As night fell, Yun Su finished her dinner, rested for a while, and then went to wash up.
There was no greenhouse effect back then, but in June, the temperature had already exceeded thirty degrees Celsius.
The Yunjia’ao brigade had no electricity, let alone electric fans. Yun Su could only take a cold bath, then lie down on her bamboo bed, fanning herself to sleep.
At times like this, men and boys had it easier. Her older brother and younger brother, for instance, would directly draw water from the well in the yard and pour bucket after bucket over themselves. Then they’d go inside, change into shorts, lie down on the bamboo beds placed in the yard, and promptly fall into a deep sleep.
It wasn’t just their family—most households in the area got through the night this way. Some of the bolder women would even sleep outside in the yard as well.
Just as Yun Su was about to fall asleep, the sound of Liu Zhaodi’s scolding suddenly erupted from the home of Uncle Yun Er, who lived across the way.
Yun Su immediately sprang up from her bed, only to hear her older brother’s voice: “Su Su, it’s nothing. Go back to sleep!”
Not only had their family been woken up, but many nearby households had also been startled by the sudden outburst.
Yun Su simply turned on her flashlight, grabbed the tin alarm clock from her desk, and saw that it was only 8:00 PM.
Sure enough, in a world without electricity or entertainment, everyone went to bed very early.
“Zhaodi, what’s all this yelling about in the middle of the night? Doesn’t your man need to go out to sea tomorrow?”
Someone outside was already shouting. The next day, the entire brigade was set to go fishing together, and all the village men would be heading out. They usually gathered and departed around 3:00 AM. So going to sleep at 8:00 PM meant they’d be able to wake up around 3:00 AM.
Over the long term, this routine kept their bodies from wearing down too much.
Quite a few people were cursing Liu Zhaodi for disturbing their sleep. Liu Zhaodi, who was usually quick to curse and shout, finally came out to apologize when she saw the commotion, promising she wouldn’t disturb everyone again.
After that, things gradually quieted down again outside.
Lying on her cool bamboo bed, Yun Su found herself curious about what had happened across the way.
——
As it turned out, something had indeed gone wrong across the street.
Liu Zhaodi, wincing with distress, fumbled atop a cabinet for a flashlight and clicked it on: “Turning on this flashlight just wastes the batteries. And those batteries are so expensive!”
With that, she picked up the kerosene lamp sitting on the table, revealing the oil and the wick.
She flared her nostrils, sniffing the oil, then sniffed the wick. And then the cursing began again. But this time, she didn’t dare shout loudly.
“Those heartless bastards at the supply and marketing cooperative. How much water did they mix into this kerosene?”
Liu Zhaodi stared at the kerosene lamp in her hand, so angry she wanted to smash it. But she managed to restrain herself. The lamp hadn’t been cheap. There were people who couldn’t afford one and had to rely on candles.
“That damn supply cooperative. Every time they sell kerosene, it’s watered down. And this time, they added so much it won’t even light.”
If the kerosene lamp had actually lit, she wouldn’t have started yelling and woken everyone up outside.
But swallowing this insult was truly difficult.
Uncle Yun Er looked at the full container of kerosene, his eyes narrowing slightly: “Call Feng girl out here and ask her.”
The kerosene had been brought back by Yun Feng from the supply cooperative that very day. If there really was a problem, it likely had something to do with Yun Feng having offended the cooperative’s staff.
That morning, when he heard people gossiping about how Yun Feng had made the supply cooperative staff apologize, many had come by to praise him for raising such a good daughter. At the time, Uncle Yun Er felt something wasn’t quite right.
And now, it seemed, someone had retaliated.
Kerosene wasn’t cheap. There was only one supply cooperative in town that sold it. By offending those people like this, Yun Feng would have to send someone else to buy kerosene from now on. More accurately, from now on, any errand involving the supply cooperative couldn’t be entrusted to Yun Feng.
Uncle Yun Er didn’t recall ever teaching her to go around offending people like that.
Liu Zhaodi, hearing her husband’s words, slapped her thigh: “That’s it! I was wondering why the kerosene had so much water in it today. So it’s all because of that troublesome daughter of ours.”
With that, Liu Zhaodi stormed into her daughters’ room, reached directly among the sleeping girls, and yanked Yun Feng up by the arm.
——
“You, you’re nothing but trouble. Twenty years old, and a luckier girl would already be a mother. And you go and offend the supply cooperative people. You’re just full of hot air, aren’t you?”
“I think you should just get married off already and stop being a curse on this family.”
Liu Zhaodi scolded as she grabbed Yun Feng’s left ear and twisted it 180 degrees. She used so much force that Yun Feng’s tears streamed down her face.
Three other daughters were sleeping in the room. Seeing their eldest sister being disciplined by their mother, every single one of them wore a smug, gloating expression.
Yun Yan, the second daughter, whispered to her twin sister Yun Que: “Look at her, always acting like she’s so kind, so filial, so capable. And now look—she’s gone and offended someone, hasn’t she? Hmph…”
There were four sisters in the family. With limited resources at home, there was no shortage of competition among the sisters for their parents’ attention. But their father had always favored the eldest, saying she knew how to handle people and was sure to have a better and better life in the future.
Hmph, just look at her now—offending people like that. Let’s see what kind of good life she can have after this.
In the end, the scolding session ended only when Uncle Yun Er stepped in to stop it.
——
It wasn’t until the next morning that Yun Su learned why Liu Zhaodi had been shouting so loudly the night before.
“So, the kerosene they bought yesterday had a lot of water mixed into it?”
It was the first time Yun Su had ever heard of such a thing.
Back then, many things—kerosene, soy sauce, face cream, medicine, biscuits, candies—were sold in bulk. Selling in bulk without small packaging saved a lot of resources.
Yun Su had thought most people in that era were honest and simple. She never imagined that someone would sell watered-down kerosene.
“Exactly! Some people at the supply and marketing cooperative aren’t exactly honest. Take that kerosene—they buy it in fifty-jin barrels. The warehouse keeper swipes a jin or two, then adds some water to top it off. By the time the goods reach the counter, the sales clerk secretly takes another jin or two and adds more water. When other clerks see it, they do the same thing. In the end, the weight sold, plus the allowable loss, more or less matches the purchase weight.”
Yun Su thought about it and realized that was probably true. Management was like that back then. Township supply and marketing cooperatives weren’t strictly supervised, so this kind of thing was very common.
Things like biscuits were deliberately crushed into fragments, then sold without requiring ration coupons. Or bulk candy was left open until it absorbed moisture from the air and became “defective,” also sold without coupons.
These coupon-free “good items” were mostly distributed internally among the cooperative’s staff.
Hearing all this, Yun Su felt she had learned something new.
“Aunt Lin, you really are knowledgeable.”
Aunt Lin lived in the house to her left. Her husband was a paternal cousin of Yun Su’s father.
“That’s why I say you don’t want to offend the supply cooperative people. Take what happened with Yun Feng yesterday—it was satisfying to hear about. But now, if they find out she’s from Yunjia’ao, they might make things difficult for any of us when we go to buy things there.”
——
Aunt Lin sighed, then asked Yun Su: “Have your parents said anything about arranging a job for you?”
Yun Su shook her head. This Aunt Lin also had a youngest daughter who had just graduated from middle school but hadn’t gotten into high school. She didn’t know what to do with the girl now that she was back in the village.
Yun Su herself had no idea how her job situation would be arranged, so she simply shook her head. Just as she was about to speak, the loud blast of a passenger ship’s horn sounded outside.
She then remembered that when she’d chatted with Ji Xiangtian the day before, he’d mentioned he would be taking the boat back to work in Yangcheng today. Calculating the time, he was probably departing right about now.
Ji Xiangtian was indeed already on board. Standing on the deck, the sea breeze blowing against his face, seagulls crying in his ears, his gaze unconsciously drifted toward where the Yunjia’ao brigade was located.
His two days off had been quite unusual.
From falling into the sea to being rescued. From being rescued to meeting a new friend. And that new friend had brought him feelings he’d never experienced before.
Ji Xiangtian couldn’t help but place a hand over his heart. This was the first time he found himself looking forward to his next days off, so he could return to the island again.
The night before, while packing his luggage, his mother had spoken with him again. She made it clear that if he accepted a transfer to the island, his position could be bumped up.
In the past, Ji Xiangtian wouldn’t have considered it. But this time, he was starting to think it over.
——
Back in Yunjia’ao, Aunt Lin saw that she couldn’t get any information from Yun Su and was about to head to the drying ground to work.
But then she heard a commotion outside. Her face lit up with joy: “Your uncle and the others are back!”
Yun Su happily jumped up from her stool.
It was the first day of the fishing season. Her older brother had left home before 3:00 AM, taking with him a few eggs he’d boiled before going to sleep the night before.
This was Yun Su’s first time experiencing such a thing. Even though she had memories of her brother and father going out to sea at this hour to fish, she couldn’t help but worry.
“Good haul today, Aunt Lin. We pulled in several nets full of big yellow croaker. They gave each of us one to take home. There’s also fresh hairtail…”
Her older brother’s hearty voice rang out, and then she saw him walking into the yard with a bamboo basket hoisted on his shoulder.
Yun Su immediately went over to take it from him. She could see the basket was packed full of fish, practically spilling over.
“No need, no need. Big brother reeks of fish! Go call Fuzai to come help clean them.”
Her little brother had gone out to play early that morning with the other village children.
By the time her little brother returned, her older brother had already dumped the basket of fish by the well.
Yun Su glanced over and saw that most of the fish were still flopping around. They weren’t large, but they looked exceptionally fresh.
“How about steamed big yellow croaker for lunch?”
Yun Huaifu had already picked out two large yellow croakers and swiftly cleaned them.
Seeing this, Yun Su quickly went to the kitchen, fetched an earthenware basin, placed the cleaned fish inside, and carried it back to the kitchen. She added a bit of salt and light soy sauce to marinate them.
For steamed big yellow croaker, it was best to add a little cooking wine or white liquor. But those were too expensive. The only seasonings Yun Su could add were a bit of salt and light soy sauce. She couldn’t even bear to add two drops of oil.
At that moment, Yun Su couldn’t help but sigh at how poor she truly was. But trying to make money in this era wasn’t safe either.
Her little brother returned quickly. By the time Yun Su finished marinating the yellow croaker and came back out, he was already sitting on a stool, helping their older brother process the remaining fish and shrimp.
As for the rest of the fish and shrimp, after setting aside enough for the day’s meals, all of them would be salted and hung up to dry.
Luckily, being close to the sea, they had no shortage of salt, even if nothing else.
Yun Su dragged a stool over as well and sat down to help.
“Today we caught a big yellow croaker weighing over thirty jin. Uncle Yu has already taken it with some men to the purchasing station.”
Uncle Yu was the captain of Yunjia’ao’s fishing team, responsible for managing the offshore fishing and sales.
With this kind of collective fishing, the catch was sent directly to the nearest seafood purchasing station.
As Yun Su listened to her brother describe the day’s fishing, she felt that going out to sea was truly hard work.
“Big Brother, I’m planning to go check out the drying ground this afternoon.”
Yun Huaimin’s expression turned serious when he heard this: “Are you worried about work? Mom and Dad went to Yangcheng this time and asked our little aunt to make some inquiries. The work at the drying ground is really tough. I’m worried you won’t be able to handle it…”
Yun Su knew that her parents’ trip to Yangcheng wasn’t just to visit her little aunt. But her little aunt’s in-laws were complicated, and she wasn’t the one calling the shots. Yun Su didn’t want to pin her hopes on that.
“I’ll go take a look first. If I could get into the packaging and weighing team…”
Yun Huaimin felt much more at ease hearing that she was aiming for the weighing team.
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