MAC’60s Chapter 73.2

As the farming season in September became sparse, the houses for the educated youth also finished being built.

Anticipating the arrival of the educated youth, the brigade leader Tian Youfu directly arranged for the construction of nine houses for them. The houses weren’t built with blue bricks, but they were very sturdy.

After the houses dried, the educated youth moved out of the homes of the cooperative members.

The moods of the youth varied. Most were relieved, but a few who had developed close relationships with the cooperative families were reluctant to leave.

Like Zhang Ping and Jiang Li, who had lived comfortably, they were especially unwilling to leave.

Before moving out, Zhang Ping and Jiang Li cleaned Xu’s house inside and out. Zhang Ping even had her family send a few rare industrial coupons in advance, which she gave to Xu’s grandmother as a thank-you for allowing her to stay.

Xu’s grandmother had a good impression of Zhang Ping. Though she was a bit delicate, there was nothing wrong with a city girl being a bit spoiled.

Once Zhang Ping and Jiang Li moved out, Xu’s grandmother returned to her own home.

Although the wall between the houses was convenient, Xu’s grandmother still preferred her own courtyard and house.

Xu’s grandmother insisted on moving out, and after a discussion, Wang Ying and Xu Shuang decided to start building their house.

The neighboring house was now under Wang Ying’s name, so there was no need for the high courtyard wall anymore. Xu Shuang arranged for someone to tear down the wall between the houses and began calculating how many bricks they would need.

Wang Yongshun’s house was also made of bricks, but those bricks were very old. They no longer used such bricks.

Wang Ying and Xu Shuang decided to replace them with the new blue bricks.

However, when they did the calculations, the cost wasn’t small.

Wang Ying closed the white paper in her hand and, for the first time after crossing over, sighed: “Making money really isn’t easy.”

Previously, when she looked at the savings of Xu Shuang and herself, it seemed quite sufficient, but after some calculations, it had become a bit tight.

They had earned 650 yuan from selling mountain ginseng, had about 300 yuan in savings, and added to that Wang Ying’s collection of herbs and Xu Shuang’s salary and side income, their highest savings had once reached over 1,000 yuan.

But their expenses this year had also been quite high.

Although the sewing machine and radio didn’t require coupons, they weren’t cheap— the sewing machine cost 160 yuan, the radio 120 yuan, and the box 35 yuan. They had also spent nearly 100 yuan sending things to Xu Ming. Plus, they didn’t really save on food and clothing. They relied on the mountain for food, but still spent quite a bit extra. They had bought milk and meat a few times, and Wang Ying had eaten at a restaurant in the town.

As for clothing, Wang Ying had very few decent clothes before, and the clothes she wore this year were all made recently. Since Xu’s grandmother got the sewing machine, whenever Wang Ying bought fabric, all three of them bought it, and Xu’s grandmother would make the clothes. Chen Dong always had fabric coupons, so Wang Ying would usually buy fabric whenever she got the coupons. In addition to the clothes they made, they also made two sets of bed sheets.

After all this, their savings now totaled over 600 yuan. With the city facing a food shortage, their side income had also been reduced in the past two months.

Wang Ying couldn’t help but feel anxious as she calculated.

“Using only blue bricks to build, removing the bricks from the middle wall, we’ll need another 300 yuan.”

Blue bricks were expensive, which was why not many families in the brigade had houses made of them. Normally, if a house was built with mud bricks, the cost would be around 200 yuan. The biggest expenses weren’t even in the building materials but in the beams and furniture. But if you built with blue bricks, the cost would be at least 300 yuan just for the construction, not including furniture.

“Most of the furniture inside can’t be used, and we’ll have to buy glass and make furniture, which will cost at least several dozen yuan.”

Wang Ying planned to build one house on the original foundation. There were only the two of them, so there was no need to build two rooms; just one bigger room would be fine. She could make a small medicine cabinet to store herbs, and Xu Shuang could store some dry goods. This would save space in the cellar, which was too full and too much trouble to go up and down.

After subtracting all these, Wang Ying still remembered the bathroom she had always wanted. The bathroom wouldn’t require many bricks, but she’d need to buy a big bathtub and two tubs. The bathtub wasn’t cheap and would also cost several dozen yuan.

Xu Shuang interrupted, “I want to dig a well at home.”

The water situation in the brigade was too troublesome, as they had to fetch water. Every morning, Xu Shuang would wake up early to draw water, making three trips to fill the water jar at home.

Wang Ying: “That’s necessary.”

It’s inconvenient not to have a well at home.

The cost of digging a well is high, and hiring someone to do it would cost several dozen yuan.

When adding it up, the 600 yuan savings would be nearly depleted. What’s left would have to be saved for stocking up for the winter.

Wang Ying sighed, “I was saying I’d buy a job in the city, but I don’t know when I’ll have enough money for that.”

Xu Shuang hesitated, “Why don’t I stay in a hotel this winter?”

This year, the weather had been bad, and their crops had failed. Three months ago, his extra income had stopped, and with three months of no salary during winter…

Xu Shuang was also hesitating.

Wang Ying: “Don’t think about it. Even if you want to work in a hotel, your boss won’t let you. Do you believe me? He’ll definitely pressure you to come back for the winter.”

Last year, Xie Yuejin tasted the benefits, so this year, he wouldn’t back off. Xu Shuang would obediently return, but if he insisted, who knows how these two would drag him into trouble.

Xu Shuang sighed as well.

This was his first time worrying about money.

But not renovating the house next door wasn’t an option either. The old house couldn’t hold people; it would collapse in three to five years. Besides, now the brigade had given the house to Wang Ying. If Wang Ying didn’t take care of it and left, when Wang Yongshun and Wang Yaozong returned after their sentences, they’d cause trouble again.

It was better to renovate the house quickly, so it would be merged into their yard, avoiding future disputes.

Money was tight, but the work still had to be done.

Wang Ying made a decision: “Let’s spend the money now, and we’ll talk about it later.”

At worst, she could go up to the medicinal fields in the mountains to pick some herbs and sell them, and there was the fish pond too. As long as no one found out, they could sell again before the New Year.

So, Wang Ying became much busier after that.

First, she dug the well, hired a well digger, and tried several spots in the yard. Finally, they found a good water source and successfully dug the well. After airing it for more than ten days, the well was ready to use.

Next, she bought bricks and started building the house a few days before Mid-Autumn Festival.

She built a large room next to the old one, connected the surrounding yard walls, and sealed the gates, leaving only one gate on Wang Ying’s side.

She also built a bathroom in one corner of the yard and had a carpenter make a large bath tub.

By the time everything was arranged, it was already close to the Mid-Autumn Festival.

For Wang Ying, her impression of Mid-Autumn Festival in her previous life was eating big crabs, drinking yellow wine, and having a Yunnan ham mooncake. There was no chance to appreciate the moon, because the light pollution in the city was so severe. To see a clear moon, she would have to take time off for a trip to the grasslands or a high mountain.

But now, in this new place, Wang Ying didn’t feel the same way.

People often complain that holiday atmospheres have become weak, and one reason for that is the abundance of material goods in later years.

Mooncakes that could be bought almost every day for most of the year were no longer as exciting as they used to be, when they were only available once or twice a year during times of scarcity.

The people in the Seventh Brigade also ate mooncakes, but not the ones later criticized for being full of sugar, red and green threads with a greasy taste. Instead, they had small sesame cakes with a bit of sugar as filling. Even though they were simple, they were a treat for children, something they could only have once a year.

In the city, mooncake vouchers were given, and mooncakes were similar to the later versions, but in the countryside, mooncakes were still a rare treat.

Wang Ying’s sunflower seeds had also ripened, and she asked Xu Shuang to fry a large plate of seeds. Just before Mid-Autumn Festival, Wang Ying kept talking about wanting to eat mooncakes.

Xu Shuang had made various dishes but wasn’t skilled in pastries. However, Wang Ying’s words were too tempting.

“It’s a flipped-over mooncake, filled with pine nuts, walnut kernels, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds, with osmanthus flowers as the filling. The outer layer is a flaky crust, not sticky or hard, with a crisp, nutty flavor…”

“And there’s the Yunnan ham filling, made with ham, with a crispy outer layer and a savory, oily taste inside…”

Xu Shuang didn’t know where Wang Ying had heard of so many types. Some of them he hadn’t even tried before.

Wang Ying, being the theory expert, suggested, “Doesn’t your shop have one of those old-fashioned brick ovens? Can we use it to bake them?”

Xu Shuang saw her eager expression and agreed, “I’ll give it a try.”

Wang Ying’s descriptions were from the southern part of the country, and Xu Shuang couldn’t guarantee he could make them exactly right.

Wang Ying cheered and brought over her sunflower seeds: “Here, sunflower seeds. I’ll go up the mountain in the next few days to see if I can find some chestnuts or pine nuts.”

Xu Shuang: “Don’t bother picking pine nuts. You can use the ones that have fallen on the ground.”

Wang Ying nodded. She wasn’t foolish; picking pine nuts was a dangerous job, and though she had a golden finger, she wasn’t invincible, so she couldn’t take unnecessary risks.

A few days later, Wang Ying finally gathered all the ingredients. She even managed to get some osmanthus flowers, dried them, and stored them in a small jar.

Xu Shuang followed Wang Ying’s instructions and made a large batch of mooncakes, then took them to the shop to bake.

Surprisingly, the five-nut filling turned out quite well.

Wang Ying wanted to try the Yunnan ham one, but she didn’t have any ham.

Xu Shuang thought for a moment and decided to write a letter to his mentor in the provincial capital.

Wang Ying had mentioned ham several times this year, and Xu Shuang also thought it would be nice to have a ham at home during the winter, as it would be convenient for meals.

The ham wouldn’t make it in time for the mooncakes, but Xu Shuang brought back more than thirty five-nut mooncakes.

Wang Ying tasted one and gave a thumbs-up: “Delicious!”

The five-nut filling was fragrant, the crust was neither too dry nor too hard, and it was sweet but not too sweet.

While eating, Wang Ying asked, “No one said anything about the oven at the shop, right?”

Xu Shuang: “No one mentioned it—I was just doing it in passing. I had planned to fire up the oven and bake wedding pastries today anyway.”

Wang Ying: “Wedding pastries?”

Xu Shuang had said before that the shop sometimes sold wedding pastries, a kind of small sesame cake, usually only made when someone ordered them for a celebration.

Xu Shuang said, “Mm, Xie Yuejin is getting married.”