Yang Xiaole rode his bike to Hua Yourong's house.

"Knock, knock, knock! Hua Yourong!"

He knocked on the door and called out a few times.

After a while, the courtyard door opened.

Su Ling opened the door and looked at him with surprise. "Xiaole, why are you here?"

"Auntie, this is fish. Take it back quickly."

Yang Xiaole took off the bag and placed it on the ground.

"You got the fish so quickly!"

Su Ling took a look and lifted it. "Ouch, it's quite heavy! Come in quickly. I'll give you the money."

"Auntie, I have something else to do. I have to leave first."

After saying that, he rode his bike and left. If he didn't leave, he would have to exchange pleasantries again later.

"Hey! Xiaole, Xiaole!"

Su Ling watched him ride away, feeling anxious. Since he didn't respond to her calls, she shook her head. "This child, really."

Helplessly, she could only take the things back to her room.

...

Yang Xiaole left Hua's house and felt that there shouldn't be anything else to do. He wondered whether to take the coal mine car back to Fucheng Gate now or wait until tomorrow morning.

When he arrived at the vegetable market, it was already closed.

Just as he was thinking about where to go for a stroll, he heard a storytelling voice coming from the entrance of a quadrangle courtyard.

"Hey, today, let's talk about Shenmu, one of the five towns in the capital."

Yang Xiaole turned his head and saw an old man sitting under a street lamp, wearing a thin coat. He held a paper fan in his right hand to fan away mosquitoes and a purple clay teapot in his left hand.

There were several children squatting around, quietly listening.

The old man took a sip of tea and slowly began to speak:

"Legend has it that Song Li, the Minister of Works in the Ming Dynasty, was ordered to cut down golden silk nanmu in Sichuan in the fourth year of Yongle. One evening, several giant trees suddenly appeared on the Yangtze River without any signs. The emperor found it extremely miraculous and believed it to be a sign of good fortune. The giant tree, golden silk nanmu, was therefore known as 'Shenmu' and a shrine was built to worship it every year to thank the gods for their blessings.

After the completion of the construction of the Ming Imperial Palace and Changling, a huge piece of golden silk nanmu, measuring over 6 zhang in length, was preserved as a treasure to guard the city, with officials and soldiers stationed to ensure long-lasting peace.

This giant golden silk nanmu, which is over 6 zhang long, is said to be the thickest one ever recorded. Two people on horseback standing on either side cannot see each other, indicating its immense size.

In the 23rd year of Emperor Qianlong's reign, he came here and wrote a poem called 'Shenmu Ballad' and erected a stele..."

Yang Xiaole was also listening attentively.

As someone who used to host live broadcasts on antiques and treasures, he had to study and had naturally seen many classics.

This Shenmu was one of them.

Talking about it falling from the sky and flowing down the Yangtze River was pure nonsense.

In fact, it was just difficult to transport by land. After all, this place was thousands of kilometers away from Sichuan, and transportation was inconvenient in the past without trains.

They simply cut down the wood and threw it into the Yangtze River, letting it flow downstream.

But this wood was indeed famous.

Golden silk nanmu had always been regarded as the most ideal, precious, and high-quality building material for emperors. This was because golden silk nanmu was not only beautiful, but also resistant to decay, insects, and had various other advantages, such as being warm in winter and cool in summer. It was said that there were no mosquitoes around golden silk nanmu.

Without the emperor's approval, anyone who used it would be in violation.

Rosewood was far inferior to it.

Among the dozens of charges when Heshen's house was confiscated, this was one of them.

This giant Shenmu was said to be the thickest one ever recorded in ancient times. Two people on horseback standing on either side couldn't see each other, indicating its immense size.

Unfortunately, it was cut into eight large conference tables in those years, after all, it was named 'Shen'.

Later, it was collected by cultural relics units.

He didn't know where it was now, but this thing would be his in the future. Instead of being cut into conference tables, it would be better to give it to him.

It had been almost half an hour since the story started.

"Alright, that's all for today. You can all go now. When I'm in the mood, I'll tell you more stories another day."

The old man stood up, inserted the folding fan behind his neck, and held the purple clay teapot with one hand while picking up a wooden cane next to him with the other hand.

Ignoring the children's shouts, he trembled as he walked towards the large courtyard.

Yang Xiaole looked at the old man and fell into deep thought.

This old man was not simple!

When he was sitting there telling stories just now, after putting down the purple clay teapot, his left hand didn't stop.

With just one hand, he pinched and flicked.

After watching for a while, Yang Xiaole finally realized that the old man was practicing two-finger Zen to catch mosquitoes!

From the time he had been watching until now, he hadn't missed a single one.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have made that flicking motion.

Quite interesting.

To be honest, he was somewhat tempted.

Regardless of whether he was a man or not, everyone had dreams of being a hero.

Just talking about having a good physique in the village, there really weren't many people who dared to provoke him. After all, it hadn't reached the point where reasoning was necessary.

If he had a good physical strength before, Yang Xiaolong and Yang Xiaohu wouldn't have been able to make a sound when he beat them.

Adults didn't really care.

But he didn't go over. Aside from whether the other party would agree or not, it was already late, and the other person looked like someone who wanted to sleep.

He twisted the bike and rode towards Fucheng Gate.

There were still many pedestrians on the road.

When he arrived at the place and walked a distance outside the city, he entered the space.

Without a certificate issued by the production team, he couldn't stay in the guesthouse and could only temporarily stay in the space.

The space was pitch black.

He arrived at the wooden house, poured kerosene into the lamp he bought earlier, and lit it.

He was already used to the dim light.

Carrying the kerosene lamp to the bedside.

To be honest, he was somewhat uncomfortable sleeping in this space all of a sudden.

After setting the alarm clock, he took out a few old clothes and covered his stomach, then lay down on the bed.

He sniffed lightly and smelled a faint fragrance.

He tossed and turned for a while before falling asleep.

Before he could sleep enough, the alarm clock rang. He looked at the time, it was 2 a.m.He could only get up in a daze.

He had to hurry back to give his alibi!

After leaving the space, it was still pitch black outside, and the mosquitoes around seemed to smell the scent of fresh blood, rushing straight at him.

After waiting for more than half an hour, he encountered three or four cars carrying coal into the city.

But none came from the direction of the mine.

Suddenly, he saw a light coming from the city gate.

He quickly stood in the middle of the road, waving his hands from afar. When the car got close, he quickly moved to the side.

It was late at night, and he was really afraid that the driver would doze off and run him over.

Fortunately, the driver saw him.

And stopped.

This time, it wasn't Xu Danian by coincidence, but a middle-aged man.

The man stuck his head out and glanced at him: "Young comrade, what are you doing?"

"Uncle, my grandma is critically ill, I'm going to the city to notify my uncle."

Yang Xiaole said anxiously.

At this point, he had already changed into his beggar's outfit.

People were very vigilant at this time, and he was already a teenager.

So he asked about the situation: "Where do you live?"

"Red Flag Commune, Red Flag Production Brigade, Sixth Production Team. Our team leader is Yang Qingwen, and my father is Yang Guangzhi."

The man took a look and finally nodded; "Alright, get in!"

Looking at him, he was just a country boy.

"Ah, okay, thank you, uncle."

Yang Xiaole happily got in the car. If there was no one, he was prepared to ride back himself.

The man yawned, lit a cigarette, and then started the car and left.

On the way, they chatted casually.

This time he was talking about the countryside, so there would be no more problems.

The car was empty on the way to the mine, so it was quite fast. It took about an hour to reach the fork in the road.

"Goodbye, Uncle Wang!"

After getting off the car, Yang Xiaole greeted him.

After the man drove away, he took out his bike and started riding towards the commune.

The road was not easy to travel, but he finally arrived at the commune half an hour later.

At this point, returning to the commune, Yang Xiaole finally relaxed.

But thinking about it, what was there to be afraid of? If worst comes to worst, I'll just admit that I went fishing to sell, could they kill me for that?

The fishing net hasn't been returned yet!

Unfortunately, he hadn't had enough of the Capital yet!

It was already past four o'clock, and it would be daylight in about an hour.

Thinking that he wouldn't come to the commune after going home later, he planned to buy some meat coupons and tofu coupons and put them in the space, so he wouldn't have to make another trip.

Although the production team was slaughtering pigs.

Compared to before, it was indeed a world of difference.

But there were so many people in the village!

Even if they ate one pig a day, that hundred or so pounds of pig, minus the bones, even with the offal, divided among a hundred or two hundred people, it was just a few ounces of pork per meal.

Actually, it wasn't much.

Having made up his mind, he went to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.

"Hey, Xiaole is here? Why are you up so early?"

Gao Danian saw him coming and greeted him with a smile.

Yang Xiaole responded with a smile, "Uncle Gao! I'm busy! I'm here to buy some stuff at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative."

The other party was smoking a cigarette and frying dough sticks!

Hearing that he was going to buy something at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, his expression changed.

At this time, only the meat and fish stalls were selling things, the other stalls hadn't opened yet!

And everyone in the village was eating in the canteen, why would he buy meat at this time?

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But he didn't say anything, just smiled and said: "Do you want some snacks later?"

"I'll see later! I'm going to buy some stuff first."

He greeted and left.

Yang Xiaole might have guessed some of Gao Danian's suspicions, but there was nothing he could do.

To buy fresh meat, you had to get up early.

Otherwise, not only would the meat go bad, but the people's gaze during the day was more mixed, making it hard to avoid Gao Danian's eyes.

And he was planning to establish this connection in the future!

Arriving at the meat stall of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, Yang Xiaole watched as the man was dividing the pork, putting the cut pork belly into the basket.

This was something only acquaintances could buy.

"Uncle, give me three pounds of rib meat."

The man was smoking a cigarette, looked up at him, and said indifferently: "Sold out!"