Guan Baiyu’s popularity in the class was not bad. After all, he had good grades.
But Yan Jiangtao didn’t like him.
Guan Baiyu knew the reason.
In their school, the lives of most students at home were similar. At most, some families were willing to spend money and provide better food and clothing for their children, while some families were stingy and had poorer food and clothing.
But Yan Jiangtao was different. His family was quite wealthy.
His father bought several power looms* to weave cloth at home and earned a lot of money. Yan Jiangtao’s weekly pocket money was thirty yuan!
For other people in the class, it was good to have fifty cents as pocket money every day. Many families did not even give their children any pocket money.
Yan Jiangtao’s family was rich and he had good food and clothing, but he always disliked him and thought he was dirty.
One time, Yan Jiangtao saw a lice bug on his head and hated him even more, so he made a big announcement about it to the whole class.
There were many people in the class who had lice. The lice medicine in the convenience store had always sold well. Most people didn’t care much about it, but there were a few people who made a big deal about it and troubled Guan Baiyu.
Most of the time, they said in public that he had lice and there must be bedbugs in his house. Occasionally, they would suddenly push him in physical education class.
It was childish and upsetting.
In particular, although others sympathized with him, they at most comforted him with a few words when Yan Jiangtao wasn’t there. No one dared to fight against Yan Jiangtao and the others because of him.
Even he himself did not dare to offend Yan Jiangtao.
He wanted to change his deskmate and mentioned it to the teacher, but the teacher didn’t agree.
Their class teacher’s surname was Chen. In this school where most teachers just went around and lectured casually, the young Teacher Chen was quite serious and responsible, but he always felt that classmates should help each other.
Teacher Chen asked him to help Yan Jiangtao improve his academic performance.
Well, this was not necessarily Teacher Chen’s idea. Maybe it was Yan Jiangtao’s father’s idea.
He had some of the best grades in the entire school, and he didn’t cause trouble. He was a good boy in the eyes of many people. Before… there were many people who wanted to be his deskmate.
Yan Jiangtao had always been willful. When he saw the dead bug in his schoolbag, he didn’t want to eat the food anymore. He threw down his schoolbag and went home directly.
He didn’t want to continue studying at all, and he didn’t like listening to lectures. It was his father who forced him to join the advanced class.
Yan Jiangtao didn’t come to class in the afternoon. Guan Baiyu felt much more relaxed, but he was often distracted.
He… suddenly had a cousin.
Shi Zhen returned to Guan Jianguo’s house after a day’s work and was already very tired.
But he was in a good mood.
He and Shi Xinghuo went digging together yesterday and could only earn fifteen yuan a day. Now they were working separately, and in total they could earn twenty yuan a day.
Even now, their expenses were quite high. Not only did they need to buy a lot of things, but they also needed money every day to eat.
Shi Zhen only rented a room in Guan Jianguo’s house without a kitchen. Although he could buy a coal stove and a pot to cook, these things cost money. He had no money for the time being, so he could only eat with Guan Jianguo’s family.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
One yuan for breakfast and two yuan for the two of them in the evening for dinner. He and Shi Xinghuo gave Guan Jianguo’s mother three yuan a day, and the old lady brought them meals.
Of course, it was impossible to eat meat. It would be nice to eat a salted duck egg.
For Guan Jianguo’s mother, the rice and vegetables were all grown at home, so she could make some money without spending any money.
Not long after Shi Zhen arrived home, Guan Jianguo’s mother brought over two large bowls of rice, a bowl of fried cabbage, and a bowl of pickled lettuce.
There was no oil or water in the stir-fried cabbage, and the pickled lettuce was just chopped fresh lettuce, sprinkled with some salt and tossed.
The food was plenty, but there was no meat.
But Guan Jianguo himself didn’t eat meat, which was quite normal.
Shi Zhen finished his meal and thought about whether he should cook for himself after a while.
After dinner, Shi Zhen took an enamel food container and walked to Guan Baiyu’s house.
When he and Shi Xinghuo left the mountain village, they brought some daily necessities. For example, for keeping warm, they brought a thick cotton-padded jacket for each of them.
Last night they spread straw on their makeshift beds and slept in thick cotton-padded jackets. They also slept like this in the bridge tunnel before. In addition, they also brought cups, spoons and chopsticks. This enamel food container was one he bought new right before leaving the village.
When he arrived at Guan Baiyu’s house, Shi Zhen knocked on the door as usual.
Guan Baiyu opened the door and saw him.
Shi Zhen laughed, “Baiyu, let me in.”
Guan Baiyu stepped aside and allowed Shi Zhen to enter.
Guan Baiyu’s house had only two rooms. One was for cooking and eating. There was an eight immortals table* in the south and a stove in the north.
The other room was used as a warehouse and for sleeping.
Shi Zhen had come here twice and sat in the dining room each time. At this moment, he saw that there was still a fire on the earthen stove. Guan Baiyu probably hadn’t finished cooking yet.
This was not surprising. A junior high school student finished school around the same time he got off work. When he came home from work, he could just eat the meal prepared by Guan Jianguo’s mother. When Guan Baiyu returned home, he had to cook by himself.
”You haven’t eaten yet?” Shi Zhen asked.
”Yeah.” Guan Baiyu whispered.
”Just in time. I brought you some food.” Shi Zhen put the food container in his hand on the table and opened it.
The cardboard box that was placed on the table yesterday was no longer there, and now there were several books spread out on the table.
Shi Zhen opened the food container, and Guan Baiyu saw the fried tofu and roasted pork* inside.
Shi Zhen smiled and said, “Put it on the steamer to steam it and eat it when it’s hot.” He only drank some soup and ate some fried tofu, and the rest was here.
”Why are you so nice to me?” Guan Baiyu asked. Shi Zhen gave him money yesterday and meat today.
”You are my cousin,” Shi Zhen laughed, “Go and cook quickly and eat when you’re done.”
Guan Baiyu took a deep look at Shi Zhen, opened the lid of the pot, put the food container on to steam, and stuffed some… straw roots into the stove?
”Is this… straw root?” Shi Zhen asked.
”Hmm.”
”Why are you burning this?”
Guan Baiyu said, “There is not enough firewood.”
Shi Zhen paused and then said, “There is not enough firewood for the fire, so you can only burn this? Where did you get these?”
Guan Baiyu glanced at Shi Zhen in confusion. “Plucked from the ground.”
Shi Zhen’s family lived in the mountains, but they also grew some rice.
The seeds of rice were edible, and the stems and leaves below were suitable for starting fires, but they were not suitable to maintain a fire as they burned out too quickly.
Usually in their village, they lit a handful of straw to start the fire, and then put some fire-resistant branches on top.
Their village was surrounded by mountains and there was no shortage of firewood, but there were no mountains here in Anshan Town, and all the land that could be cultivated had long been cultivated. In other words, it was not easy for people here to get firewood.
After harvesting rice every year, there would be a lot of straw. Everyone took it home and saved it, then slowly burned it for a year, but this straw was often not enough.
There was no doubt that Guan Baiyu did not have enough firewood for the fire, so he dug out the roots in the ground. After harvesting, the small stems and attached roots left in the ground were dried in the sun and then stored as “firewood”.
These things were not easy to dig. It was very tiring, especially if he could only use them to start a fire…
Shi Zhen took a deep breath and saw Guan Baiyu stop lighting the fire.
”It’s done?” Shi Zhen asked.
Guan Baiyu said, “Just steam it. It will be ready after steaming for a while.”
Shi Zhen had long forgotten how to cook using an old earthen stove. When he saw this, he started chatting with Guan Baiyu. “Do you usually cook by yourself? How many times a day?”
Guan Baiyu didn’t hide anything, and Shi Zhen soon learned from him that he usually cooked once in the morning in summer and once in the evening in winter.
His three meals a day were all prepared at the same time.
Now that the weather was cold, he always cooked at night so that he could also boil some hot water for drinking.
In summer, meals cooked overnight tended to go rancid, so he cooked them in the morning.
”Do you have enough food? What kind of food do you usually eat?”
Guan Baiyu said, “The food my father gives me is enough. Normally… I eat whatever grows in the fields.”
Guan Baiyu didn’t talk much, but he was still willing to talk. Shi Zhen roughly understood his current lifestyle.
His adoptive parents would give him food and a piece of land for him to grow vegetables, and he would be self-sufficient.
This was enough for him to live, but the food didn’t necessarily taste good nor could he eat meat.
People in the village basically ate vegetables grown in their own fields. It was good to buy meat once a week. Some people were reluctant to even scramble eggs.
Guan Baiyu didn’t raise chickens and had no money, so he couldn’t eat meat or eggs.
He didn’t even have enough firewood for the fire.
No wonder he was so thin.
When the meal was ready, Guan Baiyu filled a bowl of rice and put the dishes on the table.
In addition to the fried tofu and roast pork that Shi Zhen brought him, there was also a bowl of steamed garlic leaves.
Guan Baiyu only had one pot, so he probably steamed all the vegetables while cooking.
”Do you want to eat?” Guan Baiyu asked Shi Zhen while sitting at the table.
Shi Zhen said, “I’ve already eaten.”
Guan Baiyu ate by himself. Whether it was the food brought by Shi Zhen or the food he steamed himself, he only ate a quarter of it.
Shi Zhen watched him eat with a smile. As he watched, he suddenly realized that something was wrong. He stood up and took a bite of rice from the pot.
”This rice is undercooked.” Shi Zhen frowned – Guan Baiyu’s rice was undercooked.
Guan Baiyu didn’t take it seriously. “I don’t have enough firewood.”
Shi Zhen was speechless.
After Guan Baiyu ate Shi Zhen’s food, he became less guarded against Shi Zhen and asked, “My grandparents…”
”They are both dead,” Shi Zhen said. “They only had the two daughters, both of whom are dead. We are the only grandchildren. I will take good care of you.”
”I am a member of the Guan family now…”
”What does it matter? As long as you are my aunt’s child.”
Guan Baiyu looked at Shi Zhen blankly.
Shi Zhen felt that it would take a few days for Guan Baiyu to completely let down his guard, so he left quickly.
When he got home, Shi Xinghuo was still awake and gave him ten yuan – his income was paid daily.
When they left the village, Shi Xinghuo’s parents told Shi Zhen that he would share half of Shi Xinghuo’s earnings and that he would be responsible for Shi Xinghuo’s food, clothing, housing and transportation, and asked him to help Shi Xinghuo save the remaining half.
Shi Zhen collected the ten yuan and took out a five yuan bill and put it in a bag next to him to save for Shi Xinghuo.
During Chinese New Year, Shi Xinghuo’s money would be handed over to Shi Xinghuo’s parents.
He hoped he could save money quickly, start a small business, and make more money. Otherwise… Shi Xinghuo only saved five yuan every day, which was less than two thousand in a year. And that was assuming he actually worked every day. He might not be able to dig mud every day.
What about him? He was dredging up the river, and it was difficult for him to even get Guan Baiyu to eat some meat.
***
T/N: Wait… if Guan Baiyu’s house only has two rooms, it means he slept on the floor when his grandma was still alive? So sad. Also, I really hate school bullying. Thank god this author doesn’t go into detail about the bullying like some novels do.
*I see there are many types of power looms. The author doesn’t specify what kind they have – just that they’re mechanized looms so they can automatically weave cloth (not by hand like it was done in ancient days).
*Eight immortals table is an old style of Chinese table. It’s a square table meant to seat 8 people (2 on each side):
*Yeah, this means Shi Zhen saved the roast pork and fried tofu from the lunch provided at work. I know it’s sad, but at least it’s realistic and they really are starting from nothing (unlike other novels where there are golden fingers everywhere).
What type of beds do rural Chinese use? Why would he have slept on the floor? What about grandpa’s bed?
There are only two rooms – one is the combined living room and kitchen where he cooks and eats. The other is his bedroom, which used to be the grandma’s bedroom as this is her house…so him sleeping on the floor was just my guess (when he was young, he probably slept with the grandma). The adoptive grandpa was dead before Baiyu was even adopted – even when he was alive, he would have slept with the grandma.
I bet he barely passed his bachelor’s, didn’t know how to teach and only became a teacher for the money. Forget the 90s, even today there are teachers in developing Asian countries who don’t have the right qualifications or experience and even obtained their job through ‘connections.’