"You're back? How are you feeling today? I made a thin pancake for dinner. Go wash up quickly and we'll eat," Chen Lishu's head poked out from the kitchen when she heard the door open, seeing Gu Xingdong return.
"I'm alright. The first day was a bit busy," Gu Xingdong replied, going into the bathroom to wash his hands. Then he came out and went to set the table, getting bowls and chopsticks.
Meanwhile, Wu Zheng walked back with Zhou Liang, his steps weary. Seeing Gu Xingdong ahead of them with a brisk pace, he disappeared into the building. Wu Zheng couldn't help but complain, "You know, I'm only a year older than him. Am I already old? We had the same training, how can Old Gu be like nothing happened?"
Zhou Liang chuckled, "Old Gu's physique is something ordinary people can't compare to. Besides, don't you see his wife is waiting for him at home? Isn't he eager to rush home?"
As Zhou Liang spoke, he thought of his own cold stove and cold hearth at home. If it weren't for his wife, and the fact that he ate at the mess hall every day for fear of others laughing at him, he wouldn't want to come back.
"What smells so good? Hey, Old Zhou, do you smell that?" As they walked, a savory aroma wafted over. Wu Zheng couldn't help but sniff and look in the direction of the scent. It was coming from Gu Xingdong's place across the way.
"You know, Old Gu's wife's cooking is just as good as mine."
Zhou Liang: "..." Always talking about your wife.
At Gu Xingdong's place, Gu Xingdong picked up a thin pancake, as delicate as cicada wings, and examined it with curiosity. He had eaten the flatbreads made at home, but this was the first time he had seen such a thin and translucent one.
Seeing Chen Lishu had already wrapped one and was eating it, he picked up some food and put it inside, quickly eating it. The aroma of the food, combined with the chewiness of the pancake, filled his mouth, and he instantly fell in love with the taste.
Chen Lishu was very happy to see that he liked it. "If you like it, I'll make it for you again next time. Not just these three dishes. When the Chinese toon shoots come in spring, you can have toon with scrambled eggs, pickled vegetables with shredded pork, and then add some shredded cucumber and onion. That taste is even more delicious."
Although it tasted good with roasted duck and sweet bean sauce, she was currently a rural woman who had only been to the provincial capital twice. Chen Lishu omitted this detail.
Gu Xingdong smiled at her, "This is already very delicious. If you add more dishes as you said, I might burst my belly."
Chen Lishu laughed, "Don't be so dramatic."
Then, Gu Xingdong proved with his actions that his words were not an exaggeration at all.
Chen Lishu had made over forty thin pancakes this time. She was full after eating only a few herself. Gu Xingdong finished all the remaining pancakes and dishes by himself. He still seemed to want more even after putting down his chopsticks.
"Don't move, leave it to me." After dinner, before she could get up, Gu Xingdong stacked the plates and bowls in front of him and took them to the kitchen. Soon, he had washed them all clean.
The next day at noon, Chen Lishu was reading at home when there was a knock on the door. She got up to open it. It turned out to be a young soldier delivering a letter. Gu Xingdong had already led his team out and left in a hurry, so he didn't have time to tell her himself and could only send a young soldier to inform her.
"Thank you for making the trip," Chen Lishu said to the young soldier. After thanking him, she closed the door and returned to her room, her mood suddenly a bit low. Although she had always known Gu Xingdong might leave at any time, this sudden departure still caught her off guard.
Since Gu Xingdong wouldn't be home for dinner, she only made a simple bowl of congee. The next day, she went to sit with Wu Zheng's family next door and told Lin Xiaoyue that she would be leaving tomorrow. After chatting for a while longer, Chen Lishu went back home to pack her things.
In the blink of an eye, it was the day she had arranged with Jiang Weiguo. Chen Lishu woke up early, had breakfast, slung her bag over her shoulder, locked the door, and walked out of the camp to the bus stop to go to the city.
She found a pedicab as usual. After loading all the remaining fabric onto the vehicle, Chen Lishu said goodbye to Jiang Weiguo and then went to the post office again.
To avoid arousing suspicion from the postal workers due to frequent visits, she deliberately went to another post office farther away. The address she wrote was still her address in town.
After arranging everything, Chen Lishu took the bus to the train station.
"Young lady, hawthorn fritters, melon seeds. Would you like some?" Before Chen Lishu could even enter the train station, a woman in her fifties approached her and asked in a low voice.
Once on the train, it would be a long and arduous journey of one day and one night. Buying some snacks to eat wouldn't be bad, especially hawthorn, which sounded more appetizing than dry fritters and melon seeds.
"How much are the hawthorn fruits?"
Seeing her interest, the woman smiled and showed her a bright red hawthorn fruit, the size of an egg, in her hand. "These are honey-heart hawthorn fruits picked from our own tree. They've been stored in the cellar and are very fresh. Young lady, they are fifty cents a pound."
Fifty cents a pound? Chen Lishu was startled. The pork at the food store, although it required coupons, was only seventy cents a pound.
"Auntie, that's too expensive. In our village, whoever wants these fruits just picks them to eat. You're charging fifty cents a pound, that's too much. I'm not buying."
The auntie had initially thought she was from the city because of her clean and tidy clothes without patches, and wanted to overcharge her. Now, hearing her accent was from the countryside, she smiled and said, "Young lady, you're talking about September. It's November now, and you can't get such fresh ones anymore. If you really want to buy them, how about I give them to you for thirty cents a pound?"
"I'll buy some for two cents a pound, otherwise, forget it." Chen Lishu said and started to walk into the station.
After walking a couple of steps, she noticed the auntie wasn't calling her back but was turning to approach someone else. Chen Lishu couldn't help but stop. It seemed she wouldn't be able to buy anything for two cents a pound. She hadn't expected things to be so expensive at the train station.
"Auntie, give me a pound." Seeing the auntie about to walk away, Chen Lishu called her back.
"Young lady, the auntie sees you as an honest person and wouldn't lie to you. I sell them to others for fifty cents. You can ask around the station if you don't believe me. I'm the only one selling hawthorn fruits at this time."
Although she didn't know how she could tell she was an honest person, Chen Lishu still smiled at her. As she went with the auntie to get the hawthorn fruits, Chen Lishu couldn't help but ask curiously, "Auntie, how much are your fritters and melon seeds?"
Hearing her ask, the auntie thought she was interested in buying and immediately said, "Fritters are five cents each, and melon seeds are two cents a cup."
Chen Lishu immediately looked at the auntie with newfound respect when she heard that the melon seeds were sold by the cup.
Melon seeds don't weigh much. With an ordinary glass cup, you can fill five or six cups with a pound of melon seeds, which would be a little over ten cents a pound.
The third-grade rice at the supply and marketing cooperative was only fifteen cents a pound. In the countryside, everyone would plant a few sunflower plants by their courtyard walls. In autumn, they would cut the heads, dry them, and shell the seeds, keeping them for roasting in winter or heating them on the stove. Adults and children could have them as snacks. The remaining stalks could be used for fencing or as firewood.