Chapter 101

Sitting in the warm river water, the three of them couldn’t help but let out a contented sigh. “Grandma Zuo, bathing is really comfortable,” they said.

The old lady smiled and looked at the satisfied girls. “Indeed. Back when we were marching and fighting, taking a hot bath was an unimaginable luxury. Nowadays, life is good, and you’re enjoying the best of times.”

Hao Lianchun expressed her deep feelings, and Wang Qian agreed with her. However, when she thought about the children of the future, she felt that the current children were experiencing some hardships. Nevertheless, despite the challenges, life was full of vigor. Counterfeit products were almost non-existent, pollution was minimal, and although the standard of living might not match that of the future, people didn’t have to worry about consuming toxic substances. Moreover, the people of this era were spiritually rich, and children didn’t face as much pressure. Each era had its own advantages, but she really liked this simple, relaxed, and joyful life.

“Qianqian, Xuan’er, come over here. Grandma will scrub your backs,” the old lady said.

The sisters naturally swam over and turned their backs to the old lady. Despite her age, Hao Lianchun’s hands were as strong as those of a rural woman, and the sisters let her scrub them clean.

“Grandma Zuo, it’s our turn to scrub your back. Big sister and I will do it for you. Let us know if it hurts,” they said.

The sisters began to earnestly scrub the old lady’s back. Hao Lianchun closed her eyes and enjoyed this rare moment. Her grandchildren were far away, and the children of the Wang family were like her own grandchildren. Feeling the soft hands busily working on her back, the old lady’s smile grew even warmer.

The three brothers who had been guessing the glasswort had seen the three of them coming to bathe when they were picking the leaves. After picking the leaves, they didn’t leave but stayed around to keep watch, remaining vigilant at all times. Their family couldn’t afford to be spied on by others.

When the three of them emerged from the water, they saw three small figures guarding from a distance. The old lady walked over with a smile on her face.

“Mingcheng, take your brothers to bathe. We will take  the leaves back with Grandma Zuo. Remember not to go into deep water,” she said.

However, Hao Lianchun was still somewhat worried. She asked the sisters to take the leaves back and stayed behind to accompany the brothers. At first, Mingcheng was a bit hesitant, but Zuo He boldly took off his shorts and jumped into the river, splashing and playing in the water.

After a moment of hesitation, Mingcheng and Mingyuan also joined in. Considering the old lady’s age, they disregarded their initial reservations and followed Zuo He, playing in the river with their bottoms bare.

After playing for a while, Xiaoxiang and Xiaohu brought a group of people over. They were all playing in the river, with the old lady sitting on the bank, watching the carefree and unrestrained laughter and play in the water. Even the old lady couldn’t help but feel a bit envious. It’s really good to be a child.

“Grandma, come and scrub me,” Zuo He called from the riverbank. The old lady slowly walked down the embankment, took off her cloth shoes, and carefully began to scrub her grandson. Despite Zuo He’s sun-kissed skin, there wasn’t much dirt on his body. “Zuo He, do you often bathe? Your body is so clean,” she remarked.

Sitting in front of her, Zuo He nodded. “Yes, Uncle often takes us to bathe and helps us wash. Grandma, do you still report there every day?”

Hao Lianchun knew where her grandson was referring to. “No need. It’s not as urgent now. I’ll go there every few days. This time, Grandma can stay here with you for a few more days.”

The grandmother and grandson whispered affectionately to each other, while the children occasionally caught a few small fish from the river and threw them onto the bank. The old lady helped them clean up, but when the children finished bathing, no one wanted the fish. They were too small to eat, so Mingyuan and his brothers took them back to feed the chickens at home.

In the afternoon, the loudspeaker on the mountaintop began to broadcast again. “Announcement: A movie will be shown in the village courtyard tonight.”

After repeating the announcement three times, revolutionary songs once again echoed over the village.

Wang Qian thought the woman who operated the broadcast was quite considerate. She rarely played music early in the morning or at noon, usually only in the morning and afternoon.

“Grandma Zuo, I’ll take you to watch the movie tonight. It’ll be fun,” Mingyuan vividly recounted the plot of a movie he had seen before.

Zhang Lan and her group on the mountain also heard the news. The commune members hurried to finish their work early so they could go over in the evening.

When they returned from work, the old lady and the sisters had shredded the peeled potatoes into fine strips. Zhang Lan was in charge of tasting the filling.

Hao Lianchun always felt that Zhang Lan’s cooking tasted better than her own. She chopped some scallions, cilantro, and ginger, added some flour, seasoning, and a few drops of oil, and then began to knead the filling. She shaped the mixture into flat cakes, wrapped them in glasswort, and steamed them on a pot cover. After turning a large basin of shredded potatoes into a pot of potato cakes, they made some porridge in the same pot. Wang Xuan started adding firewood to the stove.

After watching her mother put everything into the pot, Mingyuan finally felt at ease to go and secure seats. Wang Zhenhe took Mingcheng to the vegetable garden to harvest the mature potatoes. He even picked the potato vines and laid them out in the sun on the street for future use as fuel.

The steamed potato cakes indeed had a different flavor from the fried ones. They were less oily but had a more refreshing and delightful aroma. As everyone took a bite of the potato cakes wrapped in glasswort, the fragrance of the glasswort infused the cakes, leaving a long-lasting aftertaste.

“Mom, it’s really delicious. Why didn’t you make this before?” The children are curious why you didn’t make such delicious food for them so Wang Qian asked.

Zhang Lan sighed and spoke of past grievances. “Your grandmother couldn’t stand the smell of glasswort, so we couldn’t use it in our cooking. That’s why you’ve never had it before.”

Wang Qian glanced at Wang Zhenhe and said with a smile, “Dad, why didn’t you inherit Grandma’s dominance? If you had, our family wouldn’t be like this.”

When his wife brought up the past, Wang Zhenhe felt a bit embarrassed. He also thought the glasswort cakes were delicious, but his mother wouldn’t allow it. He felt fortunate that they had separated, otherwise the children would have missed out.

“Hehe, my dear, I’m still the same. If I were like your grandmother, you would all hate me. It’s hard to find anyone like her in the world,” Wang Zhenhe said.

After dinner, Zuo He and Mingyuan took Hao Lianchun to watch a movie, while Zhang Lan was left with her young daughter at home to accompany her. In reality, the mother and daughter were there to clear the remaining roots in the space, so they could plant the next crop of crops as soon as possible.

Zhang Lan used a hoe to dig up the roots, while Wang Qian followed behind, knocking the roots together to remove the soil. Once dried, the roots could be used as firewood, ensuring nothing went to waste.

After working for a long time, they cleaned up and went to watch the movie. However, halfway there, Wang Qian seemed to hear the cry of a baby.

“Mom, what’s that sound?” she asked.

Zhang Lan chuckled and said, “Silly girl, that’s the call of a wild cat looking for a mate. Doesn’t it sound a bit like a child crying?”

Wang Qian finally understood that the sound she heard was the mating call of a cat. It was quite unpleasant.

After the movie, as the crowd dispersed, Zhang Lan and the others gathered and slowly made their way back.

Wang Qian noticed a couple sneaking into the cornfield when no one was looking. She thought the man looked familiar, somewhat like Wang Zhenguo.

If it really was Wang Zhenguo, he was quite bold to be sneaking into the cornfield at this time. If caught by the patrol, she couldn’t help but imagine the scene of him being paraded around with broken shoes. It made her chuckle.

“Sister, why are you laughing?” Mingyuan asked, seeing her smiling foolishly.

“Brother, let me tell you…” She leaned in and whispered her discovery to Mingyuan.

Upon hearing this, Mingyuan, mischievous, picked up a few stones from the roadside and began throwing them into the cornfield. The sounds from inside abruptly stopped, but only the siblings noticed. The others were still chatting about the movie they had just watched.

As for what Wang Zhenguo was doing in there, they no longer cared. He had no relationship with them since he had hurt Zhang Lan.

After Hao Lianchun spent three days at the Wangs’ house, she returned to the city, but Zuo He remained. According to Wang Zhenhe, their family already had many children, so having one or two more didn’t matter. He wanted Zuo He to stay and keep Mingyuan company, as he liked the boy.

Yesterday evening, there was another heavy rain, but the Wang family now lived in a new house, so they didn’t have to worry about not having grass to burn the next day.

However, early in the morning, Zhao Xia opened the back window and started shouting, “Sister San, do you have any grass at your place? We’ve run out of grass to burn.”

Three little heads peeked out from behind Zhao Xia. They were her three children, two boys and a girl. The youngest girl was a year older than Wang Qian. The children looked just as they did when the families separated, thin and pale. “Third Aunt, Third Aunt,” the three siblings joined their mother in calling out.

Zhang Lan heard their cries and quickly brought out a large basket of grass for them.

“Is this enough?” she asked.

Zhang Lan handed over the basket of grass. “Thank you, Third Aunt. Thank you, Aunt,” Zhao Xia and the children thanked her profusely.

Zhang Lan patted the little girl from the Liu family. The sight of the frail and thin child was heart-wrenching. “Xiao Li, are you hungry?”

The little girl nodded. Through the back window, Zhang Lan saw that there was no food in the Liu family’s pot, only a plate of soybeans. “Zhao Xia, are you planning to fry the soybeans for the children?” she asked.

Zhao Xia looked embarrassed. “Aunt, I won’t hide it from you. We couldn’t save enough grain this month, so we can only use soybeans to fill our stomachs.”