Over here, Wang Lili and the others had also picked quite a few wild vegetables. Seeing that the time was about right, they prepared to head back down the mountain.
Right at that moment, they realized someone was missing.
“Where did Cheng Rong go?”
“No idea.”
Just as everyone was getting ready to look for Cheng Rong, they saw her walking out from the bushes.
“Where on earth did you run off to? We almost thought you got lost.”
Seeing her return, Wang Lili let out a breath of relief. As the representative of the female educated youth of the Qianjin Production Brigade, she bore a certain responsibility for the newly arrived youth.
Noticing the worry in Wang Lili’s eyes, Cheng Rong offered an apologetic smile, then pulled out the wild grapes she had picked from the basket on her back and generously shared them with everyone.
“I happened to see a wild grapevine earlier, so I figured I’d pick some for everyone to try.”
“Cheng Rong, you’re amazing! You managed to pick so many wild vegetables and wild fruit.”
“These wild grapes are seriously delicious.”
As Xu Jiajia munched on the wild fruit, she showered Cheng Rong with compliments. The nearby villagers also looked over; seeing the wild grapes in Cheng Rong’s hands, they thought to themselves that this newly arrived young woman was quite capable.
Among the crowd, Widow Wang’s eyes flickered as she gave Cheng Rong several extra appraising looks.
Back at the Courtyard
By the time the female youth returned to the dormitory courtyard, the male youth who had been gathering firewood were already back, and a full stack of firewood was piled high against the corner of the wall.
The male youths were thrilled when they saw the wild vegetables and wild grapes Cheng Rong and the others had brought back. During this lean period between harvests, finding so many wild vegetables meant they could mix them with their grain to help fill their stomachs. For veteran youth who had stayed in the village quite a while longer, as long as it was edible, the more they could stockpile, the better.
While everyone was busy sorting through their wild vegetables by the water well, they spotted Gu Xiaohu walking into the courtyard carrying two packages, followed by a beaming Feng Yingying and Tian Zhaodi. They had gone to the commune to pick up their mail today, and both Feng Yingying and Gu Xiaohu had received quite a few items mailed from home.
Tian Zhaodi, on the other hand, had five brothers and sisters, ranking third among them. Her family’s resources were entirely reserved for the younger brothers, so there was no way they would ever mail anything to her.
Elated, Feng Yingying had even treated Gu Xiaohu and Tian Zhaodi to a hearty meal at the state-run restaurant in town. Seeing Cheng Rong and the others dealing with wild vegetables, the trio tacitly walked straight into the room.
That evening, Xu Jia and Fang Yuan cooked wild-vegetable porridge, tossed a cold salad of water celery, and steamed some corn buns. Everyone finished eating before dark, fetched their washing water, and went back to their rooms to sleep.
The Midnight Stream & A Wild Catch
Once everyone was sound asleep at night, Cheng Rong pulled the quilt up over her head and slipped into her modern kitchen. Popping open a bottle of Happy Water (cola), she began her preparations for the live stream.
First, she set the flour to rise, then used a meat grinder to mince the pork belly. She chopped up the wild celery picked earlier, planning to stream celery-and-pork dumplings later.
All the wild vegetables picked today were blanched, then dried alongside the wild grapes in the dehydrator. Once dried, they were sealed in airtight bags—these were destined to be mailed back home.
Once the dough had risen, Cheng Rong launched her evening live stream.
The freshly wrapped dumplings were dropped into boiling water; after three rolling boils, they were scooped out immediately. Unable to resist, Cheng Rong tasted a wild-celery and pork dumpling and felt as though her tongue was practically melting from how fresh and delicious it tasted.
With a large bowl of dumplings successfully in her belly, the live stream came to an end. For her daily lucky draw, the prize turned out to be a box of sanitary pads.
Finally, she checked the inventory in her refrigerator: over 50 eggs, around twenty catties of pork, about five catties of ribs, five catties of beef, a small rack of lamb ribs, a whole chicken, a whole duck, a large bag of prepped vannamei shrimp, and two ribbonfish.
As for fruits, there were apples, bananas, pears, and quite a few lemons. Vegetables included potatoes, tomatoes, snow peas, chili peppers, garlic sprouts, and carrots. This food supply should comfortably last her a while.
Encounter with the “Green Bean Eyes”
At a little past six o’clock the next morning, everyone had already washed up and was waiting for breakfast. As usual, breakfast consisted of porridge as thin as a mirror and a fist-sized wild-vegetable corn bun.
Starting today, Feng Yingying and her group were cooking separately from the rest. However, since they hadn’t gathered any firewood, the other youth were unwilling to let them use theirs. As a result, the three of them had to make do with Feng Yingying’s pastries for breakfast and figure something out after finishing work at noon.
After finishing her meal, Cheng Rong once again used the excuse of a bathroom break to slip into her space, happily consuming two slices of toast and a cup of milk.
That morning, the youth headed out to the cornfields with the villagers to weed, with the afternoon off to rest. The timing of their arrival as a batch of youth happened to fall roughly a month before the autumn harvest, so the current workload wasn’t overly heavy.
While bent over pulling weeds, Cheng Rong suddenly felt like someone was staring at her back. When she turned her head, she locked eyes with a pair of beady, green-bean-sized eyes.
The owner of the green bean eyes grinned the moment he saw Cheng Rong turn around, exposing a row of jagged, yellow teeth that practically swallowed his tiny eyes altogether.
Grossed out to the core, Cheng Rong quickly shuffled over toward a crowded spot and attached herself to Wang Lili’s side.
“Sister Lili, let me ask you something.”
“What is it?”
“What’s the deal with that guy over there?”
Following Cheng Rong’s gaze, Wang Lili took one look and spat in disgust.
“That’s Wang Daniu, Widow Wang’s son. He’s a lech through and through. He loses his mind the second he sees a woman and loves hanging around the female educated youth. He’s a shameless, stinking rogue.”
Wang Lili spoke with furious indignation, making it obvious that she, too, had been peeked at by those green bean eyes.
“Cheng Rong, try not to go out alone from now on, and stay far away if you run into someone like Wang Daniu.”
Cheng Rong nodded in agreement, thinking to herself that in an unfamiliar place, she really needed to be cautious.
Catching Wild Rabbits
After finishing the morning’s work, Cheng Rong and Li Fang joined Wang Lili and the group to forage for food on the mountain again.
Though she didn’t find wild fruit today, Cheng Rong managed to find fresh wood ear mushrooms and edible wild mushrooms, filling half a carrying basket to take back to her kitchen.
Noticing there were still plenty of wood ears left, Cheng Rong called over Li Fang, who was nearby, to help pick them. Once they finished harvesting, their legs felt completely numb, so they casually sat down on a pile of grass.
No sooner had they sat down than something darted past Cheng Rong’s eyes and burrowed straight into a hole in the earth.
It was actually a wild rabbit!
“Li Fang, there’s a wild rabbit!”
“A wild rabbit? Where, where?”
Startled into action, Li Fang jumped to her feet and scanned her surroundings.
Cheng Rong dashed over to the hole the rabbit had just vanished into and, searching the immediate area, quickly found a second opening.
Glancing around to ensure nobody was watching, Cheng Rong had Li Fang block one entrance with her carrying basket while she plugged the other hole with semi-dried grass. Then, she pulled a box of matches out of her pocket.
Lighting the grass at the mouth of the hole, she watched the thick smoke drift inside before running over to join Li Fang at the other exit.
After about ten minutes, the basket began to stir.
With wide, saucer-like eyes, Li Fang signaled Cheng Rong that something was inside.
“Cheng Rong, something is moving in the basket! There’s really something moving in there!”
Li Fang’s face was flushed pink, her eyes watery, and her dimples flashed faintly, making her look exceptionally cute.
Grinning, Cheng Rong nodded and motioned for her to keep her voice down.
“Fangfang, go call Wang Lili and the others over.”
Obediently heading off to find the others, Li Fang left Cheng Rong standing guard. Just as Cheng Rong prepared to lift the basket upright, she noticed something else scrambling inside.
Quickly righting the basket, she peered in to find four rabbits—three males and one female.
After a moment of thought, Cheng Rong slipped two males and one female rabbit into her modern kitchen, leaving just a single male rabbit inside the basket.
When Wang Lili and the others came running over and saw the wild rabbit inside the basket, they were utterly stunned. Having been down in the countryside for so long, this was the first time any of them had ever caught wild game.
“Sister Lili, how should we handle this wild rabbit?”
Knowing that small wild game caught by villagers was handled at their discretion, Wang Lili figured since Cheng Rong and Li Fang caught it, it belonged to them.
“You don’t need to turn in small game like this. The two of you can keep it yourselves.”
Nodding, Cheng Rong consulted Li Fang beside her and generously proposed, “Since we don’t have to turn it in, let’s cook it up and treat ourselves!”
This meant she was sharing it with everyone. Xu Jia, Fang Yuan, and the rest were ecstatic—who wouldn’t want to eat meat?
Losing all desire to continue foraging for wild vegetables, they carefully hid the wild rabbit and hurried back down the mountain.
A Feast of Rabbit Meat
Back at the youth courtyard, the male youth hauling firewood hadn’t returned yet, leaving only Feng Yingying and her two companions. A small shed had been built next to the makeshift kitchen, and its stove and firewood were already fully stacked.
Cheng Rong guessed that Feng Yingying must have paid off some villagers to help her out, otherwise it couldn’t possibly have been done so quickly.
Dropping their carrying baskets, the group began sorting out their wild vegetables and wood ears. However, they hit a snag the moment they looked at the rabbit.
“Um… does any of you know how to prep this?”
Wang Lili looked around at the others. She had never handled a rabbit before and had no idea how to process one. The others shook their heads; they didn’t know how either.
“Well, I can handle it. Don’t blame me if it doesn’t turn out delicious, though.”
Picking up the rabbit, Cheng Rong instructed the others to boil some hot water to help out. Once Cheng Rong nimbly and efficiently processed the rabbit meat, everyone knew right away that she genuinely knew what she was doing.
“Can I keep the rabbit skin? I want to make a pair of gloves for my dad,” Cheng Rong asked, pointing to the bloody rabbit pelt on the ground.
“You caught the rabbit, of course it’s yours!”
Everyone had their eyes locked entirely on the rabbit meat; the pelt was completely secondary. Besides, the rabbit was caught by her.
Cheng Rong looked over at Li Fang, and seeing the girl nod vigorously, she washed the rabbit skin clean and temporarily hung it from a tree branch to dry.
After chopping up the rabbit meat, Cheng Rong pulled out the spicy sauce she had brought, then stealthily poured a bowl of cooking oil and some spices from her modern kitchen.
Wang Lili and the others assumed these seasonings were all brought from Cheng Rong’s own home, marveling at how generous this girl truly was.
Heating the wok, she coated it with oil. The moment the rabbit meat hit the wok, she poured in the spicy sauce, stir-fried it, added boiling water, tossed in the spices, and covered it with the lid to simmer slowly.
As the rabbit meat simmered in the wok, Wang Lili and the others stood nearby, unable to help swallowing as their mouths watered, completely tormented by the rich aroma of the meat.
The male youth who had just returned from hauling firewood were tortured by the fragrance just as badly. Before they even reached the dormitory, they caught the scent, dropped their firewood, and crowded around the makeshift kitchen.
“It smells so good! That’s the smell of meat!”
“Cheng Rong, what kind of meat are you stewing in that pot? It smells amazing!”
Swallowing hard, Zhang Tao looked over at Wang Lili inquiringly.
Wang Lili explained how Cheng Rong and Li Fang had managed to catch a wild rabbit.
The male youth immediately started hooting and hollering, showering Cheng Rong and Li Fang with praise for being such good-natured people who were willing to share good food.
Li Fang blushed and lowered her head in shyness, while Cheng Rong maintained a casual composure, saying that everyone was good revolutionary comrades and of course good things should be shared.
By this point, everyone realized that Cheng Rong had an open, generous personality and was very easy to get along with. In an instant, the new and veteran youth grew close, all eagerly waiting to eat meat.
Because tonight’s menu included meat, everyone except Cheng Rong and Li Fang contributed an extra portion of grain, requesting that tonight’s porridge be cooked a bit thicker.
Inside the room, Tian Zhaodi pressed her face against the window, inhaling the meaty aroma while her stomach rumbled loudly. If only they had waited a couple more days before separating their cooking arrangements, they could have enjoyed a mouthwatering plate of rabbit meat too. Just smelling the scent was intoxicating, so the taste must be beyond incredible.
Feng Yingying was craving meat too, but her pride wouldn’t let her show it. Hearing everyone praising Cheng Rong, she thought to herself that this girl simply loved showing off—something she had noticed back on the train.
By the time the people outside finished eating, Feng Yingying and her group came out to cook their own meal. Although tonight’s dinner involved eggs traded from villagers, it tasted completely flavorless, and their minds remained fixated on the aroma of the rabbit meat.
Noticing Feng Yingying’s unsightly expression, Gu Xiaohu rushed over to offer his concern. “Yingying, what’s wrong? You don’t look too good.”
How could Feng Yingying fail to see that Gu Xiaohu liked her? She had no romantic interest in the guy whatsoever; she merely needed him to help her do chores right now.
“Xiaohu, I’m sorry. If I hadn’t insisted that we split up our cooking arrangements, you guys would have gotten to eat meat today too.”
“Yingying, don’t say that. What’s a little meat? I still have meat coupons left—I’ll go to the commune in a couple of days and buy some back for us.”
Hearing Gu Xiaohu’s words, the moods of Feng Yingying and Tian Zhaodi instantly lifted.
A Midnight Surprise
After finishing dinner that evening, the youth washed up and crawled into bed early; tonight, they wouldn’t have to go to sleep with empty stomachs.
Once the lights were out, Cheng Rong quickly slipped into her space, pulled the vannamei shrimp out of the refrigerator, and launched her night’s live-streaming task.
Tonight’s menu featured Typhoon Shelter-style fried shrimp and Spring Scallion Noodles. After eating her fill and completing the lucky draw, the prize turned out to be a sewing machine!
A sewing machine was an immensely precious item nowadays; whichever family owned one instantly became the object of widespread envy.
Knowing how to use a sewing machine, Cheng Rong thought of the rabbit skin processed today and planned to take some fabric purchased from the commune next time to make a pair of rabbit-fur gloves for her dad.
She tucked the sewing machine into a corner and fed carrots to the three rabbits housed in the cardboard box. Rabbits bred extremely fast; if she raised them well, she wouldn’t have to worry about running out of rabbit meat or fur in the future. Tomorrow when she went up the mountain, she’d have to cut some fresh grass for them to eat.
In the dead of night, however, Cheng Rong felt water dripping onto her face. Opening her eyes, she realized it was raining outside.
Wait… the roof of the room was leaking!