Chapter Eight: The New Member

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With so many delicious foods at home, the happiest was Dou Dou. However, Zhang Huacheng realized he needed to buy some things—Dou Dou had no cotton shoes or cotton pants. Since she rarely left the house during winter, it was clear he had to make her a set of cotton clothes and shoes.

Zhang Huacheng went to his hometown to deliver some coarse grains and a bowl of lard, and he also brought his little sister along to keep Dou Dou company.

“Won’t we get caught?” Wang Lin whispered nervously while weaving a crab trap. Suddenly earning so much money made her uneasy.

“As long as no one finds out, we’re fine. Don’t worry, I already have a plan,” Zhang Huacheng said. He knew this couldn’t go on forever; if anyone spotted them, they’d be reported and the Red Guards would come. Right now, their actions were considered undermining socialism’s fabric, a serious offense if taken strictly.

Zhang Huacheng set his sights on becoming a mountain guard. Once appointed, he would no longer rely on the commune’s food; he’d live off his own skills, but he’d be allowed to harvest resources from the mountains legally, and no one would interfere.

As a super soldier, once he became a mountain guard and was assigned a rifle, he wouldn’t fear wolves in the mountains.

“Erguo, can we eat these meat buns?” His little sister ran over, eyes wide with longing. She had noticed many large meat buns in the cupboard.

“Wait until dark,” he said.

“Oh!” She wiped her mouth and went to look out the window, clearly waiting for nightfall.

As dusk deepened, the house grew lively. The stove fire blazed, and the big pot of seafood stew released a tempting aroma. Wang Lin carefully pressed corn cakes against the iron pot’s edge.

The little sister and Dou Dou were already eating meat buns on the kang bed, occasionally peeking at the pot.

Tie Zhu’s family was also eating, but he only drank a thin bowl of vegetable porridge that night, his stomach grumbling with hunger. The pot of steamed cornbread at home wasn’t given to him.

When Tie Zhu reached out to grab some, Chen Youde struck his hand away with chopsticks.

“If you don’t work at night, why do you get to eat cornbread? Why do you always look like a starving ghost? Don’t you know your younger siblings need to grow?” Chen Youde scolded.

Seeing his son hang his head and go back inside, Chen Youde bit into some cornbread and muttered, “Wife, did you smell that? The neighbors are eating meat again. I noticed it at noon.”

“Could someone from the Zhang family be poaching in the mountains?” Sun Li’s heart stirred.

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“Very likely!”

The couple exchanged a glance, their eyes brightening. Without poaching, where would the meat come from? Their brigade couldn’t buy meat even if they had money; they could only get pork during the New Year when the production team distributed it. Without meat coupons, pork was impossible to buy.

“I’m going to report this to Chen Gonglin!” Chen Youde, unable to eat, threw down the cornbread and left.

Chen Gonglin was the brigade leader of the Chen Hall Shili Canal.

As soon as Chen Youde left, Tie Zhu followed him out with his head down. Sun Li ignored him and continued eating with the two children.

“Poaching?”

Zhang Huacheng was speechless when he heard this news from Tie Zhu. Chen Youde and his wife were truly despicable, but their guess was not far off.

“W-What do we do? The Red Guards won’t come, right? I’ll hide the stuff!” Wang Lin was frightened.

She hurried to hide things, especially the copy of Dream of the Red Chamber Zhang Huacheng bought her. It was a banned book at the moment and forbidden to read.

“Now that the mountains are sealed by heavy snow, even mountain guards don’t dare enter. Nobody believes those rumors. Tie Zhu, sit down and eat. Later, help me send the little sister back home!”

Zhang Huacheng planned to check the crab traps and figured Tie Zhu could help with the delivery.

After helping Wang Lin hide her things, they ate quickly—meat buns and seafood stew gone in less than ten minutes.

“Tie Zhu, help me take the little sister home, then go back and sleep. Come to my house before dawn tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

Tie Zhu nodded eagerly.

Outside, darkness had fallen. Zhang Huacheng carried a bamboo basket and crab traps to collect his catch.

As expected, the basket filled with seafood, and four more crab traps were set among the reefs. With this output, he would need Tie Zhu’s help in the morning.

A faint light flashed across the dark sea. Just as he was about to leave, Zhang Huacheng’s mind stirred. That was a boat heading to Little Stone Island, where soldiers and fishermen lived. Both officers and fishermen there were well-off, but the island was short on supplies. Even with money, one couldn’t buy much because they weren’t allowed to leave freely.

If only they could trade or sell goods, but that was impossible now.

He thought of someone—his great-grandfather Zhang Meng. In a previous life, after his wife and children froze to death, his once strong great-grandfather became cold and distant but sent him a letter. It was that handwritten letter from great-grandfather that got him into the military.

He later learned that his great-grandfather had been a regiment commander during the Anti-Japanese War.

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Tomorrow, after selling the fish and crabs and with some grain coupons in hand, he planned to buy coarse grains and share them. In his last life, several elders starved to death during the harsh winter; such a tragedy must never happen again.

By the time he returned home, Dou Dou was already asleep. Wang Lin, however, sat by the window, reading Dream of the Red Chamber by the bright moonlight.

“Turn on the lamp, or you’ll hurt your eyes.”

Zhang Huacheng went to get an oil lamp.

“No, no. I’m about to sleep, and the moonlight is very bright tonight,” Wang Lin refused, mindful of the expensive lamp oil.

Zhang Huacheng looked outside. Indeed, the moon these days was far brighter and larger than decades later.

After sitting with Wang Lin a while, exhausted from the day, Zhang Huacheng could no longer stay awake and went to sleep. He had to get up early for the county town the next morning.

After some time, half-awake, a delicate body nestled into his embrace, mingling with a faint, fresh fragrance. Zhang Huacheng held her close and soon fell asleep.

Without a watch, uncertain of the time, he woke several times, worried about oversleeping. When he finally felt it was near dawn, he opened the door and saw Tie Zhu pacing nervously outside.

“Brother.”

Tie Zhu hurried over.

“When did you get here? Come in quickly. Why didn’t you knock?” Zhang Huacheng looked at the footprints on the floor and at Tie Zhu trembling in the cold. It seemed he had been waiting a long time.

“I didn’t know the time…”

Tie Zhu hadn’t slept well either. Zhang Huacheng told him to come before dawn, but when he awoke, the moon was already overhead. Unsure of the hour and afraid to oversleep, he kept checking if the door was open.

“Have some peach cookies and hot water.”

Zhang Huacheng handed him two peach cookies and poured a thermos of hot water.

Ten minutes later, Zhang Huacheng instructed Tie Zhu to bring a sack and accompany him outside. Tie Zhu didn’t ask what was inside.

At the reef by the sea, Zhang Huacheng told Tie Zhu to wait on the rocks while he went down to collect the catch.

Walking on the reefs was dangerous, especially in the cold. Falling into the sea could be fatal; he didn’t want Tie Zhu, inexperienced, to take the risk.

As expected, the haul was astonishing—two baskets full of seafood—leaving Tie Zhu stunned.

“Let’s go to the county town!”

“Mm!”