Chapter 43

After lunch, Zhou Honghan privately asked Su Ye, “I heard Meimei mention that you’re working on getting your high school diploma. Is that true?”

Zhou Honghan had previously seen Su Ye help her restore a damaged part drawing, which made her admire Su Ye’s resourcefulness. If Su Ye applied that cleverness to her studies, she might even achieve some academic success.

Gu Xiangqian was a university graduate who had studied abroad, so Su Ye’s education level needed to catch up. While no one expected her to attend university, at the very least, she should get her high school diploma to avoid being looked down upon by others.

In the military compound, there were many officers and military wives from the city, all with comfortable family conditions. They were on good terms with Gu Xiangqian, but had little contact with Su Ye.

Su Ye nodded. “Yes, it’s true. The principal thought it was unreasonable for me to be a teacher without a high school diploma. He asked me to go back and finish it.”

Zhou Honghan encouraged her, saying, “Your principal has a good idea. We must have at least a high school education. If there’s anything you don’t understand, you can come downstairs and ask me. You need to get that diploma.”

Su Ye glanced at Grandma Zhou’s eager eyes and awkwardly touched her nose.

Every time someone heard she was getting her high school diploma, they had the same reaction. Earlier, He Meimei had enthusiastically tutored her, and now Grandma Zhou was offering to help with any questions. It made it hard for Su Ye to be entirely honest.

After all, she was someone who had navigated the intense gauntlet of the college entrance exam. Getting her diploma was a piece of cake.

However, someone like Zhou Honghan, an expert in mechanical fields, was as rare as a national treasure in this era. Su Ye managed to stop herself from politely declining and gladly accepted the kind offer from this expert.

“Are there any other topics I can ask about? Last time I was really interested in the diagrams you drew,” Su Ye asked.

Zhou Honghan hadn’t realized that Su Ye was actually eager to learn. However, the complicated mechanical knowledge might be beyond Su Ye’s grasp for now. So, Zhou Honghan pursed her lips and said, “Of course you can. Just come by when you have time.”

Su Ye cheerfully replied, “Great! I’m counting on you, Grandma Zhou. Please don’t think I’m being a bother.”

Zhou Honghan agreed without hesitation, unaware of how she had been tricked into this arrangement.

On the other side, after Fang Xiulian finished her meal, she overheard Zhou Honghan and Su Ye talking about the high school diploma. She didn’t interrupt, waiting for them to finish before asking Su Ye, “Sister-in-law, about the tea leaves I mentioned last time…”

Su Ye immediately became interested and eagerly pulled out a bag of tea leaves from the cupboard. She hadn’t forgotten about helping her fellow townspeople sell tea.

Writing letters to the townspeople to request tea took almost half a month, with back-and-forth exchanges of time.

She divided the tea into smaller portions, weighed out a pound for Fang Xiulian, and said, “Here’s a pound. Just the two of you will be able to drink it until the end of the year. The tea is still quite fresh, it’s from this year’s batch.”

Fang Xiulian opened the bag and sniffed, and the fragrance of the tea immediately filled the air. The refreshing scent was delicate and elegant. Though Fang Xiulian wasn’t skilled in many things, she was an expert when it came to food and drink.

After inspecting the tea, she was satisfied and closed the bag, asking, “How much is this tea?”

Tea wasn’t worth much, during slow sales, a few cents per gram was enough to provide some compensation to the tea farmers. Normally, “Jinxiangyu” (a type of tea) would sell for several yuan per ounce and it wouldn’t be considered expensive. However, in an era of food scarcity, its value had significantly depreciated.

Su Ye waved her hand to politely decline the money, saying, “We’re relatives, why bring up money! As long as you—”

She was about to say, “help spread the word,” but then remembered Fang Xiulian’s character. She realized that if she asked her to spread the word, Fang Xiulian might not even want to. So, Su Ye figured the best way to get her to promote it was to make her think the tea was rare. Once she believed that, even if Su Ye sealed her lips, she couldn’t stop her from telling everyone.

Su Ye changed her tone and said, “As long as you like it. I wrote several letters asking my fellow townspeople for it. They told me it can only be picked after ^[1]Qingming (清明), also known as the Tomb-Sweeping Day or Pure Brightness Festival, is a traditional Chinese holiday observed around April 4th or 5th each year. It is one of the 24 solar terms in the … Continue readingQingming Festival, and even waiting a few days longer won’t work.”

She cheerfully picked up a few tea leaves from the bag and handed them to Fang Xiulian to smell.

She enthusiastically recommended it, saying, “Let me tell you, the best tea grows between the rocks, and it drinks from mountain spring water all year round. After picking, it has to be processed by an experienced tea master. They don’t keep much for themselves either. When leaders came to the local guesthouse in previous years, this is the kind of tea they would drink.”

Though Su Ye’s words might have seemed exaggerated, they weren’t entirely false. Wild Jinxiangyu tea was rare, and an experienced tea master was akin to an old farmer who had been cultivating tea for decades. It wasn’t a lie.

Fang Xiulian’s eyes brightened as she smelled the tea again. The fragrance truly was delicate and refined, far superior to the cheap tea bags sold in department stores for two or three yuan per large pack.

Li Maogang instinctively took out his wallet and counted a few big black notes. Su Ye refused the money with a polite gesture.

Gu Xiangqian, with a slight smile on his face, clenched his fist and coughed lightly into it, saying, “It’s fine, Maogang, just take it back.”

Perhaps it was because Gu Xiangqian and Su Ye had spent so much time together, but when she spoke, he could sense what she meant.

He turned to Li Maogang and said, “I remember your uncle likes drinking tea. Bring some back for him to try.”

Li Maogang nodded happily, “Of course. I’ll be sure to thank Sister-in-law for her kind gesture.”

Su Ye didn’t respond to Gu Xiangqian’s words. After Li Maogang and his wife left, she asked Gu Xiangqian about it.

Gu Xiangqian subtly replied, “Maogang’s uncle works at the guesthouse.”

So, Li Maogang’s uncle was a leader at a guesthouse in City C! If he liked the Jinxiangyu tea, he could add it to the procurement list, and the tea from her fellow townspeople would have a market. Even if Li Maogang’s uncle didn’t care for the tea, recommending it to friends and family to buy a few pounds would still be a great outcome.

Su Ye’s eyes lit up, and she thought about patting his shoulder in gratitude, thinking, “My husband is so wonderful!”

“No need. I’ll tidy up the table,” Gu Xiangqian waved his hand, stopping Su Ye’s attempt to please him.

He started cleaning up the dishes.

As he looked at the leftover meat and vegetables on the table, he fell into deep thought… Even now, when he put the pork into his mouth, it still felt a bit surreal. Could it really be that her in-laws had appeared in a dream to tell Su Ye?

—

The next day.

Su Ye brought a two-pound piece of pork and knocked on the door of the Women’s Federation director’s house, smiling as she handed the pork to the director. The first plate of dumplings Su Ye ate last year was treated by the director, and during the New Year, the couple had even sent some eggs and nutritional supplements to show their support for Gu Xiangqian.

Now that their finances weren’t as tight, Su Ye decided to return the favor by bringing a piece of pork.

The Women’s Federation director hadn’t expected Su Ye to bring them pork specifically. For a moment, she felt a bit complicated inside.

This year’s famine was even worse than last year, and in such difficult times, Su Ye’s gesture of sending them two pounds of pork was truly rare—it felt like sending coal in the snow.

The director smiled and said, “This pork looks really good. I don’t want to be too shy to accept it. How about this? I’ll use it to make some dumplings and share them with the military wives.”

The two pounds of pork Su Ye brought had a thick layer of fat, about an inch thick, white and delicate, and dripping with oil.

The director invited several military wives to help make the dumplings. Because the pork was so fresh and fatty, the dumplings turned out to be more delicious than any they had ever had. She ate several dumplings in a row, and after finishing one, she immediately wanted another. Afterward, the taste lingered on her lips.

The women in the Women’s Federation office had the special dumplings that the director had made with the pork Su Ye sent. Although each person only got one dumpling, the pork filling was so delicious that the taste lingered in their mouths. It created the illusion that no dumplings they had eaten before could compare to this one.

Li Hongli had never tasted pork dumplings so fragrant. Just as she was about to praise the director for making such delicious dumplings, she overheard a conversation in the office.

“The director said these dumplings were sent by Su Ye.”

“That comrade Su is really thoughtful, she specially gave the director two pounds of pork.”

In this compound, Su Ye had only a close relationship with He Meimei and wasn’t particularly close with anyone else. Especially after the Women’s Federation office had once held her back on a work matter, the comrades who were eating dumplings sent by Su Ye now felt a bit guilty.

So, these dumplings were from Su Ye! Li Hongli swallowed the praise she was about to give and instead said, “I heard they got meat ration coupons worth dozens of pounds, so two pounds of pork is nothing, just a drop in the ocean.”

“Moreover, the wild boar was hunted by Gu Xiangqian. Su Ye just casually gave it as a gift.”

After Li Hongli said this, the conversation in the office quickly shifted to envying Su Ye’s good fortune.

“Speaking of which, I remembered something. Gu Xiangqian’s salary is really high. The other day when I was filling out a form, I accidentally saw his salary. It almost exceeded this amount,” a female colleague said.

She gestured with her hands to show a number, then made a motion of zipping her mouth shut.

100 yuan. This amount caused a wave of shocked looks. This was the salary of a regimental leader, and Gu Xiangqian was still so young!

You have to understand that right now, factory workers in the city earn about 30 to 40 yuan a month, and they are the ideal marriage partners for many city girls.

Li Hongli was surprised when she heard about Gu Xiangqian’s salary. His position should only have a salary of 62 yuan, but she thought about his experience on the battlefield and his position in a special forces unit. When you added up all the allowances and bonuses, the amount made sense.

“This is no surprise. He’s a talent who studied in the Soviet Union. He’s going to be promoted in the future,” another person said.

“Gu Xiangqian is so rich,” a young female colleague couldn’t help but comment.

The others silently thought: This isn’t just about being rich, it’s about power as well. The Gu family had always been well-off, and they didn’t need to rely on this small salary. Gu Xiangqian casually donated tens of millions of assets to the country. The salary he received now wasn’t much at all.

He frequently went to the battlefield, not afraid of hardship, not afraid of exhaustion, willing to sacrifice his life for his country. What young person could compare to that kind of dedication?

It was just a shame that before, Yao Chunyu was foolish. When she saw him donate his family’s wealth, she immediately turned and went abroad, ^[2]“losing the watermelon while picking up a sesame seed” (捡了芝麻丢了西瓜) is a Chinese idiom. It means focusing on something trivial or insignificant (the sesame seed) while … Continue readinglosing the watermelon while picking up a sesame seed. Now that Gu Xiangqian had married Su Ye, she regretted it but it was too late.

In the Women’s Federation office, the military wives from the city gossiped for a long time. All the words and thoughts condensed into one sentence: Su Ye’s life is really good. Not only did she ^[3]“Catch a break” is an English idiom that means experiencing a bit of good fortune or relief, especially after a period of challenges, difficulties, or bad luck. It often implies a chance … Continue readingcatch a break, but now she eats well and doesn’t have to worry about anything.

—

On the other side.

Su Ye had no idea that the two pounds of pork she casually gave to the director would cause such a big reaction in the Women’s Federation office.

This year had indeed been much harder, with a once-in-a-century famine. Otherwise, everyone wouldn’t be in such dire straits.

The military district’s provisions were still quite decent. At least there was plenty of coarse grain, and they could eat their fill. Workers in other units had already begun to cut back, saving on food. In a nationwide situation of widespread difficulty, it was indeed enviable that Su Ye could have pork and fine grains to eat.

The pork from the live stream rewards was very delicious, the meat was particularly delicate and fatty, and its texture was on a completely different level compared to the malnourished pigs sold in the market now.

The last time Su Ye was unaware of the situation, she had only asked for a few pounds of pork to try, but this time she took thirty pounds of wild boar meat. Twenty-five pounds were used to make bacon, sausage, and jerky, and the remaining pound was given to Grandma Zhou, two pounds to He Meimei, and two pounds to the director of the Women’s Federation.

Su Ye had always been generous with her own people and those who had helped her.

He Meimei had been struggling with malnutrition, her milk supply was low, and she had been worried for a long time because her son’s food supply wasn’t enough. Su Ye had noticed this. The kids like Lu Siyuan and Xu Le, who contributed a lot of the pork, were also people Su Ye got to know through He Meimei.

When Su Ye brought the pork to He Meimei’s house, He Meimei was so shocked that she couldn’t say a word.

She quickly wiped her eyes with her thumb, lowered her head, and after a while said, “This… this is too much.”

“You should take it back!” He Meimei was very moved. During this time, she had run around the black market so much that her legs had gotten thinner, but still couldn’t buy any meat. She was so anxious her mouth even got blisters.

Su Ye waved her hand generously and smiled slightly. “It’s okay, just keep it. Later, if you let me teach a few math classes to your third class, I’d be very happy.”

He Meimei opened her eyes wide. What… what kind of request was this?

Su Ye actually took the initiative to offer to take on work? This clearly didn’t benefit her in any way. The students in the graduating class were all hoping for Su Ye to come teach. Wherever Su Ye went, students followed her, asking questions.

For He Meimei, this wasn’t a big deal, but for Su Ye, it was very important. She truly relied on those few classes to earn her rations.

He Meimei was moved to the point that her heart felt moist, as if a part of it had collapsed. Su Ye was truly a teacher who thought wholeheartedly for her students.

She said somewhat sheepishly, “What’s this? If you come to teach in our class, I’d be thrilled. I’ll tell the students next week, and they’ll definitely be very happy.”

“Let’s do it this way. If you ever need anything, just let me know, and I’ll be happy to help.”

Su Ye purposely picked a nice, fatty piece of pork for He Meimei. When her mother-in-law received the pork, her eyes suddenly lit up, and she couldn’t stop praising how fatty the meat was.

Such a big piece of pork could yield a lot of lard, and next month there would be oil for cooking.

—

In Shanggou Village.

The village party secretary returned from a meeting in the county, looking troubled as he announced something to the villagers: “Our village hasn’t met the criteria for receiving relief grain. The leaders from the county told us to work hard and solve our problems…”

The villagers had originally hoped the village secretary would bring back a few carts of grain, and they eagerly brought their cloth bags to collect it. However, to their disappointment, not a single grain was seen. Instead, they were given a lecture on ideology and politics.

A loud growl echoed from someone’s stomach, and others, hearing it, felt their own stomachs churn and quickly sucked in a few deep breaths, trying to hold it in.

After the old secretary finished speaking, he sighed heavily and walked home with a heavy heart.

The old secretary’s son, Ma Gensheng, was the village production team leader and had been named “Outstanding” this year. After hearing the situation, he thought for a moment and said, “The county leaders are right, we need to be self-reliant and not hold back the organization. If everyone just relies on relief grain, how can the country provide so much food?”

“There are countless people starving in other villages, and how many have died in our village? It’s actually right that we don’t get relief.”

When the village secretary heard his son’s words, he nearly slapped him. “Only a few have died? Is that even something a person should say?” However, after thinking it through, he realized that in some places entire villages had starved to death, and he slowly lowered his hand.

Indeed, which rural village wasn’t struggling? Shanggou Village was located at the source of a big river. Last year, during the drought, the village was able to irrigate their crops with water from the river, preventing a complete crop failure.

This year, many other villages had seen a great number of people die from starvation. Shanggou Village was still luckier compared to others, thanks to the food their ancestors had left behind. But this year, without the relief grain from the country, people in Shanggou Village might be the ones to starve to death. The old secretary felt very heavy-hearted thinking about this.

Ma Gensheng clenched his fists and, after much contemplation, said, “Dad, I have an idea. Don’t worry, just think it over carefully.”

The village secretary looked at him with hope in his eyes. “What’s your idea?”

The production team leader, who had been recognized as a model worker, said, “We still have a lot of tea leaves in the warehouse. I think we could trade them for grain.”

Hearing this, the village secretary turned away in disappointment. “What kind of idea is that? In this day and age, there’s no food, and you want to trade tea leaves for grain?”

Ma Gensheng smiled slightly and said, “Dad, remember the teacher from the middle school who sent tea eggs to the elderly in our village? She said if there’s a way, there’s definitely a way.”

The secretary nodded. He remembered that teacher, who had sent over ten kilograms of tea leaves and received just a few kilograms of tea eggs in return. Such a generous and kind person had left a deep impression. Ma Gensheng’s being named a model worker in the city had been of little use, but it had been much more useful to exchange a few bags of tea leaves for some eggs.

These tea leaves were supposed to be collected by factories, government agencies, or the local authorities, but now they were sitting in the warehouse, slowly going moldy. However, they were hard-earned by the villagers and no one was willing to waste them.

“I’ll write a few more letters and ask Teacher Su for help, to see if we can trade some of the tea leaves for grain.”