The rain outside began to pour down in sheets, and suddenly, a crash of thunder echoed, waking everyone in the dormitory.
“Oh no, the roof is leaking.”
Feng Yingying’s voice rang out, and the others chimed in immediately. A beam of flashlight illumination brightened the dormitory—it was Feng Yingying’s flashlight. Wang Lili, who slept against the wall, immediately got up to light the kerosene lamp.
Water was leaking right through the roof above the shared kang platform, soaking everyone’s quilts. Cheng Rong and the others hurriedly moved their bedding to a dry spot and grabbed their respective enamel basins to place under the leaks.
Once everything was tidied up, Wang Lili consoled everyone, explaining that the house was simply too old and they had already patched it up several times. This youth dormitory was an old house left behind by a local family that had passed away, long overdue for repairs.
Nobody slept well all night. As the rain gradually tapered off, the sky outside began to brighten.
Patching the Roof
Today happened to be Cheng Rong and Li Fang’s turn to cook. A tired Cheng Rong rubbed her eyes and got up with Li Fang to prepare breakfast. Breakfast was simple: a pot of thin wild-vegetable porridge and steamed wild-vegetable cornmeal buns.
Because the weather was poor, Brigade Leader Liu Yongfu used the village loudspeaker to announce that everyone didn’t need to report for work today.
Zhang Tao expertly rallied the male youth to add a fresh layer of thatch to the roof and patch the leaking spots. As veterans at this kind of work, they handled it with ease. With more youth around now, Zhang Tao suggested giving the house a thorough repair this time so it could at least comfortably weather the upcoming winter.
Many hands make light work. While some of the male and female youth went out to gather thatch, others dug up yellow clay. Once the materials were fully prepped, they set to work repairing the roof and walls.
Cheng Rong and Li Fang were assigned to stoke the kang beds in both the male and female dormitories, baking the previous day’s damp quilts dry so everyone would have bedding for the night. Once the kang beds were fired up, the two girls set about making lunch.
After eating at noon and bustling about for a while longer, the repairs were mostly finished. By a little past three in the afternoon, rain began to fall again outside, but fortunately, the roof remained completely leak-free.
Writing Home & A Midnight Surprise
Having some free time, Cheng Rong took out paper and pen to write a letter home to report that she was safe. She briefly explained her situation here and told her parents not to worry. Seeing her write, Li Fang asked for paper and pen to write home as well.
Once they finished writing, both girls were exhausted to the point of dropping. Pulling their quilts over themselves, they fell right back asleep. Because nobody had slept well the previous night, they skipped dinner and stayed in bed to catch up on sleep.
Awakening in the middle of the night, Cheng Rong slipped into her modern kitchen and began her daily live-stream check-in.
Today, she made a signature dessert: Tiramisu. Because desserts took quite a while to prepare, the live stream wrapped up right as she finished. The lucky draw prize turned out to be a bolt of black cotton cloth—a textile unique to this era. Every single lucky draw prize happened to be exactly what Cheng Rong needed; this cheat-code system of hers was simply too divine.
Cheng Rong cut the fabric to size, trimmed the processed rabbit pelt, and used the sewing machine to craft a pair of gloves. Sipping hot milk between bites of Tiramisu, she finished the pair of rabbit-fur gloves just as she polished off the dessert.
The style was simple, but sliding your hands inside was genuinely cozy. She hoped her dad, Cheng Dazhi, would like them. Remembering her grandmother’s old handkerchief, Cheng Rong cut another piece of fabric to make two handkerchiefs. Using the sewing machine, she embroidered an orchid flower onto one—remembering that her grandmother’s name contained the character for orchid (lan)—and the character for rosy clouds (xia) onto the other, intended for her mother.
Once everything was done, Cheng Rong’s backside felt completely numb, so she stood up and walked around for a bit. With her tasks wrapped up, she left the kitchen space and went back to sleep.
The Dam Repair & A Familiar Face
The day after the rain, Team Leader Liu used the loudspeaker to instruct the educated youth to gather at the earthen dam not far in front of the village. Heavy rains the previous day had caused a large section of the dam to collapse, and today it needed to be patched up and reinforced.
After Team Leader Liu and tally clerk Zhang Yan took attendance, Cheng Rong and the others began hauling stones.
The sun was beating down fiercely today; before heading out, Cheng Rong had packed a thermos of sour plum soup, terrified she might suffer from heatstroke.
Just as Cheng Rong set down a stone and turned back, she noticed Feng Yingying stop what she was doing and stand completely motionless. Feng Yingying barely managed two work points a day, but since her family mailed her money and food coupons, she didn’t rely on these work points to survive. Aside from getting Gu Xiaohu and Tian Zhaodi to help, she exhausted every possible trick to slack off.
As she prepared to walk past Feng Yingying, Cheng Rong caught sight of a youth in a military uniform walking toward the dam. With his shirtsleeves rolled up and carrying quite a few items in his hands, his sleek, dark hair was dampened by sweat, radiating a uniquely fresh and clean youthful energy.
Cheng Rong recognized him instantly: this young man was the handsome soldier from the train.
When Li Fang walked over, she found both Cheng Rong and Feng Yingying staring with star-struck expressions.
“Cheng Rong, what’s wrong?”
“Ah? Oh… nothing.”
Recalling how she had heard on the train that this soldier’s maternal grandparents lived right here, Cheng Rong realized he was simply back home visiting relatives.
Taking long strides, the soldier walked up to the dam and called out “Grandfather” to Brigade Leader Liu Yongfu. Seeing his maternal grandson, Yefan, come to visit, Liu Yongfu excitedly jogged over, slung an arm around his grandson’s shoulder, and called his son, Liu Mingzhi, to head home together.
As soon as the Liu family left, the women gathered on the dam started gossiping eagerly.
“That must be Brigade Leader Liu’s maternal grandson, Yefan, right? He’s so handsome—he looks just like his mother, Yingzi.”
“Of course! Ever since Yingzi passed away five years ago, this boy has rarely visited. I heard he’s a soldier in the army with a very bright future.”
“Wasn’t his father a cadre in the Yanshi military? Right after Yingzi passed away, that father of his remarried immediately and had a son and a daughter.”
“With a stepmother comes a stepfather; that father of his is no good either.”
“I wonder if this lad Yefan has an object yet. My second sister’s daughter is gorgeous—wonder if we could hook them up.”
“If you put it that way, my granddaughter Daya is a fine match too.”
Cheng Rong and Feng Yingying worked while keeping their ears perked, thoroughly engrossed in the gossip, thinking to themselves that if they could just…
An Ambush Averted
The dam repairs were nearly finished after a single day of work, and Brigade Leader Liu announced that tomorrow would be a day off, with fertilization of the crop fields scheduled to resume the day after.
Cheng Rong decided to use her day off tomorrow to head to the commune to mail her letters and send a package home.
After breakfast the next morning, Cheng Rong set off toward the commune alone. Since Li Fang was experiencing her period and found it inconvenient to travel, she had asked Cheng Rong to mail her letters for her.
She had memorized the route on her very first day arriving in the village. After walking for about an hour, she reached Wutong Commune, which was essentially a small town. The town wasn’t particularly prosperous, consisting of just a post office and a supply-and-demand cooperative.
Drawing a vintage wristwatch as her live-stream prize last night, Cheng Rong wore it and checked the time: it was just past nine o’clock.
Heading into the post office first, she mailed her written letters and package together, which cost three dimes. The package contained dried goods: wood ears, shiitake mushrooms, wild vegetables, and wild grapes, along with the rabbit-fur gloves for Cheng Dazhi and the handkerchiefs for her grandmother and mother. After mailing her own items, she mailed Li Fang’s letters as well, which cost an extra dime.
Leaving the post office, Cheng Rong browsed the Wutong Commune supply cooperative, buying an ounce of brown sugar for Li Fang and a bar of laundry soap for herself.
With her errands finished, she lost any desire to linger in the commune and turned right back toward the village. As she walked, she sipped on iced Happy Water, feeling utterly fantastic.
However, as she passed a cornfield not far from the village entrance, she suddenly heard a rustling sound.
Her sixth sense told her someone was hiding in the corn. Feeling for the homemade wolf-deterrent spray in her pocket—which she had frantically whipped up the night before as a precaution for her solo trip to the commune—she pretended nothing was wrong and walked a few more paces.
Hearing the footsteps behind her match her pace, she sped up; the footsteps sped up too. Sensing the person closing in fast, Cheng Rong abruptly spun around, whipped out the wolf spray, and blasted it straight into the assailant’s face!
“Agh!”
Blasted in the eyes with the fiery chili-powder mixture, the man shrieked, collapsing to the ground and rubbing his eyes frantically. But the more he rubbed, the more the burning agony intensified, causing him to howl in pain.
Recognizing the face, Cheng Rong realized it was none other than village local Wang Daniu. She didn’t even need to guess his intentions; he had been trailing her with malicious intent. Enraged, she delivered a vicious kick straight to Wang Daniu’s most vulnerable spot, eliciting an even more blood-curdling howl.
“What are you doing?”
A husky, pleasant voice rang out from behind. Cheng Rong quickly turned around to find the soldier, Yefan, looking at her with an expression of sheer speechlessness.
Just as Cheng Rong was about to speak, she spotted a crowd of people rushing over from the direction of the village entrance.
It didn’t take a genius to figure out what they were coming for. Without lingering, Cheng Rong grabbed Yefan by the lapel of his shirt and bolted in the opposite direction of the cornfield, ducking behind a massive boulder after running a short distance.
Moments later, the group converged on the writhing form of Wang Daniu by the cornfield. Leading the pack was Wang Daniu’s mother, Widow Wang, followed by various relatives of the Wang family. Widow Wang had intended to catch her son and Cheng Rong red-handed so she could force the urban girl to marry her son, but never expected to find only Wang Daniu rolling around in the dirt.
“My boy! What happened to you? Don’t scare your mother!”
Clutching his groin, Wang Daniu wailed at the top of his lungs, looking deeply terrifying.
“Ma, it burns! It hurts!”
“Oh, heaven-forsaking wretches! Where is she? Where’s that female educated youth? Was it her?”
“It… it was her… she… ran off.”
Seeing Wang Daniu’s condition, Widow Wang hastily rallied her relatives to rush him off to the commune clinic.
A Favor and a Secret Crush
Once they had cleared out, Cheng Rong emerged from behind the boulder with a cold glint in her eyes.
“Aren’t you afraid they’ll retaliate against you?”
Having figured out what happened, Yefan felt a deep sense of disgust toward the Wang family’s behavior.
“This girl doesn’t know fear. But comrade, could I ask a favor of you?”
“What is it?”
“If this Widow Wang comes looking for trouble, could you act as my witness that I was just acting in self-defense?”
Yefan thought for a moment and nodded. “Alright. But I’ll be leaving here tomorrow morning.”
“Is that so? Well, then I won’t trouble you after all.”
A trace of genuine regret laced Cheng Rong’s tone. She waved goodbye to Yefan and turned to head back toward the village.
“Wait—I’ll speak with my grandfather so Widow Wang won’t dare bother you.”
“Team Leader Liu? Won’t that be too much trouble?”
“No.”
“Then thank you.”
Offering a sincere expression of gratitude, Cheng Rong departed. Watching her retreating figure, Yefan recalled how fiercely she had kicked Wang Daniu’s sensitive spot and couldn’t help the corners of his mouth twitching upward in amusement. Remembering he still had errands to run for his grandfather, he hurried off toward Wutong Commune.
A Blooming Crush
Back at the youth dormitory, Cheng Rong handed the brown sugar over to Li Fang and then crawled into bed for a long, heavy sleep.
True to Yefan’s word, Widow Wang never showed up to cause trouble for her that entire evening. Cheng Rong figured Brigade Leader Liu must have firmly squashed the matter. She hadn’t been afraid of Widow Wang making a scene anyway; hooliganism in this era was a crime punishable by a firing squad.
Yet, thinking of Yefan, Cheng Rong found the corners of her mouth curling upward into a smile. She had been fretting over how to get to know him, and now an opportunity had practically delivered itself to her doorstep.
That’s right—Cheng Rong had taken a fancy to Yefan. To be precise, she had taken a fancy to his face and his background. Returning to the city right now wasn’t easy, but marrying Yefan and following military family relocation back to the city was entirely feasible. Besides, Yefan was drop-dead handsome, perfectly fitting her aesthetic. She had lived a solitary life in her past existence; finding a handsome guy to love and marry in this lifetime was completely natural.
After their day off, the villagers resumed the busy task of fertilizing the fields. Cheng Rong threw herself entirely back into the labor, though whenever she crossed paths with Widow Wang and Wang Daniu, she caught looks of venomous hatred from the mother and lingering terror from the son—neither daring to provoke her again.
Meanwhile, back at the Yuyang urban military unit, Yefan pushed open the door to his empty dormitory. Placing his duffel bag on his bunk, he prepared to unpack the items his grandparents had given him. Opening the bag, he spotted a gray cloth pouch—the very one the educated youth named Cheng Rong had shoved into his hands.
That morning, after bidding farewell to his grandfather’s family at the commune bus stop, he had just reached the village entrance cornfield when the fierce female youth from yesterday suddenly intercepted him, thrusting the pouch into his hand and blurting out a word of thanks before darting off like a puff of smoke.
Opening the pouch, he found a stack of scallion-oil pastries and a glass jar of pickled vegetables. Twisting off the lid of the jar, the rich aroma rushed straight into his nostrils, immediately waking up his appetite.
“Fan-ge, you’re back?”
The dormitory door swung open, revealing Wang Bin and the others returning from training. The moment Wang Bin stepped inside, he locked eyes with the jar of pickles in Yefan’s hands and gravitated toward it instantly.
“Fan-ge, it smells amazing! How did you know I was starving?”
Without standing on ceremony, he grabbed a pastry from the table, dipped it into the pickle jar, and devoured it ravenously.
“There’s meat in this! This pickle is shiitake mushroom and pork paste, spicy and so damn good!”
Wang Bin raved between bites, while the others couldn’t hold back either, diving right in without restraint.
Seeing that only a single pastry remained on the table, Yefan quickly snatched it up, dipped it generously into the paste, and took a massive bite. As he chewed, his mind involuntarily drifted back to Cheng Rong’s fiercely capable expression when she kicked Wang Daniu.
“Huh… why does this pastry taste so familiar? I feel like I’ve eaten this somewhere before.”
Wang Bin muttered between mouthfuls, momentarily forgetting all about trading canned meat for scallion-oil pastries on the train. Too lazy to remind him where the food came from, Yefan simply screwed the lid back onto the jar and tucked the pickles safely away.