Big Bear quickly ran back into the cave, and before Xia Xiao could understand what they were doing, she saw Big Bear waddling out with a terracotta jar, looking very adorable.
Xia Xiao laughed, knowing that bears loved honey the most. Every time she visited, Big Bear and Er Xiong would always like to treat her with honey.
Sometimes Xia Xiao wondered if the few black bears were more spiritual and smarter than other animals because they drank the water from her space.
Although Xia Xiao couldn’t speak the language of animals and couldn’t understand what the black bears were saying, there was no problem with simple communication with them now.
Ever since she became friends with the black bears, Xia Xiao had honey to eat every day, and it made her very happy.
"Shitou, I think I’m pretty happy right now," Xia Xiao said as she tasted a mouthful of honey, feeling utterly content.
"Annoying, you called me Shitou again; you are the Shitou," protested a voice in Xia Xiao’s mind.
Xia Xiao chuckled and awkwardly smiled, "Slip of the tongue, slip of the tongue, I am Shitou."
"I am called gege, which sounds so nice. Shitou is too common; there are stones everywhere," Shitou argued.
"Gege, lots of people are also called Brother," Xia Xiao responded, thinking to herself. Many Princesses from the late Qing Dynasty should still be alive, but nobody would call them that now.
"You think I don’t know what Princess means? I have existed for so many years; I know more than you do. Trying to fool me won’t be so easy," Shitou responded with haughty affection.
"Alright, I was wrong, gege suits you," Xia Xiao conceded again.
Shitou said, "Feeling happy from eating a bit of honey, your aspirations are too low."
"Not at all, pursuing happiness can never be too low. Happiness is the highest demand for people," Xia Xiao retorted.
"I mean your pursuit of happiness is low."
As soon as Shitou finished speaking, Xia Xiao nodded, "Isn’t that good? In the past, the happiness I most looked forward to was my parents caring about and cherishing me. Now if you ask me, what kind of happiness I’m looking forward to, I can’t answer. Anyway, as long as I feel happy, that’s enough."
She had passed the age of needing parental love and care and no longer yearned for it. Now being given a second chance to live, even if it was in the 60s, it was a blessing from heaven. Xia Xiao wanted to enjoy life, be kind to herself, and also strive to improve.
After saying goodbye to the black bears, Xia Xiao returned to the production team and had only just arrived at Youth Point when Yang Xuehua said, "Xia Xiao, Gao Jiaxing came looking for you. He said if you come back, go to his house."
"Oh," Xia Xiao replied. She had forgotten about checking the traps in the mountains and didn’t know if Gao Jiaxing had helped her look.
Xia Xiao walked towards the Gao family’s house and saw Zheng Xianghong collecting laundry. She greeted her, "Auntie, is Brother Gao at home?"
"He’s here. This kid is so secretive; I have no idea what he’s up to," Zheng Xianghong said.
Xia Xiao entered the Gao family’s hall and called out, "Brother Gao, are you there?"
Gao Jiaxing emerged from a room and waved to Xia Xiao, "Will you come here?"
"What for?" Xia Xiao asked, noticing Gao Jiaxing’s secretive demeanor and thinking it was no wonder Zheng Xianghong had said that.
"There are two rabbits in your trap. How do you plan to deal with them?" Gao Jiaxing asked straight to the point.
Xia Xiao’s eyes lit up with delight, "Really? Where are the rabbits?"
"They’re here. You must be incredibly lucky. Even with that kind of trap, you caught two fat rabbits," Gao Jiaxing grumbled, pointing at a cage in the room, thinking Xia Xiao indeed had a stroke of dumb luck.
Xia Xiao looked and saw it was indeed the two wild rabbits she had trapped. She smirked, "That’s because Brother Gao taught me well."
Xia Xiao humbly said so, appreciating how Gao Jiaxing didn’t pocket the two rabbits for himself; his character was pretty good.
"It’s because these rabbits are dumb. It’s rare to catch one, let alone two – as silly as the proverbial rabbit waiting by the stump in the primary school textbook."
Xia Xiao chuckled but made no comment.
"What are your plans for these rabbits?" Gao Jiaxing asked.
Xia Xiao looked troubled and turned to Gao Jiaxing, "What do you think, Brother Gao?"
"You can hand them over to the production team for work points," Gao Jiaxing said.
Xia Xiao shook her head and replied to Gao Jiaxing, "Brother Gao, although my family is from a big city, we’re also struggling. I’m thinking of selling them on the black market, what do you think?"
Xia Xiao said this to test Gao Jiaxing, but as soon as she finished speaking, she saw no particular expression on his face and couldn’t discern his thoughts.
Xia Xiao then said, "To be honest with you, Brother Gao, my father was injured and retired, and my brother has taken over his job. I have three younger sisters below me, and my mother is pregnant again. Although I’m far away in the production team and not going hungry, I’m really worried about my parents and siblings back home."
"How much do you want for these two rabbits?" Gao Jiaxing then asked Xia Xiao.
Xia Xiao shook her head, "I don’t know. I’m not familiar with the black market."
Continuing, Xia Xiao said, "I’ll leave one for Brother Gao, and I’ll take one to sell at the black market early tomorrow morning."
Gao Jiaxing shook his head, "If you trust me, I’ll have someone sell the rabbit for you."
"Really? Then thank you, Brother Gao." Xia Xiao had been waiting for just this response.
Leaving the Gao family, Xia Xiao felt very good, thinking it would be nice if Gao Jiaxing could help her sell pheasants in the future.
Now in Xia Xiao’s space, she was raising five or six pheasants, some of which had laid eggs. Xia Xiao was learning how to incubate eggs. If she could hatch chicks, the number of pheasants in her space would increase. Even without the black bears helping her catch them, she would have pheasants to sell.
The next morning after finishing work, Zheng Xianghong said to Xia Xiao, "Xia Xiao, Jiaxing is looking for you. He’s starting junior high in September and needs your tutoring to hope for a chance at high school."
Xia Xiao paused, not expecting Gao Jiaxing to use that as an excuse and was somewhat speechless. She jested to Zheng Xianghong, "Auntie, rest assured, with Brother Gao being so diligent, there’s absolutely no problem with him getting into high school."
Saying so, Xia Xiao thought she also needed to keep a close eye on Gao Jiaxing’s studies to make sure he got into high school.
Xia Xiao puzzled, "Brother Gao, why are you giving me so much money?"