Wang Yongshun’s family had recently become outcasts in the production team. Ever since the chicken-stealing incident broke out, Wang Yaozong completely lost his former arrogance of looking down on everyone.
In fact, Wang Yaozong’s current situation was so disgraceful that anyone who saw him would spit in contempt.
The label of “thief” was deeply etched on his face, and his infamous reputation had already spread to several neighboring production teams.
Compared to someone like Wang Yaozong who managed to steal over a dozen chickens in one go, people from other teams actually started to look more favorably on their own local hooligans.
Even though those hooligans were no good either, at least they weren’t as ruthless and greedy as Wang Yaozong.
Tian Youfu assigned Wang Yongshun and Wang Yaozong to dung-carrying duty. It just so happened that Old Dog was also on dung duty, so the three of them ended up working together.
But not all dung-carrying jobs were the same. Old Dog had a relatively lighter task—he worked in the orchard, where there weren’t many trees, and finishing a full round didn’t take much effort. He could even chat and joke with others while working, and no one gave him dirty looks.
It was a different story for the Wang father and son. Tian Youfu dumped the entire season’s dung-cleaning task onto the two of them.
Li Chunjuan, feeling sorry for her son, offered to take over the dung duty on his behalf.
Tian Youfu already believed that Wang Yaozong’s thievery had a lot to do with how his parents raised him. This only made him look down on them even more.
“Even now they’re still covering for him—sooner or later he’ll commit another crime!”
In a fit of anger, Tian Youfu just let it go. After all, there were only two people handling the dung—if their family of three wanted to rotate, that was up to them.
Li Chunjuan quickly took over her son’s burden and replaced Wang Yaozong.
It was spring plowing season, and the team had stockpiled manure all winter long. It was now needed to fertilize the fields, and with all the back and forth, time passed quickly into March.
Once March came and things quieted down a bit, Li Chunjuan couldn’t wait to clean herself up and go visit Wang Lingling.
She put on her best clothes and sniffed at the sleeves. All that dung-carrying had left her with a strong stench—people in the production team now avoided her like the plague.
“Old man, come smell me—do I still stink?”
Wang Yongshun didn’t respond. He was so used to the smell that he couldn’t tell anymore.
Seeing he didn’t answer, Li Chunjuan didn’t press the issue and instead changed the subject.
“Good thing we didn’t go see Lingling earlier. If we had, she probably would’ve turned us away. Now is just the right time—she’s just split from her in-laws and definitely needs support from her maiden family.”
The reason they had waited this long to visit Wang Lingling was because last time Li Chunjuan went to the neighboring production team, she heard before even entering the village that Wang Lingling was in the middle of a messy family split.
Wang Lingling had fought bitterly with her in-laws to separate from them. Zhao’s mother-in-law was unreasonable, and during the dispute both sides even came to blows.
At that time, the split hadn’t been finalized yet. Li Chunjuan hesitated—she wasn’t sure how to handle the situation—so she returned home to get Wang Yongshun’s opinion.
Wang Yongshun did give her a plan: “Lingling hasn’t settled the separation yet. If we rush over, even if she doesn’t say anything, her mother-in-law will definitely make a scene and chase us off. Better to wait until it’s all settled. Once she’s on her own with two kids, and you as her mother go to lend a hand, she’s bound to think more about her maiden family.”
It was only after splitting from Wang Ying that Wang Yongshun realized just how much their family had previously benefited from their status.
Not to mention raising task pigs—take this chicken theft incident for example: if Wang Ying had stepped in and said a few words, the whole thing might not have blown up. Even if it had reached the Revolutionary Committee, her status could’ve smoothed things over. Maybe he wouldn’t have to suffer the humiliation of carrying dung at all.
In the end, it was all because they’d fallen out with Wang Ying that others now dared to bully them so brazenly.
Wang Yongshun figured Wang Ying couldn’t be won back, but Wang Lingling was still someone who could give their family a leg up.
Wang Lingling was a military wife. Although her husband was in a second marriage, he was a small-time leader in the army.
Now Wang Yongshun started to regret it—if he had known how important social status would be, he would’ve pushed for Wang Lingling to marry Zhao Jun earlier, and might have kept her close.
Over the years, even though he wasn’t close to Wang Lingling, Wang Yongshun could still see her clearly.
That girl didn’t have a brain!
Just like her mother.
But when it came to dealing with fools, Wang Yongshun always had a way.
He hadn’t let Li Chunjuan get involved in Wang Lingling’s separation for two reasons. First, their family was small and weak—going there wouldn’t help and might even get them beaten up. After all, Wang Lingling’s mother-in-law had several sons. Second, he knew that Wang Lingling would likely lose out in the split.
That stupid girl was just a fool. Alone with two kids—how could she possibly win against her mother-in-law and sisters-in-law?
But at the same time, Wang Yongshun believed that in the end, Wang Lingling would still get what she wanted.
She might not be reliable, but her husband definitely had the final say.
If her husband hadn’t given the go-ahead, how would Wang Lingling have dared to make such a big scene about splitting up?
Most likely, the man would wait for things to blow up, then step in as the peacemaker, have both sides compromise, and the split would go through.
As a man himself, Wang Yongshun saw through the whole game without much effort.
Now that he’d heard Wang Lingling had successfully separated, he figured it was finally time for their family to reach out.
The Zhao family had split up, but the old Zhao matriarch wasn’t the type to let things go easily. Wang Lingling still had some money in hand, and the old woman wouldn’t let her off the hook.
This was the perfect time for their family to step in—Wang Lingling, no matter how foolish, would surely accept such a timely gesture.
Wang Yongshun instructed Li Chunjuan, “When you get there, don’t bring up anything about our family. Just help her out with some chores and win over the two kids.”
Wang Lingling had a stubborn streak and responded better to kindness than force. It was better to coax her for a while before bringing up the matter of helping her younger brother.
Wang Yongshun hadn’t given up hope yet. His goal now was to get Wang Yaozong back into school and ensure he received his high school diploma. Then he could slowly work on erasing the stain on his record and ensuring Wang Yaozong had a promising future.
Li Chunjuan, having prepared everything, was just about to head out.
Wang Yongshun suddenly asked, “Where’s Yaozong?”
Ever since he no longer had to carry manure, Wang Yaozong had lost the right to attend school as well. He didn’t volunteer for work either and spent his days idling at home. He had grown increasingly withdrawn, barely speaking to anyone.
Wang Yongshun said, “I haven’t seen Yaozong today.”
Li Chunjuan, thinking of her son, felt a stab of pity. “He’s been feeling down, so I gave him two yuan to go out and meet some friends.”
Since their family finances had dwindled, Wang Yongshun had stopped holding onto the remaining 20 yuan at home, and had handed the money over to Li Chunjuan.
She had been scrimping and saving just to keep the household afloat.
But that was her son!
Li Chunjuan would rather suffer herself than see her son in distress.
Wang Yongshun opened his mouth, then said nothing.
Li Chunjuan didn’t notice the change in her husband’s expression and hurried out the door.
Meanwhile, Wang Ying, after leaving the hospital, didn’t rush back to the production brigade. Instead, she made a stop at the state-run restaurant.
When Chen Dong saw her, he cheerfully handed her some sunflower seeds. “Ying girl, what brings you to town?”
Wang Ying took the seeds and pointed to the basket strapped to the back of her bicycle. “Xu Shuang asked me to bring you some things.”
Chen Dong walked over to the bike and lifted the cloth covering the basket. Underneath were bundles of wild vegetables, neatly tied.
“Well now, not bad at all! That’s shepherd’s purse and Chinese toon?”
Wang Ying nodded. “There’s also lamb’s quarters and dandelions underneath. We were going to bring some locust flowers too, but the blossoms on the mountain haven’t bloomed properly yet and were already picked clean. The little that was left wasn’t worth bringing.”
As soon as Chen Dong saw the Chinese toon, he started drooling. “Perfect timing! It’s quiet right now—let me whip up some Chinese toon and scrambled eggs.”
Wang Ying didn’t call him out on his craving, smiling as she said, “Sure, Master. Can you also make some chili oil? I’ll take a steamed bun, stuff it with the egg and toon, and add a bit of chili oil…”
Chen Dong was practically drooling at the description. “You got it!”
He picked a small bundle of Chinese toon and headed into the kitchen, while Wang Ying leisurely sat down by the window, cracking open some seeds.
Chen Dong’s roasted sunflower seeds were excellent—five-spice flavored, full of aroma and crunch.
Wang Ying was slowly enjoying her seeds when a waitress approached her.
The woman greeted her straightforwardly, “Hello, comrade. My name is Yao Shunjun.”
Wang Ying politely shook her hand. “Hello, I’m Wang Ying.”
Yao Shunjun had a squarish-round face and big round eyes. Though she was a bit plump, she fit the era’s beauty standards—her appearance and build were considered signs of good fortune.
She looked about the same age as Wang Ying and spoke with a youthful sincerity.
“Here’s the thing—I heard from Master Chen Dong that you’re a barefoot doctor, right? I was wondering if you could help find a few medicinal herbs?”
Wang Ying was puzzled. “Doesn’t the county hospital have herbs?”
Yao Shunjun sighed. “The county hospital doesn’t always carry these specific ones. I just thought I’d try my luck.”
Wang Ying soon learned the full story—Yao Shunjun had an older sister who had suffered massive bleeding during childbirth a few years ago and had barely survived. Though she pulled through, her body had never fully recovered.
After pulling strings everywhere, their family had finally found a highly reputed traditional Chinese medicine doctor.
The doctor had been generous with his treatment, scribbling down several prescriptions to be taken in succession.
But some of the herbs were hard to find—so rare that even the county hospital couldn’t fully fill the prescriptions. Their whole family had been fretting over it for some time.
Today, seeing Wang Ying deliver goods to Chen Dong, Yao Shunjun decided to take a chance and ask.
Lowering her voice, she said, “I know you live near the mountains, and there’s a lot of stuff there. If you can help us find these herbs, we’ll pay a good price.”
Most of the restaurant staff were aware of Chen Dong’s backdoor dealings.
But no one openly mentioned them—after all, who hadn’t bought something off the black market now and then? That was life in the city; with limited supplies, people had to find ways.
Many of the women had already traded with Chen Dong. In fact, some had already gone to the kitchen after seeing Wang Ying’s delivery, and half of her wild vegetables would probably be gone before the end of the day.
Wang Ying didn’t agree immediately. Instead, she asked, “Do you have the prescription? Let me take a look.”
Some herbs just didn’t grow locally—there’d be nothing she could do in that case.
Yao Shunjun, seeing her soften, quickly pulled a note from her pocket and handed it over.
Wang Ying read, “Wild ginseng, wild gastrodia, codonopsis…”
These were indeed hard to find, especially the ginseng—and the note even specified certain qualities.
After a moment of thought, Wang Ying asked, “What are you still missing?”
“Ginseng and gastrodia,” Yao Shunjun replied.
Wang Ying agreed at once, “I can find the gastrodia. The ginseng depends on luck—especially with such specific requirements.”
Yao Shunjun nodded eagerly. “We’ll pay based on the quality for the ginseng.”
The hospital had a pricing chart for purchasing wild ginseng, but in reality, they still assessed it tier by tier. As soon as Yao Shunjun opened her mouth, she went by the age: “It has to be at least twenty-five years old. I’ll give you three hundred yuan. For each additional year, it’s thirty yuan more.”
Upon hearing this price, Wang Ying was immediately willing.
If she sold it to the hospital, the price would be far lower. Even if she found a buyer on her own, it would take a lot of effort and she still might not get such a high price.
“Alright, I’ll hurry and look for it.”
Wang Ying had already made up her mind—she was definitely going to get this windfall!
At worst, she’d spend two or three days going deeper into the mountains.
Three hundred yuan! That was about a whole year’s salary for Xu Shuang!
Yao Shunjun left her home address and turned to leave. Wang Ying tucked the slip of paper into her pocket.
At that moment, Chen Dong had just finished cooking Chinese toon scrambled eggs. He served half of it to Wang Ying and also brought her two steamed buns.
He split the buns in the middle and filled them with tender Chinese toon sprouts and golden scrambled eggs. The aroma was refreshing and carried a unique fragrance.
Wang Ying ate one bun filled with the mixture, and the other she spiced up with chili—both had their own distinct flavor.
After finishing two buns, she cleaned off the entire plate of Chinese toon scrambled eggs.
Chen Dong handed her a bundle of ration tickets. “Here, take these and see what you can buy.”
The transactions between Xu Shuang and Chen Dong were different—sometimes Chen Dong gave goods to people from the store without taking money and instead accepted various ration tickets in exchange.
He couldn’t spend much with the tickets himself, so he mostly gave them to Xu Shuang to help her out.
Wang Ying didn’t refuse. When she looked through the tickets, she found not only cloth, grain, and oil tickets, but also one for soap.
Wang Ying was overjoyed. Now that it was spring, she didn’t mind helping with household chores. The only uncomfortable part was doing laundry, where she had to use soapnuts or alkaline powder.
She really wasn’t used to those—plus, she had to wash clothes by the river, and every time she came back, she felt like the clothes still weren’t clean.
She had been wondering how to get some soap—if nothing else, she’d try making it herself. Fortunately, now she had a soap ticket, and at last, she could be freed from that trouble.
Wang Ying took a trip to the supply and marketing cooperative, where she used the tickets to buy three bars of earth-yellow soap, half a jin of oil, and one jin of sugar.
She stuffed everything she bought into the basket on the back of her bicycle and rode back to the brigade.
Upon arriving at the brigade, Wang Ying went to the state-owned restaurant as usual.
These days, the restaurant staff were no longer as enthusiastic toward Wang Ying as they had been last year.
But Wang Ying didn’t care.
Instead, she noticed a young woman sitting inside, cracking sunflower seeds and spitting the shells all over the floor.
The waitress acted as if she didn’t see any of it and treated her especially warmly.
“Sister Ying, are you thirsty?”
Wang Ying looked up—what a coincidence! This person was also called Ying-jie?
Li Ying had been cracking sunflower seeds for a while and was indeed getting thirsty, but she didn’t want plain water. Instead, she shouted at the waitress: “Go ask Master Xie to make me some winter melon meatball soup. I’m really parched.”
