Chapter 24 Going to the Countryside

With several days until her departure, Yang Mumu went on a shopping spree.  She wasn’t worried about money; she had plenty, and she wouldn’t waste her space’s storage capacity.  She bought local specialties, including various pickles and preserved vegetables, two slabs of cured pork, and recipes and preservation methods from experienced cooks.  She exchanged coupons for a large quantity of spices, including 10 pounds of dried chili peppers (a staple in her cooking), 2 pounds of various spices, salt, soy sauce, and 5 pounds of melon seeds.  She also bought a pound of Da Bai Tu (a popular milk candy) to make a sweet drink.

At the department store, she bought needles, thread, yarn, cloth, two mosquito nets, summer clothes, two summer quilts, toiletries, and skincare products (snow cream, clam oil).  She also bought two bottles of insect repellent.

She obtained her assignment notice from the educated youth office and bought some medicines (analgin, alcohol, gentian violet, mercurochrome, iodine) from the hospital, keeping in mind the quantity limits.  She knew some basic herbal medicine, enough to handle minor illnesses.

Back home, she realized she should plant something in her space.  She bought vegetable seeds from a nearby store.  She spent the next two days planting in her space, easily managing the land preparation, sowing, watering, and fertilizing. She also set up a small chicken coop.

On the day of departure, Yang Mumu packed her belongings, including the broken furniture from the house (for firewood), into her space. She carried her bag and water bottle to the educated youth office. The street was crowded with departing youths and their families.  Many parents were tearfully saying goodbye, their cries echoing through the streets.  Unlike the earlier years of the program, when many went enthusiastically, most now were reluctant.  There was no recall policy, and people feared being stuck in the countryside forever.  Families with more than two children of age were often sent to the countryside.

Yang Mumu understood their emotions.  She would have been scared too, without knowing the future.  The crying intensified as she moved closer to the center of the crowd.  She felt out of place, standing alone, eating a yeer ba (a type of pastry), until a crying man caught her attention.  He was sobbing uncontrollably, clinging to his mother.  “Mom, Mom, I don’t want to go! I want to go home! I don’t want to go to the countryside!”

The crying moved her.  Then she saw the mother forcefully pulling her son’s hand from her clothes. “Son, I don’t want you to go either, but you eat too much!  I can’t afford to feed you anymore. Go to the countryside and become independent. I believe in you.”  She snatched back her clothes and ran off, shouting, “Son, go! The vast land awaits you!  Lose some weight, then write back!”

“Mom!” the man cried, his voice filled with despair. “Mom, no! I’ll never eat your yeer ba again, or your spicy chicken, or the shaobai (braised pork)! Mom, no—”

Yang Mumu almost laughed.  This man was funny.  It wasn’t about his parents; it was about the yeer ba!  He was a bit of a comedian, but his loud cries were a bit much.  She ate her own yeer ba, then patted his shoulder.  “Don’t cry.”

Seeing her yeer ba, his eyes lit up.  Mumu ate it in front of him. “I’ll eat it for you. Yeer ba is delicious.”

His tears stopped.  Murder by delicious food!  Then, he wiped his eyes, his sadness gone.  He stood straight, smiling. “Mumu Jie, it’s you! You like yeer ba too?”

Someone who knew her?  Mumu searched her memory.  A goofy friend… who?