◎A Familiar Voice◎ 

There were fewer people in the supply and marketing cooperative at this time, and the most in-demand cloth had been snatched up. Liang Baozhen stood in front of the glass counter and heard Director Liu’s voice coming from the backyard. She didn’t understand what kind of bandit leader this was. How could such a person still exist now? He must be arrested! 

“Director Liu, our team leader asked me to bring you a note and have you look at it.” 

Liu Jian was listening to Liang Baozhen’s voice in the yard. He sent the salesperson back first and felt a bit of a headache. How could he not know what Wang Dali wanted to do? “Comrade Xiao Liang, I really don’t have any urea bags here. I had some left today, but they were all taken away.” 

In the past, he could only say it was gone reluctantly, but this time it’s really true. 

The person who took it was looking at the urea bag on the ground. He glanced outside, not knowing where this female comrade had come from, she was very persistent. 

“Director Liu, Team Leader Wang said that when you say there is nothing, there must be something. He advised me, a young comrade, not to be afraid of difficulties. The great leader said that the more difficult the place, the more we should go there; that’s what makes a good comrade. Our commune was allocated fifteen thousand kilograms of urea, totaling three hundred seventy-five bags, but we only received four bags for our team, which has the leader team worried. However, he said his cousin might be thinking about his own family and could come to buy some…” 

Liang Baozhen’s clear voice was heard intermittently in the backyard. Liu Jian had a headache, while Xu Shengjie, next to him, lowered his head and curled the corners of his mouth. He took out the burnt cigarette butt and stepped on it to put it out. 

He enjoyed seeing his old comrade helpless.  

If it were anyone else, Liu Jian would have kicked him out in a bad mood. But Wang Dali was his distant relative, so they were somewhat related. Moreover, this female comrade had helped his daughter with her homework last time and had chased him to talk for half an hour, which really made him want to surrender. 

However, Liu Jian had been the director of the supply and marketing cooperative for many years and deeply understood the importance of shifting conflicts. He shouted outside, “Comrade Liang, all the urea bags have been sold to the male comrade next to me. If you want to buy for Wang Dali, you need to ask him.” 

At the end, he added, “But this man is not as easy to talk to as I am.” 

Hearing the part about being not easy to talk to, Liang Baozhen pressed her lips together, feeling that Director Liu had a misunderstanding of her. She could only see two blurry figures in the backyard. The shorter one was Director Liu, and the taller one next to him was the comrade who bought all the urea. 

“Comrade, could you spare some for us? I’m here to help the team as well.” 

Xu Shengjie glanced at Liu Jian, who smiled at him wickedly, “What’s the matter? I didn’t say a word of nonsense.” 

Liu Jian added in a low voice, “This female comrade is very annoying, you’ll have to deal with it.”  

Liang Baozhen licked her lips and felt thirsty after talking for a while. If it wasn’t for the ten work points and one yuan, she wouldn’t have worked so hard. “Or next time, when Director Liu gives our team leader some urea, should we allocate a few for you as well?” 

Xu Shengjie packed up his things and listened to the mumbling of a female comrade outside. He felt a buzzing in his ears. There was also someone watching the show next to him. He took out a few urea bags from the bundle and shouted outside, “I’ll give you six for three yuan. Give them to Director Liu yourself.” 

After saying that, the man carried the urea bag and prepared to leave through the back door of the backyard. 

“Hey, you’re just giving them like that?” Liu Jian had never seen anyone snatch food out of Xu Shengjie’s hands. 

“It’s giving me a headache.” Xu Shengjie waved his hand without looking at Liu Jian. “I’ll leave now. Let’s have a drink next time.” 

The unspoken part was that he felt the voice coming through was somewhat familiar. 

*** 

Liu Jian picked up the six urea bags, went outside to settle the bill with Liang Baozhen, and took back the three yuan. “Comrade Liang, next time let Wang Dali come himself. There’s no need to make you go through so much trouble.” 

Liang Baozhen happily packed up the urea bags, she was very pleased with the one yuan she had earned. She had spent thirty cents today and earned a yuan back, making a net profit of seventy cents. “Thank you, Director Liu. You’re such a good person. I’ll pass on the message to Team Leader Wang when I get back.” 

*** 

Liang Baozhen was not the only one from Damei Village who went into the city today. When Dong Jiayan rushed to the alley behind the state-owned hotel, Chen Siming was already waiting there. 

Without saying a word, they just exchanged a glance and understood each other’s feelings. Unconsciously, they held hands, and Chen Siming took out a jar of face cream from his pocket and handed it to her. 

After being affectionate in the alley for a while, they went to have a meal. The street was crowded, but the alley was narrow and secluded with few people passing by, so they went back there. 

As their feelings grew stronger, Dong Jiayan looked at Chen Siming and said with her red lips moving, “Siming, who do you think is more attractive, me or Baozhen?” 

Thinking of Liang Baozhen’s charming appearance and then looking at who was in his arms now, Chen Siming replied tenderly, “You’re more attractive.” 

“Really?” Dong Jiayan felt delighted and thought it was almost a done deal. “But what if you and Baozhen get married? I gave up my marriage to move to the city for you, and now you…” 

Chen Siming was touched by these words, and with a bit of manly pride, he took Dong Jiayan’s arm to comfort her, “Baozhen and I have already decided to get married, don’t worry, I will not treat you badly after we get married.” 

Dong Jiayan’s eyes changed, and she immediately broke free from Chen Siming’s embrace, feeling a little upset. “But I just want to marry you. If you get married, how can we have the chance to meet again…” 

Chen Siming smiled awkwardly, saying it didn’t matter. “Why don’t you marry someone from the city? That way it will be much more convenient for us to meet in the future.” 

Dong Jiayan was embraced by Chen Siming again, but she felt uncomfortable. She secretly planned to marry into the Chen family properly instead of continuing their ambiguous relationship. 

*** 

After getting off the bus, Liang Baozhen walked another mile and finally returned home. 

She had only eaten a wild vegetable pancake she brought from home at noon, so she was very hungry by now. As soon as she entered the yard, she smelled the aroma of roasted corn. 

Liang Baoling was lighting a fire at home, adding firewood to the stove, and placing five corncobs inside. When she saw her sister return, she stood up immediately, “Sister, you’re back?” 

“Roasted corn?” The roasted corn gives off a burnt aroma, especially the corn kernels, which are roasted so that the surface is burnt and hard, and it is very filling to take a bite. 

Liang Baozhen put the bag at her feet, dragged a small stool over to the kitchen, and sat on it and concentrated on eating the roasted corn. Liang Baoling excitedly flipped through the things she had brought back from the market and exclaimed repeatedly. 

“There’s really white sugar! Sister, you’re amazing!” 

“You can drink some sweet water later.” Liang Baozhen said with corn kernels in her mouth, making her voice a bit unclear. “By the way, where’s Mother, Father, and Brother? Haven’t they finished work yet?”

“Well, when it was almost time to get off work, brother was asked to help move stones, and Mother and Father went to Aunt Li’s house to help repair the house.” Liang Baoling came back alone to cook. Although she was still a child, she could handle adult tasks during the busy farming season, like washing clothes and cooking. 

The two sisters cooked three dishes together, steamed cornmeal buns, and waited until it was completely dark before their whole family returned home. 

Although it was evening, everyone was still sweating, and only the cool night breeze could ease the heat. Liang Baozhen made some sweet water for everyone, which earned her a lot of complaints from Song Chunhua. 

“Why did you make a lot of sugar water, your wasting sugar!” 

“Mother, Baozhen is the one who bought the sugar.” Liang Baojun drank it all in one go, thoroughly enjoying it, and even licked his face as he handed his chipped ceramic bowl back, “Give me another cup.”

“How greedy!” Song Chunhua slapped her son on the side and took his bowl away. 

Liang Baojun looked around and targeted his little sister. Liang Baoling was someone who savored good things slowly, so there was still half a bowl of sweet water left in her bowl. 

“Baoling, can’t you finish it? Come on, let me help you drink it.” As he said this, he came over. 

“I’m not doing that!” Liang Baoling quickly got up and hid behind Liang Baozhen, “Brother, are you ashamed to take food meant for a child?” 

“Hey!” Liang Baojun pretended to catch her and began a chase around Liang Baozhen and Liang Baoling, which Liang Zhigao found amusing. 

“Liang Baojun, how old are you? You’re acting younger than your sister!” Liang Zhigao scolded, carrying his bowl into the kitchen, while the kids continued to make noise behind him. 

“Mother! Second Brother drank my sweet water!” Liang Baoling pouted; her cheeks puffed up and complained to Song Chunhua in a wronged manner. 

“I just drank a sip. You’re so stingy.” Liang Baojun smiled happily, with some doting in his handsome eyes. Seeing that he was about to make his little sister cry, he hurriedly took out a shell-like object from his pocket and said, “Here, brother will give you something.” 

Oh, clam oil? 

Liang Baoling immediately stopped feeling upset, pursed her lips, and took the fragrant and soft clam oil. “Brother, where did you get this?” 

Clam oil could only be bought with tickets, and Liang Baoling had always wanted one. 

“As a reward for helping to move the stones.” Liang Baojun pulled out another one from his pocket and tossed it to Liang Baozhen. 

Liang Baozhen caught it with joy and looked at her mother. “Brother, aren’t you giving Mother one too?”

 

Liang Baojun shrugged, having only “gotten” two of them. He glanced at Song Chunhua, who was standing with her hands on her hips and smiling, and called out to Liang Zhigao, “Father, Mother wants you to give her some clam oil!” 

“You little rascal, you’re the one who finds your dad.” Song Chunhua’s eyes were full of smiles. She thought her son was a little clever, but he didn’t use it in the right place. 

*** 

After dinner, Song Chunhua was thrilled to see the red cloth her daughter had bought. The material was high quality and the color was bright, perfect for making wedding clothes. She couldn’t sit still, so she held the cloth and gestured excitedly, planning to find time to make the clothes during the day. It wasn’t practical to sew at night with a kerosene lamp, since it would waste too much fuel. 

Late at night. Liang Baozhen, who had been busy all day, washed up and went straight to bed, but she started dreaming in the middle of the night. 

The man from her dreams appeared again.