The Siheyuan of the Young Educated Youth

The next morning, Qi Feifei was awakened by the noise outside. When she opened her eyes, it was already past seven o'clock. Only she and Zhang Chunxiang were still in bed.

Every time I move, my whole body aches, as if it's falling apart!

I felt dizzy and as if I was still swaying on the train.

Struggling to get up.

Then I heard a female voice outside shouting, "Why are you guys so greedy? I didn't even want to pick those cucumbers. I thought they would grow bigger in a few days and be enough for everyone to have a meal."

A male voice grumbled: "The garden belongs to everyone, not just to you female educated youth. Why can't we eat it?"

Another female voice: "Those were planted by us female educated youth. You are so shameless."

A male voice became louder: "Who are you calling shameless? You didn't eat the chili peppers we planted? I think you are the shameless ones."

A female voice shouted: "You are the shameless ones. There are only a few peppers. We only made pepper sauce a few times..."

Another male voice shouted, "How many? Didn't you guys eat them all the same? Why is it okay for you to eat peppers but not for us to eat cucumbers?"

A female voice shouted: "There are only so many peppers needed to make chili sauce, and there are only a few cucumbers, and you picked them all."

A male voice: "What's wrong with eating it all? I ate it, so what?"

……

Zhang Chunxiang was also woken up, and the two of them leaned on the windowsill and looked out.

I saw a group of people in the yard, noisy and messy.

Zhang Chunxiang: "What's going on? Are they fighting over vegetables?" She found it a bit unbelievable. If someone brought some delicious food from home, they would share it with everyone. That food would not be much more expensive than vegetables.

Qi Feifei wanted to say, they have no food!

"I don't know either! Let's get up and wash our faces. Everyone else is up."

Zhang Chunxiang: "Ah! Yes, yes, yes, yes, hurry up, it's so embarrassing!"

The two of them didn't bother to watch the fun and quickly went downstairs to wash up.

When we finished arguing outside and came into the house to prepare for dinner, they had already packed up.

Breakfast was a large cornmeal pancake, potato soup, a few potatoes, and a large bowl of soup.

While eating, I saw that the female educated youth still looked unhappy.

Liu Yumei: "The male educated youth are so shameless that they even stole our cucumbers. How could they not be so greedy!"

Cao Xiaohui said weakly: "We also ate their chili peppers."

Liu Yumei raised her voice and said, "Are you stupid? Their chili peppers? A big bowl of sauce is three chili peppers, that's not much. We have several cucumbers, that's a small bowl."

Cao Xiaohui: I’m not stupid.

Baisha tried to smooth things over: "Okay, okay, don't be angry. The angry cucumber is gone. Eat well. Eating when angry will cause stomachache."

Zhang Chunxiang asked tentatively: "How many cucumbers do we have in total? Is there a place to buy some?"

Baisha: "Another silly girl! Hahaha! There is no one to sell things in this mountain valley. You have to rely on yourself for food. You have to grow your own vegetables, raise your own chickens and ducks, and get your own food based on work points at the end of the year. In the end, everything depends on your own hard-working hands."

Zhu Li: "We also have no experience. In the spring, the seedlings didn't grow up before the drought happened. We were busy working on the land and didn't have time to water the vegetable garden. As a result, the vegetables didn't grow and some died of drought. In the dog days of summer, it rained a lot and some died of flooding! So now we have to plan before we cook." It's not that she doesn't want to cook, she really doesn't have any!

Zhang Chunxiang: "Then can't we buy some from the villagers?"

Liu Yumei pouted: "If we want to buy, there must be someone to sell it to us! We would like to buy it, but many villagers don't have enough food to eat at this time of year, and they rely on vegetable porridge to fill their stomachs. The whole family depends on the vegetable garden, so how can there be any extra to sell!"

Zhang Chunxiang was shocked: "Ah? What should I do?" She thought she could eat whatever she wanted in the countryside! Isn't it said that the land in the Northeast produces food?

Everyone is worried, but no one says anything. If there was a solution, they would have used it long ago!

Qi Feifei: "At this time of year, there should be mushrooms on the mountain, right?"

Zhu Li: "We don't know them either! And there are snakes, so we don't dare to go up the mountain."

Qi Feifei: "Are there any villagers going up the mountain to pick mushrooms? Can we go with them?"

Liu Yumei: "No matter who you go with, you will get bitten by snakes. This place is so far from the town, I'm afraid everyone will be dead by the time we get there."

Everyone was silent again!

After dinner, Qi Feifei and Zhang Chunxiang went to the team leader to get their rations.

After returning, Zhang Chunxiang sorted out her things. Qi Feifei had nothing to sort out, so she borrowed a sickle from Zhu Li and said she wanted to go for a walk by the river to protect herself in case of danger (snakes). Zhu Li gave her the sickle she used for work.

Qi Feifei also found a branch from the pile of firewood, cut off the branches, made it into a stick, and held it.

Leave the village and walk into the mountains along the stream.

If she wants to make money, she has to work harder and run more, which requires physical strength.

First of all, I had to fill my stomach. The educated youths were no longer able to do that, so I had to rely on myself.

She walked into the mountains to see if there were any mountain products in the places she often visited in her previous life.

She happily shuttled through the woods, hitting the surrounding grass and trees with a stick to drive away snakes and insects, humming a song and strolling in her familiar world, her heart full of joy and excitement.

After being reborn, I was freed from all the illnesses, burdens and pains of my family. I felt so relaxed that I felt like I could jump three feet high if I jumped.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Live your life well!"

"Ah~ Dashan~ I'm back~"

She shouted, feeling extremely happy.

Along the way, she walked and stopped, not in a hurry, looking around here and there.

She looked up and down the trees to see if there was anything she needed.

There was no Ganoderma lucidum, Hericium erinaceus or the like, and she didn't hold out such high hopes. After all, it was close to the village and people came frequently, so any good stuff would not be left.

There are some hazelnut trees, but the nuts are not ripe yet and are not ready for picking.

She also found some herbs, but she didn't bring any tools and they were hard to dig. Fortunately, she just took it as a walk, inspected the situation, and dug again when the time was right.

After walking slowly for more than half an hour, I saw red tobaer (also called red raspberry) on the hillside not far from the stream. It was soft and sweet. People who have eaten it said it was delicious. It is also a traditional Chinese medicine.

There was a large patch of fruit interspersed among the bushes, many of which had been picked, but there was enough left for her to eat. It was sweet, with a special fruity aroma that permeated her mouth.

I couldn't help but close my eyes, savor it carefully, and let out a sigh.

“Ah! It’s so delicious!”

Ever since my last life, when I suffered from a serious leg disease and could no longer go up the mountain, I have never eaten this fruit again.

She had a delicious meal of tobaer and felt full.

After eating, I continued to look forward.

After walking for more than an hour, we arrived near a willow meadow and walked up the hillside.

She remembered that this forest was good for growing elm yellow mushrooms, so she walked slowly through the woods, and after a long walk, she actually found elm yellow mushrooms, but they were not big and could still grow. She happened to not bring a basket, so she walked to the willow meadow below, cut a large bundle of willow branches, and carried them back.

She peeled the willow branches cleanly outside the village before taking them back.

Liu Yumei saw it as soon as she entered the yard.