Yang Xuehua shook her head at Xia Xiao, "You shouldn’t have provoked her, she holds grudges."
"I’m not afraid of her," Xia Xiao flashed a brilliant smile at Yang Xuehua. She had long found Liu Yue disagreeable, and wouldn’t let her get away with it if Liu Yue made things difficult for her.
Liu Haihua gave Xia Xiao a deep look and followed suit in leaving.
Xia Xiao and the group returned to their dormitory, where Dong Meihua said, "Xia Xiao, you’re really bold. Aren’t you afraid you won’t be able to get married?"
Yang Xuehua added, "Yeah, you’re so daring. All those men are scared of you now. What will you do when it comes down to it?"
"I’m not scared. I’ll think about getting married ten years from now, not right now," Xia Xiao wasn’t worried about that at all.
After all, she didn’t necessarily have to get married around here. Once this special period was over, she would only be around thirty. To the people of today, that would indeed make her an old maid, difficult to marry off, but not impossible.
So Xia Xiao wasn’t concerned about this.
Xia Xiao then said to everyone, "Seriously, if you encounter a thug, take the chance to cripple him and see how he can still be violent."
"What if the opponent is too strong?" Sun Yuhua asked.
"First, confuse him, lower his guard, and then seize the opportunity to strike him down," Xia Xiao shared her strategy.
"What if you really get violated? How would you go on living?" Feng Ying also sighed heavily.
Xia Xiao didn’t know what to say to that. In this era, personal integrity was exceedingly important; one could be drowned in spit. If one was violated by a thief, they might even be pitied.
"How could one not keep living? Death ends everything. Even if you did want to die, you should take revenge first. Only after getting revenge should you live well. If you die alongside your enemy, you might meet in the afterlife, and how troublesome would that be?"
So no matter what, you’d have to live on, keep moving forward while alive, and treat yourself better while alive.
"Xia Xiao has become wiser and wiser," Wang Aihua said. "I agree with what you said. Death ends everything, alas, those beasts."
"So we have to be careful when we go out. Don’t get isolated. I hope everyone stays safe," Xia Xiao held Yang Xuehua’s hand, also hoping that Yang Xuehua would be more cautious, especially since Liu Yue absolutely couldn’t tolerate Yang Xuehua.
Xia Xiao had a spatial ability and could save herself, but Yang Xuehua did not.
Thinking this, Xia Xiao looked around at the women in the dormitory and felt a responsibility for them; she didn’t want anything bad to happen to anyone.
With Liu Haihua’s words, Xia Xiao found that some of the girls in the production team were training even more diligently. Of course, Xia Xiao also noticed that many people looked at her with a different light.
That day, as Xia Xiao was on her way to the Gao family, she saw some four to five-year-olds. As soon as they saw Xia Xiao approaching, one said, "Look, the Mother Worm from our production team is coming!"
"Run, the Mother Worm is going to eat someone."
In a swish, all the children ran off.
Xia Xiao was left stunned in place, speechless for a long time, both annoyed and amused at how even children saw her as frightening.
"Xia Xiao, you can’t just say anything you like, you are too young to understand these things," Zheng Xianghong immediately said upon seeing Xia Xiao.
"Auntie is referring to what?" Xia Xiao guessed it had to do with something she said the other day.
"Don’t play dumb with me, you know what your auntie is talking about," Zheng Xianghong glared at Xia Xiao.
Xia Xiao chuckled, "What’s wrong with that? What I said is common sense, and I hope it helps everyone protect themselves."
"But by saying that, you’ll scare away so many men. Do you still want to get married?" Zheng Xianghong asked.
"No," Xia Xiao shook her head.
"How can you not want to get married? When a man comes of age, he should marry; when a woman comes of age, she should, too. When it’s time, you should get married," Zheng Xianghong looked at Xia Xiao incredulously, never imagining that Xia Xiao could think this way.
"Auntie, I understand what you’re saying, but I don’t want to think about these things now. I’ll consider it ten years from now," Xia Xiao gave herself a reminder.
"Oh dear, you’ll be an old maid by then. What are you thinking?" Zheng Xianghong looked disapprovingly at Xia Xiao.
"I’m still young," Xia Xiao leaned in and whispered to Zheng Xianghong, "To tell you the truth, I’m only fourteen this year. I’m telling you because I trust you; don’t let anyone else know."
As soon as Xia Xiao said this, Zheng Xianghong’s eyes widened as she looked Xia Xiao up and down, "That’s more like it. Ah, what’s with your family, letting you be sent down to the countryside so young? That’s just too much..."
Zheng Xianghong trailed off but looked at Xia Xiao with deep sympathy; it must be tough for a thirteen-year-old girl to leave home and work in such a remote production team.
"Have you not started menstruating?" Zheng Xianghong asked further.
Xia Xiao shook her head, "Not yet."
"No worries, I got mine at fifteen. You shouldn’t be concerned," Zheng Xianghong said, checking Xia Xiao’s pulse and nodding. "You’re in good health. No need to worry."
"Thank you, Auntie." Xia Xiao was very pleased to hear Zheng Xianghong’s assessment. It seemed that the spring water from her space was indeed very useful; she felt she had grown a little taller.
"It’s your height; you have to run and jump more if you want to grow taller. There’s not much to eat in the production team, so if you want to grow taller, it’s up to you now."
"Auntie, I’ve got it," Xia Xiao nodded, gratefully accepting Zheng Xianghong’s goodwill.
After chatting with Zheng Xianghong for a while, Xia Xiao asked, "Is Brother Gao at home?"
Now that school had started, Gao Jiaxing had successfully moved up to junior high and was back to a routine of going to and from school. In his spare time, he patrolled the production team with some of the young men, constantly on the move.
They had caught plenty of fish from the river, birds from the vicinity, and game from the mountains, finally bringing the taste of meat to the people of the production team.
"He is, inside the house. Go see him," Zheng Xianghong said.
Xia Xiao nodded and walked toward Gao Jiaxing’s room but heard Shitou say, "Xiaoxiao, Gao Jiaxing just overheard your conversation."
"Oh," Xia Xiao didn’t mind, as she hadn’t said anything of consequence.
Upon entering Gao Jiaxing’s room, Xia Xiao saw Gao Jiaxing sitting at his desk and addressing her, "What are you looking for me for now?"
"Brother Gao, what’s it like outside now? Is the black market still chaotic?" Xia Xiao asked, pouring a cup of water for herself and Gao Jiaxing before sitting down on the chair opposite him.