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

Liao Chunhua, who was behind her, was so angry that she kept slapping her thigh. How much stuff would she have to give up?

Jiang Laoshan helped lift the sack, his heart sinking slightly. It was heavy enough, and he guessed there were probably a few pheasants or rabbits inside.

In the past, when they hunted a lot of prey, they would stuff some wild vegetables into the food to conceal their presence.

Feeling annoyed, she turned and glared at Jiang Yuan, who was only watching the show and didn't even try to comfort his wife.

A large group of people arrived at the Jiang family's house, and several onlookers were also called over from a distance. Even Captain Liu, who didn't want to see Jiang Laoshan, was summoned.

Bao Ya didn't untie the sack first, but asked Brother Liu to empty the contents of the basket. While Brother Liu was still hesitating, Aunt Liu snatched the basket and dumped it on the ground.

A rabbit, two pheasants, and a wild duck. What a bountiful harvest!

Bao Ya gave Jiang Yuan a wink, and Jiang Yuan opened the mouths of the two burlap sacks and emptied them onto the ground one by one, as well as the ones in the basket.

Looking at the grass roots on the ground, apart from a few wild yams, there was nothing else that caught everyone's eye.

"Bao Ya, why are you making all this stuff?"

Captain Liu looked at the things on the ground; they were just some herbs, which were plentiful on the mountain.

They used to sell in the city, and it was fine if one or two people went, but when more people went, the supply station stopped accepting them, and eventually everyone got tired of it.

"Make it into a liquor for my dad to drink."

There are indeed medicinal herbs in here for making medicinal liquor, but only a small handful; the rest are what she wants to sell.

Speaking of alcohol, Captain Liu remembered the wine he had yesterday, swallowed hard, and glanced at the smug Jiang Laoshan beside him, saying:

"So many, how much wine would that be to make?"

"It looks like a lot, but after washing and drying it, there won't be much left."

Bao Ya kicked the grass roots into the pile with her foot, then turned around and saw Aunt Liu secretly packing her basket, trying to sneak away when no one was looking.

"Auntie, you have to keep your word. Half of mine will go to you, and half of yours will go to me. I want a pheasant and a duck, and you can take the rest."

"Pah! You think you can trade those rotten grass roots for my meat? You wish!"

Aunt Liu was really worried now. Jiang Yuan was also a skilled hunter, but who knew he would bring back these rotten grass roots? She had miscalculated.

As he spoke, he grabbed his own basket, trying to bypass the crowd and run towards the door.

"What do you mean by rotten grass roots? Look at this, this is ginseng, worth a fortune. I'm even willing to share half with you. You can't go back on your word."

Bao Ya held up a piece of sand ginseng and waved it in front of Aunt Liu. This thing looks a bit like ginseng.

Seeing what she was holding, Aunt Liu wanted to spit in his face. Was that ginseng? Have you ever seen anyone dig up half a basket of ginseng?

Everyone finally understood. The Liu family had caused trouble for others, only to be outmaneuvered.

No one spoke, just smiled and waited to see what would happen.

"It's the Liu family's property that you insisted on exchanging with mine, so don't go back on your word."

Liao Chunhua chimed in, telling her that she deserved her bad luck for picking a fight.

"What a load of rubbish! You're offering to trade grass roots for my family's meat? How dare you even say that?"

"I just can't bring myself to say it. Everyone's watching, aren't they?"

Aunt Liu and Liao Chunhua each held one side of the basket, and it looked like the two were about to fight.

Bao Ya snatched the basket from him, ran behind Old Liu, and whispered something in his ear.

"You brat, what are you doing...?"

Aunt Liu was even angrier when she saw that her basket had been taken away, and she pointed at Bao Ya and started cursing.

"Brother-in-law, look at her!"

"Xiaoyu, how can you talk to your aunt like that? You're a grown woman, yet you have no manners. That's how your father raised you; I'll have to go to his grave and give him a piece of my mind later..."

The old man pointed at Aunt Liu and launched into a tirade, making Aunt Liu so angry she almost cried out, "How did Lin Baoya become my aunt?" She thought to herself, "We're almost beyond the fifth degree of kinship, what right do you have to tell me what to do?"

But seeing Captain Liu behind him, he swallowed his words.

Finally, Bao Ya picked out a pheasant and a duck, and happily went to cook.

Old Liu hadn't left; he'd even skipped lunch and waited at the Jiang family's house. Bao Ya had just whispered in his ear that he should subdue Aunt Liu, and that she'd stew meat for him later. He waited until after four in the afternoon before finally getting to eat meat again.

Seeing that his uncle wasn't leaving, Captain Liu decided not to leave either and ended up having another meal with him.

On the third day, Jiang Yuan and Bao Ya were supposed to return to the city. Liao Chunhua got up early to knead the dough and make dumplings for them.

Liu San brought over the roe deer meat last night, so we can make dumplings today.

After finishing the dumplings, Jiang Laoshan borrowed a donkey cart to take them back to the city. They had too much stuff to carry on a bicycle.

The medicinal herbs alone filled nearly three sacks. Liao Chunhua also prepared some mountain produce for them, including dried black fungus, mushrooms, dried wild vegetables, hazelnuts, walnuts, pine nuts, and dates. There were also two dried rabbits.

We didn't slaughter the pheasant yesterday, but we still told them to take it back. We cut half of the roe deer meat for them to take with them, and added radishes, potatoes, and cabbage, making it a full truckload again.

Bao Ya felt that the trip was worthwhile and that she could come back more often in the future.

After returning from Kaoshan Village, Bao Ya was busy for a while.

First, I handed over the velvet flowers from last time, and this time I received two hundred in one go. I then took the time to wash and dry the herbs I had dug up.

After finishing making clothes for Chen Fang, she brought several other people to have clothes made by her, and gave her six cents for each item.

Two weeks later, she went to the supply and marketing cooperative again with the velvet flowers she had made.

"Sister Jiang, we've collected enough of these velvet flowers; there won't be any more."

Xie Liting held the notebook, frowning as she spoke to Bao Ya.

"Is that enough?"

Bao Ya didn't expect that this item was limited in quantity, which means she won't be able to earn this money in the future.

"Yes, look, you made a thousand yourself..."

When she mentioned that she had made a thousand, all the sales clerks at the supply and marketing cooperative looked at her.

She earns five cents per person, so a thousand people would earn her fifty dollars. Bao Ya earned almost two months' wages in less than a month, no wonder she was so enthusiastic.

"Alright then, if you don't have it, you don't have it."

Bao Ya smiled and said that since they weren't accepting it anymore, there was nothing she could do. However, she noticed some materials for making velvet flowers in the counter and asked Xie Liting:

"Could you sell me the materials you have left?"

"This? But we've stopped accepting these, do you still want to make it?"

Xie Liting hesitated, worried that after she finished, she would come back and make a fuss, demanding that they accept the goods.

"No, I'm making some for my sisters to take back home. I also need to buy another ream of red paper."

Winter has arrived, and there are only two months left until the Lunar New Year. The velvet flowers in the supply and marketing cooperative are for the New Year, so Bao Ya wants to keep some for herself and sell them at the commune market at the end of the year.

Normally, buying and selling is not allowed, but at the commune's year-end market, they can be exchanged.

"Okay, you wait here, I'll go ask our director."

After saying that, Xie Liting went to the back office to find Director Wang. A moment later, the director followed her out.

"Bao Ya, I heard you're going to buy the remaining materials."

As soon as Director Wang came out, he asked her, wanting to confirm again.

"I'm making these to send to my sisters back home; there are a lot of weddings going on lately."

"Okay, but let's make this clear first, we'll sell this to you as a defective product, and we won't take it back."

"Okay, I got it. Also, could you please bring me a ream of red paper? I'm taking some to the villagers."

Director Wang was relieved to hear her say that. He then asked the stationery counter to get her a ream of red paper. Many weddings are held at the end of the year, and both velvet flowers and red paper are needed.

The remaining velvet flower materials were sold to her for five cents each, and forty were left. A ream of red paper cost three yuan. Bao Ya paid five yuan and left the supply and marketing cooperative to go home.