According to the plan, Jiang Lei should have been assigned to the accountant’s house, but the accountant took one look at him and felt a headache. He really didn’t want him.
Jiang Lei didn’t want to go to the accountant’s house either. He wanted to be with Bai Ling.
Bai Ling was assigned to Wu Guihua’s house. Originally, Wu Guihua’s house was only supposed to take in one, but after everything was sorted out, there was one extra. Since Wu Guihua liked Bai Ling, she didn’t mind taking in another person. After all, her daughter had a room of her own, and she was about the same age as the educated youth, so they’d get along fine.
Jiang Lei wanted to be with Bai Ling, but not only did Wu Guihua refuse, but even Tian Youfu couldn’t agree to it.
“Either you go to the accountant’s house, or you stay at the educated youth dorm.”
The dorm had already collapsed, so how could he stay there?
Jiang Lei reluctantly moved into the accountant’s house, accompanied by Yu Pengcheng.
Tian Youfu finally sorted out the educated youth affairs and immediately instructed everyone to go settle in their new places.
Zhang Ping carried her luggage and, together with Jiang Li, went to the Xu family’s house.
Bai Ling bit her lower lip. Although Wu Guihua’s house was fine, she regretted not raising her hand earlier.
She weakly asked Zhang Ping, “Ping Ping, after we settle in, can I come find you?”
Zhang Ping, puzzled, replied: “Find me? Don’t we see each other every day at work?”
Bai Ling: …
Zhang Ping: “Besides, we’ll only stay for four months. When the dorms are ready, we’ll live together again.”
Wang Ying almost laughed at this point. Bai Ling’s green tea tactics didn’t work on Zhang Ping. Zhang Ping was still quite innocent, and when faced with someone like Bai Ling, who had many thoughts, it was easy to hit back hard, leaving her with no room to maneuver.
Wang Ying was very satisfied with the current choices and took the two of them to the Xu family.
Old Lady Xu wasn’t a mean person. Not only did she leave the furniture in the house, but she also left a water tank by the door, a washbasin, and firewood for the kitchen. She even moved an extra table in for them.
As soon as Zhang Ping entered, she was amazed.
The house was old-fashioned and elegant, with carved patterns on the window and door frames. Inside, it was clean and tidy, with a large bed, a small bed, a table, chairs, and a wardrobe—all complete.
Old Lady Xu cheerfully handed them a key: “This is your room now. Remember to lock the door when you’re out during the day. The kitchen has a stove and a pot. I’ll send ten pounds of grain over to you soon. You can eat it first. There are two cabbages in the kitchen too, and they’re a gift for you.”
Zhang Ping was deeply moved. “Thank you so much.”
She had come here just seeking peace and quiet, but she had never imagined things would be handled so comfortably.
Jiang Li was also very happy. Having been here longer, she naturally knew what the other villagers’ homes were like. Some were terribly messy, with fleas all over the house and even rats appearing on the kang (heated brick bed). Just the thought of it was terrifying.
Fortunately, she had chosen to come here with Zhang Ping. If nothing else, at least it was clean.
Zhang Ping and Jiang Li happily cleaned up the room. There was even a mattress that Grandma Xu had laid out. After some discussion, the two decided to share the big bed. Last night’s hailstorm had chilled things quite a bit, and their own bedding had gotten soaked. It still wasn’t dry after washing.
Jiang Li sliced half a cabbage to make soup, tore up the coarse grain flour sent by Grandma Xu into little dough pieces and threw them in to boil. With just a bit of salt, it surprisingly turned out quite tasty.
The two of them ate peacefully and went to bed early.
But things were not going so smoothly for the other educated youths.
Ever since Jiang Lei entered the accountant’s house, he had been frowning. When he saw the earthen kang assigned to him and Yu Pengcheng, he almost fainted from anger.
“It’s rock-hard, and there isn’t even a mattress!”
The accountant’s wife had no intention of indulging him and said bluntly, “Jiang Zhiqing really is from the capital—can’t take any hardship at all. Of course, there’s no mattress. Go ask around the brigade and see if anyone has extra. You’re lucky to even get a room.”
Jiang Lei’s face turned black, and he muttered under his breath, “Savages!”
Yu Pengcheng had heard him say that word one too many times and no longer had the energy to correct him.
“You sleep on that side, I’ll sleep on this side.”
He quickly tidied his area, changed clothes, and swept the bed. On his side, he laid out a layer of his clothes as a makeshift mattress. That would have to do until their bedding dried.
Seeing that no one reacted to his tantrum, Jiang Lei lost interest in making a fuss. He copied Yu Pengcheng’s approach, tidied up his side, and went to sleep in a hurry.
…
In the days after the educated youths got settled, the brigade was busy and lively—everyone was hard at work replanting spring crops, and during breaks they tended to their private plots.
News of the recent disaster also came trickling in.
The rare spring hailstorm hadn’t just affected their commune—it had spread to several nearby ones. The worst hit was the Fenjin Commune downstream. Their spring crops had sprouted early, and this storm had basically wiped them out.
The Seventh Brigade was busy replanting, while Fenjin Commune was reportedly short on seed grain and had begun raising complaints upstream.
Wang Ying naturally heard about all this too, and she felt uneasy.
If the spring crops weren’t planted properly, by the time autumn came, there might be a shortage of grain.
She didn’t see this as good news and decided to discuss preparations with Xu Shuang.
The hail hadn’t only caused grain problems; there were also injuries. Most of the injured in their brigade were from the educated youth group. Other brigades weren’t as lucky. People from neighboring brigades even came to Wang Ying for medical treatment, keeping her quite busy for a while.
Once she finally had some free time, Wang Ying and Xu Shuang both took leave to go into the mountains to search for wild ginseng.
Xu Shuang packed two kettles of hot water, matches, and dry food. The dry food was baked buns made using a hanging stove. Following Wang Ying’s instructions, the dough was made with hot water, mixed with five-spice powder, salt, and oil to make a flaky pastry. Then, they were stuffed with rabbit meat and baked. The result was a crisp, flaky bun filled with well-seasoned meat.
Xu Shuang packed five or six of these buns, a packet of seasoning, and a vegetable knife.
Of course, the buns alone would be enough to get them through the trip, but Xu Shuang figured that if they caught any wild animals, it wouldn’t hurt to butcher and cook them fresh in the mountains.
The two set out early in the morning and followed a familiar trail deeper into the forest.
The deeper they went, the more wild animals they saw. The two stayed alert and moved forward cautiously.
Their caution paid off. Wang Ying first found some young shoots of Aralia (刺老芽, “ci lao ya”), then discovered a wild cherry tree.
Unfortunately, the cherries weren’t ripe yet, but the Aralia shoots were in perfect season. When Wang Ying saw clumps of them, her eyes lit up.
Aralia is covered in sharp thorns and is very difficult to harvest. Only the tender buds at the top are edible, but their flavor is exceptionally delicious. It’s often called “the king of wild vegetables.”
Xu Shuang quickly carved two long sticks and tied the knife to the end of one. That way, they were able to cut down dozens of Aralia shoots.
Xu Shuang said, “I’ll cook them with eggs for you when we get back.”
Wang Ying added, “Let’s make dumplings too!”
Xu Shuang laughed, “Alright, dumplings it is.”
Aralia dumplings are also delicious. The fresh wild vegetable combined with meat makes for a flavor far superior to other meat fillings.
After gathering the Aralia, Wang Ying found several rare medicinal herbs. But despite searching high and low, they didn’t find even a trace of wild ginseng.
Xu Shuang comforted her, “It’s fine if we don’t find any. My master said he’d put in a recommendation for me so I can take the Level 2 certification exam this year. Once I pass, I’ll get a raise.”
A whole five yuan more per month.
The two spent a long time in the mountains and even caught a dopey wild chicken and a fairly large snake.
It was a stroke of luck—they came across the snake coiled on a tree branch, hissing and baring its fangs, clearly very aggressive.
Xu Shuang struck it right on its vital spot with a knife, and Wang Ying packed it away. It was heavy—taking up half their basket.
Wang Ying said, “This snake’s gall bladder should fetch a good price.”
Though ginseng was hard to find, a good snake gall was also a matter of luck.
Wang Ying felt like the trip had been worth it after all.
They roasted the wild chicken and ate it with the buns in the forest. Seeing that it was getting late, they finally started making their way down the mountain.
The area they were descending into was no longer within the boundaries of the Seventh Brigade. Xu Shuang held Wang Ying’s hand, and the two of them oriented themselves and continued walking in the right direction.
Halfway down, Wang Ying seemed to trip over something.
She crouched down and examined the ground carefully—there was a very strange large stone, and next to it stood a big tree.
Wang Ying’s heart began to race. “Xu Shuang, help me move this stone.”
The two of them struggled and finally managed to shift the stone aside. Sure enough, at the edge, they discovered a delicate wild ginseng plant.
Wang Ying’s eyes lit up. “Search the area—this one’s only about three years old, there must be a bigger one nearby.”
Xu Shuang and Wang Ying began searching the surrounding area with their flashlights, and before long, they had success.
Wang Ying pointed excitedly at a large wild ginseng root. “Guess how old this one is?”
