Chapter 63: Arousing Public Indignation

This area belongs to the highlands, and all the mountains are connected. An Yinan was too lazy to walk along the road, but just traveling was too boring, so she prepared to gather firewood while walking through the mountains, and if she ran into mountain goods, she could pick up quite a few.

An Yinan gathered firewood all the way, bundling up a full thirty-plus bundles of wood, when suddenly, she saw a flash of earthy yellow pass before her eyes—"a pheasant"!

She quickly took some pebbles out of her space; these were ones she usually picked up, and their size and weight were the most suitable for her.

"Whoosh!" The sound of a pebble piercing the air.

That pheasant must have sensed a fatal danger; just as it was about to take flight, it collapsed to the ground.

An Yinan discovered that after experiencing life and death, the accuracy and speed of her pebble-throwing had improved tremendously.

She picked up the pheasant and threw it into her back basket.

She continued walking forward. Perhaps because the weather had already turned cold, some wild fruits had been frozen off, but she did manage to strip a wild hawthorn tree bare; she could make some canned hawthorn to eat when she got back, and just thinking about it made her mouth start to water.

Just then, a sound appeared behind her. An Yinan's back tensed, and she pinched a pebble between her middle and index fingers. Without looking back, she threw it out quickly based on instinct, and only after throwing it did she turn her head: "What is this?"

The animal was somewhat large, weighing about a hundred catties or so, its body covered in yellow fur, its four limbs somewhat short. An Yinan thought about the animals in the Northeast: "A Mongolian gazelle?"

The Mongolian gazelle had not yet breathed its last. Just now, An Yinan hadn't aimed; she had simply thrown the pebble instinctively when there was movement behind her. The pebble landed directly on the gazelle's back. The pebble was very small, but the impact it delivered was violent, causing the gazelle's spine to snap instantly.

An Yinan quickly followed up with another pebble, hitting the gazelle in the neck. The gazelle struggled a few times and then breathed its last.

An Yinan walked up, threw the Mongolian gazelle into her space, and without even having time to check it, she hurried toward the village. It was already getting dark, and if she didn't go back now, Beibei would be worried.

As she circled back to the main road, she saw three more pheasants and two nests of pheasant eggs—thirteen eggs in total. She collected the pheasants into her space as well, leaving only one in her back basket.

Hurrying and rushing, by the time she walked into the village, it was already pitch black.

An Yinan walked back to the Educated Youth Station and saw five people at the gate, anxiously looking left and right.

"An Yinan?" Zhang Qian was the first to spot the person in the darkness.

"Mm." An Yinan responded, and after walking inside, she asked, "Why are you all here?"

"Look at what time it is! You scared everyone to death. Uncle Niu came back a long time ago; why didn't you come back with the ox cart?" Xie Yuanyuan was a bit angry, her little cheeks puffed up, looking like... a pufferfish?

"Beibei was a bit worried and was waiting for you at the gate, so we came over when we saw him." Li Xiue didn't complain, remaining as gentle as she always was.

Zhao Qiu Hua rubbed her hands together; it was really cold tonight. "She's back, let's go back inside quickly. We can talk about things once we're in."

An Yinan felt a bit guilty and rubbed her nose. She had been having too much fun in the mountains and only realized the time was late when she noticed it. She had hurried back, but it was already dark.

"I'll go boil some ginger soup." Xie Yuanyuan stood up and hurried to boil the ginger soup.

Beibei tugged on An Yinan's sleeve. "Sister, you must come back early in the future."

Sister was his only relative, and he didn't want anything to happen to her.

"Okay." An Yinan promised. Having learned her lesson this time, how could she dare to come back late?

With just that one word, the stiff bodies and stern faces of everyone began to soften.

The ginger soup was quick to boil. Once the bowls were brought up, everyone took a sip.

"Have you all eaten?" An Yinan looked at the three of them.

Now it was Zhang Qian's turn to feel a bit embarrassed. "I saw they were worried and no one was cooking, so I made a little something, but..."

He wasn't too worried about An Yinan, as he roughly knew her combat strength, and besides, she was a female Strongman, but he had been a tiny bit worried about the matter of the "little days" (menstruation) approaching.

"But the porridge was fine; it's just that the stir-fried cabbage had too much salt. I reckon he didn't spend any money on the salt."

"Mm, it doesn't taste good; it's not as good as what I make." An Xiangbei also nodded, agreeing with Xie Yuanyuan's words.

"I think... it was okay?" Zhang Qian said. The main thing was that he really felt it was okay; he ate like this every day, and as long as it was edible, whether it was salty or bland didn't matter.

An Yinan smiled. Alright then, "I'll go heat up some steamed buns; everyone just make do for now."

She took a white cloth bag out of her back basket, and after opening it, everyone saw that it was actually a bag full of steamed buns.

"Did you buy out the entire State-run Restaurant?" Zhao Qiu Hua widened her eyes, questioning life for the first time.

Doesn't the State-run Restaurant limit the purchase of meat buns? What was going on with this whole cloth bag?

"Ahem, it's easier to get things done when you know people, you understand." An Yinan didn't intend to explain too clearly and took fifteen buns directly to the kitchen. The fire Xie Yuanyuan had used to boil the ginger soup hadn't gone out yet, so she just added some firewood to make the fire stronger.

Then she placed the buns on the steamer, covered the pot, and in just ten minutes or so, the buns were heated through.

"I'll go get bowls and chopsticks." Seeing that there definitely weren't enough bowls and chopsticks, Xie Yuanyuan ran back to get them.

Zhang Qian silently went back to fetch two stools.

"This is spicy cabbage, and this is kimchi; eat according to your own tastes." An Yinan served a plate of each dish. Everyone had different tastes; Xie Yuanyuan loved kimchi exclusively, Zhang Qian preferred the spicy cabbage relatively more, and she herself felt both were delicious.

"Hey, is this the kimchi Xiue brought back?" Zhao Qiu Hua's eyes lit up. She had eaten it before; Xiue treasured that jar very much, only taking two or three pieces each time she ate, and she herself had only eaten two pieces.

"Yes, Nan Nan gave it to me." Li Xiue didn't hide it this time and nodded directly to confirm it.

"It's delicious. The kimchi is crunchy and sour, very appetizing, and the spicy cabbage has a hint of sweetness and a hint of spice; both different flavors are delicious." Zhao Qiu Hua evaluated accurately.

However, when Zhao Qiu Hua came back to her senses after evaluating, she saw that more than half of the dishes on the table were already gone. "Ah, you guys!"

As she spoke, she joined the army of people grabbing food.

Sure enough, grabbing food to eat was the most delicious way. Everyone was stuffed, but their burps still carried the scent of meat buns.

"What kind of god-like life is this?" Zhao Qiu Hua rubbed her belly. She never would have imagined that when she went to the countryside, she would have a day where she ate until she was stuffed, and it was meat buns at that!

Zhao Qiu Hua's personality was very frank; she belonged to the type who said whatever was on her mind. People with this kind of personality offended others without knowing it, but they were also the most trustworthy people to befriend.

"I'll teach you how to make kimchi and spicy cabbage next year." An Yinan looked at the two of them.

"Can you?" Before Li Xiue could speak, Zhao Qiu Hua asked happily.

The main thing was that the taste was truly too good. During the lean times, having a dish of kimchi like this, plus a bowl of millet porridge, was enough to eat until half-full.