Chapter 11

After leaving the black market, Lin Kexin hurried around town looking for an empty house. She needed a place big enough to store ten thousand jin of grain, a temporary warehouse.

She was familiar with the black market, but not the town. After wandering in circles for quite a while without finding a house for rent, her hunger finally drove her into a noodle shop. The shop’s big sister, after learning she was looking for a place, recommended an old lady named Granny Xu who lived on the next street.

“Both of Granny Xu’s sons died on the battlefield. The houses she built for their future marriages are still empty. You can go ask her, maybe she’ll be willing to rent one out.”

Overjoyed, Lin Kexin thanked her profusely. After finishing her noodles, she followed the directions to Granny Xu’s home.

Things went smoothly. Granny Xu lived in her old courtyard house, while the newly built homes for her late sons sat on the very edge of town where few people went. The location was quite private.

Lin Kexin told Granny Xu she only wanted to rent the house as storage and promised not to damage anything. In the end, Granny Xu agreed to rent it for 2 yuan a month.

After securing the house, Lin Kexin went to the supply and marketing cooperative. She bought two jin of candies, two jin of sponge cakes, and some cookies and snacks. Since she was starting work tomorrow, she wanted to prepare some food ahead of time. If she was ever too tired to cook, she could just snack a little.

When she was about to head back, she found a quiet spot near the ox cart and pulled out pots, bowls, and daily utensils from her space, packing them in a large sack. Then she took out a bundle containing a few sets of clothes and two pairs of shoes.

The ox cart uncle came over when he saw her with so many things, laughing as he helped.

“Girl, why are you buying so much stuff?”

“Hehe, my family sent these over,” Lin Kexin dodged with a smile. Once everything was loaded, she pulled out a handful of candy from her pocket and offered it to him.

“Uncle, thank you. Please take these sweets!”

“Oh no, how could an old man like me eat something so precious? Keep it for yourself,” the uncle waved his hands, even hiding his hands behind his back to avoid taking them.

“Uncle, please take them. Actually, I also want to ask you for a favor.”

“Go ahead, just tell me,” the old man said honestly.

“It’s like this. Tomorrow at noon, after work, I need to come into town again. Could you bring me?”

Normally, the ox cart only came twice a day, morning and evening. At noon, people rarely needed a ride, so the uncle usually stayed home doing chores.

“Ah, that’s all? No problem at all, I’ll take you tomorrow,” he chuckled.

Lin Kexin smiled warmly at his simple honesty.

“Then you must accept these candies. Take them home for your grandchildren. After all, I’m asking you to give up your rest time. If you don’t take them, I’ll be upset!”

Thinking of his two little grandsons, the uncle finally accepted, chuckling as he tucked the candy into his bag.

“Alright, alright, I won’t argue anymore. Then tomorrow, when I take you, I won’t charge you the fare!”

Normally, one ride cost two fen, so a round trip was just four fen. The candy Lin Kexin gave him was worth far more.

“Fine, fine, whatever you say!” she replied, playing along.

Since he wouldn’t take the fare, she decided she’d bring him some pumpkins, tomatoes, and yellow blossoms from her space next time. She wasn’t about to let him lose out.

Back at the educated youth compound, Lin Kexin found several villagers working in front of the cave dwellings. She quickly dropped her things in the dormitory and went over.

“Lin Zhiqing, you’re back?” Li Tao was busy shoveling dirt, working up a sweat in just his undershirt.

“Mm. I was delayed in town. Did you invite everyone for lunch?” she asked guiltily, not expecting the captain to have gathered help so quickly. She thought people would come tomorrow at the earliest.

“No, the villagers came after lunch. Brother Wei said he’d treat everyone tonight. He just went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy groceries,” Li Tao replied.

Lin Kexin nodded in relief. At least she hadn’t left them unprepared.

“Good timing, I brought a wok. Li Zhiqing, can you ask someone to build a stove here? That way we can cook dinner for everyone right on site.”

She gestured a circle with her hands.

“About this big. Since we’ll need a stove eventually, better to build it now while we have help.”

“Got it, I’ll call someone,” Li Tao grinned, then called out to a nearby uncle mixing mud.

“Uncle Yongquan, can you help us set up a stove? We want to cook for everyone tonight.”

“Sure,” Uncle Yongquan wiped his sweat. “Building the stove is easy, but it’ll take about three days to set properly before you can use it. If you’re in a hurry, I can whip up a temporary one so you can manage for a couple days.”

Lin Kexin and Li Tao exchanged an embarrassed look. They had thought it would be usable right away.

“Thank you, Uncle Yongquan,” Lin Kexin said, then went back to helping with whatever tasks she could manage.

When Wei Dongming returned with the groceries, Lin Kexin fetched her pots, knives, and utensils to start preparing dinner.

Yunying, just back from work, wanted to help, but Lin Kexin told her to rest and just tend the fire later.

Wei Dongming had bought two jin of pork, a big winter melon, and some cornmeal—perfect for cooking in a big pot.

Lin Kexin sliced the pork thinly, chopped the winter melon into thick slices, and set them aside. She kneaded the cornmeal into dough, then asked Yunying to start the fire.

The temporary stove Uncle Yongquan had built was indeed simple: just a circle of hardened mud with a hole for firewood in the middle, the wok sitting neatly on top.

Once the wok was hot, Lin Kexin rendered fat from pork scraps, stir-fried the meat, then added the winter melon and seasonings. She even secretly pulled some vermicelli from her space, tucked them into her bag, and “took them out” again to wash and add to the pot.

She flattened the corn dough into thin cakes and stuck them along the side of the hot wok, covering everything with a lid.

“Kexin, it smells amazing! You’re such a good cook,” Yunying said, swallowing at the aroma. It had been ages since she’d smelled meat cooking.

“If you think it smells good, eat more later!” Lin Kexin beamed at the praise.

When the timing felt right, she lifted the lid. A rush of savory steam—meat, vermicelli, and corn cakes all blended together—wafted out, making even the villagers working inside the cave dwellings crane their necks.

“Dinner’s ready!” she called.

She dished everything out, glad she had enough bowls from the Lin family stash; otherwise, people would’ve had to crowd around the pot.

Yunying, being thoughtful, fetched a basin of water from the educated youth dorm so everyone could wash their hands.

“Now this is a treat. Lin Zhiqing really knows how to cook!”

“Only educated youths are this generous. Usually when we help someone build, no one ever treats us to meat!”

Hearing their praise, Lin Kexin quickly waved her hands.

“Uncles, don’t thank me. The meat was bought by Wei Zhiqing—I just cooked it.”

Wei Dongming, happily eating, chuckled when he heard his name mentioned.

“You’ve all helped us build our cave homes. The least we can do is feed you well.”