Xu Ning planned to go into the city today. After arriving, she first rode her bicycle to check out the black market. The place was bustling, and everyone seemed to be on edge. Deciding not to linger, she rode her bike directly to the supply and marketing cooperative instead.

It was peak hours, with plenty of people inside the store. Xu Ning waited outside for a while, and when the crowd thinned out, she walked in to find Su Hongying.

The moment Su Hongying saw her, she greeted her warmly, “Xiao Ning, come in quickly! Are you cold?”

“I’m not cold, Hongying-jie. I came to see you today because I have a little something to discuss. Do you think we can find a quiet place to talk?” Xu Ning said, carrying a basket on her back.

Su Hongying led her into a small room in the warehouse, motioning for her to sit down. “We can talk here. There’s no one around.”

Xu Ning pulled a bedsheet out of her basket and showed it to her. “Hongying-jie, have a look at this bedsheet. What do you think? How much could I sell it for?”

Su Hongying unfolded the sheet and examined it closely. “This is a nice one. It’s obvious that it came from a big factory. Sis, where did you get this? Goods like this are usually allocated to big cities. They rarely make it to small counties like ours.”

Xu Ning explained, “This came from the south. I have a classmate down there who has some connections. He asked me if I was interested, and he could get a few for me.”

Su Hongying’s eyes lit up. “Really, sis? How many can you get?”

Xu Ning thought for a moment before replying, “This time, he managed to bring in 20 sets. Each one costs 18 yuan. He was originally planning to take them to Haishi. If you’re interested, I can ask him.”

Excited, Su Hongying grabbed her hand and said, “Sis, I’ll take all 20 sets! When can I get the goods?”

Xu Ning continued, “Hongying-jie, the bedsheets are still with my friend. I’ll ask him if he can give you all 20. But you can’t tell anyone that you got them from me. I’m not in this business. It’s just that my friend gave me one, and I thought it was quite nice. When I asked him where he bought it, he saw that I liked it and told me I could reach out to him if I wanted more. He has the right connections. Since you’ve helped me a lot, I came to ask if you’d be interested.”

“Don’t worry, sis. I won’t tell anyone that I got them from you. There are too many people around here. I’ll take the rest of the day off and head home. You can bring them directly to my place,” Su Hongying assured her.

Finding a secluded spot, Xu Ning pulled out 20 bedsheets. She didn’t plan to sell them at the black market—too risky. She didn’t want to take any chances. With the bedsheets in her basket, she headed to the address that Su Hongying had given her. After showing the bedsheets to Su Hongying, she received 360 yuan in payment. Su Hongying, full of warmth, invited her to stay for a meal, but Xu Ning made an excuse, saying she had other matters to attend to, and left.

After leaving Su Hongying’s house, Xu Ning went straight back to the village. Her basket now contained two kilograms of milk powder, five cotton hats, five pairs of cotton gloves, and two thermos flasks, all of which she had taken from her secret stash.

Recently, she, Xu An, and Xu Mo had been drinking a bowl of milk powder every day, so their supply was running low. The thermos flasks were meant for Grandpa Qi’s household since they didn’t have any.

When Su Ning got home, she organized the items she had taken from her stash. Since it was still early, she grabbed her basket and headed up the mountain.

As she reached the foot of the mountain, she saw Wei Lanlan and another female educated youth, each carrying a load of firewood down the path. Wei Lanlan, upon seeing her, happily called out, “Xu Zhiqing, are you going to gather firewood too? Are you going back up the mountain this afternoon? Let’s go together!”

Xu Ning smiled and replied, “Yes, I’ll go in the afternoon.”

“Great! I’ll come find you then!” Wei Lanlan said, as she and the other female educated youth carried their firewood down the mountain.

By the time Xu Ning found Xu An, he had already chopped a large pile of wood and was just about to tie it up to carry back. Xu Ning handed him a piece of egg cake and told him to sit down and eat while she would carry the wood herself.

After lunch, Xu Ning and Xu An organized the firewood they had chopped that morning near the woodshed. It wasn’t long before Wei Lanlan and the female educated youth who had been gathering firewood with her earlier came over from the youth camp. Wei Lanlan introduced the girl to Xu Ning, saying, “This is Yang Xiaomei, from the eastern province. We both came to Yushu Village in the same batch.”

Yang Xiaomei seemed to have a more reserved personality. She spoke softly, with a gentle voice, and her gaze appeared clear and calm.

Xu Ning asked them if they wanted to head up the mountain now or sit for a while inside. Both Wei Lanlan and Yang Xiaomei said they’d rather head up the mountain right away. Earlier in the season, the youths from the commune hadn’t gathered much firewood, thinking they could always go back up if they ran out. But when Chen Xiangdong warned them that the mountain would be closed off by heavy snow soon, everyone grew anxious. Now, only two people stayed behind at the camp to cook, while the rest went up the mountain to gather more firewood.

Xu Ning locked the door and led Xu An and the two women up the mountain. As they walked, Wei Lanlan, looking worried, asked, “Xu Zhiqing, is it really that cold here in winter? Chen Xiangdong said the snow can get over a meter deep, and sometimes you can’t even push the door open.”

Xu Ning nodded. “We came here just after the New Year, and that was the coldest time. The snow was thick, and we had to be brought over by the township officials on sleds. Back then, my brother and I had thin cotton clothes, so we didn’t dare go outside. When it was our turn to cook, Chen Xiangdong, Sun Hao, and Ge Hongbin all helped us out.”

She then glanced at the two women’s cotton clothes and added, “Your cotton clothes seem too thin. You should buy some more cotton and thicken your jackets and pants. If you don’t have enough ration tickets, you can ask some of the village women if they have any extra cotton and trade for some.”

Yang Xiaomei, surprised, said, “These are thin? I already added extra cotton before I came.”

Xu Ning smiled. “It’s much colder here. During the coldest days, the temperature drops to minus 30 or 40 degrees. I remember when I first arrived, my cotton clothes were even thicker than yours, and I wore every layer I had. Even then, just going to the bathroom and coming back would leave me frozen like an ice block.”

Thinking for a moment, Wei Lanlan turned to Xu Ning and said, “Xu Zhiqing, we’ve only been here a short time, and we don’t know the villagers very well. Do you have any good connections with the local women who might have extra cotton? We’re willing to pay for it.”

Yang Xiaomei also chimed in, saying she wanted to buy some as well.

Xu Ning reassured them, “Most of the village women are quite kind. The ones I know well are Aunt Dashuan and Aunt Xiangyun from Uncle Hongjun’s house. If you want to buy some cotton, I can take you to their houses and ask if they have extra.”

Both women eagerly nodded, grateful for Xu Ning’s help.