Chapter 85: A Fruitful Trip
Just like in the novels, the food at the state-run restaurant came in large portions. The steamed buns were bigger than fists, stuffed full of meat that was nearly bursting out. The shredded pork noodles were also served in a massive bowl.
Miao Jiaze and Du Xuewen each bought a bowl of shredded pork noodles and two meat buns.
Mu Lantu and Xu Huazhang bought four bowls of shredded pork noodles and eight meat buns—ate it all.
Du Xuewen got the picture. “Comrade Mu, Comrade Xu, when we used to eat at the educated youth center, were you two just… never full?”
Mu Lantu replied, “That’s actually one of the main reasons why Huazhang and I insisted on moving out.”
Miao Jiaze backed this up. “These two really do eat a lot. At least double what we eat when we’re full.”
Du Xuewen nodded in understanding.
“In that case, it really is better to live independently. At the educated youth center, even though everyone’s grain rations are steamed in their own containers, some people cook more, some cook less. After a while, the atmosphere gets… strange.”
What he didn’t say out loud was: the center was chaotic every day. All minor issues, yes—but too many small things add up, and it gets exhausting.
Miao Jiaze grumbled too. “If I knew how to cook, I’d have built a house and moved out too.”
Mu Lantu and Xu Huazhang just listened, saying nothing.
They were all adults—if things ever got truly unbearable, they’d figure out a solution themselves.
After breakfast, the group split up.
Du Xuewen and Miao Jiaze went to the Supply Station, while Mu Lantu and Xu Huazhang headed to the post office.
They agreed to meet again at 11:00 at the state-run restaurant—Miao Jiaze was treating them to lunch.
Mu Lantu sent a letter and a five-jin (approx. 2.5kg) package to his uncle’s family, filled with dried vegetables—eggplant, radish, beans, and wild greens. In this weather, not much else could be mailed.
He also sent packages to the neighbors who had once lent him money—two jin of dried vegetables for each family, with thank-you notes hidden inside.
He couldn’t repay the money just yet—if word got back to his deadbeat dad, it might seem like he had cash to spare.
However, in the letters, he wrote: if Grandma Li and the others were in urgent need, they could write to him, and he’d try to borrow from fellow educated youths to help out.
After leaving the post office, Mu Lantu said mysteriously to Xu Huazhang, “I’m taking you somewhere.”
“The black market?” Xu Huazhang guessed right away.
Mu Lantu covered his mouth. “Say nothing if you see through it.”
005 (the AI assistant) activated scanning mode and found them a secluded spot.
Mu Lantu purchased a large amount of rice, high-grade flour, pork, dried noodles, brown sugar, and cloth from the Glory Mall (his system), and after disguising themselves, he and Xu Huazhang hauled it to the black market and exchanged it all for cash and coupons.
They made three trips in total, converting everything into over 800 yuan and a pile of ration coupons—grain, oil, fabric, industrial use, and more.
With the money and coupons, they went shopping at the Supply Station again.
At the Supply Station, they ran into two villagers from their brigade.
Naturally, these two became witnesses that they had indeed bought all these supplies legitimately.
Shopping done, Mu Lantu and Xu Huazhang rushed to the state-run restaurant.
Why not eat lunch first and shop after?
Because those goods were limited. If they went too late, everything would be sold out.
That’s why they showed up at the restaurant with loads of shopping bags.
Miao Jiaze was waiting at the entrance. He wasn’t the least surprised by how much they had bought.
Educated youths and villagers were alike—they stocked up on supplies for three to five months to avoid constant trips to town.
Miao Jiaze had also bought quite a bit—mostly snacks like mung bean cakes, osmanthus cakes, rice crisps, puffed rice candy, and canned fruit, to nibble on when hungry.
Knowing Mu Lantu and Xu Huazhang had big appetites, Miao Jiaze generously ordered a spread:
Braised pork (1 yuan)
Sweet and sour pork (0.6 yuan)
Pickled cabbage with vermicelli stew (0.16 yuan)
Braised tofu (0.15 yuan)
Three-delicacy soup (0.3 yuan)
Plus ten large steamed buns and three bowls of rice (each 2 cents per liang)
Eating at a restaurant cost not only money, but also ration coupons.
Mu Lantu and Xu Huazhang had plenty of coupons and insisted on covering that part.
The braised pork was indeed delicious. After the meal, Mu Lantu packed a portion in an aluminum lunchbox and bought ten large meat buns, wrapped in clean cotton cloth. Pretending to stash them in Xu Huazhang’s basket, he actually stored them in his system space.
Leaving the restaurant, Miao Jiaze wiped sweat from his forehead.
“It’s way too hot. Should we wait a bit before heading back?”
Xu Huazhang replied, “Even if we wait, there’s nowhere to hang around. Come with us to the Supply Station again, help move some jars, and then we’ll rent a cart home.”
“Sure.”
Mu Lantu bought six pickle jars.
Miao Jiaze remembered he had a few industrial coupons too and bought one himself.
“In this heat, won’t the pickles spoil?” he asked.
Mu Lantu replied, “No, and if you’re really worried, store them in a cellar.”
He had researched it thoroughly with Auntie Guihua—he wasn’t about to let all his hard work spoil.
This time, they rented an ox cart.
Aside from the elderly woman driving the ox, it was just the three of them. They picked up two educated youths from a neighboring brigade on the way and slowly made their way back to the Dongfanghong brigade.
They arrived around 3:00 p.m. After showering, Mu Lantu and Xu Huazhang took a one-hour nap, then sorted their haul. Mu Lantu also bought more from his system mall to fill the kitchen cabinets.
The locked cabinets were stuffed with: 50 jin of rice; 20 jin of premium flour; 10 jin of dried noodles; 5 jin each of cornmeal and millet flour; One bottle each of peanut oil, soybean oil, corn oil, sesame oil; 5 jin of peanuts; 2 jin of black sesame; 60 eggs; 10 jin of vermicelli…
Since outsiders rarely entered their kitchen, they weren’t worried about anyone noticing.
Next door, noise signaled the return of the other educated youths.
Still early, Mu Lantu and Xu Huazhang slung on their baskets and took Wangcai to the back mountain.
“Comrade Mu, Comrade Xu—wait for us! Let’s go together!”
Turning around, they saw the rest of the educated youths emerging. The men had baskets, the women carried baskets with small trowels inside.
Mu Lantu and Xu Huazhang paused to wait.
“This is the first time I’ve seen you all head to the back mountain,” Mu Lantu noted.
Xu Jincheng said, “We need to start preparing firewood and food for winter too. We eat more in winter, and use more firewood. If we don’t stock up, we’ll be in trouble.”
With the group chatting and laughing, the walk to the foot of the mountain was lively. There, they split up to forage for wild vegetables and gather firewood.
They didn’t waste anything—dead branches, pinecones, needles…
Everyone envied Wangcai’s performance.
But even with that envy, no one actually wanted to raise a dog. It might not eat much, but it was still one more mouth to feed.
“Hey? There’s a wild peach tree here!” Du Xuewen called out.
Before anyone could celebrate, he added, “Ugh, only two peaches left—and both are rotten!”
Lu Manman sighed, “Wild fruit near the foot of the mountain never lasts for us. When we’re off working, village kids come and pick them all. Often, they’re picked before they even ripen.”
A moment of silence followed. Everyone understood—the kids were hungry too.
Su Qianqian asked, puzzled, “Unripe fruit must be sour, right?”
“I know this one,” Yue Xiaoying said. “My grandma told me—bury unripe fruit in rice, and in about five days it’ll ripen.”
Xu Jincheng nodded. “Yeah, they have all kinds of tricks. When we first arrived, we didn’t know anything. Most of what we know now, we learned from living here.”
“Put the fruit in a bag with one or two ripe bananas or apples, seal it, and wait a day or two—it’ll ripen.”
“Or just wrap it in newspaper and leave it in the sun or a warm spot. That works too.”
Mu Lantu listened intently. There’s knowledge in every part of life. That saying rang very true.
Zhao Chengxin, itching for adventure, said, “With so many of us today, why don’t we go deeper into the mountain?”
“No!” Xu Jincheng rejected flatly. “It’s too dangerous without a local guide. Even after years here, I wouldn’t go in on my own.”
Lu Manman told the girls, “You all heard him. It’s complicated in there. Could be snakes too. Don’t sneak off.”
The girls all nodded—snakes were a deal-breaker.
“What’s there to be afraid of with so many people?” Zhao Chengxin muttered, thinking Xu Jincheng was too cautious. “Fortune favors the bold,” he said under his breath.
Xu Jincheng didn’t argue, just walked off.
Mu Lantu also moved away to dig wild veggies. Xu Huazhang and Wangcai gathered firewood nearby.
When they found dead branches on trees, Xu Huazhang used a machete to chop them into smaller pieces, which Wangcai dragged to the firewood pile.
Lin Shuzhen, seeing no one was watching, came over to Mu Lantu.
He turned around warily.
Lin Shuzhen quickly squatted and pretended to dig wild vegetables.
“Comrade Mu, I wanted to ask you something…”
Xu Huazhang glanced over.
Mu Lantu pretended to spot wild veggies in the distance and moved farther away.
“What is it? Just say it from there.”
Obediently, Lin Shuzhen stayed put and said quietly, “I wanted to ask if you and Comrade Xu might consider hiring someone to cook for you? I’m really good at it—started cooking for my family when I was ten. Everyone says I’m a great cook.”
“You wouldn’t even need to pay me—just feed me three meals a day. I don’t eat much, just a normal amount for a girl.”
“No need. I cook myself,” Mu Lantu replied flatly, then walked off without bothering to entertain her ulterior motives.
Xu Huazhang came over and lifted his basket. “Shall we head farther? Not much firewood here.”
Disappointed, Lin Shuzhen said nothing. She didn’t dare attract attention and resumed digging silently.
Suddenly, there was a rustling in the bushes—everyone looked up, alert.
A wild pheasant burst into the air.
“Pheasant!”
Everyone screamed excitedly, getting ready to pounce.
Mu Lantu calmly hurled his “wild veggie digging tool.”
Thunk—the pheasant was knocked out cold, crashing to the ground.
The group stared in stunned silence, then let out collective sighs of disappointment.
Mu Lantu picked up the bird and tossed it to Xu Jincheng.
Xu looked confused.
Mu Lantu said, “Finders keepers. Split it half and half. You guys handle the prep—okay?”
The educated youths immediately perked up, all saying it was no problem.
Even the usually reserved Zhang Jingxian cracked a small smile.
It was still early, but no one felt like foraging anymore—they decided to head home.
Less than 20 minutes after getting back, Xu Jincheng delivered half the pheasant, cleaned and ready, along with the innards.
He was usually calm and reserved, but today he was all smiles.
“The giblets are the best part—spicy stir-fried, perfect with rice. Zhang Guodong cleaned them with wood ash—very thorough.”
Mu Lantu thanked him.
That evening, the scent of meat filled the air on both sides.
Laughter rang out from the normally quiet educated youth center.
Mu Lantu made six dishes: Braised chicken; Stir-fried giblets with chili; Steamed pork ribs with rice flour; Cold cucumber salad; Tomato and egg soup.
He and Xu Huazhang even shared two shots of white liquor.
Even such a simple life had its moments of happiness.
