Chapter 85: Ongoing Cold War, The Luo Family

After lunch, Ming Dai took Aunt Huang to see the vegetables she had grown.

As soon as Aunt Huang stepped into the storage room, a wave of heat hit her face. Seeing the charcoal brazier in the middle of the room, she sighed at how difficult it must have been to grow these vegetables.

When she looked into the basket of chives, she was surprised. “They’ve already sprouted! Xiao Ming, you’re amazing!”

Ming Dai was also delighted and showed her the other vegetable baskets. Not only had the chives started growing, but the garlic sprouts had also reached about five centimeters. The baby bok choy and spinach had just begun to sprout.

When Aunt Huang saw the mushrooms, she was shocked. “Xiao Ming, how do you even know how to grow these?”

Ming Dai explained how corncobs could be used to cultivate mushrooms. Aunt Huang listened in astonishment.

“Wow, you city folks are really something. We’ve been farming our whole lives and never thought that corncobs could be used to grow mushrooms.”

Huang Dalian disagreed. “It’s not city folks who are amazing, it’s Xiao Ming! Look at that bunch of city people in the front yard—they’ve been in our village for years and haven’t done anything useful except cause trouble!”

Aunt Huang completely agreed.

Ming Dai felt a little embarrassed. “It’s not that I’m amazing. I just read a lot. As long as you study, you can learn everything from books.”

Aunt Huang clicked her tongue. “There are books that teach farming?”

Ming Dai nodded. “Yes, there are specialized agricultural books. There used to be entire universities dedicated to agriculture.”

Aunt Huang scratched her head. “Really? We learned to farm from our elders. I never imagined there were actual teachers for this.”

Ming Dai encouraged her. “That’s why children need to go to school. If they don’t, they won’t know anything.”

Huang Dalian nodded. “Mother, let’s send the children to the commune school after the New Year.”

Aunt Huang agreed. “Yes, they all should go. XiaoTao and Xiao Xing, too!”

She wasn’t one of those old-fashioned women who favored boys over girls. If her granddaughters could read and write, they might have a chance at a city job, which was much better than marrying young and working their whole lives for someone else’s family.

Huang Dalian didn’t mind as long as her own children could go to school. She quickly flattered Aunt Huang again.

Ming Dai then showed them the bean sprouts she had grown.

Huang Dalian asked hesitantly, “Xiao Ming, I tried growing bean sprouts at home, but they started to stink in the middle. What went wrong?”

Ming Dai thought for a moment. “Did you touch the beans with anything oily?”

Aunt Huang rolled her eyes. “She touched them right after eating, without washing her hands.”

Ming Dai explained the key points of growing bean sprouts again to the embarrassed Huang Dalian. In the end, she also gave her half a basket of mung bean sprouts.

Seeing that there were still plenty left, Aunt Huang calculated the days and said, “Xiao Ming, you won’t be able to finish all these. The market will open in a few days—you can take them there and trade with the mountain folks. They’ll definitely want them.”

Ming Dai had been worried about growing too many sprouts, so she happily nodded.

Before leaving, Aunt Huang didn’t forget her main purpose for coming. She listed the items she wanted to trade, and Ming Dai carefully wrote them down in her notebook, explaining that she would have to send a letter now and wouldn’t get a response until the end of the month.

Aunt Huang quickly reassured her that there was no rush and that she would follow Ming Dai’s arrangements.

As they were about to leave, Ming Dai wanted to split the candy in half with Aunt Huang, since she had given her a good amount of sesame seeds.

But Aunt Huang refused. She only took half of the sesame and hazelnut candies, along with four pieces each of peanut candy, pine nut candy, and maltose twists to share with the children at home.

Zhou Sinian watched as half of the candy was put back and let out a sigh of relief. He immediately took it and hid it in the cupboard.

Ming Dai was helpless.

After sending off Aunt Huang and her family, Zhou Sinian rubbed his stomach. “Still hungry.”

Ming Dai almost laughed. During lunch, Zhou Sinian had eaten seven flatbreads, which had scared Aunt Huang into saying she couldn’t afford to feed him. And now he was hungry again?

She took him into her space and cooked him a big bowl of noodles, keeping only a small portion for herself.

She had eaten too many sweets that day and needed something salty to balance it out.

After finishing their meal, the two of them went to the fields to work.

Ming Dai planned to clear another patch of land to grow corn.

She also craved corn pancakes, boiled corn, roasted corn, and cheesy corn kernels… slurp, slurp!

At the educated youth quarters in the front yard, Qi Zhijun watched as Fang Rou walked past him without even a greeting. His mood sank to the lowest point.

He no longer needed an apology from her—he just wanted her to say something, anything.

But now, not only did she ignore him, but she also stopped riding his bicycle. She would rather take a horse cart to the commune than speak to him.

He was deeply confused.

Liu Yan, watching his dejected expression from the side, felt increasingly pleased.

This was one of her rare chances to get close to these privileged young men. Qi Zhijun—she was determined to win him over!

The more they fought, the better for her!

While one was heartbroken and the other secretly delighted, Fang Rou remained completely indifferent.

She held the steamed bun in her hand, thinking that after the New Year, Luo Cheng’s return would be even closer. A touch of sweetness welled up in her heart.

In the village, many people leaned against the walls in sheltered spots, basking in the sun. When they saw her walking over in a cloak and red rain boots, they quickly fell silent.

Fang Rou was irritated by their stares but kept her expression blank as she walked past.

Conflicts between the educated youth and the villagers in Liujiawan had been ongoing for a long time. She had no intention of getting involved. Besides, once she married Cheng, she wouldn’t be staying in the village. Her plan was to pass the exams and return to Beijing, where she could help Cheng establish his career.

Once she was far enough away, the onlookers finally resumed their conversation.

Old Granny Qing spoke mysteriously. “Tsk, tsk, girls from the capital really are different. Look at what she’s wearing! If you ask me, this new educated youth, Fang, must come from a much wealthier family than the others. She’s only been here a few months, yet she keeps changing outfits. Even her shoes! Those rubber rain boots she’s wearing—not everyone can get red ones. My daughter works at the supply and marketing cooperative, and I’ve never seen red ones there, only black.”

Laizi’s wife quickly chimed in, “Auntie, you’re absolutely right! This Fang Zhiqing doesn’t seem ordinary at all.”

Ergouzi’s wife followed up immediately, “I heard that she constantly receives packages from home, filled with all sorts of good things. She doesn’t even need to work, yet she never lacks food.”

The others eagerly joined in, hoping to flatter Old Granny Qing. If they pleased her, she might help them get good deals the next time something rare or cheap appeared at the supply and marketing cooperative.

Because her daughter worked at the cooperative and had married a city man, and because her grandson had moved to the city to become a worker, Old Granny Qing considered herself different from these country women. She felt a strange sense of kinship with Fang Rou, the unique and aloof educated youth, and actually wanted to chat with her.

Unfortunately, Fang Rou rarely spoke to anyone. She only ever visited the Luo family, which had stirred up quite a bit of gossip—after all, the Luo family still had an unmarried youngest son!

Fang Rou was oblivious to all of this. As she walked, she sweetly calculated the days until Luo Cheng’s return, while also thinking about the letter from Beijing.

The situation in the Fang family was even worse than she had imagined. Her mother’s tone was uncharacteristically severe, demanding to know what had happened to the batch of items Fang Rou had taken.

Fang Rou didn’t reply. She knew that even if she told her mother where the items were, it wouldn’t help. In the end, her father would just gamble everything away. It was better for her to keep them hidden until the dust settled—at least that way, she could avoid the miserable fate of her past life, where the whole family had been forced to eat coarse grains and struggle to survive.

She didn’t spare a single thought for the current turmoil in the Fang family back in Beijing.

After walking for some distance, she finally stepped into a muddy patch before reaching her destination.

Looking at the peeling wooden door, she took a deep breath and raised her hand to knock lightly.

It didn’t take long before someone came over, cursing as they did.

“Knock, knock, knock! Are you trying to knock someone to death?! What kind of fool goes around visiting people in this freezing weather?!”

The smile Fang Rou had struggled to put on instantly froze.

The door was opened by Widow Luo’s eldest daughter-in-law, Ding Xiaofeng. The moment she saw who it was, her eyes flickered, and a bright smile immediately replaced her earlier irritation.

“Oh my, it’s Fang Zhiqing! Come in, come in! Mother, Fang Zhiqing is here!”

She acted as if she hadn’t just been cursing moments ago.

Fang Rou felt intense disgust but kept her smile intact as she followed her inside.