Yan Runzhi looked at Jiang Xinglei, a handsome young man of seventeen or eighteen, who always seemed utterly exhausted.

She felt genuinely sympathetic. “Eat more, then. Fill yourself up. I cut extra slices of cured meat just for you.”

Jiang Xinglei, grinning, said, “Auntie, can I call you mom? You’re even kinder than my real mom.” At least she was much kinder than his own sister.

Yan Runzhi laughed, “As long as you’re happy, you can call me whatever you like. We’re not strict about those things here.”

In the past, they did follow rules, but what did that get them?

So now, rules didn’t matter as much. Happiness was what counted.

Jiang Lin gave Jiang Xinglei a stern look. “Remember to study after dinner.”

Jiang Xinglei was taken aback. “Why do I have to study?”

His sister never stopped torturing him.

She had even brought his old schoolbooks to the countryside.

He had thought they were for Dabao and Xiaobao, but it turned out they were for him!

Jiang Lin said, “Meng Yiyi is studying hard. I can’t fall behind, can I? Besides, I’ve been writing letters to Mom and Dad, boasting about you.”

The college entrance exam was coming up next year.

Jiang Lin was young and wanted to give it a shot, and Jiang Xinglei couldn’t escape it either.

But Jiang Lin didn’t want to relearn the basics herself, so she pushed Jiang Xinglei to study hard.

She made him review all the key points so that he could explain them to her once he had a good grasp of them.

Jiang Xinglei protested, “Then you should study!” He was nearly in tears. “Sis, dear sister, can’t you stop torturing me? I graduated and came to the countryside. Isn’t that bad enough? And now you humiliate me by making me study. What’s the point of studying?”

Jiang Lin replied, “You need to pass exams to get a job in a factory, don’t you? If you don’t study, what will you rely on? You can’t expect Mom to retire and give you her job, can you?”

“No,” Jiang Xinglei muttered, hanging his head. “There’s still our second brother.”

“Then study hard,” Jiang Lin said with a mischievous smile. “If you don’t behave, I’ll make sure you go hungry.”

“Devil Lin,” Jiang Xinglei muttered.

Wen Sheng, unhappy, said, “Don’t speak ill of my mom. My mom is the best.”

Jiang Xinglei quickly corrected himself, “I was wrong. Goddess Lin.”

Wen Sheng added, “Mom, I’ll supervise his studying. Don’t worry, if he doesn’t do well, I’ll smack his hand!”

Jiang Lin patted his arm, pleased. “Wen Sheng, you’re wonderful. Thank you.”

Dabao piped up, “I can teach you to recite Tang poems.”

Xiaobao added, “I can teach you to write characters like ‘population,’ ‘hand,’ ‘up,’ ‘down,’ ‘big,’ ‘small,’ ‘how many’…”

Jiang Xinglei felt utterly defeated. “I just want to die. Everyone here can bully me.”

Luckily, Yan Runzhi’s lovingly prepared meals warmed Jiang Xinglei’s cold heart.

Even though it was just simple cabbage and tofu, it tasted so delicious.

The cabbage was sweet and fresh, and the tofu had a rich texture, making it especially satisfying.

Combined with the fragrant and savory cured meat, it truly comforted his battered little heart.

After dinner, they habitually engaged in some light activity to aid digestion.

Jiang Lin didn’t let Jiang Xinglei off the hook; she made him go to press cotton.

The team had divided the year’s cotton harvest, which had been dried in the sun right after being picked in the fall.

Each person got five pounds of ginned cotton, totaling fifteen pounds, plus an extra three pounds as a labor bonus.

By pressing it themselves, they could keep the cotton seeds and get more ginned cotton.

However, they still had to fluff the cotton before using it to make quilts and cotton-padded jackets.

Jiang Xinglei took five pounds of cotton to the team’s custodian to borrow the cotton press.

Five pounds of cotton didn’t take long to press with a hand-operated cotton press, about the same time as a walk.

Once done, he brought it home, ready to press another five pounds next time.

Jiang Lin waited for him and supervised his study. “Don’t waste time. Studying at night requires burning oil, and that costs money.”

Jiang Xinglei grumbled, “Then why don’t you let me study during the day?”

Jiang Lin replied, “Sure, you can study during the day, and make bricks at night to save oil.”

Jiang Xinglei sighed, “I’ll study now.”

Studying during the day was better than making bricks at night.

After bathing, Jiang Lin wanted to wash her undergarments but couldn’t find the camisole she had changed out of in the morning.

Sometimes, the heated kang made her sweat at night, so she changed early and left the camisole in the courtyard to wash later.

She quietly asked Yan Runzhi if she had mistakenly collected it.

Yan Runzhi replied, “I didn’t see it when I brought in the clothes tonight.” She asked which one.

Jiang Lin described the thin white cotton camisole with small cherry and cherry blossom embroidery that Yan Runzhi had sewn for her.

Cheng Rushan particularly liked it.

Yan Runzhi suggested, “Could it have been blown away by the wind? Let’s go look for it.”

During this season, the local winds were strong, and it was possible for the clothing to be blown away if not secured properly.

They went outside to search but couldn’t find the camisole.

Their yard was uniquely positioned, with no neighbors on the east or west sides.

The west side had trees like poplars, willows, and catalpas, while the east side was a small open space for drying things, with homes further beyond.

Wensheng immediately grew concerned, “Could a thief have stolen it?”

However, everything else in the house was fine.

The locks were intact, and nothing else was missing from the yard, including the other clothes hanging out to dry.

The family didn’t keep large amounts of money at home, preferring to store it in the county credit union, making it unlikely for a thief to find anything valuable.

Plus, Cheng Rushan regularly came home, which should deter any potential thieves.

But her camisole was indeed missing! Could it be that some pervert had stolen it?

The next day, Jiang Lin asked the kids playing nearby if they had seen anyone unusual, but they all said no.

The men and strong women were all working at the brick kiln, the older children were in school, and the younger ones attended the nursery school.

It was too cold for the elderly women to be outside, and those with nimble fingers were busy with embroidery at the village center.

There were hardly any idle people around.

Jiang Lin and her family checked again and confirmed that nothing else was missing.

They figured it might have been misplaced somewhere among their belongings. Sometimes things just got lost and turned up later.

A few days later, Jiang Lin had gathered enough embroidered items and decided to bike to the county town to deliver them to Tao Zhen and settle the previous payment.

Tao Zhen, with her hair wrapped in an embroidered scarf, looked quite cheerful and her temper had noticeably improved.

She no longer yelled at people who cut in line.

Jiang Lin waited until she was free, then approached with a smile, “Have you been taking some secret medicine lately? You look much prettier.”

Tao Zhen was naturally pretty but her temper made her appear somewhat harsh.

It was a bad habit developed over years of dealing with work stress.

Although her job was desirable and envied by many, it required her to interact with anxious, cash-strapped, and often irritable people, which made her irritable too.

Repeating the same explanations hundreds of times a day drove her crazy.

But now, dressed up nicely, people admired her beauty when they came to buy fabric.

Their appreciative glances improved her mood, making her more tolerant even if they made mistakes.

She smiled and touched the scarf on her head. “Isn’t it nice? Let me tell you, these days, a lot of people are buying them. You know, they all say black leather shoes, white socks, and a ‘De Liang’ handkerchief are must-haves for girls. When the supply and marketing cooperative from the city came down to buy, everyone wanted them.”

Especially after knocking down those few people recently, the political environment has relaxed its suppression on culture a lot.

People with culture and aesthetics, like grass growing through the cracks in the stones, immediately emerged to absorb sunlight and take in beautiful things.

Before, even if everything was in shades of gray, blue, or black, beautiful women would find ways to add red checks, green patterns, or wear a red sweater inside, dye gloves in yellow or red—always wanting something different from others.

Now there are people selling such pretty embroidered vests, scarves, backpacks, and cloth shoes, and they immediately spread the word to find them.

“I decided to raise the price by five cents. People will buy it even if it’s more expensive, and those who won’t buy it won’t, even if it’s cheaper. Might as well sell it as a high-end product,” Tao Zhen said proudly.

Because no one else has it to sell, only she does, Tao Zhen felt that she was promoting something valuable and rare.

This not only increased prices but also raised the grade.

Jiang Lin smiled, “Tao Zhen, you were born to be a salesperson. You’re getting better and better at it. Our grandmothers in the village are following your lead and making money with you. They’re really grateful to you.”

The old ladies naturally didn’t know Tao Zhen, but this made Tao Zhen even happier.

She pulled Jiang Lin close and chatted warmly with her for a while.

In the end, she even sold some of her internal goods to Jiang Lin.

Before, she used to save them to give away, but later found that most of the recipients weren’t grateful to her, and instead, she ended up with long noses.

Jiang Lin said, “There are also those who rely on their abilities to get in. Anyway, if there’s a chance, we’ll go too.”

“Where’s the chance? You need a recommendation from your unit,” Tao Zhen pouted.

Actually, she was just feeling unfair.

She wasn’t qualified to go herself, but seeing others less qualified get in made her especially uneasy.

After chatting for a while, Jiang Lin and Tao Zhen said goodbye and headed home.

At the village entrance, Jiang Lin didn’t go home but rode her bike straight to the commune’s slaughterhouse to pick up meat.

She got three pounds of meat per month—usually one pound at the beginning of the month, another in the middle, and the last pound later on.

This was quite a luxurious life compared to even the brigade leader’s.

Today, Zhu Junjie wasn’t around, so someone else gave her some leftover bones along with a pound of meat, which she could use to make soup or cook noodles at home.

In the countryside, lard and fatty meat were most valued, while lean meat was just okay.

Entrails and ribs could still be sold, but the members of the commune were quite disdainful of bones.

Even if they were cheap, they weren’t willing to buy bones because making bone soup required a lot of firewood, which wasn’t easy to come by in the countryside.

So usually, bones were either handled internally or taken back for personal use or gifts.

Of course, meat wasn’t available every day; it depended on when the commune slaughtered pigs.

Jiang Lin’s meat was always reserved by Zhu Junjie for her.

Besides meat, Jiang Lin also bought some pork liver to take home and cook with garlic sauce, providing nutrition for both adults and children.

She hung the meat on her bike handle and rode home.

At the entrance of Water Elm Village, a green truck approached from the opposite direction.

Jiang Lin immediately recognized it and waved at them as she stopped her bike.

Cheng Rushan saw Jiang Lin and immediately braked.

He jumped out of the truck and, seeing the meat hanging on her bike handle, smiled, “Wife, you’re getting more and more capable. You knew we were coming back today.”

Jiang Lin chuckled, “It’s just a coincidence that I bought meat when you happened to return.” She went to greet Dai Guohua, “Big Brother Dai, it’s getting late. Let’s eat before you go.”

Dai Guohua didn’t refuse either.

Familiar with the way, he didn’t need directions and parked his car in the village on his own.

Cheng Rushan pushed the bicycle and took her home.

Wensheng and the children had already heard the truck’s horn and ran out from the brigade together.

Dai Guohua got out of the car, following Cheng Rushan’s example, and scooped up both children at once, one in each arm, enjoying himself.

Wensheng followed Cheng Rushan, taking the bicycle from Jiang Lin, and said to her, “Mom, let me take you for a spin.” He got on the bike and carried Jiang Lin around the big truck in circles.