Chapter 22: A Touch of Military Green

"Who dares to meddle in my business!" Er Gouzi turned around, saw the military green uniform, and his legs instantly went weak.

But that large hand did not let go; instead, it twisted in the other direction.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch, let go, let go, if you have something to say, say it properly, ouch, ouch, ouch." Er Gouzi kept crying out in pain.

The man was very tall, reaching a full meter ninety, his massive frame carrying a cold, hard air. He carried a military green backpack on his back, and there was dust on his trouser cuffs; clearly, he had been walking for a long time.

"Apologize!" The man's voice was equally cold, devoid of any warmth, and one could even see the chapped cracks on his palms.

Due to the force on his arm, Er Gouzi fell to one knee with a "thud," his face turned toward An Yinan.

"I'm sorry." The voice was very small, and his face was filled with resentment.

The man applied a bit more force. "Louder."

"Ouch, ouch, ouch, I'm sorry!" Pain can indeed make a voice become huge; this saying was certainly not wrong.

The man threw his arm aside. "Get lost."

Er Gouzi rolled over, scrambled up from the ground, and looked at the two of them with a face full of rage.

Sooner or later, he would make this man die, and make this woman scream for help under him until heaven and earth ignored her.

The two of them watched as Er Gouzi scrambled away, not even daring to turn back to utter a harsh word.

"Are you alright?" The voice remained cold, not changing just because it was a different person.

An Yinan shook her head. "I'm fine."

She took a few steps forward, then turned back. "Comrade, thanks." As the words fell, she was already striding forward.

The two were heading in the same direction, yet they did not say another word, keeping a safe distance one behind the other.

Chen Xun did not know at this moment that the person before him was the foster sister his mother had recognized for him, nor did he know of the unknown fate that lay ahead. Right now, he was still struggling with whether to go see his sister, but they had never met, and meeting suddenly would be quite awkward.

But if he didn't go to see her, and his mother found out, it would be another round of nagging.

Forget it! Proper business is more important.

An Yinan didn't pay too much attention to it either, though she did keep Er Gouzi in mind. This person looked like the type to seek revenge for the slightest grievance, and he was a reckless scoundrel; who knew what kind of trouble he might stir up?

After crossing the big mountain, An Yinan returned directly to the Educated Youth Station, and Chen Xun had to go to the village, so the two parted ways.

"Sister, why didn't you come back by ox cart?" Beibei was scrubbing the pot, preparing to heat up lunch.

"There wasn't much to buy, so I came back early." As An Yinan spoke, she went back to her room to put the English magazine into her space. Now that her Translator Certificate hadn't arrived yet, it would be troublesome if someone saw the English magazine, so it was safer to keep it in the space.

"Alright, go read your book, Sister will cook."

As she spoke, An Yinan went to the shelf in the corridor, scooped out two bowls of white flour, and cracked an egg into it. Only then did she add some cold water to start kneading the dough. She liked noodles that were chewy, and fortunately, she had great strength; even if the dough was hard, she could knead it soft.

After kneading the dough, she found the fresh mushrooms she had specifically saved. The mushrooms she had picked before had all been dried by her, with only a little left in a cool, dark place, while the rest were in the space. She took the fresh mushrooms from the cool place, washed them well, and tore them into pieces by hand.

After finishing the preparations, she set up the fire to boil water. Meanwhile, she rolled out the noodles on the board. First, she kneaded the dough well, then rolled it into a large, round sheet. She sprinkled cornmeal on the sheet, rolled it from the top and bottom toward the middle, cut it evenly into noodles with a knife, and used chopsticks to lift the middle of the noodles; the parts that had been rolled from both sides instantly loosened, and long, individual noodles were ready.

Beibei wasn't reading his book at the moment; he was just watching his sister work, lost in thought. An Yinan saw that her younger brother was distracted, so she didn't disturb him too much.

A ten-year-old boy shouldn't be at an age to have worries, but having had special experiences, him liking to think about things wasn't a bad thing.

An Yinan put the noodles into the pot and stirred them with chopsticks to prevent them from sticking to the pot.

"Sister." Beibei watched the fire and called out softly.

The chopsticks in An Yinan's hand paused, and she responded softly, "Hmm."

An Xiangbei watched the fire, his mind thinking about the situation from the morning. "I met a friend today."

An Yinan didn't speak, waiting for him to continue.

"But his identity is problematic; he lives in the Cowshed." Beibei looked up, wanting to see his sister's expression.

An Yinan thought for a moment. "Shall we talk about this after we eat?"

This matter was somewhat complicated and related to Beibei's worldview. She didn't want to change it with just a word or two; she wanted to listen carefully to his thoughts, but now wasn't the right time.

"Hmm." An Xiangbei nodded obediently and tended to the fire in the stove.

She scooped out the noodles and rinsed them in cold water to make them more refreshing and better in texture.

Only then did she pour oil into the pot, couldn't resist adding a bit of minced meat, then put in the torn, blanched mushrooms, followed by seasonings, and finally added a spoonful of soybean paste.

An Yinan had always believed that the soul of mushrooms was soybean paste.

Finally, she drizzled in the water used to boil the noodles, and the thick sauce was ready.

The house, which wasn't very sealed to begin with, was now filled with a fragrant aroma throughout the Second Courtyard of the Educated Youth Courtyard.

Xie Yuanyuan struggled to climb out of bed, brought the things she had already organized, and came over to knock on the door.

"Um, um, um, can I trade these for a month of meals? Half a month is fine too." Xie Yuanyuan put down the things in her hands and immediately closed her eyes, her cheeks flushed red, innocent and cute.

An Yinan found it amusing. The things Xie Yuanyuan brought included two cans of malted milk, two bags of powdered milk, and three packs of pastries; these were precious items outside.

"Sister Yuanyuan, are you planning to eat standing up?" An Xiangbei chuckled; his sister had cooked so many noodles, she would definitely invite Sister Yuanyuan to eat.

Xie Yuanyuan opened her eyes and looked at the smiling siblings. "Hmph, the smell is too good, I won't argue with you little guy."

"Slurp, slurp." No one in the room spoke; there was only the sound of slurping noodles.

The noodles were chewy and smooth, and paired with the minced meat and mushroom sauce, the taste was absolutely divine. Although it couldn't compare to the braised pork at the State-run Restaurant, it was only a tiny bit off.

An Yinan put down her bowl after two servings and rubbed her stomach. It seemed she would need to prepare some hawthorn water again.

While the few of them were eating noodles, the other Educated Youth outside finished their work, each of them smelling the fragrance, their mouths constantly secreting saliva.

This Educated Youth An's life was just too good. Not to mention having the smell of meat all day, they had at least one meal with meat every day.

Their allotted grain was almost eaten up, and the new grain hadn't been put into storage yet. After the new grain was stored, they would have to pay the public grain and charity grain before calculating the Work Point grain and per-capita grain, and there still had to be some grain left in the warehouse for borrowing.

"Eating alone every day, aren't you afraid of choking to death?" Sun Xiaoqin said.

People who came to the countryside together, how could there be such a big difference? She had finished work early yesterday and had seen those big packages of Xie Yuanyuan's. If her family supported her like that, she could eat meat all day too.