After dinner, we processed about 40 kilograms of giant prawns and went to bed.
the next day
Lin Yiyi: "Dajun, after breakfast, take Sanjun and Sijun to continue fishing for big shrimps. Take Wudi with you. I will go to other places to look for big shrimps. If you find any, we can continue fishing after you finish fishing for big shrimps. Otherwise, we won't be able to catch up after you finish fishing for big shrimps."
When Lin Erjun was here, Lin Dajun was led by Lin Erjun. Now that Lin Erjun has gone to the county, Lin Dajun feels that he has become the boss. But in fact, Lin Dajun has no opinion. He has selfish motives, but he is easily persuaded by others. He is also known as a soft-hearted person. However, he is different from other soft-hearted people. Others are soft-hearted because they are honest, but he is not an honest person. He is just a pretentious person. At the same time, he likes to act like an elder brother in front of Sanjun and Sijun, but he dares not to do so in front of Lin Yiyi, because he thinks that everything Lin Yiyi says is right and seems to be for his own good. In short, he is a person who can listen to reason at the moment, but forgets it almost the next time.
Lin Dajun put Lin Wudi in a backpack and took Lin Sanjun and Lin Sijun to fish for lobsters. Lin Yiyi also carried a small backpack and went to look for other food. She wore a straw hat with a scarf on it so she could wipe the sweat off her face when she got tired. She also brought a kitchen knife so she could use it when she saw other edibles.
In fact, at the moment, in August, Lin Yiyi didn't really want to go out. It was hot outside, and the countryside was close to the mountains. She was worried about encountering snakes, wild boars, wolves, etc. She had seen such descriptions when she was reading novels, but she didn't know whether it was true. However, she was still a dozen days away from getting married, and it was not a good idea for her to stay at home every day. If the Lin brothers saw her, they would definitely be lazy. Even if she didn't want to convert them, she didn't want them to be lazy, otherwise even if she got married, they would be involved in her.
Lin Yiyi followed Daya's memory and walked to where there was water. She didn't go too deep into the mountains, but walked along streams, mountain foot, and reservoirs. She couldn't think of other food. A girl who grew up in the city didn't really know what food could be found in the countryside. Her only idea was lobster, because there were lobsters here, so there was a high chance that there would be lobsters in other streams and reservoirs.
When Lin Yiyi was walking along the road at the foot of the mountain, she met many villagers. When they didn't have to go to work, they came out to find food every day. They were all listless and didn't even have the energy to say hello when they met people.
Lin Yiyi also didn't walk to places where there were no roads. She didn't dare to walk in the grass piles. She walked on the paths that others had walked on, and she always felt more at ease.
She was originally at the foot of the mountain, and she walked along the mountain road. She wanted to try her luck and see if she could pick up pheasant eggs. She only had four pheasant eggs left. She had to eat them every day and eat them frequently, otherwise they would be wasted if they went bad.
Lin Yiyi walked while hitting the haystack left and right with a stick. This is called exploring the way.
Lin Yiyi moved her ears and seemed to hear some sounds, rooster rooster rooster… What was that sound? A rooster. Lin Yiyi had never heard a rooster crowing in modern times, but in reality, even if she had never heard it, she knew what it sounded like, not to mention Daya. So Lin Yiyi, who had Daya's memory, instinctively thought that it was a rooster crowing.
Why do chickens crow?
As an animal that is not dangerous and will not hurt people, Lin Yiyi thought of chicken meat when she heard the chicken's cry, so she went to take a look. She carefully used a stick to find the way over. After a few steps, less than ten meters away, she saw a pheasant lying in the grass, and one of its claws was covered in blood. It looked like the bone was broken, but the claw was still connected. The pheasant saw someone coming, and its screams became even louder. It struggled to stand up and wanted to run, but it was not strong enough with only one leg.
Lin Yiyi swallowed her saliva, not because she was greedy, but because she was nervous. Even if she had no experience, she knew what she should do at this moment, which was to chop off the chicken's head and put the chicken in the basket. Lin Yiyi approached with trembling feet, and then grabbed the struggling pheasant with trembling hands. Her hand holding the knife trembled even more violently, but she still pursed her lips and cut the chicken's head with a knife. Her eyes were wide open, and she was worried that she would accidentally cut her hand. The knife was too strong, and the pheasant's head was chopped off in half, and then hung.
Lin Yiyi chopped off the chicken's head several more times. By the time she had chopped off the chicken's head, her whole body seemed to be exhausted. She sat on the ground for a while, panting, and her face became even paler.
Soon, Lin Yiyi came to her senses. She was not a fool and knew what the smell of blood would attract. Moreover, it was a famine period and it would be bad if it attracted hungry wild animals. Lin Yiyi quickly dug a hole with branches, then threw the chicken head into it, and then pointed the chicken neck towards the hole, letting the chicken blood flow into the chicken pit. After more than ten minutes, the chicken neck stopped bleeding. She picked some grass, wrapped the pheasant and put it in the backpack. After doing all this, Lin Yiyi's heartbeat had not stopped. But her mind gradually became clear, and she realized one thing.
First it was a nest of wild eggs, and now it's a wild chicken. Lin Yiyi thought that if it was just a coincidence, then this kind of luck was really good. She thought that it was possible... She ignited Daya's luck as a heroine. As a novel reader, everyone knows that in novels, the hero and heroine are people with great luck. Even if Daya suffered a lifetime in the original drama, but in the end, Lin Wudi appeared. According to common sense, how could the brother who was sent away since childhood come to pick her up? How could Xiao Yu, her ex-fiancé who no longer had any relationship with her, help her find Lin Xiaodi?
So, even though Daya suffered all her life, at the end of her life, she still had the fate of a heroine.
Lin Yiyi felt that she had ignited Daya's luck as a heroine in advance, which was a blessing for the heroine. Whether it was true or not, Lin Yiyi felt that this was the truth. If this body really belonged to a person with great luck, then... Lin Yiyi thought about it, closed her palms, and whispered: God, let me pick up another pheasant!
Although she was praying like this, Lin Yiyi did not stay here any longer. She picked up a knife and a branch and left. It was not safe here.
Lin Yiyi was walking while thinking about how to deal with the chicken. After walking for a while, she heard the sound of chickens again. She stopped and walked in the direction of the sound. She saw a pheasant hiding in the haystack. When it saw her coming, it ran away quickly, but it ran too fast and bumped into a tree, then fainted.
Lin Yiyi: ...
She calmly chopped off the pheasant's head, and after that, she collected the 12 pheasant eggs in the pheasant's nest. This time, she was very sure that she had ignited Daya's luck as a heroine. However, she did not continue to pray to God, as she had no choice but to stop at this blessing.
Lin Yiyi is not going to go shopping anymore, she wants to go home to pluck chicken feathers.
Lin Yiyi knew how to pluck chicken feathers. When the elders at home cooked chicken soup, they bought freshly killed chickens from the market. After buying the chickens, they only bled them and took the chicken feathers home to process. When plucking the chicken feathers, the chicken should be soaked in hot water for half an hour, which makes it easier to pluck the feathers.
But how to cook this pheasant? Lin Yiyi thought about it and thought, braised or something, not to mention her poor cooking skills, even the Lin family doesn't have the conditions, not even a cast iron pot, and in terms of nutrition, stewing is of course the best. Pheasant soup is too greasy if it's just plain, and it requires a lot of ingredients, which the Lin family still doesn't have, so... it's best to add some potatoes, taro, etc. The Lin family doesn't have these things, so... find someone to replace them.
It would be too extravagant to eat both pheasants by myself, so I might as well trade them for some food. But who in the brigade would I feel more comfortable with? Although the pheasants were state property, the brigade allowed me to take just one pheasant with only one or two kilograms of meat.
In the list of people who wanted to exchange pheasants for food, Lin Yiyi chose three people: the captain, Yang Guilan, and Doctor Lin. Doctor Lin was a good man who was flexible. The captain's family should have food. Yang Guilan was also kind-hearted and was from the county town. She must like the pheasants. Among the three people, Lin Yiyi thought about it and chose Doctor Lin.
After returning home, Lin Yiyi put down the backpack and went to Dr. Lin’s house: “Dr. Lin…”
Lin Zhengde was processing the medicine he had just picked. When he saw Lin Yiyi, he said gently, "Daya is here. How is your health?"
Lin Yiyi said: "I feel much better now, and I feel stronger now."
Lin Zhengde: "That's good. You need to rest recently and don't overwork. Only when you take good care of your body can you have the capital to do things. Otherwise, if your body is not well, you will waste money in the future."
Lin Yiyi: "Thank you, Doctor Lin." As expected, Doctor Lin is a very good person. Even in the original plot, Daya was in poor health due to years of hard work, and Doctor Lin often helped her with medicine. "Doctor Lin, I...I want to exchange some food with you."
Lin Zhengde paused while sorting the herbs: "What does Daya want to change? How do you change it?" Because Lin Yiyi used the word 'change', he was very curious.
Lin Yiyi: "I...I went to the mountains to look for food today and caught a pheasant. I want to exchange it for potatoes."
Lin Zhengde was surprised at first, then said: "We haven't eaten chicken for a long time. Wait a minute, I'll go ask your aunt, I don't know much about this either." Lin Zhengde was willing to make the change. His family should be one of the few in the village that had no shortage of food, so he was willing to change to pheasant to replenish his body, as he couldn't even eat it on weekdays.
Lin Zhengde put the herbs aside and went into the kitchen at the corner of the main hall. Not long after, Qiu followed Lin Zhengde out: "Daya, how many pheasants do you want to exchange? How many pounds of potatoes?"
Lin Yiyi: "A pheasant, but the pheasant doesn't seem heavy, and I don't know how many pounds of potatoes I can get in exchange, is 10 pounds okay?"
Qiu thought about it. If it was in the past, a pheasant could be sold for two yuan, and a pound of potatoes was only a few cents? If the price was exchanged for food, a pheasant could be exchanged for 40 pounds of potatoes. But now, eating meat is a luxury. If you are not full, food is different. Because their family has no shortage of food, they can afford to exchange for food. Besides, maybe it will only happen once a year, so Qiu is willing to exchange. But if she exchanges for 10 pounds of potatoes, she feels that she is taking advantage of the child, and she is reluctant to exchange for 40 pounds of potatoes. After thinking about it, Qiu said, "Exchange for 20 pounds." For a chicken, their family eats one-quarter, and the remaining three-quarters are dried and saved for next time. Qiu began to calculate.
After the deal was done, Lin Zhengde and Qiu took 20 kilograms of potatoes and went to the Lin family with Lin Yiyi to exchange for pheasants. Lin Yiyi had already hidden the other pheasant, and gave them the remaining one that looked fatter.
After Lin Zhengde and his wife left, Lin Yiyi boiled water to pluck chicken feathers. She was exhausted by plucking all the chickens by herself and didn't finish until 2 pm. At noon, she had a bowl of stewed eggs for her meal.
After the chicken was done, Lin Yiyi cut half of it, and then cut it into pieces, and stewed it in a clay pot with potatoes. Then she divided the other half in half, planning to give one half to the captain's family, because even if she got married in the future, she would need the captain's place, and the other half to Yang Guilan, who was indeed a good person. In the original plot, she was also a good person. Then, regarding Lin Erjun's matter, she also wanted someone to pass on the news.
The captain's family received a quarter of a pheasant and did not refuse it, because the smell of the meat was so tempting. The captain and his wife were good people, and the captain was also an upright person, but being an upright person does not mean that one's mind is dead. The captain's wife also returned the gift and gave Lin Yiyi two kilograms of sweet potatoes. A quarter of a chicken is only half a kilogram, so it is not a bargain to exchange it for two kilograms of sweet potatoes.
Lin Yiyi took the remaining quarter and went to Lin Dafu's house.
"Is Auntie Guilan here?"
Yang Guilan: "Daya." She had just returned from the county town and had lunch at a relative's house. When she saw the scene of Lin Erjun getting along with his relatives, she still felt it was very heartwarming. Lin Erjun was obedient and filial, and his relatives were happy to have a son. Yang Guilan felt that she had done a good thing.
Lin Yiyi said: "Auntie, I want to discuss something with you."
Yang Guilan: "What's the matter? Daya, come in and tell me."
Lin Yiyi gave the meat to Yang Guilan first: "Auntie, thank you for taking care of our family."
Yang Guilan: "No, no, no, keep it for yourselves." Although she also liked meat, she would not eat the children's food.
Lin Yiyi: "Auntie, don't be polite with me. I still have some at home. If you feel bad, after I get married, you can help me keep an eye on the army. If anything happens, you can send me a message, that would be great."
Yang Guilan thought that these were all small matters, so she accepted the meat. However, she also gave a return gift, and took out two kilograms of dried bamboo shoots: "Daya, take this. It tastes especially good when put in soup with the meat."
Lin Yiyi collected the bamboo shoots and said, "Auntie Guilan, actually...actually I have one more thing I want to ask you."
Yang Guilan: "What's the matter? Tell me first and I'll see if I can help you."
Lin Yiyi said, "Auntie, I want to go see if Erjun is doing well. I... I just want to see her. I promise not to disturb her. Please, tell me the address of the family who adopted Erjun."
Yang Guilan was sure not to tell anyone at first, but she remembered what her relatives had said, that they would move away in a few days. She thought that this might be the last time Erjun and Daya would meet, so she said, "Then you must promise Auntie that you will only watch from a distance and not go to look for Erjun."
Lin Yiyi: “I promise.”
After Lin Yiyi got the news from Yang Guilan, she went home and wrote a letter. She couldn't go to the county town as a sister to say bad things about Lin Erjun. It would be bad for her reputation. She was not a saintly woman who would ruin her reputation for others. However, she could tell the people there anonymously about Lin Erjun's character. This was also a gesture of kindness. As for the result, it was none of her business.
In the evening, Lin Dajun came back with his younger brothers and saw the stewed chicken with potatoes on the table. He was stunned: "Sister, where did these meat and potatoes come from?" As he spoke, his saliva was drooling.
Lin Yiyi: "This is a pheasant. I picked it up in the mountains today. I exchanged the chicken for these potatoes. We don't have much food at home, so we just want to taste the chicken. I exchanged the remaining chicken for a few pounds of potatoes. The potatoes can fill my stomach."
Lin Sijun: "Sister, you are amazing. You actually managed to pick up a pheasant. If others knew we were eating chicken, they would be jealous."
Lin Dajun: "Don't tell anyone."
Lin Sijun: “I know.”
They are all grown-up kids, so of course they know not to tell anyone, but they still know how to make a fortune in silence.
Everyone enjoyed dinner very much, even more than eating egg custard. Even Lin Wudi, who had a small stomach, drank a small bowl of chicken soup with mashed potatoes. Lin Wudi drank it with relish. Lin Yiyi chopped the chicken and mixed it in the soup, so that it would be easier for Lin Wudi, who had missing teeth, to eat.
Not only did Lin Wudi eat it himself, he also wanted to use a wooden spoon to scoop some for Lin Yiyi: "Sister, please eat..."
Lin Yiyi shook her head: "Sis doesn't want to eat it, little brother will eat it by himself, and eat it to grow taller."
Lin Wudi: "Grow taller." He put it in his mouth in one gulp and smiled with his eyes squinting.
the next day
Lin Yiyi continued to look for food, while Lin Dajun took Lin Sanjun and Lin Sijun, and carried Lin Wudi on his back to continue fishing for lobsters. After Lin Dajun left with his brothers, Lin Yiyi did not continue to look for food, but went to the county town. She had Daya's memory, and she walked for two and a half hours to get there, starting at seven in the morning. After arriving in the county town, she went to the family that adopted Lin Erjun according to the address provided by Yang Guilan. Of course, she did not show up, but looked at it from a distance for a while, and then went to the post office and mailed the letter she wrote last night. The letter was to the family that adopted Lin Erjun. Although she felt that she did not owe anyone anything, it was because she refused Lin Wudi to be adopted that the incident with Lin Erjun happened, so she wanted to remind him.
Of course, she was not afraid of the letter being seen by others, because Daya's handwriting, which was a primary school graduate's, was completely different from hers, so no one could recognize that the letter was written by her.
After sending the letter, Lin Yiyi went to the newspaper office again. Since she wanted to raise Lin Wudi herself, she certainly couldn't just talk about it. She was worried about leaving Lin Wudi to the three brothers Lin Dajun. If she took him to the Xiao family, how could the Xiao family raise you? Even though Grandma Xiao and Qin Xiangju were nice people, it would be embarrassing for them to raise a child at this time. She couldn't embarrass them just because they were nice people. Therefore, if she wanted to bring Lin Wudi to the Xiao family, she had to be confident. She was a girl from 2020, she couldn't move her hands, couldn't carry anything, couldn't make clothes, and it was even more impossible for her to go to work. It was even more impossible for the heroines of other novels to go to the black market and do business. Lin Yiyi didn't have the courage, nor was she willing to gamble on the so-called luck of the heroine. The two-hour journey from the village to the county town was enough to tire her out. She knew that she was delicate and couldn't do these things.
If her only advantage is to be said, it is probably her literary talent.
As a graduate of a prestigious university's liberal arts department and a planner for a listed real estate company, Lin Yiyi's writing skills are quite good. She has published articles in magazines such as Reader since high school. At that time, she did it out of interest, but she never thought that one day she would think of making money by submitting articles.
Yes, submitting the article was her confidence. Although it was 1960 and money might not buy food, she knew that by the second half of 1961, the famine would ease and the free market would open up in 1962. By then, although tickets were still required to buy things, the role of money would be reflected. Since she had money, would the Xiao family still object to her raising Lin Wudi?
Lin Yiyi did not go to the newspaper office, she just wrote down the address of the newspaper office so that she could send the manuscript there when she submitted it. Of course, she did not pin her hopes on the newspaper office in the county, she also bought magazines and weeklies, such as the most famous three newspapers and one magazine, because those would have the addresses of many publishing houses.
These magazines are not expensive. Lin Yiyi has 46 yuan on her, which is definitely enough to buy them. Then she went to buy paper and pens, fountain pens and ink, which are the big expenses. Since she is writing a manuscript, she always needs a fountain pen, not a pencil. Although Lin Yiyi felt pain, she was more looking forward to it. Only when people have expectations can they have motivation.
She also knew that if she wanted to write and make money from her writing, she only had six years left. In 1966, the Ten Years of Turmoil began, and royalties were considered "bourgeois legal rights" and were abolished. From then until 1976, the world was in turmoil, and everything was about effort, not reward. So if she wanted to make money, she had to do it before 1966.
Lin Yiyi thought about this while carrying her backpack on her way home. She felt hungry on the way home, so she ate boiled eggs. She didn't get home until two in the afternoon. As soon as she got home, she started writing. On the way back and forth, she had already conceived several stories.
She wrote until five o'clock, and seeing that Lin Dajun and the others were about to come back, she went to cook.
Lin Dajun came back with Lin Sanjun and Lin Sijun, and carried Lin Wudi on his back. The three brothers came back chatting with smiles on their faces, as if they had no idea what sorrow was.