“Zhang Tao! Wang Lili! Come out for a moment.”
Brigade Leader Liu Yongfu called out toward the adobe brick house, and a moment later, a man and a woman came running out.
The man was wearing a patched blue shirt and black hemp pants with the legs rolled up. The woman came out wearing a white shirt and black hemp pants.
These two were veteran educated youth who had arrived a year ago, and they were currently the representatives of the male and female educated youth in the Qianjin Production Brigade.
“Team Leader Liu!”
“Team Leader Liu!”
Liu Yongfu nodded and pointed at the group of panting, exhausted young men and women standing at the entrance, instructing the two veteran youth to lead them to the male and female dormitories respectively.
Cheng Rong and the other girls followed Wang Lili through the door on the right side of the house. Once inside, they saw a row of large, shared brick-and-mud sleeping platforms (kang).
A kerosene lamp was lit in the room; although it was dilapidated, it looked quite clean. The sleeping platform against the wall was already occupied, but the one near the door was still empty.
Seeing Wang Lili lead people inside, the two girls sitting on the platform looked over in unison.
The veteran educated youth Wang Lili warmly introduced both sides. The two female youth on the bed had also arrived last year; the round-faced girl with twin braids was called Xu Jia, and the short-haired, big-eyed girl was called Fang Yuan.
The four newly arrived girls quickly introduced themselves, and everyone considered themselves acquainted.
The new educated youth began to find their beds and unpack. Cheng Rong chose to sleep near the door because she felt it would be convenient for going to the restroom. Sleeping next to her was Li Fang, and Feng Yingying and Tian Zhaodi chose their beds in that order.
The weather wasn’t cold yet, so a single quilt was more than enough.
Cheng Rong took a scrap of cloth from her crossbody cloth bag and used an enamel basin she had brought from home to fetch a basin of water from the old water well outside the youth dormitory, simply wiping down the sleeping platform.
Once her quilt was made and everything was put in place, Cheng Rong asked Wang Lili where the latrine was and ran out to use the restroom by herself.
On the way back, Cheng Rong found a secluded spot and entered her modern kitchen. Using the wooden basin in the kitchen, she heated up some water and took a quick shower, instantly feeling much more refreshed. She took a piece of pork belly out of the refrigerator to thaw, to be used during tonight’s live stream.
Everyone was exhausted. By the time Cheng Rong returned to the dormitory, she saw that Feng Yingying and the others had already crawled under their quilts and lay down.
There was no electricity or entertainment at night. Once everyone was in bed, Wang Lili turned off the kerosene lamp.
Before long, the sound of light snoring could be heard. Cheng Rong was also very tired, but thinking of tonight’s live-streaming task, she quickly re-entered her modern kitchen.
The live stream started, and she cooked braised pork belly. By the time the broadcast ended, it was already eight o’clock at night. The reward for tonight’s live stream was ten catties of pork belly, which made Cheng Rong immensely happy.
Exhausted to the point where her eyes could hardly stay open after broadcasting, Cheng Rong hurried back to the dormitory bed and fell into a deep sleep.
The First Morning of Labor
At around six o’clock the next morning, the veteran youth like Wang Lili were already rustling as they put on their clothes, and Cheng Rong woke up right along with them. Fortunately, she didn’t have the habit of sleeping in; once awake, she quickly dressed and got up.
Once the veteran youth were dressed, they grabbed their washbasins and mugs to fetch water outside for washing up. Cheng Rong joined them.
A fair number of people were already gathered around the water well outside, and everyone began lining up to draw water and wash. After washing up and returning to the dormitory, Feng Yingying and the others had gotten up as well.
Once everyone was washed and ready, Wang Lili briefed the new educated youth in the dormitory about the day’s schedule.
“Around here, we generally go to work at seven o’clock, and we have to get up at six. Later on, you new educated youth will eat breakfast with us first, using our rations as veteran educated youth. Team Leader Liu should be advancing grain rations for you soon, and at that time, you can pay back the grain you borrowed from us. Everyone goes through it this way.”
Grain was far too precious in this era; veteran youth wouldn’t put on a false front to treat new youth to meals. Everything was borrowed first and repaid later, and the grain advanced by the brigade would also be deducted when grain was distributed after the autumn harvest.
“Here, we cook in rotation—two people per day. Since there are exactly four of you, you can divide it among yourselves. I’ll notify you in advance when it’s your turn.”
Feng Yingying and Tian Zhaodi were naturally a pair, while Li Fang was paired with Cheng Rong.
Li Fang had a somewhat timid personality, so Cheng Rong proactively chatted with her for a bit, quickly closing the distance between them.
The kitchen of the youth dormitory was a makeshift shed built with wooden frames, featuring a simple stove made of a few bricks and stones, next to which a pile of dry firewood was stacked.
Zhang Tao and Wang Lili had already cooked a pot of thin porridge and steamed wild-vegetable cornmeal buns, calling everyone over to line up for food.
Everyone lined up with their lunchboxes. Cheng Rong also held her lunchbox waiting in line, and she had specially tied a scrap of cloth to the handle so nobody would mistake it for theirs.
As Wang Lili explained, each educated youth had to hand over their daily grain share the night before, and whoever was on cooking duty would allocate the three meals. If you didn’t hand over your share, you didn’t get to eat.
If you wanted to cook alone and eat by yourself, you could, but you had to wait until everyone else finished eating before you could start cooking.
That was fine normally, but during the autumn harvest when you were so exhausted your arms wouldn’t even lift, having to cook every single meal yourself would be overwhelmingly exhausting.
Cheng Rong didn’t want to make a fuss or stand out. She planned to eat with the veteran youth every day and simply sneak into her modern kitchen to supplement her meals whenever she got hungry.
While eating, Li Fang suddenly handed over a glass jar containing soybean paste, which looked quite appetizing.
“Comrade Cheng Rong, would you like to try some? It’s soybean paste my mom made.”
Li Fang’s face flushed slightly. She was a bit timid, but before leaving, her mother had told her to be bolder outside, make more friends, and avoid being bullied. Seeing Cheng Rong’s outgoing personality and how she had proactively greeted her yesterday, Li Fang wanted to be on good terms with her.
“Sure!”
Cheng Rong didn’t stand on ceremony. She scooped out a little bit and took a bite; the flavor was genuinely quite good.
“It tastes great. Auntie’s cooking skills are truly wonderful.”
Hearing Cheng Rong’s praise, Li Fang blushed, feeling quite pleased. Cheng Rong also shared her own spicy sauce with Li Fang, though she didn’t offer any to the others—excessive enthusiasm wasn’t always a good thing.
While the two of them were getting along harmoniously over there, Feng Yingying looked at the food in her bowl and had zero appetite. Remembering the items her parents had packed for her, Feng Yingying pulled a box of pastries out of her suitcase.
The rich aroma of the pastries wafted out, instantly drawing everyone’s attention. Feng Yingying thoroughly enjoyed this feeling.
Tian Zhaodi beside her swallowed hard, then began buttering up Feng Yingying, coaxing her into giving her two pastries. Feng Yingying generously shared one piece with Wang Lili, figuring that she might need help from this educated youth representative later on, so building a good relationship now was necessary. As for the others in the dormitory, she had no plans to cozy up to them for the time being.
Wang Lili politely declined Feng Yingying’s goodwill; she didn’t like owing favors to others.
Out in the Fields
Cheng Rong had drunk a bowl of wild-vegetable porridge so watery she could see her reflection in it, accompanied by a fist-sized corn bun. Her stomach was far from full, so she once again used the excuse of a bathroom break to find a secluded spot where no one was watching and slipped into her modern kitchen.
There was still a bag of sliced toast in the refrigerator; Cheng Rong grabbed two slices and heated a cup of milk in the microwave to satisfy her hunger.
By the time she returned to the youth dormitory, Brigade Leader Liu had already parked his ox cart in front of the house, calling for the new educated youth to bring bags to load their grain.
There were two large sacks on the wooden ox cart: one filled with quinoa, and the other filled with coarse grain flour, which was used to make the hard-as-rock corn buns they ate for breakfast. The new educated youth hurried over with cloth bags to load their grain, and once everyone finished loading, they repaid the grain the veteran youth had lent them the day before.
Team Leader Liu struck a gong, urging everyone to hurry off to work in the fields.
Wearing her Liberation shoes and carrying her thermos, Cheng Rong followed the veteran youth out toward the fields.
The villagers working the land cast curious gazes at the newly arrived educated youth, especially when spotting the new female youth; the young men of the village couldn’t resist sneaking a few extra glances.
Following the veteran youth to the brigade’s tally clerk to collect her tools, Cheng Rong began heading out to work in the fields. The new youth were assigned to weed the crop fields. Since autumn harvest hadn’t arrived yet, the tasks mainly involved weeding and watering the fields. The work wasn’t too heavy, requiring only half a day’s labor, but it only earned four work points.
Cheng Rong squatted down in her assigned plot of land and started weeding with her head down. Fortunately, she was used to hard physical labor even in modern times, so she didn’t find it hard to accept.
Li Fang was also hardworking and honest, putting a lot of effort into her work.
Seeing that both new educated youth were performing decently, Brigade Leader Liu let out a slight sigh of relief—though his brow furrowed when he looked at Feng Yingying.
Things weren’t going quite as smoothly for Feng Yingying. Looking at her tender, fair hands getting dirtied by weeds and scratched by a few blades of grass, her heart ached. After pulling weeds for a little while, she used a pair of watery, tearful eyes to glance over toward the male youth section.
Sure enough, a “simp” couldn’t bear to watch a beauty shed tears. Catching his goddess’s look, Gu Xiaohu immediately dropped his work and ran over to help Feng Yingying weed.
By the time everyone finished their tasks at noon and headed back to eat, Gu Xiaohu and Tian Zhaodi still had to help Feng Yingying finish hers.
Tian Zhaodi wanted to reap benefits from Feng Yingying, while Gu Xiaohu was entirely driven by devotion to his crush, finding busyness to be an absolute sweet joy.
After finishing their weeding, Cheng Rong and the others followed the main group back to the dormitory. Since someone else was on cooking duty today, they could simply wait for their meal.
Having labored all morning, everyone received thin porridge and a wild-vegetable corn bun slightly larger than the morning’s ration for lunch.
Exploring the Mountain
After finishing lunch, Cheng Rong was just about to lie down for a rest when she heard Wang Lili say they could head up the mountain behind them in the afternoon to forage for wild fruits or wild vegetables.
These items could serve as food supplies later on. These veteran youth had suffered enough from grain shortages; once you’ve been terrified of hunger, you learn to think of ways to fill your stomach.
The male youth were planning to go up the mountain to gather firewood. Since there were more people now, they needed to stock up on extra firewood before the autumn harvest arrived—there wouldn’t be any spare energy to gather firewood during the harvest itself.
Cheng Rong and the others decided to join the group up the mountain to see what items could be stored away and eventually mailed back home when they had time.
Feng Yingying and Tian Zhaodi claimed they were heading to the commune to pick up a package and buy some supplies, so they wouldn’t be joining the rest of the group.
Xu Jia and Fang Yuan felt a bit displeased; why should they be absent for a collective activity?
“Can’t you guys go a few days later? This is a collective activity.”
Ignoring the two of them entirely, Feng Yingying simply looked toward Wang Lili off to the side.
“Sister Lili, Tian Zhaodi, Gu Xiaohu, and I will be cooking separately from now on. You don’t need to count us in starting tomorrow.”
During lunch, Feng Yingying had found the thin porridge in her bowl somewhat unbearable. Her parents had mailed her quite a few things, and she had her own money and food tickets; she didn’t need to eat chaff and coarse greens alongside these people. Cooking separately meant Tian Zhaodi and Gu Xiaohu would help cook and do chores, and as long as she provided a bit more grain, she would still live quite comfortably.
With that, Feng Yingying took Tian Zhaodi and went off to find Gu Xiaohu.
Foraging and Finding Treasures
It was late summer, and the wild fruits on the mountain were gradually ripening now, while wild vegetables grew lush and green.
Cheng Rong and the others followed the veteran youth up the mountain, their moods lifting at the sight of the vibrant greenery. There were also several village women and children on the mountain, all searching for wild vegetables and fruits.
Wang Lili greeted the villagers she recognized, and Cheng Rong greeted them along with her. Li Fang, with her timid personality, simply nodded in acknowledgment.
“Oh, Lili, these two new girls are really pretty! They don’t have objects (fiances) yet, right? My son Daniu is sturdy and can earn a full day’s work points. Let my son take a look one of these days; if he takes a fancy to you, you’ll be blessed.”
The speaker was Widow Wang from the village, whose only son, Wang Daniu, hadn’t married yet. Whenever this old woman saw a pretty girl, she would drop a line like this. They had heard similar remarks when they first arrived; lacking thick skin, they could only smile and say nothing.
Cheng Rong twitched the corner of her mouth, thinking to herself: Who even is your son? He’s already picking and choosing. Unwilling to humor the old woman, she followed right behind Wang Lili as they walked toward the side.
“These wild water celery and bracken ferns are edible. And the earth fungus (gelatinous lichen) over here can be eaten too.”
Introducing the plants as she went, Wang Lili picked wild vegetables and placed them into her basket. As a cook, Cheng Rong naturally recognized these wild vegetables and followed behind, picking them as well.
Everyone bent down to harvest wild vegetables, placing their yields into the carrying baskets they had brought.
The baskets belonging to Cheng Rong and Li Fang were newly purchased. Before heading up the mountain, guided by Wang Lili, they had traded two dimes to a villager who made baskets in the village to get them. Since they would need to carry firewood and pick wild vegetables moving forward, a basket was an absolute necessity.
Once they grew familiar with the types of edible wild vegetables, everyone scattered to search individually, agreeing to regroup right here later.
Cheng Rong walked off to the side for a bit until she found a small irrigation ditch lined entirely with wild water celery and earth fungus. After harvesting for a while, Cheng Rong transferred a substantial amount into her modern kitchen.
She could use them for tonight’s live-stream cooking, saving a bit of her own stocked ingredients.
Moving further up along the ditch, Cheng Rong spotted a wild grapevine laden to the brim with wild grapes. There wasn’t much fruit available to eat nowadays, so these wild grapes made for a fantastic treat to satisfy cravings. Her modern kitchen contained plenty of fruits, but none of them were suitable for mailing home. These wild grapes, however, could be dried into raisins and mailed back to her parents.
Choosing to walk a bit farther away from the group, Cheng Rong tasted a wild grape; it was a bit tart, but the flavor was quite good. She picked a full plastic basin’s worth and deposited it into her modern kitchen, wrapping a small portion in tree leaves to take back later so Wang Lili and the others could taste them.
Venture deeper still, Cheng Rong spotted a wild Akebia quinata (August melon) vine, its fruit split wide open at the seams. After eating a few, she plucked the rest and tossed them into her modern kitchen.
Emerging from her kitchen space, Cheng Rong figured it was getting late and hurried back to regroup with the rest of the team.