"Boys get this treatment too?"
"Yes, I never dared to think about it before."
I used to think that other families were all about favoring boys over girls, but thankfully my family only has boys.
Sigh, looking back now, it seems it has nothing to do with gender. If you don't like something, you just don't like it. So, when something happens, I'm always the first one pushed forward.
"It seems like we're both the unpopular ones at home?"
"It's normal for the five fingers to be of different lengths."
Moreover, the one sandwiched in the middle is inherently the easiest to overlook.
Chen Jianguo gave a slightly self-deprecating laugh.
"Yes, I'm such a fool. I never saw it coming and happily delivered what I thought was good to them. The whole family treated me like some kind of traitor."
Thinking about it, going to the countryside was actually a way out for me, especially after I realized my own limitations and laid everything bare. I'm actually quite relaxed about it.
Do you think our family is thinking about us now?
Chen Jianguo was very certain.
“I certainly wouldn’t dare to hope for that. I have two precious children at home, how could I have the energy to worry about my unfilial son who lives 800 miles away?”
Lin Zhaodi was also unsure.
“I have a younger brother at home. At this time, my mother should be trying to cook for him. She should think of me for a while, since I am the one who does these chores every year.”
The words had barely left his mouth when he sneezed several times. The people making dumplings were startled for a moment, then burst into laughter.
"Lin Zhiqing, you've really spoken up now."
After having New Year's Eve dumplings with the educated youth, Jian Dan still insisted on returning to her own home.
The small house was warm and cozy.
On the kang table were various snacks and fruits that she liked in later generations, and her favorite comedies were on. She spent the New Year very comfortably by herself.
Of course, if you ignore the lingering bitterness and loneliness in your heart, Jian Dan had a pretty good year.
The next morning, all the children ran around the village. This was the happiest time of the year for them. Not only were there meat and oil in their dishes, but if there was anything else delicious at home, their parents would generously bring it out—biscuits, candy, pine nuts, melon seeds, peanuts—and they would play together. During these days, the parents were also very patient, and even their scolding was much gentler.
Although Jian Dan's place is far from the village, many of the village children have met Jian Dan before because of the friendly relationship between Hu Zi and Hei Dan. They are not strangers to each other and have mustered up their courage to come and pay New Year's greetings in a swarm.
In rural areas, it's an unwritten rule that on the first day of the Lunar New Year, children who visit the house should be given some snacks. Jian Dan wasn't short of them, so she prepared a small basket and a rather large basket well in advance.
Tiger and Little Flower were almost the first to arrive. Little Flower, unusually, came over and teased the children briefly. Before leaving, she gave each of them a handful of candy and two handfuls of melon seeds, filling their small pockets to the brim. The two children left with their mouths agape and their little hands tightly covering their mouths.
The other children who were a few steps behind didn't catch as many, but they all left with heavy loads, none of them leaving empty-handed.
After the New Year comes spring.
Before we knew it, the first difficult year that Jian Dan had experienced had passed.
The short spring season passed quickly; it felt like only yesterday that the busy spring season had arrived.
Of course, the busy spring season at this time not only refers to the work in the fields, but also to the various wild vegetables that sprout up at the same time. After a winter, no matter how frugal you are, almost every family will face a shortage of food.
Therefore, wild vegetables at this time can be said to be part of the villagers' daily necessities, and for some families, they can be said to be life-saving food.
Following the work schedule of the brigade, working on and off the land on time for several days in a row, this hectic pace left Jian Dan, who had been idle all winter, with no time to worry about anything else.
When it comes to work, the other people in the educated youth compound are all more knowledgeable and quicker to learn than she is.
After Jian Dan finished work and had just gotten home, Li Yan and the others came over.
"Jian Zhiqing, do you want to go up the mountain?"
Simple was stunned at that moment.
"Go up the mountain? Don't you have enough firewood?"
Li Yan hadn't expected Jian Dan to react this way.
"You? Jian Zhiqing, the wild vegetables are out, are you going to dig some?"
He slapped his forehead and realized, "Oh no, I've been away from people for too long, my brain's not working properly anymore."
"Go, go, wait a minute, I'll be right there."
They had just finished work and didn't even need to change their clothes; they could just grab a basket and a small shovel and head out.
"They're here! I'm so confused. Are there many people coming out now?"
Li Yan and the others weren't very familiar with each other either; they were just following the village aunties.
“Jian Zhiqing, these wild vegetables are just coming out now and they’re still tender. Mix a little cornmeal into them and steam them into dried wild vegetable rations. That will make them fresh and delicious.”
Several of the educated youth were also curious at this moment.
"Auntie, are the wild vegetables sprouting here so early?"
Also present were Sun Xiang, the daughter-in-law of Third Uncle, and Liu Dalian, the daughter-in-law of Liu Weimin. They were fairly familiar with the educated youth and offered to explain things to them.
"Here in our area, winters are really cold, but spring brings plenty of good things."
Wild vegetables start sprouting as soon as it gets warmer. They appear earlier on sunny slopes and much later on shady slopes. This continues until planting and weeding in a few days, until around June, when there will still be fresh wild vegetables.
Now we have dandelion, willow shoots, shepherd's purse, and in a few days we'll have wild garlic, eleutherococcus leaves, bracken, wild celery, wild eggplant, toon shoots, and then aralia shoots and wild spinach.
Elm seeds will be in season soon, and they taste delicious. Whether you eat them as a snack, steam them as dry food, or make them into cakes, elm seeds taste great.
"Once it rains, the mushrooms will sprout. Then we can pick them, dry them, and save them to stew with chicken in the winter, or mail them home. That would be great."
I've seen these things in books and on TV, but they're not actually found in real life. I used to only occasionally look for useful medicinal herbs when I went up the mountain. Now that you mention it, it's actually quite interesting.
"Sister-in-law, is all of this edible?"
"That's right, they're all good stuff. During the lean season, these are lifesavers. Otherwise, who knows how many more people would have starved to death."
Many people came over after work, but none of them went into the mountains. They stayed in the same area where they gathered firewood in the autumn, which seemed to be the villagers' default safe zone. A few people quietly followed them.
"Sister-in-law, you have to teach us to identify which wild vegetables are edible. I'm afraid I'll end up digging up a bunch of weeds."
Sun Xiang smiled silently.
“We’ve lived in these mountains for generations. We know what’s edible and what’s not. Just follow us for a bit.”
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