MAC’60s Chapter 84.2

Wang Ying thought for a moment and encouraged her: “You can ask the teacher for extra guidance, or request higher-grade textbooks and read ahead by yourself.”

Mai Miao asked, “Won’t the teacher think I’m too busy?”

Wang Ying replied, “Why would the teacher think that? Go ask this afternoon—Teacher Zhang and Teacher Yang will be really happy. Teachers like diligent students.”

After reassuring Mai Miao, Wang Ying urged the girls to go home for lunch.

Because it was a village school, the lunch break lasted just over an hour. Time was tight, and school ended early—around four o’clock—so that the children could help with chores at home. If they returned too late, they’d have to work in the dark and it would delay homework.

After waving goodbye to the two sisters, Wang Ying went to find Tian Youfu.

Tian Youfu put down his bowl and chopsticks. Whenever Wang Ying came with such a serious expression, it was always for something important.

The last time, it was about setting up the village school. This time…

Wang Ying got straight to the point: “Team Leader, may I give you a suggestion?”

“The brigade is especially suitable for growing medicinal herbs. I think we could open a patch of wasteland on the back hill to plant honeysuckle.”

As if afraid Tian Youfu didn’t know the benefits of honeysuckle, Wang Ying continued: “It’s also called jinyinhua. Have you seen those small yellow-and-white wildflowers on the back hill? People in the brigade often crush them to apply on wounds for inflammation. But honeysuckle can also be boiled for tea or dried and processed for medicinal use. Its applications are wide.”

She explained further: “The county town buys dried honeysuckle at 1.5 yuan per jin (about 0.15 yuan per liang). One mu of land yields about 200 jin a year, and after a few years, it could yield even more, up to 300 jin steadily. That means one mu could earn around 300 yuan a year.”

“Of course, the county hospital might not be able to absorb so much, so we’d need to find a pharmaceutical factory to buy the flowers. But I think it has great potential. If we plant a few mu, at least the children’s tuition can be secured. What do you think?”

Tian Youfu was stunned: “When did you figure all this out?”

She had even calculated the yield per mu.

Wang Ying chuckled dryly: “I thought about it last year and tried it on the back hill. It seemed promising, so I wanted to find a way for the brigade to earn some income.”

Tian Youfu replied, “Your idea is good, but honestly… the commune may not agree. Take our brigade’s orchard, for instance. If I hadn’t advocated for it back then, it would never have started.”

In recent years, the situation was tense. Even the commune acted cautiously. Any action that was slightly unconventional would only be approved if absolutely necessary.

Wang Ying suggested, “Why don’t you come with me to the back hill? The honeysuckle has already sprouted. You can take a look before making a decision.”

She led Tian Youfu to the back hill, showing him the full hillside of honeysuckle and her own small herb plot.

“Team Leader, it’s impossible for our brigade to become wealthy by farming alone. Even if we had a tractor in the future, we couldn’t compete with the big plains. But our brigade does have advantages—like this hill behind us.”

“I guarantee that we’ll start with just two mu this year. By May or June next year, we’ll have a harvest, and you’ll see the results. If the commune won’t approve immediately, we can trial it for two years and then apply officially once we have proven results.”

Wang Ying analyzed the pros and cons thoroughly. Tian Youfu hesitated, but eventually nodded.

Wang Ying exhaled softly. She always had confidence in medicinal herbs.

Not long after spring began, Tian Youfu assigned over a dozen people who had helped in the orchard to assist Wang Ying. She didn’t even need to buy seeds—she directly cut branches from the honeysuckle plants on the hillside for propagation.

The most troublesome part was preparing the land. Once the field was ready, they surrounded it with a ring of thorn roses and finally planted all the cuttings.

That year, under Wang Ying’s careful attention, 80% of the honeysuckle survived.

The following year, by May, the hill was covered with a large area of blooms. When Tian Youfu came to see it, he was so excited that his hands trembled.

On just two mu of land, two harvests yielded 700–800 jin. After drying and processing, they ended up with 500 jin of medicinal herb.

Wang Ying sent a batch of samples to the hospital. The hospital couldn’t absorb so much, but they still recommended a pharmaceutical factory in the provincial city to Wang Ying.

After the pharmaceutical factory came to inspect, they confirmed the quality of the medicinal herbs, especially praising their appearance.

The factory bought all 500 jin at a price of 1.4 yuan per jin. Although this was slightly less than what the hospital would have paid, the factory included transportation, saving the brigade a lot of effort.

When Tian Youfu held the 700 yuan in his hands, he was in a daze.

From start to finish, he hadn’t really paid much attention to planting these two mu of honeysuckle. Wang Ying also rarely asked for his help. Apart from requesting labor for land preparation and cutting branches in the first year, she handled everything herself. Even during this year’s flower-picking, she barely involved him, instead enlisting the village school students to help. With dozens of students, the harvest was completed in three or four days.

Tian Youfu laughed until tears came to his eyes. Without saying a word, he gave Wang Ying half—350 yuan.

Wang Ying did not refuse. She had planted the honeysuckle precisely to save money. Otherwise, relying on her wages alone, it would have been very difficult to afford the job fee in the county town.

Meanwhile, Xu Shuang’s salary had increased over the past two years to 42.5 yuan per month.

The savings they had accumulated also grew, and they now had 200 yuan on hand.

With the additional bonus from the brigade leader, they had a total of 350 yuan—enough to solve her financial problem.

The agreement on profit-sharing was that for the first harvest, Wang Ying would receive half, because few people in the brigade had helped her. Even if she lost some time and effort, it was her own investment. In subsequent years, she would only take one-tenth, because she would be teaching others to plant and process the herbs.

From the remaining 350 yuan, the brigade leader first set aside 50 yuan to distribute to the adults and children who had helped Wang Ying open the land and harvest flowers. The rest would be reserved to prepare land and plant more honeysuckle the following year.

Tian Youfu was careful not to report the actual figures to the commune. He only said that the brigade had contacted a provincial pharmaceutical factory willing to buy honeysuckle long-term, and that, while ensuring grain production, they hoped to expand the cultivation by a few more mu.

In the end, the commune approved twelve mu of land, which left Tian Youfu very satisfied.

Twelve mu, with a yield of 280 jin per mu, would bring in over 3,000 yuan a year.

That was enough for each household in the brigade to receive several dozen yuan, and the village school, already two years old, could eventually become a proper primary school.

The following year, Tian Youfu energetically organized the land preparation and planting of honeysuckle.

Wang Ying supervised planting and harvesting from the start of spring and carefully monitored the drying and stir-frying processes. Perhaps because of her care, some transplanted honeysuckle bloomed the same year. That year, the money earned from selling the honeysuckle reached 1,000 yuan!

The brigade distributed the earnings, and each household received ten yuan. Though not much, it was more than one could earn from a year of hard labor in the fields.

“The brigade’s life is getting better and better!”

“Exactly, a few years ago, could we have imagined such a good life?”

“We have enough to eat and drink and still earn money. None of the surrounding communes have a life as good as ours!”

“I plan to have my daughter continue her studies. Our family can afford an extra year or two of tuition. The more she studies, the more she can become like Wang Ying—able to become a doctor and even bring money to the brigade!”

“Why hasn’t Ying girl made a move these past few years… I thought she would have married and had children by now.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. She’s a doctor, surely she knows what she’s doing. Perhaps it’s just not the right time yet.”

“Fine, fine, I won’t mention it.”

“Oh, isn’t that Wang Ying? Where’s she going?”

“Where else? Surely to the restaurant. Xiao Xu is at the restaurant.”

“The young couple really has a good relationship.”

“I think Xiao Xu and Wang Ying will probably move to the county soon. Didn’t they say last year that his master in the county town had come for him, planning to transfer him?”

“If Xiao Xu moves to the county, what about Wang Ying?”

“She hasn’t gone yet, but I think this year she’ll likely follow.”

—

Wang Ying was pedaling her bicycle, and by the time she arrived at the restaurant, sweat was already beading on her forehead.

Xu Shuang was waiting at the door. Seeing her, he helped her off the bike. “Why are you in such a hurry? It’s fine to be a little late.”

Wang Ying smiled coquettishly. “How can I be late? What if we miss it?”

Xu Shuang handed her a small paper package. When Wang Ying opened it, steam rose to reveal a warm roujiamo (meat sandwich).

She sat on the back seat, and Xu Shuang rode steadily and quickly. She could sit back and enjoy the roujiamo in peace.

After a bite, Wang Ying exclaimed in delight, “Did you add sesame oil? It’s so good!”

Xu Shuang loved the way she could tell the quality with just one bite. Watching her eat always gave him immense satisfaction.

“Yes, I added sesame oil to the dough. The meat inside was braised and then smoked again,” he replied.

Wang Ying ate heartily, completely satisfied. Strictly speaking, this kind of roujiamo should be called roujia bei zi. The “bei zi” is the outer bread. Because of the sesame oil and ghee, the dough was kneaded and baked to form multiple layered interiors, rich, oily, and savory.

The meat filling was diced small, full of a deep aroma, dry but not greasy, with no fat, yet each bite was fragrant.

After finishing one roujia bei zi, Xu Shuang said, “Handkerchief’s in my pocket.”

Wang Ying reached into his pocket, took out the handkerchief, wiped her hands, and hugged him.

“So delicious. You’re the best.”

After several years of marriage, their relationship had grown smoother. Whenever life went well, Wang Ying liked teasing Xu Shuang like this.

Xu Shuang cleared his throat. “When we go to the city later, do you want to have some mixed noodles?”

After eating one bei zi, Wang Ying acted as if she hadn’t eaten at all. “Yes, yes! Master, the spicy chicken mixed noodles you made recently are even better than the stir-fried chicken with sauce before!”

The chicken pieces were fried until crispy, then stir-fried with green chili rings and small red chilies. The red-oil-coated chicken was placed over the noodles, creating an incredibly flavorful dish.

Lately, Wang Ying had developed a particular fondness for spicy food. “Let’s go quickly!” she urged.

This time, the two of them were going into the city to secure jobs.

In fact, last year, Chen Dong had already found a position for Wang Ying at a medical office. But at that time, she hadn’t agreed. One reason was that the factory was on the outskirts of the county, quite far away. Another was that the factory had only about a hundred employees, and the position was just a medical office cashier. And thirdly, of course, they hadn’t saved enough money yet.

Although Chen Dong had said he could lend them the money, Wang Ying still felt it wasn’t the best timing.

By delaying, they ended up waiting until this year. Chen Dong had been pressing things urgently. Master Ma’s apprentices were almost done, just waiting to retire and return home. The senior chef positions at the county city hotel were ready for Xu Shuang to fill.

After some effort, Chen Dong finally found a position—a medical office job at the county sugar factory. Although it wouldn’t allow her to start practicing immediately, someone like Wang Ying, who had experience as a barefoot doctor, would be assigned a rank and could advance from there.

Wang Ying happily went to the county city with Xu Shuang, feeling that things were finally falling into place.

Things also went unusually smoothly. The other party had no one in the family able to cover the medical office shifts and needed to exchange with someone, sending their children to production units instead. So the medical office position had to be “sold” to get money for the transaction.

Both sides were agreeable, and they negotiated a price of 550 yuan.

Since the sugar factory was a reputable unit in the county, buying a position naturally cost more.

The procedures were completed the same day, and a start date was set.

Chen Dong said, “You two won’t be eligible for housing yet, but we have two vacant rooms in my courtyard. You can stay there for now, rent is three yuan a month for the first month. Later, I’ll see if I can help you apply for proper housing. Of course, if you prefer to live in a multi-story building, that’s also an option.”

Wang Ying, having grown up accustomed to courtyard houses, didn’t hesitate. “We’ll stay in the courtyard.”

She was already tired of living in apartment buildings!