Chapter 17: Making Brown Sugar

Wang Shuning put the soybeans and pig’s trotters to stew and went to the living room. “Aunt Zhu, do you have any more eggs? I want to buy ten.”

“Let me see,” He Zhuzhu went into the room and returned with a jar of eggs. “Only seven left. Weren’t there five yesterday?”

Wang Shuning had bought ten eggs from He Zhuzhu before the dinner party; five were used for the chili scrambled eggs. She wouldn’t eat five eggs in a day.

“My mother put half a pound of tea leaves in my bag before I left. I don’t drink much tea; I’ll make tea eggs for breakfast.” Actually, Song Guiying had given her the tea leaves to impress villagers and build connections. Wang Shuning realized that, given the village’s economic conditions, half a pound of pork would be more appreciated than tea leaves.

He Zhuzhu put the eggs in Wang Shuning’s porcelain bowl. She’d heard of tea eggs but never made them; tea leaves were too precious.

After dinner, Wang Shuning boiled the eggs, cracking the shells slightly, letting them soak after turning off the heat, then transferring them to a clay pot to cool.

She then put on her work clothes and, with a machete, began cutting sugarcane in her space.

The sugarcane in her space was different; she could cut a section from the base, and it would regrow in a week.

She peeled and chopped the sugarcane into small pieces, putting them into the juicer. The light green juice smelled intensely sweet.

She filtered it through a fine mesh to remove the pulp.

She pulled the bucket out of the space, poured the juice into a large pot, and boiled it until it darkened and thickened.

When it reached the right consistency, she poured it into a tray to cool and solidify.

The wooden house had a flour mill and a rice mill; she could process wheat into flour and rice, simply harvesting the crops and processing them.

Making brown sugar was more laborious than making flour or rice, but she had a juicer.

Brown sugar in the supply and marketing cooperative cost fifty cents a pound, plus sugar coupons—double the price of rice and wheat. It was in high demand because it was good for women and pregnant women.

Brown sugar had a better market than rice or wheat, which is why Wang Shuning made it.

Her space had many crops, but few were sellable in town. Apples and oranges were common in the supply and marketing cooperative but had few buyers, and the black market had none.

This was due to supply shortages and the village’s limited disposable income.

To access the black market, she needed necessities.

Wang Shuning also planned to raise chickens and ducks in her space; buying eggs was expensive, and she wanted to eat chicken. She wouldn’t raise pigs because she couldn’t slaughter them.

The sweet potato field was finished; today was the rice paddy. She had to dress warmly while harvesting rice to avoid itching.

“Your eyes are droopy, and your face looks bad. When did you sleep last night?” Wang Shuning asked Zhang Meili, who had yawned three times.

The village offered little besides work and meals; she should have slept early.

Zhang Meili complained, “I don’t know who to blame. Last night, Zhao Leyi and Liu Sicun came to Jingyi and my room and said inappropriate things. I was so angry I couldn’t sleep.”

“Why did they come to your house? Didn’t they think the rent was too expensive? Did they change their minds?” They didn’t speak to each other except on the first day.

Zhang Meili’s eyes showed envy. “Shuning, you and Lü Beichu are both from Beijing. Is his family rich?”

Wang Shuning frowned. “They’re probably well-off. I don’t know much about his family. Why are you asking?”

Lü Beichu’s family were workers; his father was a deputy factory director. He had a sister, which is why he went to the countryside.

The novel only mentioned his good family background and that he doted on his sister. They weren’t patriarchal, which is why he was sent to the countryside.

His father was old and would retire soon. Lü Beichu and Guo Jingyi would open a restaurant in Chaoyang County, then in City D, until his father’s death and the opening of the economy, when they’d return to Beijing.

Zhang Meili whispered, “Yesterday at noon, Lü Beichu gave Jingyi a watch. She didn’t accept it, but Liu Sicun and Zhao Leyi saw it. I think they’re interested in Lü Beichu and taunted Jingyi.”

Wang Shuning’s eyes widened. She wanted a watch; it was inconvenient not knowing the time. Lü Beichu just gave one away—typical of the male lead. “I didn’t see him wearing one on the train.”

“Wearing a watch is too flashy. If it weren’t for Jingyi, he wouldn’t have taken it out,” Zhang Meili said, remembering that she thought Wang Shuning’s family was the wealthiest. Lü Beichu had given Guo Jingyi an expensive watch because she said it was inconvenient not knowing the time; they weren’t even a couple yet.

Guo Jingyi wasn’t one to take things lying down. “What happened? Did Guo Jingyi let them scold her?”

Zhang Meili said, “Jingyi didn’t lose. She scolded them back, saying they were meddling. But it was infuriating. I couldn’t sleep thinking about them.”

Wang Shuning felt a cold sweat. Zhao Leyi and Liu Sicun weren’t kind; even if they knew Lü Bei Chu’s family was wealthy, it was too late to be nice.

Zhang Meili agreed. Thinking of Guo Jingyi getting a good room, she felt a little down.

After an hour, Wang Shuning sat on the ridge to rest under a tree. The rice stalks were beautiful.