Chapter 74: A Moved Liu Gensheng

Liang Kuan carried two sacks of grain home, striding with vigor—this was two hundred jin of goods.

With these sweet potatoes and regular potatoes, he felt like life finally had some hope.

Back in the courtyard compound, he didn’t want to alert the neighbors and quietly slipped into his own home. Inside, it was pitch dark. His mother was even reluctant to light the kerosene lamp.

“Ma! Light the lamp.”

He knew she definitely wasn’t asleep yet.

Sure enough, soon came the sound of a match being struck.

With a “whoosh,” the flame flared up and was moved to the lamp’s wick. Light filled the room. His younger brother and sister stirred a little, turned their faces away, and continued sleeping.

“Ma! This bag is sweet potatoes, this one’s regular potatoes. Tomorrow I can get another twenty jin of sorghum from Master. The boss promised to give each of us a jin of meat tomorrow.”

This had been the most satisfying job they had ever done.

Not only did they get to eat something decent every day, but after just about ten days, they’d already received so much food. What boss was ever that generous?

Of course, their master was generous too. Other masters who brought apprentices to work never gave out this much—usually the master took the lion’s share while the apprentices were left with scraps.

Some even took it too far, having you work for free like a production team mule. They’d dress it up nicely, saying, “I’ve already taught you the skills—what more do you want, payment?”

Liang Kuan’s mother clasped her hands together in gratitude, thanking the gods for blessing her son with a benefactor.

She couldn’t help but tear up.

This was life-saving food for their family!

“Ma! Don’t do that anymore,” Liang Kuan quickly reminded her.

If someone with bad intentions saw that, they might accuse you of promoting feudal superstitions, and that would be a real problem.

“Alright, alright! From now on, you follow your master closely. When it comes to hard labor, take the initiative and do more yourself…” She once again began her tireless brainwashing of her son.

Liang Kuan was immune to it by now.

The logic was already etched in his heart. He would never forget the kindness of his master. He knew exactly what he needed to do.

……

Meanwhile, Master Gu had also returned to his own courtyard and quietly hauled four sacks of grain home.

“Gensheng, you take some food home tomorrow,” he said to a man in his thirties.

This was Master Gu’s distant cousin.

Liu Gensheng hesitated. He had come to seek refuge with his cousin, hoping to find some odd jobs in the capital to support himself. If he went back home, even with a bit of food, how long could that last?

“Cousin…”

Master Gu cut him off. “Listen to me. When you left, your family didn’t have much food left. Your uncle and aunt are old. Even though they’re living with your older brother, in times like these, they probably won’t make it.

You also said your brother has five kids.

Take the grain back first. If you really want to come out again, get a referral letter from the village. Then come work with me—build houses, do renovations, just find a way to eat.”

Liu Gensheng immediately knelt down and kowtowed to his cousin.

Partly to thank him for the food, and partly because his cousin was willing to take him in and give him a way to survive.

“Alright, get up already! You didn’t even bring a referral letter and just ran out here,” Master Gu said, exasperated.

Along the way, where had he even been sleeping? You needed a referral letter to ride the train or stay at a guesthouse. In short, going out without one was a huge hassle.

Master Gu gave up the food at his own home—sweet potatoes and regular potatoes—and let his cousin take them back.

This was the only branch of his family left, so if he had the ability, he’d help them.

He had just thought it through: it would be good to have his cousin work by his side. That way, not only could he support himself, but he could also help out the family back home a little.

Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he eats for a lifetime!

The next morning, Master Gu asked his wife to cook some sorghum rice so his cousin could eat his fill before heading off.

“Eat up. You can’t take the train, so carrying this food, you’ll need to be careful,” Master Gu told him.

In times like these, people really would do anything for a bit of food.

He had already hidden coal at the top of the sweet potato and potato sacks and tied the corners shut with rope, leaving the middle open so the coal would show.

Even so, Master Gu still felt uneasy.

“I’m full, Cousin-in-law. Don’t pack any more,” Liu Gensheng said.

Madam Gu knew her husband was someone who valued kinship, so she didn’t object to giving food to this distant relative. After all, when her own family had been struggling, her husband had let her bring food back too.

“I sewed 50 yuan into this coat. Take it out when you get back,” she reminded.

“Okay, I got it, Cousin-in-law.”

Liu Gensheng felt this cousin-in-law was even kinder than his real sister-in-law—so warm and thoughtful. People say “an elder sister-in-law is like a mother,” but his actual sister-in-law always gave him dirty looks.

No comparison, no hurt—but with comparison, the hurt was real.

Compared to his cousin-in-law, his own sister-in-law was downright harsh and mean.

He planned to deliver the food back home, get a referral letter from the village, and then hurry back to join his cousin. He didn’t want to stay in his hometown for even one more moment.

“These two pairs of shoes are for your uncle and aunt. Help me send greetings to them from their other nephew,” Madam Gu said as she tied up two pairs of cloth shoes.

“Okay!” Liu Gensheng nodded repeatedly.

“I hung some water here for you.”

Seeing his cousin-in-law fuss over every little thing like he was a child, Liu Gensheng’s eyes stung as if filled with sand.

“Alright, let him head back early. Gensheng, try to find a safe place to rest at night, and don’t trust strangers easily…”

Master Gu told his wife not to nag, but then started nagging himself.

Carrying a hundred to two hundred jin, Liu Gensheng moved like the wind, walking fast and strong.

“I’m off to work too. I’ll be back around noon,” Master Gu said to his wife.

“Okay, go quickly.”

Madam Gu understood—this kind of boss couldn’t be neglected or left with a bad impression. If the family ran into trouble later, they might still need to come knocking.

……

Zhou Yimin instantly bought 100 jin of mung beans and 100 jin of ham.

In truth, it was just two hams—each fifty jin.

In Zhou Yimin’s memory, the most famous ham was Jinhua ham. He had eaten it twice and the taste was indeed excellent.

Jinhua ham existed in this era too. In fact, people had been making it since before the Liberation. It was even produced by private households as early as the Tang dynasty and flourished during the Ming and Qing dynasties. By the Wanli reign, it had already become a tribute item.

He first went to the factory to bring back the solar stove.

The moment he brought it into the Courtyard, he was immediately surrounded by the residents.

Staring at the strange contraption, everyone speculated about what it was for.

Zhou Yimin placed an aluminum kettle filled with water on the solar stove’s frame.

In later years, aluminum kettles, pots, and lunchboxes were rumored to be toxic and harmful to health. But in this era, aluminum was used everywhere—especially for lunchboxes.

“Yimin, what’s the kettle for?” a nearby auntie asked.

“This is a solar stove. It’s used to boil water, and you can cook with it too,” Zhou Yimin explained.

(End of Chapter)