The Wei family had sold greenhouses and duck down. Nothing profitable could escape their hands.
Wei Shishi, dressed flamboyantly, showed up in front of the Ye family's house. She deliberately walked around three times, holding a pitch - black frozen pear in her hand.
This woman was such that as long as Ye Zhinan had something, she must have it too.
Ye Zhinan saw this annoying person on her way home and pushed her away impatiently.
"On such a cold day, do you want to be dried meat?"
"Ye Zhinan, unlike you who hide good things away and act so stingy. I've come to give you something."
With that, Wei Shishi threw the pear core in her hand over.
Ye Zhinan turned around and kicked. The pear core landed right on the tip of Wei Shishi's nose, instantly swelling it up. Everyone passing by couldn't help but look.
"You're just jealous of my beauty and want to disfigure me! Someone, help!"
"Don't try to frame me. It's you who's scaring people in broad daylight."
The people who gathered around didn't help. Instead, they laughed even louder after hearing this.
Seeing that she was at a disadvantage, Wei Shishi spat and ran away covering her face.
"Nan Nan!"
Inside the house, Han Xiangmei frowned and called her in, admonishing her again and again.
"How many times have I told you not to conflict with the Wei family!"
"It was Wei Shishi who picked on me first!"
Ye Zhinan was aggrieved and grabbed the corner of her clothes. The grievance in her heart was gradually building up.
But when she saw what was on the table, all her anger disappeared instantly.
"Here, this is what you wanted to eat, right?"
Han Xiangmei pushed the thing on the table in front of her.
"Roast duck cooked in an open oven?!"
Ye Zhinan's eyes instantly became misty.
Her mother had specially killed the last duck and made the roast duck cooked in an open oven she had mentioned.
This way of cooking was very troublesome. One had to fill the duck's belly with water first and then roast it, so that the duck would be cooked both inside and outside, with crispy skin and tender meat.
It was her birthday today.
She had long forgotten, but her family hadn't.
"Every year on your birthday, we'd buy you the jujube - paste cake from Xiangheji. Since we can't get it this year, let the roast duck take its place!"
Ye Shenyan said in a deep voice. A warm ray of sunlight quietly came in through the window, illuminating the room and showing his bent back clearly.
Ye Zhinan didn't want to cry because she was happy at this moment.
Being wrongly accused and exiled, all these sudden misfortunes were nothing compared to having the whole family together and looking forward to the future.
She held her family's hands tightly and vowed.
"I promise that in the near future, I'll definitely let the master from Xiangheji make snacks for you two every day. You can order whatever you want."
This simple and honest words, no one at that time thought that one day they would come true.
As the night deepened, Ye Zhinan nestled on the head of the bed, looking at the bright moon outside the window.
That day, the moon was just as bright.
Suddenly, there were three soft knocks on the window. Ye Zhinan quietly opened the window.
A frozen pear was stretched in.
"Happy birthday!"
Beneath the cold voice was a burning heart.
"Wait a moment."
Soon, the two of them appeared on the back hillside. Ye Zhinan secretly took out a candle from the space and stuck it on the frozen pear.
"What are you doing?"
Qin Yihuai watched as she clasped her hands together, closed her eyes and murmured something.
"Making a wish! When it's your birthday, you should make a wish so that it will come true."
"Have all your previous wishes come true?"
"Half and half."
Qin Yihuai watched Ye Zhinan's earnest look and said firmly.
"Tell me your wish. I'll definitely make it come true for you."
These words seemed like a promise, making Ye Zhinan's heart flutter.
The two of them looked into each other's eyes, and time seemed to go back to the first time they met.
It was also her birthday and a cold night. The only difference was that at that time, it was she who gave him the jade pendant and promised him a future.
"Sister Liu told the Wei family how to make duck down..."
Qin Yihuai's voice suddenly rang out, sounding especially abrupt in the empty mountain valley.
"I know."
The curve of Ye Zhinan's mouth revealed her plan.
Qin Yihuai realized this and a smile curved his lips too.
The next day, Ye Zhinan went out to work early. When she came back, she saw her family standing in front of the door looking in the direction of the Wei family.
"They've come to pick a fight?"
"How do you know?"
Ye Yingfeng stared at his sister in surprise and then realized.
"Did the method you told Sister Li have a problem?"
"You fool!"
Ye Shenyan hit his stupid son on the head with his walking stick and turned back into the house.
"Fool!"
Ye Zhinan gave him a kick as well.
After everyone entered the house, she told them the whole truth about what she had said to Sister Li that day.
"I told Sister Li to hand over the technology, but I left out one step."
"The fishy smell!"
Ye Yingfeng suddenly realized. "No wonder I always felt there was an indescribable fragrance on Wei Shishi. They use perfume to cover the fishy smell of the duck down."
"Once the fragrance is gone, the fishy smell will come out."
Ye Shenyan sighed inwardly. He didn't know which of them this daughter had inherited her scheming from.
The Wei family suffered a double loss. Not only did they lose all the money they had earned, but they also had to pay a large amount of compensation. They couldn't make any money from the frozen pears either.
Wei Shishi was scolded by her father and took out all her anger on the Ye family.
"Ye Zhinan, you stole things from the government."
"Don't slander me without evidence. You've got yourself into a mess and you want others to be involved. My family is clean and has no such problems."
Ducks were omnivores, so their down had a fishy smell. Ye Zhinan made the duck down in the space, so it had no smell inside or outside. But the Wei family was different. They only learned the surface.
Wei Shishi couldn't find any evidence and made a fool of herself in front of others. Now even fewer people supported her family.
Seeing that the Cold Spring Festival was coming, even in the northern border, everyone began to prepare for it.
Ye Zhinan got up early. After finishing the work in the fields, she helped Han Xiangmei clean the house and remove the dust. Even Ye Shenyan took out his writing brushes and ink, preparing to write a pair of Spring Festival couplets.
"Next year will surely be a year of good harvest!"
Ye Zhinan was calculating the seeds in the space and counting the days on her fingers.
"How do you know?"
Ye Yingfeng had been in battles all year round and didn't understand farming at all.
"Because it's snowing heavily. Haven't you heard the saying that if it snows all over the sky in the twelfth lunar month, there will be a mountain of wheat next year?"
Ye Zhinan didn't understand farming either, but fortunately she had the space with all kinds of seeds in it.
She was planning to plant some eggplants, potatoes, peppers and tomatoes in the spring. She hadn't eaten the Three - Delicacies Dish and scrambled eggs with tomatoes for a long time. And there were also Chinese cabbages. They could be eaten in just over twenty days.
Ye Zhinan was thinking and swallowing her saliva, which made the others worried.
"Is Miss Ye at home?"
Suddenly, a familiar voice came from outside the door. Liu Ruonan was standing there upright.
Her leg had almost recovered, but she still couldn't exert much force.
"The Cold Spring Festival is coming soon. My mother told me to bring some cloth over."
"You're too kind."
Han Xiangmei felt really embarrassed. Since Liu Ruonan's leg got better, she had been bringing things to their house every now and then.
"Who is this?"
Ye Zhinan noticed the person beside Liu Ruonan. He was tall and had delicate features. He seemed to have a bit of someone's shadow.