Chapter 71: Chapter 71: Men Only Slow Me Down

The two of them first went to check the traps they had set earlier.

To their surprise, Xu Huaian turned out to be quite skilled—out of five traps, three had caught something, which was an impressive success rate.

They got two wild rabbits and a pheasant. All three had leg injuries and couldn’t be kept alive, so they simply brought them back to eat.

On the way, they also picked a good amount of wild hazel mushrooms and spread them over the top of their baskets.

As they were heading down the mountain, they ran into Qiu Shuxia and Jiang Xue from the educated youth compound.

Gu Qinghuan pretended not to see them, not in the mood to make conversation.

As they passed each other, Jiang Xue suddenly called out, “You must think I’m a joke, right? After fighting with you over him for so long, in the end someone else swooped in and took him.”

Her tone was tinged with sorrow, and her eyes were swollen—it was clear this had hit her hard.

Well, it made sense. She’d put in so much effort, and just when it looked like things were about to work out…

In the original novel, they did end up together. But somehow, in this life, Xu Meiling had gotten there first.

Still, maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing for her.

Misfortune may be a blessing in disguise, and blessings may hide misfortune.

“What’s it got to do with me? Don’t drag me into this. Three-legged toads are rare, but two-legged men are everywhere. You’re the only one who thinks Chen Jianghe is such a prize! Are you out of your mind?”

That was all she had to say—hopefully Jiang Xue wouldn’t get herself in any deeper.

Jiang Xue froze, then suddenly squatted down and started sobbing hysterically, “Yes, yes, I’m crazy, there’s something wrong with me!”

She had only herself to blame. Back then, there were plenty of decent men interested in her, but she’d set her sights too high, always wanting more, dreaming of marrying the handsome and wealthy Chen Jianghe—and ended up wasting her own time.

Gu Qinghuan didn’t bother with her anymore and walked off on her own.

When Jiang Xue’s cries finally faded into the distance, Xu Huaian suddenly said, “You… you…”

“What do you mean, ‘you’? Cat got your tongue?” Gu Qinghuan thought he was still hung up on Jiang Xue’s drama.

Xu Huaian, trailing behind her with his head down like a quail, asked softly, “Have you ever been married?” Do you have someone you like?

He’d already noticed back at the villa that she seemed to live alone—there was no sign of a man in the house.

But what Jiang Xue said just now made him realize—even if there wasn’t a man at home, maybe she already had someone in her heart?

The thought made him uneasy.

Gu Qinghuan knew he was asking about her past life. She burst out laughing, “Ha! Why on earth would I want to get married? Isn’t it great being on my own? Why would I rush to have kids and play housemaid for someone else?

I can earn my own money, buy my own house, drive my own car—what do I need a man for?

Men only slow me down.”

Gu Qinghuan deliberately laid her thoughts out in the open. As sharp as she was, she could see what Xu Huaian was thinking.

No matter in this life or the last, her aversion to marriage was firm. She did appreciate Xu Huaian—he was special, and she felt a tiny bit of a soft spot for him.

But it was nowhere near enough to make her change her pace for him. She just wanted to treat him as a partner.

Gu Qinghuan’s words made perfect sense, and yet somehow felt all wrong—Xu Huaian was left completely stunned.

He hadn’t expected Gu Qinghuan to be so averse to marriage and men. Sure, it meant he had a chance, but with her current attitude, things didn’t look promising.

Still, as long as there was a chance, he wasn’t going to give up.

She wasn’t just anyone—she was the most special, the best Gu Qinghuan in the world, worth giving everything for.

Xu Huaian silently cheered himself on.

They made it home without a hitch.

The two kids were still out, and when Zhong Zijun saw how much they’d brought back, she kept praising Xu Huaian.

Gu Qinghuan rolled her eyes. “Mom, you never praise me like that. Guess it’s true what they say—a mother-in-law only has eyes for her son-in-law!”

“Well, Huaian is more thoughtful than you, girl!” Zhong Zijun poked her in the forehead, half-amused, half-exasperated.

After a round of playful bickering, Gu Qinghuan went off to tidy herself up, leaving Xu Huaian to handle the “battlefield.”

Now that he was better, it was time for him to pull his weight around the house—she wasn’t about to do everything herself.

Xu Huaian dutifully sorted all the wild goods, laying some out to dry, storing others away.

He and Zhong Zijun boiled a big pot of hot water, plucked the pheasant, and skinned the rabbits—he even planned to make Gu Qinghuan a hand warmer from the rabbit fur for winter.

He didn’t plan to give any of the rabbits or pheasant to the Xu family—his own family would eat first. If there were leftovers, they could be dried and saved for winter.

As for the Xu family, he’d go up the mountain again tomorrow morning.

He’d just reset the traps, so with any luck, there’d be another haul tomorrow.

When Gu Qinghuan finished washing up and came out all warm and cozy, Xu Huaian had already cleaned the pheasant and rabbits.

“Let’s have the pheasant tonight—chicken stew with mushrooms and a side of wild greens?”

Xu Huaian nodded immediately. “Sure, whatever you say.”

Zhong Zijun watched their interaction, amused. Huaian was completely wrapped around this girl’s finger—never mind a pheasant, if she wanted to throw everything into one pot, he’d probably be the first to add firewood.

The two of them were like the classic “one’s willing to hit, one’s willing to take it”—let them be.

The two kids had gone out with Erdan and came back with quite a haul—a basket of sweet potatoes and a bag of peanuts.

It was an unspoken rule: whatever the kids found in the already-harvested fields was theirs to keep.

Dabao and Beibei were over the moon.

Even though the sweet potatoes were all small—if they hadn’t been, they wouldn’t have been left behind—but small or not, they were still good eating.

Zhong Zijun roasted two sweet potatoes on the stove for the kids. The ones they’d picked themselves tasted especially sweet and fragrant.

Gu Qinghuan was still the head chef that night, with Xu Huaian prepping ingredients and learning by watching—once he got the hang of it, Gu Qinghuan could finally be freed from kitchen duty.

Xu Huaian thought a lot about what Gu Qinghuan had said that afternoon. He still didn’t have it all figured out, but he understood one thing:

Gu Qinghuan didn’t want to play housemaid. He and the kids couldn’t become her burden.

Before, they’d had no choice but to rely on her. Now that he was healthy, he could do a lot himself.

—

The Great Northwest.

Zhong Ziyan put a few bricks into the stove, using the leftover heat to warm them up. Later, he’d put them in the bed so that when it was time to sleep, he could pull them out and slip under the covers while they were still warm.

His wife, Bai Jie, had been in poor health since she was injured two years ago—every winter, she coughed nonstop, and he worried about her constantly.

Luckily, the local Party Secretary was a relative of an old army buddy, so they’d been allowed to stay in this shabby cave dwelling. Otherwise, if they’d had to live in the cowshed, she might not have survived.

Winter was coming again. Hard days were ahead, and he was truly afraid Bai Jie wouldn’t make it through.

As he worried, Zhong Ziyan kept busy, taking two coarse black wheat buns out of the pot.

“Bai Jie, time to eat.”

“Cough, cough… coming!” Bai Jie was skillful with her hands, saving up bits of wool she’d collected to make warm clothes for winter.

While it was still light out, the two of them shared a mouthful of water and gnawed on the wheat bran buns—that was their meal.

It wasn’t so bad now, but in the height of summer, even a mouthful of water was a luxury. The Great Northwest lacked everything, but especially water—they couldn’t even remember the last time they’d had a proper bath.

The wheat bran buns scratched Bai Jie’s throat, making her cough so hard it seemed her lungs might come out.

Zhong Ziyan hurried to help her catch her breath."