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墨書 Inktalez
Aunt Sun has left, but Yezhi stands at the center of attention. She knows that everyone has a gossiping heart; as long as the mouth is on someone else, if Village Uncle doesn't allow it, no one will talk about it. She was mentally prepared for this. However, one day, while she was teasing the villagers as usual with a gray rabbit in hand and a basket full of wild vegetables on her back, Zhou Erma's words, "Stop talking, or Leaf Sister will get angry and catch your little brother!" hurt her a bit.
At night, she stroked the newly bought "Electric Shock Bracelet" on her wrist, unable to sleep and too afraid to turn over. Suddenly, a flame flickered on the papered wall, and Xiao Fang appeared in a white shirt and a Scotland skirt, holding a megaphone, rising from the burning halo.
"Xiao Fang, you haven't respected the owner again and have been peeping. How many times has it been this month?" Yezhi pretended to be angry.
The singing stopped abruptly. Xiao Fang looked a bit wronged and insisted, "Master, I'm just worried about you. If I don't keep an eye on you, my heart feels like it's going to jump out!"
"We have a telepathic connection; it's not too late to worry when you sense something." She knew Xiao Fang was scared by what happened that night; otherwise, she wouldn't have bought the "Electric Shock Bracelet" for her protection without asking first.
In fact, it wasn't just Xiao Fang; Aunt Zhou, Elder Brother Yu, Sister Luo... all the people in the village who cared for her had been particularly attentive and kind lately. One Gun Brother even took the initiative to suggest taking her hunting in the mountains. While this warmth made her feel grateful, there was also a lingering frustration stuck in her chest.
Regardless of her feelings, life continued. The peach seedlings on the hillside had grown to her knees. After using Delay Spray, the growth rate of weeds slowed down by 100 times compared to before; even if she only removed weeds once a month, it wouldn't matter much.
The Crop Health Monitor that constantly monitored the peach seedlings was truly a great invention. With it, she felt almost equal to agricultural experts. After installing it in the fields and gardens, she gradually discovered certain patterns. When her assessments matched what the monitor reflected, she felt joyful because relying on others is unreliable; relying on oneself is best!
A month passed, and the influx of outsiders in the village increased rather than decreased. These new friends and old acquaintances came to learn and observe while also gossiping about this newly emerged "fierce" girl. She had become a new attraction in Zhoujiatun.
Recently, One Egg stood guard at her house right after school. He and Black Treasure blocked the entrance like door gods. Black Treasure was as round as a ball; instead of being scary, it was quite adorable. When someone approached, it would shake its head and clap its paws; if someone fed it, it would offer a big hug in return. One Egg was frustrated with it; when he pushed it away, Black Treasure thought he wanted to wrestle and hugged One Egg tightly.
One Egg's face turned red with anger as he shouted loudly: "Black Treasure, you idiot!"
Yezhi laughed heartily while rocking back and forth in her rocking chair. Sister Luo sat next to her sewing clothes and looked at her with satisfaction: It had been a long time since she heard Yezhi laugh so joyfully.
Meanwhile, inside the house practicing calligraphy, Xiao Fan peeked out from the window and laughed along for no apparent reason. The strange atmosphere in the house seemed to vanish with their laughter.
Aunt Zhou brought out a pink Piglet and happily said to her: "Girl, didn't you tell me that roasted pig skin is crispy and tender with an aroma that wafts for miles? Let's have a big feast to forget all our unhappiness." After saying this, she called One Egg inside to slaughter the pig.
Yezhi licked her lips as her stomach growled with hunger.
The Piglet seemed to sense its fate and let out a mournful cry that ruined everyone's appetite. So she shouted loudly: "Spare the pig!"
"What happened!" Since Piglet entered the circle, Aunt Zhou has been taking good care of them. If anyone is most reluctant to part with Piglet, it must be Aunt Zhou, but for the sake of her daughter, she feels no reluctance at all.
"A big feast is a must. We’ll raise the pigs until they’re big enough to slaughter. As for the dishes, just watch me!" Yezhi rolled up her sleeves and cheerfully ran into the kitchen.
Rabbit Soup bubbled continuously in the pot, and the sound of the knife hitting the wooden cutting board created a rhythmic thud. The steam from the heat made her face flush lightly pink, and her irritable mood slowly dissipated amidst the various delicious aromas of food until it vanished completely.
After sharing a steaming pot of rabbit meat and sauerkraut noodles in Thick Soup with her family and One Egg, her drowsy head seemed to forget everything, feeling only a simple satisfaction.
Indeed, as long as one can eat and sleep, most problems are resolved. She no longer stayed cooped up at home; when people from the neighboring village wanted to see her as a spectacle, she would let them look freely. After all, she wasn’t ugly—why not let people see?
The fate of a traveler is destined to be extraordinary. She was "ugly" enough to be from another galaxy; did she still fear having a bad reputation on Earth? Taking one step at a time may seem a bit passive, but she had that capital. Living a life that was merely about survival was something she didn’t want anymore; she wanted to live lazily and authentically—not necessarily smart, not necessarily capable, and not necessarily beautiful!
...
Aunt Ren Er tugged hard at Yezhi's clothes. "Do you know them?"
Yezhi replied cheerfully, "I don’t know them!"
Aunt Ren Er widened her eyes. "You don’t know them! Then why were you waving your hand?"
"Those two people from the neighboring village followed me all the way; I waved my hand so they wouldn’t follow anymore!" In this world, the more you fear something and try to avoid it, the more curious it makes people. Once you lift the veil, aren’t there just two eyes, one nose, and one mouth?
Aunt Ren Er was caught off guard by her words. Without waiting for her breath to settle, she hurriedly asked, "Yezhi, how did you develop such thick skin? You need to teach my daughter."
Yezhi choked; how did she have thick skin!
"Yezhi, even if you were born with thick skin, I’ll still entrust my daughter to you!"
"Pah! Pah! Pah! Who’s born with thick skin? Aunt Ren Er, are you spreading rumors?"
The two exchanged banter as they arrived at Duck House. The lively ducks weighed around five or six pounds and quacked incessantly upon seeing visitors. Spring Peach hung her head low while holding a food bowl and called out softly for her mother and Yezhi.
Yezhi affectionately stood next to Spring Peach. "Spring Peach, I’m here to buy duck eggs!"
Now, the Duck House can collect over 200 duck eggs every day. The Cart Master sends their Transport Team's cart to the Commune to sell them every seven days, and all the money from the egg sales is recorded in the team’s account, with an agreement to distribute one cent per month.
Aunt Ren Er and the new Duck House manager, Zhou Laiwang, not only earn public points but also receive salaries. Aunt Ren Er is the second-largest contractor of wasteland in the village after Yezi's family. She has long handed over the duck-raising business to Spring Peach. Despite Spring Peach being introverted, she is far more capable than Yezhi.
Spring Peach didn’t respond and went into the Duck House to collect 100 duck eggs and put them in a basket, handing it to her. Just as Aunt Ren Er was about to thank her, Spring Peach turned and left. Aunt Ren Er was furious and chased after Spring Peach into the Duck House, scolding, “You little brat, what are you doing…!”
Yezhi couldn’t figure out where she had offended Spring Peach or why Spring Peach was becoming increasingly cold towards her.
Aunt Ren Er dragged Spring Peach out to apologize, but Spring Peach refused. She stood awkwardly in place, shoved the money for the duck eggs into Aunt Ren Er's hands, grabbed the eggs, and ran away.
Back home, she washed and dried the duck eggs, soaked them in strong liquor, and wrapped them in salt. Xiao Fan, Wolf Child, and Zhou Xiaomu found it amusing; 100 duck eggs were not enough for the three of them to play with salt.
Outside the yard, the sound of a cart approached. Her eyelids twitched; it wouldn’t be Aunt Sun coming again, would it? Just as she thought this, she heard the Cart Master shout, “Yezi, I have a letter for you!”
Ignoring the Cart Master’s half-smiling gaze and the bundled newspapers, Yezhi snatched the letter and eagerly opened it.
The letter was written by Xiaobinzi. Thanks to selling duck eggs every seven days, correspondence from Zhoujiatun no longer piled up to be sent once a month; the Cart Master had become Zhoujiatun's proxy messenger.
Yezhi had him subscribe to widely circulated newspapers like China Youth Daily and Workers' Daily. She initially wanted to subscribe to Young Pioneer News, which she loved as a child, but for some reason—perhaps because it hadn’t been established yet in 1981—no one seemed to know about such a famous newspaper.
The influx of information from these newspapers made Zhoujiatun no longer isolated; it kept pace with the outside world and was full of vitality. However, this was tough on Xiao Cheng, Yezi, Yu Jianhua, and Luo Fengjuan—the only four people in the village who could read all the words in the newspapers! Fortunately, One Egg, Dogzi, Er Zhu… the next generation of Zhoujiatun was working hard to learn; one day they would take over this arduous task of reading newspapers.
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