Chapter 49 : Reclamation and Farming

“What? You want to come over? Auntie, listen to me, Mingcheng is out on a mission, and it will take a long time for him to come back. You…”  

“Hello? Aunt? Aunt?”  

Lu Fangfang said a few more words before realizing that the other party had already hung up.  

She held the phone receiver and stood there, stunned.  

Glancing at the soldier opposite her, she forced a smile and then put down the phone.  

When she walked out of the telephone room, she was completely dazed.  

Now that Zhuang Mingcheng was not here, his mother was coming over, which meant she had to face everything alone.  

Just from the tone on the phone, she could tell that Zhuang Mingcheng’s mother was definitely dissatisfied with her.  

This… this…  

Sigh!  

She returned to the family compound in a daze.  

At the gate of the yard, Wang Shufen was waiting with farm tools in her hand. Seeing Lu Fangfang’s expression, she hurriedly asked what had happened.  

“Mingcheng’s mother is coming,” Lu Fangfang said with a bitter smile.  

“Sister, look how scared you are. If the old lady wants to come over, then let her come. You and Mingcheng are already like this, what else can she do?”  

Wang Shufen comforted her with a few words.  

Even so, Lu Fangfang was still worried.  

Shaking her head, she decided to stop thinking about it. The capital was far away from here, and it would be the end of the month before the old lady arrived.  

After returning home to get a hoe and a shovel, Lu Fangfang and Wang Shufen headed to the wasteland by the riverbank.  

The two had been there several times and were already familiar with the area.  

Lu Fangfang pointed to the land near the river and said, “Sister Shufen, let’s split this half-wasteland half to the north, half to the south.”  

Her sister-in-law had previously reclaimed this land. With a little tidying up, they could continue growing crops, saving a lot of effort.  

“This place is close to the river and has convenient access to water. We can plant some vegetables here. What do you think, Sister Shufen?”  

“Sounds good! I’ll take the southern half.”  

Wang Shufen agreed, looking at the land with satisfaction.  

Once she finished cleaning up this semi-abandoned land, she could continue reclaiming more land further south along the riverbank. Fangfang could do the same to the north.  

They would each have their own plots, it would all depend on who could reclaim more land.  

Without wasting time, Lu Fangfang and Wang Shufen got to work.  

To grow anything on this semi-abandoned land, they first had to turn the soil, removing all the rocks and weeds.  

Lu Fangfang worked for a while, then started swinging her hoe.  

She broke up the soil with the hoe, tossing large rocks and weeds onto the riverbank.  

Since it was reclaimed land, digging wasn’t too difficult.  

She moved along the riverbank, turning the soil bit by bit.  

When she got too tired of swinging the hoe, she switched to using a shovel, stepping on it with her newly bought yellow rubber shoes.  

Fortunately, she had eaten earlier and still had some energy. Though she was gasping for breath, she kept going.  

As the sun rose higher, she looked back and saw that Sister Shufen had already turned over a large section of land, much faster than her.  

“Sister Fangfang, let’s take a break!”  

Wang Shufen called out from a distance.  

Lu Fangfang wiped the sweat from her forehead and responded.  

The two of them found a clean rock by the river and sat down, breathing heavily.  

“Shufen, since we’re both out here turning the soil, are the eggs on the kang at home okay?”  

“It’s fine. I told Daya to watch them. This way, she also has a chance to copy more books at home instead of running around the staff quarters.”  

Lu Fangfang felt pleased, but Daya was probably suffering double.  

Glancing into the river, she noticed some small fish swimming around.  

Thinking about the jar of butter she had at home, she suddenly felt hungry again.

These little fish, when fried in oil, become crispy, and with a little chili added, they taste simply amazing.  

Thinking of this, she subconsciously swallowed.  

“Girl? Girl? What are you thinking about?”  

Seeing that she didn’t respond, Wang Shufen waved her hand in front of her.  

“Sister Shufen, look at the fish in the river.”  

Lu Fangfang pointed toward the water.  

Wang Shufen squinted, carefully looking into the river, and soon spotted the group of small fish swimming around. She immediately smiled.  

“When I buy duck eggs and they hatch, I’ll let the ducks catch these little fish to eat.”  

Lu Fangfang smiled and shook her head. At this moment, she craved the small fish more than the ducks did.  

Noticing some short willow trees by the river, she stood up and walked over with a shovel.  

Using the shovel, she cut some willow branches, brought them back, and started thinking about weaving a fish trap.  

“Girl, are you trying to catch fish?”  

Wang Shufen watched her weaving and immediately guessed what she was up to.  

“Yes, I want to catch some small fish and fry them until they’re crispy.”  

As Lu Fangfang spoke, she swallowed again.  

Since coming here, she had become much more gluttonous. Anything she thought of eating, she couldn’t resist wanting to have.  

“That’s going to use a lot of oil.”  

Wang Shufen shook her head instinctively.  

But then she thought about Lu Fangfang’s jar of butter and smiled.  

This girl was quite the spender now, there was no way she could finish all that butter by herself, so frying some small fish was nothing.  

After that, whenever Lu Fangfang had a break, she would weave the fish trap with willow branches.  

She figured that as long as the trap had a wide belly and a narrow entrance, it would work, so she didn’t worry about how it looked.  

By noon, her simple fish trap was finally completed.  

Lu Fangfang didn’t stop working on the land by the river either. She had turned over half of the soil and estimated she could finish by the afternoon.  

“Girl, let’s go back and eat.”  

Lu Fangfang glanced at her watch. It was already close to one o’clock.  

After drinking two bowls of beef bone soup in the morning, she wasn’t particularly hungry, but her body was exhausted.  

Carrying her hoe and shovel, she walked toward Wang Shufen.  

The two chatted as they headed back to the family compound.  

“Sister Shufen, ComradeLu, are you both opening up new land?”  

In front of the first row of houses, several sisters-in-law were standing.  

Seeing the two of them carrying farm tools, they were surprised.  

“Yeah, I’m planning to open up some land and plant something.”  

Lu Fangfang responded casually, then quickly walked away with Wang Shufen.  

Looking back, she saw the sisters-in-law standing by the wall, watching them.  

There was no need to think too hard, she knew they must be gossiping about her and Sister Shufen again.  

Lu Fangfang had grown used to it and didn’t care anymore. She just focused on what she needed to do and let others talk.  

—

“Hey, I can understand why Comrade Lu is reclaiming land and farming. After all, she and Captain Zhuang are the kind of people who don’t know how to manage money and spend lavishly.”  

“But why is Sister Shufen also reclaiming land? Political Commissar earns nearly 200 yuan a month, including subsidies. Why would Sister Shufen still want to farm? Isn’t it tiring? It’s better to just buy food.”  

“It’s more convenient to grow your own food. Do you think everyone is as lazy as you?”  

“Bah! You dare to say that to me? I came from the countryside and farmed for half my life. What’s wrong with taking a break now?”  

The two sisters-in-law got angry and walked away with their children.  

The remaining women glanced at each other, then also took their children and went home.  

The midday sun was scorching, and standing outside was uncomfortable. Better to wait until the afternoon.