Chapter 29

The final bell rang for the last class of the afternoon, and the classroom erupted into chaos, filled with noise and chatter. With her backpack slung over her shoulder, Jiang Jiang followed the crowd out of the classroom. A cold breeze hit her as soon as she stepped outside, and she couldn’t help but shiver.

Looking up, she spotted He Guijuan waving to her from not far away.

“Jiang Jiang!”

Jiang Jiang jogged over to her.

He Guijuan cupped Jiang Jiang’s face in her hands. “How did your first day of school feel? Were you able to adapt? Are you tired?”

He Guijuan’s hands were warm, and Jiang Jiang immediately felt comforted. “I’m adjusting; I’m not tired at all.”

“That’s good to hear! Let’s go; we won’t be cooking at home tonight. Mom will take you to eat shepherd’s purse wontons.”

The state-run canteen was open from 6:00 to 8:00 in the morning, 10:00 to 13:00 at noon, and 16:00 to 20:00 in the afternoon.

Today was the first day of school for the county’s elementary school, and there were many people on the road, with many parents bringing their children along.

The canteen was packed, with usually empty tables now filled to capacity.

He Guijuan led Jiang Jiang to a corner table, letting her sit down to save the spot while she went to queue for tickets.

He Guijuan bought two bowls of shepherd’s purse wontons, two bowls of hot soy milk, a plate of pig’s head meat, and three fried dough cakes.

They couldn’t possibly eat all of this; most of it was meant to be packed up for Lin Youqing to take home.

Jiang Jiang took a sip of the soy milk, and after just that first sip, she couldn’t help but gulp down a big mouthful.

It was delicious.

The soy milk was pale yellow, sweet, and fragrant, rich and smooth with the taste of yellow soybeans. Jiang Jiang held the bowl and couldn’t help but exclaim, “This is so good!”

He Guijuan smiled. “If it’s delicious, Mom will bring you here again next time.”

This was Jiang Jiang’s second time eating shepherd’s purse wontons. The last time was when Lin Youqing and He Guijuan took her to the state-run canteen on the commune street.

The flavor of the canteen in the county was quite similar to that of the commune canteen. The bowls were filled to the brim with wontons, sprinkled with a few bits of chopped green onion, and accompanied by two crisp, blanched greens.

The filling in the large wontons included lean meat, scallions, ginger, and, of course, fresh shepherd’s purse.

The addition of shepherd’s purse lent a distinct fragrance to the filling, making it refreshing and delicious, even when eaten in larger quantities.

After returning home, Guijuan found a lunch box from the cupboard, washed it clean, and scalded it with boiling water before placing it on the table by the stove to dry.

The school cafeteria did not provide lunch, so students had to bring their meals with them.

At noon, the chefs would steam the food to heat it up, and after the fourth class in the morning, students would go to collect it.

—o—o—o—

The next morning, Jiang Jiang woke up early, and He Guijuan was already busy in the kitchen.

He Guijuan had steamed sweet potatoes and cooked rice porridge. The fragrant, sweet aroma of the boiling rice porridge wafted through the kitchen as it bubbled and simmered. He Guijuan ladled three bowls of porridge.

Lin Youqing grabbed chopsticks and took out some pickled vegetables from the cupboard to accompany the porridge.

He Guijuan peeled a sweet potato and placed it in front of Jiang Jiang. “Mom packed two peach crisps in your backpack, wrapped in paper. If you get hungry, take them out during recess, okay?”

The sweet potato was soft and sweet. Jiang Jiang swallowed what was in her mouth and replied, “I got it.”

The rice porridge was both fragrant and sweet. Having a bowl of thick rice porridge in the morning and watching the lush green leaves in the yard as the morning light chased away the darkness made Jiang Jiang feel energized as if she had endless strength.

After finishing breakfast, Jiang Jiang shouldered her backpack and grabbed the net bag containing the lunch box before heading out the door. The county elementary school was not far from the county committee courtyard, and Jiang Jiang walked at a normal pace, arriving in about ten minutes.

After arriving at school, Jiang Jiang first placed her lunch box in the school cafeteria.

When she reached the classroom, her deskmate, Chen Qiannan, had not yet arrived.

However, two girls in the back row were already there. Jiang Jiang remembered their names—one was Liu Weihong, who she heard had an older brother working at the food station, and the other was Sun Zhaodi, who had thick bangs and didn’t seem very willing to make eye contact when speaking to others.

Two boys, one named Li Yanhong and the other named Tian Weimin, sat in the front row. Jiang Jiang hadn’t interacted much with them and had only learned their names.

Jiang Jiang rummaged through her backpack and took out her Chinese textbook, deciding to preview the new characters from the first lesson.

Classes began at 7:30, and Teacher Tian entered the room.

Teacher Tian was their homeroom teacher for the first grade. In addition to teaching first grade, she taught the third graders Chinese.

Since it was the first class, Teacher Tian deliberately slowed down the pace, but some students still found it challenging.

During the lesson, when the teacher asked questions, Jiang Jiang knew the answers but was too shy to raise her hand.

Her personality was naturally more introverted; she feared the gaze of her classmates and, having just arrived in a new environment, felt unfamiliar with her surroundings.

This made her hesitant to raise her hand rashly.

Although Jiang Jiang did not answer questions during class, after the bell rang for the fourth period, Sun Zhaodi, sitting in the back row, asked her about something she didn’t understand.

Jiang Jiang helped her with what she knew.

When the bell for recess rang, the students all stood up together and shouted, “Goodbye, Teacher!”

The classroom immediately buzzed with excitement as they jostled toward the door, rushing to the cafeteria.

Jiang Jiang followed the crowd to the cafeteria to get her meal.

There weren’t any seats available for students to eat in the cafeteria, so most of her classmates opted to return to the classroom to eat their lunches instead.

Students from families with better conditions often had eggs or pork in their lunch boxes.

For the majority, the boxes contained mainly cabbage and potatoes, while some had pickled vegetables and cornbread or cornmeal pancakes.

The meal was prepared by He Guijuan that morning, and Jiang Jiang had no idea what exactly she had packed for her.

A puff of steam hit her face as she opened the lid of her aluminum lunch box. The food had just come out of the steamer and was still hot.

Inside her lunch box were steamed buns made from white flour and slices of potatoes, with thick pieces of meat nestled among the potatoes.

The potatoes were soft, and the meat was fragrant and dry, with no excess grease at all; it was not greasy in the slightest. The savory flavors of the meat and the sauce combined made it delicious and perfect for rice.

She ate quietly, unlike some other classmates whose spoons clanged loudly against the bottom of their lunch boxes. She mixed a bite of bun with a bite of vegetables and quickly finished her lunch.

“Here, this is for you.”

Two fruit candies suddenly appeared on the table.

Jiang Jiang looked up to see that her deskmate, Chen Qiannan, had already finished her meal and had a piece of candy in her mouth.

“Thank you! I also brought some peach crisps. Let’s share.” She pulled out the paper bag containing the peach crisps from her backpack.

The peach crisps were purchased at the department store during the last outing with He Guijuan. They were even more expensive than sponge cakes.

Jiang Jiang had heard they were made with flour, eggs, and milk. The surface was marked with cracks and sprinkled with sesame seeds. Jiang Jiang had tried them at home a couple of times; they were crispy and flaky, melting in her mouth.

This small gesture helped the two girls become more familiar with each other.

After spending the entire afternoon together yesterday, the students in the class quickly got to know one another amidst their playful banter.

In this environment, Jiang Jiang and Chen Qiannan seemed particularly out of place.

Jiang Jiang was introverted but would patiently answer when someone spoke to her. In contrast, Chen Qiannan simply didn’t like to interact with others.