On the day he was leaving for the commune, the Production Brigade Leader brought the Educated Youths a rabbit.
Complaints aside, he knew that it was not easy for the Educated Youths to come to the countryside. Now that they had arrived, giving them a good meal could be considered a welcome.
The rabbit weighed more than five jin. After the skin and innards were removed, about three jin remained. It was stewed together with potatoes and green beans, filling a large basin to the brim.
Sitting by the table and breathing in the aroma, Song Ziyao seemed to hear the sounds of the others gulping down their saliva.
Wang Yiguang picked out the meat with his chopsticks and divided it up, then distributed the remaining potatoes and green beans as well.
Everyone’s bowl was piled high.
Wen Xue stared in astonishment and said: “Dividing up the meat is one thing, but you’re even dividing the potatoes?”
One of the male educated youths replied with a grin: “The potatoes have soaked up all the meat flavor too. They’re good stuff. If they weren’t divided, you wouldn’t be able to snatch any from me.”
The corners of Wen Xue’s mouth twitched as she asked: “How often do you get to eat meat?”
The male educated youth answered: “If sparrows count as meat, then yesterday.”
Wen Xue asked: “And if they don’t?”
“If they don’t, then three months ago. A cow in the production team died, and we got a bit of beef.” Wang Yiguang answered for him.
Liao Hongmei said with a troubled expression: “So that means we’ll be living just like you from now on?”
Someone else added: “Meat is a luxury. I don’t even think about it. I just pray that I can work hard this year, earn more work points, and exchange them for more white flour!”
Without a doubt, this gave the newly arrived Educated Youths a deeper understanding of the hardships awaiting them.
Although city supplies were also distributed as a mix of coarse and fine grains, there were still fixed monthly rations of meat and cooking oil.
Liu Qingping comforted them, saying: “It’s fine. There are lots of mountains around here. Once in a while, we can catch a rabbit or a pheasant and improve our meals.”
The words did little to comfort anyone.
Wen Xue looked thoroughly deflated.
Liao Hongmei merely rolled her eyes.
When Liao Hongmei noticed that Song Ziyao, who was quietly eating beside her, had not even furrowed her brows, she became even more convinced that Song Ziyao had brought plenty of money and ration coupons from home.
After her eyes darted around for a moment, Liao Hongmei picked up a piece of potato from her bowl and placed it toward Song Ziyao. “Ziyao, look how thin you are. Eat a little more.”
Song Ziyao reacted quickly and moved her bowl away, frowning as she said: “No need. I have enough.”
Seeing this, the others asked the two of them: “Did you know each other before?”
Liao Hongmei smiled and said: “We were desk mates for half a year. Ziyao is a little younger than me, so of course I have to look after her.”
Song Ziyao said indifferently: “I wouldn’t dare. I can’t bear the responsibility of your care.”
There was obviously a story behind those words!
Still, although everyone loved gossip, they were not familiar with one another yet, so no one asked further.
Wen Xue, however, disliked Liao Hongmei. Following the principle that the enemy of her enemy was her friend, she immediately became much friendlier toward Song Ziyao.
Faced with this goodwill, Song Ziyao neither rejected it nor responded with excessive enthusiasm.
Aside from Liao Hongmei, she treated all the other Educated Youths according to the same principle: get along well, but do not become too entangled.
As a result, she unexpectedly ended up being quite well-liked. That, however, was a story for later.
After the meal, Wang Yiguang and two male educated youths helped clear the miscellaneous items out of the small room and then put together another bed.
That bed… was actually just a wooden plank. It was less than one and a half meters wide, but quite sturdy.
The wooden plank was hard as stone, and without a mattress, even after a layer of bedding was spread over it, it was not much softer.
There were no bedding items in the space that fit the characteristics of the era, so she could only make do for now. Once the cotton batting arrived in winter, she would add another mattress.
Other than that bed, there was no furniture at all in the room.
There was no way anyone could live in it like that.
Song Ziyao went to find Liu Qingping.
“Sister Ping, if I want to have furniture made, who should I look for?”
Liu Qingping was just about to leave for work. Hearing this, she said: “Even if I told you, you wouldn’t know the way. How about this: when I get back from work, I’ll take you to the carpenter’s house?”
Song Ziyao smiled and nodded. “Then I’ll have to trouble you.”
Of the three newly arrived female educated youths, Liu Qingping had the best impression of the gentle and amiable Song Ziyao. She gave her a few more reminders and points of caution before finally leaving.
The four newly arrived Educated Youths did not have to work that day. Once everyone else had left, only the four of them remained.
While everyone was busy with their own affairs, Song Ziyao took disinfectant from her space and thoroughly cleaned the small room.
Since there was still no furniture, she did not unpack the things she had brought with her and left them in the trunk for the time being.
Next came the issue of meals.
Both Wen Xue and Liao Hongmei had approached Song Ziyao, wanting to form a cooking partnership with her.
She politely declined the former and directly ignored the latter.
Liao Hongmei then went to Liu Qingping, but Meng Jing, who was in Liu Qingping’s group, disagreed, so she was not allowed to join.
As a result, among the four newcomers, only Zhou Shuguang joined one of the groups on the male comrades’ side. The three female comrades ultimately cooked separately.
There was only one large iron pot in the Educated Youth Residence Compound, and everyone took turns using it.
Previously, there had only been three groups in total, which was manageable. After all, the meals were simple and the pot was barely sufficient.
But now that three more groups had appeared all at once, the pot became a scarce resource.
While eating, Wang Yiguang had brought up the matter and hinted that anyone who planned to cook independently should preferably solve the pot problem themselves.
Song Ziyao had brought plenty of industrial coupons with her and immediately decided to buy a pot.
There was a Supply and Marketing Cooperative in the production team. She had seen it when she arrived.
Upon learning that Song Ziyao was going to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, Wen Xue went along as well.
The cooperative was not far from the Educated Youth Dormitory. It only took five minutes to get there.
However, the variety of goods sold there was pitifully small.
Most of the items were things commonly purchased in the countryside, such as salt, soy sauce, and vinegar. There was also a small amount of cloth, bowls, ladles, and basins. It was said that tofu, bean sprouts, and similar foods were occasionally supplied as well.
There were no iron pots, only clay pots and casserole pots.
However, the sales clerk explained that they would be going to the town for supplies the next day and could bring back an iron pot for Song Ziyao.
A large iron pot cost four industrial coupons and seven yuan.
After being rejected by Song Ziyao when she proposed cooking together, Wen Xue had not wanted to approach her again. However, she also did not want to fight with everyone else over the use of a single pot.
Buying one on her own was manageable financially, but she had not brought many industrial coupons…
So Wen Xue shamelessly tried once more and asked: “How about the two of us buying a pot together?”
When so many people shared one pot, compared to one person using a pot alone, it was easy for others to form opinions.
And if someone else was in a hurry and wanted to borrow your pot, it would be difficult to refuse, wouldn’t it? If you lent it to one person, would you lend it to a second? A third?
If it were someone she got along well with, it would not matter. But with someone like Liao Hongmei, who was obviously always looking for opportunities to take advantage of her, Song Ziyao did not want to leave the other woman any chance to do so.
Considering everything, buying a pot together with Wen Xue had its advantages.
Song Ziyao nodded in agreement.
Wen Xue was overjoyed, and the slight resentment she had felt over Song Ziyao’s refusal to cook together instantly disappeared.
Song Ziyao also asked the sales clerk to bring back a thermos flask and two enamel basins for her.
There were still many things she wanted to buy, but the production brigade’s Supply and Marketing Cooperative did not carry them.
She could only find time later to go to the town or county herself.
At seven o’clock in the evening, Liu Qingping returned. She merely washed her hands before taking Song Ziyao to the carpenter’s house in the production team.
“Uncle Youliang’s carpentry skills are famous throughout all the villages within ten li. Even people from the commune often come looking for him to make things.”
Song Ziyao was startled and asked: “Which uncle?”
Liu Qingping replied: “Uncle Youliang. The carpenter’s name is Tan Youliang.”
Tan Youliang, wasn’t that the name of Tan Jinhe’s father?
In other words, the place they were about to visit was Tan Jinhe’s home!