That day, Deng Bitong was chatting with people in the office, talking about a young man who went on a blind date and got married within a month.
Suddenly, everyone remembered that the office technician, Ms. Zhan, had been dating her boyfriend for almost a year, right? They started dating at the end of 1971, and it's already October 1972. Why haven't they heard anything from her yet?
Everyone looked at each other, exchanging knowing glances and winks, silently conveying a lot of unspoken messages. Deng Bitong couldn't hold back any longer and asked, "Chunlan? How far have you and Comrade Wang progressed? When will we be able to get your wedding candy?"
Zhan Chunlan put down her pen and looked up at them earnestly: "Comrade Wang was sent by his unit to Kyoto for training, and his return date is uncertain. He didn't want to delay me, so we parted ways."
"Huh? When did this happen? I just saw his mother bringing you braised pork chops she made herself just two days ago."
Zhan Chunlan smiled, her face devoid of any gloom from the failed relationship: "In August, he was going to Beijing and came to say goodbye to me. Actually, it was me who suggested it. I'm still young and don't want to get married so early."
"Then why is his mother so good to you?" Everyone was surprised by this. How could someone get along so well with their future mother-in-law?
At this point, Zhan Chunlan became a little embarrassed: "Aunt Fang is a very good person. She feels sorry for me being away from home all alone, so she often comes to visit me."
"Then why are you so pessimistic? Getting married is like a woman's second chance at life. You've found such a good mother-in-law, why don't you hold on to her?" Deng Bitong felt sorry for her mother-in-law whenever she thought of her, wishing she could take her place.
"It is indeed a bit of a pity." Perhaps due to their family traditions, Ms. Fang Li and Ms. Fang Yun are both very outstanding and kind people. Anyone would feel very comfortable with them.
"Chunlan, I wanted to introduce you to someone as soon as you arrived, but you already had a boyfriend then. Now the timing is perfect!" Deng Bitong probably had too little to do every day and was too bored, so she liked to introduce potential partners to single men and women.
Zhan Chunlan's smile immediately vanished, replaced by a sorrowful expression: "I just lost such a wonderful partner and mother-in-law, and I don't want to think about these things for the time being."
Deng Bitong looked disapproving and earnestly advised, "I really have to talk to you about this. A good partner is hard to come by, so you have to be careful. You're still young, and you have plenty of choices. Once you get older, you'll be the one that others have already chosen."
"Yes, I was too late in choosing back then, and ended up picking a bad one from a bad pile of dwarfs," a married woman from the technical department sighed sincerely.
"It's because I'm still young that I want to enjoy my freedom for a while longer." Zhan Chunlan looked at everyone with a strange expression. "Everyone here is married. Every time I see you go back to take care of your families after a day's work, I think it's too tiring. I'm more comfortable living alone."
His words darkened the faces of the crowd, and they stopped urging her to go on blind dates and get married as soon as possible.
Days passed by like this, Zhan Chunlan went to work and walked her dog every day, and her life seemed quite fulfilling even though she was alone.
Before they knew it, it was 1974. Zhan Chunlan was 19 years old, and Wang Wenfeng had been in Beijing for almost two years. The two had no contact with each other. Ms. Fang Li also began to pay attention to her image. She would go to Zhan Chunlan's house to see her every time and never came to the food factory again. As time went by, everyone seemed to have forgotten that Zhan Chunlan and Wang Wenfeng had ever been in a relationship.
That year, another thing happened: Zhan Chunyun and Yang Yonghua were recommended to attend the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University, and they finally returned to the city.
Zhan Chunlan saw this story in the newspaper, and the reporter who wrote the article detailed the couple's journey together.
Yang Yonghua squatted on the edge of the field, twirling clods of earth between his fingers, but his gaze was fixed on the farmhouses in the distance, where smoke curled from their chimneys. During his first winter working in the countryside here, he discovered that the locals loved to eat cured meat. The cured meat hanging above the stove in every household fermented slowly in the uniquely humid air and the smoke from the firewood, creating a rich, salty aroma that was hard to replicate elsewhere.
He was quite surprised when he first tasted it. Each slice of meat was cut very thinly, the fat was translucent, and the lean meat was just a narrow strip, like a decoration. At first, he didn't dare to eat it, thinking it was too fatty.
It was Zhan Chunyun again who, with a little restraint, quietly put a piece of meat on his plate. Not wanting to embarrass her, he forced himself to eat it.
The result was amazing. It didn't have the usual cloying smell of cured meat, nor did it have the woody, smoky flavor from being smoked for too long.
It has a special aroma, the kind of meaty fragrance that comes with time.
The first time I ate it was at a fellow villager's house. They simply stir-fried it with green peppers. At first, no one dared to eat it, but later everyone started to eat it without caring about their image.
Later, unable to resist the craving any longer, the educated youth pooled their money to buy a small piece. Some people thought it was a little salty, so they boiled it in water and then cut it up to stir-fry with green peppers.
As a result, after it was cut open, the aroma wafted out, and someone couldn't resist trying a piece. "Mmm~ delicious!" That person kept giving a thumbs up and telling everyone, "Delicious! Really! Boiling it in water makes it less salty and tastes even better. No need to stir-fry it anymore, it's best eaten like this!"
Everyone was tempted by his expression, and the dish was gone before it was even served. Sitting at the table, looking at the side dishes that had been specially prepared for this dish, they regretted not having held back. At least they could have had a drink with water instead of alcohol.
Yang Yonghua is now squatting on the edge of the field, thinking about this question: can more people know about this delicious cured meat?
He thought about it a lot and finally went to discuss it with Zhan Chunyun.
Zhan Chunyun strongly agreed.
In the newspaper, she said she hoped more people could enjoy such delicious cured meat, but Zhan Chunlan knew that she was thinking much more realistically, such as: Could she use this opportunity to return to the city? Even if not, it should at least give her a proper job and free her from agricultural labor.
This was something the two of them couldn't accomplish alone. They also found several other ambitious and driven individuals within the educated youth group, and most importantly, those who could follow instructions. Together, they formed a team to propose to the commune leaders the establishment of a cured meat workshop, specializing in producing local cured meat.
As the initiator, Yang Yonghua was mainly responsible for the management of the workshop. Zhan Chunyun was more eloquent than Yang Yonghua, so she helped to open up sales channels.
After graduating, Zhan Chunyun's year of hard work was not in vain. With her silver tongue, she directly opened up the local market and made "Yong'an Cured Meat" a well-known brand in the area. It became the top choice for entertaining guests, giving gifts, and New Year's goods, and demand exceeded supply.
Therefore, the quota for recommending students to the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University that year was given to Yang Yonghua and Zhan Chunyun.
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