Chapter 22

On a scorching summer day, with the sun blazing high in the sky, the villagers had been working under the hot sun all morning.

When the brigade leader blew the whistle for the noon break, the villagers sighed in relief upon hearing the sound, dragging their tired bodies to rest under the big locust trees near the wheat field.

A row of thick locust trees stood beside the wheat field, their dense shade now full of women resting.

It was time for the villagers to have lunch, so the young wives of the village, along with their children, had already left early to go home and prepare the meal.

Jiang Chunzao, along with her sister-in-law, Changshan, took their children back home. Once both families had finished cooking, they would take the food and deliver it to their men.

Changshan’s family had many members—her father-in-law, mother-in-law, elder and younger brothers-in-law, and a younger sister-in-law, along with a bunch of children. She was the one who had to cook for the whole family, which made her extremely tired.

Since it was the village’s annual wheat harvest, every young wife in the village had brought out the flour and a bit of money to buy some good meat from the butcher’s stall, so that their families could enjoy a hearty meal with enough fat.

A strong laborer could earn ten work points a day during wheat harvest, so eating something good wasn’t much to ask for.

Jiang Chunzao saw that Changshan’s wife had steamed a big pot of snow-white steamed buns and taken out the ten or so eggs they had saved. She scrambled them with some chopped green onions, making them fragrant, and also made a pot of golden millet porridge. She carried the food to her family.

Though her family wasn’t as large as Changshan’s, Jiang Chunzao still felt for her husband, Lu Lin, working hard in the fields.

She thought about how Lu Lin and the kids liked white rice, so she washed and soaked some rice to cook, and picked some small cucumbers from the garden. She cleaned and diced them, then added some fragrant shiitake mushrooms she bought at the market. She cooked these together in a pot, along with some pork she had washed and cut into pieces.

She made two simple dishes—stir-fried pork with green peppers and smashed cucumber. She also packed some watermelon, which had been chilled in the well, and green bean soup. She boiled ten eggs, made an egg cake, and delivered the food to the wheat field.

At the wheat field, the place was filled with wheat stacks, golden and shining. The village children were happily rolling around in the field.

In the wheat fields, Lu Lin and the other men were harvesting the crops. When they heard the brigade leader’s whistle, Lu Changshan called to him from the furrow to come and have lunch. Lu Lin straightened up, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and walked with Lu Changshan towards the wheat field.

Lu Changshan was a hearty man. His family was from the same ancestry as the Lu family, and if you traced their family tree, he would be Lu Lin’s third-generation cousin. But since Lu Lin had joined the army at 18 and had been away from home for many years, he had become somewhat distant from the villagers. However, with Jiang Chunzao and Changshan getting along well these days, Lu Changshan had become closer to Lu Lin as well.

As soon as Lu Lin reached the furrow, he saw Jiang Chunzao standing there talking with Changshan’s wife under the shade, her head tilted slightly, and he couldn’t help but look at her.

Lu Changshan had already said several things to Lu Lin, but he hadn’t heard any response. When he looked up and saw what was going on, he couldn’t help but laugh in frustration.

“You brat, all you see is your wife!”

“So, my few words just now were wasted?”

Lu Lin didn’t feel embarrassed. He smiled at Lu Changshan and occasionally looked up at Jiang Chunzao.

Lu Changshan held back a chuckle and said, “Alright, I won’t keep you from looking at your wife. She’s right there, go on!”

After that, Lu Changshan shook his head and walked toward the large willow tree where his family was resting. Lu Lin, with his long strides, walked over to where Jiang Chunzao was.

Jiang Chunzao was chatting with Changshan’s wife under the tree’s shade. When Changshan’s wife saw Lu Lin approaching, knowing how much he cared for his wife, she smiled and, with a slight nod, picked up her carrying pole and left.

Jiang Chunzao, with a small basket in hand, held onto the two kids. The three of them looked at Lu Lin with warm smiles, making his chest feel hot with emotion.

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Not far away, Father Lu’s family was also resting under the shade of a tree. Mother Lu wanted the family to earn more work points, so the younger Mother Lu had been busy working in the wheat field and almost forgot to go back home and cook.

If it hadn’t been for Mother Lu noticing that all the young wives in the village were heading home, she might have forgotten too. She quickly realized the family’s meal wasn’t prepared and rushed to call over to Liu Hongyan’s house to make dinner.

Usually, the meals for Father Lu’s family were managed by his eldest daughter-in-law and his daughter, Mianhua. But today, the eldest daughter-in-law and Mianhua were in the field, cutting wheat with the men of the village.

Even though Mother Lu had thick skin, she still felt embarrassed to call out to her daughter-in-law in front of the whole village to come home and cook.

Since Mother Lu couldn’t bring herself to ask for help, the whole Lu family would have to wait for her and the heavily pregnant Liu Hongyan to prepare the meal.

The noon break was short, and Mother Lu was always stingy when it came to cooking. Even during the busy wheat harvest, when the whole family was working hard, she only took two small scoops of flour from the flour bin, steamed seven or eight white buns, and reserved them for the men of the family.

As for the women, they ate as usual—sweet potato slices and coarse flour steamed buns with pickled vegetables and cold water to drink.

Liu Hongyan, her belly swollen with pregnancy, followed behind Mother Lu, thinking to herself that she would once again have to eat those tasteless, awful coarse flour buns. Her mouth curled in dissatisfaction, and the pride she had before was gone.

Father Lu, like an old ox, had spent the whole morning harvesting wheat in the field, eagerly awaiting his wife and daughter-in-law to bring the midday meal. He waited and waited, and when Mother Lu and Liu Hongyan finally brought the food over, he was ready to eat.

As soon as Father Lu saw the white buns and pickled vegetables in the basket, he felt a sense of frustration. As he ate the buns and pickled vegetables, he became thirsty and drank cup after cup of cold water. His face darkened completely.

“Old woman, what kind of lunch is this? We’re working so hard in the fields, and you’re giving us this for lunch? And the water is just cold water!”

Mother Lu, unconcerned, replied, “You old fool, what’s wrong with white buns? You see, the women are eating sweet potato slices! The white buns won’t even fill your stomach!”

Father Lu, too frustrated to argue, turned his face away and continued eating the buns in silence, his face clouded with displeasure.

Liu Hongyan sat on the grass mat, eating the dry, hard coarse flour bun, cursing her mother-in-law for being stingy. Meanwhile, the eldest daughter-in-law, quietly eating her sweet potato slices, didn’t say a word. Her daughter, Mianhua, sat beside her. Mianhua, who had often helped the Lu family with farm work, sometimes barely had enough to eat. When the eldest daughter-in-law’s family worked in the fields, Mianhua would be at school, and when she wasn’t at school, she worked at home, chopping wood, fetching water, washing clothes, and even carrying a large basket to the mountains to gather grass for the pigs.

As Jiang Chunzao, Shitou and Moli walked toward the wheat field, they happened to run into Mianhua, who was hiding behind a wheat stack, crying because she was hungry.

Seeing her third aunt and the two younger cousins, Mianhua quickly wiped her tears and tried to hide, but Jiang Chunzao called her over.

Jiang Chunzao glanced at Mianhua, whose eyes were red from crying, and sighed to herself. In her past life, Mianhua used to hide and cry when she was hungry. Jiang Chunzao couldn’t help but think that Mianhua was probably crying because she hadn’t had enough to eat.

Mianhua was hanging her head when, unexpectedly, she saw her third aunt suddenly slip three boiled eggs and some egg cakes into her hands. She looked up in surprise and met Jiang Chunzao’s smiling, warm eyes.

“Third Aunt?”

Mianhua whispered, her rough little hands holding the egg cakes and boiled eggs, her face slightly unsure.

Jiang Chunzao spoke gently: “These are from your third uncle and me. You know, people need to eat well to have the strength to work. Don’t you want to help your parents more, earn more work points?”

Although Mianhua was young, she had been well taught by the eldest daughter-in-law, and she understood that while her third aunt’s family had a bit more than others, boiled eggs and egg cakes were treats, and she shouldn’t take them. “Third Aunt, I can’t take your egg cakes and eggs. These are good things. You should save them for my younger siblings.”

Mianhua shook her head and tried to push the food back toward Jiang Chunzao.

Though she said that, Mianhua was still just a child. After a whole morning of harvesting wheat in the fields, she was hungry, and she couldn’t help but swallow her saliva as she looked at the egg cakes in her hands.

Jiang Chunzao saw how small and rough Mianhua’s hands were, and it made her heart ache. She softly said: “It’s okay, Shitou and Moli also have some. Moli, be a good girl, eat the egg cakes and boiled eggs, study well, and when you grow up, everything will be better.”

Xiao Moli, looking at Mianhua, chimed in with a sweet voice:

“Mianhua sister, I had an egg custard this morning, and my tummy is still full!”

Xiao Shitou teased with a grin: “Isn’t it? Your little belly is just like Huahua’s—soon it’ll be laying eggs!”

Xiao Moli puffed up her cheeks, glaring with wide eyes, and put her little hands on her hips, grumbling:

“Brother is a bad pig, Moli doesn’t want to be friends with you anymore!”

With that, the little girl buried her head in her mother’s fragrant embrace, puffing up like an angry little ostrich.

Moli’s adorable pout made both Jiang Chunzao and Xiao Shitou laugh.

Mianhua also pursed her lips and smiled along with them.

～

Earlier, Mianhua had been reluctant to eat all the food her third aunt gave her—the three boiled eggs and two egg cakes. She had only eaten one egg cake to satisfy her hunger.

The rest of the egg cakes and boiled eggs were carefully wrapped in a clean handkerchief and tucked into her clothing pocket. She wanted to save them and, when she got home in the evening, share the treats with her parents.

Now, as Mianhua sat next to the eldest daughter-in-law, holding a dry, hard coarse flour bun in her hands, she thought back to the delicious, sweet egg cakes she’d had earlier. Her hunger was sparked again.

Quietly, Mianhua pulled the egg cake out of her pocket, planning to take a quick look at it and eat it with the coarse bun. But just as she was about to take a bite, someone snatched it from her hand.

Suddenly, a mocking voice rang out: “Well, well! Where did Mianhua get this egg cake from? Don’t tell me you stole it?”