left.

Chen Zhi also wanted to leave.

"Keep digging your lotus roots," Mom said.

Chen Zhi: "......." I knew this would happen.

Mom: "Take your brother's shovel and use it; it'll dig faster."

With the big shovel, Chen Zhi saved a lot of effort and dug up several more river clams and a lot of lotus roots.

While her mother and aunt went to the river to wash their hands, Chen Zhi took out the river clams she had hidden and counted them. There were twelve in total, each about the size of her palm.

"I'll cook for you, and you can give me some," Xi Lang said.

Chen Zhi wondered if she had misheard. "Why?"

This is food, and she doesn't want to share it at all!

Xi Lang took out his aluminum lunchbox, which contained two multigrain pancakes. "Let's make river clam soup. Tear the pancakes into small pieces and put them in the soup. You and I can each have half, okay?"

The pancakes were cold, but the aroma of grains was still very strong. Chen Zhi's mouth watered at the smell, and she nodded repeatedly, "Okay."

"Then give me the clam, and I'll clean it."

Xi Lang took out a small bag and asked Chen Zhi to put the river clams into the bag.

Chen Zhi: "You're not going to run away with my clam, are you?"

Xi Lang: "My lotus roots are here. If I don't come back in a while, these lotus roots are yours."

Chen Zhi glanced at the pile of lotus roots beside her, which weighed about thirty or forty pounds. She could exchange them for her river clams; it wouldn't be a loss for her.

Xi Lang not only brought an aluminum lunchbox, but also a knife, salt, and a small glass bottle of oil. He was very well prepared, which made Chen Zhi envious. She wished she had such a set of things.

Chen's mother and aunt washed some lotus roots and came back. Chen Zhi got two, saying it was her lunch today. She would have lunch like this and wouldn't go home.

Thinking about the river clams and multigrain cakes she would be eating later, Chen Zhi didn't really want to eat lotus root anymore. But the river clams would have to wait, so she could have lotus root to tide her over for now.

Chen Zhi sat down, eating while looking around. Over there, people were smoking rats; over here, people were catching fish and shrimp in the river; and not far away, someone was starting a fire...

She saw someone add water, fish, shrimp, and clam meat into a clam shell, and then put the clam shell on a fire to roast.

Chen Zhi's eyes widened. "You can do that?"

Next time she finds a clam, she can try this method.

When Chen Zhi finished eating the lotus root, Xi Lang also returned, bringing back some dried reeds and hay.

He set up a makeshift stove with two stones, lit a fire, and placed the aluminum lunchbox on it. He had already chopped up the river clams with a knife, filling half of the lunchbox. He then added water, and the fire soon started bubbling. Chen Zhi, who was standing nearby, was the first to smell the aroma—fresh and fragrant, with a faint fishy smell of river seafood.

Not far away, Chen's mother, Chen Ye, and her aunt and uncle smelled the aroma and looked over.

Aunt: "It tastes like freshwater clams, doesn't it?"

The uncle nodded. "It's a freshwater clam. Do you want to eat it?"

Aunt: "Yes, I want to. But I heard that the soil in the river has been turned over several times, and there are no more river mussels left. Look, we've been digging for most of the day, and we haven't found a single one."

Uncle: "I did dig up a small one, about the size of two fingers, not much meat. Tomorrow I'll take a few boys from the family to the river to catch fish and shrimp, and I'll make soup for you when we get back."

Auntie smiled, "Then we'll wait to drink the fish soup."

Chen Zhi also wanted to drink fish soup. "Uncle, can I go fishing with you in the river tomorrow?"

In previous years, Chen Zhi also wanted to go down to the river to catch fish, but her uncles and the others never took her.

"Zhizhi, you can just watch from the shore," the uncle still refused.

Chen Zhi pouted, "But I also want to go down to the river to catch fish."

"We don't need so many people to catch fish, you need to dig lotus roots." Mom's expression was serious. "You need to be more sensible."

Chen Zhi pursed her lips and remained silent.

"In a couple of days, your uncle will take your brothers to make mud bricks. Making mud bricks is hard work. Tomorrow we'll catch some fish and shrimp to take back and keep in the water tank. It'll be a good meat dish to help everyone get some nourishment," the uncle explained with a smile.

Because they wanted to catch more, they couldn't bring Chen Zhi along; everyone in Sandong Village knew that Chen Zhi had bad luck.

Chen Zhi understood the meaning behind her uncle's words, but was she just unlucky?

How could she not know?

Xi Lang, standing to the side, looked at the river clams in the aluminum lunchbox. Could someone with such bad luck really dig up so many river clams? What about someone like him who couldn't dig up even one?

After the water in the aluminum lunchbox boiled for a while, Xi Lang broke the multigrain pancake into small pieces and put them into the lunchbox. The multigrain pancake absorbed the soup and expanded, quickly filling the entire lunchbox.

Xi Lang divided the contents of his lunchbox in two, leaving half inside and pouring the other half into the lid. He then picked up the lid, grabbed his chopsticks, and began to eat.

Without a word, Chen Zhi put down the shovel, picked up the unburnt reeds from the ground, made a pair of chopsticks, and whispered to Xi Lang, "Is the lunchbox mine?"

Xi Lang nodded. "The bottom of the lunchbox is a bit hot, so be careful."

The bottom and sides of the lunchbox were charred black, and a thick layer of black ash could be wiped off with straw.

Chen Zhi tore off a handful of straw roots, placed them in her palm, and then put the lunchbox on the straw to insulate it from the heat.

"Chen Zhi, what are you doing?" Chen's mother looked at Chen Zhi disapprovingly.

Chen Zhi didn't turn around. "Mom, Xi Lang invited me to eat something. Would you like to come and have some with me?"

Looking at the silent Xi Lang, Mrs. Chen shook her head, "No need."

She wanted to call Chen Zhi back, but found that Chen Zhi had already started wolfing down her food.

"Mom, when did Zhizhi start seeing that Xi Lang?" Chen Ye asked softly, the aroma wafting from the side making her swallow hard.

Why does Chen Zhi only call for her mother and not invite her to eat with her?

Chen Ye developed a dissatisfaction with his younger sister.

Mrs. Chen shook her head. "I don't know either."

Xi Lang looked rather sinister, and she didn't want Chen Zhi to have anything to do with him. She was determined to have a serious talk with Chen Zhi when she got home tonight.

"tasty!"

Chen Zhi said indistinctly.

Things taste different when you add oil and salt.

"I wish I could eat this every day."

Chen Zhi exclaimed that at this moment, she felt that river clams cooked in soup with mixed grain cakes were the most delicious thing in the world.

Xi Lang glanced at her, saw her satisfied expression, and then silently looked away.

What kind of good stuff is this?