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Chapter 10
Lin Hongna was not concerned with Gu Shi’an’s troubles.
She was thinking about something else.
No one expected that the massive commune movement would drag the struggling country into another bottomless abyss.
It had been only about ten years since the founding of the country. Whether in the city or countryside, everyone was tightening their belts. City dwellers were somewhat better off, with one or two people in each household consuming commercial grain, with the government supplying grain and oil tickets. In the countryside, farmers could only earn work points by working in the fields, waking up early and working hard all year, only to receive enough grain to barely feed their families.
Under normal circumstances, people could endure such hardships, thinking that life would improve when the children grew up.
But the government implemented a commune canteen policy, forcing every household to melt down their iron pots to make steel and eat from communal pots.
At first, the commune canteens were quite successful. The government had grain reserves, providing three dishes and soup, with plenty of white flour buns. The commune members ate heartily, taking buns home if they couldn’t finish them, and leftover food was thrown into the slop bucket to be fed to pigs!
However, after a few months, in 1959, the country ran out of reserves. In 1960, there was a severe drought in the north, and floods in the south. In 1961, the country experienced unprecedented floods, with the Yellow River and Songhua River overflowing, destroying millions of hectares of farmland. Combined with Soviet Union pressure, there was a three-year grain shortage, and people starved everywhere.
In her previous life, Lin Hongna was driven out of the Gu family, her family blaming her for bringing disgrace to them, and they didn’t even let her enter their home.
Lin Hongna, holding the hundred yuan given by Gu Mancang, became a temporary worker at a powerless power plant, enduring three years of barely scraping by. Initially, there was some relief grain from above, but once that was gone, she had to survive on bean cakes for livestock, hard mixed grain buns, elm bark, sweet potato vines, wild grasses, and fruits. She ate whatever she could, no matter how difficult to swallow, even tightening her stomach with a rope when there was nothing left.
She shuddered at the memory of how harsh those years were.
And Lin Yao, because she married into the Sun family, surprisingly didn’t go hungry during the three years of disasters!
This was because Sun’s family’s brother-in-law was the head of the county grain station.
No matter the era, those working at the grain station never had to worry about food.
Thinking of this, Lin Hongna’s gaze turned cold.
However, thinking of her cousin, who had replaced her by marrying into the courtyard, Lin Hongna couldn’t help but smile.
Yes, she had already taken Lin Yao’s good fortune, hadn’t she?
Lin Yao married Gu Shi’an, while she was courting Sun Jialiang.
Men are like cats that steal fish. Lin Hongna gave a little sweetener, and Sun Jialiang had already promised to look for an opportunity to make Lin Hongwu a permanent worker.
Lin Hongna wasn’t motivated by any false sentiment of sibling affection. She was only interested in money!
Lin Hongwu had agreed, as long as he could become a permanent worker, he would give half of his salary to her.
Compared to those vague ideals, nothing was more practical than money.
Lin Hongna thought she had money in hand. She planned to find an opportunity to disguise herself and visit the black market, buying as much coarse grain and flour as she could, and store them in the abandoned cave on the back mountain. Relying on others wasn’t as reliable as relying on oneself. In these times, no one could depend on anyone else; it was essential to fill one’s own stomach first.
As for her parents and elder brother at home, whether they lived or died was up to fate.
*
In August, the jasmine was in bloom, and Yunshui County remained hot and sultry.
In an era without air conditioning or electric fans, sleeping in the stuffy, steamy courtyard at night and waking up from the heat was a common occurrence.
Whenever Lin Yao woke up in the middle of the night, it was always because of the heat. Unable to sleep, she would get up, pour a small pot of hot water into a basin, mix in some cold water, wash her face, wipe the sweat off her body, gulp down a glass of boiled water, and then fan herself with a hand fan until she could finally fall asleep.
Fortunately, the commune’s large canteen had finally opened.
The head chef of the canteen was none other than Zheng Dacheng’s apprentice and nephew, Zheng Lei—commonly known as Little Zheng.
Although Zheng Dacheng was known for his somewhat arrogant demeanor, his skills were undeniably impressive, and he had no complaints about his own nephew.
He worked as a master chef at the steel rolling mill, where there were many people eyeing his position. With over a thousand employees at the mill, only someone with real skills could hold their own.
Little Zheng Lei had a baby face and always smiled at people, which made him much more likable than his uncle.
On the canteen’s opening day, Little Zheng Lei showed off his skills.
Initially, Director Ge was worried. He thought that such a young chef, who had only recently graduated and was still using a large iron pot, might not be up to the task and could potentially ruin the reputation of the Second Commune’s canteen!
However, when Little Zheng Lei started working in the kitchen, Director Ge observed from a corner.
To his surprise, Little Zheng Lei was incredibly skilled. He handled the big fire, cooked with oil, thickened the sauces, and even the tossing of the wok was done to perfection.
With only Little Zheng Lei in the kitchen, it was not enough for the hundred or so people in the Second Commune. Women from the neighborhood took turns helping out at the canteen, with tasks like tending the fire, chopping vegetables, kneading dough, and steaming buns, all clearly divided.
The canteen operated with a full meal policy, which Director Ge had announced in a meeting.
They steamed multiple baskets of buns at a time, with the kitchen filled with smoke and steam.
Little Zheng Lei prepared three dishes and a soup:
Braised potatoes with meat, scallion tofu, cold wood ear mushrooms, and winter melon pork liver soup. The aroma was delightful, and the food tasted even better.
Director Ge was so pleased that his cheeks ached from smiling.
Little Zheng Lei was amazing!
The canteen was packed with hungry commune members. Everyone carried their food containers and rushed to the canteen. It was like a scene of thousands of troops rushing for a single plank.
Of course, with such a delicious meal of vegetables, meat, and fluffy white buns, if you arrived late, you might not get anything.
Gu Shidong led the charge, clutching his food container and rushing to the front.
Back then, eating at the commune canteen required standing in line.
With her youngest son leading the way, Zhang Cuilan was not in a hurry at all. She even had time to pull weeds in her small vegetable garden.
Recently, the steel mill had heavy production tasks, so Gu Mancang mostly ate at the mill’s canteen three times a day.
Under the blazing August sun, even though it was late afternoon, the sun outside was still scorching. Lin Yao’s fair skin was getting even more radiant after being sunbathed.
Gu Chunmei brought two large straw hats from home, one for each sister to shield them from the sun.
Zhang Cuilan also had a hat.
Gu Shidong, seeing this, complained loudly, “Second sister, why do I have no straw hat? You’re so biased!”
Gu Chunmei replied, “What do you need a straw hat for, little brat? Just forget it.”
Gu Shidong felt wronged. Why couldn’t he have a straw hat like the others?
The child mumbled, thinking of not washing his feet at night to irritate his sister.
Zhang Cuilan swatted him with her hand and said, “Little brat, what are you thinking? If you don’t wash your feet tonight, I’ll deal with you!”
Gu Shidong’s eyes widened, “Mom, how did you know what I was thinking?”
Zhang Cuilan snorted, “You’re my child, of course, I know what you’re thinking! As soon as you pout, I know what you’re up to!”
Gu Shidong: “………”
The commune canteen set up over twenty red-painted tables, with four people per table. The tables were filled with fragrant dishes, winter melon soup, and wheat-flavored white buns that made everyone salivate.
Before the meal started, Director Ge held a brief meeting, emphasizing that the commune canteen was to allow everyone to eat their fill but strictly prohibit wasting food. If anyone wasted food, they would be severely punished.
Having worked all day, everyone was already starving. The tantalizing aroma of meat from the table made them inattentive to Director Ge’s nagging. As soon as he finished speaking, they quickly dug in, like hungry wolves.
In the blink of an eye, the dish of braised potatoes and meat was half gone, and many buns had been eaten. Some elderly women, not fearing the heat, even stuffed buns into their pockets.
Director Ge turned a blind eye to a bit of food being hidden away, as long as it wasn’t wasteful. After all, if someone got hungry at night, they could have it as a snack.
Since the canteen was now providing meals, neighbors didn’t cook at home.
Gu Shidong, having wolfed down two large buns, noticed the old lady from the Wang family stuffing five or six white buns into her coat, her belly bulging. Didn’t she find the freshly steamed buns too hot?
Gu Shidong had a sudden idea and tried to stuff buns into his clothes just like the old lady.
Lin Yao looked over in surprise, “Dongzi, what are you doing?”
“Sister-in-law, I’m stuffing buns to take home for later.”
Zhang Cuilan’s face darkened as she scolded, “Look at you, stop imitating those shameless people!”
“Okay.”
Gu Shidong obediently stopped.
Lin Yao, holding her chopsticks, thought about what Director Ge had said about not wasting food and felt something was off.
*
By evening, the heat had subsided, and the once-quiet courtyard was bustling with activity again.
A breeze had picked up outside. After a busy day, Uncle Mancang came home covered in grime and oil from the machinery he worked on. His large hands were smeared with machine oil.
Gu Shidong eagerly ran over to fetch water for him to wash his hands and moved hid dad’s usual bamboo chair to the yard so he could rest.
Gu Mancang was somewhat taken aback, as his younger son wasn’t usually this considerate.
After Gu Mancang finished washing his hands, he learned that his son’s sandals were worn out and he needed a new pair. Gu Mancang agreed to buy him a new sandal with a smile.
Gu Shidong was overjoyed and bounced around.
Zhang Cuilan gave her youngest son a disapproving look. With mosquitoes buzzing in the hot summer night, Lin Yao needed a bath. Gu Chunmei lit some mugwort and used it to fumigate both the inside and outside of the bathing tent.
Even so, Lin Yao still felt there were mosquitoes.
Seeing her wrinkle her pretty face, Gu Chunmei couldn’t help but complain.
“You really are full of troubles. Just wait, I won’t take care of it. I’ll let my brother handle the mosquitoes when he gets back!”
Lin Yao chuckled, thinking Gu Chunmei was just joking.
Little did she know, this turned out to be prophetic. A few days later, Gu Shi’an really did return.
***
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Ayalee[Translator]
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