After Wei Dai finished making the building blocks, he picked up a hoe and reclaimed a piece of land of more than half a square meter next to the vegetable field.

What for? To plant coriander. Although he disliked it, he had to plant some since Jiajia liked to eat it.

It was almost evening.

Today’s sunset was as brilliant as the sunrise.

Wen Jiajia slept until the evening. When she opened her eyes, she saw that the light outside the window had dimmed.

That familiar, overwhelming feeling of loneliness came over her.

She couldn’t avoid the panic and loss that came from napping too late, but when she thought about officially getting a job and eating public food, joy gradually prevailed.

Wen Jiajia took a deep breath. “It smells so good.”

It was the fragrance of ginger duck!

She couldn’t wait to open the door and go to the kitchen. “Is the ginger duck almost cooked?”

Wei Dai opened the lid of the casserole and picked up a piece of duck meat with chopsticks. “Here, let me give you a taste first.”

Wen Jiajia opened her mouth wide. “Ah——”

The next second, her eyes lit up.

Muscovy duck^[1]Muscovy duck meat is leaner and has a stronger, more pronounced flavor compared to other domesticated duck breeds. It is often compared to beef or veal in terms of taste and texture. was used to make ginger duck. The meat was tender and not dry, and the soup was fresh and fragrant with the unique spiciness of ginger.

Wen Jiajia tasted it carefully. “Did you add sesame oil?”

“I used all the sesame oil left at home,” Wei Dai nodded and added, “I heard that the authentic dish shouldn’t contain even a drop of water, but since it was my first time making it, I was afraid it would be ruined, so I added some pork bone broth.”

It just so happened that what he was cooking today was pork bone soup.

Wen Jiajia didn’t necessarily need to eat authentic dishes; adapting to local conditions was fine. It would still taste just as good.

The golden crow set in the west, and the weary birds returned to the forest.

Wen Chun and Wen Xuan learned a new song today, and the two sisters returned home skipping and dancing.

There was a sound from the Xie family next door. Wen Jiajia, who was washing bitter vegetables, ran over and said happily, “Teacher Shen, don’t cook dinner at your house today. Come to my house for dinner.”

Shen Xunzhen was stunned for a moment, then asked with a smile, “I almost forgot. Today is the day of the exam, right? Did you pass?”

Wen Jiajia replied, “Yes, Wei Dai is cooking again. He’s cooking a lot. You still have your brother-in-law and Xiao Yi. You must come over.”

Shen Xunzhen did not refuse. “Okay!” It was a good thing that made people happy.

Wen Jiajia ran back home to continue washing vegetables.

Dandelion is actually just a general name. The real dandelion has longer leaves, but the dandelion she was washing now has oval leaves.

In fact, its real name is Patrinia scabra, but the locals call it Kuzhai. ^[2]I think the “Author” might be confuse and mixing up Patrinia scabra and dandelion due to their similar features, despite the two plants being distinct species with different … Continue reading

Wei Dai picked Polygonum multiflorum^[3]also known as Tuber fleeceflower is a climbing vine with heart-shaped leaves and small white or greenish flowers. near his home in the afternoon. It was tender and crisp at that time, and he picked a full pot of it, leaving many aunts who came from the family building to pick Polygonum multiflorum empty-handed.

“The vegetables are washed!” Wen Jiajia called for Wen Chun and Wen Xuan to bring the vegetables in.

She wiped the water off her hands, put the two tables together, and moved the clutter off the tables.

The beef was probably being stir-fried in the wok. The spatula and the iron wok kept colliding, making friction sounds. A spicy smell was coming from the kitchen, so spicy that it was a bit choking.

There were more wild vegetables at home today than just Polygonum multiflorum. Wen Jiajia also saw half a basket of bracken in the bamboo basket next to it.

Wen Jiajia counted on her fingers and realized that she hadn’t eaten bracken for seven years.

The last time she had eaten it was in the countryside during a spring outing in high school. She almost got stung by a bee while picking bracken.

Wen Jiajia was delighted and asked Wei Dai, “Do we need to wash the bracken?”

Wei Dai had finished stir-frying the beef and was now pounding garlic and stir-frying Patrinia. He said, “Let’s put it aside and stir-fry it tomorrow. It won’t go bad.”

Wen Jiajia was unhappy when she heard this and ran to the kitchen window, looking at him eagerly. “But I want to eat it today.”

Seeing that look in her eyes, Wei Dai couldn’t stand it. “…then do it.”

Wen Jiajia went to wash the bracken again.

The sound of picking bracken was soothing; the crackling was very crisp. After breaking them into small pieces, she personally took them to the kitchen and said, “I want to eat bracken fried with wine lees.”

“OK!”

“Oh, and add some green onions to enhance the flavor.”

“Got it.”

“By the way,” Wen Jiajia added, “remember to blanch it before frying, otherwise, it will be bitter.”

Although bracken would taste more special with a bit of bitterness, it would be unpleasant if it were too bitter mixed with the taste of sake lees.

Wei Dai was speechless. “…How about you come?”

Then he handed her the spatula.

“That’s not necessary.” Wen Jiajia quickly fled.

As the afterglow of the sunset lingered, dinner began.

The meal was very sumptuous. Several children were lying on the edge of the table, staring at the food.

The menu included stir-fried beef with chili, stir-fried meat with snow peas, stir-fried wild rice stems, ginger duck, pork ribs stewed with kelp, stir-fried bitter greens with garlic, and stir-fried bracken with wine lees.

Tea was used instead of wine on the table, and people were toasting each other, making the place lively for a while.

Because there weren’t many people, several children could sit at the table.

Teacher Shen’s husband, Xie Yang, was a strong man but surprisingly had a baby face and smiled at everyone he saw.

When Wen Jiajia first met him, she felt he was strange. The combination of their temperaments felt unusual.

Wei Dai wasn’t familiar with him at first, but they gradually became acquainted after they became neighbors.

Wen Jiajia learned from Wei Dai that Xie Yang was a real native of the capital, with his ancestors having been from the capital for four or five generations.

But it puzzled her that she couldn’t hear any capital accent in him.

Wen Jiajia sometimes wondered if this man was a specially trained special forces soldier who often went out on special missions.

There was nothing she could do about it; she had watched too many military movies in her previous life.

But Wei Dai wouldn’t tell her about this. Wei Dai was very good at keeping secrets and never mentioned anything about the mission to her at home.

After learning that Xie Yang was from the capital, Wen Jiajia found something to talk about and asked, “Brother Xie, did people from the capital live in courtyard houses in the alleys since childhood?”

Xie Yang laughed. “How is that possible? The capital is not all alleys and courtyard houses.”

“But I did,” Xie Yang said again.

Wen Jiajia felt so envious that her feelings were sourer than a lemon.

As someone who had traveled back to the 1970s, who wouldn’t dream of buying a courtyard house in the capital?

A few decades later, the price of a courtyard house would be sky-high.

However, Siheyuan houses were not easy to buy, even now.

First, you needed to have a household registration in the capital, and secondly… houses were not allowed to be bought and sold at that time.

Yeah, it’s that messed up.

You couldn’t buy it even if you had money.

However, there were always more solutions than problems. If you couldn’t buy a house, you could “give” it away. Many people relied on “giving” houses away to make transactions.

For example, after negotiating the sale of a house with the homeowner, a deposit was given privately, and the homeowner then went to the Housing Authority to “give” the house to the distant relative buying the house. This was a well-known unspoken rule, and the people at the Housing Authority would not care about this behavior.

Shen Xunzhen gently pinched Xie Yang, turned to Wen Jiajia, and said, “He does live in a courtyard house, but it’s better to call it a compound than a courtyard house.”

Wen Jiajia understood; it was the kind of courtyard house where several families lived together.

Wei Dai, a true southerner, didn’t quite understand. “Aren’t Siheyuan and Dazhayuan the same kind of place?”

Xie Yang said, “Well, there are some differences. There are many types of Siheyuan. Generally, people with some… money live in the complete Siheyuan with one entrance. As for those with two or three entrances, they were all occupied by officials in the past. Now, some have been converted into schools, some into offices, and some have been allocated to streets and factories as housing reserves.”

“As for the shantytowns, many of them are converted from courtyard houses, and some are self-built. These can easily become dangerous buildings.”

Wei Dai nodded. He couldn’t imagine what such houses would look like.

Wen Jiajia asked curiously, “Are there still courtyard houses with four or five entrances?”

Xie Yang laughed again. “Now there are none. The houses with four, five, or six courtyards were for princes and high officials. They have either been demolished or cut in half to be changed into several houses with two or one courtyard. It’s good enough to keep a three-courtyard house intact.”

Wen Jiajia felt a little regretful.

But on second thought, she felt less regretful.

Her family’s savings were not enough to even buy a house.

The cheapness of the Siheyuan at that time was only relative to later generations.

But it’s unreasonable to discuss housing prices without considering commodity prices and wages!

The average wage of workers is now more than 30 yuan, but a courtyard house with a relatively good location, well-preserved, and about 400 square meters will cost at least 5,000 yuan.

Moreover, this kind of complete and not too narrow courtyard house is priceless. Even if you wanted to buy it for 5,000 yuan, the seller might not be willing to sell it.

The sumptuous dinner ended with a discussion about houses.

The children had finished eating long ago and were nowhere to be seen. They probably went to Xie’s house to listen to the radio.

As the sun set and the moon rose, bright moonlight shone into the yard. Teacher Shen and her husband also left.

Wen Jiajia accompanied Wei Dai to clean the kitchen.

The newly installed lights were very bright, squeezing out the moonlight coming through the windows.

The evening breeze was as gentle as willow branches brushing your face, and occasionally, you could hear the chirping of unknown insects.

Wei Dai suddenly asked her, “You really want to go to the capital?”

Wen Jiajia asked in return, “Don’t you?”

Wei Dai paused. That was true; he was thinking about it too.

But for some reason, he could feel that Wen Jiajia was very familiar with the capital.

Wen Jiajia didn’t dare talk more about this topic and stayed in the kitchen for a few minutes, feeling guilty.

At night, she took a bath and lay on the bed.

She had nothing to do after the exam. She was so bored with books that she didn’t even want to touch them.

But Wen Jiajia couldn’t fall asleep because she had slept too long in the afternoon.

Wei Dai came back from drying his hair, lay on the bed, and used his fingers to comb Wen Jiajia’s hair.

After talking for a while, he said, “Those two vacant lots are going to be used to build buildings again.”

Wen Jiajia chuckled and laughed out loud. “You haven’t given up yet. It’s strange; is building really so appealing at this time?”

Wei Dai pinched her face and sighed. “Ah! I’d given up a long time ago. Anyway, it’s impossible for us. Those houses are too small, and while we could change them, we can’t change the bungalow we live in.”

Wen Jiajia patted him on the shoulder and said, “Don’t worry, you’ll have a place to stay in the future.”

Wei Dai hugged her and said, “That’s not what I wanted to talk about. The logistics staff said the team will set up a breeding farm.”

“Work for family members?” Wen Jiajia turned sideways and reacted immediately.

Wei Dai nodded. “Didn’t you say last time that you wanted to order milk? Ask if you can raise a few sheep and order some for Chun’er and Xuanxuan.”

Wen Jiajia said hurriedly, “I’ll order one when the time comes!”

She was in a weak condition, so she had to drink what the child drank.