There was nothing wrong with Zhou Cheng’s words.

Liu Yong was speechless.

Xia Xiaolan thought to herself, this man was only 20 years old – was she being pursued by a young handsome man?

Zhou Cheng’s youth reminded Xia Xiaolan of her age – she was only 18, with her best years ahead to enjoy. Xiaolan couldn’t contain her joy. The bighead carp was delicious too, and the state-run restaurant’s chef was skilled – wasn’t it natural for the waiters to be a bit proud? She thought about those time-honored establishments in the future, where even though the owners weren’t particularly pleasant, customers still flocked there.

The fish slices, thin as cicada wings, were tender without any fishy taste. Xia Xiaolan set down her chopsticks with slight regret.

Though the fish was delicious, after Zhou Cheng had spoken so earnestly, she needed to make her position clear.

“Brother Zhou, please sit down while we talk.”

Standing made things too formal as if he were asking her uncle for her hand in marriage.

“I understand your sincerity, and I’d like to share my honest thoughts… You’ve probably heard how terrible my reputation is. Some things, I need to resolve on my own. Only when I become strong can I ignore the mud others sling at me, right? I’m still living with my mother at my uncle’s house. I’m not saying this to gain your sympathy, and I know you want to help me. However, I won’t consider personal relationships for now. I hope to develop a healthy, long-term relationship from a position of independence. Thank you, Brother Zhou.”

No matter how tactfully it was said, it was still a rejection.

Kang Wei couldn’t help but shrink his neck.

He was afraid Zhou Cheng would flip the table – had Brother Cheng ever been rejected like this before?

Moreover, Brother Cheng hadn’t even minded Xia Xiaolan’s questionable reputation!

Kang Wei didn’t witness Zhou Cheng flipping any tables. Instead, after looking at Xia Xiaolan for a moment, Zhou Cheng sat down:

“I understand what you mean. We haven’t known each other long, so I’m not in a hurry. Don’t feel pressured – let’s just interact as friends would. Have some fish – the chef here has great skills!”

Kang Wei’s eyes nearly popped out.

Does he accept it?

Not angry at all?

If Kang Wei had been rejected, he certainly wouldn’t have calmly sat back down to eat fish!

However, now that Zhou Cheng and Xia Xiaolan had cleared the air, both acted quite naturally. Zhou Cheng was generous, and Xia Xiaolan wasn’t coy… Strange as it was, while Xia Xiaolan was the proudest and most alluring girl Kang Wei had ever met, despite growing up in the countryside, she possessed the straightforwardness typical of Beijing girls. No, she was different from Beijing girls – those young ladies who would speak roughly with their “ya” slang outside but act coy and ladylike in front of Zhou Cheng. Xia Xiaolan wasn’t like that – she was straightforward but very polite.

Neither servile nor arrogant.

The phrase suddenly popped into Kang Wei’s head.

A country girl, neither servile nor arrogant?

He felt he needed a bowl of fishball soup to calm himself!

Now that the two young people had cleared things up, Liu Yong couldn’t continue interfering. Besides, Zhou Cheng wouldn’t stay in Anqing County forever – he’d leave sooner or later. Liu Yong happily ate his fish. The four of them finished the entire 18-jin bighead carp. Zhou Cheng stepped out for a smoke midway through the meal and returned having already paid the bill.

Now it was Liu Yong’s turn to feel embarrassed.

“It’s no big deal, it doesn’t matter who treats whom, what matters is that everyone enjoyed the meal!” Zhou Cheng said casually – he truly didn’t lack for money.

But in this era, when people had to carefully budget even for eggs, Zhou Cheng’s generosity was extremely rare. The restaurant servers secretly watched him, thinking how wealthy this Beijing man was, wishing he could be their boyfriend!

However, seeing Xia Xiaolan, the female server couldn’t honestly say she was more attractive than her.

So stealing someone else’s potential boyfriend was out of the question.

Leaving the restaurant, Zhou Cheng asked Xia Xiaolan and Liu Yong what they planned to do next and if they needed a ride. Xia Xiaolan shook her head:

“I need to buy some things. We’ve already taken up your whole day – no need to drive us.”

Cars burned fuel, and it was hard to go from luxury back to simplicity. Xia Xiaolan had finally adapted to life in ’83; she wasn’t ready for the luxury of being driven around yet. Zhou Cheng didn’t insist, “Well then, Uncle and Xiaolan, take care on your way home. Kang Wei and I will be staying in Anqing County for two more days – you can find us at the guesthouse if you come into town.”

Except for still calling Liu Yong “Uncle,” Zhou Cheng didn’t persist at all, truly leaving with Kang Wei while Xia Xiaolan went her separate way.

Liu Yong was smiling, but after the two were out of sight, his face suddenly turned serious:

“Those two might be smugglers, making money at knife’s edge – you never know when you might lose both life and fortune. Xiaolan, don’t let that boy’s good looks fool you with sweet talk.”

Xia Xiaolan wasn’t too surprised.

Zhou Cheng wore a Rolex and drove a Dongfeng truck with a welded steel compartment. The man carried an inexplicable air of danger about him – it wasn’t surprising that he might be involved in smuggling.

“Uncle, how did you figure that out?”

What surprised Xia Xiaolan was this – Liu Yong was just a farmer who earned money building houses and pig pens, how did he have such insight?

Uncle, are you just a mason? Buying a new bicycle, having the confidence to stand up for her and her mother… Could a mason’s wages cover all that?

Liu Yong smiled and changed the subject:

“Your uncle’s just clever, that’s all. What do you need to buy? Let’s get it done and head home early.”

Xia Xiaolan didn’t pursue the question on the street. She and Liu Yong went to the department store. Anqing County’s economy was supported by just two major factories, and the county’s department store wasn’t very large – there weren’t many customers at this time. Seeing Xia Xiaolan walk toward the fabric and clothing counter, Liu Yong thought she wanted to make new clothes.

It was natural for young girls to want new clothes.

He could afford fabric at a few yuan per meter.

But to his surprise, Xia Xiaolan went to the counter and pointed at a colorful schoolbag with an elephant design:

“Comrade, how much is this schoolbag?”

The sales clerk was knitting and didn’t even look up: “Ten yuan each, it’s from Shanghai, quite expensive.”

“I’ll take this one, please wrap it up!”

The sales clerk finally decided to look at Xia Xiaolan – she didn’t care who bought the schoolbags as long as they could pay. After Xia Xiaolan paid, she said to Liu Yong: “Let’s go, Aunt wants us home early for dinner.”

Liu Yong finally realized, “You’re not buying anything for yourself? The schoolbag is for Tao Tao? Too expensive… I think the canvas one next to it is fine. Ah, a child doesn’t need to buy a schoolbag – your aunt said she’d sew one for him!”

Though Liu Yong complained about the expense, he was pleased.

Not because Xia Xiaolan spent money, but because she was being thoughtful, considering her young cousin. Blood ties between siblings, and family members thinking of each other – life would only get better from here.

Liu Yong looked back at the plain-colored fabric at the counter, suppressing his shopping impulse – he could come back alone another time to buy it.

When uncle and niece returned to Qijing Village, Li Fengmei and Liu Fen hadn’t returned yet. Liu Yong couldn’t sit still at home and went to help in the fields. Tao Tao was overjoyed with his new schoolbag, repeatedly asking: “Sister Xiaolan, is this really for me? Really for me?”

Xia Xiaolan decided to cook first.

Truthfully, she felt quite full from the fish at lunch, so doing some work now would help with digestion.

She wasn’t familiar with the heat control of rural stoves. Though she had been poor in her previous life and cooked for herself since she was around ten, that was on a honeycomb coal stove, and later a gas stove – she had no experience with rural clay stoves. Fortunately, she had Tao Tao! Despite being only six years old, her young cousin often helped Li Fengmei tend the fire and watch the stove.

With Tao Tao’s help, Xia Xiaolan steamed rice in the smaller iron wok, with white radish cooking below the steamer, while using the other larger wok for dishes.

Li Fengmei had someone deliver half a pig liver, but Xia Xiaolan didn’t dare touch something that required such skill. However, besides the liver, they also had crucian carp and loach. Preparing loach was technically demanding – loaches had slippery mucus on their surface and were hard to grip. They needed to be washed in hot salt water before preparation… Xia Xiaolan fumbled about while Tao Tao laughed heartily at the loaches sliding all over the ground, showing no respect for his cousin.

After finally getting the loaches ready, Xia Xiaolan stir-fried them with dried chilies and tofu, covering the wok to let them slowly absorb the flavors, and then prepared the crucian carp.

The crucian carp was easier to handle. She picked some green onions from behind the house and some huo xiang leaves to make huo xiang crucian carp.

By the time the field workers returned, only the pig liver remained uncooked.

“Xiaolan has prepared all the food?”

At the Anqing County guesthouse, Zhou Cheng and Kang Wei were also discussing Xia Xiaolan.