“Xiaohe Jie, Grandma told me to bring you some grain.”
As it happened, the Zhao family and the Lin family shared a bit of history.
Back then, Granny Zhao had gone up the mountain to dig for wild greens and taken a fall. It was Lin Cai who’d found her and carried her down the mountain on his back. That’s how the two families had started to interact.
Though that connection was only with Lin Cai’s branch of the family—Granny Zhao had no interest in associating with Qian Sancao and her lot.
“Xiaoxuan? We can’t take this. Go back and tell Granny Zhao that our family is still managing. Times are tough for everyone right now—you should keep it for yourselves.”
“No way! Grandma said if I don’t deliver it, I can’t go home.”
Lin Xuanxuan giggled, set the bag down on the ground at the doorstep, and said, “Xiaohe Jie, just take it. I’m heading home now. Grandma said if you need anything, just come by and let us know.”
“Really, we can’t accept this. Your family isn’t exactly well-off either.”
“Oh, come on—Grandma said even if things are tight for us, we’re still getting by. But you all are practically at the breaking point. No need to be so polite.
My dad and my uncle both have jobs—they eat government-rationed grain. At the very least, we won’t starve, and we can spare a little.”
With that, she turned and bolted, not wanting to argue. She knew she’d never win a back-and-forth with Xiaohe Jie—better to run first.
Granny Zhao had thought Xiaogu had come to borrow grain, but then she’d been too embarrassed to ask outright, which was why she’d asked for chilies instead.
She hadn’t said anything at the time, but the moment Xiaogu left, she’d sent her granddaughter over with a little something.
It wasn’t anything fancy—just rice bran mixed with cornmeal, about two jin’s worth. Rationed carefully, it could hold them over for a while.
The Zhao family only managed because the eldest son and his wife sent help from the city—otherwise, they’d be struggling too.
Third Brother’s whole family was in a bad way. It just wasn’t fair—why did good people have such rotten luck? Not a single bad egg among them, and yet life kept beating them down…
Lin Xiaohe remembered every kindness shown to her family by the villagers.
She would repay them all!
Lin Cai and Liu Yuexiu had heard the whole exchange too, their eyes red with emotion. In times like these, grain was literally life-saving.
They hadn’t even asked, and yet people had brought it to their door.
The ancestral hall was especially busy that day. Every little while, someone would drop by. In the end, Lin Xiaohe didn’t even get to stir-fry the sliced meat—she was too afraid someone might smell it.
Not long after Xiaoxuan left, the barefoot doctor came to check on the couple.
“Recovering well. You young folks heal fast.” After that remark, the old man clasped his hands behind his back and left.
He’d barely walked out the door when the brigade leader showed up.
“The brigade discussed it and decided to advance you some grain to help you get through.”
The brigade’s storage was nearly empty too—these 10 jin of grain had been scraped together with great difficulty.
After seeing the brigade leader off, things finally quieted down.
Only then did the family sit down to eat.
Xiaogu smacked her lips regretfully as she dug into the fragrant white rice, unable to stop herself. “Sis, can we eat the meat tonight?”
“Definitely tonight. Eat up now—once we’re done, we’re heading over to the other side this afternoon.”
“Awesome!”
Lunch was simple—white rice with stir-fried potatoes. Each of them got a big bowl of rice, and it tasted amazing.
“Xiaoman, come on, let me take you to the bathroom.”
Afraid her little sister might wet the bed, Lin Xiaohe always took her to the bathroom before they left.
The ancestral hall didn’t have its own toilet—if they needed to go, they had to use the brigade’s public latrine.
Human waste was valuable stuff too. According to brigade rules, everyone was supposed to use the public toilets.
Of course, that was the rule in name only—the brigade leader couldn’t really enforce it if people didn’t comply.
Everyone tried their best to keep their waste at home, since they all had their own private plots, and whatever grew there was theirs alone.
Someone was inside, so the two had to wait a moment.
Wu Lingling came out and recognized the familiar little girl. “Xiaohe?”
“Sister Wu Zhiqing!” Lin Xiaohe was pleasantly surprised. Last time she’d fallen into the river and couldn’t climb out, it was Sister Wu who’d pulled her out.
Wu Lingling really liked this little girl—she was well-behaved and sensible. “I heard your parents got hurt, but I haven’t had a chance to visit yet.
How about I come by your place tomorrow?” Actually, she’d heard about it two days ago—it was such big news, who in the village didn’t know? But she had nothing to bring, and showing up empty-handed seemed awkward.
As it happened, she was going to town today to pick up a package her family had sent.
She could buy a can of something to bring as a get-well gift—that would be appropriate.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. The barefoot doctor said if they get through the first few days, they should be fine after that.”
Wu Lingling nodded. “Your parents must still be in pretty good shape. Are you bringing your little sister to the bathroom? I won’t hold you up then—go ahead and take her.”
Standing around chatting at the toilet entrance wasn’t exactly ideal. Wu Lingling stepped aside to let them pass.
After using the bathroom, Lin Xiaohe settled the little one back in bed.
“Mom, Dad, my sister and I are heading over to the other side. Keep an eye on Xiaoman.”
“Alright, go ahead. We’ve got things covered here.”
“Okay.”
That afternoon, they wanted to see if there were any other wild greens they hadn’t discovered yet. That morning at the market, they’d noticed other stalls carried several different types of greens—more variety probably meant better sales.
She’d also brought five jin of grain, planning to trade it with Yuya if they ran into her. Last time, Yuya had mentioned that people up in the mountains were short on food, so grain should be a good trade.
The two girls appeared once again in their familiar spot. By now, they’d scouted this small area thoroughly and planned to keep walking along the pool.
Just as they reached the water’s edge, they saw Yuya with her trousers rolled up, catching fish in the stream.
“It’s you two again! Where exactly do you live? How come you’re up the mountain every day?”
Yuya was getting suspicious. If they really lived at the foot of the mountain, they wouldn’t venture this deep to dig for wild greens. It was too far—not worth the trip. There were plenty of greens at the base of the mountain—why go all the way up here?
Lin Xiaohe pressed her lips together and changed the subject. “Yuya, we brought some grain. Would you be willing to trade it for some local mountain goods?”
She unbuckled her basket so Yuya could see the rice inside.
Yuya’s eyes lit up—white rice! Real white rice!
“Sure! What do you want? My family has some honey my dad collected a few days ago, plus dried mushrooms and wood ear fungus.
We also have smoked wild boar and wild rabbit—cured over a fire. What are you interested in?”
“Could I get a little of everything? If the grain isn’t enough, you can give me less for now, and I’ll bring more next time.”
“Sure! Your rice looks great—I’m sure my grandpa would be happy to trade. Do you want to come back with me, or should I bring the stuff over here?”
Yuya was grinning from ear to ear. Whether it was honey, mushrooms, or wood ear fungus, they were all pretty common up in the mountains.
Taking them down the mountain didn’t get much in return anyway—people like them, mountain folks, were essentially unregistered. If they got cheated, there was no one to appeal to.
Most of their stuff went to the peddlers at the foot of the mountain, who drove the prices way down.
“Bring the stuff over here. We’ll wait for you by the pool.”
“Okay! Here—take these two fish. I just caught them.”
Leave a Reply