On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Han Chen and Xuemei woke up early, their first act being to wrap red envelopes at their desks. They gave Liu's mother and father a ten-yuan red envelope each, and Qingya and her three siblings a fifty-cent red envelope each. It wasn't that Han Chen and Xuemei were reluctant to give more, but rather that they wanted to be consistent with Liu's mother and father, who gave Xuemei and her siblings a fifty-cent red envelope each year. In addition to these red envelopes, Xuemei and Han Chen also gave four thirty-cent red envelopes to Shengnan, Yanan, Juhua, and Mingwu.
As for the New Year gifts that Xuemei and Han Chen gave to their grandparents, second uncle's family, and aunt's family, Xuemei had prepared them a few days ago. Each family received a box of mung bean cakes and a box of chestnut cakes. Xuemei bought the chestnut cakes directly from home so as not to give the supply and marketing cooperative a chance to make a profit.
As soon as Liu's parents called for breakfast, Han Chen and Xuemei went over with red envelopes. Han Chen and Xuemei went to the main hall and first greeted Liu's parents and handed them red envelopes.
Liu's father and mother also gave each of them a big red envelope. Xuemei found that there was five yuan in the red envelope after she returned to the house. Only then did Xuemei understand why Liu's mother quietly told her to go back to the house to open it. She was afraid that her younger brothers and sisters would be jealous.
Because Xuemei and Han Chen were celebrating New Year, their second uncle, second aunt, grandparents, aunt, and grandparents all gave Xuemei and Han Chen red envelopes, and the amount of money they gave was more than that of others.
By the time Xuemei and Hanchen, along with their younger siblings, had finished their entire village tour, it was nearly noon. Father and Mother Liu had already prepared the supplies for their trip to Wangjia Village. They were going so early this year because they were leaving for Beijing the next day.
When the family arrived at Wangjia Village, they started to have lunch. After lunch, they only stayed for half an hour before going home.
After returning home, Xuemei and Liu's mother began to pack the things they were taking to Beijing, and Han Chen went to the kitchen to knead the dough, intending to make some steamed buns with cornmeal mixed with white flour, so that they would look like cornmeal buns and would not be conspicuous when eaten on the road.
Xuemei and Liu's mother each took a covered backpack into the main hall, one larger, one smaller. The backpacks were made of densely woven bamboo, and their contents were impossible to see from the sides or top.
Xuemei and Liu's mother first padded the bottom of the backpack with straw to prevent it from getting wet when placed on the ground. Then they placed ten pounds of threshed millet at the bottom. This was for Grandpa Lin, as they heard millet porridge is good for the stomach.
When Grandpa Lin was fighting in the war in his early years, he was hungry and ate cold food most of the time, which resulted in his stomach being in poor condition now.
Then, he placed 15 pounds of threshed rice on top of the millet, hoping that Han Chen's family in Beijing would taste the difference between the rice from southern provinces. The millet and rice were both packed in cloth bags sealed with coarse cloth, and the openings were sewn shut so that they wouldn't leak out.
Then he put thirty-six glutinous rice cakes in the big backpack, which weighed more than four pounds, and then put ten pounds of dried tofu on top.
This big backpack can carry 40 kilograms, but it is not full yet. It is still about 10 centimeters deep. I plan to put a cotton jacket and other clothes in it, cover the cotton jacket with a layer of coarse cloth, and finally tie the bamboo cover of the backpack.
Sixteen pig's blood balls were placed at the bottom of the small backpack, weighing eight pounds. Then, on top, ten pounds of cured roe deer meat, three cured rabbits, and three pieces of cured pork were added. The meat was placed in a coarse cloth bag, which was sewn shut. To prevent the fat from seeping out, the bag was stuffed with straw. At the top, there was only one cloth bag, which contained a hat and gloves made by Liu's mother, as well as two new wool scarves and two pairs of wool socks made by Xuemei.
Xuemei prepared the scarf and socks for herself and Han Chen. She heard that it was still snowing in Beijing and the weather was very cold, with temperatures below zero during the day.
The small backpack held about 30 kilograms of stuff, which Xuemei would carry. Why did they put all the meat in Xuemei's backpack? It was because they were afraid someone would check their backpacks.
Since the educated youth went to the countryside, the number of Red Guards in the county town has decreased significantly. The remaining members have joined the Revolutionary Committee. Although it is the end of the year and the members of the Revolutionary Committee are not out and about much, they are also worried that some of them have ulterior motives and will take advantage of this opportunity to profit.
In this way, if they really want to search the backpack, Xuemei can put her hand into the backpack and put all the meat into the space. If there is enough time, the pig blood balls can also be put in.
Although Xuemei's space is only half a cubic meter now, it is still enough to add these two things.
After putting the things in the two backpacks away, Xuemei went into the room and took out two old cotton-padded jackets, one of her own and the other of Han Chen's.
Liu's parents thought Xuemei and Hanchen shouldn't dress too well when they were out, fearing they might attract someone with ulterior motives. Liu's mother looked at the two cotton-padded jackets and decided they weren't safe enough. Although they had been worn for several years, they were not patched and had been cleaned thoroughly.
Liu's mother went back to the house and took out needle and thread. She and Xuemei each took a cotton-padded jacket and patched the front, back and sleeves of the two jackets with scraps of cloth. They could just take them off when they came back later without affecting the appearance of the clothes.
After patching the clothes, Liu's mother put a few more patches on Han Chen's cotton-padded jacket, and hid money in these patches. Liu's mother sewed thirty yuan and some bills into Han Chen's clothes. Xuemei also sewed a few patches on her own cotton-padded jacket, but did not put any money or bills. She did it for Han Chen to see.
Xuemei and Han Chen agreed that each of them would take ten yuan, one pound of fine grain coupons, and two pounds of coarse grain coupons, and then take one hundred and fifty yuan in cash to sew into their clothes. Only thirty yuan was sewn into Han Chen's cotton-padded jacket, and Xuemei put the rest in the space.
On this trip to Beijing, Xuemei took all ten of her accumulated industrial coupons and exchanged them for a large number of cloth coupons with her colleagues, now holding twenty feet of cloth coupons. Xuemei took so many coupons to Beijing because she planned to buy some new things at the department stores there.
When Liu's mother and Xuemei were almost done, Han Chen's steamed buns were also ready to be steamed. Liu's mother took ten eggs, washed them, and put them in the steamer to steam together.
After the buns were cooked, Xuemei diced two taels of bacon and a piece of dried tofu, added a large bowl of chopped peppers and stir-fried them. After they were done, they were packed into the lunch box. This was the dish she and Han Chen would eat on the way. The bacon was diced very small, so it would blend in with the peppers so that no one would notice it.
After dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Liu were worried and helped check the things Xuemei and Han Chen wanted to take with them before letting Xuemei and Han Chen go to rest.
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