Chapter 35

Kang Guofu no longer chased after Li Dong and instead turned to chase the pheasant. What good would it do to hit Li Dong a few times? This kid had thick skin and a hard head. Where was the fun in that compared to the pheasant, which was full of meat and would make a delicious stew. Not just Kang Guofu, but a few other Korean soldiers also threw down their sickles and ran after the pheasant.

Li Dong was confused. "This is a pheasant, it can fly. It’s not that easy to catch." But as he watched the group disappear in the blink of an eye, he thought of a swift dog chasing a rabbit. "They’re so fast."

"Uncle Guofu is over fifty, yet he runs so fast. He must have been holding back when he chased me," Li Dong thought to himself. "Luckily, or I would have no place to complain about being hit."

Deciding to look for pheasant nests instead, Li Dong searched around and found one. There were quite a few pheasant eggs in the nest, and in two nests, there were over ten eggs.

"Ha ha, chasing pheasants is a waste of time. Pheasant eggs are much better," Li Dong said happily as he collected the eggs. He had eaten leek and country chicken eggs before, and they were delicious.

"I wonder how leek and pheasant eggs taste together," Li Dong thought, pleased with himself. He watched as Kang Guofu and the others laughed and returned, and noticed that Kang Guofu was holding a pheasant.

Li Dong’s eyes nearly popped out. "Wow, they really caught it."

Pheasants can fly, and to catch one at that speed was impressive. "You guys are really not giving the pheasant any respect," Li Dong had to admit.

The group was surprised to see Li Dong with a nest of pheasant eggs.

"Where did you find them?"

"In the nest. You guys chased the pheasant, so I just picked them up," Li Dong said happily. "I’ll fry them with leeks later."

"This kid, why are you eating so many leek and egg dishes without a wife?" one of them asked.

"It’s a waste," another added.

Li Dong was speechless. "What’s wrong with eating leek and egg dishes? I like them, and they make me more energetic."

Kang Guofu looked at the eggs and the pheasant in his hand, then at Li Dong. "How about this: give me the eggs, and come to my place for dinner. We can stew the pheasant."

"Sure, that sounds great."

"Call Guohong later to discuss the drought."

Li Dong didn’t mind. He kept three eggs for Xiaojuan to have for lunch the next day and gave the rest to Kang Guofu. They continued cutting reeds, and by the end of the afternoon, they had cut a lot. They loaded the reeds onto a cart and spread them out to dry in the threshing field. "Once the reeds are dry, take some home. Also, get some wheat bran and mix it with mud to repair your roof."

Li Dong nodded, thinking he would figure out the details later. He didn’t want to upset Kang Guofu, who might still want to hit him. "Xiaojuan will come back soon. We’ll come over for dinner."

"Alright," Li Dong agreed and went home first. He washed his face, as he had sweated a lot that afternoon. A hot shower was out of the question, but he planned to wash at the reservoir later. "By the way, I brought soap."

Xiaojuan came back early, as the commune school dismissed early to accommodate students living far from home. "Xiaojuan, let’s go to Uncle Guofu’s for dinner."

Li Dong picked up the wine he had bought at noon, wrapped two mooncakes and two almond cookies in oil paper, and grabbed some candy. Thinking about the lack of side dishes for the wine, he took out some braised beef and cut half a pound to wrap up.

Father and daughter walked to Kang Guofu’s house, where Kang Guohong and Kang Guohong were already there.

"Uncle Guofu, Auntie."

Xiaojuan greeted the captain and the others, and Li Dong handed the wrapped mooncakes, almond cookies, and candy to Li Chunhua. "Auntie, I brought some snacks for Xiaohei. Not much, but here you go."

"Uncle, what a nice gift."

Kang Xiaohao and the other children looked eagerly at their grandmother. Li Chunhua opened the paper and found two mooncakes, two almond cookies, and a handful of candy. The children were excited and drooling.

Li Chunhua saw that there was quite a bit and quickly wrapped it up. "Save the mooncakes for the festival. Come, come, let’s eat. You didn’t have to bring anything. Come in and sit down."

"It’s nothing," Li Dong said, pulling Xiaojuan to sit down. He placed the wine on the table. Kang Guohong and Kang Guohong noticed that the wine wasn’t the cheap stuff. "Xiaohuacun Daqu, that’s good wine."

Usually, they drank cheap wine, and bottled wine from the factory was rare.

Kang Guofu didn’t say anything, but he was glad. Who wouldn’t like good wine?

"Auntie, do you have any plates? I brought some braised beef," Li Dong said, taking out the wrapped beef from his pocket. He cut it into slices, and the aroma of the beef made the children drool.

Li Dong’s generosity with snacks, wine, and meat left Li Chunhua and the family speechless. "What a good kid," they thought. Even Kang Guofu had to admit that, though Li Dong was lazy, he wasn’t stingy.

Kang Guohong and Kang Guohong were especially pleased. Wine and beef were rare in those days, and slaughtering cattle was illegal. They rarely ate beef.

The braised beef was even rarer. The color and aroma were inviting. Li Chunhua asked her daughter-in-law, Zhang Qiuju, to put the beef on a plate. Zhang Qiuju took the opportunity to give a piece to her child. "It’s so fragrant."

"Isn’t it delicious?"

"Come, come."

The other children also wanted a piece, but Li Chunhua chased them away to maintain Kang Guofu’s reputation. "Go, go, I’ll make some chicken soup with rice for the children."

"Mom, I’ll do it."

The two daughters-in-law competed to do the task, hoping to get some chicken for their children. The dinner was rich: pheasant stewed with sweet potato starch, pheasant eggs fried with leeks, stewed beans and eggplants, and a plate of beef.

Kang Guohong opened the wine and poured a cup for Kang Guofu, not forgetting Li Dong. "This wine is fragrant."

"Of course, it costs over a yuan," Li Dong said with a smile.

"About that much."

Li Dong chuckled. The wine was made from pure grain, and the dishes were all natural and organic. The pheasant stewed with sweet potato starch was fragrant, and the beef, which Li Dong had brought from the 21st century, was untouched by him.

Kang Guofu and the others, however, enjoyed the beef, which was a rare delicacy. The braised beef was especially good, as there were few seasonings in those days, making it more natural. Li Dong, on the other hand, was busy eating the pheasant.

"Come, come, Uncle, I’ll toast to you."

Li Dong raised his glass and drank. Then he called Xiaojuan and the other children over. "Come, come, each of you can have a piece of meat." The children ran over, and Kang Guofu, who had intended to chase them away, saw Li Dong giving each child a piece of beef and chicken. This made Kang Weijun and Kang Weijiang’s wives very happy. Li Dong wasn’t as bad as they had heard.

"Go, go."

"Stay away."

Kang Guofu grunted, and the children ran off, still fearing him.

As they drank, they discussed the village’s affairs, occasionally mentioning Li Dong, such as repairing the roof and getting married. Li Dong chimed in about the roof but remained silent about marriage.

The sweet potato starch was delicious, and he planned to buy more from those who had extra. Sweet potato starch was made from sweet potatoes, and only a few families in the village had enough to make some, like Kang Guofu’s.

Kang Guofu’s family had over a thousand pounds of sweet potatoes, and if they had extra, they would make some starch. Other families with more labor had more sweet potatoes and could make starch, noodles, or sweet potato balls, but it was rare.

"The weather looks like it won’t rain soon," Kang Guohong said, taking a sip of wine and a bite of leek and egg.

"We’re lucky the early rice wasn’t affected," Kang Guohong said. "I heard the drought is worse in the north, and they might have a total crop failure this year."

"Ah."

They sighed, as farmers had no control over natural disasters. There were no large machines to dig wells or pump water. Even in the future, droughts would reduce yields, let alone now.

A total crop failure was serious, as it could lead to starvation. Thinking of the three-year famine a decade ago, they sighed again. Li Dong quickly took out his cigarettes.

This was the perfect time for a smoke. Kang Guohong and Kang Guohong were pleased to see Li Dong’s cigarettes and took them. Kang Guofu glared but didn’t refuse when Li Dong smiled sheepishly. Li Dong lit the cigarettes for everyone and spoke.

"Uncle Guofu, since we can’t change the reduced crop yield, should we consider some side businesses to supplement our income?"

"Side businesses? No, we tried before and almost got in trouble."

Kang Guofu immediately rejected Li Dong’s idea.

"Then how about this," Li Dong said, thinking. "My second uncle works at the supply cooperative. I saw them buying dried goods, pheasants, and other wild game. A pheasant sells for one yuan, and mushrooms and black fungus for three to four mao per pound. Dried wild fruits sell for one to two mao per pound."

"So expensive?"

A pheasant for one yuan could buy a lot of grain. Wild game, though not abundant, could be found in the mountains. Each family could gather a few pounds, and children could collect some, let alone adults.

Wild fruits were also plentiful in the mountains, such as hawthorns, jujubes, wild grapes, and persimmons. A family could gather five to ten pounds, which would be worth one to two yuan. With luck, they could make ten to twenty yuan.

This could buy a hundred pounds of grain, and with this supplement, they wouldn’t starve. "Is this feasible? We don’t want to cause trouble. Speculation is a serious crime."

"Uncle Guofu, the supply cooperative is buying these. We can use the production team’s name, and we might even get a reward," Li Dong said with a smile.

"Rewards are fine."

Kang Guofu was still hesitant, so Li Dong said, "Uncle Guofu, how about this: I’ll collect the goods and deliver them to my second uncle. What do you think?"

"I’ll get a temporary job there."

"That’s a good idea."

Kang Guohong and Kang Guohong agreed, and Kang Guofu thought it was a good plan. "Can your second uncle help?"

"Definitely. I’ll talk to him, and it will be fine."

Li Dong reassured him. Kang Guofu was skeptical, as his second uncle wasn’t his father. Li Dong explained that his second uncle and his wife had suffered, lost their son, and now had only a daughter. They were old and couldn’t have more children, so Li Dong was like a son to them.

This made Kang Guofu believe Li Dong. "Alright, you can help with this. I’ll talk to the families, and you and Guohong can spread the word. Everyone should try to gather some."

Kang Guohong and Kang Guohong agreed, as this would help supplement their income and ease the burden on the production team. No one would go hungry.

Li Dong thought this was a great opportunity. Wild game, mushrooms, black fungus, and dried wild fruits were all valuable. "I need to exchange my watch and clothes for money to buy more goods."

In the future, these items would be hard to find, as they were pure, green, and natural. Li Dong was excited. "Gao Lan said my farm wouldn’t last. We’ll see. I’ll show her."