Chapter Forty-Six: The Yun Sisters Seek Partnership

Yun Jingjing’s family was a dual-career household. Both of her parents held leadership positions, and she had lived in comfort since childhood. If not for her father’s fierce rival causing trouble, they would never have needed to endure this hardship in the countryside. If her father won out in the end, these few dozen yuan would be of no concern, because she would soon return to the city. If he lost, she would have to prepare for a long stay in the countryside, and no matter what, the house had to be built.

So, not long after Han Li finished his meal in his own courtyard, Yun Jingjing and her sister Yun Yingying came over.

“This courtyard is huge. Wouldn’t it be a bit scary to live here alone?”
“The path in the middle—why did you dig on both sides?”
“Why is there a big tree trunk planted here?”
“The yard is so big, why not build a bigger house?”
“A small house feels cozier. The room is really tidy—doesn’t look at all like a guy’s place.”
“This kang is enormous—you could roll around on it all you like, so comfortable just thinking about it.”
“Yeah, we’re the unlucky ones. The kang in the youth hostel isn’t even big enough to turn over on.”
“Can you tell us all about how you built the house? We can’t wait to have our own place.”

The two sisters, as soon as they entered, were like a pair of walking question machines, firing off queries non-stop. Han Li patiently answered them one by one. They were all from the capital, and had been assigned to the countryside together. From then on, no matter what happened, they were friends in adversity. Han Li never minded having an extra ally—provided their character was worthy. Otherwise, he preferred to go his own way.

After he finished answering all their questions about the house, the Yun sisters seemed even more bashful, as if they wanted to say something but were too embarrassed to speak. Han Li guessed nothing good was coming next, so he pretended not to notice, busying himself with trimming the wicks of the candles and kerosene lamp, making the room brighter.

The sisters grew more frustrated—how could their fellow townsman not react at all? Back at school, whenever they put on these expressions, boys would clamor to find out what was wrong. But here, it seemed not to work. In the end, the younger sister Yun Yingying couldn’t hold back any longer.

“Comrade Han, since we’re all from the capital, may we call you Brother Han from now on?”

“Well… if you think ‘Comrade Han’ sounds too formal, just call me Han Li.”

“…Han Li, there’s something we’d like to discuss with you.”

“What is it?”

“We’re planning to build a house too, but it’ll take several days. We also don’t want to eat mess hall food at the youth hostel. So… could we eat here with you for the next few days?”

“Don’t worry about food—we’d never shortchange you. If you prefer, we can even cook for ourselves.”

The twins, true to form, took turns finishing each other's sentences, getting straight to the point. Han Li replied, “Before your house is finished, you’re welcome to cook here. It’s just a matter of some firewood. But there’s no need to eat together—I keep odd meal times myself, so it’s not very convenient.”

“Han Li, thank you so much! We never expected the youth hostel would split into two camps. After dinner, the older volunteers tried to rope us into their group. Normally, there’d be nothing wrong with that, but their conditions were enough to drive anyone mad.”

After sorting out the meal arrangement, the Yun sisters said their goodbyes. As Han Li walked them to the gate, he happened to see Hao Hongmin escorting the new volunteer, He Mi, away. Watching them head into the youth hostel, Yang Xiuying came over and said,

“Han Li, since you, Yun Jingjing, and Yun Yingying are all from the capital, did you know each other before?”

“No, we didn’t.”

“I thought you must have. Otherwise, why would those two girls come to you for advice?”

“How should I know? But something’s definitely up at the youth hostel—they even drove those two to ask if they could cook here.”

Hao Hongmin chimed in unhurriedly, “He Mi mentioned it earlier too—something about grain supplies. The new volunteers’ rations obviously won’t last until the autumn harvest. The older ones are worried they’ll end up having to share theirs. They made it pretty clear, according to He Mi—their tone was as dismissive as could be, afraid the newbies would agree to join their group.”

“Good thing we moved out,” said Yang Xiuying. “Otherwise, eating with them would drive us mad sooner or later.”

The next day, Han Li and the others went to work as usual, while Yun Jingjing and her group took a day off. Most of them would head into town or to the commune to buy necessities. While Han Li was waiting for work assignments at the drying ground, he saw the new girl from Sichuan, Qi Zhaodi, borrowing a hatchet, shovel, rope, and basket from the warehouse before heading up the mountain.

While they worked, the village aunties began to discuss the new volunteers. Han Li listened in with both ears. To his surprise, they spoke most highly of He Mi. Their comments, though repetitive, all boiled down to the same thing: she was well-built, with broad hips—good for bearing children—and her family’s grain stores were plentiful. If she proved competent at work, they’d gladly introduce her to one of their own sons or nephews.

Hearing this, Han Li thought back to his own arrival in Shanghe Village, feeling quite satisfied with Aunt Liu’s recommendation. Perhaps because the village’s power was balanced among three factions, he’d never encountered any of the notorious local gossip.

Once again, it was a day of slow work for Han Li; he earned as many work points as the aunties. The villagers grumbled about him behind his back, saying he was a strapping young man but only ever slacked off with the third team women, earning the same number of work points as the old ladies—wasn’t he ashamed? If not for the money and goods his family sent, with so few work points, he’d never be able to afford a wife, and so on.

In short, they called him just short of useless, but Han Li didn’t care what others said. He kept to his routine, maintaining the same work pace as the aunties in his group. Even if the brigade leader came by, there’d be nothing to criticize.

After work, Han Li joined Hao Hongmei and the others at Aunt Zhang’s house to exchange seeds for radishes and cabbages. He had no idea what varieties they were; Aunt Zhang said if they were planted now, they could be harvested around the time of the first frost. There were only a few days’ difference between harvesting radishes and cabbages. Unfortunately, he’d missed the window to plant peppers this year, but once they ripened, he intended to barter for more from the villagers. The long winter would be unbearable without a bit of spice to liven things up.