MAC’60s Chapter 55.2

Those side dishes were made by Xu Shuang—like mushroom oil and eight-treasure pickles.

Zhang Ping mixed the mushroom oil with noodles—it was so fragrant she even dreamed about it.

If Jiang Li hadn’t stopped her, she would’ve gone straight to Xu Shuang to buy two jars and mail them home for her parents to taste.

Zhang Ping asked, “Sister Jiang Li, what should we do? Should I go and give Grandma Xu a gift?”

Jiang Li calmed her down. “No need. Grandma Xu isn’t that kind of person. Let’s just treat her the same as before. Maybe give her a few small food gifts now and then… I don’t think she’s someone who holds grudges.”

Zhang Ping was finally at ease for the time being, but then she started getting angry: “How can Bai Ling be so awful! She made Jiang Lei go stir up trouble, but what did she even gain from it? She just made others look down on us female educated youth.”

Originally, the villagers still held a bit of respect for them as educated people, but now with Bai Ling and the others causing such a mess, how would the villagers see them?
Would they think all the educated youth were manipulative and full of petty thoughts?

Jiang Li had been here longer and was much more composed than Zhang Ping. “She doesn’t gain anything, true, but she doesn’t lose anything either. If Jiang Lei had made a scene and they all moved in, she’d benefit. And if Jiang Lei got shut down, she could just distance herself. You wait and see—at tonight’s meeting, Bai Ling is definitely going to cry and claim she didn’t know anything.”

Zhang Ping hesitated. “But everyone knows it was her. For days now, we’ve seen Jiang Lei and that other male youth hanging around her.”

Jiang Li smiled. “So what if they did? No one has any solid proof. Just wait and see—Bai Ling will definitely throw those two under the bus and save herself.”

Zhang Ping was skeptical, but the evening meeting with the educated youth unfolded exactly as Jiang Li had predicted.

Bai Ling was in tears, sobbing uncontrollably. “I know my health is poor and I’ve been a burden to everyone. I know people don’t like me. But I really didn’t incite Jiang Lei or Xu to go bother the Xu family. I wouldn’t dare do that!”

Yang Hong pressed her hard, “Then why did Jiang Lei and Xu both give their rations to you?”

Bai Ling kept crying, choking on her sobs, “How would I know they were giving me their own rations? I don’t even know how much everyone gets. I thought it was just the group taking care of each other. I only have one younger brother, no big brothers. When I came to this big family of educated youth, I truly saw everyone as my brothers and sisters…”

Even though Yang Hong had mentally prepared herself, she was still infuriated by Bai Ling.

And then that fool Jiang Lei piped up, leaping to her defense: “I gave it willingly. Bai Ling only mentioned it once, she never asked me directly. She even told me to eat properly and stop bringing her stuff.”

Xu, the other male educated youth, remained silent. He wasn’t as foolish as Jiang Lei. Bai Ling had always made a show of refusing the rations, but she never really declined them. In the end, he always gave in.

While Xu stayed silent, Jiang Lei kept flailing.

Yang Hong massaged her temples. “Then explain why you two fought.”

Surely, it had to be over Bai Ling.

Jiang Lei stayed awkwardly silent, but Xu, with a dark expression, finally spoke.

“Jiang Lei thought I was shameless, always chasing after Bai Ling. He started the fight and told me to stay away from her.”

Jiang Lei muttered, “It had nothing to do with Bai Ling. He’s the shameless one, chasing someone else’s girl.”

Xu didn’t look good. He had pursued Bai Ling because she gave him signals—mending his clothes, wiping his sweat…

How could that not be a sign of affection?

Jiang Lei wasn’t convinced. “He’s the shameless one, chasing someone else’s girl.”

Yang Hong turned to Bai Ling. “You’d better say something. Two men fought over you—don’t you think you owe the group an explanation?”

In her heart, Bai Ling cursed Jiang Lei up and down. This kind of man, with no brains—how could she ever choose someone like him? “His girl”? Had she ever admitted that?

Shameless!

Bai Ling said weakly, “I… I don’t know… We’re all part of the same group. Shouldn’t we help and support each other? I always saw Jiang Lei and Xu as older brothers…”

Jiang Lei didn’t mind that—being called “older brother” still left room for interpretation. Maybe she was just shy. He thought it was understandable.

But Xu was a different story. He gave a cold laugh and turned his face away, saying nothing more.

Bai Ling bit her lower lip in frustration. Thanks to Jiang Lei, she had definitely lost Xu. That was a big fish gone—what a shame.

Yang Hong saw that everything was clear now and issued the consequences: “Jiang Lei, you started the fight, so from now on you’ll be assigned the heaviest tasks. Xu, you’ll do extra labor. Bai Ling…”

She looked at Bai Ling’s innocent expression and felt even more irritated. “Bai Ling, we’re a family here, brothers and sisters. But even real siblings keep things fair. No one here has excess rations. Going forward, you should be more considerate. If someone gives you something, do you just take it without thinking how they’ll manage?”

There was no hard proof to punish Bai Ling, so Yang Hong could only give her a verbal reprimand.

Xu’s face was grim. “I agree with this arrangement.”

Even though he had suffered a loss, Xu felt that at least now he saw Bai Ling’s true character. Better to learn this lesson now than lose everything later.

Jiang Lei was unwilling, but Yang Hong’s word was final in the educated youth team, so he had no choice but to accept it.

Bai Ling’s eyes flickered. Yang Hong’s words were unpleasant, but what could she do? She had to maintain her persona.

So she lowered her head and murmured, “I didn’t handle things well. I’ve never lived in a collective before, so I didn’t think things through…”

Yang Hong dismissed the meeting, utterly exhausted.

Wang Ying had helped Granny Xu keep the educated youth in check, and Granny Xu couldn’t have been happier.

As the weather warmed up, Cheng Yu, who went into the mountains, was like a wild thing—letting the goats graze in lush grass while she wandered nearby looking for edible plants.

And so Wang Ying received a gift from Cheng Yu—

Wild strawberries.

Wang Ying had already warned Cheng Yu: if you find something in the mountains and you’re not sure what it is, don’t eat it. Bring it back and let her take a look first.

Cheng Yu was very obedient, especially since she was also helping Wang Ying look for medicinal herbs. She basically brought back any plant she didn’t recognize.

Because of this, Wang Ying also obtained several rare medicinal herbs.

This time, Cheng Yu was particularly taken with the wild strawberries—the bright red clusters of little fruits.

But she firmly remembered Wang Ying’s warning not to eat things casually, so she brought the wild strawberries back for Wang Ying to examine.

Wang Ying treated them like a treasure. She washed a small portion and shared them with Cheng Yu, but kept the rest.

“This thing isn’t just fruit—it’s also a medicinal herb. It can be used to treat diphtheria, acute perforated appendicitis, and jaundice.”

Cheng Yu was amazed. “Just this tiny berry?”

Wang Ying smiled. “That’s not all. I’ll chop a bit up in a while, and you can take it home. Sprinkle some in the dry toilet, and dry the rest to scatter in places where mosquitoes and bugs gather. This thing has detoxifying properties, but it’s also mildly toxic itself—good for pest control.”

When the weather heats up, trouble from snakes, rats, and insects becomes common. Wang Ying had already prepared several herbal remedies and scattered them around her house to prevent unsanitary conditions from causing illness in the summer.

At the same time, this was the peak season for diseases. In summer, food spoilage or poor hygiene habits often led to contagious illnesses. And if the water source wasn’t clean, it could even cause malaria outbreaks to a certain degree.

Seeing the wild strawberries reminded Wang Ying of all this, so after sending Cheng Yu off, she planned to go talk to Wu Guihua about organizing a meeting.

Just as she was thinking about it, Wu Guihua arrived.

Not only did Wu Guihua come herself—she also brought her daughter Xinghua.

Unlike her usual cheerful self, Wu Guihua seemed a bit embarrassed this time.

Wang Ying invited them inside and set aside a small pile of the wild strawberries for Xinghua to eat.

Wu Guihua said, “Sigh, Ying girl, I’ll just be direct. That mid wife job you mentioned last time—do you think my daughter Xinghua could do it?”