Zhao Family Courtyard.
Zhao Xiaoxiao was Zhao Yi's younger sister, usually the most pampered at home. After all, she was Li Daju's last-born child—the only daughter after three sons.
"Mom, why isn't breakfast ready yet?"
Zhao Xiaoxiao entered the kitchen and found nothing cooking in the pot, quickly calling out toward the main room.
"Eat, eat, eat—that's all you think about! Can't you make it yourself if there's nothing to eat?"
Li Daju suddenly flared up with inexplicable anger.
Before Zhao Yi got married, he had always been the one busy with breakfast. Li Daju hadn't cooked personally for many years, but these past few days she had to manage everything—working shifts and coming home to cook, which constantly irritated her.
Previously, Zhao Yi not only worked shifts and cooked but also washed the family's clothes, bustling about diligently.
Now that Zhao Yi had married and moved out, these tasks naturally fell entirely on Li Daju. The second and third sons couldn't do them at all. Zhao Xiaoxiao wouldn't let Zhao Yi wash her clothes—laundry was something she handled herself.
As for helping with cooking at home, she rarely did. When not in school, she had to work alongside Li Daju.
"Oh."
Hearing that tone, Zhao Xiaoxiao knew her mother was angry and hurried into the kitchen to start preparing the meal.
Soon, the food was ready.
"Where's Dad?"
At the table, Zhao Xiaoxiao noticed Zhao Dahai was absent.
"Gone to work at the Forest Farm. Ah!"
Li Daju sighed again at the thought, unable to understand why her eldest son had changed so much. He used to be so filial, but now he only cared about keeping things for himself.
Their home wasn't far from the old residence. If fish was cooked there at night, you could smell it if you got closer. Yet Zhao Yi had been eating fish for several days without offering them even one to taste.
Li Daju set her bowl back on the table, gazing worriedly toward the old residence.
"Mom, is my cooking not good?"
Zhao Xiaoxiao could tell something was bothering her mother. Although her parents doted on her, she'd still get punished if she made a mistake.
"I have no appetite. You all eat."
Li Daju shook her head.
Rural meals were mostly similar—no one's was much better than anyone else's. Those with skill and knowledge would go into the mountains to dig up wild yams and kudzu roots, drying them to mix with staple grains.
As for vegetables, they were mostly wild greens. The family plot didn't yield much, so they had to be sparing.
Her sons and daughter ate heartily, quickly finishing the food in their bowls.
Li Daju walked over to the old residence.
"Is the eldest not here?"
Li Daju entered the room but didn't see Zhao Yi—only Zhang Jing sun-drying the wild provisions Zhao Yi had gathered yesterday in the yard.
"He left before dawn. Not sure where he went."
Zhang Jing answered truthfully.
Li Daju opened her mouth to say something but swallowed her words. Zhao Yi had changed too much—he was no longer the person who didn't know how to look out for himself.
Zhang Jing watched as her mother-in-law came by, said nothing, and left again. She didn't know what her mother-in-law intended, but her husband had instructed her to simply acknowledge her if she visited—answer briefly if asked, but say nothing otherwise.
Zhang Jing naturally knew where Zhao Yi had gone, but he had told her not to say.
By then, Zhao Yi had already reached the city's black market.
Wangou Village wasn't very far from the city. Taking the maintained dirt road would take over twenty hours.
But if one took the treacherous mountain path, it would only take three hours to cross the mountain, and at most another hour to reach the city. However, the mountains were fraught with dangers, and there wasn’t a proper road to speak of, so few people ever took the mountain route to the city.
While digging for wild yam and kudzu roots in the mountains, Zhao Yi had set quite a few traps. Last night, he had caught two fish weighing five or six jin each, so today was the perfect opportunity to go to the city and sell everything.
His harvest from the mountains was meager—only one or two wild hares. It was likely that the game near Wangou Village had been nearly hunted out by the villagers.
To get a better haul, he would have to venture deeper into the mountains.
The twelve jin of fish sold for three yuan, and the wild hare fetched two yuan and fifty cents.
Zhao Yi exchanged some ration coupons on the black market, bought two jin of lard, and then went to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to pick up some everyday seasonings before hurrying back to Wangou Village.
By the time Zhao Yi returned home, it was already dark. In summer, darkness fell late—around 8:30—and dawn broke early, around 5 a.m.
The journey over the mountain and selling his goods had taken nearly ten hours.
Those unfamiliar with the mountains could easily get lost inside.
"Husband."
Seeing Zhao Yi return, Zhang Jing’s face immediately lit up with a smile.
Zhao Yi handed her the things he was carrying.
"Hide these carefully. You keep the money for now. When cloth rations are distributed, we’ll buy some to make clothes."
He handed the remaining money to Zhang Jing.
Zhang Jing was beaming as she stared at the lard in Zhao Yi’s hands. Throughout the year, a strong laborer couldn’t get much pork. If luck wasn’t on their side, most of what they received would be half lean and half fatty meat. In a year, they only got about six jin of lard, though they could get over ten jin of vegetable oil.
After putting everything away, Zhang Jing quickly heated water for Zhao Yi to wash up. Her heart was still racing, and with over three yuan in her hands, she wasn’t sure where to hide it safely.
"Husband, you’ve never been to the city before. How did you know where to sell the goods?"
Zhang Jing looked at Zhao Yi curiously.
"Who told you I’ve never been to the city?" Zhao Yi asked with a laugh.
People in the countryside rarely went to the city. In places like Wangou Village, they didn’t even need to go to the county town to deliver grain quotas—they could take it directly to the Commune. After all, the county was too far away, and the journey was not only time-consuming but also prone to rainy weather.
"What’s the city like? How is it different from here?"
Zhang Jing instantly became like an inquisitive child. Apart from staying in Zhangjia Village, she had only moved to Wangou Village after marriage and had never been to the county town, let alone the city.
"I’ll take you to see it someday," Zhao Yi said cheerfully.
Meanwhile, Zhao Yi was thinking about how to secure a job, even a temporary one would do.
But nowadays, it was extremely difficult for rural folks to find work. Even in the city, it wasn’t easy—otherwise, so many Zhiqing comrades wouldn’t have left their homes in the city to work in the countryside.
Zhao Yi had no clear ideas and could only mull it over.
As for working at the Forest Farm, Zhao Yi wasn’t interested at the moment. Lying in bed, he racked his brain, trying to recall his past life.
It seemed that aside from the Coal Mine, there were no jobs in the rural areas that were easy to get into. It looked like he would have to wait for the steel plant to send people over to prepare for mining and then sign up at the Coal Mine.
Though the work would be tough, at least he would earn 26 yuan a month and enjoy the same benefits as other workers.
However, it wouldn’t count as a formal worker position.
With these thoughts in mind, Zhao Yi soon fell asleep.
When he woke again, it was already daylight. After hearing the gong and having breakfast, he followed Zhang Jing to work.
"Husband, should I go back and ask my mother for an iron pot?"
Zhang Jing felt that eating boiled potatoes every morning wasn't sustainable, so she looked at Zhao Yi and spoke.