Chapter 99

Due to the need to protect cultural relics, the Forbidden City didn’t display too many artifacts. Zhenzhen finished viewing all the exhibits in just one hour. As her consciousness extended over the entire Forbidden City, she looked at the museum’s storerooms brimming with treasures and cried out in anguish, “I chose the wrong major. I should’ve studied cultural relic restoration or archaeology. Then after I graduate, I could work here researching artifacts or excavating ancient tombs.”

Seeing Zhenzhen on the verge of tears, Xi Junjie didn’t know how to comfort her. He quietly pulled her away. “If you really like archaeology that much, maybe you can apply to switch majors?”

Zhenzhen hesitated, reluctant to give up her journalism major. She looked at Xi Junjie uncertainly. “Do you think the school would agree if I applied for another major?”

“Definitely not.” Xi Junjie shook his head. “So many majors would crush you. I know you probably enjoy a lot of subjects, but you don’t have to study everything you like. You have to learn to choose and to let go.”

“I know,” Zhenzhen said, a little disappointed. “I originally just wanted to study artifacts as a hobby, but seeing so many of them today got me a little excited.” Looking at the concern in Xi Junjie’s eyes, she leaned her head on his shoulder. “It’s fine now. I’ll just take some archaeology electives when I have time. I just feel like I’m really gifted at tomb excavation or something. It’d be a shame to waste it.”

Xi Junjie looked her up and down. “Aside from being especially pretty and especially cute, I don’t see anything extraordinary. Where’s this talent of yours?”

Zhenzhen laughed and playfully glared at him. “Always finding roundabout ways to compliment me. But even so, I’m not going to tell you about my amazing talent.”

Watching the smile she couldn’t suppress, Xi Junjie put his arm around her shoulder with a smile. “Alright. If you really want to study archaeology, why not drop your French major courses? You only want to learn the language, right? I can teach you—it’s enough.”

Zhenzhen immediately shook her head. Xi Junjie couldn’t help but chuckle as he pinched her earlobe. “You just can’t give up the chance to attend class with me, huh?”

Zhenzhen slipped and nearly fell over. Xi Junjie quickly caught her, breaking into a cold sweat. “Even if I hit the mark, you don’t need to react that dramatically.”

Zhenzhen gave him a half-exasperated, half-amused slap. “You’ve got some nerve.”

The winter sun was setting quickly. Just moments ago, it had been hanging high in the sky, and now only its glow remained. The palace bathed in sunset had a kind of timeworn beauty that made the weight of history feel all the more profound. Xi Junjie took out his camera and, while Zhenzhen admired the sunset, snapped photos of her from various angles and positions. Only after finishing a whole roll of film did he reluctantly put the camera away.

“Can these be developed in color?” Zhenzhen asked curiously.

In this era, even photos taken at professional studios were mostly black and white. But Zhenzhen felt that today’s scenery was so beautiful—it would be a shame if they weren’t in color.

Xi Junjie smiled at her. “Whether the photos are in black and white or color doesn’t depend on the developing technique, but on the film.” He slung his backpack over his shoulder and lifted his lips into a small smile. “Luckily I brought color film today. Otherwise, you’d have been disappointed.”

By the time they left the Forbidden City, it was already getting dark. At the bus stop, Xi Junjie asked her softly, “Do you want to eat at home or go out?”

Zhenzhen hesitated. “Are there any good places to eat nearby?”

“I know a noodle place run by the Qin Province office in the capital. The food’s excellent.” Seeing her interested look, he added, “The roujiamo is great, and the oil-splashed noodles are authentic. It’s not far either—we can walk home after eating.”

“Then what are we waiting for? Of course we have to go!” Zhenzhen touched her belly, already imagining the rumbling. The last time she had roujiamo was probably back in college in her previous life.

The bus ride only took about ten minutes. Inside a small courtyard sat a sizable building with a sign at the entrance reading “Qin Province Liaison Office in the Capital.” As they pushed aside the heavy curtain at the door, a server came over to open the door for them and, in a thick Qin Province accent, asked, “What would you like to eat?”

Roujiamo, Shaanxi cold noodles, lamb stew with flatbread, oil-splashed noodles… Seeing the familiar names on the menu, Zhenzhen almost drooled—she wanted to eat everything!

The two of them huddled over the menu and debated for a while before finally deciding on two bowls of lamb soup, two roujiamo, one plate of oil-splashed noodles, and one plate of Qishan-style minced noodles. The braised meat for the roujiamo had already been stewing, and the flatbread was pre-made. The chef just had to heat it up in the oven. After prepping the noodles, within ten minutes, the steaming lamb soup and other dishes were served. The server also thoughtfully brought over shredded carrots, diced onions, pickled cabbage, sweet garlic, chili oil, and fresh garlic cloves so they could mix their own flavors.

After spending the whole afternoon in the cold, Zhenzhen couldn’t wait to take a sip of the soup. It was fresh and fragrant. She then bit into the flatbread stuffed with braised meat—crispy bun, tender meat, fatty but not greasy, absolutely delicious.

The chefs at this place were all authentic Qin Province cooks, using ingredients shipped directly from the province. The food was honest and substantial. Every bite of roujiamo was full of rich braised meat. The chewiness of the bread combined with the deep flavor of the meat made her crave another bite the moment she finished one.

After finishing the roujiamo and drinking a bit more lamb soup, Zhenzhen let out a satisfied sigh.

Xi Junjie grabbed two empty bowls and split both the oil-splashed noodles and the minced noodles so they could each try more dishes. Zhenzhen had a great appetite, and the food here was particularly authentic. Within just half an hour, the two of them had cleaned off the entire table. Patting her belly, Zhenzhen sighed contentedly, “I think the happiest thing in life is eating all kinds of delicious food.”

Xi Junjie smiled and handed her a down jacket. “There’s another liaison office nearby from Xin Province. Their lamb skewers and chicken stew are amazing.”

Zhenzhen paused, scarf in hand, and looked at him hesitantly. “Maybe… we should go have some lamb skewers?”

The server cleaning the table nearly dropped the bowl in her hand, staring at Zhenzhen in disbelief. She clearly couldn’t believe a slim girl like her could still eat more after all that.

Seeing the amusement on Xi Junjie’s face, Zhenzhen burst into laughter. “Just kidding. We’ll go next time.”

By the time Zhenzhen got home, the family had already eaten. Roubao came by her room with her finished exam paper and joked, “Ever since Auntie got a boyfriend, she’s barely ever home.”

“Li Roubao, don’t give me that sneaky grin.” Without looking up, Zhenzhen marked a big red X on the paper. Roubao flinched and stretched his neck to peek. It was a math problem, and his legs went a little weak. “Auntie, I really didn’t know how to do that one, I swear it wasn’t carelessness.”

“I can tell.” Zhenzhen flipped to the next page. “Your whole problem-solving approach is wrong.”

Ever since Zhenzhen started occasionally dragging Roubao up a tree for “training,” his attention to detail in doing exercises had drastically improved. He hadn’t made a single careless mistake in two exams straight. Hanging three or four meters in the air—even knowing the branches would catch him—still made him tremble inside. Not wanting to do any more risky maneuvers, Roubao forced himself to focus more when solving problems to reduce errors.

After checking the paper, Zhenzhen saw that Roubao’s scores had improved significantly since he first arrived for the holidays. She grabbed a sheet of scratch paper and explained the problem he didn’t understand, then gave him a few similar ones to reinforce the concept. Seeing he’d grasped the method, Zhenzhen pulled open a drawer and took out a thick stack of new papers. “Finish these by tomorrow night and hand them in. There are a lot of new question types. Hope you don’t make too many mistakes.”

Roubao’s legs nearly gave out when he saw the stack. “When did you come up with all these? Are you even human?”

“Not sure I am. Maybe I’m a celestial being?” Seeing Roubao roll his eyes nonstop, Zhenzhen casually grabbed a few pine nuts and chucked them at him. “If you don’t finish them before dinner tomorrow, you’re doing an extra hundred sit-ups.”
—

In the blink of an eye, the lively Spring Festival had passed. Under Zhenzhen’s “Top Ten Tortures” training program, Roubao completed a thick pile of exercise books and countless mock exams. He even scored full marks several times. Seeing Roubao’s rapid improvement, Mingdong was so moved he nearly cried. “Sis, you’re the most reliable one in the family.”

Zhenzhen stuffed the over thirty pounds of new exercise books she’d just bought into a burlap sack and casually tossed it next to Mingdong’s luggage. “Roubao, this is your farewell gift. You’d better finish every single one of these to be worthy of the money I spent on them, you hear me?” Roubao plopped down on the sack with a strange expression, not quite sure whether to laugh or cry.

Zhenzhen ignored her and continued talking to Mingdong. “Big Brother, once you get home, start preparing for the recruitment exam at Imperial Capital Agricultural University. It’s a rare opportunity.”

But Mingdong seemed unsure. “Do you think I can pass the exam for Imperial Capital Agricultural?”

“Why not? You’re a top graduate from Dongnong! Even though you’ve been at Anbei Agricultural College these past years, both your theory and practical skills are excellent. Those farms in Anbei have all been your experimental fields. What’s there to be nervous about? If even you lack confidence, how can we expect Roubao to get into the capital?” As she spoke, Zhenzhen finished packing up the local specialty goods she’d prepared for Mingdong’s family and set them aside with a firm tone. “Just go through all the books you bought—no doubt you’ll make it.”

Guihua couldn’t help chiming in as she packed their bags. “Let’s just go for it and see what happens. If you pass, great. If not, we’re still in Anbei—no big deal.”

Hearing his wife’s words, Mingdong finally relaxed. “Guihua’s right. The older I get, the less daring I seem to be. Zhenzhen, now that people can buy their own homes, I’ve been saving my salary all these years and barely spent anything. I think I’ve got enough to buy a place. If I get hired as a teacher here, help me find a house. I’d rather not wait around for faculty housing that might not come until who knows when.”

“No problem, I’ve got you covered.” Buying property was serious business. Housing transactions were now much more flexible—new and old houses could both be bought and sold. Zhenzhen had already bought up quite a few rundown places near National University. They weren’t worth much now, but in the future, this area would be the center of the universe, where every inch of land would be gold.

August arrived in the blink of an eye. Roubao finally got accepted into a national-level finance university in the capital, and Mingdong passed the recruitment exam at Imperial Capital Agricultural University.

During the summer break, Mingdong brought his son, daughter, father-in-law, and mother-in-law all the way to the capital, even managing to bring Li Mingzhong along—no one quite knew how he got on the train.

Zhenzhen had already picked out a house near campus for Mingdong. With some savings on hand and Liu Chunhua exchanging a gold bar at the bank for cash, they bought a house near Zhenzhen and her husband. The elderly couple now had a home in the capital.

Four of Li Muwu’s five children were now in the capital. Grandma Li and Wang Sufen gave up the idea of going back to Beicha, though they occasionally felt reluctant about the large house they’d built back home. “We only lived in those three houses for less than two years. What a waste of money.” Whenever she heard this, Zhenzhen would pat Li Mingzhong’s head and smile. “Don’t worry, they’ll come in handy someday. It won’t be a waste.”
—

Although Zhenzhen used to occasionally return to Beicha to check on Li Mingzhong and cook wild chicken or rabbit for him, Grandma Li and the others hadn’t seen him for a long time. When they finally did, tears welled up in their eyes. Mingbei stroked Li Mingzhong’s shiny fur with delight, rubbing his head. “I thought you’d be too old to move, but you still look like your younger self. Dare to go hunting with me again?”

Li Mingzhong gave him a disdainful look, as if to say, “As if you could actually catch anything.”

“Still the same old attitude.” Mingbei grinned and hugged Li Mingzhong tightly. The dog struggled for a while but couldn’t break free, finally resigning himself to being cradled with a helpless expression.

Xi Junjie looked at the nearly 1.7-meter-long dog in Mingbei’s arms and turned to Zhenzhen with some admiration. “You raised this one?”

“Yup.” Zhenzhen reached out, and Li Mingzhong immediately kicked Mingbei aside and trotted over, happily lying down by her feet.

Mingbei stood up and patted the dust off himself, proudly saying to Xi Junjie, “Are there any mountains near the capital where you can hunt? It’s autumn—perfect for getting some game. My Zhenzhen and Hongzhong are both amazing hunters.”

Xi Junjie hadn’t heard anything about Zhenzhen hunting before and was curious. “Do you need to bring nets? Maybe scatter some corn to lure wild chickens and pull the net when they come?”

Zhenzhen kicked a pebble by her foot and smiled sweetly. “It’s not that complicated.”

To the southwest of the capital, there was a deep mountain range and a river that had been flowing for over a thousand years—perfect scenery for an autumn outing. After discussing it with Xi Junjie, Zhenzhen decided to invite a couple of close friends from her dorm and turn it into a group hunting and picnic trip.

Because it was a bit far, she went back to the dorm to invite people. The older students like Wei Yujin weren’t interested—they’d rather stay in and read. But the girls closer to Zhenzhen’s age—Xu Jiajia, Meng Ranxiao, and Guo Xiaoqiao—were excited and even went to the campus store to buy cookies and snacks, just in case they couldn’t catch anything and ended up starving.

The boys from Xi Junjie’s dorm got wide-eyed when they heard they’d be picnicking with girls from the Literature Department—everyone wanted to come. But the day before departure, the French teacher smilingly announced an awful bit of news: there would be a pop quiz Monday morning, and it would count toward the final grade.

Though the boys weren’t bad students, the French teacher often threw out bizarre questions. A few didn’t feel confident and, after much hesitation, chose to stay in and study. In the end, Xi Junjie brought along three others: Liu Chenglin from the Northeast, Meng Yaoxing from the capital, and Kong Xiangwu from Shandong.

It was a long way to the picnic site. The eight of them got up at five, took a small train for over an hour, then hopped on a passing horse cart, finally arriving around eight.

They hadn’t eaten anything all morning, and Liu Chenglin couldn’t hold back. “What are we eating for breakfast?”

“Boiled wild eggs,” Zhenzhen replied. She picked a flat spot at the foot of the mountain and directed the boys to set up two pots they’d brought. At the base of the mountain was the famous Nine-Bend River. Looking at the crystal-clear water teeming with fish, the boys’ eyes practically popped out.

They fetched water, gathered firewood, and started a fire. Zhenzhen broke off some willow branches from the trees by the river, and within moments, wove them into a basin-sized basket. The girls were amazed and crowded around her, asking how she did it.

She handed the basket to Guo Xiaoqiao and picked up more willow branches. Though she slowed her hands deliberately, her nimble fingers weaving the strips in and out still dazzled them.

“All done.” She tucked in the final twig and lifted the basket with a smile. “These mountains are deep and sparsely populated. We should be able to find mushrooms and wild eggs. Let’s go quickly—once we eat, we’ll need to head up the mountain.”

The girls followed her enthusiastically. As they ran up, Xu Jiajia parted some tall weeds and asked worriedly, “Will we really find wild eggs? How?”

Zhenzhen stopped and pointed to a patch of tall grass nearby. “Go check over there.”

Zhenzhen had always been reliable at school, and the girls in her dorm trusted her. So Xu Jiajia didn’t hesitate and ran over. She pulled the grass aside and found a nest of over twenty wild eggs.

“Wow! There really are eggs!”

“Zhenzhen, you’re amazing! How did you know?”

Guo Xiaoqiao and Meng Ranxiao ran over, exclaiming as they placed the eggs into the basket.

The wild eggs were small, and the boys looked like they could eat a lot. Zhenzhen led the girls to collect eggs from three nests and a basket full of mushrooms before heading back.

At the foot of the mountain, the pot water was already boiling. Seeing the girls return, Liu Chenglin jumped excitedly. “I caught a bunch of fish!”

Guo Xiaoqiao ran over, beaming. “Let me see!”

“They’re in the pot.”

She looked in and saw more than ten tiny fish, each barely the length of a finger, tumbling around in the boiling water, their faces frozen in tragic expressions.

Guo Xiaoqiao was speechless. “These aren’t even enough to stick between my teeth.”

“Come on, Guo, you can’t expect too much. We didn’t bring fishing rods. I used a straw hat to scoop these up—already a miracle.” Liu Chenglin defended himself. “Besides, the big ones won’t come close to shore.”

“You can’t even smell fish from soup made with these.” Guo Xiaoqiao shook her head and took the basket from Xu Jiajia. “Look at us—fifty-two wild eggs and a basket of mushrooms. We totally beat you guys.”

“You guys are way too lucky.” A few boys exclaimed as they took the basket from the girls, poured the wild eggs into the empty pot, and tore the washed mushrooms into strips to toss into the fish soup.

After about eight minutes, everyone took out their lunch tins from their backpacks and scooped a bowl each. Although the fish in the soup was a bit small, thanks to the freshness of the mushrooms, this oddly mixed soup was surprisingly well received. The group polished off all fifty or so eggs, leaving not even a scrap of fish behind in the pot.

Once they were full, the girls went to the river to clean the lunch boxes, while the boys extinguished the fire and hid the two pots in a patch of thick grass. They planned to use them again once they caught some more game—it was really inconvenient to carry the pots up the mountain.

Since most of the breakfast food had been brought back by the girls, Liu Chenglin and Kong Xiangwu were determined to redeem themselves. They insisted on catching two wild chickens to prove their bravery to the girls.

Liu Chenglin pulled a slingshot from his backpack, and Kong Xiangwu had brought a net, seriously preparing to set up traps. As they reached halfway up the mountain, they could hear the flapping of wild chickens nearby, but every time they got close, the birds flew off alertly.

“Don’t rush. I learned this method from a book—it’ll definitely work,” Kong Xiangwu said as he busied himself and finally finished setting his trap. He lay on the ground carefully, holding a string.

A few minutes passed with no sign of any chickens. Xu Jiajia couldn’t help but ask, “What book did you read this from?”

“Run Tu, of course. Haven’t you studied that?” Kong Xiangwu replied, then lowered his voice and waved his hand. “Everyone be quiet, don’t scare off my chicken.”

Liu Chenglin burst out laughing. “Hey, Kong Xiangwu, are you sure you know what you’re doing? If not, stop fooling around and watch how I never miss a shot when hitting wild chickens.”

He raised his slingshot and aimed at a wild chicken perched on a branch not far away. His half-squinting expression looked so professional that everyone instinctively held their breath—except for Zhenzhen, who smiled slightly and shook her head.

“What is it?” Xi Junjie mouthed the words to Zhenzhen.

“Too far to the right,” she whispered just as the stone flew through the air, hitting the leaf to the right of the wild chicken. Startled, the bird flapped its wings and quickly flew away.

“Ah, so you’re not that accurate after all?” Xu Jiajia sighed. “Do you even know how to use a slingshot?”

“Of course I do. I’ve been playing with this since I was a kid,” Liu Chenglin said, sweating. “But it’s not always spot-on. It’s not a gun, after all—no aiming scope. Hitting this close counts as perfect accuracy.”

Xu Jiajia was speechless. “You really talk nonsense.”

“It’s really hard! Try it if you don’t believe me.” Liu Chenglin handed the slingshot to her.

Xu Jiajia, having grown up in Bingcheng, had never done anything like hunting. She took the slingshot but didn’t even know how to use it and quickly handed it over to Zhenzhen. “Zhenzhen, do you know how?”

Zhenzhen smiled, took off her backpack, and pulled out an old-looking slingshot. “I’m used to using my own.”