Bai Su watched Lihua and her two sisters finish their canned fruit, then gave each of them a few pieces of walnut pastry and a handful of dried mango. She locked everything else back in the cupboard.
The girls were already accustomed to Bai Su making the decisions at home, so none of them objected.
Even Lu Lanhua accepted it without complaint.
However, when she left for work in the fields, she slipped a piece of walnut pastry and several strips of dried mango into her pocket.
Bai Su stopped Hehua. “Keep an eye on your sister for me. See who she gives those walnut pastries and dried mangoes to.”
It wasn’t that Bai Su was stingy.
In this era, walnut pastries and dried mangoes were rare treats.
If Lu Lanhua wanted to share them with her girlfriends, that was perfectly fine. But if she was taking them to curry favor with Zhou Yan, the work-point recorder, just so she could work alongside the educated youths, that was a different matter. Bai Su would find it rather unpleasant.
She would rather give the treats to her daughters a little at a time and make sure they actually ate them.
Bai Su wasn’t a petty person. When it came to people who had helped her, she was very generous.
There were still plenty of walnut pastries and biscuits from He Yan and Qin Yanyue. When Bai Su went to work at the Brigade Medical Station, she packed some of each for Educated Youth Zhou and added a handful of dried mango.
Educated Youth Zhou had gotten up quite early that day. Someone had come to see him first thing in the morning.
As Bai Su approached the medical station, she heard Educated Youth Zhou’s slightly sarcastic voice coming from inside.
“Sun Mingyuan, it’s a good thing you came so early. If you’d waited any longer, that wound might have healed on its own.”
“All right, I’ve applied the medicated oil. You can go now!”
“Zhou Changqing, what have I done to offend you? Didn’t we used to get along quite well at the educated youths’ residence?”
Bai Su entered with her things and saw a fair-skinned young man complaining to Educated Youth Zhou. There was a tiny cut on the web of skin between his thumb and forefinger, leaving only a thin trace of blood.
When he saw Bai Su enter, he stood up enthusiastically to greet her. “Good morning, Auntie Bai!”
Bai Su recognized him. Wasn’t this Sun Mingyuan from the educated youths’ residence?
The one who was always laughing and chatting with Lanhua.
They had hardly interacted before, had they?
Why was he being so friendly?
Bai Su nodded at him and handed the things she had brought to Zhou Changqing.
“These are for you. Have some whenever you get hungry.”
Zhou Changqing opened the oiled-paper wrapping. When he saw the walnut pastries and dried mango, he felt embarrassed to accept them.
“Auntie, how can I take these from you?”
Walnut pastries were one thing. With the right ration coupons, they could still be bought at the supply and marketing cooperative.
But dried mango was truly rare. The cooperative didn’t even sell it.
Educated Youth Zhou carefully wrapped the paper back around the treats and returned the package to Bai Su.
“I’m a grown man. I don’t really like eating these things. Take them home and save them for yourselves.”
When Educated Youth Zhou opened the package, Sun Mingyuan’s eyes had practically popped out of his head.
Unlike Educated Youth Zhou, the moment he saw the walnut pastries and dried mango inside the wrapping, he swallowed hard.
“How can you return something someone has given you? Aren’t you being disrespectful to Auntie Bai?”
Sun Mingyuan stared at the package Zhou Changqing was handing back to Bai Su, then suddenly added, “I came to the medical station so early that I didn’t have time for breakfast. I still have to go to work in the fields soon.”
Had she heard him correctly?
Bai Su was stunned by how shamelessly Sun Mingyuan was eyeing the food!
“If Auntie gives you something, just accept it. There’s no need to be so polite.”
Bai Su took the package, opened a drawer, and tucked it inside. Then she turned to Sun Mingyuan.
“Educated Youth Sun, is there anything else you need now that your wound has been treated? There’s still time for you to go back and have breakfast. Eat something and hurry off to work.”
Sun Mingyuan froze. Looking thoroughly embarrassed, he left.
Educated Youth Zhou burst out laughing.
“Auntie, you’re really something! He’s always been popular with the girls in the brigade and at the educated youths’ residence. This is the first time I’ve ever seen him leave looking so humiliated.”
“You said it yourself. He’s popular with young women. I’m not a young girl.”
Bai Su asked him, “Do you have some kind of grudge against Sun Mingyuan?”
“Not really. I just don’t think much of him. He’s a tall, strong fellow, yet he comes running to the medical station over a tiny cut on his hand. And he’s close to practically every girl in the brigade and at the educated youths’ residence. So many young women compete to help him with his work and even bring him food.”
“When he heard you were working at the Brigade Medical Station, he came here first thing this morning to ask who had arrived at your house in a car yesterday.”
“It’s not good to gossip about people behind their backs. Anyway, he seems all right when you first meet him, but the longer you spend around him, the more uncomfortable he makes you feel.”
“Enough about him. In a little over ten days, I’ll be leaving to attend worker-peasant-soldier university. Before then, Auntie, you’ll need to take an examination at the county hospital.”
Zhou Changqing asked her, “When would be a good time for you to go? I’ll put in the request.”
Ordinarily, anyone becoming a brigade medical worker had to undergo half a month of training in the county town.
But Bai Su already knew everything she needed to know. She could handle the work at the medical station without any guidance from Educated Youth Zhou, so there was little point in making her attend the training.
She could simply take the examination directly.
Only after Bai Su passed and officially replaced Zhou Changqing would he be able to leave the brigade for worker-peasant-soldier university.
Naturally, he was feeling somewhat anxious.
Bai Su also understood that the sooner she completed the examination, the sooner Zhou Changqing could put his mind at ease.
“Then let’s schedule the examination for next Monday. You can submit the arrangements.”
Since Lihua’s maternal uncle had sent them so many things, Bai Su also wanted to gather some mountain produce and mail it to the island military posting.
After the original body’s husband died, her elder brother had continually sent money and supplies to support the widowed mother and her daughters. Lihua’s maternal aunt had never complained about it.
Bai Su felt that a person shouldn’t take such kindness for granted.
Whether the things she sent were particularly valuable or not, they would at least express her gratitude.
Bai Su discussed her plans with Educated Youth Zhou.
“Since I’m going to the county town anyway, I’d like to gather some dried mountain produce to send to Lihua’s uncle. Spring planting is finished now, so tomorrow I’ll take Lihua and the others into the mountains to gather medicinal herbs.”
Zhou Changqing could manage the medical station by himself.
And with Auntie Bai’s abilities, he was confident that nothing would go wrong when she took the examination at the county hospital.
He would also organize the examination material for her.
Educated Youth Zhou had no objections.
“All right, Auntie. Go ahead…”
At this time of year, the mountains offered little besides bamboo shoots covering the hillsides, wild gardenia flowers, tea tree mushrooms, and pine mushrooms.
Gardenia flowers were traditionally believed to help relieve internal heat and restlessness, clear heat and dampness, cool the blood, and remove toxins.
The southern islands were humid, so Bai Su thought she could pick some gardenia flowers, dry them, and send them to her brother to brew as tea.
It had rained a few days earlier, and the weather had warmed up again, making the conditions ideal for mushrooms to grow.
Bai Su took Lihua and her sisters into the bamboo grove on the rear slope to gather bamboo shoots. Beneath the nearby camellia trees, they found several clusters of tea tree mushrooms.
If there were tea tree mushrooms, there were bound to be pine mushrooms too.
Bai Su decided to divide up the work.
She asked Lihua and Lanhua to gather bamboo shoots and search for tea tree mushrooms and pine mushrooms, while she took Hehua to pick gardenia flowers and collect medicinal herbs.
He Yan had also received canned fruit and dried longan from Lihua’s maternal uncle’s parcel. When he learned that Bai Su was going into the mountains not only to gather herbs for his mother but also to collect dried produce and medicinal herbs to send to the island military posting, he brought Li Xiangyang along.
The two of them had set animal traps and dug quite a few trapping pits in the mountains. They wanted to see whether they had caught anything.
Spring was the season when everything came back to life. Animals were also becoming more active after emerging from hibernation.
Since he would be accompanying Auntie Bai to the county town for her examination the following week, He Yan hoped to catch a large animal that he could sell on the black market.
The mountain behind the brigade was relatively safe, and large wild animals rarely appeared there.
Before heading deeper into the mountains, He Yan reminded them, “Auntie, don’t go too far in. Just stay around the outer part of this mountain hollow. If there’s anything good to gather, I’ll bring it back for you.”
“Xiangyang and I are going farther into the mountains. If anything happens, just shout, and we’ll come straight back.”