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

After it got completely dark, Chen Zhi started grilling the meat skewers over the fire.

"Chen Zhi, we've come to visit," Chen Da called from outside the door.

Not only him, but Chen Peng, Chen Ergou, Chen Xiaoshuai, and Chen Xiaohong also came, each carrying a basket filled with melon seeds, candies, and some homemade snacks.

Chen Zhi waved to them, "Welcome."

To everyone's surprise, Zhao Jinbao, Yang Wenyu, and others arrived the next second, each bringing their own food.

Chen Zhi: "...There aren't enough chairs. Zhao Jinbao, why don't you go back to the educated youth settlement and bring some chairs?"

Ten people arrived at once; luckily, her kitchen was big enough, otherwise there wouldn't have been enough room for them all.

The meat we prepared might not be enough to eat.

Chen Zhi thought for a moment and realized there were still three fish at home. She went and chopped one into pieces, skewered them for everyone, and grilled them.

Fortunately, I just ground some chili powder today, so there's plenty.

"You're grilling meat! No wonder it smells so good!" Chen Da's eyes widened. Only Chen Zhi was so extravagant, having extra meat to grill.

Chen Zhi nodded and stood up. "I'll go cut some more meat."

Chen Peng: "Keep the meat for yourself, we'll just have some sunflower seeds."

Chen Zhi: "It's fish, and there's more."

One fish weighs sixty or seventy pounds, that should be enough for a meal.

Chen Zhi brought over a large bowl of fish meat, but then realized she didn't have enough bamboo skewers, so she went to sharpen them.

Chen Peng, Chen Xiaoshuai, and Chen Ergou were in charge of skewering the fish, while the others were responsible for grilling meat and vegetables. Even though they had just eaten lunch that afternoon, the aroma of the grilled meat made them hungry again.

As soon as Chen Zhi sat back down by the fire, several skewers of meat were stuffed into her hands, some grilled by Chen Da and some by Zhao Jinbao.

Chen Zhi ate meat, drank wine, and listened to their conversation. When someone threw a topic at her, she would chime in with a few words.

The quiet house was filled with the aroma of barbecue and laughter all night long.

They didn't leave her place until two or three in the morning.

The custom of keeping vigil in Sandong Village is that it ends after midnight; there's no need to stay up until dawn. Once everyone leaves, Chen Zhi also goes back to sleep.

Chen Zhi woke up late the next day, around noon. She changed into the new cotton-padded clothes that Xi Lang had made for her, and when she opened the door, she found that it was drizzling outside. There was frost on the mountain, and as far as the eye could see, there were ice crystals. The mountain was shrouded in mist, like a fairyland.

We cannot kill any living beings today, so most of the food on everyone's table is leftovers from yesterday.

Chen Zhi had some braised pork left at home, and she planned to have braised pork noodles for lunch again, which was convenient and delicious.

Zhao Jinbao came to her house to fetch water in the rain, and she watched him busy under the eaves with noodles in her hands. Zhao Jinbao grinned foolishly and said, "You're not even being polite to me, you're just offering me noodles."

Chen Zhi shook her head, "No, they're all in my bowl. I'm too lazy to cook them again."

Zhao Jinbao laughed even harder, "You're so honest."

The rain continued until the sixth day of the Lunar New Year.

These days, Chen Zhi hasn't gone anywhere. She just stays at home, warming herself by the fire and reading books. When she encounters a word she doesn't understand, she writes it down and asks Zhao Jinbao and Chen Da about it when they come to her house.

After the rain stopped, the roads outside were slippery and difficult to walk on, so Chen Zhi stayed at home for two more days before going out.

Stepping outside, she noticed that the grass was starting to sprout, with tiny specks of green appearing on the ground.

Chen Dadao: "Chen Zhi, let's go to the mountains to look for bracken tomorrow. Maybe we can even find mushrooms."

Chen Zhi also wanted to go out for a walk, so she agreed.

When everyone went into the mountains together again, Chen Zhi learned that Chen Peng and Chen Da had both gone on blind dates before the Lunar New Year, and both of them had found someone they liked, and both were from nearby villages.

Chen Ergou: "I'm having a banquet on the 23rd of the first lunar month. Chen Zhi, remember to come."

Chen Da: "I was born on the tenth day of the second lunar month."

Chen Peng: "March 16th."

As Chen Peng spoke, he secretly glanced at Chen Zhi, the girl he had liked for many years. He knew from the beginning that it was impossible, but he still despicably wanted to possess her. If he hadn't been disciplined by Xi Lang and hadn't gone through some other things, he probably wouldn't have been able to let her go and would have gone further and further down the path of making mistakes.

fortunately--

Chen Peng was extremely grateful that Xi Lang and Chen Zhi were both very good people who were willing to accept him after he had changed.

Chen Zhi was dumbfounded. "It's one thing for you guys to hang out together all the time, but to get married together like this?"

The three chuckled, "Good brothers naturally share everything."

As they talked, the three patted Chen Xiaoshuai on the shoulder, saying, "Next year it'll be your turn. Otherwise, your child won't be able to play with ours."

Chen Xiaoshuai smiled and said, "I'll try my best."

Chen Xiaohong then interjected, "Chen Ye also went on a blind date, and it's said that she's engaged to someone from Qingyuan Village. The man is 24 years old, not particularly good-looking, but his family is well-off. He's willing to offer a dowry of 60 yuan, and the date has been set for May."

Chen Zhi didn't respond, as if Chen Xiaohong was talking about someone she had no connection with.

Chen Xiaohong continued, "Chen Fu returned from the hospital a month ago, but he couldn't save his arm."

At this point, she sighed, "Chen Fu has a terrible temper now. He caused a scene at home several times during the New Year, almost smashing the house. Now the Chen family resents Chen Gui's wife, Cai Meiyun, saying that it was because he wanted to marry Cai Meiyun that Chen Fu lost a hand. Cai Meiyun is not easy to bully either, and she's trying to get Chen Gui to split up the family property."

"Separate the family?"

Everyone present was stunned.

Chen Da: "The older generation hasn't even divided the family property yet, and the grandchildren are already bringing up the idea of ​​dividing it up? That's not right, is it?"

Chen Xiaohong nodded, "That's right, of course the Chen family disagreed. So, their New Year was a complete mess, making them a laughing stock."

Chen Da: "Luckily, Chen Zhi has nothing to do with them anymore, otherwise she would have been dragged into this mess."

Chen Xiaohong: "That's right."

The day before the Lantern Festival, Shi Xin came to see Chen Zhi and brought her a bag of money, totaling eight thousand yuan.

Chen Zhi was stunned. "There are so many?"

Shi Xin smiled. "Of course. It's not safe to keep so much cash at home. Why don't you open a bank account?"

Chen Zhi has a bankbook, but it belongs to Xi Lang.

The two thousand yuan at home, plus the eight thousand yuan Shi Xin gave her, is indeed a large sum of money, and it should be saved in her own name.

Chen Zhi and Shi Xin went to the county to open a bank account and deposited 10,000 yuan.

Holding the newly acquired bankbook, Chen Zhi counted the numbers on it several times, feeling inexplicably at ease.

When Shi Xin returned from the county, he brought eight piglets to Chen Zhi.

Chen Zhi stared in disbelief at the piglet, whose eyes were still closed. "So small?"

A hint of embarrassment flashed across Shi Xin's face. "The sow died a few days after they were born, and the owner was afraid they wouldn't survive, so he put them up for sale. It was also a mistake on my part, brother, to buy these piglets, and now they're stuck with them. Just raise them however you like; if they don't survive, you can roast them and eat them."

Chen Zhi: "..."

She couldn't bring herself to bite it.

Shi Xin abandoned the piglet and ran away, afraid that Chen Zhi would return it to him.

The weather is still very cold and freezing. Chen Zhi laid a layer of straw in the pigpen and put a brazier in an open space to warm the piglets.

Seeing that the piglet was warming up again, Chen Zhi breathed a sigh of relief.

The next thing to consider is the piglets' food.

Chen Zhi cooked rice porridge, stir-fried some soybeans and corn, ground them into powder, and added them to the porridge while stirring. Remembering that there was still more than half of the fox meat left, she took out a few more pieces, roasted them, ground them into powder, and added them to the porridge as well.

A pot of thick rice porridge is now ready.

When the rice paste had cooled down enough, Chen Zhi put it in a wooden basin and took it to the piglets.

These eight piglets were too small to eat on their own, so Chen Zhi had to catch them and force-feed them through bamboo tubes.

After feeding them, Chen Zhi was covered in sweat.

She did her best; whether they live or die is up to them.

During the night, Chen Zhi got up twice to add firewood to the pigsty.

When Chen Zhi woke up in the morning, the pigsty was still warm, and a few embers remained in the brazier. She checked and found that all eight piglets were still alive.

She relit the fire and cooked for them. It was yesterday's rice porridge, with ground soybeans, corn, and fox meat powder added.

Chen Zhi still used a bamboo tube to feed them, about two bowls' worth for each piglet.

For the next few days, Chen Zhi stayed home taking care of the eight piglets. Under her care, the piglets improved every day, looking much better than when they first arrived.

On the 23rd day of the first lunar month, Chen Ergou got married. Chen Zhi went to the wedding and gave a gift of two yuan.

After having a meal at Chen Ergou's house, she hurriedly went back to check on the eight piglets.

By the end of January, the eight piglets were able to eat on their own, and Chen Zhi breathed a sigh of relief.

As February arrived, the weather warmed up considerably, and the braziers in the pigsty could be removed.

Zhao Jinbao only then realized that Chen Zhi had eight piglets. "You're really daring! So many pigs, how are you going to feed them?"

Chen Zhi: "We'll raise them one day at a time; if we can't afford to raise them anymore, we'll kill them."

Zhao Jinbao's lips twitched. "That's not a bad idea."

Chen Da got married in February, and Chen Peng in March. After attending their weddings, Chen Zhi turned eighteen, having gone from seventeen to eighteen years old.

The man who said he would take her to register their marriage when she turned eighteen is still nowhere to be found.

March and April are the lean months when food is scarce, but Chen Zhi's vegetable garden is lush and green, with vegetables growing just as well as they would in June and July.

The eight piglets had grown to about 30 or 40 pounds. Besides eating vegetables and rice bran, Chen Zhi would also feed them sweet potatoes. In addition, Chen Zhi would go into the mountains to catch fish when she had time. Most of the fish were sold by Shi Xin, and Chen Zhi would roast the remaining two or three, grind them into powder, and add some to the pig feed.

The eight pigs had eaten the fox whole, even grinding its bones into powder and eating them; not a single bit was wasted.

Every time Shi Xin visited Chen Zhi's house, he would check on the eight pigs. Each time he saw them, he was amazed. "I thought they wouldn't survive, but I didn't expect you to raise them so well. In a couple of days, I'll bring you an experienced pig castrator to castrate those boars."

Upon hearing this, Chen Zhi seized the opportunity to explain her predicament: "I can't afford to raise so many pigs."

Shi Xin waved his hand, "It's alright, I'll bring you rice bran and vegetables."

Chen Zhi: "It's not just a matter of food. When the pigs get bigger, they'll eat even more, and I'll have to cook two meals of pig feed a day. I also have to go to work, so I'm afraid I won't be able to manage."

Shi Xin: "Then I'll come and take them away when you're too busy to do it."

Chen Zhi: "...Alright then."