“Wan Feng?” The image of a thin, pitiful youth suddenly intruded into Lin Cui’s memory. She vaguely remembered this person—his parents had died early, and he had grown up eating at a hundred households’ tables. A few years ago, he had apparently gone up the mountain and disappeared. The team had searched for him for a long time without finding him, and everyone assumed he was gone.
A few days ago, Wan Decai had returned in glory after being promoted to battalion commander, and at the same time, there was news that Wan Feng had been found. But compared to Wan Decai’s dazzling brilliance, the news of Wan Feng’s return was like an inconspicuous pebble dropping into a lake—it only rippled out one or two circles before quickly returning to calm.
“That’s right, Wan Feng is really a fine boy. His family are martyrs too—good class status. And he’s…” Wang Guiying had originally been pondering whether Wan Feng’s thin, bamboo-pole-like appearance could catch Lin Cui’s eye. Who would have thought the man had completely changed? “He’s especially tall. When he stands, he’s a full head taller than our Decai. Whoa, it’s really incredible! Cuicui, a man like that is great—he’s got strength for field work too. Auntie isn’t lying to you.”
Lin Cui silently rolled her eyes inwardly. Everyone knew what Wan Feng was like—he’d never had enough to eat from childhood. She vaguely remembered that even as a boy in his teens, he was thinner than others his age, like a withered branch in the mountain forest. Who knew what Wang Guiying was scheming, to be able to boast Wan Feng up to being taller than Wan Decai.
“Aunt Guiying, you don’t need to worry about my marriage. Please go back.” Lin Cui poked at the salted duck egg in her bowl. Golden oil oozed out, and the rich fragrance of the salted duck egg seeped into the porridge, as if sizzling with oil. Lin Cui ate in small bites, fully satisfied—which made Wang Guiying, who had come to the door before even having time to eat breakfast, swallow her saliva in envy.
“Ai, Cuicui, Auntie is genuinely doing this for your good. Our Wan Feng is really quite something—taller than your eldest and second brothers, and strong too. You’ll definitely have a good life with him.”
Lin Cui was truly exasperated listening to Wang Guiying’s lies. How could she say with a straight face and steady heart that Wan Feng was tall and strong? Truly admirable.
She hurriedly dismissed Wang Guiying. Lin Cui firmly refused to let this person worry about her marriage. She had just broken off her engagement with Wan Decai—she wasn’t foolish enough to accept an arrangement from the Wan family.
Moreover, having grown up in the village, she had seen the importance of being able to work in the fields and earn full work points. The thin, weak Wan Feng naturally did not meet Lin Cui’s standards for a partner at all.
Wang Guiying returned dejectedly, having failed. She hurried back to her own home. She had failed to persuade Lin Cui, but her old man’s side shouldn’t be a problem.
Who would have thought—the moment her left foot stepped into the house, Wang Guiying caught sight of her old companion’s face swollen to liver-pigment color, breathing heavily through his nose as he came back from outside.
“Head of the house, how did it go?” Wang Guiying hoped to hear good news.
“This Wan Feng has really grown up. His wings are hard now. He won’t even listen to his second uncle.” Wan Guangfa thought of Wan Feng’s words of refusal, cold as if without temperature, and his anger came rushing up.
That nephew who had once been so easy to control—it was as if something about him was different.
“Then what do we do?” Wang Guiying felt uncertain for a moment. Their family really was having bad luck in everything. “Lin Cui also won’t agree to a match with Wan Feng. And Wan Feng also… It’s over, old man. Our three major items can’t be gotten back.”
“What are you yelling about?” Wan Guangfa shouted harshly, instantly stopping his wife’s crying out. “I can’t control Lin Cui’s side, but can I not control that boy Wan Feng? He’ll marry whether he wants to or not!”
In May, the sun grew increasingly strong. Above the Red Star Production Brigade, a fiery red sun hung in the sky. Among the crisscrossing green seedlings in the fields, the laboring commune members bent their heads and worked hard.
With rice planting finished, everyone’s taut string finally relaxed. Lin Fugui and his second son Lin Wei were mixing fertilizer on the field ridge. Looking into the distance, Song Chunhua was leading several women in the flooded field, propping up fallen seedlings. Lin Fugui wiped his face with his elbow and turned to look at his second son: “Second, where’s your brother?”
Lin Wei, who had finished his assigned work and was preparing to slip away early, stopped in his tracks: “Isn’t Uncle Chen’s family marrying off a daughter-in-law? They need to hurry and build the house. Brother went to help.”
These days, anyone building a house had to find outside help. They’d invite a group of men to help—no wages, just meals included, plus grain and some eggs or sugar. Anyone in the village might run into a time when they needed help. Making things convenient for others was making things convenient for oneself.
Lin Fugui nodded: “That bride is still your sister’s classmate. A good thing.”
Thinking of his daughter’s classmate about to be married while his own daughter’s marriage had fallen through, Lin Fugui felt stifled. His mixing of fertilizer grew more forceful. Then he caught sight of his second son preparing to slip away early after finishing his work. He narrowed his eyes and stopped him.
“What kind of behavior is this? If you’ve finished your own work, help with a bit more.”
Lin Wei strode closer to his father and lowered his voice to negotiate: “Father, I’m going to the river to catch a few fish. Cuicui had a cold and fever a few days ago and was still complaining about a headache. She needs nourishment.”
Hearing this, Lin Fugui’s tightly knitted brows instantly smoothed out. He waved his hand to shoo the boy off: “Go quickly and come back quickly.”
……
“Cuicui, how have you been lately? How did your engagement with Wan Decai just disappear?” Lin Cui’s fellow villager—and classmate all the way from elementary to middle school—Hou Yan held her old classmate’s hand and talked in the fields. Beside them, from time to time, came the sounds of her prospective in-laws’ house-building, each strike seeming to pound on her heart, heralding her approaching wedding day.
“Anyway, it’s a good thing. Don’t worry.” Lin Cui had gone to the western mouth of the village after breakfast to visit her old classmate who was about to marry. Seeing her glowing and shy in her words, Lin Cui couldn’t help but be happy for her. “It’s you—you’ve got ten days until the banquet. Aren’t you excited?”
“How could I be!” Her maiden thoughts exposed, Hou Yan visibly blushed. She hurriedly pinched Lin Cui’s waist to shut her up from teasing. “You hurry up too. I heard Aunt Hongmei is helping you arrange things. With your qualifications, you’ll definitely find someone especially good—even better than Wan Decai!”
Hou Yan had been preparing her wedding dowry these past few days and occasionally heard people discussing Lin Cui and Wan Decai. Quite a few people had already begun eyeing Lin Cui, hoping to marry her into their families. But some loose-tongued gossipers were also clamoring that Lin Cui must have been looked down upon and rejected by Wan Decai. After all, now that he was a battalion commander, how could he still think highly of a country village woman?
A few unpleasant words reached her ears, and Hou Yan, who was passing by, couldn’t resist arguing with the people for a few words.
Better than Wan Decai?
Lin Cui mulled it over inwardly. Wan Decai was the male lead in the book—that would be hard, alas.
“It doesn’t matter. My requirements aren’t high. Finding someone to live a steady life with is enough. Best if he can earn full work points too, so we won’t go hungry.”
Hou Yan knew the Lin family members were all formidable. Lin Cui’s parents and two brothers all earned full work points. Who wouldn’t envy that? “Your future man really does have to be capable. Otherwise, if he can’t earn full work points, he won’t be able to hold his head up in your family.”
The two girls of the same age held hands and talked, sitting by the field ridge, chatting from Hou Yan’s marriage to what kind of partner Lin Cui would find in the future. Just as someone passed by, the two shifted to make way, only to hear the widow Zhou from the eastern end of the village cut in with a teasing remark.
“Cuicui, when finding a man, you’ve got to find one that’s useful! He’s got to be big enough and hard enough, otherwise you’ll be living like a widow! This is Sister’s experience as someone who’s been through it.”
Suddenly being teased, Lin Cui and Hou Yan looked at each other. The two inexperienced young girls each blushed, only to see Widow Zhou swaying her hips and walking off into the distance, leaving only a few clear, ringing laughs drifting in the wind.
In the blink of an eye, it was time to prepare lunch. Curls of cooking smoke rose from each household’s chimney. Lin Cui said goodbye to Hou Yan and turned to walk to the Chen family’s place a mile away.
The sounds of house-building were not soft—clanging and banging. Lin Cui greeted her eldest brother: “Eldest brother, are you eating lunch and dinner at Uncle Chen’s house today?”
Lin Xiang, who was sawing wood, looked up and waved at his sister. He fished a tangerine candy out of his pocket and handed it over: “Uncle Chen provides meals. Don’t save any for me. Take this candy to sweeten your mouth. Uncle Chen handed them out.”
Being able to eat candy in the village was not easy. This was top-quality stuff. If Uncle Chen’s family weren’t preparing to host a wedding banquet for a daughter-in-law, they wouldn’t be willing to buy candy even twice a year.
Lin Cui looked at the candy and was just about to speak when she heard her eldest brother add: “I saved two for Yufen and Xiaobao. This one’s for you.”
Hearing this, Lin Cui happily accepted it: “Okay, thank you, eldest brother.”
……
The whole family had gone to work in the fields, leaving only the frail Lin Cui at home. At this moment, she was busy preparing dinner. Compared to heavy field labor, preparing two meals a day was much easier.
It was just that, limited by the village’s ingredients, it was almost always various cold dishes and steamed dishes back and forth.
From the small mountain-like pile of sweet potatoes in the kitchen, she picked five, washed and peeled them. Then she scooped a small spoonful of coarse rice and washed it twice. She cooked sweet potato porridge. Lin Cui carried a bamboo basket and quickly walked to their family’s private plot, picked four cucumbers, and prepared a cold cucumber dish.
The weather was gradually getting hotter. Cold cucumber with cooled sweet potato porridge was fresh and refreshing. Especially with the three crucian carp that second brother Lin Wei brought back at dusk—that was even more of a surprise.
“Second brother, you went to the river to catch fish again?” Lin Cui had been ill from birth. She’d had poor health since childhood. In that era, even eating enough was a problem, let alone seeing a doctor to nourish the body.
Sickly Lin Cui was thin and weak, which worried the family terribly. Especially when Lin Wei was eight, his parents had arranged for him to look after his four-year-old sister. But a boy that age was exactly the type to love running up mountains and down rivers, causing all sorts of mischief—how could he sit still at home? It was raining outside. Lin Wei coaxed his sister to stay home obediently, then secretly slipped out to play. Only when he figured his parents were almost done working did he return home—only to discover his sister had fallen in the rain. Afterward, she had a persistent high fever and nearly lost half her life, barely any breath left. Lin Wei was so frightened he cried on the spot.
Eight-year-old Lin Wei was fiercely beaten by his father with a rolling pin, snot and tears bubbling, but looking at his sister’s faint breathing on the bed, he didn’t dare wail—he’d already been scared half to death.
After this fright, Lin Wei always worried his sister might be gone someday. Wherever he went, he wanted to tie his sister to him with his waistband. Hearing people say fish was good for the body, he took to catching fish in the river while barely in his teens, wanting to nourish his sister’s health.
Over time, everyone said the river would be fished empty by Lin Wei.
Three crucian carp the size of a palm were lively, tails swishing in the bucket. In no time, they turned into milky-white fish soup in the pot.
Crucian carp soup was fresh and delicious, the meat tender. Fresh and sweet, with a hint of meaty satisfaction—truly a good thing in the village when one hadn’t eaten meat for over a month.
A large basin of fish soup was divided and devoured. Lin Cui was given a whole crucian carp separately to nourish her body. As the fresh deliciousness slid down his throat, Lin Xiaobao was already smacking his lips and worrying: “Grandma, when can we eat meat?”
As he spoke, those round, rolling eyes were fixed on a piece of smoked cured meat hanging on the kitchen wall.
“You glutton! It’s not a holiday or festival—what are you eating it for? Save it for Mid-Autumn Festival.” Song Chunhua knew very well. Their family hadn’t eaten meat for over a month too. Occasionally eating a couple of eggs counted as meat, but the belly didn’t acknowledge that. Clear soup and plain water truly couldn’t compare to real pork. Just thinking of fat, trembling pork, no one could resist swallowing their saliva.
Originally, when the prospective son-in-law Wan Decai returned to the village, if he had come to discuss the marriage, Song Chunhua would definitely have sliced cured meat to entertain him. Now, instead, this meal of cured meat had no qualification to be invited to the table.
Lin Xiaobao sighed heavily and counted on his fingers when Mid-Autumn Festival would be.
Children were gluttonous, but adults were no different. Yet every household had these conditions. Pork had to be saved for holidays and festivals. Whatever could be saved was saved.
Lin Cui was gluttonous too. Her stomach hadn’t seen oil or grease for a long time. She was suffering from the lack of meat. Even one look at the family’s old cured meat could “quench thirst by looking at plums.” She hurriedly swallowed two mouthfuls of porridge, treating it as eating meat.
The family tacitly reminisced about the taste of meat, until from somewhere outside came a commotion. People were shouting everywhere that wild boars had been discovered in the mountains—two of them! Clanging and banging sounds arose. Everyone came out carrying their rice bowls.
Lin Cui picked a few pieces of cucumber into her bowl and hurried to catch up with the main group. In no time, dozens of people had gathered at the foot of the mountain. Many held rice bowls in their hands, eating while watching the excitement, their eyes full of longing for pork.
In the center of the crowd, Brigade Leader Sun Weiguo was gathering young, strong commune members to go up the mountain to hunt the wild boars. This was public property. If they really caught a wild boar, every household could get a few catties of meat. Who wouldn’t be excited?
“Second brother, are you really going? Be careful!” Lin Cui watched her second brother volunteer to go up the mountain, her small face wrinkled with worry.
“Don’t worry, with my physique!” As he spoke, Lin Wei patted his fairly sturdy arm and prepared to set off with the other commune members, taking hunting rifles, spears, wire snares, long spears, and other weapons. “Wait for Second Brother to bring you pork to eat!”
A group of twelve—experienced old hands and strong young men—assembled and went up the mountain to hunt wild boars.
Lin Cui bent her head and took two bites of cucumber, swallowing it with porridge. Watching the wild boar hunting squad go up the mountain, she couldn’t help but be full of hope. Maybe, after a long time, everyone could eat meat again. How could she not be thrilled!
The rice bowls gradually emptied. The sun set in the west. The sky was swallowed bit by bit by dimness. The brigade leader called for the commune members to go home, not to stand around waiting. But unexpectedly, before long, Accountant Zhao from the brigade headquarters came running in a panic—there had been another twist.
“Brigade Leader, Wan—that Wan Feng heard there were wild boars and went up the mountain too.” Accountant Zhao had originally gone to find Wan Feng to distribute the brigade headquarters’ and commune’s subsidy, but unexpectedly, news of the wild boars’ appearance had come midway.
“Wan Feng going up is a good thing too. That boy isn’t the skin-and-bones type he used to be. He can put in some effort.”
Accountant Zhao’s face was ashen. His lips trembled: “No—Wan Feng didn’t go with the main group. He went up the mountain alone.”
“What?” The brigade leader’s dry tobacco pipe clattered to the ground. His pupils suddenly constricted. “There are two wild boars up there. If he runs into them alone, isn’t that courting death!”
Hiss…
Going up the mountain alone, possibly encountering two wild boars.
The commune members chattered and discussed Wan Feng’s boldness and madness. Lin Cui held her rice bowl and stared at the lush mountain forest. Her mind recalled how a few days ago Wang Guiying had insisted on discussing a match with her—the blind date arranged for her was Wan Feng. It was truly hard to imagine that someone actually dared to go up the mountain alone to hunt wild boars. Was he crazy? Did he want to die?
Inner shock and worry coexisted. Even for someone she didn’t know, Lin Cui felt anxious about his fate after rashly going up the mountain. Just as she turned her head, the matchmaker Aunt Hongmei arrived late, pulling Lin Cui to the side and excitedly bringing her the candidate for the blind date.