12
While the two fish combined weighed around six jin, it wasn’t a huge amount for the family, after all, in these times, meat and rich dishes weren’t eaten as frequently as they would be in later years. Coarse grains made up the bulk of their meals.
That same evening, Sun Zhaodi turned the two fish into a sour cabbage fish stew. Their home was never short on pickled vegetables or chili paste, and the dish turned out delicious.
Lu Guoguo had been helping out the entire time. The original owner had never cooked fish, so she couldn’t be too eager. Instead, she “learned” from Sun Zhaodi’s side, telling her that if she ever caught more fish, she’d make them sour cabbage fish stew herself.
During the meal, Lu Laoba brought out his bamboo cup and carefully poured a tiny bit of wine into it. “So many people went to catch fish today, but you two had the best luck. Fish this plump could even be sold at the state-run purchasing station for some money.”
The state-run purchasing station bought things like eggs, firewood, and produce that households managed to save up. For most people, this was their second-biggest source of extra income. The first was the production team’s work-point system: after exchanging points for enough grain, any leftover points could be cashed out.
Feeling a little guilty, Lu Guoguo only nodded, not daring to say much.
In contrast, Lu Zaiyang seemed puzzled. “Both fish were spotted by Guoguo. Her eyes are really sharp. Someone who had already searched that spot even warned us not to bother, but not long after, she found two fish.”
He had basically just provided the labor.
Sun Zhaodi picked out the fish eyes and gave one to each of the four. “Eating fish eyes makes your vision clearer. Everyone, have one.”
Lu Guoguo stared at the fish eye in her bowl, then picked it up and plopped it into Lu Zaiyang’s bowl across the table. When he looked over, she said matter-of-factly, “My eyes are obviously already good enough. Brother should have this to improve his. Maybe next time we go fishing, he’ll be able to spot the fish himself.”
“……”
Lu Zaiyang didn’t say anything and ate it along with the rest.
Sun Zhaodi and her husband exchanged a smile, leaving them to decide on the fish eye distribution.
Everyone finished the meal feeling completely satisfied.
When Eldest Aunt Lu found out their family had caught two fish, she was so jealous. One of the neighbors deliberately asked her, “Lu Laoba’s family caught two big fish. How come they didn’t invite you, the eldest brother and sister-in-law, to try some?”
“You know how stubborn Laoba is, ever since he was young. We tried to advise him, but he wouldn’t listen, it only made him resent us. After all the trouble we went through, he didn’t appreciate it at all. Besides,” Eldest Aunt Lu pointed in the direction of the other brothers’ houses, “Laoer and the others weren’t invited either. When it comes down to it, they’re just stingy.”
The neighbor clicked her tongue, thinking to herself: They only had two fish, not twenty. If they’d invited all the brothers and their families, how much would that have been?
Eldest Uncle Lu wasn’t happy either, but what made him even unhappier was that the family he had tried to broker a marriage deal for, hoping to pocket a referral fee had given up on finding a wife. The main reason was that after all the fuss, many people knew there was a sickly young man looking to marry. While the bride price offered was high, anyone with a shred of conscience wouldn’t push a girl into that kind of situation.
Moreover, besides the sickly son, that family had two healthy children. Sacrificing the other two’s futures for the sake of one son simply wasn’t worth it. So, the marriage arrangements were called off.
Third Uncle didn’t know about this. He was well aware of Eldest Uncle Lu’s greedy nature, so he had tried every possible way to get information from Lu Laoba and his brothers, but none of them were willing to tell him.
After much thought, Third Uncle seized the moment when Lu Laoba’s family had caught the fat fish. He brought a scrawny little fish to Eldest Uncle Lu’s house.
“This fish might be a bit thin, but I caught it myself,” Third Uncle said with a smile, placing the fish barely a few liang—, front of Eldest Uncle Lu. “Eldest Cousin, you know how tough my family’s situation is. My wife isn’t much help, and I have no sons to take care of me in my old age. I just want my daughter to marry into a decent family, someone who can look after her natal family a bit more. My little niece is now at the age to discuss marriage. Could you…?”
“This is your family’s business. Why should I get involved?”
Eldest Uncle Lu absolutely refused to admit he had tried to set up Lu Guoguo, painting himself as completely uninvolved. He then unceremoniously ushered Third Uncle and his fish out the door.
Third Uncle, still clutching his fish, grumbled all the way home.
Several people witnessed this scene. The next day brought clear weather, and while working in the fields, some people brought up the incident to Sun Zhaodi and her husband.
Both of them showed no interest whatsoever, disappointing those who had hoped for more drama.
That day, Lu Guoguo was again assigned to work on the hillside, not the one opposite the bamboo grove, but a different hillside. Still a hillside.
As soon as she arrived at the field, Lu Guoguo spotted Cuihua.
Seeing her approach, Cuihua cleared her throat and stepped forward, greeting her gently, “Guoguo.”
Lu Guoguo immediately took a big step back and made a gagging sound. “Don’t call me that! If you have something to say, just say it. Don’t pull this act; it makes me sick!”
Cuihua’s face turned pale with anger. She snorted coldly, turned on her heel, and hoisted her hoe over her shoulder, putting as much distance between herself and Lu Guoguo as possible.
A girl who had witnessed their exchange asked Cuihua curiously, “I thought you two didn’t get along. Why did you go up to her today?”
“I must have been out of my mind!”
To think she wanted to build a good relationship with Lu Guoguo. Pah!
Cuihua mentally cursed herself and swore to stay as far away from the other girl as possible.
Having successfully repelled Cuihua, Lu Guoguo’s mood improved considerably. It got even better when Lu Zaiyang returned at noon with a pouch of wild strawberries. Lu Guoguo was overjoyed and immediately started painting him a rosy picture. “Brother, you’re so good to me! From now on, whenever you see wild strawberries, think of Mom and me. As long as you keep picking wild strawberries for us, I’ll bring back fish for you to eat next time!”
Lu Zaiyang let her words go in one ear and out the other. He had figured out that you couldn’t take everything this girl said at face value.
A few days after the weeding period ended, everyone had some downtime. Lu Guoguo, however, wasn’t idle. She was assigned to herd the cattle for three days.
The production team’s cattle were their treasures and needed careful tending.
While herding, Lu Guoguo didn’t dare relax for a moment, afraid that in the blink of an eye, a cow might wander off into the crop fields to play.
On the last day of herding duty, after returning the cattle to their pen and feeding them, Lu Guoguo was on her way home when she encountered a few people heading toward the drying grounds. They were chatting animatedly, full of curiosity.
“I wonder how many educated youths the team leader will bring back.”
“At most two, right? The educated youth dormitory in our production team is almost full.”
“How is it full? Isn’t Educated Youth Liu going to marry Li Jianjun? Once they’re married, she’ll definitely move out of the dormitory. That’ll free up a spot.”
“You’ve got a point. I’d like to marry a female educated youth too, but they don’t look at someone like me.”
“With your looks, dreaming is more realistic.”
Noticing Lu Guoguo standing by the roadside with her back to them, clearly listening to their conversation the young men exchanged glances. Remembering the topic they’d just been discussing, they felt a bit embarrassed and quickly picked up their pace, moving away.
Lu Guogoo waited until the sound of their footsteps faded completely before turning around.
Was the female lead arriving?
Eager to get close to the protagonist, Lu Guoguo also made her way to the drying grounds.
After waiting for half an hour, only the team leader returned alone.
Facing the dozens of curious production team members gathered on the drying grounds, the team leader rubbed his nose and announced, “Our production team wasn’t assigned any educated youths this time.”
Huh?
Lu Guoguo was taken aback. She tried to recall the exact timeline in the original novel, the female lead was supposed to appear this month.
Why hadn’t she come?
Lu Guoguo walked home feeling puzzled. When she arrived, Sun Zhaodi, seeing her back, remarked, “If you hadn’t come back soon, I was about to go look for you.”
Remembering that she had always returned home right after herding duties the previous two days, Lu Guoguo grinned sheepishly and moved closer to help sort hemp thread. “On my way back, I heard people say the team leader was going to pick up new educated youths today, so I got curious and went to see. Turns out, the team leader said our production team wasn’t assigned anyone this time.”
“Many educated youths are going to the countryside, but there are even more production teams in need of help. Our team is relatively well-off, so it’s normal not to get assigned anyone,” Sun Zhaodi said matter-of-factly.
“That’s true,” Lu Guoguo replied. Hearing this, she suddenly felt a pang of shame. The existence of educated youths wasn’t just about their different appearances or knowledge levels, as often written in novels. They came to the countryside with a mission, requiring significant determination and more.
Lu Guoguo used the last head of cabbage from their plot, which now only had seedlings about one-third grown.
Fortunately, their family had gathered a good amount of spring bamboo shoots recently. Some were dried, some pickled. Additionally, they still had last year’s chili paste, preserved pickled vegetables, and dried shredded radish.
The next day, Lu Zaiyang went up the mountain, while Lu Guoguo followed Sun Zhaodi to look for fresh wild vegetables. Wild celery was the most common, but its flavor wasn’t particularly good. After eating it for a while in early spring, unless fresh vegetables were scarce, few were willing to pick it for meals.
Lu Guoguo spotted a patch of wild celery growing quite well. She crouched down and pinched off the tender parts, placing them into her bamboo basket.
[Today’s Task: Pick two jin of edible wild wood ear mushrooms on Huatou Mountain and bring them home.]
[Task Reward: One fever-reducing tablet.]
Lu Guoguo’s hand, busy pinching wild celery, paused.
A fever-reducing tablet? Now that’s valuable!
Moreover, she could identify several types of wild wood ear mushrooms. Back in the orphanage, one auntie enjoyed picking them, and during her free time, Lu Guoguo and a few friends often followed her to the mountains around town to forage.
“Mom, I’m going to check out Huatou Mountain,” Lu Guoguo informed Sun Zhaodi.
“What are you going all the way over there for?”
Sun Zhaodi stood up.
“To see if there are any wild wood ear mushrooms,” Lu Guoguo answered honestly.
“Let’s go together then,” Sun Zhaodi said, not wanting her to venture into the woods alone. So, the two of them headed for Huatou Mountain.
“Though quite a few people have been picking wood ear mushrooms lately. Not sure if any are left.”
“Those things grow pretty fast. Just like picking other mushrooms, there are bound to be some that others missed,” Lu Guoguo replied, actually quite enjoying this kind of task.
Mother and daughter chatted as they walked toward their destination. About half an hour later, they reached the foot of Huatou Mountain.
“Mom, let’s see who can find more wood ear mushrooms!”
With that, Lu Guoguo energetically entered the woods. Sun Zhaodi chuckled. “I’ve been picking these for years. How old are you? Competing with me? Be careful, or you’ll cry when you lose.”
“I’m not listening.”
**