Zhou Jiajing lived in housing allocated by the factory. The neighbors around him were all employees of the machinery plant, and everyone knew one another well. When they saw a pretty young woman come out of Zhou Jiajing’s place, they immediately understood that she was the newly married wife and secretly seized her.
Everyone living in this building was someone with a bit of status, or a family member of such a person. Jiang Lianyue greeted everyone she met. She was good-looking and had a pleasant manner, so everyone responded with friendly smiles.
An aunt with graying hair smiled and asked, “Sister-in-law Xu, heading out?”
Jiang Lianyue froze for a moment, then realized that “Sister-in-law Xu” was referring to her. She nodded and said, “I wanted to go out for a walk and buy some groceries. Do you know where the market is?”
The aunt replied warmly, “Go out the door, walk straight past two intersections, turn right, then go one more intersection and you’ll be there.”
After thanking her, Jiang Lianyue went downstairs and followed the directions toward the market.
In her previous life, Jiang Lianyue had also been from Lingnan, so she was very familiar with the environment there. The tall, lush small-leaf banyan trees lining the road and the arcaded buildings made her feel an unexpected sense of familiarity.
If not for the fact that the timing was wrong, the houses along the street were relatively low and worn-down, and the shop signs and pedestrians’ clothing were steeped in a strong sense of the era, she might have thought she was walking through her hometown.
The market was not far away. The weather was rarely this clear, and the market was bustling with people buying and selling vegetables.
However, supplies were scarce at the moment, and since it was only March, many vegetables had just been planted. The market only had a few types of vegetables scattered here and there. Eggs, on the other hand, were plentiful, and there were also chickens, ducks, and fish for sale.
Hengzhou was surrounded by rivers, so there was no shortage of fish at the market, silver carp, grass carp, tilapia, crucian carp, and all kinds of freshwater fish.
Seeing how plump the fish were, Jiang Lianyue bought a grass carp and then picked up a head of pickled mustard greens, planning to make pickled fish soup that evening.
A grass carp weighing five or six jin and a bowl-sized head of pickled greens cost only sixty cents in total. Jiang Lianyue could not help but marvel at the purchasing power of money in this era. It really could buy a lot.
Just as she was considering what else to buy, she suddenly heard someone cry out ahead of her, “Hey, what’s wrong with you?”
Jiang Lianyue looked up and saw an elderly woman collapsed on the road in front of the market. A middle-aged woman in a blue work uniform reached out to pull her, but could not move her at all.
Passersby quickly gathered around, whispering among themselves.
“How did she just fall over like that?”
“She doesn’t seem to be breathing. Look, she’s not moving at all.”
“Could she be dead?”
Jiang Lianyue pushed through the crowd and saw that the elderly woman’s eyes were tightly shut, her chest completely still. She looked as if she had already stopped breathing.
Just as Jiang Lianyue was about to check her neck, the elderly woman suddenly began to convulse. The middle-aged woman was startled and hurriedly stepped back.
Jiang Lianyue’s heart sank. She dropped the fish and pickled greens in her hands, stepped forward, and pressed her fingers against the left side of the elderly woman’s neck. Finding no heartbeat, she immediately raised the woman’s head and placed both hands on her chest, performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
In the midst of it all, Jiang Lianyue looked up and shouted to the people around her, “Go get a doctor, quickly!”
Hearing this, the middle-aged woman turned and ran.
A young man wearing a sailor shirt stepped forward to help restrain the elderly woman’s still-twitching arms and legs.
After a few compressions, Jiang Lianyue leaned down to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Her movements were swift and practiced, her expression grave.
The onlookers were afraid of disturbing the rescue and did not dare speak loudly, whispering instead,
“My neighbor was like this. Suddenly collapsed at home and passed away in less than half an hour.”
“She was completely motionless just now. I’m afraid she might also…”
As soon as those words were spoken, everyone silently stepped back.
It was not that they did not want to help, but running into a dead person just as spring began was considered inauspicious.
Under the crowd’s uncertain and fearful gazes, the elderly woman’s chest, which had been completely still, began to rise and fall again under Jiang Lianyue’s persistent efforts.
“She’s moving!”
“She’s alive, this is incredible!”
As the elderly woman’s breathing gradually returned to normal, her limbs also settled down. The young man in the sailor shirt released his grip and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
He looked up at Jiang Lianyue, who was also wiping sweat away in relief.
Her white Dacron shirt was soaked through, clinging lightly to her body and outlining her graceful figure. His heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly shifted his gaze upward.
Her fair face was slightly flushed from the exertion, vivid like a flower in full bloom. The young man felt his heart, which had just missed a beat, start pounding wildly, and he quickly turned his head away.
“The doctor’s here!”
Someone shouted, and the crowd parted as a doctor in a white coat ran over with two or three orderlies carrying a stretcher.
The doctor pried open the elderly woman’s eyelids to check, then examined her pulse. “Fortunately, she was rescued in time. Quickly, take her to the hospital.”
They lifted the elderly woman onto the stretcher and hurried away.
The middle-aged woman in the blue work uniform, kind-hearted as she was, followed them. The young man in the sailor shirt also took a few steps after them, but when he turned back and saw that Jiang Lianyue had not followed, he hesitated before continuing on.
Jiang Lianyue had no intention of going along. With doctors present and helpful bystanders accompanying them, there was nothing more she could do. She might as well go home.
She turned around, intending to retrieve the grass carp and pickled greens she had dropped earlier, only to find that someone had already brought them over to her.
Jiang Lianyue looked up and saw a young woman in a white dress with red floral patterns smiling shyly at her.
Jiang Lianyue smiled back, thanked her, took the fish, and headed home.
When she returned to the family housing area of the machinery plant, it was just about lunchtime. The air was filled with the aroma of cooking from all directions, and Jiang Lianyue could not help swallowing.
So hungry.
The two bowls of egg porridge she had eaten in the morning were not filling. She had been busy all morning and was now so hungry that her stomach was practically sticking to her back.
She rubbed her growling stomach and curled her lips in self-mockery.
Since coming here, her most tangible feeling has been hunger. It really did fit the current environment.
She quickened her pace and returned to Zhou Jiajing’s place, heading straight into the kitchen to start making pickled fish soup.
The fish was already barely alive. She slapped it unconscious with the flat of her cleaver, scraped off the scales, opened the belly, removed the organs, gills, and bloodline, cleaned away the black membrane inside the cavity, then split the fish in two and chopped it into chunks. She also sliced the pickled greens, scallions, ginger, and garlic. The prep work was complete.
She struck a match and lit the stove, set the iron wok on the burner, and waited for it to heat up before adding oil. She tossed in the ginger and garlic to release their fragrance, then added the pickled greens and stir-fried them. When the greens were about seventy percent cooked, she added the fish pieces and continued stir-frying. Once the fish turned white, she added water, then Sichuan peppercorns, cassia bark, star anise, and other seasonings. After bringing it to a boil, she turned the heat down low and let it simmer.
Zhou Jiajing returned home carrying food he had bought from the factory canteen. Before he even reached the apartment, he caught a whiff of a rich aroma in the stairwell.
Fresh, sour, with a slight sharpness that made his nose itch. Just smelling it made his mouth water.
Zhou Jiajing thought, whose cooking smells this good?
When he opened the door, the scent grew even stronger. He could not help looking toward the kitchen, where he saw his “newlywed wife” standing at the stove, busy at work.
Hearing the door open, Jiang Lianyue turned around and met Zhou Jiajing’s gaze. She smiled and said, “You’re back?”
Zhou Jiajing stiffened, as if he had been caught doing something shameful. His face twisted into an awkward, half-smiling expression, and he nodded while forcing himself to remain aloof.
He had originally worried that there would be no food at home, that Jiang Lianyue, being a new bride, would not dare go out. That was why he had bought an extra portion of food, planning to give it to her and then explain where to buy groceries and meals. Seeing the situation now, it seemed he had been overthinking things.
On second thought, someone who got up before dawn to cook for herself was hardly likely to starve.
After greeting him, Jiang Lianyue turned back to continue cooking, not noticing the faintly resentful look in Zhou Jiajing’s eyes.
Seeing that the soup had turned milky white, she turned off the heat and ladled the pickled fish into a large bowl.
There was still egg porridge left from the morning, so she did not cook any rice. The fish was big enough that she should be full after eating it.
Zhou Jiajing placed the two enamel lunch tins on the dining table and was about to go to the kitchen for chopsticks when he caught sight of Jiang Lianyue carrying the large bowl toward the table. He immediately grabbed the lunch tins and retreated to the study, afraid she would see that he had bought two portions.
Jiang Lianyue set the pickled fish on the table, fetched a bowl, and sat down to enjoy her first proper meal since entering the book.
The fish was fresh and firm, the soup rich and flavorful. Even the pickled greens were tangy and refreshing. Not bad at all. The ingredients of this era were truly far better than those of later times, and the food tasted better as well.
She ate with great relish. In the study, Zhou Jiajing inhaled the aroma drifting in from the living room. Staring at the two full enamel tins, he swallowed again and again, his stomach growling loudly, yet he felt too embarrassed to go out and get chopsticks.
If he went out now, it would look as if he were trying to mooch off her cooking. He could not afford to lose that face.
After enduring it for half an hour, Zhou Jiajing finally heard the sound of Jiang Lianyue clearing the dishes. He waited a little longer, until there was no movement outside.
Only then did he lick his lips and go out to get chopsticks and eat.
By now, the food had long gone cold. It was tasteless in his mouth. Thinking of the fragrant dish Jiang Lianyue had just eaten, so delicious that it made his mouth water, Zhou Jiajing sighed.
Why was what he ate worse than what a rural-born girl cooked?
After lunch and a brief rest, Zhou Jiajing went back to work.
After waking from her nap, Jiang Lianyue wandered around the house out of boredom. Sitting around doing nothing and slowly burning through savings was not an option. She had to find something to do and earn some money.
But what could she do?
She sat at the dining table and recalled the plot of the book. After graduating from middle school, the original owner had failed to get into high school and stayed at home. Spoiled by her family, she never worked in the fields and only did household chores. She did not know how to farm at all. After marrying the male lead, she became a full-time housewife. After the divorce, she still did not work. It could be said that she never labored her entire life.
Did the original owner have any particular skills?
Jiang Lianyue racked her brains, and after a long while, finally remembered that when the original owner had nothing to do at home, she liked to imitate the daughters of wealthy families by growing flowers. She even had some talent in this area, the flowers she grew were not only lush, but their blooming periods were also slightly longer than usual.
Growing flowers?
Several ways to get rich through floriculture immediately came to Jiang Lianyue’s mind. One was cultivating rare flowers, the second was growing common ornamental flowers, and the third was growing flowers for economic use.
A moment later, she dismissed all of these ideas herself. The general population was not well-off yet. The first two were hobbies for the petite bourgeoisie, and even if she grew economic flowers, there would be nowhere to use them. She would have to think of something else.
She pondered for a long time without reaching any conclusion. Feeling restless, she stood up, picked up the thermos, poured some hot water into an enamel mug, and noticed a small metal tin beside it. Curious, she opened it and found tea leaves inside, so she grabbed a pinch and dropped it into the mug.
The brown tea leaves slowly sank to the bottom. As the fragrance of tea gradually spread, Jiang Lianyue’s eyes suddenly lit up.
That’s right, how could she have forgotten this?