Volume One, Chapter 14: There's a Stinking Scholar in the Neighboring Village

Jiang Yingli wanted to go up and help, but Aunt Ding grabbed her arm. Aunt Ding looked at the calf, Xiao Hua, who was both mooing loudly and urinating in a great rush, then turned and glanced at the shed covered with transparent plastic. The sympathy and pity in her eyes were almost overflowing. No matter how Jiang Yingli explained that her living conditions were decent, Aunt Ding refused to believe her.

“Child, come stay at my house. My children aren’t home, so there are plenty of rooms,” she said, clutching Jiang Yingli’s hand tightly.

“There’s really no need, Aunt. The team leader said after spring plowing, he’ll help me fix up this house,” Jiang Yingli replied.

“Spring plowing will take another ten days or so! There’ll be plenty of spring rain, you can’t just sleep on the ground!” Uncle Ding, quick with his hands, was already working on the chimney and chimed in, “Exactly, Comrade Jiang, we have lots of boys at home—none of them listen. You’re educated and pretty, they’ll definitely listen to you! Just help us watch the kids.”

A bead of cold sweat appeared at Jiang Yingli’s temple; she wasn’t any good at minding children. As she was thinking of how to refuse, Yuan Yanzhou came down from the mountain, a section of golden camphor slung over his shoulder. The commotion drew their attention.

Jiang Yingli quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

“Team Leader Zhou, are you really letting this new comrade live here? Do you know what her family’s situation is…” Aunt Ding, hardly able to be stopped, blurted out everything.

Yuan Yanzhou heard that Jiang Jingguo wanted to marry her off, and a mix of guilt and tender concern gripped his heart so tightly it was hard to breathe.

When Old Master Jiang passed away, he had gone with Old Master Yuan to Jiang’s house, and from a distance saw the girl sobbing heartbrokenly. He had a mission then and couldn’t step forward to acknowledge her. When her parents died in an accident, he was out on another mission and missed the call from the old master. By the time he returned, she had already handled the funeral and gone back to Germany; they never contacted each other again.

He couldn’t blame her for not replying to his letters; whenever she needed him, he was never around.

“Team Leader Zhou, did you hear me? Arrange for her to live somewhere else!”

“I understand,” Yuan Yanzhou replied, carrying the timber toward the village.

“That team leader is like a block of wood! Is he agreeing or not?” Aunt Ding fumed at his attitude.

Jiang Yingli watched him, legs steady as he strode off with the timber, suspicion growing in her heart.

Just who was this man?

The calloused hands and strong build didn’t match that of an ordinary farmer. The other night, he visited the cowshed at midnight without waking her—what was his purpose?

“Aunt, is Team Leader Zhou from our village?”

“No, almost everyone here is surnamed Ding. The team leader was assigned here by the commune two years ago; I heard he used to be in the army,” Uncle Ding replied, smoothing the clay stove with water. “That four-eyed accountant, you know him? He didn’t respect Zhou at first, so they fought. Team Leader Zhou pinned him down and thrashed him—since then, he’s been convinced.”

“But Team Leader Zhou is impressive. He dug the canal, built the well, and found ways for the young men to work in town during the off-season.”

He wasn’t from the Fifth Production Team, and had been sent here two years ago, but he truly served the team. If he wasn’t here for her, did he perhaps know her?

Aunt Ding didn’t notice her pondering, but standing at the doorway, she caught a faint scent of flowers and grew curious.

“Xiao Jiang, how come I smell flowers?”

Usually, coming to the cowshed meant only the stench of manure, especially in summer, making them avoid the place.

Jiang Yingli nodded, went inside, took the white square block from the fence, and handed it to her.

It was a system reward, releasing fragrance wherever it was smelliest.

“Take it home, it’s something I brought from abroad,” she said.

“Foreign goods?” Aunt Ding instantly tossed it onto the haystack, as if it were red-hot iron.

“Xiao Jiang, how do you have foreign things? You can’t keep this—if the Red Guards find it, you’ll be criticized! Quickly, hide it!”

“It’s incense I bought at the Overseas Chinese store. Even if they check, I have proper receipts.”

Jiang Yingli picked up the incense, her tone fearless. She had no fondness for the Red Guards.

Aunt Ding exclaimed, grabbed the incense and stuffed it into her hands, whispering, “We have Team Leader Zhou, so the ‘Stinking Intellectuals’ and capitalists sent down haven’t come here.”

“But the Red Guards hold struggle meetings in neighboring villages and sometimes come here. Use it secretly, don’t let anyone see!”

Uncle Ding finished the stove, about a meter tall with a mouth big enough for an iron pot, its surface smooth. He instructed her to let it dry for two days before using it. After washing up, the couple gathered their tools and prepared to leave.

Jiang Yingli called them back, went inside, took a bag of dried noodles from her space, tore open the packaging, and wrapped some in oiled paper.

“Uncle, Aunt, I don’t have much to thank you with. These are loose noodles I bought in Shanghai—take them home to eat.”

They rarely ate white rice, let alone fine grain noodles.

After some back and forth, they took half and left the rest for her.

Jiang Yingli put the remaining noodles back in her space and looked at the white block hanging on her door.

Neighboring villages had ‘Stinking Intellectuals’?

She wanted to see.

Though she didn’t know where her uncles and aunts had been sent, if they were in Junzhou and she didn’t know, it would be her failure as a junior.

Looking at the rosy clouds on the horizon, Jiang Yingli felt a strange sense of relief.

She was glad that her parents and grandfather had passed away early, sparing them such humiliation.

As usual, she went to her space to bathe, but did not see the little beast.

“Little beast! Where are you?”

“Squeak—!”

Without needing her to say more, the little beast rushed over, heated a bucket of water, and ran off again.

Jiang Yingli ignored him, took her bath, and went out to sleep.

There was no rain today. Uncle Ding told her she didn’t need to go up the mountain with him; he could manage the small plot himself in half a day.

Jiang Yingli agreed. As she left, he saw her stove and praised it.

But what she saw in his eyes was more relief that the calf’s shelter had been preserved.

After tidying up, Jiang Yingli went to attend the assembly meeting. Afterward, she sought out Vice Captain Wang for her assignment.

He glanced at her, pointed at Ding Cuiying, and said, “Go ask her if there’s anything else to do.”

Then he left, and Jiang Yingli approached Ding Cuiying. “Comrade Cuiying, is there any work that needs extra hands?”

Ding Cuiying ignored her, registered two more people, then finally looked up.

“There might be a spot needing help, but I don’t know if you can manage.”

“I can do it,” Jiang Yingli replied.

Ding Cuiying’s smile became a bit more genuine.

“Alright, I’ll take you over in a bit. Rest for now.”

Jiang Yingli sat aside, waiting as she finished registration. The four-eyed accountant saw her and asked curiously, “Comrade Jiang, why are you sitting here?”

“Uncle Ding’s work is almost done, so I came to see if there’s anywhere else that needs help. She told me to wait—she’ll take me over.”

The accountant nodded. He hadn’t been around on the day tasks were assigned, so only Ding Cuiying knew where extra hands were needed.

By the time registration was finished, it was nearly seven.

Ding Cuiying dawdled a bit more, then finally led her out.

But the direction seemed to lead out of the team.

She took Jiang Yingli over a small hill, where a dam came into view. Uncle Ding, whom she’d seen yesterday, was directing people to clear the canal.

“Uncle, I brought someone to help. Teach her what to do.”

Jiang Yingli raised her hand and waved at him. Uncle Ding looked at Ding Cuiying, dissatisfied.

Clearing the canal was heavy labor—didn’t the educated youth know she wouldn’t be able to handle it?

Bringing a young girl here, wasn’t this just making things hard for her?