Chapter 4

"Xiao Juan, what are you doing?" Li Dong turned around and saw Xiao Juan writing and drawing in a small notebook. Could this child actually recognize words?

You have to understand, in those days, there were very few people in the countryside who could read, let alone a child as young as Xiao Juan.

Upon closer inspection, what was this? The little notebook had quite a bit written in it, but it was rather strange. The drawing of an egg looked quite realistic, and the pinyin for "Second Aunt" was used. The combination of pictures, pinyin, and Chinese characters left Li Dong stunned.

"Rice, Captain Grandpa, Captain can write 'Grandpa' in pinyin, the little girl is keeping accounts."

Li Dong became interested and sat down, pulling Xiao Juan over. "You're keeping accounts?"

"Uh-huh, for the New Year's grain distribution."

"That's not right."

Li Dong was puzzled. These things were supposed to be given, not returned. "We've been eating at the Captain's house for the past two days, and no one mentioned anything about returning it. What's going on? Do we still need to return it now?"

Xiao Juan lowered her head and said softly, "We're on our own now."

Being on their own meant they were a family now. Li Dong was taken aback; this child was quite sensible.

"Da"

"Da?"

Li Dong was stunned again. Locally, they called their father "Da Da." He slapped his forehead, remembering that Han Guofu had said that since he was staying in Xiao Juan's house, he would be considered her father from now on.

"Call me Dad."

Li Dong took the account book and flipped through it, smiling. "Sorghum, and sweet potatoes haven't been recorded yet. I'll do it. Wait a bit, and Dad will make you something delicious. We have cooking oil and eggs today, so I'll make you fried rice with eggs."

"No."

The little girl, who had been looking down, now stretched out her hands like a little hen, blocking Li Dong.

"What's wrong?"

Kids usually love fried rice, so why was this little girl unwilling? Li Dong was puzzled. After asking, he found out, "Exchange for a chick?"

"Uh-huh, two eggs plus one pound of rice for one chick."

Exchange for a chick, Li Dong was confused. The eggs wouldn't be eaten then. Looking at the determined little girl, he sighed. "Alright, I'll go to the reservoir tonight and see if I can catch some fish. I'll make you fish soup later. Look at how thin you are."

Mentioning the reservoir, Xiao Juan hugged Li Dong tightly. "I don't eat fish, Da Da... Dad, don't go to the reservoir." Xiao Juan was truly scared, fearing that Li Dong would drown himself in the reservoir. She had already lost her mother and father, and now she had a new father. Xiao Juan was afraid of losing him too, leaving her without a mother or father.

Eating from others' houses wasn't easy, with cold stares and bullying. People called her a harbinger of misfortune, and children didn't want to play with her. Xiao Juan was scared, and Li Feng, being hugged by Xiao Juan, was at a loss, crying and laughing. "Don't worry, your dad won't do anything foolish."

"Do we have any needles and thread?"

Xiao Juan rummaged through a basket, finding some scraps of cloth, shoe patterns, needles, thread, and thimbles. Li Dong took a needle. Unfortunately, there was no pliers, so he had to use a stone to shape a fishing hook and tie the line.

"It'll have to do."

In the mountain village, once it got dark, no one was around. Li Dong took Xiao Juan with him, as he couldn't leave without her. They locked the door and quietly left the village. According to Xiao Juan, there were militia patrols at night, and if caught, they could be sent to the commune.

Xiao Juan led the way, avoiding the militia. The reservoir wasn't far. Upon arriving, Li Dong took out the fish bait.

It smelled so good. Xiao Juan's little nose twitched. Li Dong mixed the bait, attached it to the hook, and slapped his thigh. There were quite a few mosquitoes, and he needed to find some mosquito repellent.

"Huh?"

"It's on the hook."

"Pretty fast."

Li Dong didn't know that the fish and shrimp in the reservoir had never enjoyed such high-quality bait. Even Xiao Juan wanted to taste it.

"What's this?"

When he pulled it up, Li Dong was stunned. It was a turtle. Catching a wild turtle while fishing was a pleasant surprise, and he was delighted. "Good stuff, hahaha, this must weigh at least a pound. In forty years, it could be worth a few hundred."

Indeed, that night, he caught some good things. He didn't catch many fish, but he caught three turtles, which made him very happy.

"Let's go home."

Stewing turtles, these were nutritious. At home, he was thinking about how to stew the turtles when Xiao Juan climbed onto the bed and started fanning him with a palm fan. She was indeed a little cotton jacket, and Li Dong felt very good.

That night, Li Dong slept very well, but he felt a bit uncomfortable in the morning when Xiao Juan shook him awake. "What's wrong?"

"Dad, get up and eat breakfast, it's time to go to work."

Eat breakfast and go to work. Li Dong was a bit puzzled. It wasn't right. Where did the food come from? He saw a large and a small bowl on the cutting board, with wild vegetables and coarse grains in the porridge, which smelled good. Li Dong swallowed his saliva.

But thinking about the coarse grains that could hurt his throat, he looked at Xiao Juan, feeling a bit helpless. "We have rice at home, why are we eating this? How about I cook? I'll make rice and stew a fish."

"I don't eat fish."

"You don't eat fish?"

Li Dong was stunned. This was wild fish, so delicious. He had eaten several meals at the Captain's house, but only once had meat. He had clearly seen the children in Han Guofu's family drooling at the smell.

Li Dong had always been puzzled. In those times of scarce resources, when coarse grains and meat were rare, why didn't people eat fish?

While working, Li Dong was still puzzled, but once he started, he had no time to think.

Oh, carrying water to water the seedlings, this was unimaginable. It was a mile round trip. By the morning, Li Dong was completely dazed. He couldn't go on. If he continued like this, he would jump into the river within three days.

He couldn't do it. "Xiao Juan, be gentle."

His shoulders were rubbed raw. He hadn't done farm work for years. By the morning, he was done. He needed to find a way in the afternoon. If he continued, he wouldn't survive.

Beep, beep, beep. What was this? Li Dong was lying in bed, groaning in pain. He heard a few beeps.

A screen appeared in front of him, similar to an LCD screen, with three rows of numbers.

70:15:56

200

2018.8.15

The first two rows of numbers were a bit confusing, but the third row was the date he had come here. What was going on? Had he been kidnapped by aliens?

"Is anyone there?"

Li Dong whispered. Xiao Juan had gone to the Captain's house. He couldn't do this, it was killing him.

Han Guofu hadn't expected Li Dong to give up so quickly. He regretted giving Li Dong a household registration. He had thought Li Dong would be a good laborer, but it turned out he was a weakling.

He looked good but was useless. What could be done? He couldn't really let him die from overwork, so Han Guofu decided to check on him.

Just as he reached the door, he heard Li Dong mumbling. Li Dong was startled by the door opening, thinking it was really aliens.

He was so scared that he fell off the bed, groaning in pain. Han Guofu was also startled. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Captain, why are you here?"

Li Dong thought the numbers hadn't disappeared, but what did they mean? No one answered when he called out. He decided to deal with Han Guofu first. "I came to check on you. In the afternoon, you can help with weeding instead of carrying water."

"Alright."

Weeding was easier. He thought he could manage, but once he got to the field, he realized it wasn't easy. Mainly, it was a job for women, the elderly, and children. With Li Dong suddenly joining, he stood out.

"These educated youth are no good, they can't work hard."

"Indeed, he looks big but is hollow inside."

"Shame, shame, shame."

The women weren't afraid of Li Dong hearing them. They spoke loudly, and the children were even louder. Li Dong was frustrated. His back and waist ached, and his hands were numb. Weeding was so tiring.

The sun was too intense. This life was unbearable. Li Dong regretted it. He could have been a vagrant in the city, doing black market work, and even if he was caught, it would be better than this farm work.

"Huh?"

"What changed?"

The numbers on the screen changed. 70 became 74, an increase of four. What was going on? Li Dong was confused. But he didn't have time to think about it. That night, he invited Han Guofu and Han Guobing, the Captain and the accountant, to ask about the current policies.

Farm work was impossible. He was not cut out for it. This wasn't about looking down on laborers; he simply couldn't do it.

He cooked rice and fried fish with cooking oil, but there were no seasonings. He finally understood why people didn't eat fish before. Without seasonings, the fish and shrimp were too fishy. Even the oil and salt were expensive. Just cooking one fish used at least an ounce of oil, which he had used sparingly.

Han Guofu and Han Guobing were stunned when they saw the four dishes and the white rice. They looked at each other, feeling guilty. The grain they had brought over was meant to last Li Dong and Xiao Juan for three months.

This guy, looking at the food, it wasn't just for three months. Just the oil on the fish soup and the eggs made the two officials' mouths twitch. This wasn't how to live. They looked at each other and smiled bitterly. This would cause trouble for the village.

A young, pampered educated youth who didn't understand life and ate extravagantly was a disaster, especially with the drought. It was a disaster.

Xiao Juan, following behind them, saw the food on the cutting board and burst into tears, crying for her eggs and chicks.