Chapter 337: She Must Be Working Very Hard to Take Grandma Out of This Mountain

Chapter 337: She must’ve worked so hard to one day take her grandmother out of these mountains.

When Zhou Linglan finished stir-frying the sweet potato leaves, she handed chopsticks directly to Uncle Mu and Xiao Meizi: "Eat up while it’s hot. It’ll get cold soon in this weather."

"Huh? Not waiting for Ah Hang?" Uncle Mu asked.

"There’s more. I’ll whip up another batch when he gets back," Zhou Linglan replied.

Uncle Mu took the chopsticks: "Then what are we waiting for? Let’s dig in!"

Xiao Meizi, swept up by Uncle Mu’s energy, unconsciously picked up her chopsticks and began eating.

By the time Fu Yuanhang returned, the plate of sweet potato leaves was cleaned out.

This was the most delicious sweet potato leaves Xiao Meizi had ever eaten in her life. The ones her family made were always dry and bitter—never this good.

So *that’s* the trick—more oil!

Fu Yuanhang didn’t immediately give the books and notes to Xiao Meizi.

At that moment, Zhou Linglan told Xiao Meizi to grab another garlic bulb.

"I forgot I still need to fry another plate of sweet potato leaves," Zhou Linglan said.

Knowing the drill by now, Xiao Meizi went to dig up another garlic bulb.

By the time she washed it and brought it back, the roast chicken and sweet potatoes were ready.

A two-year-old hen, paired with wild mushrooms and wood ear fungus—its flavor was on another level compared to the garlicky sweet potato leaves.

Xiao Meizi had never smelled anything so delicious in her life. She couldn’t stop drooling no matter how hard she tried.

Before she could react, Zhou Linglan had already torn off a hot chicken leg, placed it on a clean lotus leaf, and handed it to Xiao Meizi: "Get it while it’s hot."

Xiao Meizi kept swallowing, and before she could stop herself, she had already brought the chicken leg to her mouth and taken a big bite.

She wanted to speak but was afraid the food would fall out of her mouth, so she waited until she had chewed and swallowed before blushing and saying to Zhou Linglan, "Auntie, this chicken leg’s too much. I shouldn’t eat it. I—I’ll just take one bite and give the rest back to you."

Xiao Meizi had never eaten anything so delicious in her life.

During the New Year, her grandmother would also kill a chicken, saving a little to stew with potatoes or mushrooms as a special holiday dish.

The rest would be preserved, only cut into small portions when they were starving for meat. Sometimes, whether it was a chicken, pork distributed by the commune, or fish, their family would make it last all year. Only during festivals would they splurge on slightly bigger pieces.

Roasting or stewing a whole chicken like this—she had never experienced it in her life, let alone eaten such a big chicken leg.

One bite, and she’d remember this taste forever.

Uncle Mu had already dished out the rest of the chicken: "You eat that. This drumstick is Auntie's. These two wings are for me and Ah Hang—one each. We’re all set. If you give it back, Ah Hang and I will brawl over it."

Even so, Fu Yuanhang rolled his eyes.

Who would brawl with you over a drumstick?

Zhou Linglan laughed: "Uncle Mu is right. Dig in, no fuss. I also have some old clothes and leftover food. I’ll bring them over tonight when no one’s around."

Xiao Meizi lowered her head, her eyes red.

She’d always known it—Auntie’s family were good folks.

Big Mom often left fresh vegetables and coarse grains (like cornmeal or millet) at their doorstep, sometimes even fresh fruits, candies, or steamed buns. She never mentioned it, just quietly placed them and left. She’d spotted her doing this from a distance more than once.

When Su Taotao was around, she also took care of Xiao Meizi and her grandmother. Xiao Meizi remembered it all.

But she didn’t know how to express her gratitude.

Now, even Big Mom was leaving. It hit her hard—no one would ever treat them so kindly again.

"You’ll need to gather what’s left in this private plot. I won’t have time," Zhou Linglan added.

Xiao Meizi lost it. She threw her arms around Zhou Linglan and sobbed, "Big Mom, *sob*..."

Uncle Mu blinked. "Hey... why are you crying when you’re eating a drumstick? Is it that bad?"

Zhou Linglan froze, then patted her back and stroked her head. "I’ll leave you an address. You can write to us. Hit the books, and someday you’ll have the chance to leave this place."

Xiao Meizi normally didn’t interact much with Zhou Linglan, rarely having the chance to talk so much.

She bobbed her head, let go of Zhou Linglan, and managed a wobbly grin. "I will, Big Mom. I’m fine—I just don’t want you to go."

As she smiled, tears spilled over again.

Zhou Linglan took out a handkerchief and wiped her tears. "Dig in while it’s warm."

Xiao Meizi nodded, quit being polite. There would be chances to repay them in the future. "Okay."

Zhou Linglan tucked some chicken breast, mushrooms, and black fungus into a package for Xiao Meizi to take back to her grandmother.

After the four of them finished the chicken, Zhou Linglan stir-fried another plate of sweet potato leaves, and everyone ate them with roasted sweet potatoes as side dishes.

The sweet potatoes, roasted before even being dug up, were soft, sticky, and smelled amazing. "This is the first time I’ve thought sweet potatoes tasted so good—they beat chicken by a mile."

Fu Yuanhang needled, "Why didn’t you say that before eating the chicken? I could’ve helped you finish it so you could have more sweet potatoes."

Uncle Mu wasn’t fooled. "The chicken still needs to be eaten. Auntie here slaved over this bird—it’d be ungrateful not to eat it after all her hard work."

When it came to arguments, Fu Yuanhang couldn’t out-talk Uncle Mu.

He decided to just eat more vegetables instead.

Xiao Meizi had the heartiest meal of her life so far.

There were still a few sweet potatoes and taro left uneaten. Zhou Linglan tucked them into lotus leaves to take on the train the next day.

Only then did Fu Yuanhang slide Xiao Meizi the books he’d brought from home:

"These are fourth-grade textbooks from over there. The content is much more advanced than what we have here. I’ve included my class notes and a few test papers—you can check ’em out when you have time."

In those special times, so-called schooling was little more than glorified literacy drills, hardly teaching any real knowledge.

Especially in village schools like Qinglian’s, year-end exams might just involve reciting eight or ten quotes from great leaders and solving a few arithmetic problems.

Older students often only attended half-day classes, spending the other half working in the fields.

The base was different. The schools there took education seriously, dedicated to nurturing the next generation for scientific research.

There were no nonsense distractions or disruptions to class time. Political ideology was emphasized, and quotes from great leaders were memorized, but academic knowledge wasn’t neglected either.

Fu Yuanhang thanked his lucky stars for his decision to follow his brother and sister-in-law to the base—it had opened his eyes to how big the world really was.

Xiao Meizi took it with great care and nodded vigorously:

"Thank you, Fu Yuanhang. I’ll really put my heart into learning. By the way, I’ve gone through the art book you gave me over and over. I can return it to you now."

Fu Yuanhang shook his head. "Keep it. I’ve got tons more back home."

Xiao Meizi breathed a sigh of relief. The little sketchbook was her most treasured gift, and she had grown accustomed to taking it out to look at every day.

She had even tried copying the drawings, but she had no knack for drawing and couldn’t replicate even a tenth of Fu Yuanhang’s skill.

The thought of returning it made her heart ache at the thought.

When it was time to part, Xiao Meizi hugged the books and notes Fu Yuanhang had given her, watching their backs fade into the distance. At the very top of the stack was the chicken Zhou Linglan had wrapped in lotus leaves for her grandmother—fragrant and warm.

Before she knew it, tears blurred Xiao Meizi’s sight. She would study and learn with all her might, so that one day, she too could take her grandmother beyond these mountains, just like them.

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