He Has a Backer

By the time she returned home, it was late at night. Hua Jinyin hurriedly washed up and entered her space. Using up all of her superpower for the day, she harvested another batch of medicinal herbs and sent them all to Xu Xixi.

Sáng hôm sau, Hoa Kim Ngân vào không gian dùng cạn dị năng vừa hồi phục, sau đó đạp xe trở về đại đội Đào Hoa Loan. Chưa đến nhà thanh niên trí thức đã ngửi thấy từng đợt mùi thịt bay ra từ bên trong, không cần nghĩ cũng biết là ai đang nấu món ngon từ sáng sớm.

Today they didn't have to work in the fields, so the people at the educated youth building only ate two meals a day. When Hua Jinyin entered the yard, two male educated youths were cooking in the outer room, while the rest were standing in front of Xia Yu's door, peeking inside and sniffing from time to time.

Hua Jinyin parked her bicycle and, in front of all the educated youths, deliberately locked it twice, making Fu Gaoche and his group gnash their teeth in anger.

Just then, Chen Yue came out to pour water. Seeing Hua Jinyin return, she greeted her warmly, "Comrade Hua, you're back? Did you go home yesterday?"

Hua Jinyin smiled at her. In the entire educated youth building, she only had a relatively good impression of Chen Yue, who spoke her mind without any malice, even to the point of offending others without realizing it.

She took out a handful of dried meat wrapped in small oilpaper from the cloth bag hanging on her bicycle. "Homemade. Try some, Educated Youth Chen."

Chen Yue hadn't expected Hua Jinyin to give her dried meat. She was stunned and pointed at her own nose. "For me?"

Hua Jinyin smiled and nodded. "Yes!"

Chen Yue quickly and happily accepted it. Not to mention that after coming to the countryside, even back home, she rarely got to eat meat, and it would never be her turn.

Opening the oilpaper packet, she put a piece in her mouth and took a gentle bite. "Oh, this is delicious! Comrade Hua, your family's dried meat skills are amazing. I've lived this long and have never eaten such delicious dried meat."

Pork from the space, prepared with Xu Xixi's skills—how could it not be delicious?

"Yes, it's a recipe passed down by our elders. We make a bit more during the New Year," Hua Jinyin said, then went to her room, having no intention of sharing the dried meat with the others, leaving them looking at Chen Yue with envy.

Hearing Hua Jinyin's voice, Xia Yu came out of his room, a white apron tied around his waist. "Comrade Erhua, breakfast is almost ready. Wash your hands and come over to carry the food."

Hua Jinyin replied. She had promised Xia Yu the day before yesterday that she would return for breakfast, so she had deliberately kept an empty stomach to rush back this morning.

Eggplant braised with meat. The eggplant used was grown from the seedlings Hua Jinyin had given him. Needless to say, the flavor was so good that it made the meat seem less fragrant. But the garlic sprouts in the dish reminded Hua Jinyin that she should plant some garlic in her space.

After eating, Hua Jinyin returned to her room, took out a large piece of meat from her space, and handed it to Xia Yu. "Educated Youth Xia, this meat will count as my meal payment."

In front of everyone in the educated youth building, Xia Yu didn't refuse. He took the meat inside, cut off a piece to save for the afternoon, and put the rest in a jar, curing it with salt.

Although fresh meat was delicious, there were no refrigerators in this era, so they could only use salt to cure it. Cured meat had a unique flavor compared to fresh meat, especially dishes like cured meat stir-fried with hot peppers or garlic sprouts, which were incredibly appetizing.

The piece of meat Hua Jinyin brought out weighed about three Jin and was all pork belly, leaving the people in the educated youth building staring blankly. Even ordinary families might not buy so much meat for the New Year.

This time, Educated Youth Xia had truly clung to a golden thigh. Too bad they didn't have his cooking skills, nor did they know how much Comrade Hua's monthly salary at the Women's Federation was.

Hua Jinyin planned to take Xia Yu to other villages, as they had to finish drawing the blackboards, but Xia Yu stopped her. "Don't worry, I've already asked the spectacled guy to do all the blackboards for the surrounding brigades. The two of us just need to focus on investigating suspicious people."

Hua Jinyin had originally thought that giving the spectacled educated youth a fountain pen was just to get him to do the blackboard for the Hangmuong Brigade. She hadn't expected him to get the guy to do the blackboards for several surrounding brigades as well. It seemed this deal wasn't a loss.

Half a month later, Hua Jinyin and Xia Yu had traveled through all ten brigades of the Xingfu Commune, and they were very satisfied with the blackboards the spectacled educated youth had made.

While working in the fields with the village women, they also investigated and heard a lot of relevant and irrelevant news in various brigades, but there was little useful information. On the contrary, they uncovered quite a few things from Auntie Lieu and Zhang Wei.

Auntie Lieu's real name was Yao Xiliu. Who would have thought this beautiful widow had ancestors who were bandit leaders who once ruled the South?

That year, the bandit stronghold was wiped out, and the fifteen-year-old girl fled into the deep forest alone with gold and silver treasures. After hiding for two years, she came down the mountain. Daring not remain in the South, she boarded trains and rode oxcarts, eventually running all the way here on her own two feet.

Zhang Wei was a child she had picked up on the road. Seeing that the boy looked bright, she had originally planned to raise him to be her child-husband. Who knew that as soon as they arrived at the Hangmuong Brigade, due to the language barrier, they were registered as mother and son on the household register.

Over the years, they claimed to be mother and son to the outside world, but in reality, they were only twelve years apart.

This time, she was recognized by someone from her old bandit stronghold while buying things at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.

That man was originally just a low-level bandit who had followed Yao Xiliu since childhood. Though called a playmate, he was actually just a servant.

Who could have imagined that the man who had been like a dog before her back then had now transformed into a purchasing agent for the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, earning a good salary and able to get countless good things?

Dressed well and eating well, he looked respectable, instantly surpassing Zhang Wei, whom she had raised but who was short, dark, and thin. Thus, the two of them hooked up, and he was frequently brought home, even becoming as close as brothers with Zhang Wei.

With someone outside who still remembered her, and someone at home she had raised since childhood, Yao Xiliu felt a bit smug.

Yao Xiliu had thought life would just go on like this, but one day, the man outside suddenly told her that he had a backer. The backer's status was not small, and as long as they completed the assigned task, a life of wealth and prosperity awaited them.

Yao Xiliu was not one to settle down, so with a little thought, she decided to do it!

But who would have thought that the old man not only had his grandson protecting him on the outside, but also had several people secretly watching over him? After several failed attempts, they thought of eliminating Su Ming first. Once the other side fell into chaos, they would take the opportunity to act.

Especially after learning Su Ming was the old man's grandson, if the old man could collapse due to Su Ming's death, it would save them the trouble of acting.

Who knew that Su Ming, who looked foolish, actually knew martial arts? With just a few moves, he beat Zhang Wei half to death. Yao Xiliu was also chased by him all over the mountain. If she hadn't hidden medicine on her, her end wouldn't have been much better than Zhang Wei's.

But who could tell her why, just when she thought she was about to kill Su Ming, she encountered something supernatural?