The night was exceptionally quiet. There was a field in front of her house too, and the frogs in it kept croaking, making her even more nervous.
Qin Du's family had a watchdog, but it was very familiar with her. Seeing her tiptoeing over, it didn't bark, but merely narrowed its eyes and wagged its tail.
Ji Zhaoxi leaned against the window of Qin Du's house, peering through the crack. Suddenly, the dog licked her, startling her so much she almost cried out.
"Don't lick me!" she scolded in a low whisper.
She continued to crouch there and peek. The pot on the stove was empty, the cabinet was full of bowls, and there were no dishes in sight. The room was very dark, making it hard for her to see.
Finally, she spotted a small basin filled with water. A bowl sat in the basin, covered by another bowl.
That had to be the meat, no doubt about it.
She was craving it terribly. Looking at the dog beside her, she couldn't help but feel that it ate better and looked sturdier than she did.
Was she really going to steal meat? This was too humiliating. Did she, Ji Zhaoxi, have no shame left? If she were caught, she felt she would never be able to hold her head up again in this lifetime.
Ji Zhaoxi swallowed hard and thought again: What is pride? Can pride feed you? When you can't even get enough to eat, why care about a little bit of pride?
Dying for a bite of pork head meat would at least make her a well-fed ghost!
But... if she were discovered, she would be publicly criticized and denounced...
Ji Zhaoxi was so anxious her eyes turned red. She leaned against the door, looking through the crack, but her vision suddenly went black.
The next second, the door was pulled open forcefully. Ji Zhaoxi stumbled forward and crashed heavily into something as hard as a wall. Her forehead instantly turned red.
Her breath hitched. She didn't dare look up, her entire body freezing in place.
She was trembling all over with fear. The image of Chen Yiping being pinned to the ground and beaten flashed through her mind, making it increasingly difficult to breathe.
Qin Du looked at her in silence. The corners of her eyes were tinged with red, looking as if she were on the verge of tears. Her shoulders trembled slightly in fear; she looked completely terrified.
The big dog stretched and wandered around the two of them. Its large tail brushed against Ji Zhaoxi's leg, draining the color from her face.
Hearing the commotion, Mother Qin called out.
Qin Du didn't say a word.
Mother Qin seemed to realize something. "Is that the younger sister from the Ji family?"
Ji Zhaoxi bit her lip, keeping her head down and saying nothing.
The frogs in the field croaked even louder. Ji Zhaoxi couldn't hear anything else at this point; she just stood there in sheer embarrassment.
"Yes," Qin Du finally spoke.
Mother Qin's tone carried a hint of a smile. "Son, give the girl some meat to eat. She's still growing."
Ji Zhaoxi's tears began to fall drop by drop. Earlier, she had told Mother Qin not to tell anyone that she had saved her, afraid of being implicated.
Yet here they were, offering her meat. How could she be so bad?
"I won't eat it," Ji Zhaoxi choked out.
Saying that, she turned to leave.
Qin Du frowned and grabbed her collar. Ji Zhaoxi froze for a moment before angrily pushing him away. "Don't pull my clothes!"
Teardrops still hung on her eyelashes. One second she was crying, and the next she was angry.
Qin Du had long witnessed Ji Zhaoxi's ability to change moods in an instant, so he wasn't surprised. He simply handed her the bowl from the basin and said in a low voice, "It was set aside for you."
It wasn't leftovers.
Smelling the aroma of the meat, Ji Zhaoxi's stomach instantly rumbled with hunger. She hesitated about whether to take it, but Qin Du just placed the bowl on the stone stool by the door and shut her outside.
The big dog circled her, affectionately nudging her while drooling non-stop.
Ji Zhaoxi ended up hugging the bowl to her chest and snorted at the big black dog. "I'm not giving you any. You eat way more meat than I do normally."
As soon as she got home, Ji Zhaoxi immediately picked up a piece with her chopsticks. It was stir-fried in lard. Ji Zhaoxi had never felt so happy in her life.
She hurried into the room and nudged Ji Zhuxin. Ji Zhuxin woke up groggily, "What's wrong, sis?"
"Sis, eat some meat!" Ji Zhaoxi looked at her with bright eyes.
Ji Zhuxin sobered up instantly. "Where did this meat come from?"
Ji Zhaoxi looked at her a bit guiltily. "From Qin Du's house."
Ji Zhuxin's expression changed at once. She was both angry and heartbroken. Seeing Ji Zhaoxi like this, she knew exactly what had just happened.
She let out a deep sigh. "How many times has your sister told you to stay away from their family?"
From now on, they wouldn't send any more meat to Educated Youth Xie and the others; they would keep it for themselves.
The next day, Ji Zhuxin went to the village chief's house to get some meat and returned it to Qin Du's family.
Although it couldn't compare to Qin Du's bowl of pork head meat, at least it was a gesture of repayment.
Since they couldn't send meat anymore, they would send pickled vegetables and snacks instead.
The pickled vegetables Ji Zhuxin made were incredibly delicious. Whenever there was an event in the village, Ji Zhuxin would prepare pickled vegetables in advance, and everyone loved eating them.
Ji Zhaoxi hadn't even rested for two days before Ji Zhuxin asked her to go deliver pickled vegetables again.
"You must watch them finish it. Don't come home with an empty bowl, you hear me!"
Ji Zhaoxi's face was full of reluctance.
When she arrived at the educated youth compound, the group of educated youths was sitting under a big tree cooling off. Just as she was about to walk over, she heard them discussing her.
"Isn't she just a village girl? Old Xie, you're not really going to get together with a village girl, are you?"
Someone nearby mocked, "One is Qin Du, the other is Ji Zhaoxi. These two are really something, both toads lusting after swan meat. I think they're actually quite a good match."
Educated Youth Xie listened in silence, his fingers turning white as he gripped the pages of his book.
"Old Xie, I'm just saying, if your dad finds out you've hooked up with a village girl in Xinniu Village, he'll definitely break your legs."
"Exactly, Old Xie. Don't be bought off by their petty favors. Marriage is a lifelong commitment."
Educated Youth Xie kept his head down and muttered, "I never took what her sister said seriously. I can't help it if they keep clinging to me."
The educated youth next to him sneered, "I really don't want to stay here anymore."
Ji Zhaoxi was so angry her face turned bright red. She slammed her basket heavily onto the ground and ran straight into the courtyard.
The educated youths in the courtyard panicked the moment they saw her and hurriedly stood up. Educated Youth Xie's eyes also flashed with sudden panic.
"You!" Ji Zhaoxi pointed at the man who had just called her a toad. "You're the toad! Look at all that stuff on your face, it disgusts me so much I lose my appetite."
"And you, with your beady little eyes, you have the nerve to talk about me? My dog's eyes are bigger than yours."
"You, sausage lips and four-eyes! You're ugly and short, yet you have the cheek to call me a village girl. You ugly freak, stay the hell away from me!"
The educated youths in the yard were so angry they could barely breathe. Just as they were about to retort, Ji Zhaoxi grabbed a nearby shovel and started throwing the plant ash from the ground directly onto them. The youths cursed and dodged, leaving the entire courtyard in total chaos.
Ji Zhaoxi had never been spoken about like this before.
So what if they knew how to read a few words? Big deal!
Looking at the pickled vegetables in the box, Ji Zhaoxi wiped away her tears. Her sister had worked so hard to make these.
She sat down on the ridge of the field, planning to eat them all before going home.
