Quick Transmigration: The Cannon Fodder is Very Leisurely

The two, who had just started dating, didn't feel anything special about their time together; they just felt that time was flying by. Shen Chenyi reluctantly said goodbye to Yu Nuan.

"I'm leaving now. I'll come see you again in a couple of days if I have time." It's almost Chinese New Year, so the troops are usually not very busy. Shen Chenyi's unit is in the next town, more than forty kilometers away from where Yu Nuan is. However, the roads nowadays aren't as smooth and wide as they are in later generations.

"If you're busy, you don't need to come. Drive carefully on the road." Yu Nuan knew from the moment she agreed to Shen Chenyi's request that they would be apart more often than together in the future, and she was already prepared for that.

"Okay, go back inside! Don't catch a cold." Shen Chenyi fastened the last button on Yu Nuan's collar and gently hugged her.

"You go first, I'll watch you leave before I go inside."

Shen Chenyi looked at Yu Nuan without speaking, filled with remorse, yet powerless to change anything. He turned and resolutely got into the car, glancing back at Yu Nuan before leaving, gesturing for her to hurry back inside. Yu Nuan shook her head. Left with no other option, Shen Chenyi drove off.

It started snowing the day after Shen Chenyi left, with heavy snowfall covering the roads. Yu Nuan gazed at the white world, knowing the snow wouldn't melt for at least ten days to two weeks. Shen Chenyi definitely wouldn't be coming, and to be honest, Yu Nuan felt a pang of disappointment.

Tomorrow is Lunar New Year's Eve, and Wu Xianya and the others invited Yu Nuan to spend the holiday with them at the educated youth compound. Yu Nuan thought it would be lonely to spend the New Year alone, so she accepted Wu Xianya's invitation. This year, the pigs raised by the brigade were big and fat, and the pork distributed to the villagers was enough for everyone to have a good New Year. Yu Nuan took some pastries and cured meat sent by her parents, as well as apples that Shen Chenyi had bought for her last time. Winter fruits are especially precious and generally unavailable to most people. However, this was only true for others; because Yu Nuan had a spatial dimension, the fruits inside were not limited to any season, so she could eat whatever she wanted at any time. She just couldn't share them with her friends because she couldn't reveal their origin.

Yu Nuan didn't take the pork that the village had distributed earlier; she gave it directly to Wu Xianya. Because Yu Nuan had promised to celebrate the New Year with everyone, Wu Xianya didn't stand on ceremony with her. She prepared the fried meatballs, braised pork, and other dishes for the New Year in advance.

Yu Nuan got up early the next morning, changed into the new clothes sent by Li's mother, and went to the educated youth compound with her things. On the way, she encountered a group of children playing. They hadn't seen Yu Nuan for a long time, and they happily surrounded her. Yu Nuan took out some candy from her pocket and gave each of them an extra piece, because it was the New Year.

"Alright, you guys go have fun!"

"Thank you, Sister Yu Nuan."

"Sister Yu Nuan is so kind, the candy is so sweet."

The children received their favorite candies and happily thanked Yu Nuan.

Walking through the village, Yu Nuan watched as wisps of smoke rose from every house, and the air was filled with the aroma of food. Yu Nuan took a deep breath, hoping that everything would be better next year.

When we arrived at the educated youth compound, everyone was busy.

Li Yu was chopping firewood in the yard, which would be needed for cooking later. Seeing Yu Nuan arrive, he quickly helped carry the things Yu Nuan was carrying inside. He said to Yu Nuan, "You're all here, why did you bring so much stuff?"

"We're all celebrating the New Year together, I can't just eat for free! These were all sent to me by my parents, it's more fun if we all share them." Yu Nuan didn't care whether she had taken too much.

Li Yu treated Yu Nuan like her own younger sister, and smiled helplessly, "You!"

Hearing Zhang Nana's loud voice coming from the kitchen, Yu Nuan told Li Yu to take the things back and went straight to the kitchen herself.

As soon as Yu Nuan entered the kitchen, she heard Zhang Nana shouting at Sun Xiaobing, "Don't put so much firewood in! Look, my mushrooms are all fried too hard."

"I understand, I will definitely pay attention."

"I've told you so many times, can you even do it?" Even after Sun Xiaobing admitted his mistake, Zhang Nana wouldn't let him off the hook and kept nagging.

Yu Nuan, unable to bear Zhang Nana's relentless nagging any longer, stepped forward and interrupted her. "Alright, she'll be more careful next time. I'll start the fire for you. Sun Xiaobing, get up."

"Yu Nuan, you're here." Zhang Nana was happy to see Yu Nuan and wanted to hug her, but Yu Nuan quickly reached out to stop her. Zhang Nana was covered in flour, her hands and clothes were sticky with it.

"I heard you bullying Sun Xiaobing as soon as I walked in. You're just taking advantage of his quiet nature," Yu Nuan said with a smile. Then she patted Sun Xiaobing on the shoulder: "I'll start the fire."

"No need, no need, I can do it," Sun Xiaobing refused repeatedly.

Zhang Nana disagreed with Yu Nuan's statement and threatened Sun Xiaobing, saying, "Sun Xiaobing, have I bullied you?"

"No," Sun Xiaobing replied with a doting smile to Zhang Nana.

"Look, Sun Xiaobing already said no."

Yu Nuan also saw the doting look in Sun Xiaobing's eyes and suddenly realized how oblivious she had been. They'd been together for so long, and Yu Nuan hadn't noticed a single clue. "So the clown was actually me. I was just being nosy," Yu Nuan teased Zhang Nana.

“That’s right, they’re both willing to hit and willing to be hit. Didn’t you see we ignored them?” Wu Xianya chimed in from the side.

Zhang Nana blushed deeply, embarrassed by their words. "You're skipping lunch today, hurry up and cook!"

"What are you all doing? Do you need my help?" Yu Nuan looked around and saw that the stove was full of food. She didn't know what everyone was preparing to cook.

"No need for you, we've almost finished cooking everything. For lunch today, we'll make fried mushrooms, fried potato slices, pork stew with vermicelli, stir-fried cabbage with cured pork, and steamed buns and mantou (steamed bread rolls) are ready too. We'll heat them up when we eat. We'll also have an egg drop soup. That should be enough for us." Wu Xianya gave Yu Nuan a brief introduction to the lunch menu.

These things are still somewhat bittersweet compared to later generations, but this is the most abundant meal everyone could possibly prepare.

Yu Nuan realized that Wu Xianya had indeed done most of what she asked for, and didn't need her help anymore. She left the kitchen and wandered around the yard, but couldn't find Wang Gang or Wu Jun. Yu Nuan knew Wang Yang had taken leave to go home, and she didn't know when he would return, or if he would ever come back. Yu Nuan overheard Zhang Nana saying that his family seemed to have used some connections to help him return to the city. Yu Nuan didn't care about any of that.

"Brother Li, where did Wang Gang and Brother Wu go? Why can't we see them?"

"They went up the mountain. A few days ago, Wang Gang dug a trap on the mountain to see if he could catch some small animals. The two of them left early this morning to check on the trap."

"Oh, with such heavy snow, there probably won't be much to be gained."

"It's hard to say. It's just that the snow is heavy that the animals come out to forage," Li Yu explained to Yu Nuan.