Volume One, Chapter Fifteen: Uncle Is Here Too!

"Why did you bring her here! This is work for men only!"

"Women hold up half the sky! Uncle, are you looking down on us women?"

"This isn't a matter of looking down or not, it's—"

"Uncle, I can do it."

Across the river, among the workers clearing the canal, Jiang Yingli glimpsed a familiar figure; she wanted to stay.

Uncle Ding Er hadn't expected her to volunteer, "You—"

Ding Cuiying tossed her tools to the ground and hurried away; she'd agreed to this herself, so even if Captain Zhou came looking, it had nothing to do with her.

Jiang Yingli picked up the hoe and pointed at the bustling crowd across the way, asking, "Uncle, which team is that?"

"That's the First Production Team. Only their brigade and ours have canals. You! Insist on doing this hard work!"

Uncle Ding Er took the hoe from her and told her to carry away the silt others dug up.

This was much easier than clearing the canal.

At the end of the crowd, Jiang Jingguo was slacking off. Seeing Jiang Yingli arrive, he felt a twinge of glee, but when he noticed she was only carrying baskets on the bank, his satisfaction turned quickly to annoyance.

He dropped his hoe and leapt up.

Uncle Ding Er saw him shirking again and snapped, "What are you doing!"

"Why can she carry baskets up here while I have to dig the canal below? It's not fair!"

"You dare complain? A grown man arguing with a young girl for work! Shameful!"

"Even the leaders say women hold up half the sky. If you're giving her special treatment, aren't you contradicting what the leaders say?"

With that lofty accusation, those who'd spoken in her favor grew angry, but after simmering for a while, none could find the words to retort. Their annoyance and disdain for him doubled.

The argument drew the attention of the First Production Team. One man, staring at the pair standing side by side, suddenly narrowed his eyes in recognition.

Jiang Yingli offered to swap tasks with Jiang Jingguo.

He couldn't wait, grabbing the bamboo basket and rushing off, afraid Uncle Ding Er would send him back to shovel silt.

"Your foster brother is so petty, can't be trusted to represent the family."

When Grandfather was still alive, he'd been the face of the Jiang family, but since Grandfather and his parents passed, he's become increasingly unreliable.

Jumping into the canal to shovel mud, she did not reply.

At noon, someone came to deliver food.

Because the workload here was heavy, the food brought was much richer than the communal meals of the village.

But when it was divided, they realized there was a portion missing.

"What happened?" Uncle Ding Er asked the delivery person.

"There's an extra person? No one told us." The delivery person was puzzled.

"Ding Cuiying brought her this morning. Didn't she tell you?"

"Haven't even seen her shadow!"

Uncle Ding Er's brows furrowed deeper. He knew his niece's temperament: decent enough day to day, but unreliable when it mattered, and fiercely jealous.

He feared she thought the new female educated youth was prettier than her and had acted out!

Jiang Yingli, catching sight of the familiar figure heading up the mountain, spoke up:

"Uncle, I'll go up the mountain and see if there are any wild vegetables. Later, you can help me cook them, just to get by."

Uncle Ding Er disagreed, "This work is tough, you won't manage without proper food. Let's each share a bit with you."

Jiang Jingguo, clutching his lunch box, moved farther away.

When his figure vanished, Jiang Yingli waved and turned to leave, "No need, I'm off!"

She followed a narrow path and entered the upstream reservoir station, where a thick layer of dust covered the floor.

The familiar figure stood there, smiling warmly at her.

"Uncle!" Her voice was choked.

Jiang Yingli ran to him, hugging him tightly. Tears streamed down her face. She wiped them away quickly on his clothes, not wanting him to notice her emotions.

Looking up again, she saw faint lines on his once spirited face, and sunspots speckled his nose and forehead.

"Little Li, what are you doing here?"

Liao Zhilu patted her head, his eyes full of nostalgia.

He hadn't seen her in two years; she seemed taller now.

"The Jiang family is on the liquidation list. Jiang Jingguo wants to marry me off to get eligibility for Hong Kong."

He roared, "How dare he!"

But as soon as he spoke, his expression fell.

Jiang Yingli knew he was blaming himself, regretting that his own demotion had left her unprotected.

She smiled, "Godfather is looking out for me. He helped arrange my transfer to the countryside this time. Uncle, where are Aunt and the others?"

"I don’t know. We were separated when demoted—not just her, your grandparents too. No idea where they were sent."

The Liao family had been targeted for two years already. After handling Jiang father's and mother's funerals and returning to the capital, they were immediately sent down, with no chance to maneuver.

Their background was slightly better than capitalist roaders—just intellectuals.

Jiang Yingli touched his forearm, feeling only bone beneath her fingers, not a trace of flesh.

A sharp pain stabbed her heart. She drew a breath to steady herself. "Wait here, I brought something for you."

She went outside and took out congee with preserved egg and pork from her space. It was still steaming and she ladled it into a chipped porcelain bowl.

"Uncle, come eat."

"Where did you get this?" Liao Zhilu saw her come from the dam, empty-handed—so where had this food appeared from?

Jiang Yingli didn't answer. She set the bowl on the table. "Uncle, eat up. I'll come find you again tonight."

Since the First Production Team shared the dam with them, it couldn't be far; she needed to find a way to bring him some nutritious food.

Otherwise, he wouldn't even survive to winter.

The life of those demoted was unimaginable to her; many couldn't endure more than a couple of months before succumbing.

It wasn't just physical suffering, but profound spiritual torment.

"No need, I'm managing in the First Production Team. Don't let anyone see you with me, it's bad for you."

Jiang Yingli stood with hands on her hips, saying nothing, but her posture made her disbelief clear.

Seeing her like this, Liao Zhilu's breath caught in his chest; her shadow overlapped with her mother's.

He sighed, tone helpless, "I live in the cowshed at the edge of the village. Be careful tonight, don't let the patrol catch you."

After eating, uncle and niece talked for a while longer, but Liao Zhilu made her leave first, to avoid raising suspicion.

She returned to the Fifth Production Team half an hour later and only then saw him hobble down.

Jiang Yingli jumped up at once. What happened? Was he injured?

Jiang Jingguo was napping on a stone nearby, oblivious to her reaction.

But after watching for two minutes, she relaxed; Liao Zhilu signaled from the corner that it was a ruse, just in case anyone from First Production Team grew suspicious about his absence on the mountain.

After work that afternoon, Uncle Ding Er insisted Jiang Yingli be awarded ten work points, and Jiang Jingguo eight.

Before Ding Cuiying could protest, Jiang Jingguo couldn't sit still. "Why! I didn't slack off today!"

"Why? Because you spent today carrying mud outside the canal, while she dug inside!"

"She asked for the swap, it wasn't my idea." Jiang Jingguo felt he was entirely justified.

The villagers, not in a hurry to return tools, stood by to watch the spectacle.