Chapter 57

After the sweeping crackdown in Yunshui County, the political climate significantly improved.

The disaster victims who had previously been scattered around the county vanished without a trace, leaving the roads to work clear and quiet. Lin Yao found the peace and quiet a relief.  It wasn’t that she lacked sympathy for the refugees—many of whom were ordinary people unable to return to their homes. But mixed in with them were unsavory types who took advantage of the situation, committing petty theft and other lowly deeds.

Unfortunately for them, they encountered tough resistance in Yunshui County, and many ended up in the police net. Some were executed, others were imprisoned, and some were sent to labor farms—a complete disaster for them.

With the restoration of peace in Yunshui County, the Laba Festival soon arrived, marking the annual tradition of eating Laba porridge.

The saying “Laba freezes the crows to death” rang true as this year’s festival was exceptionally cold. A layer of white frost covered the rooftops, and the workers braving the cold wind on their way to work nearly had their chins frozen off.

On the Laba Festival, the textile factory gave its employees the day off and distributed three taels of red dates to each office worker for making Laba porridge.

This generous treatment left Gu Chunmei green with envy.

No wonder the elderly in the county often said, “First the steel mill, then the textile factory—nothing compares to those golden jobs.”

The supply and marketing cooperative didn’t even distribute three taels of red dates!

The steel mill had good benefits, but it had too many workers—over two or three thousand people. There simply weren’t enough good things to go around. The textile factory, with only three or four hundred employees, naturally offered more generous holiday benefits.

Early in the morning, Gu Shidong followed his elder brother for a run but didn’t return to sleep. Instead, he eagerly waited in the kitchen for his sister-in-law to cook Laba porridge.

In Yunshui County, eating Laba porridge was an old tradition passed down from the Qing Dynasty. The porridge was made with rice, red beans, red dates, peanuts, black rice, walnuts, lotus seeds, and longans, all simmered together in a pot until it became a steaming bowl of Laba porridge.

In these times, when resources were scarce, ordinary families were thankful if they could have porridge every day, let alone Laba porridge.

The Gu family had wild walnuts, mountain dates, peanuts, and red beans sent by relatives from the countryside. Combined with the red dates distributed by the textile factory, they could at least make “Liu Six Porridge^[1]“Liu Six Porridge” (刘六粥), also known as “Liu Liu Porridge,” is a type of traditional Chinese porridge that is particularly associated with the Laba Festival. The name … Continue reading”—since they couldn’t get their hands on longans and lotus seeds, Dongzi had humorously renamed it.

Even in these tough times, Liu Six Porridge was considered a luxurious meal. Aunt Dafu’s family next door only managed to cook a small pot of plain rice porridge with a bit of sugar and red dates, which kept Uncle Dafu awake all night in anticipation.

In the front yard, there wasn’t even the slightest sign of life in Zheng Dacheng’s home. His children, Zheng Xue and Zheng Hao, were also hoping for a bowl of hot porridge.

Liu Laidi stayed under the covers, sleeping soundly, while the kitchen remained cold and lifeless.

Zheng Xue and Zheng Hao’s faces drooped with frustration, ready to stir up trouble.

Zheng Dacheng had been in a foul mood lately, and it was hard for him to feel any peace at home.

During the holiday, with his own children just wanting a bowl of porridge, he didn’t think it was too much to ask.

Zheng Dacheng put on his cotton jacket, polished his shoes, and without a second thought, left Liu Laidi behind to take Zheng Xue and Zheng Hao to the state-owned restaurant for a meal.

In the rear courtyard’s east wing, the honeycomb stove was burning brightly, with a small copper kettle placed on top, its flames licking the bottom of the kettle. The room was warm and cozy, and Lin Yao, wrapped in a peony-patterned quilt, slept soundly.

Before winter set in, the Gu family installed honeycomb stoves in each room, along with chimneys. The chimneys were assembled with a larger section at the base and smaller sections on top, nailed securely to the wall and fastened with thin iron wire. Once the honeycomb stove was lit, white smoke would start billowing out from the chimney.

Gu Shi’an, an early riser by nature, took care of all the chores whenever he was home. This included fetching water, sweeping the courtyard, and lighting the coal stove. During winter, the well in the courtyard of the communal house would freeze over.

Gu Shi’an skillfully smashed through the ice at the bottom of the well with his bucket, pulling up water and filling the water tank. He then turned to pull out a rectangular bamboo basket from under the eaves, filled it with coal balls, and brought them back into the house.

The quality of the coal used during winter in Yunshui County varied. Some coal balls were made of high-quality refined coal, which burned quickly and lasted long. Others were made of lower-quality coal chunks, irregular in size. These were cheaper and could be broken into smaller pieces to fit the stove, but they burned poorly, producing a lot of ash that scattered everywhere.

Given that Lin Yao, the Gu family’s pampered daughter-in-law lived there, only the best coal balls were bought for the household.

Once the fire was burning strong, Gu Shi’an squeezed out toothpaste and prepared a hot towel, placing it on the washbasin stand. He then walked over to the bed to wake Lin Yao.

“Yao Yao, it’s seven o’clock. Time to get up.”

Last night, the young lady had repeatedly insisted that Gu Shi’an wake her up at seven, as it was the Laba Festival, and she needed to cook Laba porridge.

Following her instructions, Gu Shi’an came to wake her, but Lin Yao was now reluctant to get up.

With the outside world cold and frosty, and the bed inside the room lined with thick straw mats and soft bedding, emanating a fragrant scent of straw, Lin Yao struggled in the comfort of the bed for several minutes, whining and refusing to get up.

Gu Shi’an pinched her cheek gently. “If you don’t get up now, it’ll be too late.”

Lin Yao mumbled a few sounds, turned over, and tried to go back to sleep.

In the end, Gu Shi’an resorted to his ultimate move: he lifted the blanket and climbed into bed with her.

Lin Yao turned around and was met with a kiss. “What are you doing? Mmm…”

After some affectionate teasing, Lin Yao finally struggled out of bed, playfully hitting Gu Shi’an before getting up, brushing her teeth, and washing her face. She applied some fragrant snow cream, only to notice that someone’s gaze had turned mischievous again.

Quickly, Lin Yao dashed off to the kitchen to cook Laba porridge.

The various beans for the porridge had been soaked the night before, making the cooking process much easier. She rinsed the soaked rice clean, put it in a pot, brought it to a boil over high heat, and then simmered it on low. As the pot began to bubble, she stirred it gently with a spoon, added two pieces of rock sugar and a spoonful of brown sugar, stirred again, and covered the pot to simmer on low heat. Ten minutes later, a pot of fragrant and sweet Laba porridge was ready.

Lin Yao also heated up a batch of cornmeal steamed buns in the pot. Along with a pot of steaming Laba porridge, each family member received a plump boiled egg.

Zhang Cuilan had no complaints. It was a holiday after all, and eating a bit better was no big deal. Besides, Yao Yao had brought home a basket of eggs yesterday, said to be farm-fresh eggs from the countryside. Though small, they were incredibly flavorful.

The Gu family devoured their meal with gusto, the aroma of their porridge especially enticing. In the front courtyard, Old Lady Wang of the Wang family kept muttering as she held her bowl.

“What are the Gu family eating? It smells so good.”

Wang Shengcai mumbled through a mouthful of porridge, “What else? Glutinous rice porridge, I bet.”

Their eldest son sniffed the air. “I can smell eggs too.”

Li Gouya, another family member, tapped the edge of her bowl with chopsticks. “Stop talking nonsense and eat your food!”

At the textile factory, distributing glutinous rice during the Laba Festival was an old tradition.

The entire courtyard knew that the Gu family’s eldest daughter-in-law worked in the textile factory’s logistics department.

Remembering this, Old Lady Wang felt discontent as she ate her plain rice porridge. Living in the same courtyard, she couldn’t help but compare—look at what the Gu family was eating versus what her own family had. Although the Gu family’s daughter-in-law was delicate, she was capable too. A well-educated woman with a high school diploma, she had secured a job at one of the county’s top textile factories, and she even worked in an office.

It’s true what they say: comparisons are odious.

Old Lady Wang then thought about her own daughter-in-law, a woman from the countryside who had managed to land a temporary job but was soon dismissed by the supervisor. Now, she lazed around at home, eating and drinking without a care, living off the Wang family. The only redeeming quality was that she had given birth to two grandsons for the family.

In this regard, she had done better than the Gu family’s daughter-in-law.

After all, a woman who can’t bear children is as useless as a hen that doesn’t lay eggs, no matter how competent or accomplished she might be!

In the following days, Lin Yao occasionally encountered Old Lady Wang when she was on her way to work. The old woman, dressed in the same earthy blue cotton jacket, would sit on a small stool at the alley entrance, sunning herself as usual. She would give Lin Yao a look with those triangular eyes, a satisfied expression on her face that left Lin Yao baffled.

That old woman must have something wrong with her head.

After the Laba Festival, the countdown to the Lunar New Year began, a time that was supposed to be filled with festive preparations. But in Yunshui County, the atmosphere was heavy with sorrow.

The reason was simple: the county’s communal kitchens could no longer hold out.

It was said that the county grain station’s warehouses were nearly empty as well. Without the usual abundance of food, the excitement of celebrating the Lunar New Year was lost. People anxiously lined up at the grain station every day with their carts and sacks, trying to buy whatever grain they could.

The grain station could only provide each county resident with ten catties of rice or flour per month. This meager ration was far from enough, and anxiety spread like wildfire through Yunshui County.

Several groups of commune members even went to the leadership to protest. But the leaders were helpless too—there really was no grain left in the county. Although Yunshui County had enjoyed a good harvest that autumn, the severe famine in the north meant that much of the southern grain had been sent there to prevent people from starving to death.

Now, Yunshui County itself is facing hardship. The county leaders managed to procure a batch of coarse grain and sorghum rice, hoping to help the residents hold on until the next wheat harvest.

The members of the courtyard also went to find Director Ge. Director Ge’s office was crowded to the point of being impenetrable, and some angry men were even trying to assault him.

“Director Ge, you promised that the commune canteen would serve braised pork and steamed buns every day. What’s happening now? The canteen is closed on a whim, we can’t buy any grain, and we’ve donated our pots for the steel smelting campaign. What are we supposed to eat and drink?”

“Yes, you made all these grand promises about producing over a thousand pounds of grain per mu. Where is the grain? Where did it all go? Show it to us, all of it!”

“Director Ge, say something!”

“You must give us an explanation today!”

“Yes, if we don’t get an explanation, we won’t leave!”

The crowd was furious. Several street officials shouted hoarsely, “Everyone, please don’t get physical, and try to stay calm. No one wants to see this situation. The government is trying to find a solution, and Director Ge is doing his best too. Look at the blisters on Director Ge’s lips. He’s been so anxious that he hasn’t eaten or drunk anything for a whole day and night. If everyone is anxious, Director Ge is even more so…”

When the crowd heard this, they quieted down. It was clear that Director Ge’s eyes were bloodshot, his lips dry and peeling, with blisters all over, indicating he hadn’t rested in a long time.

The various production teams continued to stir unrest, and several factories in the county were unable to operate normally. In the end, the county factories took an early holiday for the New Year.

This was the situation in Yunshui County. The county government urged the people to return to their hometowns for the New Year.

The Gu family closed their door and seriously discussed their plans. They unanimously decided to spend this year’s Spring Festival back in their hometown.