Having early on noticed that Lin Cui’s criteria for a partner matched Wan Feng quite well, Aunt Hongmei had entertained the idea of introducing the two for a blind date. But Wan Feng himself had given requirements for a wife completely opposite to Lin Cui’s, so Aunt Hongmei naturally dropped the idea and seriously scouted candidates for him.
Someone with combat ability—that necessarily meant someone who could quarrel and fight, couldn’t stand being bullied, and could get fierce. A veritable little firecracker.
Using the name of Wan Feng, famous for hunting wild boars, Aunt Hongmei had quite smooth success scouting candidates for him. Truly, a man like this was in demand. Many girls had their eyes on him—even middle-aged women drooled. In less than a day, several female comrades with bold personalities who spoke and acted vigorously were on Zhao Hongmei’s list. All were interested in meeting Wan Feng.
But before this list could be delivered to Wan Feng, it was slapped back down by a face-full of baffling maneuvers.
“Wan Feng, aren’t you playing your auntie for a fool?” Aunt Hongmei was truly somewhat confused. “Yesterday it was you yourself who told me you wanted a female comrade who could get fierce, quarrel, fight, and not suffer losses. How long has it been? And it’s changed to a gentle, cultured girl?”
Recently, in early summer, the weather could change through several solar terms in a single day. Rain in the morning, clear at noon, thunder again in the evening—all common. But even the heavens weren’t as fickle as Wan Feng.
The tall man being questioned didn’t say much. He simply took out a strip of wild boar meat and handed it over: “Aunt Hongmei, I didn’t think it through earlier. Take this meat. Sorry to trouble you to look again.”
Any further questioning and reproach lost meaning before the fat, trembling wild boar meat. This had to be over a catty of pork—just looking at it made one’s mouth water.
Aunt Hongmei’s face bloomed into a brilliant chrysanthemum of a smile. She reached out, took the straw rope, and felt the satisfying weight. She hurriedly patted her chest and guaranteed: “It’s normal for young people not to have figured out what kind of partner they want. Then Auntie will help you look for a gentle, cultured female comrade. Ai, do you remember Zhu Lao Si’s daughter on the field ridge south of our brigade? Such a gentle girl, speaks softly and quietly…”
“Not very suitable. Change one.” Wan Feng expressionlessly rejected Aunt Hongmei’s suggestion.
Zhao Hongmei had basically grasped the marriageable men and women within ten miles. Searching her mind now wasn’t much trouble: “Then Qinghe Brigade fifteen miles away—the brigade leader’s daughter is good too. She has a middle school education and now teaches at Qinghe Elementary…”
“Not suitable. Change another.”
……
Aunt Hongmei had never encountered such a thorny matchmaking. Wan Feng looked not at all picky. But after she named four or five girls in a row, the man had only two words—not suitable. One after another, the candidates she thought of were all rejected by Wan Feng. Aunt Hongmei, amid her frustration, also felt a touch of anger. Was this Wan Feng playing her for a fool?
But then she looked again at that catty-plus of pork, and the displeasure at the bottom of her heart instantly dissipated.
Hai, young people. Having high standards was normal.
“But Wan Feng, Auntie hasn’t been hiding anything from you. I’ve mentioned the gentlest, most cultured female comrades within ten miles. If you still don’t fancy them, you’ll have to go to the city yourself.” But a rural man wanting to marry a city girl—that was dreaming.
Wan Feng frowned slightly. His eyes shifted: “Aunt Hongmei, the gentlest, most cultured female comrades within ten miles—you’ve mentioned them all?”
“Of course! All of them. Our commune doesn’t have many female middle school or high school graduates. Just a handful altogether. I just mentioned five. Only one high school graduate is left…” That was Lin Cui. Already rejected by Zhao Hongmei.
Muttering about the high school graduate, Zhao Hongmei suddenly slapped her thigh. She stared wide-eyed, looking up at the tall young man: “There’s one more I haven’t mentioned. Our brigade’s western mouth—Lin Fugui’s daughter, Lin Cui. She…”
Aunt Hongmei: ???
I haven’t even introduced her yet.
The raw meat, salted and air-dried for several days, was carried to the earthen stove. Below, piles of cypress leaves burned, sending thick smoke that fiercely smoked the meat. The beautiful fresh-meat color gradually turned deep amber. After repeated smoking for four or five days, the cured meat was complete. Naturally air-dried and ventilated, it could be eaten as needed.
Accompanied by rolling thick smoke, Wang Guiying raised her eyes, intoxicated by the spectacle of nearly sixty catties of wild boar meat. Golden, oil-glinting cured meat laid out in rows, hung beneath the bamboo pole outside the kitchen, giving off an enticing aroma.
Meat—especially fragrant. And this meat had been snatched and swindled from others—even more fragrant.
Wang Guiying’s eyes narrowed into slits, the wrinkles at their corners layered like a blooming chrysanthemum. She hummed a little tune while preparing lunch: “Decai, hurry and call your comrades to eat. Oh right, have your father check if Wan Feng has come. That boy is slow. I said lunch, and he still hasn’t shown up.”
To persuade Wan Feng to pursue Lin Cui as soon as possible, Wang Guiying and her husband hadn’t given up and had cobbled together another family dinner. After a few drinks and a good meal, perhaps they could move this stubborn bone.
This person was still as easy to fool as when he was young. Back then, the martyr subsidy could be easily swindled away. Now, sixty catties of meat could also be swindled away. This meal, Wang Guiying was happy to host. After all, if you aren’t willing to give up the child, you can’t catch the wolf.
Moreover, Lin Cui was pretty and well-educated. Someone like that was a hot commodity—who knew how many people were inquiring. If Wan Feng didn’t hurry, Lin Cui might soon be engaged and married.
Wang Guiying was in the kitchen pondering how to match Wan Feng and Lin Cui. Little did she know, in the main hall, her son was calling his comrades to eat—and his comrade was also inquiring about Lin Cui.
Wan Decai still had about a week of home leave. These days, apart from reuniting with family and visiting relatives and friends, he was also actively securing bicycle coupons, sewing machine coupons, and industrial coupons to fulfill his promise to the Lin family.
Last time he went into town to visit relatives, he’d also looked up relatives at the state-owned factory and bought five industrial coupons and one bicycle coupon. Now he was still short one sewing machine coupon, and the three major marriage item coupons would be complete.
He Menghua was rather unwilling. She and Wan Decai were about to marry too, yet she had to prepare these precious coupons for Lin Cui. But however unwilling, she couldn’t change her fiancé’s mind. She could only let the corners of her mouth droop, her appetite poor. Yet her cousin He Changqing was still someone with no sense of social awareness.
“Brother Cai, you’re so thoughtful preparing these coupons. My cousin already said you didn’t need to buy the three major marriage items, yet you’re still eagerly getting them ready.”
Wan Decai and He Menghua exchanged glances, tacitly keeping the broken engagement from He Changqing. After all, if it got out, it would be unreasonable and dishonorable.
“You stop teasing us. You’re only a year younger than Menghua. You should be worrying about your own matters too.” Wan Decai subtly shifted the topic.
“It’s just that I haven’t met a girl I like…” He Changqing scratched his head. His eyes suddenly lit up. “Right, there really is someone I want to ask you about.”
Hearing this, Wan Decai seemed to sense something promising. If He Changqing found true love in his hometown, it would be a nice story.
“Who?”
“The girl who took records at the brigade speech that day. Her handwriting was especially beautiful. I heard Accountant Zhao call her Lin-something. Is she seeing anyone? Is she married?”
He Menghua’s face went white with a swish. She shot to her feet and sharply cut off her cousin: “Changqing, are you crazy? You can marry anyone you want, but not Lin Cui!”
Lin Cui was Decai’s former betrothed. How could she have any entanglement with her own cousin?
The atmosphere in the main hall froze. For a moment, there was dead silence.
When Wan Guangfa welcomed Wan Feng through the door, he wore the affectionate look of a good second uncle, his warmth cutting through the silence in the main hall: “Decai, hurry and introduce him to your comrades. This is my nephew Wan Feng, also Decai’s cousin.”
At his ear seemed to echo He Changqing’s inquiry about Lin Cui. Wan Decai felt it deeply inappropriate. How could his own former betrothed have anything to do with his comrade—especially his future wife’s cousin?
Mindful of the outsiders present, Wan Decai restrained his thoughts and forced a tug at the corner of his mouth, introducing Wan Feng to his two comrades.
The Wan family dinner was lively. Wang Guiying generously cut a piece of the cured meat she’d smoked for New Year to entertain—one meat dish, four vegetable dishes, one soup. Truly going all out. But Wan Feng buried his head in eating and didn’t much pick up their conversational threads. Especially, he treated their hints urging him to find a partner like wind past his ears. Instead, he inquired about a lot of past matters.
Especially when Wan Feng mentioned his sacrificed parents, Wan Guangfa and Wang Guiying’s expressions changed.
“My parents left early. Now I have no relatives besides Second Uncle.” Wan Feng ate his food slowly and methodically. His gaze swept over Wan Guangfa and Wang Guiying one by one. Seeing their pupils suddenly dilate at the word “parents,” the corner of his mouth curved almost imperceptibly. “Especially after they sacrificed themselves, I relied on collecting a martyr pension each year to live. The days were hard…”
When the words “martyr pension” landed, the rice bowl in Wang Guiying’s hand clattered—a crisp sound. It was the stiff-faced Wan Guangfa who was calmer. He sharply reprimanded: “How old are you? Can’t even hold a bowl steady?”
Her husband’s voice seemed to wake Wang Guiying. Her eyelids fluttered rapidly. Wang Guiying finally came back to herself: “I’ll go wash it. It’s got oil all over outside. I didn’t hold it steady.”
After the meal, Wan Decai pulled He Menghua to show off—the soon-to-be-married young couple went to the kitchen to wash dishes. Wang Guiying and Wan Guangfa whispered in the room. Clearly separated by dozens of meters, their voices still reached Wan Feng’s ears clearly.
The superhuman ability he’d awakened in the apocalypse came in handy now. Rustling sounds accompanied Wan Guangfa and his wife’s whispered search for reassurance.
“Why did Wan Feng bring that up today?”
“Could he have remembered something?”
“So what if he remembered? You still don’t know his temperament? A useless wimp…”
“No, my heart still isn’t at ease. Especially since that IOU you forged back then was taken by Wan Feng. Should we get the IOU back and tear it up? What if it gets out later…”
“The IOU must be hidden in that old house. Getting it back and tearing it up would be good—peace of mind.”
Wan Feng’s hearing was keen. He fully grasped Wan Guangfa and his wife’s scheming shut in the inner room, and roughly understood the truth of back then.
Guilty people are like this. Mention a couple of things, give them a scare, and the guilty will naturally seek peace of mind—and recall the past.
Knowing the location of the key evidence—the IOU—Wan Feng withdrew his gaze. His eyes swept over the already-smoked cured meat. As his eyes shifted, the voice of Wan Decai’s comrade came from beside him, interrupting his movement.
“Comrade Wan Feng, Decai and I are comrades. He’ll also be my cousin-in-law in the future. Counting it up, we’re sort of relatives by marriage.” He Changqing was inwardly gloomy. Before the meal, he’d inquired about his sweetheart only to be sharply reprimanded by his usually good-tempered cousin. Truly awkward. Now he just wanted someone to talk to.
Wan Feng lowered his eyes toward He Changqing, recalling the book’s plot. In the book, after Lin Cui’s broken engagement, she drugged and seduced He Changqing, smoothly marrying him and going to the army with him. But He Changqing despised Lin Cui and was always cold to her.
Thinking of this, Wan Feng replied coldly: “Sort of.”
“Last time I heard you single-handedly dragged two wild boars down the mountain, I wanted to meet this person. Amazing. I don’t have your strength. Too bad I didn’t see it with my own eyes.” He Changqing rattled on about Wan Feng’s heroic deeds. But seeing Wan Feng seemed cold and indifferent, he lost interest. “During my time at Decai’s hometown, I wanted to meet two people. One was the person who could drag two wild boars down the mountain—I really wanted to meet him. Didn’t expect you to be a Wan family relative. As for the other, I wanted someone to introduce me, but there’s no way.”
“A female comrade?” Wan Feng keenly caught He Changqing’s worries.
“Yes.” Thinking of the female comrade he’d glimpsed at the speech meeting—her quiet profile as she bent over writing records, and how focused she’d looked when she raised her eyes toward him—He Changqing heard the sound of his heart stirring for the first time. “I want to get to know a female comrade, but Decai and my cousin aren’t willing to introduce us.”
“If they’re not willing to introduce you, then go introduce yourself on your own initiative.” Wan Feng stepped toward the Wan family kitchen. Tall with long arms, he easily took down a row of cured meat. He turned to look at He Changqing, his gaze carrying a hint of heart-stirring power. “Everything requires fighting for it.”
He Changqing having a girl he liked was a good thing. Worth encouraging.
Putting the cured meat into his back basket, Wan Feng turned and left. He Changqing’s grateful voice, emboldened with courage, chased closely after him.
“Thank you, Comrade Wan Feng! What you said makes sense. I should go introduce myself on my own initiative! If it really works out, I’ll definitely thank you properly, my matchmaker!”
……
Some people were preparing to leave; naturally, some were hurrying over.
Wan Feng left the eastern end of the village carrying nearly sixty catties of cured meat. The matchmaker Zhao Hongmei, meanwhile, hurried all the way to the Lin family at the northern end of the village to propose a match.
Last time, the two blind date candidates she’d brought up for Lin Cui had both been rejected. This time, proposing on Wan Feng’s behalf, she didn’t know what Lin Cui’s thoughts would be.