Lin Cui’s turn in line came, and she received her family’s six catties of wild boar meat. Plus the extra fifteen catties rewarded to her second brother for going up the mountain to hunt, the total of twenty-one catties of meat was strung together with straw rope, swaying and trembling lightly with Lin Cui’s quick steps home.
Eating meat in the village wasn’t easy. Unlike the city, where there were monthly rationed meat coupons and one could at least treat oneself, in the village, only after handing over the family-raised pigs to the public at year’s end could a household get a few catties of meat. Pork was precious. On ordinary days, people often couldn’t bear to eat a single bite, and had to salt-cure and smoke it into cured meat for storage. It could keep for a whole year, saved for New Year, festivals, or when guests came, when a piece would be cut to entertain them.
Last year at year’s end, Lin Cui’s family had received ten catties of meat. They ate two catties on New Year’s Eve, and the remaining eight catties were cured and smoked into cured meat hung in the kitchen. They had never been willing to eat it. Now, suddenly, the family had twenty-one more catties of meat. Everyone was overjoyed.
Back home, Lin Fugui and Song Chunhua scooped water from the vat to rinse their hands, then without stopping, salted the fifteen catties of pork Lin Wei had earned as a reward. As for the six catties each household received, they set it aside. Today they had to celebrate and satisfy their cravings—three catties for braised pork, and the remaining three catties saved for another treat later.
Song Chunhua rubbed salt, Sichuan peppercorns, and star anise all over the fifteen catties of pork, then put it in a basin to wait for curing.
Sister-in-law Xiang Yufen was responsible for splitting the six catties of pork in half. Just as she was about to bring down the knife, thinking of how Wan Feng had chopped exactly six catties with one cut earlier, she instead took the steelyard scale from the house and hung the pork on it: “Let me see if it’s really that accurate… six catties… ai ya!”
Lin Cui was preparing seasonings to cook braised pork. Hearing this, her heart tightened: “Sister-in-law, what’s wrong? Is the meat short-weighted? It can’t be missing weight, right?”
Lin Cui had seen clearly while in line. Wan Feng’s knife skills were remarkable. Truly one cut was exactly six catties. Later, when dividing fifteen catties for the mountain hunting squad, it was also exactly fifteen catties in one cut.
“It’s not short!” Xiang Yufen’s deeply hidden surprise overflowed from her eyes. “It’s even two liang more. Looks like that Wan Feng isn’t really always exact with one cut after all.”
This was a gain! A big gain!
Lin Cui was struck by this sudden surprise. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly: “Of course. Earlier I watched Wan Feng cut one after another, the weight completely accurate. I really wondered if he wasn’t human. Now he’s cut two extra liang for our family—now that’s human.”
How could anyone be that precise? Even the town’s machines didn’t have that ability. Lin Cui felt reassured.
A big basin of potato braised pork came off the stove. The rich sauce penetrated the pork and potatoes—spicy, savory, fresh. The pork belly was braised soft and tender, melting in the mouth. The potatoes were soft and mealy, and wrapped in sauce, they could carry a whole bowl of rice. Truly delicious. Every pair of chopsticks paid no attention to anything else, all reaching into the basin. The usually liveliest dinner table was silent at this moment. Everyone just bent their heads and ate meat.
Xiang Yufen had married into the Lin family and truly enjoyed many a good meal.
Lin Cui didn’t work in the fields and basically cooked at home. Her cooking skills were good—it was said she’d learned from the high school cafeteria cook when she attended high school in town. Unlike villagers who couldn’t bear to use various seasonings when cooking, Lin Cui was willing to use them, and her mother-in-law couldn’t bear to criticize her.
Soy sauce, yellow wine, garlic, ginger, star anise… Xiang Yufen’s heart ached just watching. Only her sister-in-law could use ingredients like this, and her mother-in-law couldn’t say anything.
Eating away herself, Xiang Yufen from time to time put a few more pieces into her son’s bowl. Seeing her mother-in-law likewise putting meat into her sister-in-law’s bowl, the two mothers spoke the exact same words.
“Eat more meat.”
Lin Cui urged her mother to eat meat too. After all, Song Chunhua was used to being frugal. Whatever was good always went first to the children, then to her husband. She herself was always last.
“Mother, you eat more too. Don’t just put meat in our bowls.” Lin Cui placed a piece of fat, trembling braised pork into Song Chunhua’s bowl, watching until her mother swallowed it before withdrawing her gaze.
This time’s great hero, Lin Wei, seeing his mother and sister like this, said boldly: “Mother, Cuicui, eat with your bellies open. Our family got twenty-one catties of meat this time! Don’t skimp.”
“From the look of you, not knowing how to manage a household, even sixty catties wouldn’t be enough for you to eat.” Song Chunhua shot her puffed-up second son a glare.
Mentioning sixty catties of pork, the tall figure of this time’s greatest hero, Wan Feng, automatically flashed back into everyone’s minds. The man had truly gotten sixty-one catties of meat.
“Wan Feng got sixty-one catties of meat all told. We’ll have to keep an eye out. Those two, Wan Guangfa and his wife, are probably eyeing it.” Lin Fugui had seen this person clearly. He was no good thing. He might very well divide up his nephew’s meat.
“He deserves it!” Lin Wei wasn’t the least bit jealous of the dozens of catties of meat Wan Feng had gotten. After all, the wild boars were truly too fierce. “The twelve of us went up the mountain and almost got flipped by two wild boars. You didn’t see it—those wild boars were strong and fast. When one charged at me, it was… just this close, and I’d have had to lie in the health clinic… Wan Feng being able to take down those two wild boars is incredible.”
Lin Xiang put meat into his wife’s and child’s bowls and clinked cups with his father and younger brother, drinking the village-bought liquor in one gulp: “I think Wan Feng is different from before. Who would have thought he could take down two wild boars? Wan Guangfa probably won’t have it easy.”
Song Chunhua put the fattest, most delicious piece of braised pork into her daughter’s bowl, but her eyes were fixed on the several people talking: “Before, when I looked at Wan Feng, I thought the boy was quite quiet and didn’t really stand up for himself. Seeing him again this time, he’s really different. His strength is truly great. Maybe Wang Guiying and her husband won’t be able to bully people anymore.”
Lin Cui put a piece of soft-braised pork into her mouth. As the fragrance and meat flavor surged over her, she devoutly thanked Comrade Wan Feng in her heart for bringing the wild boars down the mountain.
Good people, peace all their lives.
……
In the evening, as the sun set in the west and a gentle breeze blew, every household in the Red Star Production Team rarely gave off the fragrance of meat. When the wind blew and one took a deep breath, the smell was so good it made one drool—not much inferior to New Year.
The Wan family at the eastern end of the village had missed the wild boar hunt. Early yesterday morning, the whole family had gone into town to visit relatives and had stayed a night at the town’s guesthouse. By the time they returned to the team today, the pork had already been distributed. It was still the brigade leader who arranged for someone to deliver the Wan family’s share of six catties of wild boar meat to their door.
Wang Guiying should have been happy about the six catties of pork that had fallen from the sky. But when she heard that some other families who had people go up the mountain could get an extra fifteen catties, the corners of her mouth instantly drooped.
That’s how people are. Suffering comes from dissatisfaction and comparison.
Then she heard that Wan Feng had gotten sixty-one catties of wild boar meat. Her eyes lit up with a swish, the glinting light brighter than the kitchen fire at this moment.
The Wan family had three people, plus Wan Decai’s two comrades—five mouths eating meat. How many meals could six catties of meat cover?
As Wang Guiying stir-fried twice-cooked pork in the kitchen, her thoughts unconsciously landed on Wan Feng, who had brought back sixty-one catties of meat.
Wild boar meat was rougher and harder than domestic pork. Wang Guiying couldn’t bear to use seasonings, and she stir-fried it until it was stiff and hard. The texture naturally wasn’t very good. Wolfing down the meat at the dinner table, Wang Guiying didn’t forget to entertain her son’s two comrades—especially since one of them was her future daughter-in-law, He Menghua.
He Menghua chewed the rough wild boar meat that was hard to bite through. It was truly hard to swallow. She had eaten wild boar meat in the military region cafeteria too, but the cafeteria cooks’ skills were much better. Unlike Wang Guiying, who couldn’t bear to use seasonings, this twice-cooked pork had a gamy smell and was so hard it hurt her teeth. She chewed dozens of times and still couldn’t swallow it. Over the course of one meal, her cheeks ached from chewing.
After dinner, He Menghua urged her partner to return to the army as soon as possible: “How about ending your home leave early? We’ll go back first and prepare the things for the wedding.”
In the unfamiliar village, the days were hard to endure. She wasn’t used to anything here.
Wan Decai hadn’t returned home in three years. How could he bear to leave early? “There are still about ten days of home leave. No rush. If you’re bored, go give a speech at the brigade headquarters tomorrow. Uncle Weiguo just asked a couple of days ago. He hopes we can share our army stories. Changqing can come too.”
Her own cousin He Changqing was quite at home here. Hearing about speaking at the brigade headquarters tomorrow, he grew even more interested: “Brother Cai, cousin, tomorrow’s a good chance to exchange with everyone. My basketful of heroic deeds won’t lack a place to be told.”
He Menghua worked as a nurse at the military region hospital and naturally had many stories of witnessing soldiers wounded in battle. She immediately nodded in agreement: “Alright then.”
Just endure a little longer. Soon they could go back.
……
After dinner, people were everywhere under the big banyan tree at the village entrance, enjoying the cool. But Wan Guangfa and Wang Guiying weren’t idle. They headed straight for the shabby house Old Wan the Elder had left behind. The field path was hard to walk, but the two didn’t stop. When the house, uninhabited for years, appeared in their sight again, their eyes were fixed only on the dozens of catties of pork on the stone table in the yard.
Fat and trembling like a puddle of melted water—white, glistening meat, dark skin. Just looking at it made one unconsciously swallow saliva. That was sixty-one catties!
“Wan Feng, Wan Feng!” Wang Guiying had come scheming for these dozens of catties of pork. Seeing Wan Feng come out of the house, she hurriedly said with eager warmth, “Oh, Wan Feng, Second Aunt sees that you, a big young fellow, have nothing in your house. How about Second Aunt helps you salt and smoke the meat into cured meat? The weather’s getting hotter and hotter now. Fresh meat can’t last two days before spoiling. Cured meat keeps better.”
As she spoke, Wang Guiying’s heart pounded. After all, today she’d heard villagers say Wan Feng had dragged two wild boars down and that he was incredible at chopping and cutting meat—one cut exactly six catties, another exactly fifteen catties, without the slightest error. When Wang Guiying got home, she’d even taken out the steelyard to weigh her family’s meat. It was truly exactly six catties, not off by a hair.
Such a Wan Feng felt unfamiliar. Was this still her husband’s good-for-nothing nephew?
Wang Guiying’s worries were quickly dispelled. Wan Feng nodded and agreed to this, letting Wang Guiying help salt and smoke the meat. She was overjoyed.
“Sure! Second Aunt will definitely do it well!” Wang Guiying figured this was too easy. Once the meat was smoked into cured meat, could Wan Feng have the nerve not to give her family half? As long as the meat entered her family’s door, it wouldn’t easily leave. “How about this—you keep a piece to eat, and Second Aunt takes the rest.”
She was kind enough to leave him one strip of meat, about a catty and a half. Not too black-hearted.
Wan Guangfa’s doubts were likewise dispelled. Yesterday the old couple had gone into town with their son. After returning to the village, they’d heard from commune members about a different Wan Feng. The several of them had been startled and uncertain—until this moment…
To easily let their family take away sixty catties of meat—this nephew was still stupid, still easy to control.
“Wan Feng, when you have time, come to Second Uncle’s house for a meal. And about what I told you last time—you really need to take it to heart. Look, it’s not good for a family to have no woman, right? Otherwise, even with all this meat, you have no way to eat it… That Comrade Lin Cui is quite a good girl. Think it over…” Last time he’d been flatly rejected by his own nephew, and Wan Guangfa was still full of anger.
But he didn’t give up. Such an easy-to-control nephew was the best choice. Only if he married Lin Cui could Wan Guangfa, relying on his authority as second uncle, get back the things Lin Cui had extorted from his family.
He’d planned to spend a little more breath, using both kindness and pressure to hoodwink this own nephew. But Wan Guangfa hadn’t expected that Wan Feng would actually relent.
“That Lin Cui—didn’t she previously get betrothed to my cousin?” Hearing the name Lin Cui, Wan Feng’s mind surfaced the pair of eyes that had stared straight at him earlier when he was cutting meat at the cutting board.
Likewise, he recalled the novel plot he’d learned of when he transmigrated from the apocalypse. The Wan Feng whose identity he’d taken over was the cousin of the book’s male lead, Wan Decai. And Lin Cui was precisely the party whose engagement the Wan family had broken off.
According to the book’s plot, Lin Cui would go mad over the broken engagement. She would even drug someone and climb into bed with Wan Decai’s comrade, all to turn her fortunes around. The Lin family would even go to the Wan family’s door every day to block them. A woman with eyes that stared so directly—she actually had that kind of energy?
“That’s all outsiders talking nonsense. Lin Cui acknowledged Decai as her god-brother.” Wan Guangfa, mindful of his son’s reputation, now firmly kept to one story. “For Lin Cui’s marriage, Decai is even going to cover all three major items. Wan Feng, you’ve seen it too. Comrade Lin Cui is quite good. Second Uncle is sincerely doing this for your good!”
Beside him, Wang Guiying was loading the sixty catties of meat into a back basket. The heavy weight was satisfying. Hearing her old companion’s words, she too joined the persuasion team: “Wan Feng, Second Uncle and Second Aunt don’t mean you harm. Introducing you to this girl Lin Cui is absolutely for your good. She’s the prettiest girl within ten miles, and a high school graduate. Her family has several who can earn full work points. She’s really not bad—her conditions are better than yours.”
“Is that so.” Wan Feng’s eyes shifted slightly. He didn’t say much more. He casually sent Wan Guangfa and his wife away, then turned and headed to the brigade headquarters.
The martyr subsidy for the original host’s parents needed verification. Wan Guangfa and his wife really did treat this nephew as a fool, to be manipulated at will.
……
“Cuicui, what did Hongmei talk to you about yesterday? Was there any development?”
After dinner, the Lin family was enjoying the cool in the house and yard. Lin Fugui and his two sons were at the door chatting with people. Song Chunhua, mindful of her daughter’s marriage, suddenly thought of yesterday evening’s matter.
These past two days, Lin Cui’s attention had been entirely captured by the pork, and she’d momentarily forgotten to mention it to her family. Now she had the mind for it.
“Mother, Aunt Hongmei did find me two candidates.”
“Who?” Sister-in-law Xiang Yufen and Lin Xiaobao leaned in together, both faces curious.
“One is the educated youth He Chuan, the other is the brigade headquarters’ accountant Zhao Guangming.” Lin Cui stated the two names concisely. Song Chunhua and Xiang Yufen had already rapidly assessed the two in their minds.
Educated youth He Chuan’s family conditions were good. He was from the capital city, and handsome too. It was just that he spent money and coupons somewhat lavishly. Accountant Zhao Guangming’s parents worked at the town’s sugar factory, so sugar was never lacking. He was diligent in his work and quite simple and honest.
Song Chunhua favored Zhao Guangming. She felt that when choosing a man, one should pick someone honest who could live a steady life. An educated youth from the capital city couldn’t be relied on. Xiang Yufen, however, thought Educated Youth He was better—especially since he was handsome and matched her sister-in-law. Standing together, they’d be like a painting. And if she later followed him back to the capital, she’d be flying up to a high branch.
“Cuicui, what do you think yourself?”
Song Chunhua and Xiang Yufen had both given their opinions. But they weren’t the ones involved. They couldn’t make the decision for her.
Lin Cui shook her head: “I’ve decided against both.”
She recalled the book’s plot. The famous Educated Youth He and the brigade headquarters’ young talent Accountant Zhao were actually both background boards highlighting the book’s female lead’s Mary Sue charm. They should gradually fall for He Menghua at the upcoming brigade headquarters’ glorious military deeds event.
She had to pick a man. How could she pick from among these?
“Then fine. If you don’t like them, forget it. This time we need to keep our eyes wide open and choose carefully.” Song Chunhua had suffered once and wasn’t willing to suffer again. Especially, whether her daughter liked him was most important.
The several women discussed the blind date and marriage in low voices. They were just pondering whether there were suitable candidates among the commune’s seven production brigades when Xiang Yufen carefully recalled: “Cuicui likes tall men, strong, and good-looking too, right? Let me think if there’s anyone on my mother’s side…”
“Little Aunt!” Lin Xiaobao, who had been playing with mud nearby, raised his little face and came over. The four-year-old child spoke with a touch of innocence, tugging at the corner of Lin Cui’s clothes, insisting on giving his opinion. “Little Aunt, you should marry that Wan Feng! He’s strong. He can hunt wild boars.”