The long winter finally passed.
As the snowdrifts melted away, vast swaths of vibrant green emerged across the vast forests and mountain ravines. The Dahurian rhododendrons were budding, ready to bloom; the green pines and white birches showed renewed vigor; the wetlands by the riverbanks flushed with the colors of spring; and the meadows turned green once more. At last, this world of ice and snow was returning to its true self.
The earth’s warmth rose, and the hard black soil gradually awakened.
Along with it came the harshest trial the sent-down educated youths had faced since arriving in the countryside.
Spring plowing.
And not just spring plowing—they had to nurture seedlings, guard the forest, and fell timber.
Amid echoing work shouts, the ranks of educated youth chanted slogans of "battling heaven and fighting earth." Then, through grueling toil, they shed sweat and tears, watering the soil beneath their feet.
A youth carried an iron shovel over his shoulder, his sleeves rolled up, sporting a thick mop of clean-cut, jet-black short hair.
The sunlight beamed down on his wheat-colored cheeks, which were beaded with a fine sheen of sweat, making his skin look from afar like a layer of cast bronze.
Across this sharply defined, resolute face, a pair of tiger eyes shifted with a bright, keen glimmer as they swept over the educated youths laboring through the hardship.
Most of them were still just children.
The youth lifted his brow, the firm, steady expression on his face softened a fraction by the red mole centered between his eyebrows.
Spring plowing was the paramount task, and everyone had to take part. They had to hustle not only through Kaoshan Hamlet, but through several neighboring hamlets as well.
After all, they followed a path that was half-forestry, half-agriculture. In other words, once the work on the mountain was done, they moved down to the fields, shifting wherever labor was needed. Every educated youth from the forest farms and agricultural farms worked side by side with the production brigade members.
Not far away, a female educated youth reached her breaking point from exhaustion. Collapsing onto the ground, she began wailing and crying, demanding to go back to the city.
"Ah, I can't take this anymore! When is this ever going to end?"
Yet after throwing her fit for a while and seeing that nobody paid her any mind, she wiped away her tears and trudged back into the ranks.
It was not just the girls; even Lian Youming had worn blood blisters onto both hands over the past two days.
It was simply too exhausting.
Not only did his hands ache, but his feet were sore, and his lower back was even more worn out.
Most of the food in these hamlets had been largely consumed during the winter, leaving behind basically coarse grains like corn. Alternating endlessly between corn cakes and porridge, the worst part was how hard the stuff was to digest. For those with weak stomachs, nightfall brought either a race to the latrine with diarrhea or agonizing constipation.
Right then, a shout rang out.
"Meals are here!"
Hearing the call, the crowd immediately dropped their tools and rushed toward the educated youths distributing the food.
The two brothers, Yu Wen and Yu Wu, wheeled over two wooden flatbed carts. One carried a large bamboo basket packed with neatly arranged aluminum lunchboxes, while the other held three wooden buckets of thin, watery broth with a few sparse vegetable leaves floating on top.
Lian Youming was among the first to dash up. He took a lunchbox, but as soon as he saw the rice packed full inside, his face fell.
Recognizing a familiar face, Yu Wu gave him a wink, plunged his ladle straight to the bottom of the bucket, swirled it up to scoop a generous half-ladle of greens, and slapped it into Lian Youming's lunchbox with a wet smack.
Famished, Lian Youming turned around, crouched on the embankment, and began wolfing down the food. Behind him, someone complained, "It's double-steamed again?"
This double-steamed rice was made by steaming already-cooked rice a second time. It looked voluminous, but it was almost entirely water; a single scoop of raw rice could easily yield two jin of cooked rice. The grains looked plump and full, yet did nothing to stave off hunger.
High overhead, the sun hung bright. The snow had melted, but the breeze remained biting cold.
As Lian Youming ate, he suddenly caught a faint whiff of herbal fragrance. Turning his head, he saw a tall, slender figure walking past with unsteady steps, who then sat hunched nearby, burying her head as she picked through her rice.
Yan Lingyun.
During the winter, the girl had bundled herself up so thoroughly that Lian Youming had never realized how pretty she was. But now that her hat was off, her scarf removed, and her heavy padded coat swapped out, one could see the indescribable grace she possessed.
Gentle and quiet, with almond eyes and an exquisite nose, her cheeks bore a rosy flush beneath fair skin. From inside out, she radiated a scholarly elegance, carrying a peculiar, subtle aroma of herbs that made her a delight to behold even without any adornment.
With looks like that, she would have been an absolute darling in the ranks of the educated youth in the past. Yet she happened to be exceptionally tall. Before the New Year, she had stood around one meter seventy, and now she had shot up another notch, likely approaching one meter seventy-five. Taller than most of the male youths, her height intimidated many from approaching her.
In the entire brigade of educated youths, only five or six young men, including Lian Youming, stood noticeably taller than her.
Glancing at her lunchbox, which lacked even a scrap of green, and taking in her pale, weary face, Lian Youming promptly edged over.
"Classmate Yan, how is that aged medicine formulation coming along?"
He had kept that matter on his mind all this time.
Keeping her face lowered, Yan Lingyun did not acknowledge him. Shifting her feet, she turned her body aside.
Lian Youming gave an inward wry smile. Ever since their encounter back in Kaoshan Hamlet, she had kept her head down and walked away every time they crossed paths, probably still holding a grudge against him.
He had little shame about it, however. Seeing the plain broth soaking her rice, he felt a tug of pity, so he leaned closer again. "I've got plenty of greens in my tin. Let's split them."
With that, Lian Youming took a quick, furtive glance left and right. Seeing everyone absorbed in devouring their food, he pulled a small flask originally meant for Western liquor from his pocket.
Yan Lingyun remained silent, keeping her head low as she moved to shift away again, only to hear an impatient voice beside her ear: "Hey, do you have thorns stuck to your behind or something? Sit still. It's soy sauce—I'll pour you a bit."
Hearing that, Yan Lingyun finally froze in place and lifted her head, a scattering of rice grains clinging around her small face.
Once he finished splashing the soy sauce, Lian Youming produced a small porcelain vial from his other pocket and whispered conspiratorially, "This is lard. Aunt Shen gave it to me."
Seeing the girl staring blankly, he did not bother wasting words. Using the tips of his chopsticks, he prised out a small dollop of white fat, dropped it into her lunchbox, and stirred it into her rice.
"Go on, eat."
As he spoke, he transferred several leafy greens over to her tin as well.
While he dug in with relish, he turned to see tears pattering steadily down Yan Lingyun's cheeks as she chewed.
"What are you crying for out of nowhere? Don't tell me your rice didn't have salt?"
Yan Lingyun whispered, "No... It's just been so long since I tasted meat. I suddenly miss home."
Lian Youming sighed internally, though he casually remarked, "Call this eating meat? Just wait, I'll find you something truly good one of these days."
Even though Qin Yuhu forbade him from touching firearms, he still had his slingshot, which was more than enough to bag some wild game.
Yan Lingyun's tear-filled eyes lit up instantly. "Then I want iron-pot stewed goose."
Lian Youming did not know whether to laugh or cry. "Why don't you just stew me instead?"
Pausing, he glanced around. "Hey, where are those fellow villagers from your hometown? How come I don't see them?"
Yan Lingyun's tone turned dejected. "None of them could bear the hardship here, so they managed to get recruited for factory jobs and went back to the city."
No wonder.
Lian Youming looked at the other female educated youths, noticing that they all stayed far away, as if deliberately giving Yan Lingyun the cold shoulder—most likely the result of some disagreement. His gaze firmed. "Fine, stewed goose it is. Though I doubt I can bring it all the way out here. When we get a break, you'll come back to the hamlet with me."
He had good ties with Big Head Liu, and with a bit of cash, getting hold of a goose would be no trouble at all.
With the food matter settled, Yan Lingyun finally spoke up on her own initiative. "How is your dietary formula coming along?"
Eating his rice, Lian Youming answered, "Aside from a few strange, rare ingredients, I've gathered most of it."
Here in the Greater Khingan Range, things that grew straight out of the earth, like polygonatum and wild ginseng, were actually the easiest to acquire. During his rest periods, Lian Youming had made several trips to the supply and marketing cooperative and sought out several elderly mountain roamers. He had not been picky about top quality, managing to piece together quite a good stash.
It was primarily items like bear gallbladder and tiger bone that were genuine rarities; one had to track down veteran hunters living deep in the mountains, and whether any were available came down purely to luck.
To his surprise, when Yan Lingyun asked which ingredients were missing, she hesitated and murmured, "I have tiger bone and bear gallbladder. My brother gave me quite a bit of money when he visited, and I bought them from an Oroqen person. I originally intended to take them home..."
Before she could even finish her sentence, Lian Youming had already begun shoveling more than half the rice from his lunchbox into hers, offering a flattering grin. "Here, eat up. Have some more."
Yan Lingyun huffed indignantly, "You think you can win me over with half a box of lard-mixed rice? You haven't even thanked me for what happened last time!"
"Heh, you still remember that?" Lian Youming blinked, then made a show of moving his chopsticks to drag the rice back. "Guess I'll just look for them myself, then."
In truth, tiger bone and bear gallbladder were exorbitantly expensive. Quality specimens in these times easily ran upward of a thousand yuan.
Lian Youming still remembered that his father, as a security section chief, took home fifty-six yuan a month; even after working four or five years, one might not be able to afford them.
Yan Lingyun hastily blocked his approaching chopsticks. "Why are you being so gross? Am I supposed to finish eating or not? Don't worry, you can trade something with me for them."
Lian Youming looked puzzled. "Trade what?"
Yan Lingyun narrowed her eyes and smiled. "Let me copy down your dietary formula."
Lian Youming was taken aback. "Didn't you say that thing does ordinary people more harm than good?"
Yan Lingyun replied, "It won't be an issue. I can readjust the medicinal properties and swap out several herbs so it still yields benefits for strengthening the body and tonifying qi. My father's health isn't good, and part of the reason I came out here was in the hope of finding something that might help him."
Hearing that, Lian Youming had nothing left to hesitate over. He agreed without a second thought. "Deal."
Unexpectedly, after taking a few more bites, Yan Lingyun added, "You have to help me with one more thing."
Suspicion crept onto Lian Youming's face. "You're not trying to raise the price on the spot, are you?"
Yan Lingyun looked at the youth, her expression torn with hesitation. Yet in the end, she steeled her resolve and said with nervous intensity, "Deep in the Greater Khingan Range, I found an old wild ginseng with seven prongs. After it blossoms this year, it will likely yield eight prongs. Once your kung fu reaches a higher level, you have to escort and protect me when I go in to harvest it."
"What?"
Lian Youming's eyes widened.
An eight-prong wild ginseng was an extraordinarily rare treasure; many mountain roamers could spend generations without ever laying eyes on one.
"Last year over where we were, someone disturbed a hibernating blind bear—it was covered in thick fat, stood over two meters tall, and had started coming down the mountain with bloodshot eyes to prey on people. When the militia got word, they took their rifles and slipped into the mountains. I followed along, and that's when... I spotted that old ginseng. Now that the weather is warming, mountain roamers might wander in, so we have to make our preparations early."
As Yan Lingyun spoke, she watched Lian Youming's expressions closely. Fortunately, while the youth's eyes were filled with amazement, there was not a trace of greed on his face.
"Sister Qin is a good person. She told me you're a good person too. I trust her, and I trust you."
Lian Youming replied solemnly, "Don't worry. When the time comes, I'll carry you in on my back if I have to."
A blush crept onto Yan Lingyun's cheeks. "Hurry up and eat."
...
Three days later.
Coinciding with the Qingming Festival, the village branch secretary permitted free movement instead of mandatory labor. Early that morning, Lian Youming rode a bicycle borrowed from the commune, ferrying Yan Lingyun and her chest of treasures back to Kaoshan Hamlet.
Although Big Head Liu's medical skills were mediocre, he certainly possessed an eagerness to learn and improve. The moment he heard that Lian Youming was bringing over a descendant from a family of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners to prepare medicine, he eagerly stepped forward to run interference. He even laid out about twenty medicine jars and lit the charcoal fires, waiting excitedly to broaden his horizons.
And to top it off, there was an iron-pot stewed goose.
Chapter 22