Reborn in 72, I hunt to support my family and spoil my younger sister rotten.

After drinking the soup and warming up, Li Xiangyang prepared the venison, dividing it into several large pieces and marinating it. He then began to plan his next steps.

There are indeed many valuable parts of a deer, but in those days, illegally selling them in the city could easily lead to criticism and persecution.

Thinking of this, Li Xiangyang remembered Captain Zhou from the forest farm.

"Mom, I have to go to the forest farm tomorrow," Li Xiangyang said to his mother while tidying up the cutting board.

"Going to the forest farm again?" Li's mother asked with some concern. "You child, be careful not to go too often, or people will dislike you."

"It's alright. I'm familiar with Captain Zhou from the forest farm. It's safest to exchange these things for some supplies with him."

When Li Xiangyang said this, he already had a plan in mind.

These days, the forest farms get a lot of things.

Perhaps we can get some cotton cloth or other scarce supplies from Captain Zhou.

"Then be careful on your journey," Li's mother sighed.

Since her husband passed away, she has always had an inexplicable worry about her children going into the mountains.

"Mom, don't worry," Li Xiangyang reassured her with a smile, "I'm not like I used to be."

The next morning, Li Xiangyang prepared deer antlers, deer genitals, deer tendons, deer heart, and some high-quality venison, wrapped them in oil paper, and put them in his satchel.

"Brother, are you going to the forest farm so early?" Li Xiaohua, who was getting ready for school, asked from the yard.

"Okay, I'll be right back." Li Xiangyang patted his sister's head. "You go to school like a good girl, and I'll bring you something nice when I come back."

"What good stuff is it?"

"You'll find out when the time comes." Li Xiangyang smiled indulgently.

The weather was unusually nice; the sun rose very early in the morning.

In the threshing ground of Xiaoliang Village, a group of educated youth are drying mountain produce.

Pieces of black fungus and matsutake mushrooms glistened in the sunlight.

It's rare for it not to snow today, and the sun is shining so brightly; it's the perfect time to dry things.

"Try looking over those wood ear mushrooms; these mountain delicacies are quite valuable," someone shouted.

Li Xiangyang walked out with his satchel on his back. Just as he reached the village entrance, he heard laughter and chatter coming from the threshing ground.

"Li Xiangyang!" Zhang Li, holding a bamboo rake and turning over dried wood ear mushrooms, greeted him from afar, "The sun is so nice today, aren't you going hunting?"

"No, I have something to do today," Li Xiangyang said with a wave of his hand as a greeting.

As the two were talking, a group of people walked over from the educated youth compound.

Su Yan and Wang Ming were walking in front, followed by several other educated youths, all carrying buckets, probably going to the well to break the ice and fetch water.

The sunlight shone on the snow, dazzlingly bright.

Li Xiangyang narrowed his eyes, about to walk forward, when Su Yan suddenly threw down the bucket, pointed at Wang Ming, and said sternly, "Comrade Wang Ming, you've caused me to fall out with Comrade Li Xiangyang. Please stay away from me in the future; I'm afraid Xiangyang will misunderstand."

The educated youth around immediately stopped what they were doing and all looked in this direction.

Zhang Li's bamboo rake stopped in mid-air, her face full of surprise.

Li Xiangyang sneered inwardly.

What a convenient excuse, "I'm afraid Xiangyang will misunderstand," as if we're actually related!

These days, ambiguous relationships between men and women are no laughing matter.

Immediately, Li Xiangyang, who had initially intended to ignore it, stopped and quietly watched the two put on their act.

"Comrade Su Yan, why are you doing this? I have no improper thoughts about you; I'm just trying to help you in the spirit of mutual assistance..."

As he spoke, he approached Li Xiangyang, his tone becoming increasingly sincere, "Comrade Li Xiangyang, please listen to my explanation, there really is nothing between me and Comrade Su Yan."

“Yes, Xiangyang,” Su Yan wiped away non-existent tears from the corner of her eye, “I was wrong before, I neglected you. You know, women have those few days every month…”

Li Xiangyang weighed the bag in his hand and said calmly, "Finished? If you're done, it's my turn to talk. I don't care what your relationship with Wang Ming is. I reiterate, we have no relationship, not before, and certainly not in the future."

His resolute statement stunned everyone present.

Even the educated youth who were drying wood ear mushrooms stopped what they were doing.

Su Yan's face stiffened, but she quickly forced a smile: "Xiangyang, don't be angry. I know you still care about me. Look, isn't this bringing me..."

As she spoke, she reached for Li Xiangyang's handbag.

Li Xiangyang took a step back and said coldly, "Comrade Su Yan, please have some self-respect. I'll reiterate once again, we have nothing to do with each other anymore. Whether you and Wang Ming are trying to start a relationship or stage a charade to distance yourselves, please don't drag me into it."

"You..." Su Yan's face turned pale, clearly not expecting Li Xiangyang to be so disrespectful.

Li Xiangyang turned and left, leaving Su Yan, who had been humiliated in public, with an extremely unpleasant expression.

After waiting for a while, and seeing that no one was paying attention, Wang Ming leaned close to Su Yan and whispered, "This method doesn't seem to be working; we need to think of another way."

"Shut up!" Su Yan glared at Wang Ming fiercely.

How could she not be anxious when Li Xiangyang, such a good meal ticket, suddenly disappeared?

But she couldn't afford to turn against Wang Ming at this moment, so she could only awkwardly say, "I'm tired," and then picked up the bucket and left.

"These two are shameless. What's wrong with openly announcing they're together? Who are they trying to disgust with this whole charade? They've already made it clear they'll stay away from each other from now on. If Zhang Li hadn't stopped them, I would have reported them..."

Upon seeing this, the person who had previously wanted to report it couldn't help but mutter something.

The sound was neither too loud nor too soft, just enough for the people around to hear.

Several female educated youths who were drying wood ear mushrooms nodded in agreement.

In this day and age, everyone strives for progress and pays attention to ideological awareness.

No one cares about free love, but Su Yan's behavior of having two relationships at the same time and playing with people's feelings is truly despicable.

"Hey, what kind of person is he! Our great comrade said men and women are equal. Tell me, how can anyone make a living by trying to please male comrades?"

A female educated youth with a red hair tie said indignantly.

As she spoke, she glanced at Wang Ming and Su Yan's retreating figures and pursed her lips, "Those two have really disgraced all of us educated youth."

“That’s right,” another female educated youth chimed in. “Have you noticed? Whenever someone has something good, Su Yan goes to them. Last month, when the educated youth were counting and distributing pork, she even went to curry favor with Master Liu, who was distributing the meat.”

"Sigh, it's a good thing Li Xiangyang is so magnanimous," Zhang Li sighed, continuing to turn over the dried wood ear mushrooms. "If you ask me, we should avoid associating with people like that in the future."

Several male educated youths listened silently to the scene, their faces showing disdain.

One of them couldn't help but say, "Those two are a perfect match. You don't know, do you? Wang Ming is even worse. All he does is flatter and fawn. And when his father was imprisoned, he wrote a letter to distance himself from him. A man who doesn't even want his own father..."

"Exactly! In terms of moral character, Wang Ming and Li Xiangyang are worlds apart. Li Xiangyang may have been born in the countryside and didn't have much education, but look at him—for our sake, he actually agreed not to report us!"

"Exactly! He's capable, generous, and supports his family. That's the kind of role model we young people should learn from."

……