Two-thirds of these things were given to you by many of the women in our military compound.”
"Oh, it's them."
You know them, right?
"I know," she said, and then recounted how the uncles and aunts in the military compound had taken great care of her after her parents' sacrifice.
Meanwhile, she also recounted how she had returned the gifts, and after getting to know each other through these exchanges, she said, "Not counting the things you brought this time, we've exchanged gifts three times already. Twice I sent them packages myself, and once I asked my third and fourth brothers to bring them back last time."
"No wonder! Not long after I got home, someone asked me if I wanted to visit you in Fusong County. I didn't understand what was going on at the time."
Mom said that after my brother rests at home for two or three days, she'll come over to see you. When they heard the news, they said they'd go to the supply and marketing cooperative or the department store to see if there was anything you didn't have, and they'd buy it for you.
I was wondering when they became so enthusiastic, now I know why.
He continued, "I originally planned to come and see you. Before leaving, I called home and told my brother to find someone in Beijing so I could come and see you, and bring you some things that are inconvenient to mail. To be honest, when I saw these things, it wasn't that they were inconvenient to mail, but rather that there were too many items, and I was afraid of attracting attention when mailing them."
"Alright! We've already told them that we have everything we need here—no shortage of food or drink, and we even get paid. Why can't they accept it?"
"What salary? In the countryside, isn't it just working in the fields?"
"Yes, but don't we get paid for working in the fields? The money we just received yesterday was after the brigade handed over the grain, the brigade kept for its own reserves and seeds, and after deducting the members' share, the surplus grain was sold to the grain station. This year, each work point is worth four cents. Since I came here to work in the countryside, I've earned a total of 54.12 yuan."
He continued, "The brigade's sideline businesses are not bad either, the only thing is that people have to be diligent."
What does that mean?
"Isn't this because we're near Changbai Mountain? Plus, there's a pharmaceutical factory in the county that's a pillar industry. The factory needs medicinal herbs. If you're diligent and go up the mountain to dig for herbs, you can make a lot of money. Isn't this a gift from God?"
"That's right."
"Big brother has arrived. Little sister lives in the house on the very end."
What are you doing here?
"I mentioned to the brigade leader when I came here that the city requires every household to have one person sent to the countryside. The brigade leader was worried that there would be too many educated youths, so he planned to build this whole row of houses, about 20 rooms this big." As he spoke, he opened the door and led his older brother in.
Shen Dong had only seen my description of the house in the letter; this was the first time he had actually seen it. The yard wasn't big; you could see one end of it at a glance. He said, "The area is about the same as the military compound where we live, just with fewer rooms. The yard is quite large."
"What are you thinking about, brother?"
"What's wrong"
"The yard isn't very big, is it this big? Or is it because you fenced off your private plot back then?"
"So that's how it is."
"When the houses were built, the production team was only responsible for building the houses themselves; the courtyard walls, toilets, and woodsheds were all built at our own expense."
"Okay, so who's next door?"
"When the two girls saw that their younger sister had built a wall around the courtyard, making it look like a separate house, they followed suit."
"Raising the courtyard wall this high does make things more convenient and safer."
"That's true. If you're doing something at home, or doing something in the yard, no one can see you."
"Brother, you go first. I'll make you some noodles to tide you over. We'll go eat the pork stew later."
"No need to go to so much trouble"
"It's alright, it'll only take a little while to boil water, everything else is ready."
"Really, you don't need to."
"It's alright, it's in the cellar, just go get it."
"Should we go get it?"
"No need. If you really want to do it, just boil some water. I'll be right back."
"Alright"
He hurried to the woodshed, opened the cellar lid, climbed down, and took out the grain he had stored in the living room from his spatial storage. As for the steamed buns and cured meat, he'd deal with that later inside!
"Brother, these are frozen noodles. Just add them whenever you want to eat them."
"You can do that?"
"Isn't this to save effort? I just rolled out a lot of noodles myself, put them on a winnowing basket, left them outside to freeze, and then packed them into a cloth bag."
"Then why not keep it indoors? Aren't you afraid the mice will eat it?"
"Isn't it because there's no room in the house to put it?"
"How is this possible?"
"Why don't you take a look? You have no idea how much stuff your sister has prepared for winter."
"I'm not watching."
"Okay, then tell me what your sister has prepared."
Then she told me how many steamed buns, cornbread, and large dumplings I had made, and she also talked about how her third and fourth brothers had hunted wild boars, marinated them in advance, and then smoked them on the stove to make cured meat.
"So you're saying everyone has enough food?"
"That's enough, I just don't know if they'll sell it on the black market."
"You went to the black market to sell grain?" Shen Dong asked, still worried.
"I don't have an older brother. In the first month after I arrived here, the brigade gave my younger sister 45 jin of grain on credit. After that, we used the grain coupons we received from our subsidies, along with the grain coupons from across the country that Uncle Shen gave me when I came here, to exchange for more at the grain store."
How many grain coupons did the local government give you as a subsidy?
"The standard is 27 jin (18.5 catties), but I only ordered some wheat flour; the rest was either cornmeal or sweet potato flour. I don't like eating sorghum rice or sorghum flour."
"So, will the grain you received be for next year?"
"It's not enough, but I bought 20 yuan worth of sweet potatoes from the brigade. I plan to slice and dry them next spring, store them, and grind them into sweet potato flour to eat later."
How much corn is there?
"It's not a small amount, don't worry, brother. Our brigade gives each person 360 jin of grain. I asked for 50 jin of wheat, 300 jin of corn on the cob, and 750 jin of sweet potatoes. In addition to the work points I earned and the sweet potatoes I bought, I've calculated that this is enough to last until next year's grain distribution."
Besides, don't I still have a stipend? Oh, and big brother, there's still plenty of food. Not to mention the wild boars my third and fourth brothers hunted, just the food I found on the mountain—walnuts, pine nuts, chestnuts, and hazelnuts—there are still two or three hundred pounds left! Don't worry!"
"That's good. I was worried you wouldn't have enough to eat."
"Big brother, if there wasn't enough food, I wouldn't have sent you so much stuff. I would rather suffer than let myself suffer."
"Too"
"Brother, the noodles are ready. Hurry up and serve them, or they won't taste good. Let's take our bowls and eat them on the kang (heated brick bed)."
"No need, we'll eat here, it's warm enough."
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