Bai Fumei in the ’70s Chapter 23
Translated by Serena Love
Thank you to Soupysuspicions for proofreading this chapter.
After Zhou Jiazhen drank the bowl of chicken soup, her forehead glistened with a thin layer of sweat, her stomach was warm, and she was filled with a sense of pleasure as if she were snuggling in the arms of her mother when she was a child.
She wiped away her tears and whispered, "It's delicious, it has the same flavor as the soup my mother made."
This hot bowl of chicken soup improved Zhou Jiazhen's spirits, and the sorrows between her brows were swept away.
She closed the book with a smile, and took out a 0.3 pound meat ticket from her pocket and put it on the table.
"Thank you for the chicken soup. The book you gave me is really beautiful!" Zhou Jiazhen praised heartily.
Zhao Lanxiang said: "I'm glad you like it."
She watched Zhou Jiazhen leave the He family's house and took a bowl of chicken soup to He Songbai's room. She walked to the door of the man's room, Zhao Lanxiang knocked on the door and twisted the handle, but found that the man had locked the door.
"Open the door."
Zhao Lanxiang frowned.
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A muffled voice came from inside. The lazy voice seemed to be suppressed by the quilt, with the hoarse sound of someone sounds asleep in the afternoon and just had woken up.
"Sleeping. What's the matter?"
After all, Zhao Lanxiang had shared a bed with He Songbai for more than ten years. A guilty conscience could not be concealed by the hoarse words of the man, how could it escape her ears?
He used to use a rhetorical tone when he was guilty, and his speech would be slower than normal, and now he was pulling his words like a Tibetan Mastiff pulling a load. His tone was not calm at all.
Most likely he was pretending to be asleep.
Zhao Lanxiang said lightly, "You are not opening the door yet? Sister is going to come..."
The "sleeping" man in the room suddenly felt a severe headache in his head, and his frowns almost could lift a chopstick.
He climbed down the bed at an incredible speed and limped over to open the door to this secret girlfriend.
He Songbai hurriedly dragged the woman into the room, peeking his head out of the door frame and searching for the figure of his elder sister.
However... Not even a single hair from Sister He's head could be seen, when he turned back to the woman in his room, he only saw a faint smile on the woman's lips.
He Songbai closed the door and leaning one hand against the door to support his body. He lowered his head and tried to conceal it from the woman, "I was just sleeping."
His ears suddenly turned red at a rate visible to the naked eye, and he coughed, "You stewed chicken soup?"
Zhao Lanxiang put the chicken soup on the table, "Drink it, I'll leave after you finish."
He Songbai did not want to drink chicken soup, but in the end, he couldn't refuse the kindness of this woman. After a short internal struggle, he took the enamel bowl silently and drank the chicken soup.
He drank and chewed a chicken butt, licked it with his tongue sticking out, and there was an unseen fluctuation on his calm face.
After drinking, he wiped the grease from his mouth and said calmly but firmly, "Lanxiang, this is the last time I will eat your food. Maybe you didn't care about what I said. But... remember, men who eat women's soft food are not good men, and you shouldn't look for this kind of man in the future."
After He Songbai finished speaking, he limped to the cabinet and took out a few pieces of banknotes.
Under the woman's surprised gaze, his wide, warm palms covered her hands. The thick calluses on his palms scratched her delicate skin.
Zhao Lanxiang frowned, watching a crumpled note being stuffed into her hand.
Ten dollars, such a large denomination... Probably what's left of his little savings?
He Songbai looked at Zhao Lanxiang's expression. His eyebrows were frowning, his mouth was bulging fiercely, and he said, "Just give it to you."
Zhao Lanxiang's fingers shook slightly, and she put this crumpled money into her pocket.
The man said again, "Tie Zhu came when you went to the county town this morning. He gave me a bag of mountain goods. I don't need it. You can have it."
He scrambled on his feet, leaned over, and reached under the table. He pulled a bag of things in front of Zhao Lanxiang.
Zhao Lanxiang bent over and lifted it up. She opened it and was surprised to find that it was filled with dried red dates and fresh yam. Both of these were good things to replenishing qi and nourishing the body, which were suitable for He Songbai to eat.
[T/N: "Qi" figuratively as "life force", or "vitality", is the central underlying principle in Chinese traditional medicine and in Chinese martial arts. Believers of qi describe it as a vital force, the flow of which must be unimpeded for health.]
The man's sharp eyebrows sank as if seeing Zhao Lanxiang's thoughts, he said, "I don't like to eat those, and you don't have to make it for me. You eat by yourself, you know?"
He emphasized the word "yourself".
Zhao Lanxiang nodded knowingly.
After He Songbai finished, he patted her head with his broad hand and said lightly, "Go back."
The man's soft voice was almost inaudible, "You careless fool."
However, Zhao Lanxiang heard it. Carrying the yam and red dates, her face suddenly turned pink.
Her heart became sweet like honey.
...
Zhao Lanxiang struggled to carry this bag full of heavy things. With so many things, if she had it eat it all by herself, she was unsure if she'd be able to finish it all even by the year of the monkey.
She suddenly remembered her deflated wallet and that she hadn't gone to the black market to "replenish" her money for some time.
Zhao Lanxiang planned to use part of this bag of mountain goods to make some yam cakes and take them to the black market to sell. So she asked the captain for one day's leave and got up with greed the next day.
The red dates were soaked in well water, and after being soaked a whole night, they had become round and plump, their color darkening and their texture smooth. Zhao Lanxiang patiently peeled the red dates one by one and put them in the steamer to make them soft and tender. After she steamed them well, she filtered them with a gauze sieve, leaving a fine mash of red dates. After that, she heated the pan, added sugar, and mixed in the red dates.
After taking the pot from the heat, and the red date mash and sugar had completely blended together, the white sugar gradually melted, and a warm and sweet aroma gradually develops.
Then she selected some tender yam, steamed them until its skin became soft and waxy, added glutinous rice flour to create the yam dough. The white greasy yam skin was wrapped in a piece of red date mash, and Zhao Lanxiang kneaded the white yam dough into various shapes, then finally it's steamed in a basket.
When the sky was still dark, Zhao Lanxiang had steamed a basket of yam cakes.
She wiped the sweat from her forehead, carefully packed the yam cake with a clean white cloth, and put it in her schoolbag.
In the dark of night, the earth fell into a silent sleep. The villagers in the Hezi village are still enjoying their sweet dreams, while Zhao Lanxiang has pushed the bicycle to the county town.
She rode the bicycle cautiously and suddenly stopped when passing the door of He Songbai's room.
Where the flashlight shined, the man tilted his head and leaned against the wall. She wondered how long he had waited here.
At the moment when he saw the light, he raised his head, coughing awkwardly, and said vaguely to Zhao Lanxiang, "Come here."
Zhao Lanxiang was a little embarrassed, but she just clutched the schoolbag on her shoulder.
He Songbai said lightly, "I can't eat you, what are you afraid of?"
Zhao Lanxiang walked over, and He Songbai took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to her.
"When you get to the county town, just send your things to this address."
Zhao Lanxiang was so surprised that she quickly pointed the torchlight to the paper, and saw a line of pencil writing on it, which was ugly, but it was still legible.
"You know how to write!"
Zhao Lanxiang was very surprised. She thought he hadn't read any books yet. As soon as her words finished, the man gave her a stern look.
It turned out that he did not receive his education in prison.
He Songbai yawned and said, "Go, I'm going to bed. Come back early."
Zhao Lanxiang rode the bicycle and fastened the flashlight to the front of the bike and quickly disappeared into the thick night.
When she arrived in the county town, she went according to the address written by He Songbai. She explored the roads all the way and finally, she arrived at a bright residential building.
Zhao Lanxiang knocked on the door, and before the knocking finished, a person quickly came out. He gave her a nervous look.
Zhao Lanxiang said, "Picking up peach blossom wine exchange."
The person sighed with relief and beckoned, "He's old second didn't come by himself? What did you bring?"
Zhao Lanxiang said, "He is uncomfortable and it is inconvenient for him to come. These are yam cakes, a total of fifteen pounds, you can try it."
The man took a piece and tasted it. The pastry was soft and glutinous at first, then the sticky and juicy red date paste filling came out with a bit of grit. His mouth became full of sweetness and fragrance, wrapped in a layer of light yam cake. The whole cake was sweet yet not greasy.
He brought Zhao Lanxiang into the house, weighed the cakes with a scale, and found that it had a little more than fifteen pounds.
"How much is it?"
Zhao Lanxiang said, "If you take it all, I will give you a cheaper price, seventy cents per pound and a pound of sugar tickets."
The man murmured, so expensive?
Zhao Lanxiang said, "This is made of yam, red dates, and white sugar. It is delicious and nutritious. It is especially suitable for children and the elderly. It is not the same as cheap goods made of flour."
"Okay, just whisper. Not too loud!"
The man glared at Zhao Lanxiang a few times and quickly counted out ten yuans for Zhao Lanxiang. "Go back and be careful."
Zhao Lanxiang collected the money and nodded.
Thinking of this organized and disciplined method, how did He Songbai find out about it?
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She gave him only 14 pounds of mung bean cake last time, and he sold more than ten yuans. This time the cost of yam and red date cake could be more expensive than mung bean. Honest people lose money easily. If she knew she would arrogantly call for a higher price and ask for a yuan per pounds for the other guy to slowly haggle.
Zhao Lanxiang touched her gray face and returned quickly on bicycle.
...
In the G City, Military Medical Hospital.
The man with his head wrapped in gauze was reading his letter. The nurse who took his temperature in the morning couldn't help but glance at the man again, and she was in a better mood.
Seeing good things always makes you feel better!
"Brother, how are you? Life in the country is very hard. I am afraid that the food stamps and meat tickets this month will not last. I also hope that my brother will provide material support. In addition, after you taught Zhao Lanxiang the last time you wrote a letter, she is now kind to me. By the way, the noodles she made are really delicious. Your sister, Jiang Li."
The man touched his head, and his handsome eyebrows wrinkled tightly.
The nurse said, "Commander, you can't tire yourself out after the operation. You can leave such things to me. I can read it for you."
Jiang Jianjun glanced at the calendar and read the letter again, his dark eyes flashed with surprise.
He said, "Go to the duty room to see if there are any letters for me?"
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[T/N: Zhao Lanxiang's yam cakes would be like this:]
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