Chapter 76: The Liu Family’s Debt and Zhou Sinian’s Mischief

Ming Dai curved her eyes slightly and smiled as she replied, “Sure, just place them in a basket filled with soil. As long as the temperature and humidity are well controlled, they can grow. I’ll try it first, and if it works, I’ll teach you.”

Aunt Huang clicked her tongue in amazement. “This is the first time I’ve heard of such a thing. If it really works, that would be great. We wouldn’t have to eat only Chinese cabbage all winter.”

After saying that, she motioned for Ming Dai to follow her to the cellar.

Ming Dai glanced toward the stable, where Zhou Sinian seemed to be having a great time playing with Liu Laifa. Feeling reassured, she followed Aunt Huang downstairs.

Liu Laifa’s hands trembled as he cut the dried grass, not daring to stop. Inside, he was screaming: Mother! Please save me!

Unfortunately, Aunt Huang was too engrossed in showing Ming Dai around her cellar to notice her youngest son’s panicked expression.

Meanwhile, Zhou Sinian was enthusiastically placing the dried grass Liu Laifa had cut into the stable. Liu Laifa would cut a handful, and Zhou Sinian would place it inside—working in perfect sync.

Even the horse was being watched closely by Zhou Sinian. The moment it stopped chewing, he would glare at it, scaring the poor animal into frantically grinding its teeth, producing a continuous crunch, crunch sound.

Zhou Sinian, seeing both the man and the horse working so diligently, smiled in satisfaction.

Down in the cellar, Aunt Huang lit an oil lamp. Ming Dai widened her eyes in astonishment at the sight of the fully stocked underground storage.

Proudly pointing to the vegetables stacked like small mountains, Aunt Huang said, “Xiao Ming, take a look. If there’s anything you like, I’ll pack some for you to take home.”

Ming Dai gave her a thumbs-up. “You really know how to manage a household! With so many vegetables, how will you ever finish them all?”

Aunt Huang beamed at the compliment. “These have to last us until spring. We won’t have fresh vegetables until then, so we rely on these to get through winter and early spring. It may look like a lot now, but our family is big. Plus, we have to send some to my relatives in the mountains. They have very little land, barely enough grain to eat, let alone vegetables. By the time we split everything up, it won’t seem like much at all.”

Aunt Huang continued, “I’m not bragging, but no other family has as many vegetables as we do. To grow all these, I even dug up the entire backyard and planted crops there.

Luckily, we don’t raise chickens. Otherwise, they would have pecked everything to death long ago.”

Ming Dai had been meaning to ask about this. “Auntie, I’ve always wondered—why don’t people here raise pigs? I’ve seen a few chickens, but not many. Your family doesn’t seem to have any either.”

As Aunt Huang pulled up a bunch of chive roots, she sighed. “If you had come here a few years earlier, you would have seen them. We used to raise chickens and pigs. Households were allowed to keep up to five chickens, and as for pigs, our village was more lenient. If a family had enough working hands, they could raise two or three pigs. Before the New Year, they would sell one as a ‘quota pig’ to fulfill the communal obligation.

Back then, we even had a village pig farm with 23 pigs of various sizes. I was in charge of cooking pig feed.

But then, an outbreak of swine fever hit the commune, and pigs from all the surrounding villages got infected.”

Her voice choked up as she recalled the past. “At first, only two pigs died from severe diarrhea, and we couldn’t stop it. The commune veterinary station was too overwhelmed to send help. Your uncle and I hitched a cart to take the pigs to the commune for treatment, but one of them died on the way.

When we finally arrived, the vet told us that several communes had already been affected by the outbreak. There was no cure.

The veterinarian advised us to take the pigs back and isolate them immediately—whatever could be saved, we should try to save.

But it was already too late. In the end, they all died. We were devastated.”

The commune authorities came to collect and bury the diseased pigs, warning that sick pigs were unsafe to eat and could be fatal if consumed.

Aunt Huang sighed heavily. “It was such a waste—so much meat gone just like that!”

Ming Dai nodded in agreement. “It really couldn’t be eaten.”

Aunt Huang continued, “We were heartbroken. Raising those pigs wasn’t just for ourselves—we had borrowed money from the commune to do it. The pigs died, but the debt remained. Your village chief uncle worried himself so much over it that his hair turned noticeably grayer.

Over the past couple of years, we’ve been slowly paying it off. They understood our situation, but as a condition, our village now has to participate in reservoir construction projects every year. Because of that, we receive less income from communal labor, so life has been tough for all of us.”

“As for chickens, many of them died after the swine fever outbreak too. People were afraid they wouldn’t survive and didn’t want to waste precious feed, so they stopped raising as many. Our family chose not to keep any because your uncle couldn’t bear to see them—it reminded him too much of the pigs.”

Hearing this, Ming Dai finally understood why this village was even poorer than she had imagined. It turned out they were still carrying an outstanding debt.

Aunt Huang pulled out a basket full of chive roots, all wrapped in straw to prevent them from freezing.

“That’s why country folks all dream of moving to the city. If a family has a relative there, their status instantly rises.

Why? Because city dwellers have stable jobs—they don’t have to depend on the weather to make a living.

Take Old Qing’s daughter, for example. She married a man from the city, and not only that, she even found her grandson a temporary city job there. Now, all the young girls from nearby villages are eager to match with him, just because he has a city job. Even if it’s only temporary, it’s still better than the village men breaking their backs for full labor points.”

Ming Dai nodded. “It’s the same in the city. A man with a job has a much easier time finding a match than one without.”

“People like us don’t even think about it. We’re illiterate, and I hear city jobs require exams now. Next year, I’m sending Tiedan to the commune school for two years. Maybe he’ll have a chance to get a city job someday. That way, our family can finally move up in the world. Your uncle always complains that I gave him three useless sons, none of whom amount to anything. Hahaha!”

Ming Dai watched Aunt Huang laugh heartily, finding her truly optimistic.

She had always liked people like this—like little suns, full of energy. She especially disliked those who wallowed in self-pity and complained endlessly about their misfortunes.

“Tiedan and Goudan are both smart. They’ll do fine in school.”

As Aunt Huang stuffed potatoes into a burlap sack, she chuckled. “Haha, let’s hope so. I just don’t want them to end up like their father—so dull he wouldn’t even fart if you smacked him with a stick.”

As they chatted, they continued gathering vegetables—potatoes, sweet potatoes, wild mustard tubers, and old pumpkins, along with some dried vegetables. Soon, they had packed two large sacks. Zhou Sinian hoisted them onto his shoulders without complaint, though he did grumble about the dirt. The potatoes and sweet potatoes were still covered in mud.

Ming Dai thanked Aunt Huang repeatedly, but in the end, she was still forced to take a giant winter melon before finally leaving the village chief’s courtyard.

As soon as they were gone, Liu Laifa let out a deep sigh of relief, shaking his sore hands. Having that madman stare at him while he cut grass had left his back drenched in sweat.

The horse: Finally! Any longer and I would have burst from overeating!

Meanwhile, Ming Dai had been too absorbed in chatting to realize that Zhou Sinian had once again caused trouble.

Zhou Sinian wore a cold expression, clearly displeased with the heavy sacks on his shoulders. To coax him, Ming Dai described various delicious dishes, sweet-talking him all the way home as he carried the load.

When they passed by the educated youth quarters, Chen Erhong and Fang Mingyang happened to be coming out to fetch water. Seeing them carrying sacks and winter melons together, they couldn’t help but feel envious.

Ming Dai gave a small nod as a greeting before chasing after Zhou Sinian’s long strides.

Chen Erhong tucked her hair behind her ear and murmured, “Ming Zhiqing seems pretty close to the village chief’s family.”

Hearing this, Fang Mingyang’s brows gradually furrowed.

Rumor had it that in the neighboring Sanlishan Village, an educated youth had been recruited for a city job—and the paperwork had been stamped by their village chief.

Once they arrived home, Ming Dai immediately had Zhou Sinian help clear the snow off the roof.

After she explained what needed to be done, Zhou Sinian leaped onto the wall in one swift motion, grabbed a long tree branch that extended beyond the courtyard, and jabbed it at the eaves. In an instant, a snow waterfall came crashing down—right onto Ming Dai’s head and face.

She quickly jumped back from under the eaves and pointed accusingly at Zhou Sinian, who stood on the wall with an innocent look. “If you mess with me again, don’t expect any good food for lunch!” she threatened.

The last time he had hoisted her onto the locust tree, she had realized something—this guy had changed. He had learned how to tease her! And just now, dumping snow on her was definitely intentional!

Zhou Sinian, thinking of the tender venison (deer meat) stored in her space, immediately straightened up and obediently warned, “Step aside.”

Only after Ming Dai had safely retreated into the house did he continue poking at the snow on the roof. This time, it fell precisely where she had been standing just moments ago.

Ming Dai: Ha! So he did know the snow would hit me! Fine, no licorice in your medicine tonight—let’s see how you like drinking bitter soup!

Meanwhile, Zhou Sinian happily played in the snow, completely unaware that he was doomed to another night of suffering through a mouthful of bitter medicine.