Chen Xiaolin and Chen Hangyu nodded and immediately took their seats at the front of the tractor.
“You four go ahead and get on the tractor too! We’ll stop at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative in a bit. If you need to buy anything, do it quickly. The post office is also next to the cooperative, so collect any parcels you have.” Uncle Chen spoke after Chen Xiaolin and her classmates had finished catching up. Seeing Chen Xiaolin sit at the front, he got on the rear tractor bed as well.
Once everyone was seated, Chen Mu started cranking the tractor to start it.
Rumble, rumble, rumble. The tractor swayed and shook as it headed toward the cooperative.
Sitting in the front was tolerable for Chen Xiaolin, but the four young educated youths in the tractor bed were really uncomfortable. Roads in the 1970s were uneven, and the tractor shook violently.
By the time they arrived at the cooperative, everyone’s rear ends were numb from the ride. Uncle Chen helped the two male youths up, but he didn’t dare assist the two female youths—gender separation was strict, so they had to get up by themselves.
“All right, we’ve reached the cooperative. If you want to buy anything, hurry up. Leave your luggage on the tractor; I’ll watch over it.” Uncle Chen had no shopping needs himself, so he returned to sit on the tractor.
Chen Mu parked the tractor and went with Chen Xiaolin to the post office to pick up her parcels. Chen Xiaolin had mailed two large packages ahead of time—he couldn’t let such heavy-lifting work go to waste.
After checking with the post office staff, Chen Xiaolin confirmed that her parcels had arrived. She collected them and sent a telegram to Liu Aihong to report that she was safe.
“Xiaolin, if you need to buy anything else, go ahead. I’ll carry these two parcels for you.” Chen Mu was shocked at the size and weight of the packages—he had no idea what his cousin had stuffed inside.
“I’m not going to the cooperative; I’m a bit hungry. I’ll go to the state-run restaurant to get something to eat. Big brother, do you want anything? My treat!” Chen Xiaolin had already eaten all the food she brought from home. Under everyone’s watchful eyes, she didn’t dare use her hidden storage space, so buying from the restaurant was her only option.
“I brought some corn cakes; just get something for yourself.” Chen Mu felt awkward letting his cousin treat him, and unfortunately, he had forgotten to ask Uncle Chen’s wife for money when leaving home.
“All right, I’ll go on my own then.” Chen Xiaolin planned to buy a few meat buns for Chen Mu and his father later.
Yongping County was a small county town; the cooperative, the state-run restaurant, and other stores were all on the same street.
Chen Xiaolin had often eaten at the state-run restaurant when visiting her hometown with her parents, so she was quite familiar with it.
“Sis, I want twenty meat buns.” At the restaurant, she saw on the menu that they served meat buns and quickly ordered twenty. She couldn’t eat them all, but she could take some back for her grandparents.
“That’ll be four yuan, two pounds of food coupons, and one pound of meat coupons.” The restaurant staff quickly prepared some greaseproof paper to pack the buns for her.
Chen Xiaolin handed over the coupons from her pocket and took the packed buns with her.
By the time she returned to the tractor, the others had already come back.
“Big brother, Uncle, here! These meat buns are delicious—eat up!” She gave each of them two buns—not because she didn’t want to give more, but because they wouldn’t be able to eat more anyway.
“Xiaolin, you eat! I just had two corn cakes, so I’m not very hungry.” Uncle Chen loved meat buns, but he didn’t want to take the ones his niece bought—he could eat anything himself; the meat buns were for her.
“I bought twenty buns! Don’t worry, I’ve saved some for Grandpa and Grandma.” She didn’t bother reserving portions for the others—whatever was left could be shared later.
Chen Mu had already started eating. He planned to go up the mountain later to catch a wild chicken and make a roasted chicken for Chen Xiaolin—he remembered how much she liked it.
Uncle Chen, seeing Chen Mu’s unapologetic attitude, could only glare at him. This son was truly hopeless.
In the end, Uncle Chen was persuaded by Chen Xiaolin and ate two buns.
While Chen Xiaolin and the others enjoyed their meat buns, the four youths in the tractor bed were chewing on their rations. By noon, everyone was already very hungry.
Once everyone had finished, Chen Mu started the tractor and set off again.
After more than an hour, they finally arrived at Daqingshan Village.
Daqingshan Village was right next to the Daqing Mountains. The mountains were rich in resources, so during the three-year famine, no one in the village starved to death.
Living off the mountains and rivers, villagers would go up into the mountains after the autumn harvest to collect chestnuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts, and mushrooms. Anyone who worked diligently in the mountains would never go hungry in winter.
Northeast winters were harsh. By mid-October, villagers began preparing for winter, stocking up on firewood and food.
Chen Mu drove the tractor to the youth settlement, located at the village entrance.
Chen Xiaolin had never been to the youth settlement before; she hadn’t explored much when visiting her hometown with her parents.
The settlement consisted of two small rural courtyards with thatched roofs.
Seeing the two dilapidated courtyards, Shen Jiaojiao almost cried.
“Ran-ge, how are we supposed to live in this place?”
“How should I know? If you don’t want to stay, tell your father to take you back.” Li Ran also felt uneasy—he had grown up in a military compound in the city and had never seen such run-down thatched cottages.
“I’m not going back. As long as I’m with you, I can adapt to life here.” Shen Jiaojiao refused to return—if she did, she and Li Ran would lose any chance of being together.
“Do whatever you want. I don’t care!” Li Ran secretly hoped Shen Jiaojiao would give up and go back to the city; he didn’t want to deal with her even for a moment.
“All right, stop arguing. Let’s go in and see what it’s like first.” Chen Hangyu, playing the peacemaker, interrupted. If they kept arguing, Shen Jiaojiao would start wiping her tears again.
“Boys on the left, girls on the right. Go in and rest for a bit. At three in the afternoon, you’ll need to go to the brigade office to handle household registration and collect your food.” Uncle Chen arranged them and then got back on the tractor with Chen Mu and Chen Xiaolin to go home.
Chen Xiaolin’s house was next to Uncle Chen’s. It had just been built in spring, and she hadn’t seen the new house yet.