Chapter 12: Entering the Mountains

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After returning to her room, Su Yao locked the door and entered her private space. She ate several skewers of fried food, drank a glass of cola, and finished with a tangerine before finally satisfying her craving.

The work itself was not especially difficult; the real problem was that the food was simply too poor. No wonder everyone looked pale and emaciated.

Su Yao felt as though she had only closed her eyes for a moment before the work bell rang again. By then, every part of her body ached. This body was still far too weak. If she had been in her own body, she would hardly have felt a thing—even after another fight, she would still have had energy to spare.

The four of them returned to the work area and continued with the morning’s task.

A little after four, Su Yao finished all her work. She called over the scorekeeper, Chen Xianglian. When Chen arrived, she stared in astonishment and pointed toward the field.

“You—you finished pulling all of these?”

Su Yao nodded.

Chen Xianglian gave her a thumbs-up. “Educated Youth Su, you’re truly amazing! No educated youth has ever earned a full day’s work points on their very first day. You’re the first.”

In the work-point ledger, Chen wrote the date on Su Yao’s page, followed by the number eight.

“Keep it up, Educated Youth Su.”

Su Yao smiled and nodded.

“You’re done for the day, so you can go back early,” Chen Xianglian kindly reminded her as she left.

“All right.”

By the time Su Yao walked away, news that she had earned eight work points in a single day had already spread throughout the village. The older women whose families had unmarried young men began making plans. Who would not want such a capable girl as a daughter-in-law?

Su Yao knew nothing about this. After drinking the spirit spring water from her canteen, she was busy wondering what to eat for dinner. She still planned to go into the back mountains that evening, and if she ate before leaving, she would probably be hungry again by the time she returned.

Cooking after she got back would be too late. After thinking it over, she decided to make cold rice noodles. Once prepared, they could simply be left aside; they would not suffer from growing cold, and she could eat them as soon as she returned.

Once she had decided, she immediately got to work. She poured flour into a basin and began kneading, working it into one large, even ball of dough. After letting it rest for twenty minutes, she kneaded it again until the dough was smooth and uniform.

Next, she poured in cold water and began washing the dough, rinsing out the starch inside. What remained was gluten. She poured the starchy water into another basin, then continued adding water and washing the gluten until the water ran clear and no more starch could be washed out.

She left the starchy water to settle. In the meantime, she placed the gluten in a steamer and steamed it for twenty minutes. Once it was done, she took it out to cool, then cut it into small pieces to add to the cold noodles.

She then prepared ginger, Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves, fennel, and other spices. She brought a pot of water to a boil, added the spices, and boiled everything over high heat before lowering the flame and simmering for about five minutes. After turning off the heat, she seasoned the broth with salt and chicken bouillon, strained it, and set it aside to cool in a bowl.

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Next came the starchy water. She poured off the water that had risen to the top, stirred the settled starch, and strained it through cheesecloth. Then she added salt and mixed it well.

Now she could begin making the cold noodles. Unfortunately, there was no shallow flat-bottomed pan here. Even if there had been one, she would not have dared take it out. Instead, she retrieved two large flat porcelain bowls from her private space. The large iron pot was spacious enough to hold them.

She ladled two spoonfuls of the starchy water into one bowl and swirled it evenly, then placed the bowl inside the pot to steam over water. After two minutes, when large bubbles rose across the surface of the noodle sheet, it was done.

She took the bowl out and placed it in cold water, then used the other bowl to steam the next sheet. Once each sheet had cooled completely, she peeled it off, laid it aside, brushed a thin layer of oil over the top, and continued.

After all the noodle sheets had been steamed, they could be cut. Su Yao did not cut them yet, however. She planned to do that after returning from the mountain. For now, it was enough to prepare the seasonings.

There were no cucumbers or mung bean sprouts here, so she would simply add some gluten. She still had peanuts in her private space and could add those as well.

The freshly cooked seasoned broth was ready, along with some garlic water and black vinegar. She also seemed to have a bottle of chili oil in her private space, left over from an earlier preparation. She could take that out too.

Everything was prepared. All that remained was to wait for Mu Xingjue and the others to return.

While waiting, Su Yao tidied the patch of land in the courtyard. Earlier, Mu Xingjue and Xu Xingyu had merely turned over the soil, leaving the weeds and debris uncleared. Now she took the opportunity to clean everything up, level the clods of earth, and water the soil with spirit spring water. That ought to make the ground more fertile and nourishing.

She could have used ordinary water, but this was right by the house, and she could not stand the smell of anything else. Spirit spring water was much more pleasant.

Once she had finished, Mu Xingjue and the others returned.

“You’re back. Dinner is ready. Shall we eat before we go, or wait until we return?”

Xu Xingyu turned to Ye Simin behind him. “Simin, are you hungry? If you are, we can eat first.”

Ye Simin shook her head. “We ate quite a lot at noon, so I’m not very hungry. Let’s go to the back mountains first. It’ll be difficult to walk if we leave it too late.”

Once they had decided, the four of them closed the door, picked up their carrying baskets, and headed for the back mountains.

They climbed along the winding mountain path. Tender green shoots had begun to emerge among the dry grass beneath their feet. Mu Xingjue led the three women farther into the mountains.

Su Yao spotted a small patch of wild shepherd’s purse.

“Wait. Let’s pick these and take them home.”

Xu Xingyu pointed at the ground. “Those weeds can be eaten?”

What a rich kid.

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“This is shepherd’s purse. We can use it to make dumplings or stuffed buns.” As she spoke, Su Yao began picking it.

Ye Simin and Mu Xingjue said nothing. If Su Yao said something was edible, then it was edible. People who did not cook were better off keeping their opinions to themselves.

This small patch would be enough to make a meal of dumplings.

After gathering the shepherd’s purse, the four continued onward. Spring bamboo shoots had already begun poking through the earth, and the faster-growing ones were as long as a palm. Su Yao picked some of those as well. They would make a wonderfully fresh soup.

The other three followed her example without even waiting for her to say anything.

These were all unexpected gains. Su Yao had come into the mountains mainly to look for game—to see whether they could find pheasants, rabbits, or perhaps even roe deer.

Suddenly, Mu Xingjue stopped and raised a finger to his lips.

A rustling sound came from the grass ahead. The others immediately grew alert and slowed their steps, creeping closer in silence.

Through a gap in the grass, they saw a brilliantly colored pheasant pecking for food. Ye Simin covered her mouth, so excited she nearly jumped, and pointed repeatedly toward the bird.

Su Yao picked up a small stone from the ground and threw it with a swift motion. It struck the pheasant accurately and decisively, knocking it unconscious.

Mu Xingjue and Xu Xingyu silently lowered the dagger and machete in their hands. That had been impressive. They could try it themselves next time.

Seeing that the two men were still staring blankly, Su Yao urged them on. “Hurry up and find some vines to tie it with. It’s only unconscious.”

One of them searched for vines while the other caught the pheasant. They tied it up and placed it in a carrying basket.

The four of them wandered around the back mountains for a while longer. By the time the sky had darkened, they headed back down. Aside from the wild vegetables and spring bamboo shoots, they had caught one pheasant and one rabbit that had emerged from its burrow. They also chopped some firewood before returning home.

Once they arrived, the four of them washed up with the hot water in the pot, then began eating dinner.

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