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

At the end of November, the village began digging sweet potatoes.

It's already a bit chilly at this time of year, but the temperature difference between day and night is significant. You can cover yourself with a blanket at night, and when the sun is out during the day and you sweat while working, you won't feel cold even wearing just a vest.

Now is the time when there are the most rats in the field. The rats come to steal sweet potatoes and have dug many holes in the field.

The mischievous boys would bring straw and matches with them when they worked, and they would light them whenever they saw a mouse hole. When the mouse rushed out of the hole, a group of them would rush up to block it.

You can often hear loud, cheerful noises coming from the fields.

Chen Zhi went even further, digging up the rats' burrow and not only killing the rats but also digging up their winter food supplies.

This move amazed Cai Hongmei, who gave her a thumbs up and exclaimed, "Awesome!"

Chen Zhi: "It was just something I did."

When they finished work in the afternoon, Chen Zhi and Cai Hongmei found a bunch of rats in front of them, hundreds of them of all sizes.

Unfortunately, Chen Renzheng ran into him.

Seeing Chen Renzheng's grinning face, Cai Hongmei suddenly had a bad feeling. Sure enough, the next second she heard Chen Renzheng say, "There are so many mice, you can't possibly eat them all. Many little ones couldn't catch any mice today and are crying loudly. How about giving some to the children?"

Chen Zhi and Cai Hongmei exchanged a glance. Since the team leader had spoken, they couldn't refuse, so they gritted their teeth and said, "Fine."

Upon hearing this, Chen Renzheng immediately shouted, "Children who didn't dig up any rats today, come here and get one!"

Upon hearing this, people nearby rushed over to Chen Zhi and Cai Hongmei.

Upon seeing this, Cai Hongmei immediately became anxious and picked out six plump rats first. "There are six women in my family. They definitely didn't catch any rats. I'll choose first."

Seeing that Chen Zhi didn't move, she hurriedly gave Chen Zhi six more, saying, "These rats were dug up by Chen Zhi, so she should get more."

Chen Zhi was stuffed with six long tails in her hands, looking at the crowd scrambling for them, bewildered in the wind.

She paused for a moment when she saw Zhu Yuan and Zhao Yiqing, "Are you two children too?"

Zhu Yuan and Zhao Yiqing showed no embarrassment whatsoever, each holding a mouse, saying, "If we're not married, then it's considered a child. We're not married, so of course it's considered a child."

Chen Zhi was speechless. Is this how it's calculated?

At this moment, Zhao Jinbao, Yang Wenyu, and Zhou Zhengping also came over. The three of them had also caught a few rats from the smoke today. Zhao Jinbao suggested, "Let's have a barbecue tonight."

Zhu Yuan and Zhao Yiqing became interested upon hearing this, and said, "Sure."

Chen Zhi thought it was none of her business and was about to leave when Zhao Jinbao called out to her, "Chen Zhi, come on over!"

Yang Wenyu added, "Yes, let's all come together. That way we won't have to cook dinner tonight."

Zhou Zhengping: "We can roast rats, roast sweet potatoes, and roast all kinds of vegetables."

Chen Zhi thought for a moment, then handed over the mouse in her hand, saying, "Then you guys get ready first, I still have to go back and do housework."

Zhao Jinbao took it and said with a smile, "Take your time, leave the rest to us."

Chen Zhi had only ever eaten barbecue with Xi Lang. Xi Lang was a good cook and everything he grilled tasted delicious. She just didn't know if she would have the chance to eat it again in the future.

As the aroma wafted from the educated youth settlement, Chen Zhi was pouring wine.

This wine was made by Chen's family for her, and it was ready to drink a while ago. She tried it, and it was sweet and sour, quite delicious. Chen Zhi poured out a ceramic jar, about five or six pounds.

She carried her bowl and chopsticks in one hand and a jar in the other, heading towards the educated youth settlement.

The door to the educated youth settlement was open, and as soon as you entered, you could see the bonfire inside, around which everyone was sitting.

Chen Zhi spotted Li Zhou'an and Chen Xiuzhen in the crowd.

Li Zhou'an and Chen Xiuzhen were also taken aback when they saw Chen Zhi. When did Chen Zhi get along so well with the people at the educated youth settlement?

The night the village cow went missing, the couple didn't go into the mountains with the others to look for it because they had to go to work the next day. They only heard snippets of what had happened in the mountains. They heard that Chen Zhi had helped, but they didn't know exactly what he had done.

However, after that night, the couple noticed that the villagers' attitude towards Chen Zhi had changed. They no longer looked down on or mocked her, nor did they envy or be jealous of her; instead, they showed respect and awe.

Chen Xiuzhen vaguely knew that Xi Lang had some skills, similar to her second aunt, or even more capable, because her father treated Xi Lang with more respect than he treated her second aunt.

Therefore, she believed that Chen Zhi must have used something left by Xi Lang that night to solve some problem for the village, which led to the change in everyone's attitude.

But so what?

Chen Zhi remains a village girl, destined to spend her life toiling in the fields.

There's no comparison with her.

Chen Xiuzhen felt smug and turned to look at Li Zhou'an. In the firelight, Li Zhou'an was incomparably handsome and had an outstanding temperament. No matter how many times she looked at him, she couldn't take her eyes off him.

Both she and Chen Zhi got married. She married the most outstanding man in the educated youth settlement, Li Zhou'an. Unlike Chen Zhi, who married Xi Lang but was abandoned by him and became a lonely woman.

Tsk, how pathetic.

Chen Xiuzhen was smug, but she didn't notice that Li Zhou'an's gaze swept over Chen Zhi several times. It seemed unintentional, but each time he looked at her, his eyes darkened, making Yang Wenyu, who was standing next to him, feel uneasy.

Zhao Jinbao seemed to sense something as well. He patted the seat next to him and said, "Chen Zhi, come and sit here."

Zhu Yuan looked at the smug Chen Xiuzhen and sneered inwardly. She used to think Chen Zhi was inferior to Chen Xiuzhen, but now she realized Chen Xiuzhen was far worse. She couldn't match Chen Zhi in looks, nor in character, and as for their abilities, Chen Xiuzhen was nowhere near as good. The only thing Chen Xiuzhen had over Chen Zhi was that she had a powerful father.

Who can say for sure what will happen next?

Zhu Yuan smiled and asked, "Chen Zhi, what's in your jar?"

"It's wine made from wild grapes from the mountains," Chen Zhi said.

"They even have wine!" Yang Wenyu's eyes lit up.

The others also looked pleasantly surprised.

Zhou Zhengping even took out a bowl and said, "Quickly pour some for me to taste. I haven't drunk alcohol in so long that I don't even remember what it tastes like."

Chen Xiuzhen disagreed, saying, "Wine made from wild grapes in the mountains is just so-so."

It's nothing rare, why make that face?

The others didn't respond. Regardless of what Chen Zhi brought—even plain water—they would still support her, let alone wine. Perhaps the ingredients weren't valuable, but the effort and time she put in were invaluable. Chen Zhi was willing to share, and they couldn't let that sentiment go to waste.

Zhou Zhengping was the first to try it. After taking a small sip, he smacked his lips, took another sip, and then said with a satisfied look, "Delicious."

Yang Wenyu also drank some, "The alcohol flavor isn't strong, it's sweet and sour, it's really delicious."

Zhao Jinbao poured a bowl for Chen Zhi first, then it was his turn. "It's sweet and sour, perfect with barbecue. Chen Zhi, you've really gone all out tonight."

Chen Zhi shook her head, "It's nothing valuable. You can try it next year."

Zhu Yuan and Zhao Yiqing, the two girls, were the first to agree, "Next year we'll find more wild grapes and make them into wine. Wine tastes good, no worse than soda."

The only two people who didn't drink were Li Zhou'an and Chen Xiuzhen. Chen Xiuzhen had a stern face, while Li Zhou'an was grilling meat, seemingly unaware of what was happening around him.

Zhao Jinbao handed the roasted meat to Chen Zhi, saying, "Try my cooking."

Zhao Jinbao may not be good at much else, but he loves to eat. He used to beg his grandparents to grill meat for him a lot in their old courtyard. Whenever someone grilled meat, he would sit there and watch from beginning to end. After watching so much, he learned how to grill meat and he believed that his skills were not bad.

It's just that I haven't grilled meat in a long time, so I might be a bit rusty.

Chen Zhi accepted it and said, "Thank you."

After taking a bite, seeing Zhao Jinbao looking at her expectantly, Chen Zhi added, "It's delicious."

Zhao Jinbao finally breathed a sigh of relief, "As long as you think it tastes good."

Chen Zhi wasn't lying; it really was delicious. After she finished one, Zhao Jinbao gave her another. When Zhao Jinbao offered her a third, she refused, saying, "That's enough. You eat it. I want to try some vegetables."

She did give Zhao Jinbao six mice, but there were quite a few people present today, and it was impossible to give two to everyone. She had already eaten two, which was enough.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Jinbao put a few skewers of grilled vegetables into her bowl. "The vegetables are delicious too. I also grilled sweet potatoes and potatoes. You can eat the sweet potatoes directly, and the potatoes with chili powder are also very tasty."

Chen Zhi nodded. Having little experience in making friends, Chen Zhi didn't notice anything unusual about Zhao Jinbao. She ate intently and didn't even realize that everyone's gazes towards her and Zhao Jinbao had become strange.

Chen Xiuzhen, on the other hand, wore a contemptuous and mocking smile on her face, and she smiled like that all night.

When they were almost finished eating, Yang Wenyu suddenly spoke up, "Zhou An, I heard that some people have been exonerated and returned to their original positions. Is that true?"

Li Zhou'an paused, holding his chopsticks, and nodded. "That's right."

Yang Wenyu's eyes lit up. "Is that us—"

Li Zhou'an shook his head. "There's no news yet, and only a very small number of people have been exonerated. There are few jobs in the city. If we educated youth go back to the city, how will we be resettled?"

A bucket of cold water was poured over him, and Yang Wenyu sobered up, giving a wry smile, "That's true."

Zhou Zhengping: "This year, three of our educated youth have started families here. I'm also 25 years old, and I'm thinking about whether I should settle down here too."

Yang Wenyu: "Once we get married and have children here, we'll have even less chance to leave."

Zhou Zhengping looked distressed. "Do you think we still have a chance to leave?"

Yang Wenyu remained silent for a long time before gritting his teeth and saying, "I plan to endure another year. If I still see no hope next year, I will consider getting married and having children the year after."

Zhu Yuan and Zhao Yiqing exchanged a glance. They were getting on in years, but they didn't want to stay in the countryside for the rest of their lives.

At this moment, Chen Xiuzhen suddenly spoke up, "Then why was Xi Lang allowed to leave?"

Upon hearing this, everyone turned to look at Chen Zhi.

No one spoke.

Chen Zhi was chewing on a piece of green vegetable, her expression calm. "I don't know either."

Chen Xiuzhen gave a mocking laugh. "Of course, the person who was abandoned wouldn't know the reason. My dad said Xi Lang only took half a month's leave, and when the leave ended, Xi Lang didn't come back, so he reported it, but the higher-ups didn't say anything, and the matter was just dropped. What does that tell you?"

Everyone remained silent.

Chen Xiuzhen continued, "This shows that Xi Lang's family had some connections, which suppressed the matter and allowed Xi Lang to stay in Beijing. Even though Xi Lang's food rations were still there, and even though Xi Lang was still an educated youth sent to the countryside, he could stay in Beijing if he wanted, and he didn't have to come back."

"Chen Zhi, you've been abandoned."