Chapter 21
◎A Beautiful Day◎
Su Huimin’s broken leg was no longer a major issue. He reported to the commune in December. His work mainly involved the implementation and promotion of educational policies, as well as the allocation and management of educational resources. Every morning, when he went to work, Su Huimin would ride his bicycle and drop his son off at the commune middle school on the way, then rush to work at the Hongqi Commune.
After Su Huimin was transferred from Yuhuai Village Primary School to work at the Hongqi Commune, his basic monthly salary increased from the original eighteen yuan to thirty yuan per month.
At the end of December, Su Huimin finally received his first month’s salary and handed the entire thirty yuan to his wife, Yu Juanfang.
This was the first time in so many years that Yu Juanfang had received Su Huimin’s salary. It was impossible to say she wasn’t moved. Her hands trembled slightly, her eyes grew warm, and it took a long time for her to calm down from the excitement.
…
Wani taught Tangtang a new cat’s cradle pattern she had learned. “Right, you hook your index finger to this position, spread your thumb, and the other finger like this…”
When playing games, Tangtang didn’t like to play with Su Juesheng and the others. She wasn’t interested in the marbles, slingshots, spinning tops, and iron hoops that the boys liked to play. She preferred to be with her cousin Wani and Manya, playing with paper-cutting, rubber band skipping, catching stones, and cat’s cradle.
Although the family division had caused some unpleasantness, that was the adults’ business. Their relationship as cousins was not affected. They still happily played together on a daily basis.
This cat’s cradle pattern was too complicated. Tangtang had given up hope by the time she got to the end. But after she completed the final step, she found that she had created the very complex heart-shaped cat’s cradle pattern that Wani had first demonstrated to her. “Hey, I think I did it?”
“Yes! Just like that!” Wani’s eyes crinkled with a smile, happy to have taught another “disciple.”
Around eight o’clock in the morning, Yu Juanfang came over and told her to go back and change her clothes. On Saturdays and Sundays, when there was no school, Tangtang would wear her old clothes from the past two years, so she wouldn’t feel bad about getting them dirty while working.
After all, the more times clothes were worn, the more wear and tear they would suffer.
Wani saw that Yu Juanfang had specially changed into a flattering peach-colored cotton-padded jacket, her long black hair was neatly coiled, and she was carrying the plaid satchel that she rarely took out. “Hurry back, Third Aunt is taking you to town!”
“Then I’ll go back first. I’ve memorized the steps. Thank you, Sister Wani!”
When Tangtang returned to the house, her brothers were all ready. As they entered their growth spurt, the boys’ appetites also soared. A growing boy could eat his family out of house and home. Yu Juanfang usually didn’t take the three boys to town. If she did, they would probably spend two or three yuan. Today was an exception.
Yu Juanfang had saved a lot of money from selling braised meat in the past two months. Plus, Su Huimin had given her his newly received salary yesterday. Since they had so much money now, Yu Juanfang felt that they couldn’t live so miserably. So, she decided to take the children to a restaurant in town.
Tangtang took off her dark gray coat and changed into a jujube-red cotton-padded jacket. Her long hair was in two pigtails, hanging behind her head, the ends slightly curled up. The light seemed to dust her fair cheeks with a layer of honey powder, making her look sweet, well-behaved, and lively.
Yu Juanfang couldn’t help but kiss her cheek. She was so fond of this daughter now. “Let’s go!”
The bicycle had been taken to the commune by Su Huimin, but they were very lucky today. They happened to run into a villager from their village who was taking an oxcart to the city to deliver goods and could give them a ride to the Hongqi Commune.
She hadn’t expected such a good thing. Yu Juanfang’s face was full of smiles as she thanked him repeatedly and sat on the back of the oxcart. The villager skillfully cracked the whip, and the oxcart slowly moved forward with a creak.
The wheels rolled over the bumpy, snow-covered dirt road, making a rhythmic sound. The dry wild grass by the roadside swayed in the wind. In winter, all one could see were desolate and lonely mountains and fields. Without the cover of vegetation, their barrenness was exposed. The river was also frozen, and the sun seemed to be getting further and further away from the earth, no longer able to provide a single bit of warmth to the people living here.
There was less than half a month until the New Year.
How wonderful, Tangtang couldn’t help but sigh. This was already her third year at the Su family home.
Perhaps because the New Year was approaching, the commune was much livelier than usual. A stage had even been set up. Many rural women in brand-new floral cotton-padded jackets were strolling leisurely with baskets on their arms. The villagers who were not busy with farm work were selling the old pumpkins and tobacco they had grown on the main street of the commune.
“Should we go to the restaurant first or the supply and marketing cooperative?” Yu Juanfang looked around, planning what to buy later.
Su Juesheng, Su Juexiao, Su Juesheng, and Tangtang excitedly said in unison, “To the restaurant!”
The moment they knew Yu Juanfang was taking them to a restaurant, they were beyond excited and couldn’t wait. Although they were also happy to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy things, they were even more eager to eat at the state-run canteen.
Seeing the children’s excited and expectant eyes, Yu Juanfang couldn’t help but smile. “Alright, then let’s go to the restaurant first! Today, you can eat as much as you want. Everyone can eat their fill!”
…
It was the weekend and close to the New Year, so the state-run canteen was crowded. The aroma wafting from the window made one’s mouth water. They waited for a long time before they found a table in the corner. The last time Tangtang came, she couldn’t read. This time, she could understand the menu hanging in front of the window.
“I want to eat braised pork noodles. It must be especially fragrant!” Su Juesheng rubbed his hands, a greedy look on his face.
“I want to eat chicken leg noodles.” Tangtang swallowed her saliva.
Yu Juanfang let them each go and order the noodles they wanted. Su Juesheng ordered pork chop noodles, Su Juexiao wanted pork ribs, Su Juesheng ordered a portion of braised pork noodles, Tangtang ordered chicken leg, and Yu Juanfang ordered beef noodles. The three boys had large appetites and all ordered three liang of noodles. Tangtang and her mother only ordered two liang.
The fragrant, steaming noodles were served. Tangtang brought her chicken leg noodles to her side. A thin layer of chicken fat floated on top, with two green vegetables and a large, fist-sized chicken leg. It was also sprinkled with a handful of green chopped scallions. The hand-pulled noodles were thin and soft. One didn’t even need to look to know that these noodles would be especially delicious.
Seeing that everyone else had started eating, Tangtang couldn’t hold back any longer. She first ate two mouthfuls of noodles. The noodles were of uniform thickness, chewy, and smooth and springy in the mouth. She then took a bite of the large chicken leg. With a light bite, the chicken meat separated from the bone. It was so soft and tender that it hardly required any chewing. The rich flavor of the broth had completely penetrated every fiber of the chicken meat. It was savory with a hint of sweetness. The tender chicken leg meat and the mellow chicken soup, along with the smooth and chewy noodles, went down her stomach, instantly warming it up.
The entire state-run noodle shop was filled with the sound of slurping noodles. Yu Juanfang picked a few pieces of beef and put them in Tangtang’s bowl. “Eat slowly, no one is going to snatch it from you!”
“Mmm, mmm, it’s so delicious,” Tangtang said indistinctly. The beef was also delicious, stewed until soft and flavorful.
After leaving the state-run canteen, Yu Juanfang took the four siblings to the supply and marketing cooperative.
Tangtang’s biggest impression of the supply and marketing cooperative was the freshly baked sponge cakes in the glass case, with the sweet aroma that made one’s mouth water wafting around.
“Help me get five hundred milliliters of soy sauce.” Yu Juanfang took out an empty soy sauce bottle from her plaid satchel and handed it to the salesclerk. She planned to make soy sauce eggs in a few days.
Before the family was divided, they couldn’t even eat eggs. Now that the family was divided and they could eat eggs, they had to eat their fill!
Hearing this, the salesclerk lifted the lid of a large white plastic barrel next to her. It was all good soy sauce brewed from pure soybeans. The aroma wafted out, making Tangtang and the other children swallow their saliva. The salesclerk took the soy sauce bottle, scooped up a spoonful of the dark brown liquid from the large barrel, and slowly poured it into the bottle through a funnel.
After getting the soy sauce, Yu Juanfang also weighed out a catty of milk candy. These were all White Rabbit milk candies, with a blue rabbit printed on them.
In fact, milk candy was the most delicious. It had a very rich milky flavor when held in the mouth, and it could also be used to make milk tea. It tasted much better than fruit candy, but milk candy was expensive. When Yu Juanfang was buying the candy, the children all gathered around, watching with eager eyes.
Usually, when they bought candy, they would only buy a few fruit-flavored hard candies. When had they ever been so generous as to buy milk candy? In their primary school class, if someone had milk candy, the wrapper would be saved and clipped in a notebook as a souvenir.
“Weigh me two catties of sponge cake.” Yu Juanfang handed over a one yuan and sixty cents bill.
“Sponge cake!” Su Juesheng was so excited his eyebrows were about to fly to his temples.
“Mom, you’re buying sponge cake?!”
Everyone knew that sponge cake was delicious, but they rarely got to eat it. With their family’s limited conditions, it was good enough to just fill their stomachs, let alone an eighty-cent-a-catty sponge cake. With the money for this sponge cake, they could buy four or five catties of rice.
The salesclerk skillfully weighed out two catties of sponge cake with a steelyard, put it in a paper bag, and handed it to Yu Juanfang.
Yu Juanfang took the sponge cake. “When we get home, you all divide the sponge cake and milk candy into four portions, one for each person. No fighting, understand?”
“Understood!” Tangtang and Su Juesheng responded excitedly, nodding like pecking chickens.
They were already very happy to be able to go to a restaurant today. They didn’t expect to not only eat fragrant chicken leg noodles but also have sponge cake and milk candy to eat. This day was even happier than the New Year!
Su Juesheng and the others had already chosen their pencils and rulers. Yu Juanfang took them and paid for everything together.
Tangtang didn’t have anything to buy. She didn’t lack pencils or notebooks. But Yu Juanfang saw a beautiful pink floral hair tie hanging on the wall and asked the salesclerk to show it to her. The white hair tie was wrapped with a circle of pink silk flowers, very unique and beautiful. And Tangtang had fair skin, so it would suit her very well. Yu Juanfang bought it for her.
When they came out of the supply and marketing cooperative, their hands were full of things. They had truly returned with a full load.