Chapter 16: Into the next Chapter

Q: How has life changed since the blind date?

Wen Jiajia: Nothing has changed.

In this era, without mobile phones, the time cost of communicating between two communes was high.

Walking from the Fuyang Brigade to Hegou Township took at least two and a half hours. Even with a bicycle, it took about 40 minutes.

During the autumn harvest, Wei Dai had to help his family work whenever he came home on vacation, so he didn’t have much time to travel between the two communes.

It was only the day before the autumn harvest began that Wei Dai came again, this time to repair the commune’s tractor.

Early in the morning, Wen Jiajia wasn’t working. She hadn’t worked for the past two days, as she had been grinding bitter oak to make bitter oak kueh slices to store and eat slowly.

Since learning this edible process, she has learned how to make it from Aunt Zhang next door, who generously shared several methods and highly recommended kueh slices.

The process was similar to making tofu. The bitter oak had to be shelled by sun-drying, then soaked overnight before grinding.

Many rural households had stone mills, and the brigade had a large one. The Wen family had a smaller one, carved by the original owner’s father, kept in the hall and covered with a bamboo lid when not in use to avoid dust.

When Wei Dai arrived, Wen Jiajia was grinding. He took over the job, and Wen Jiajia, noticing his sweaty forehead, went to get a piece of paper for him.

She whispered, “What’s the matter with you this time? I hope you weren’t seen when you came in.”

Wei Dai glanced at her, a little helpless. “No, this can’t be hidden. There are many people on the way back, unless I don’t come in the future.”

He turned the grinding handle with one hand and handed a bag to Wen Jiajia with the other. “The autumn harvest is tiring. Make sure you take care of yourself.”

Wen Jiajia opened the bag and immediately smelled a strong, fishy odor. She saw bloody meat inside and quickly moved away. “What is this?”

Wei Dai smiled. “It’s wild boar. I was freshly killed this morning. You can salt it and eat it tomorrow.”

Wen Jiajia, surprised, said, “No wonder the smell is so strong. I’ve never eaten wild boar before.”

Wei Dai added, “There’s a pheasant tied up below. You can keep it for a couple of days before eating it.”

Wen Jiajia’s eyes lit up. She loved pheasants more than wild boars. While wild boar meat needed to be cooked with strong seasonings and stewed for a long time, pheasant meat was sweet and delicious, even though it was a bit dry.

In a few decades, wild boars might still be legally available, but pheasants would be harder to come by.

She put the bag in the kitchen and asked Wei Dai, “Did you shoot the wild boar and pheasant?”

Wei Dai menjawab, “Betul.”

His face was pale, but Wen Jiajia could clearly see a little smugness in it.

“Yes! With this skill, you don’t have to worry about running out of meat to eat,” Wen Jiajia said, genuinely envious. In this era of meat shortage, it was quite a feat to get two catties of meat every three or five times.

“Did you bring it all for me?” Wen Jiajia asked, her eyes sparkling.

Wei Dai’s earlobes turned slightly red. “Of course I brought it for you. Don’t worry, I still have some at home.”

Wen Jiajia offered, “Then I’ll give…”

He interrupted, “You don’t have to give money or tickets. Just remember to make me a meal, and when you have time, treat me to two meals someday.”

Well, Wen Jiajia thought it might be better to just give money. However, if they’re considering a relationship, it wouldn’t hurt to accept the gift. But they were still in the getting-to-know-each-other stage, not quite committed. She felt a bit ambiguous and hesitant.

Wei Dai lowered his head and started turning the grinding handle faster and faster. His strength was greater than Wen Jiajia’s, and he ground faster. Even the pulp he ground seemed finer.

“Okay, I’ll treat you to dinner another day.”

Wen Jiajia went to the kitchen, took out the wild boar meat from the bag, and put it in a wooden barrel to soak in water. There wasn’t much food at home, and to eat wild boar, she needed to soak out the blood first. She then tied the pheasant by one foot in the backyard.

Wei Dai carefully cut its wings so that it couldn’t even flutter if it wanted to.

“Wei Dai, are you staying for dinner today?” Wen Jiajia called out from the hall. If he was staying, she would knead some dough and make something special, but the steamed rice from breakfast wasn’t enough.

“No, I have to go to the commune to help fix the tractor later.”

Wen Jiajia poked her head out. “You’re a technical soldier too?”

Wei Dai smiled. “No, I just learned a few skills in the army.”

“When are you leaving?”

“I’ll help you finish grinding the bitter oak before I go.”

When Wen Jiajia heard this, she stopped making noodles and simply boiled the pot. After a while, the bitter oak syrup was strained and poured directly into the pot to boil.

Wei Dai quickly finished grinding the bitter oak and helped filter the slurry water with gauze.

After the two tasks that required the most effort were done, he washed his hands and left with peace of mind.

Before leaving, he hesitated for a moment and said, “How about we go to the county town to watch a movie after the autumn harvest?” He was a little nervous, afraid that Wen Jiajia would refuse.

Wen Jiajia didn’t mean to refuse, but she turned to look at him. “When will you go back to the army? You should return after the autumn harvest, right?”

Wei Dai explained, “The autumn harvest is divided into three sessions. The first session is seven days in a row, then one day off. I’ll still be here at that time.”

Wen Jiajia was surprised. “Does that mean the entire autumn harvest takes about 20 days?” She thought it would only be ten days to half a month.

The original owner’s memory was half a month.

Wei Dai explained, “Actually, it takes almost a month before and after, but the real hard work is only more than ten days.” He was worried about Jiajia’s thin arms and legs.

“Don’t work too hard; the autumn harvest is tough.” He pondered for a moment and added, “Maybe you should try to get a job in the cafeteria. The brigade usually opens the canteen during the autumn harvest.”

Wen Jiajia was moved. “I’ll ask the captain later.” The cafeteria work would be easier than working in the fields.

However, Wen Jiajia was a step late. When she found the captain, the helpers for the cafeteria had already been chosen.

At this time, Wei Dai had already gone to the commune to repair the tractor. The bitter oak kueh syrup in the gauze had also been filtered and was waiting to be boiled in the pot.

A large pot full had to be boiled for at least half an hour and needed to be stirred constantly. So Wen Jiajia went to the captain’s house first to discuss it.

Fang Baoguo didn’t understand her thoughts and asked puzzledly, “Don’t you want to earn more work points? I specifically arranged for you to help with the rice harvest.”

If you work in the canteen, you get three points a day during the autumn harvest. In the fields, even women could get seven or eight points, and many reached full points.

He had initially excluded Wen Jiajia from the canteen work.

Wen Jiajia was stunned. This is not what she had hoped for!

She opened and closed her mouth, finally saying with a bitter face, “I want to earn more points, but I know my limits. Captain, I won’t be able to handle the high-intensity work of the autumn harvest.”

“Otherwise, if there’s any lighter work, you can arrange it for me. I won’t be picky.” She hurriedly added.

Fang Baoguo was nonchalant. “It doesn’t matter. You can usually get three points, so five points will be enough during the autumn harvest. Many of the educated youths in the brigade get five points.”

That’s enough, but I’ll be almost worn out for a few days of five points.

“Besides, the autumn harvest hasn’t started yet. How do you know you can’t do it if you haven’t tried? Your second sister, Qunqun, is known as the Iron Lady of our brigade. She’s famous in the entire commune. She gets eight points a day, sometimes ten, which is better than many strong men.”

Wen Jiajia scratched her head; it didn’t make sense.

At this moment, Fang Baoguo felt that what Fang Duotian said was right—young people need to be motivated.

She managed to finish high school. Is five points really that hard?

Determined, Wen Jiajia returned home with a stiff face, stoked the stove fire, and waited for the bitter oak syrup in the pot to boil.

When the pot started to bubble, she stirred it with a stick.

Stirring requires effort and thoroughness.

As she stirred, her frustration gradually dissipated.

During the process, the bitter oak syrup in the pot became thicker and thicker. When it reached the consistency of lotus root flour, Wen Jiajia knew it was ready.

At the moment, the kitchen was filled with the bitter smell of bitter oak.

The thick oak mixture was poured into a mold used for making tofu during the New Year’s holidays, and once it solidified, it would be ready to eat.

Wen Jiajia was actually very skeptical about whether this concoction could really be eaten. She took a small piece and put it in her mouth to taste it, finding it extremely bitter!

She immediately understood that this cake had to be soaked in water and then fried with heavy seasoning to suppress the bitterness.

Since the heavy autumn harvest couldn’t be avoided, it was necessary to do a good job with logistics first.

In the evening, the sky was still as bright as the afternoon.

She set the bitter tofu aside for the time being, knowing it was durable and had no intention of eating it today.

What to eat tonight? Let’s eat meat.

Wen Jiajia picked up the pork that had been soaking in water for several hours and weighed it; it was about three pounds.

Since it was three catties, she divided it into three parts. Two of them were salted for eating over the next few days, and the remaining part was used for stir-fried peppers tonight.

She originally wanted to make braised pork, but although the main ingredient was available, the necessary seasonings were lacking.

It had to be said that in this era, rural families were extremely scarce in both seasoning varieties and spices. She couldn’t use various sauces to mask the taste of wild boar, nor could she find cinnamon or peppercorns to enhance it.

Wen Jiajia found a fragrant leaf tree at the edge of the vegetable patch in the backyard. The leaves were green and oily, and she wondered why the Wen family hadn’t dried them for use.

As for the most popular star anise, Wen Jiajia found some in the cupboard, but it was so broken that it turned into pieces when she rubbed it. It was also moldy.

Only the orange peel looked potentially useful. After all, oranges were abundant locally, and tangerine peel was still available. But Wen Jiajia suspected it was outdated; homemade tangerine peel doesn’t last more than a few months.

What if these tangerine peels were from the year before or the year before that? The tragedy of food poisoning was still fresh in her mind.

In desperation, she chose to stir-fry the meat with chili.

Wen Jiajia first put the wild boar meat soaked in water into the pot and boiled it, adding turmeric, wine, and wild onions to remove the smell. Then she took out the wild boar when the broth turned white.

At this point, the pork had been thoroughly boiled and softened, with much of the fishy smell removed. She then cut it into thin slices to fry with chili and garlic sprouts.

She hadn’t gone to work today, and Wen Chun and Wen Xuan didn’t go to the nursery school.

The two girls spent the afternoon playing wildly in the village, and when they came back, they smelled meat and joyfully ran to the stove.

“Auntie! There are so many good things to eat at home,” Wen Xuan exclaimed, her forehead covered with sweat and her face flushed, like an unripe persimmon on the persimmon tree in the front yard.

The sorrow of their family’s death was almost forgotten by them. They only knew they had sugar in the morning, meat in the evening, an egg every morning, and loaches and eels every other day.

Wen Chun couldn’t wait to help set the table, and when Wen Jiajia brought the chili fried meat to the table, their mouths were watering.

Wild boar meat was very chewy, and even after half an hour of cooking, its skin remained tough.

There wasn’t much fat, so it wasn’t greasy, and it had a bit of a crispy texture, making it very fragrant to chew.

The lean meat was still slightly tough. However, since she had cut it very thin, it wasn’t too difficult to eat and was indeed more flavorful than domestic pork.

Stir-fried meat with chili peppers was a popular dish, and Wen Jiajia had steamed pure white rice to accompany it.

The broth with the aroma of oil and chili pepper soaked into the wood-fired rice, making it oily, shiny, fragrant, and even more delicious than the meat!

The next day, the autumn harvest began.

Wen Jiajia was a little nervous and got up very early.

She had a general understanding that the autumn harvest grinds people down by extending the work hours.

On regular days, most of the team members go to work before half past seven and leave work before half past five. They also get a two-hour break at noon to recuperate.

The autumn harvest, however, was different.

During the autumn harvest, work began before 7 o’clock and ended at 6 o’clock in the evening. The noon break was reduced to an hour and a half, with the goal of harvesting as quickly as possible.