"Yun Hao."
Li Hongi walked up and stopped beside a patch of mushrooms.
"I’m looking for mushrooms too, but I haven’t found any after searching for so long. Do you mind if I gather so here with you?"
Yun Hao was a little surprised to see Li Hongi, but he quickly recovered and said, "Of course you can."
The things on Daqing Mountain weren’t his, after all. Anyone who wanted to pick them could.
Li Hongi was overjoyed. She imdiately squatted down and began picking mushrooms.
As she picked, she secretly sized up Yun Hao.
She had to admit, while Yun Hao’s face wasn’t as handso as Leng Yuan’s, he had the refined, scholarly air of an educated man that naturally made people like him.
’I must have been blind before, not liking this well-read type. To think I actually liked a rough country fellow like Leng Yuan. I was simply out of my mind.’
’Thankfully, I’m all better now and back to normal.’
Just a short while ago, Li Hongi had been blaming herself for giving Gu Jiaojiao that terrible idea to get tied to Leng Yuan. Now, she was incredibly glad she’d co up with it.
If Gu Jiaojiao hadn’t married Leng Yuan, she’d still be pestering Yun Hao now, which would an one more rival for her.
At this thought, she couldn’t help but pat herself on the back for her own brilliance.
’Li Hongi, you’re amazing.’
Being stared at by Li Hongi with such a strange expression made Yun Hao uncomfortable all over. He stood up abruptly.
"I’ve gathered enough. I’m heading out now."
With that, he walked away quickly.
Li Hongi was speechless.
’I had just pumped myself up, ready to make my move on Yun Hao, and he just ran off?’
She looked at the mushrooms all over the ground.
’Oh well, I might as well just pick mushrooms!’
’We all live at the Educated Youth Station. There’ll be plenty of opportunities.’
With that in mind, Li Hongi picked all the mushrooms. It wasn’t much, though. After filling half her basket, she headed deeper into the woods.
Gu Jiaojiao had gathered so chestnuts. She could only pick the ones low on the trees; she couldn’t climb, so she had no way of getting the ones higher up.
Still, her sack was already nearly full.
Leng Yuan knew she wasn’t very strong, so he had attached four wooden wheels to the bottom of the sack. The wheels were diamond-shaped and as big as a person’s head, allowing the sack to roll smoothly even on the uneven mountain paths.
Now, she could pull over two hundred pounds of chestnuts without any difficulty.
Besides chestnuts, she had gathered so mushrooms and found two nests of wild eggs in the grass, thirteen or fourteen in total. She could make sweet and sour eggs for dinner.
They were delicious and went well with rice.
As she was thinking about this and preparing to head down the mountain, she happened to run into Li Hongi, who was heading up.
Gu Jiaojiao turned to avoid her, but Li Hongi, in a complete reversal of her previous attitude, bead with a wide smile.
"Jiaojiao, let’s make up!"
"I was wrong about what happened before. I already regret it, and I apologize."
Gu Jiaojiao gave her a strange look.
She thought Li Hongi was crazy, and not just a little.
"Li Hongi, if you’re sick, go see a doctor. I have no interest in making up with you."
"Excuse , thanks."
With that, Gu Jiaojiao pulled her chestnuts and walked past Li Hongi.
Li Hongi didn’t take offense.
She used to be jealous of Gu Jiaojiao, not only because she was beautiful but also because she got to marry Leng Yuan. That was why she had always opposed her.
Now, she had higher aspirations. Gu Jiaojiao had married a country bumpkin. No matter how pretty she was, they would no longer be in the sa world. Arguing with Gu Jiaojiao would be beneath her.
With a cold snort, she skipped off happily to gather wild vegetables.
’I have to take good care of myself and look beautiful on the day I marry Yun Hao.’
’I’ll even make a special trip to invite Gu Jiaojiao to the wedding banquet. The look on her face will surely be priceless.’
The thought of the man Gu Jiaojiao had desperately wanted but could never have ending up with her instead filled her with utter delight.
"The waters of Lake Hong, oh! The waves do roll and roll..."
Gu Jiaojiao hadn’t gone far when she heard Li Hongi’s singing from behind her.
For a mont, she felt like the mountain might be haunted. She imdiately grabbed her chestnuts and hurried away.
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