Chapter 69 – Sending Canned Goods
Lu Xia, just like last time, put the pork ribs into the pot and poured in the spiritual spring water from the kettle.
Then she started the fire. After about half an hour, she added the prepared radishes and other side dishes, as well as seasonings.
Gradually, a delicious aroma wafted from the pot.
Jiang Junmo seemed impatient, his eyes fixed on the soup in the pot.
When Lu Xia felt it was ready, she opened the lid, and as the aroma spread, Jiang Junmo eagerly waited for her to quickly serve the soup.
Seeing him like this, Lu Xia laughed and spooned a bowl of soup with meat and vegetables for him.
“Let it cool down a bit before drinking, or it’ll be too hot,” she said.
Jiang Junmo hurriedly took it with both hands. “I know,” he said.
He then started blowing on the soup, trying to cool it down quickly.
Lu Xia chuckled and served herself a bowl as well.
She took out two steamed buns she had bought in the morning and handed one to him.
“Eat it with the steamed bun, don’t just drink the soup. Drinking alone won’t be filling enough,” she said.
Jiang Junmo thanked her after receiving the bun and replied, “I’ll give you the food tickets when we get back.”
Raising an eyebrow, Lu Xia shook her head. “No need. It’s just one bun. By the way, I didn’t finish using the meat tickets you gave me today. We can buy more next time.”
Jiang Junmo nodded. “It’s up to you.” Then, seeing that the soup had cooled down enough, he started drinking.
Smelling the aroma, Lu Xia also felt hungry and took a sip from her bowl. Ah, it tasted so good! The taste of meat.
The two of them ate the soup in silence until not a drop was left in the pot. They were somewhat unsatisfied.
Lu Xia expressed her disappointment, “The pot is still too small. It would be great if we had an iron pot or a larger stew pot, so we could make more varieties in the future.”
Jiang Junmo’s eyes lit up when he heard that. “What kind of pot do you need? I can prepare it.”
Raising an eyebrow, Lu Xia asked, “Do you have industrial tickets? Buying a pot requires a significant amount of industrial tickets.”
Without hesitation, Jiang Junmo replied, “I can have my family send them to me.”
Hearing his response, Lu Xia became interested. “Alright, if that’s the case, you provide the industrial tickets, and I’ll contribute the money. Let’s get a big pot so we can make a greater variety of dishes in the future.”
“Deal!”
After finishing their meal, the two of them sat for a while to get rid of the food smell before planning to leave.
Initially, Lu Xia had intended to wash the pots by the riverside, but Jiang Junmo suggested, “When we were looking for stones, I found a mountain spring nearby. It’s not far from here, so we can wash there.”
Lu Xia was surprised. “Okay, let’s go there then.”
The mountain spring was indeed close. It only took a few steps from the cave to reach it. Although the water flow was small, it was clear and pure.
Lu Xia looked satisfied. “We don’t need to go to the riverside anymore. We can come here directly.”
Jiang Junmo nodded, clearly pleased with this secret base.
After washing the bowls and utensils, they descended the mountain. Before parting ways, Jiang Junmo took out two cans from the bag he had been carrying.
“These are for you,” he said, handing the cans to Lu Xia.
Lu Xia was surprised to see the cans. These two cans were smaller than the ones Gu Xiangnan had brought out earlier, about the size of a palm, but still quite rare.
“Why are you giving me these? You’ve already paid for cooking for you,” Lu Xia said.
Shaking his head, Jiang Junmo replied, “It’s not payment. I just happened to see them being sold, and since I don’t like to eat them, if you like them, you can take them. Just cook for me a few more times in the future, and of course, I’ll provide the meat tickets.”
Understanding his intention, Lu Xia reached out and accepted the cans. “Alright, I’ll accept them this time, but don’t buy them anymore. If you do, eat them yourself.”
“Okay.” Jiang Junmo breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her accepting the cans.
Afterward, they returned to the educated youth spot, with Lu Xia walking ahead and Jiang Junmo following behind.
*
Chapter 70 – Zhou Lai’er’s Marriage
.
At this moment, the educated youth spot was relatively quiet, and everyone was rather silent, possibly still affected by the morning incident.
When Lu Xia entered the room, she suddenly noticed that Zhou Lai’er was lying in the spot where Yu Fang used to sleep.
She was puzzled, but since there was currently no one in their room, she didn’t know the reason behind it.
After a brief stay in the room, Lu Xia took the clothes she needed to wash and headed to the riverside, where she met Shen Qingqing.
She asked Shen Qingqing and learned that Zhou Lai’er had been sent back by the villagers when they went to the town.
Later, Hu Jianjun also came. He had come to dissolve the engagement with Chen Xue. Although Chen Xue was unwilling, she couldn’t change the situation.
After Hu Jianjun left, Chen Xue got into a fight with Zhou Lai’er.
Chen Xue was physically weaker, but Zhou Lai’er had been through so much, jumping into the river and crying all morning, she didn’t have much strength left either.
The two of them were evenly matched, and they were eventually separated by others, but they couldn’t stay in the same room anymore.
Later, Sun Shengnan made the decision for Zhou Lai’er and Yu Fang to switch rooms.
Anyway, she was getting married in a few days, and Lu Xia’s room with five people would also have to move to another room.
That’s why Zhou Lai’er was in their room.
After changing rooms, Zhou Lai’er seemed genuinely weak and remained lying down. Of course, because of her actions, no one bothered to ask if she was okay.
As for Chen Xue, she was also lying down in another room, crying. The atmosphere in the educated youth spot was not good.
Lu Xia sighed when she heard the story. Who would have thought that a wedding would cause so much trouble?
Zhou Lai’er probably lost all her popularity in the educated youth spot. After all, everyone could see through her schemes.
But even if they saw through it, no one would tell the villagers. After all, no matter how bad Zhou Lai’er was, she still represented the educated youths. In the eyes of the villagers, they were a group.
If others were to find out how scheming the educated youths could be, their impression of them would probably be even worse.
So they had to pretend not to know about it.
Chen Xue probably realized this too, which was why she was so heartbroken. But she couldn’t continue causing trouble. After all, she was the victim now, and if she continued, everyone would resent her, which would do more harm than good.
It could only be said that she and Hu Jianjun were not meant to be.
Lu Xia reflected for a moment, but other people’s affairs had nothing to do with her. When it was time to sleep at night, everyone ignored Zhou Lai’er.
To their surprise, Zhou Lai’er got married to Hu Jianjun the next day and they didn’t even have a wedding ceremony. It was said that they didn’t plan to have one.
This sudden change of bride was probably embarrassing for the Hu family.
Moreover, Mother Hu had made her dislike for Zhou Lai’er quite evident.
Although Zhou Lai’er felt upset, she was also relieved when she compared her current situation to before.
After obtaining the marriage certificate, everything was settled and wouldn’t change. So when she returned to the educated youth spot that day, she eagerly started packing her belongings, intending to move directly to the Hu family’s home.
When the people in the educated youth spot learned that she was planning to move after getting married, they didn’t say anything, and no one even gave her gifts like they did when other educated youths got married. It was clear that they didn’t like her character.
But Zhou Lai’er didn’t mind. On the contrary, she was happy. During dinner, when everyone was present, she smiled and took out some candies to share with everyone.
“Since my marriage to Big Brother Jianjun was rushed, we won’t have a wedding ceremony. I’ll be joining the military in a few days, and I’m not sure if I’ll see you all again. We’ve lived in the same educated youth spot for so long, so I’ll distribute these candies to everyone. Consider these as my blessings and let everyone share in the joy.”
Hearing her sincere but boastful words, no one moved, and no one spoke. Both sides remained silent.
Even Lu Xia felt embarrassed for Zhou Lai’er.
Tsk tsk, I just know this woman won’t have a good end. Chinese authors never let these kinds of characters have happy lives. 😅
I’m not entirely sure, but I wonder if “sending youth to the country” was the process of “re-education”. Real world history: A few years prior (60s) Mao radicalized young people to terrorize the whole country to over throw his political rival. After they helped him gain power, he sent the military after those youth, forcing them in to labor camps or the countryside to be “re-educated”. Most of them starved to death but some never left the place they were sent. I believe that’s what time period this story is showing (its interesting how every novel that takes place in this time period fails to mention Mao’s reason for sending youth out & that most of the youth sent never went home because they died…..).
The 50s-60s were a dark, violent era in China were people either died because of government incompetence (killing off birds that lead to lucusts destroying crops & millions dying) or CCP factional infighting.
On the upside, it seems that after this the CCP realized controlling all businesses & farming simply did not work & they needed to allow citizens the ability to do business & farm on their own. This opened up the Chinese market and lifted millions out of poverty within a decade.
Yes, this story takes place after 1966’s cultural revolution, and the reason high school educated youths are being sent to the countryside is because of the “Down to the countryside movement”, which was a scheme cooked up by Mao to curb the influence and power of the Red Guards, a militia made up of students. They had been very useful for Mao at the start of the cultural revolution, but they quickly became uncontrollable and had to be abolished in 1968. With the re-education policy, all these potential troublemakers were split up and sent all over the place, making it impossible for them to organize any significant threat to the Party. People like Lu Xia were simply unfortunate to have been born in that era, since the policy had to affect everyone no matter if they were affiliated with the Red Guards or not. Since Lu Xia mentioned that universities opens up again in 4 years, that means the current year is 1973.
Thanks for the chapter (-ㅂ-)/ ♥ ♥ ♥
Thank you for the chapter!
All I can say for Zhou Lai’er is good luck! Her mother-in-law clearly doesn’t like her. As for the husband…ehhh still to be determined. But if she’s going to end up living with her mother-in-law then man her life isn’t going to be all that easy at all. Considering the fact that her husband is the oldest and that he won’t be around much because he’s in the army/military. So I think the mother-in-law is going to make her life very very difficult.