Chapter 135: Disputes Gradually Arise

Yun Yingying dizzily and vaguely reviewed the steps once more following Han Li's instructions, but the feeling that she had been tricked seemed even stronger this time.

"No, you must be lying to me. I'm never helping you like this again."

Han Li pulled Yun Yingying over to sit on his lap, wrapped his arms around her waist, and said softly, "How could I ever bear to deceive you? This is just a necessary process between lovers."

"I'm not listening, I'm not listening."

"I'll tell you a little secret, do you want to hear it?"

"What secret?"

"I found a wonderful, very secluded shelter deep in the mountains, though it's still being improved right now. In a couple of days, let's find an excuse to shake off your sister, and I'll take you hunting. We can spend the night there and experience what it's like to live deep in the mountains. How does that sound?"

"Really?"

"Of course it's real."

"But what am I going to tell my sister?"

"Once the heavy snow starts, it will be easy to explain, because it's completely normal to go into the mountains and not come back for two or three days at that time of year."

"Then let's get it straight first—we're going hunting, and I am definitely not helping you with that kind of busywork from earlier."

"Don't worry, I'll listen to you in everything."

Perhaps because Yun Yingying had studied for too long just now, or perhaps because Yun Jingjing and the others hadn't walked very far before turning back.

Just as the two of them were sitting together whispering stories, the voices of the group echoed from outside the courtyard gate.

Hearing this, Yun Yingying jumped straight off Han Li's lap, her hands flying across her clothes to tidy herself up.

Han Li picked up a book and tossed it to the side, then grabbed another one, leaned back against the wall, and slowly began flipping through the pages.

The moment Yun Yingying grabbed her book and sat down on the edge of the brick bed, Yun Jingjing and the others pushed the door open and walked in.

Han Li: "Oh, back so soon? You couldn't have just taken a stroll around the entrance of the village and come right back, could you?"

"You two are certainly dedicated to your reading. The weather has completely changed outside now; the wind feels like you're not wearing any clothes at all."

Hao Hongmin felt a bit helpless at Yang Xiuying's increasingly bold and unrestrained way of speaking. At that moment, Yun Jingjing chimed in:

"Just as we got up to the mountain, we ran into the aunts from the village heading back. They said that once the wind starts blowing like this, it's going to get colder day by day. If it suddenly starts raining or snowing tonight, the vegetables in the fields will be ruined, so everyone thought we should come back and help you harvest the vegetables in your courtyard first."

He Mi smiled and said, "We didn't plant any vegetables in our courtyard this year, so we'll help you and Hongmin harvest yours in a bit. You two have to promise to share your vegetables with Zhaodi and me this winter."

"That is absolutely not a problem."

"Well, what are we waiting for then? Let's all pitch in and harvest the vegetables together." Yun Jingjing pulled her younger sister aside and asked, "What's wrong with your voice? It was a bit hoarse this morning, and I thought it was just because you got up early, but now it sounds even hoarser than this morning."

Yun Yingying: "...Ahem, ahem. Maybe I ate too many badger-filled dumplings at noon."

"Then you need to drink plenty of water later."

Some of them began chopping napa cabbage and digging up radishes in the courtyard, while others set aside certain vegetables meant for pickling and washed them clean with water.

Han Li built a temporary wooden rack in the yard and hung the washed vegetables on it to dry.

Following local customs, the villagers planted tall-stalk napa cabbage. After harvesting, they would dry these cabbages on top of walls, window sills, or the ground until they softened, at which point they could be pickled.

The rack Han Li built not only saved space but also kept the vegetables clean, and when they were no longer needed, it could be burned as firewood.

After finishing the rack for his own yard, he built one for Hao Hongmin's yard as well.

Once both racks were completed, Han Li tried to join in and help dig up the vegetables, but everyone urged him back.

"Han Li, you stay out of it. You need to rest more right now."

"That's right. Go back inside and read, or go out and chat with people. There aren't that many vegetables in the yard anyway, the few of us will finish harvesting them in no time."

Han Li: "Well, in that case, I'll go trade for some sunflower seeds and roast some melon seeds for everyone to snack on later."

"Roasted melon seeds sound wonderful! I haven't had any in a long time. You go right ahead then."

Han Li packed some of the grain he had harvested from the field mouse dens into a bamboo basket, shouldered it, and walked out.

He strolled around the village, visiting almost every household he was on good terms with.

Taking advantage of the concealment provided by his decomposition space and the bamboo basket, he traded for plenty of fresh vegetables, sunflower seeds, charcoal, and other items.

He also made arrangements with Auntie Zhao to ask for her help in pickling sour cabbage in a few days. The matter of making sour cabbage was quite strange.

During this time, Han Li had traded for sour cabbage with almost every household in the village, but only Auntie Zhao's tasted the best, a fact universally acknowledged by the other villagers.

Joking around, Han Li had once asked the other village aunts why they didn't go learn from Auntie Zhao.

Almost all of them gave the exact same excuse: everyone used the exact same method to pickle sour cabbage, yet their own batches simply didn't taste as good as Auntie Zhao's. Because of this, they often took flak from the men in their families.

This was likely a matter of natural talent and personal touch, but since the villagers couldn't figure it out, Han Li didn't want to waste his brainpower on it either.

When Han Li returned after his extensive rounds, the courtyard was empty, and the sounds of the others chatting drifted over from Hao Hongmin's yard.

Most of the vegetables in his yard had been placed on the racks for future pickling, while a small portion was left beneath the windowsills. After losing a little moisture in the sun, these would be stored in the cellar.

Han Li brought out the charcoal and arranged it neatly, then took the basket of sunflower seeds to the outer kitchen to prepare for roasting.

Han Li had never roasted melon seeds before, but he owed his messy collection of miscellaneous skills to short videos he had watched in the past—he hadn't learned a single genuinely useful thing, but his head was full of random trivia.

There were many methods for roasting melon seeds in his mind, but since Han Li wanted to eat them as soon as possible, he chose the most direct and brutal approach.

First, Han Li boiled the melon seeds in water seasoned with salt, fennel, and other spices.

Once they were cooked through, he removed them from the heat, let them sit for a moment, and began dry-roasting them in a wok.

At this stage, the fire in the stove had to be kept very low, and the seeds in the wok needed to be constantly stirred.

Moreover, this process would take a very, very long time, and a single moment of inattention could ruin the entire batch of seeds.

If not for his psychic energy acting as a cheat code, he might not have been able to pull it off successfully.

When the fragrant, roasted melon seeds finally came out of the wok, Han Li even felt a lingering urge to keep roasting more.

However, glancing at his watch, he realized it was almost time to cook dinner, so he would just have to satisfy that craving another time.

With nothing else to do, Han Li leaned against the brick bed to read, and as dusk approached, Yun Yingying came running over.

"Han Li, Sister Hongmin invited us to eat at her place tonight. She asked me to come back and let you know."

"Eating over there? They just helped us harvest all the vegetables in our yard, it would feel so embarrassing to go eat at their house."

"My sister and I both said the same thing, but Sister Hongmin said she wanted to thank you for the fish last time, and that she hopes you'll take them fishing again when you have time."

"Well, then take some meat over to add to the dishes. I'll head over once the food is ready."

"Mm. But you should light the kerosene lamp if you're going to read, otherwise it'll strain your eyes. There isn't even a place to get glasses fitted in the countryside."

Yun Yingying first lit the stable lamp for Han Li, then grabbed a cut of meat and headed over to Hao Hongmin's house.

Everyone had dinner at Hao Hongmin's place that evening, and after finishing the meal, they all returned to their respective homes.

Because Yun Yingying had woken up far too early that day and had also endured the exhausting double shift as a "milkmaid" during the afternoon, she was showing clear signs of fatigue. Feeling a pang of pity, Han Li told her to head back and rest early. He whispered a couple of sweet secrets into her ear before letting her go home alongside Yun Jingjing.

Upon returning home, Han Li fed the dogs, walked them, wrote two letters to his family, read for a little while on the brick bed, and went to sleep.

The next day, the wind blew all night, making the weather feel even colder.

True to form, Han Li got up early from the brick bed, though this time he skipped his workout in the courtyard.

He strapped on his knife, secured his crossbow, patted the dogs on the head, picked up his bamboo basket, and stepped outside.

Running wildly through the mountain wilderness, fluctuating up and down in elevation, actually yielded better results than working out in a courtyard, and he could easily complete a portion of his routine training while running.

As the sun crested the horizon, Han Li arrived at his second secret base.

First, he retrieved the decomposed wild boar meat, tied it securely, and tossed it into the stream to rinse. Then, he moved the rubble aside and continued improving his hideout.

This time, Han Li wouldn't be as reckless as before; that prolonged, drunken-like sensation was far too uncomfortable. Whenever he felt he was reaching his limit, he would stop and rest.

During his breaks, however, he began making cured meat. Using decomposed wooden boards, he constructed a large basin, fished the wild boar meat out of the stream, placed it inside, and added various seasonings to marinate. Once marinated, he would hang it up to air-dry for about a week to complete the cured meat.

While recovering his mental energy, he even went fishing by the mountain pool, cooking up a large pot of fish with flatbreads stuck around the rim of the pot—a truly satisfying meal.

Furthermore, when the educated youths went to apply for their quotas yesterday, Han Li learned that because there were no large lakes or rivers near Upper River Village, the fish in the local streams didn't amount to much. Consequently, catching a fish or two could be done openly without any need for secrecy or concealment.

While Han Li was busy working on his secret base in the mountains, the village committee office was once again filled with the sounds of heated arguments.

Village Head Zhao and Brigade Leader Liang had only promised Sun Yong and the others yesterday that they would give the qualified educated youths a fair chance to compete.

However, Upper River Village's committee also held positions such as sub-team leaders, accountants, women's federation directors, and militia captains.

When it came to major matters involving their own relatives securing worker statuses, they were entirely unwilling to step back even half a pace.

If policies allowed, they would have loved to keep every single quota right here in Upper River Village; even if it ultimately went to someone else's relative, it was still better than letting the educated youths take them.

However, policies prohibited such actions. Therefore, in the villagers' minds, yielding a single quota was already the absolute limit, yet these educated youths actually wanted to snatch away half of them—something they found completely unacceptable.