Starting a new chapter in life

He Zhijun stopped making dumplings and looked at her with a touched expression. "You always say I'm good to you, but actually you're even better to me. You've managed to settle things so well in this unfamiliar place and still take care of my parents. Marrying you is my good fortune."

Jing Yan laughed and said, "Alright, stop being so sentimental. Hurry up and cook. I've been craving your cooking for over half a month."

He Zhijun smiled and continued making dumplings: "If you like them, I'll make them for you when I come back from my vacation. It's almost August, so when you go back to collect your grain rations, check if there's been an increase in your quota. My report has been approved, and I've been promoted one level to level 22. Starting in August, I'll get 56 yuan a month, which is 8 yuan more than before. I wonder how much more grain rations I'll get."

“No matter how much, your level up is a happy thing. We’re going to eat something good today. My soybean paste is ready. Although the other vegetables in the yard haven’t grown yet, we can still cut down quite a few lettuce leaves. That’s enough for dipping sauce. I’ll fry some egg sauce later.” Jingyan volunteered.

He Zhijun laughed: "Okay, I'll try the soybean paste from the North. I've never eaten vegetables with dipping sauce before. In the summer, the cafeteria has braised eggplant with soybean paste, which I think is pretty good. I heard that the seasoning in it is Northeast soybean paste."

Hearing his agreement, Jingyan stopped sitting and immediately got up, taking the empty vegetable basin to the yard to chop lettuce leaves. He Zhijun finished wrapping the last dumpling and was originally going to clean up the cutting board, but he was curious about what lettuce was, so he got up and went out to see. He saw Jingyan breaking off leaves from several plants that had grown to thigh height. Each plant only had two or three small leaves left at the top, and from a distance, they looked like bare stems, which were quite pitiful.

"Jingyan, did you break these vegetables to shreds? Will they even survive?" He Zhijun felt sorry for the vegetables; they had been broken too badly.

Jingyan looked at the few lettuce plants around her, puzzled. "They're not bald yet. There are still a few leaves. As long as there are leaves, they can live. Actually, they should be able to live even without leaves, right? The roots are still there. Why don't I pluck one off and see?" Her hands were itching to try. She used to chop lettuce from the bottom up, but she left the leaves on because a few leaves from each plant were enough to eat, and there was no need to catch the whole plant. But after He Zhijun's suggestion, she wanted to try and see if the lettuce would continue to grow without the leaves.

The sinister hand reached for the top of the innermost lettuce, but He Zhijun grabbed it as soon as he touched it: "You've almost filled a whole basin with this. We still have dumplings, that's enough. There's no need to try this. Let's go back. I'll stew some ribs this afternoon."

Jingyan looked at the lettuce with some regret. It had gone back with He Zhijun after all. The lettuce, standing out from the crowd, swayed slightly in the wind. Fortunately, it had no mind, otherwise it would have been ashamed of its nakedness... right?

Jingyan dragged He Zhijun to the backyard to see her soybean paste, and said rather proudly, "This is the first time I've made soybean paste myself, and the fermentation time wasn't long enough, so the flavor isn't quite right, but I'm sure I can do better next year." After saying that, she took the pestle and continued to stir it three hundred times every day. After stirring it, she scooped out two spoonfuls, preparing to use them to make egg sauce.

He Zhijun had never seen anyone else's version of this, so he didn't know that the kind of soybean paste his wife made was something that probably no one in the area would be willing to try. Because he didn't know any better, he was very kind and praised her, saying, "My wife is amazing! She made it so well on her first try. It smells really good. You can't eat this directly, right? You have to process it a bit or use it as a condiment?"

Jing Yan nodded without any hesitation: "Normally, you can eat the vegetables directly with the sauce, but mine didn't ferment long enough, so it's best to eat it with cooked sauce. Also, people who aren't from the North aren't used to eating raw sauce. They always feel that it has a strange taste. It's better to fry it until it's cooked, which is more suitable for the general public's taste."

He Zhijun nodded repeatedly. The two of them, one dared to speak, the other dared to believe; one dared to do, the other dared to eat; they were both reckless.

At noon, the two of them had mushroom and meat dumplings with lettuce dipped in egg sauce. For dinner, they had mushroom stewed ribs, spicy shredded potatoes, and rice. They were really full that day. "Should we go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some seasonings tomorrow?" He Zhijun asked Jing Yan while lying in bed.

Jingyan, still a little dazed, asked, "We don't lack seasonings at home, what do you need to buy?"

“We’re almost out of dried chili peppers. I saw that there was about a handful left when I was stir-frying shredded potatoes today. You have to eat them when you cook at home too.”

“Those dried chilies weren’t bought; they were dried from chilies we grew ourselves last year. They’re very spicy. We brought them back from our hometown. We don’t need to buy any yet. In another half month, we’ll have some edible chilies in our yard. If we have any that are particularly spicy, we can dry them ourselves when autumn comes.” Jingyan yawned, turned over, and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

Seeing that she was sleeping so well, He Zhijun smiled helplessly, lay down, and wanted to hug his wife, but as soon as he got close, he felt the heat between them. He thought, "Forget it, let's keep our distance. It's getting hot, and it's not suitable for hugging."

Jingyan slept well and woke up early the next morning. As usual, she went to the chicken coop to feed the chickens. Just as she was about to bring the millet closer to the coop, she heard a constant clucking sound. Her heart skipped a beat, and her mood for feeding the chickens vanished instantly. She placed the bowl of millet on the wall of the chicken coop, opened the gate, carefully walked around the scattered chicken droppings on the ground, bent down and went into the chicken coop. After searching for a while in the pile of straw on the ground, she found two warm little eggs.

Jingyan looked at the little eggs and was overjoyed: "I thought the chirping sounded like they were laying eggs, and it turns out they really are." Looking at the two newly grown hens and then at the other four that were about half-grown, Jingyan was happy again: "It seems that in another month, you will also be able to start laying eggs. I'm in a good mood today, so I'll give you an extra treat."

Holding the eggs in my hand, I left the henhouse, closed the gate, and first threw the millet in the bowl into the chicken feeder. I was about to go and get some vegetable leaves for the chicks. Now that it's summer, if I can catch some insects to feed the chickens, they'll probably lay more eggs.

As soon as I entered the room, He Zhijun was already up. "What good news is there? Why are you smiling so happily?"

Jingyan proudly showed him the eggs in her hand: "Those two big chickens started laying eggs today. In another month, the other four should also start laying eggs. Then our family won't have to buy eggs anymore, how great is that?"

He Zhijun smiled and took the egg, somewhat puzzled: "I remember eggs should be quite big, why is this so small?"

"Because these are first-laid eggs. Eggs laid by chicks within the first four months are considered first-laid eggs. But they've only just started laying eggs, so we don't know how frequently they'll lay them yet. I'll see where I can get some small fish, chop them up, and add some nutrition to the chicks," Jing Yan explained.

"Actually, it would be even better if we could get some insects. Chicks love to eat insects. I'll go to Sister He's place in about two weeks and see if we can dig up any insects when we go mushroom picking in the mountains. If we can, we'll bring them back and add them to the chicken feed. That will make them more likely to lay eggs later."

He Zhijun nodded: "If we can buy insects from someone, that would be fine too. Tell Sister He that the kids in the company are always running around playing outside. If they can catch insects to feed the chickens, they can exchange a certain number for money or candy. There should be some kids willing to help find them. Adults might look down on those meager amounts, but kids won't."

Jingyan gave him a thumbs up: "You're the one with the best ideas. Let's think about how to price it."

"Then it depends on the difficulty and our needs. We only have a few chickens, and they don't eat many insects. Let's just follow the daily intake of the chicks. We need to decide what kind of insects we want to collect first."

"Then let's use earthworms. I'll find a big basin, fill it with soil, and put the collected earthworms in to keep them alive. We can just dig them out when we need them."

"How much should you eat in a day?" He Zhijun asked.

Jingyan thought he was a freak: "How can you feed them every day? Back in our hometown, we would just dig them up while farming, collect them, bring them home, and throw them into the chicken coop. We only had two or three a day, so how could we keep a fixed number?"

He Zhijun nodded: "No matter what it is, it can be quantified, but many people don't usually pay attention to these details."

Jing Yan thought about it carefully: "Three to five chickens a day should be enough."

"Then let's price it according to thirty earthworms, three cents for a live one and two cents for a dead one, how does that sound?"

"Ten earthworms for one cent? Would any child be willing to pay that?" Jingyan was a little worried, but she couldn't bear to pay more.

"Tell Sister He first. If she can take it, then we can do it. If not, and we still need it, then we can add some money for a specified period of time." He Zhijun wasn't too worried.

Jing Yan nodded: "It's okay if we really can't collect them. We can try our luck at the supply and marketing cooperative. If we find any small fish that can't be sold or dead fish, we can buy them cheaply, chop them up, and feed them to the chickens. As long as the nutrition is adequate, we can still supply eggs."

"Then I'll have to trouble my wife," He Zhijun joked.

Jingyan didn't argue with him, and waved the egg in her hand: "We'll have boiled eggs for breakfast." She said as she walked towards the kitchen.

"You're eating already?" He Zhijun asked, chasing after them until he disappeared. Their voices faded away as well, and this warm and cozy scene was what home should be like.

When it was time to collect the August grain rations, Jingyan got up quite early, took her tools, and went to the neighborhood office. When it was her turn to collect the rations, the amount of grain and oil had indeed increased. Previously, there were 25 jin each of rice and wheat flour, but now there were 28 jin, an increase of 6 jin. The rations of soybean oil and pork also increased by half a jin each. Jingyan was very satisfied with this and happily piled the things onto the cart. She pushed it home, sorted everything out, and then went to check on the chicken coop. It had been two days since the first egg was laid, so it seemed she would have to wait a little longer.

Now she would stroll around the supply and marketing cooperative before it closed every day, hoping to buy some small fish at a clearance sale. Unfortunately, she always came back empty-handed. Today, she still didn't have much hope, but unexpectedly, she actually found some. There was a grass carp and seven or eight small crucian carp left on the fish stall in the supply and marketing cooperative. Jingyan stepped forward and asked, "How much are these fish?"

The salesperson, not wanting to leave any stock unsold, replied, "These grass carp are three cents a pound during the day, but we're closing now. If you want one, this one is about two pounds, you can take it for five cents. These smaller ones are just extras."

Jingyan didn't hesitate and handed over 50 cents. The salesperson threaded the grass carp through its gills with a straw rope, tied it up, and handed it to her: "How about I wrap these small ones in some scrap paper for you? But they'll die quickly out of the water. They're too small, and it's hard to thread the straw rope through them."

Jingyan took a glass jar out of her basket. It used to hold canned fruit, but she couldn't bear to throw it away. She had been carrying it with her because she wanted to buy small fish, and now it came in handy.

Ignoring the strange look the saleswoman gave her, she scooped the small fish into the bottle, added some water, and left happily: Now that there's some meat, it seems these two should be able to lay their second egg soon.

She braised the grass carp and ate it, and chopped up the small fish to feed the chickens. With the nourishment of the small fish, two days later, the two hens began to lay eggs normally. Every morning, Jingyan could take two eggs out of the henhouse, and she was in high spirits.

After the first heavy rain of August, Jingyan, carrying a basket with two burlap sacks on her back, excitedly went to the military camp gate to find Sister Liu. Today was a good day to go up the mountain. She had told Sister Liu before that she wanted to go, and today was the perfect day to pick her up.

After waiting for a while, Sister Liu ran over, looking apologetic: "Jingyan, I can't go mushroom picking with you. Thank you for thinking of me."

Jing Yan asked curiously, "Is it because you can't leave the cafeteria?"

Sister Liu shook her head: "It's not the canteen, it's Lao Zeng. He said we don't need me to go pick food. It's so far, tiring and dirty. When I come back, I'll be exhausted and won't be able to do housework. He won't let me go. Jingyan, I'm sorry."

Jingyan shook her head to show her understanding: "It's alright, Sister Liu. Staff Officer Zeng was just worried about you and afraid you'd get tired. If I were still working, I wouldn't go up the mountain to pick mushrooms either. It's just that I'm too idle at home, so I'm just finding something to do. Since you're not going, I'll go first. If I catch any this time, I'll bring some over for everyone to try."

Sister Liu smiled and nodded, but as she watched her departing figure, a hint of melancholy crossed her face. It wasn't that she was worried about her getting tired; she was just concerned that if the people in the compound saw her picking mushrooms, they'd gossip—saying she was short-sighted or stingy. Quite a few families envied her for working in the canteen, getting meals provided and not having to rely on their own food rations. Did they really think she didn't know that?

Previously, some people tried to squeeze the family members who had accompanied the military into the canteen, but Chef Lin refused them all. Jing Yan had worked in the canteen for two years and even came here with them, but she didn't stay. Do you think others can stay? Hmph, dream on.

After thinking it over, Sister Liu composed herself, becoming the dignified and elegant Sister Liu she always was. She slowed her pace and walked towards the cafeteria. No matter what, she had to maintain the proper posture. She absolutely couldn't let a single hair get out of place and make those jealous people who were jealous of her beauty furious. Humph!