MAC’60s Chapter 26.1

Winter days, when you think about it, are indeed quite dull. When the snow falls, it seems endless. I don’t know if it’s because the Seventh Brigade is near the mountains, but once it starts snowing, it can accumulate to a height of half a person’s size by the end of the day.

Wang Ying also woke up the next morning, and when she saw the world outside covered in silver, she finally understood the meaning of a heavy snow blocking the mountain. It’s not that the snow is taller than a person and can bury you, but the road conditions in the mountains are complex. You never know where the snow is thick or deep.

Perhaps with the next step, you could step into a deep pit, and then the strong wind would bury you, making it impossible to see the top.

Even so, Old Lady Xu still said the situation had improved a lot. “In the past, this area didn’t even have a road. Later, they organized people to clear a small path to the neighboring commune town. If it had been some years ago, once it snowed, no one could get out at all.”

Now, at least when something happens, you can try to get to the town on a day when it isn’t snowing, though it’s still difficult.

At Old Lady Xu’s age, she had witnessed the changes in society and the gradual improvement of life. She was quite confident about the future: “In the future, who knows, they might even build a main road. By then, we might not need to stay closed up for an entire winter.”

However, whether the road gets built or not didn’t seem to matter much. It would only really affect people like Xu Shuang who had to work. The villagers, even if there was a road in winter, wouldn’t go out.

It was simply too cold.

In the middle of winter, with no farm work to do and nothing urgent, it was better to just stay at home.

The first snowfall didn’t last long, but the wind blew fiercely. Soon, the entire brigade looked like it was covered by a thick blanket of cotton, and the white snow was so blinding that people’s vision improved at night.

While the snow was still not too thick, the brigade sent someone to call them.

Since Xu Shuang hadn’t gone to work this year, Tian Youfu also gave him some work and assigned him tasks.

Old Lady Xu understood: “Youfu is a good man.”

Although Xu Ming’s matter had been quickly covered up, it was still not a pleasant topic. Plus, the wedding with Wang Ying had been quite a big event, so some people privately murmured that Xu Shuang shouldn’t be doing nothing.

He had been assigned land by the brigade, was receiving wages from the town, and had found a wife from a good family.

Why did all the good things fall on him?

In this day and age, living too comfortably was not necessarily a good thing.

Since Xu Shuang was at home during the winter, Tian Youfu deliberately made him do some work, so others wouldn’t gossip. Also, since Xu Shuang had gone to learn a trade in a restaurant immediately after graduating and wasn’t too familiar with the other families in the brigade, Tian Youfu wanted him to build better relationships with the community, so no one would get jealous and cause trouble.

Winter tasks were divided into two parts. One was snow shoveling. Since it was difficult to get out of the brigade, they still had to clear enough space inside the brigade for people to walk. Not that they expected to clear all the snow, but at least leave a small path along the edge to make it easier for people to visit each other. The other task was patrolling. The wild animals from the mountains had been driven down for a while, but every winter, they would hear about wild animals coming down to nearby brigades.

Mostly, it was wild boars, but occasionally there were some silly wild rabbits. In previous years, when the harvest wasn’t good, they even heard of wolves coming down.

In such a situation, Tian Youfu was naturally cautious and arranged for people to patrol the brigade with guns.

On the other hand, there were also tasks for staying indoors. Yes, even in winter, they couldn’t just do nothing at home.

Tian Youfu would assign groups of people to go to the brigade’s office to study the party’s spirit. While attending meetings, they would also make corn husk ropes. This way, they could multitask with their ears and hands.

However, the villagers didn’t mind so much. One reason was that the meeting room also had a brazier, paid for by the brigade. Making corn husk ropes while listening to the lecture could count as work points.

Some villagers went but didn’t make ropes; they just made shoe soles with their hands, and no one cared.

The work arranged by Tian Youfu was secondary. The main goal was to bring people together. So, for those doing private work, Tian Youfu would turn a blind eye.

The only thing that really bothered him was the constant nagging need to talk. The one who was supposed to handle this sort of thing—Party Secretary Song Dagu—was too old to be of any help.

After two years of this, even Tian Youfu was exhausted. By the end of his talks, he barely had anything left to say.

Back when the women’s committee director was still around, she could take over for him and deliver some of the Women’s Federation’s messages, giving him a break.

But this year, it was all up to him. Once it started snowing, Tian Youfu felt overwhelmed.

Early in the morning, he called the young men of the brigade to get up. From the moment snow shoveling began, Tian Youfu was troubled.

Xu Shuang, too, obediently had breakfast and came out to shovel snow. He was clearing the area next to his own courtyard wall, and had to shovel all the way to the other end of the small path.

Tian Youfu wasn’t wearing a hat, shivering from the cold, and asked Xu Shuang, “How do you all handle this sort of thing in the restaurant?”

Nowadays, all collective units were more or less the same—holding meetings to spread the Party’s message. Schools had also adopted an open-school policy: half the time was spent reading editorials, the other half doing farm labor and reminiscing about past hardships.

Xu Shuang didn’t stop working, seriously sweeping snow as he answered, “We just gather together and I talk about cooking.”

Tian Youfu asked, “Talking about cooking counts?”

Xu Shuang replied, “Why wouldn’t it? We’re a restaurant. Our way of building socialism is through cooking. Making good food is construction.”

Suddenly, Tian Youfu had a moment of epiphany. Of course! Why did he have to stick rigidly to those official talking points?

Xu Shuang continued, “You could talk about how we grow fruit in our orchard. Get a few experienced farmers to explain the planting techniques. Doesn’t our brigade have educated youth? Have them record everything.”

Tian Youfu: !!!

It had never occurred to him—this was a whole new way!

Indeed, during the winter, even the educated youth had nothing to do. If they came and made records, and handed in the notes afterward, wouldn’t that work perfectly?

Tian Youfu thought it was a brilliant idea. Not only would it save him from endless meetings, but it also sounded good when said aloud.

The power of the people truly is limitless.

He rubbed his hands together and got ready to go back and discuss the plan with Song Dagu. It was a great idea and they needed to implement it properly. Not just farming—those nine educated youths came from all over the country. They could talk about city life too. Later, they could even bring in Wang Ying to give a talk on hygiene habits.

After Tian Youfu left, Xu Shuang continued shoveling for nearly two hours before finishing his assigned area. At the gate, he shook off the snow, went back inside, and saw Wang Ying handing him a cup of hot tea.

Wang Ying asked, “Do you need to go out again this afternoon?”

Xu Shuang shook his head. “Just a patrol in the afternoon, another two hours or so.”

During winter, since everyone was idle, each person typically worked about four hours a day—no more than that.

Xu Shuang savored the tea and asked, “Did you put sugar in this?”

It was clearly just boiled water, but it tasted sweet.

Wang Ying felt a little guilty—Xu Shuang’s palate was too sharp. The tea wasn’t mixed with regular water; it was made entirely with spirit spring water. Looks like next time, she’d better mix it into the water barrel instead.

“No, I didn’t. We’re pretty tight on sugar as it is.”

Life, it seemed, was never fully prepared. They’d stocked up on all kinds of things but had forgotten to buy more white sugar.

Now the house had milk candies, malt candies, and hard candies—just not enough white sugar, only one bag left.

Wang Ying still dreamed of making sweet-and-sour dishes, so she had to save it.

For lunch, Xu Shuang made a big pot of clear stewed fish soup. The broth was simmered until thick and white, with dried tofu and cabbage added in. Using the rich fish broth as a base, he tossed in a handful of hand-rolled noodles made from a mixed-grain flour.

Wang Ying contributed some goji berries, scattering a few red bits over the soup, making it look mouthwatering.

The fish soup was savory and delicious, the fish tender and flavorful. One bowl of that rich fish noodle soup warmed you right to the core.

While Wang Ying happily drank her soup, next door Li Chunjuan was drooling at the smell.

Wang Yaozong was even more displeased. The smell from next door was amazing, and what were they eating for lunch?

Cabbage stewed with potatoes, and not even a drop of oil in it! In front of him sat a tiny bowl of radish fried in pork drippings—but just that small amount. Who was that enough for?

Li Chunjuan hurried to comfort her son, “Wait a couple of days. If someone slaughters a chicken, I’ll find a way to trade for a drumstick!”

After finally calming her son, Li Chunjuan couldn’t help but curse at the neighbors.

Eat, eat, eat—why don’t you just eat yourself to death?

Looking back at her own home, Li Chunjuan grew anxious.

A few days ago, she had been busy taking her son to the hospital and hadn’t stocked up properly. Now all they had were radishes, cabbage, and potatoes. Even worse, two pounds of meat had been snatched by a wild cat, and everything at home was in short supply.

There was also the matter of the glass window, which had been broken by Wang Ying. They still hadn’t gotten around to fixing it. Now they were using wooden planks to block it up. The inside of the house looked like nighttime during the day—it was enough to drive anyone crazy.

Wang Yongshun remained silent. They had bought enough coal, but not enough firewood!

This little bit of firewood would never last until spring.

Wang Yongshun took a few hard puffs on his pipe and said, “Let’s save where we can. You spend more time at the brigade’s meeting room during the day. I’ll stay in Yaozong’s room. At night, we’ll go to bed early.”

They had two rooms in their house. When the time came, they would only heat their son’s room. Luckily, their quilts were thick enough. Otherwise, they would just have to freeze in this kind of weather.

Speaking of quilts, Li Chunjuan thought again about the new cotton quilt she’d made for her son, which Wang Ying had taken away. It had been so thick, with a full matching quilt cover set.

Li Chunjuan ground her teeth, making a crunching sound, and said to Wang Yongshun, “Once spring comes, we’ve got to get someone to take a look. Do you think San Ya (Wang Ying) ran into something evil? Just look at our home these last two months—not a single thing has gone smoothly.”

Wang Yongshun also felt it was strange. Initially, when Wang Ying made a scene, he could blame it on Chunjuan, saying she’d pushed her too far. But the bad luck that followed couldn’t be explained. Wang Lingling was dead set on marrying a divorced man, Wang Yaozong got beaten trying to buy a watch, and even their meat had been carried off by a wild cat!

One thing after another—some related to Wang Ying, some not—but how had things turned so unlucky, with no end in sight?

“Yeah, go ask around later and find someone effective,” she said.

These days, people weren’t supposed to believe in that kind of stuff, but secretly, many still did. Just like Tian Dazhu’s wife—she’d already had two daughters and was considered too old to have more, yet she got pregnant again.

Li Chunjuan had heard that Qian Juhua had secretly asked for some child’s urine during that time, and not long after, she claimed she was pregnant.

So, people still had to believe in those supernatural things, at least a little.

Li Chunjuan made up her mind. There was no way she could get anything from Wang Ying anymore—the two families were sworn enemies.

If Wang Ying kept getting better and better, what good could that possibly mean for her own family?

So, Li Chunjuan had figured it out—even if she couldn’t turn her family’s luck around, she’d at least ask if something could be done to ruin Wang Ying’s.

…

Wang Ying had no clue about the malicious thoughts brewing next door. Even if she did, she wouldn’t care.

Bickering with someone like that wasn’t worth her time—she’d rather enjoy good food.

After finishing the fish soup noodles, Xu Shuang took out the leftover fish bones, head, and scraps, setting them aside before rolling up his sleeves to wash the dishes. In cold weather, doing dishes became a much harder chore. The water jar in the courtyard had been filled that morning, but by now a thin layer of ice had already formed on top. You had to break the ice to use the water underneath for washing.

Wang Ying felt a little guilty. “Let me do it.”

She couldn’t just let him do everything around the house.

Xu Shuang blocked her. “You don’t need to get your hands wet. We’ve got hot water—it’s no trouble.”

The stove that heated the bed also always had water boiling on top, so hot water was readily available.

After washing the dishes, Xu Shuang asked Wang Ying, “Do you feel a bit bored?”

The two of them living together meant fewer worries, but also less excitement.

Wang Ying shook her head. “Not at all.”

Though Xu Shuang was quiet outside, he wasn’t so silent at home. The two of them got along well in every aspect. Even if they were just quietly doing their own things, it still felt very comfortable.

Xu Shuang was about to go out on patrol, and he suggested, “Why don’t you go check out the brigade’s meeting room?”

Wang Ying didn’t have anything urgent to do, so she agreed readily. “I’ll go with Mom.”

Old Lady Xu looked like someone who enjoyed a good crowd, so she’d probably love the idea.

That afternoon, when they arrived at the meeting room, it was Wang Ying’s first time seeing so many people gathered together. All the tables had been cleared out, and the large, empty room was filled with several dozen people.

Groups of women gathered in circles husking corn, while another circle of elderly women were stitching shoe soles and making clothes. Because of the crowd, the fire basins were pushed into corners. It wasn’t exactly warm, but with so many people packed together and the doors shut, body heat made it bearable.

Just like Li Chunjuan, many people had come just to stay warm. They brought their own small stools, or just sat on the floor. The room buzzed with chatter, and kids ran around noisily.

Wang Ying and Old Lady Xu found a spot to sit. Old Lady Xu had some fabric in her hands she planned to work on, and as soon as she sat down, someone greeted her.

“Oh wow, who’s that for? Such nice fabric.”

And it was true—even though it wasn’t red, the white base with small floral prints looked fashionable and fancy.

Old Lady Xu, who was well-acquainted with everyone, rolled her eyes and said, “Who else would wear this in my house? You think it’s for me? Wearing something this bright, people would think I’m looking for a second husband!”

The group of old ladies burst into laughter, and even Wang Ying felt a bit embarrassed.

“Wow, where can you find such a caring mother-in-law?”

Old Lady Xu proudly said, “Ying girl asked our Xiao Yao’er to make me something fancy the other day—Tianma stewed pig’s brain! You all even know what Tianma is?”

“Sounds like some kind of medicine?”

Old Lady Xu was extremely pleased. “It is Chinese medicine! Super hard to find. Ever since I had it, my headaches are gone and I’ve been eating two bowls of rice per meal!”

“What medicine works that well? Ying girl, can you get me some too?”

Wang Ying didn’t dare to be too casual about it and quickly deflected, “That was specifically made for my mom’s condition. If you’re healthy, there’s no need to take medicine—it might do more harm than good.”

The elderly women weren’t unreasonable. “That makes sense. But Ying girl, you really know how to treat people?”

Lately, people had been coming to Wang Ying mostly for colds or minor ailments. Since she wasn’t formally trained, the older women were cautious.

Wang Ying didn’t overstate her abilities. “For serious conditions, of course, you should still go to the county hospital. They’ve got equipment. Some illnesses can’t be diagnosed just by checking your pulse. The county hospital has X-rays—sometimes one scan is all it takes to see what’s wrong.”

“Like taking a photo?”

Wang Ying: “…Sort of. The principle is similar, but X-rays can see inside your body. They can show your internal organs.”

“Whoa, that sounds kind of scary.”

“Can you get scanned even if you’re not sick? Does it cost as much as taking a photo?”

Wang Ying: “No, you shouldn’t go unless it’s necessary. Too much exposure to that light isn’t good either. It’s just for when the cause of an illness isn’t clear, or when a condition is sudden. Once they know what’s wrong, the doctors can treat you properly.”

“Do you know how to use that machine? Is it like operating a projector—you need to study for a long time?”

…

The old ladies had endless questions, one after another, but Wang Ying remained patient, smiling as she answered every one.

Old Lady Xu felt increasingly proud as she watched. A woman beside her nudged her and said admiringly, “You’ve really got yourself a good daughter-in-law.”

She used to seem timid and shy, but now she was confident and straightforward. She was sincere, too—someone you just naturally liked.

Old Lady Xu accepted the compliment this time and didn’t forget to brag a little herself: “Good thing my Xiao Yao’er is good-looking.”

She didn’t know how Wang Ying had ended up with Xu Shuang. Her son had no big flaws, but he was terribly quiet. That’s why she used to worry so much and had arranged the marriage early on—she was afraid if he looked on his own, he’d scare the girl away with his silence.