Chapter 23: This Gold Must Be Worn on the Face (Please Support with Votes!)

"This was your eldest brother's doing. How does it look, Xiaojun? Bright enough, right?" Qin Zhijiu asked with great pride as he observed Qin Jun's reaction.

Qin Jun gave a thumbs-up. It was truly impressive. He remembered that electricity wouldn't reach their village for another eight or nine years, and even then, it would be tapped from the coal mine on the edge of the village—a mine that had already been operating for eight years by that time. He truly hadn't expected that Qin Han’s household would already have electricity in 1979.

"Big brother, how did you manage this?" Qin Jun looked at Qin Xia. Qin Xia was the one whose matchmaking had fallen through earlier; he was twenty-five this year. Dressed in black and with an aged face, he looked thirty-five!

Qin Xia gave a shy smile. "It wasn't difficult. I know a bit about electrical work. I bought a discarded battery at the commune’s scrap yard and tinkered with it. I didn't expect it to actually work."

As soon as Qin Xia spoke, Qin Jun understood. He looked at the battery, which was essentially a lead-acid storage battery. It was an old-fashioned, square unit with several plastic screws on top and two iron clips attached to wires. The light bulb was at most fifteen watts; in the future, the power generated by a single solar water heater would be enough to power this small bulb. But to scrounge up all these parts now was no small feat. Needless to say, these items must have come from the commune's two coal mines.

As he studied the battery, Qin Jun thought that he might be able to borrow it in the future. If used well, this thing could be of great utility.

"Come, sit down and eat. It’ll get cold if you don't," Qin Zhijiu said, warmly hosting Qin Jun.

Only then did Qin Jun look at the table—a square table of an indefinable color that didn't seem very steady. He could tell it had been cobbled together from various rectangular wooden boards. After sitting down, a slight nudge made the table wobble; it felt like it might fall apart.

Although the table was lackluster, the food was quite sumptuous. A plate of stir-fried cured meat stood out, with red chili peppers tangled among thick slices of pork. It went without saying that in a rural household like this, such a dish was strictly reserved for entertaining guests. Whether it was for weddings, funerals, births, or marriages, only such occasions warranted the use of cured meat.

Besides that, there were several steamed buns. These weren't ordinary; they weren't the common flat, round shape found in farmhouses, but rather cylindrical.

"Kiln buns?" Qin Jun looked at the Qin Zhijiu household with newfound respect. The "kiln" referred to the coal mine, locally known as a "coal kiln." These tall, plump, cylindrical buns produced by the mine canteen were known as "kiln buns." If you weren't a miner, you couldn't buy them. Compared to the buns made by local housewives, these were as white as snow, fluffy, and delicious.

One bite filled the mouth with the fragrance of wheat; they were incomparable to the mixed-grain buns common in the countryside. Even pure white flour buns made at home, ground with stone mills, lacked the texture and taste of these machine-milled ones. In this era, there were no additives, and the machine-milled flour was finer and more uniform, lacking excess bran, which naturally made them taste better.

Looking at the other dishes—stewed cabbage with vermicelli, scrambled eggs, and a cold shredded radish salad—four dishes in total, with one being pure meat, it was a very generous spread. However, the only people sitting in the room were the members of Qin Han’s family. It seemed they were hosting Qin Jun as a family, which left him feeling a bit flattered.

You might say Qin Zhijiu’s family lacked social graces, yet they knew enough to show gratitude by insisting Qin Jun come over for dinner. They had clearly done their best to make the meal plentiful. And yet, if you truly say they were well-versed in social conventions, their actions were somewhat lacking—they hadn't invited the team leader or the accountant to join them.

In the countryside, where clan ties were strong and social etiquette was paramount, Qin Han had shouted for Qin Jun to come over for dinner right there at the lime kiln. Everyone in the village knew they were hosting a guest, yet by not inviting the team leader and the accountant, it was as if they didn't regard them as officials at all. It was fortunate they were all of the same Qin clan; otherwise, the others might have made life difficult for them. In the countryside, a team leader or accountant might not be able to help you achieve much, but if they wanted to ruin your plans, they could do it with ease.

Qin Jun looked at the light bulb overhead and the cured meat on the table. It was clear that Qin Zhijiu had prepared plenty of cured meat for his son’s marriage. Added to the news he’d heard earlier—that the five hundred yuan they had was their own, not borrowed—it was evident the family was well-off, had food reserves, and even Qin Xia was more capable than he appeared. These were highly sought-after conditions in the matchmaking market, but one had to display them! People needed to see them!

"Xiaojun, don't be shy, eat!" Qin Xia said, looking anxious as he saw Qin Jun lost in thought. "Eat up, we can fry more if it's not enough. Now that your eldest brother is working at the Hongquan Coal Mine, even though he's a temporary worker, he brings home some money every month. We don't have to worry about food or drink!"

Qin Jun was speechless. Telling this to a young man like himself was useless, wasn't it? If they had said this to the matchmaker earlier, would Qin Xia still be a bachelor? He looked at the other members of the Qin family; no one was paying attention to what their father was saying. Every gaze was locked onto that fatty, succulent cured meat.

"Ninth Uncle, then I won't stand on ceremony," Qin Jun said, lifting his wine cup and taking a small sip. He only had a little wine and needed to drink it slowly, and the others were the same.

After a sip of wine, he picked up a thick slice of meat. It was mostly fat with a little lean meat; the fat was crystalline and translucent. The meat smelled rich even before it touched his lips. Once in his mouth, a single chew sent a wave of grease flooding his palate. It wasn't just a matter of taste; his entire mouth was flooded with a sensory explosion. How long had it been since he’d eaten meat? It had been less than a month since his rebirth, and his body was clearly starving for it.

Every cell in his body felt activated. The fat melted on his tongue, soaking into the slightly firmer lean meat, softening it and making it more flavorful the more he chewed. Perhaps because he was so hungry for meat, his mouth flooded with saliva, quickly coating the large piece of meat and sliding it down his esophagus. He swallowed it whole. He was certain he hadn't chewed it thoroughly. He began to understand Pigsy from *Journey to the West*; eating the ginseng fruit must have felt just like this.

He should have savored such rich, fragrant meat, but his current state wouldn't allow for such restraint.

"Eat, don't stop!" Qin Zhijiu was genuinely hospitable. Unable to refuse such kindness, Qin Jun picked up another piece of half-fat, half-lean meat. Eating cured meat was pure bliss.

"Ninth Uncle, your cured meat is truly excellent." After eating two large pieces, he finally had the presence of mind to compliment the host—a bit of mutual flattery.

"If it's good, eat more. Don't be polite. We keep one leg of meat every year; I have five or six of them now. It’s just a pity that your brother’s matchmaking hasn't gone smoothly."

Looking at the sighing Qin Zhijiu, Qin Jun didn't know what to say. Having eaten their meat and drunk their wine, he wanted to help. "Ninth Uncle, although that matchmaker the other day spoke harshly, she had a point—sometimes you have to show off your gold!"

"Gold? My family doesn't have any gold!" Qin Zhijiu immediately retorted, looking anxious.

*Damn,* Qin Jun thought, stunned. Was this the "no silver buried here" trick? He hadn't expected the Ninth Uncle's family to actually have gold. But then he realized his own grandfather had gold and had even traded it for food during the famine; why shouldn't the Ninth Uncle's family have some? This family had deep roots, but they didn't know how to save face for themselves.

"Ninth Uncle, listen to me. Find a few sisters-in-law or aunts in our team who are good at talking, and let them show off a bit of your family's assets. I guarantee that in no more than three days, my eldest brother will have a successful match."

"Huh? We have to show off our assets?" Qin Zhijiu was clearly reluctant. He was another victim of the "don't reveal your wealth" mentality. One had to adapt to specific situations; you couldn't use the same approach for everything, and you couldn't be so rigid.