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

Spring plowing began at the end of March.

In April, the weather begins to warm up.

Whenever Chen Zhi has free time, she goes to the mountains to catch fish, and then Shi Xin is responsible for selling them.

In July, when Shi Xin came to Chen Zhi's house to settle the bill, Chen Zhi received an extra 10,000 yuan in cash.

Chen Zhi went to the bank again and deposited the money into her passbook.

During this time, Chen Ye got married, but no one from the Chen family notified Chen Zhi, and Chen Zhi did not attend the wedding.

When Chen Zhi ran into the Chen family members at work, both sides acted as if they didn't see each other, as if they really had no relation at all.

By August, those eight pigs had grown to a very large size, looking about 170 or 180 pounds.

Chen Zhi thought she wouldn't be able to manage, but she actually managed to pull through, though she was quite busy. Every time she cooked pig feed, she had to use two large pots at home, one iron pot and one aluminum pot.

The vegetables in the garden grew well and quickly. With the vegetables from the garden and pig feed from the mountain, along with rice bran, Chen Zhi had enough to feed the pigs.

Besides this, Chen Zhi also planted many pumpkins, both in front of and behind the house and in the yard. The pumpkin vines bore many pumpkins, each one unusually large, even bigger than Chen Zhi's water buckets.

The educated youth next door also planted pumpkins in their vegetable garden, but their pumpkins were not even half the size of Chen Zhi's pumpkins.

Every time Zhao Jinbao saw Chen Zhi's pumpkins, he couldn't help but sigh, "It's one thing to be inferior to people, but even to pumpkins."

Chen Zhi comforted him, "Your pumpkins are for human consumption, while my pumpkins are for pigs. Pigs eat more of them, so naturally they grow bigger."

Zhao Jinbao nodded seriously, "That makes sense."

In late August, the autumn harvest began.

In October, I heard that the college entrance examination was going to be reinstated.

That day, Li Zhou'an rushed into the educated youth settlement. Soon after, cheers erupted from the settlement, followed by the sound of wailing.

Yang Wenyu: "The exam is in two months. I haven't touched a book for several years. Do I think I can pass?"

Zhou Zhengping: "I only graduated from junior high school, so I'm not sure either."

Zhao Jinbao: "Let's learn first; this is our chance to return to the city."

Li Zhou'an added, "Yes, let's all study together. As soon as I heard the news, I borrowed high school textbooks and even went to the county's recycling station to collect some old books. If you haven't studied, no one else has studied either; we're all in the same boat. From this moment on, let's seize every minute and second to study diligently. If you have any questions, you can ask me. I can explain the problems to you and even give you practice questions."

Upon hearing this, Yang Wenyu gave Li Zhou'an a big hug, saying, "Good brother, I won't thank you enough."

The others also had tears in their eyes. Since Li Zhou'an had said that, there was no reason for them not to give it their all.

Hearing these words from across the wall, Chen Zhi couldn't help but feel happy for them.

"What are you laughing at?" Chen Xiuzhen said irritably.

Chen Zhi turned her head and saw Chen Xiuzhen glaring at her with an unhappy expression. She felt confused. Had she done something to offend Chen Xiuzhen?

Chen Zhi didn't want to pay attention to Chen Xiuzhen and turned to leave, but Chen Xiuzhen insisted on arguing with her and jogged after her.

"Are you gloating?" Chen Xiuzhen questioned.

Chen Zhi was completely bewildered. "Why would I gloat?"

"You're just gloating. You think that since Li Zhou'an is going to take the college entrance exam and go to the city, I'll be abandoned and become just as pitiful as you, so you're gloating," Chen Xiuzhen said with certainty.

Chen Zhi was stunned. When did she think that way?

"Let me tell you, you're overthinking it. I won't be abandoned!" Chen Xiuzhen raised her chin. "Li Zhou'an can go to university, and so can I. Wherever he goes, I'll go. We'll go to university in the city together. Only you, only illiterate people like you, will be left behind in the countryside!"

"snort!"

Chen Xiuzhen walked away arrogantly.

Chen Zhi remained where she was, feeling as if her heart had been pricked by a needle. Her chest suddenly felt heavy. Was that it?

Was she left in the countryside because she was illiterate?

Chen Zhi thought about borrowing books from Xi Lang, and about Xi Lang asking her to learn to read. Did Xi Lang mind that she had never been to school and was illiterate?

Chen Zhi's eyes stung a little, and she looked up to stop the tears from falling.

So what if she doesn't go to the city? Her life is fine now.

Chen Zhi went into the mountains again that day and hunted two wild boars, two deer, and caught twenty sacks of fish.

Shi Xin stared at the pile of things, stunned. "How come there are so many?"

Chen Zhi didn't speak. Could she say that she had been provoked and that her mind was temporarily malfunctioning?

The two loaded the things into the car together. As Shi Xin was about to drive away, he asked Chen Zhi, "Now that things are getting more and more lenient outside, will your older brother take you out to see the world sometime?"

Chen Zhi: "Where is that? The county?"

She had already been there and had seen not only two-story buildings, but also three- or four-story buildings.

Shi Xin: "No, places even further than the county. To the city, to the provincial capital, to other cities, to the capital."

Chen Zhi thought about it carefully, "But I still have to go to work and raise pigs."

Shi Xin smiled and said, "Then I'll go when I have time."

Chen Zhi thought it was feasible, "Okay."

The educated youth had to prepare for the college entrance examination, so they stopped working in the fields and studied day and night.

Zhao Jinbao still comes to Chen Zhi's place to fetch water every day, but he always just says hello to Chen Zhi quickly and leaves, no longer chatting with her like before.

As for Chen Zhi, she would work in the fields when she needed to, and in her spare time she would go hunting and catching fish, which she would then have Shi Xin take and sell.

Shi Xin doesn't sell directly; he processes everything into cured meat, makes gift boxes, sets high prices, and sells them to people who don't lack money. Their products are good, so they don't have to worry about finding buyers.

Chen Zhi also sold a batch of chickens, which Shi Xin helped her sell. She sold twenty chickens for five hundred yuan.

Chen Zhi has never tasted the chickens she raised, for no other reason than that they were too big and too fat. The largest one weighed a whopping eighteen pounds, a weight that startled even Chen Zhi herself.

Those eight pigs seem to have been inflated; they've now grown to over 200 pounds.

Every day, in addition to eating two large pots of pig feed, they also had to eat raw pigweed and vegetable leaves, so their bellies were round and bulging and never went down.

That day, when Chen Zhi returned home from work, there was suddenly someone else in her house—a man in a suit.

The man was very tall, about 1.85 meters, with long limbs, a straight posture, and a buzz cut. Just standing there still gave people a strange sense of oppression.

Upon hearing Chen Zhi's footsteps, his gaze immediately swept towards her, and when he saw her face, a look of amazement flashed in his eyes.

"Are you Chen Zhi?" he asked.

Chen Zhi frowned. "Did you get my permission to come to my house?"

The man was surprised that Chen Zhi wasn't afraid of him. He said, "I didn't go into your house, I just stood in your vegetable garden."

Chen Zhi didn't argue with him. "Did you need something from me?"

"My name is Song Zhaoyuan," Song Zhaoyuan introduced himself, then got straight to the point, "I came to see you because of Xi Lang."

Chen Zhi guessed it; apart from Xi Lang, she didn't know anyone like that.

Song Zhaoyuan continued, "Because Xi Lang called your name in his sleep."

Chen Zhi was puzzled. Why did Xi Lang come looking for her because he called her name in his sleep? Why didn't Xi Lang come by himself?

"Xi Lang has been in a coma for over a year."

Song Zhaoyuan explained the reason, saying that Xi Lang returned to Beijing to help them solve a problem. The process was not smooth, but the result was good. The only bad thing was that Xi Lang was seriously injured and has been in a coma ever since.

They didn't know that Xi Lang was married, nor did they know of Chen Zhi's existence, until a month ago, when Xi Lang, who was in a coma, suddenly uttered Chen Zhi's name.

At first, they couldn't hear what Xi Lang was saying, but after Xi Lang mentioned those two words for several days in a row, they guessed that it was probably someone's name.

They first checked who in Beijing knew Xi Lang, but found no one with that name. Then they turned their attention to the places where Xi Lang had been sent to the countryside.

They sent people here, and the result was beyond their expectations: Xi Lang got married!

After repeated discussions, they unanimously agreed that bringing Chen Zhi to Xi Lang's side to take care of him might help Xi Lang's recovery.

So, Song Zhaoyuan came.

Upon hearing this, Chen Zhi's eyes immediately reddened. She felt a mix of emotions. It turned out that Xi Lang hadn't abandoned her; he had simply fallen into a coma and wouldn't be coming back.

"How do I know if what you're saying is true or false?" Chen Zhi was already mostly convinced.

Song Zhaoyuan took an envelope out of his pocket. "There's a photo of Xi Lang inside. He was in his hospital bed. We took the picture of him."

There are five photos in total. Xi Lang in the photos is so thin that he looks unrecognizable, and his face is pale, just like when Chen Zhi first met him.

The person inside was indeed Xi Lang.

Chen Zhi could no longer hold back her tears, which fell to the ground drop by drop.

"I need to think about it," she said.

Song Zhaoyuan was not surprised. "I'm staying at the guesthouse in town. Come find me when you've made up your mind."

No sooner had Song Zhaoyuan left than Chen Zhi left home and arrived at Shijiazhuang in just five minutes.

Shi Xin happened to be home and was startled to see Chen Zhi with tears streaming down her face. "Why are you crying? What happened?"

Chen Zhi gave the photo to Shi Xin and told him about Song Zhaoyuan's visit to her.

The Shi family members had mixed expressions after hearing this.

Sister-in-law Shi: "Could it be a scam?"

Chen Zhi: "Even if it's a scam, I still want to go and see."

Aunt Shi: "But Beijing is so far away, and you've never been there before. We're worried about you going alone."

Uncle Shi: "Let the eldest son go with you."

Shi Xin also said, "I'll go with you."

Chen Zhi shook her head. "I'll go alone. If this is a scam, it'll be easier for me to get away on my own. Bringing Brother Shi along would be inconvenient."

The Shi family fell silent; they couldn't refute this reason.

Shi Xin said, "I'll go with you to meet that person tomorrow."

Chen Zhi nodded, "Alright."

Chen Zhi took the day off and did not go to work.

Chen Zhi and Shi Xin went to the guesthouse to meet Song Zhaoyuan.

The moment Shi Xin saw Song Zhaoyuan, his heart skipped a beat. This man's identity was probably not simple. He felt a lot like Guo Yijun, and although he was twenty or thirty years younger than Guo Yijun, his aura was in no way inferior.

Shi Xin asked Song Zhaoyuan many questions under pressure, but Song Zhaoyuan skillfully evaded them all, and Shi Xin couldn't get any useful information out of him.

Fortunately, he saw Song Zhaoyuan's letter of introduction and learned about Song Zhaoyuan's workplace. It had an official seal, so it shouldn't be fake.

As Shi Xincai left the guesthouse, he said, "The other party isn't a swindler, but their identity must be extraordinary."

Chen Zhi nodded; that was her guess too.

Shi Xin: "Are you sure you want to go to Beijing with him?"

Chen Zhi: "I'm going."

Shi Xin scratched his head, annoyed, and said, "I can't help you. The other party is a powerful and influential person. If something happens to you, there's nothing I can do."

Chen Zhi: "I can escape."

Shi Xin thought Chen Zhi was too optimistic. She was capable, but she had something even more capable, like weapons.

Chen Zhi: "Brother Shi, could you please help me get rid of my chickens and pigs? I don't know when I'll be back, so I can't take care of them for now."

Shi Xin: "Leave this to me."