The 1960s: The Story of a Country Girl's Journey to the City

What would you like to eat for lunch?

"Anything is fine with me, I'm not picky about food."

"I'll be back in a bit and have the food ready. You can come back and get it."

"it is good."

"What about your parents? Aren't you going back to help?"

"No need. My eldest and second eldest brothers each give them five yuan a month. They don't do heavy work anymore. That's enough for basic work points and grain rations."

There are requirements for earning work points. People over 65 years old who do not work can receive a share of rations per person; people under 65 years old can only receive rations per person if they meet the minimum requirements of the brigade.

The per capita ration could only guarantee survival, but it was impossible to have enough to eat. Jiang Yuan's three sons all earned wages, so his parents certainly wouldn't put in the effort to earn work points.

Because Jiang Yuan was adopted by his uncle, although he didn't change his address and still calls his parents "father" and "mother," he won't be considered for old-age care.

After the two finished eating, Bao Ya put the food in a basket lined with a cloth, and the mung bean soup she had made in advance was put in a wooden bucket for carrying water. Jiang Yuan carried it to the fields on a shoulder pole.

When Bao Ya went out, she took a straw hat and put it on. Jiang Yuan smiled when he saw it; she had been bothered by his skin tone last time. He had heard that she hadn't been going up the mountain much lately, but she did look much fairer.

The two of them walked one after the other along the ridge into the field. It was harvest time, and everyone was busy in the fields, working in groups of one or several families to take charge of a plot of land.

Suddenly, Bao Ya stopped and looked into the cornfield. A woman was picking corn and stuffing it into her pocket.

During the autumn harvest, people would occasionally bring home one or two ears of corn, and the production brigade would turn a blind eye. But bringing home this many was definitely not allowed.

Looking at this piece of land, Bao Ya understood immediately: Li Hehua, Li Jinxiang, and Li Xiulian were committing crimes as a gang.

Seeing this, Bao Ya stopped walking and stood at the edge of the field, making a megaphone shape with her hands and shouting into the field.

"Li Hehua, if you want to steal corn, you should bury it in the ground first and come back to dig it up at night. If you stuff it all in your pockets, how will you be able to walk later?"

Hearing her shout, Li Hehua shuddered in fright. Damn it, this brat, meddling in so many other people's business.

"And Auntie, are you pregnant with another baby for my uncle? You look like you're about to give birth."

"Li Xiulian, if you bury all the corn in the ground, will there be any land left?"

These three are all bad apples; the first two were picking and hiding things at the same time, while the last one was carrying them to the edge of the field and burying them in the soil. Hearing Bao Ya's shouts, the team leader and squad leader were summoned, and seeing these people made them furious.

"What are you all doing? You're like a rotten apple spoiling the whole barrel."

The squad leader ran this way while cursing.

Everyone could see it immediately: one of the two in front had a trouser pocket thicker than his waist, and the other had a belly that looked like he was ten months pregnant. And this guy carrying corn to the field had his hands covered in mud.

"Damn it, they're such a handful. Hand over everything, deduct half a day's work points from them, and wait for someone to come and inspect before they go home. Have someone turn over this plot of land later. Give them other work this afternoon, not corn picking."

"Okay, I'll change them for them right away."

Su Daqiang was incredibly annoyed by these guys. Checking them meant having someone search them, and he'd change jobs in the afternoon; everyone was busy right now, and no one was watching them.

The squad leader was also frustrated. Every squad had a few people who didn't work properly, and the old women assigned to his squad were a real headache.

The three men stared at Bao Ya, wishing they could bore a hole through her with their eyes.

Li Jinxiang, in particular, has not had a single good day since the family split up. Lin Lao Er and Lin Lao San have built their own houses and moved out, and even forced Lin Xiaoquan to sign an IOU for 400 yuan. The eldest son and his wife have never come back, and she has to do all the housework by herself.

She had never lived such a miserable life in the more than twenty years since she was married into the family, and she lost a lot of weight in just a few days.

Before the family was divided, she would never have worked so diligently. Now, her eldest son is in debt, her second son is waiting to get married, her youngest son is still in school, and her daughter's in-laws refuse to pay a dowry. She is worried sick, and it's all Bao Ya's fault.

Bao Ya didn't care what they thought, and with a flick of her braid, she led Jiang Yuan to their family's land.

At this moment, Grandma Su was filling baskets with corn at the edge of the field, while her eldest and second aunts, Su Ruyi, and her second uncle, Lin Dahai, and Simao were carrying the corn to the edge of the field. Later, the commune members who drove the donkey carts would transport the corn from the edge of the field back to the brigade. Su Daqiang would walk around the edge of the field and come back to help carry the corn to the edge of the field as well.

The old lady brought two baskets with her. Gou Dan picked up a bunch of corn, and the old lady put it into the baskets. Her son and grandson carried it to the edge of the field, which saved them a lot of trouble.

"Grandma, Aunt, Second Uncle is here for dinner."

Jiang Yuan put down the breakfast he was carrying, greeted everyone, and went to work in the fields. Bao Ya's lips twitched. This guy is too honest. Won't he slack off?

"Sis, I'm here."

Dog Egg came running over like a gust of wind. Bao Ya rolled her eyes. Who cares where you are?

Lin Laosan and Su Ruyi also came over from the fields. This year, they specially switched to work here with Su Daqiang and Su Erqiang's families. Because of the autumn harvest, the three families eat together, which means that Bao Ya cooks for all three families by herself.

Su Daqiang's family has four sons. The eldest son, Su Jingchao, works at the commune's timber factory and lives there with his wife and children.

The second son, Su Jinghui, is studying at a university in Shanghai and just started working this year.

The third son, Su Jingrui, joined the army two years ago, and the fourth son, Su Jingming, also known as Simao, now farms with them.

Su Erqiang has two children. His eldest son, Su Jinglin, graduated from vocational school and was assigned to work at an agricultural machinery factory in a nearby county. His daughter, Su Xiaoyu, is sixteen years old and is in high school this year.

After retiring from the army, Su Sanqiang became a cadre in the commune, and his third aunt, Wen Lijuan, was the commune's women's director. They had only one son, Su Jingchuan, who worked at a steel factory in the city.

Nanshan Village is close to the city but a bit far from the nearby county seat. So, villagers who can afford it send their children to school, and those who are less well-off send their sons to school. As a result, there are villagers who work in the city or serve in the military.

The Su family and the Lin family of three washed their hands before coming here for lunch. They had brought two buckets of water with them when they came out in the morning, but it was too much trouble to use a kettle with so many people, so they simply carried two wooden buckets with them.

"Sis, what's for lunch?"

When Gou Dan saw Jiang Yuan arrive, he knew there would be something delicious to eat today, so he couldn't wait to ask.

"I make vegetable dumplings with pork cracklings for lunch, and steamed buns for dinner."

"real?"

"Really, if you work hard, you'll have meat buns for dinner tonight."

"Okay, I'll definitely do my best. I just helped pick up some corn, right, Mom?"

Gou Dan quickly told Bao Ya that he was very diligent in his work.

Lin Laosan and his wife spoiled their children. Their eldest daughter hadn't been around since she was little, and their younger son was born late, so they gave their two children everything they asked for, which made Gou Dan not afraid of them at all. He was more afraid of Bao Ya, though, because Bao Ya would really beat him up.