Chapter 86: No One Was There to Break Up the Fight This Time

Han Li was passing the time in the courtyard when the street gate was pushed open and Qi Zhao-di came in from outside.

“I came by to see whether you have any clothes that need washing today.”

Han Li was helpless against her. Qi Zhao-di was as stubborn as a mule.

No matter how many times he told her he did not need her help with laundry, the moment she spotted dirty clothes she would take them off to wash.

“None today. Have you just come down from the mountain?”

“Mm. I picked half a basket of mushrooms today. You know what the educated youth compound is like right now, so tomorrow I’ll need to borrow your yard again to dry them.”

“Use it however you like. Still, the compound is in a terrible state.”

They were talking when Hao Hong-min and the others came over.

Yang Xiu-ying said, “Goodness, we’re right next to the educated youth compound and it’s been nearly enough to drive us mad. It’s slightly better over here.”

Han Li said, “All right, count yourself lucky. The houses in Shanghe Village are already spaced far apart. If you were in the city, where homes share a wall, how would you manage?”

Hao Hong-min said, “It was a little better at first, but now the villagers have swarmed over there, and it’s gotten even noisier.”

Han Li asked, “Have you all eaten yet?”

“No. At first we were too busy listening to the commotion, and by the time we wanted to cook, it was too chaotic outside to be suitable for it.”

“Just so happens I haven’t eaten either. Go into the kitchen and cook, and we’ll eat together. If we wait until things quiet down over there, who knows when that’ll be. By the way, didn’t anyone go call the brigade leader this time?”

He Mi said, “Then I’ll go cook.”

“Let’s go together.”

Hao Hong-min, Yun Jing-jing, and Qi Zhao-di followed them into the kitchen, while the rest stayed behind to chat.

Yang Xiu-ying said, “I heard that the brigade leader and the village head went to the county seat for a meeting this morning and still haven’t come back. Comrade Zhang said that as long as no one starts fighting, he won’t interfere. If anything comes up, we’ll wait until the village head and the others return.”

Yun Ying-ying said, “Han Li, I think you should keep an eye on that Zhang San. People like him, once they taste some advantage in situations like this, will keep jumping around endlessly and become even more outrageous. He already took a fall with you before; if he gets the chance, he’ll certainly come back for revenge.”

Han Li glanced at Yun Ying-ying. She was right. No matter the era, there were always people like that.

Only now there were more of them, and they were crazier. They not only stirred up trouble themselves, but also waved a banner and dragged others along with them.

He thought back to his time in the capital, and why after finishing the exam he never set foot inside the school gates again: he had been afraid of that very kind of coercion.

Even if Yun Ying-ying had not said it, Han Li had no intention of letting Zhang San, this unstable hidden danger, off the hook.

In the past, Zhang San often came and went at dawn and dusk, scavenging manure, and Han Li had planned to wait until he had enjoyed twenty baskets of it before making a move.

Now, although he had begun working normally, he had run headlong into a whole crowd from the educated youth compound.

Then let him first clash with those educated youths who were skilled at moral blackmail; perhaps there would even be some unexpected surprise in it.

If, in the end, Zhang San still had not been eliminated, it would not be too late for Han Li to step in personally.

Especially in this era, in a place where he would have to stay for several more years, Han Li would never leave himself such a hidden danger.

“Thanks, I’ll keep an eye on it. But I think Zhang San probably won’t have time to worry about anything else right now.”

Yang Xiu-ying said, “That’s true enough. Zhang San has already been ostracized over there in the educated youth compound. No one will team up with him to cook, and even if he wants to cook for himself, he has to line up behind everyone else. That’s why they argued when work ended today.”

While the three of them were talking outside, things had already gotten busy inside.

He Mi and Hao Hong-min made steamed corn buns, while Qi Zhao-di carried water, scrubbed the pot, and tended the fire to help out.

Everyone let Yun Jing-jing handle the cooking, since her skill was the best of them all.

She first took out the pickled beans that Han Li had traded for and sliced them, then cut up a piece of pork liver from the braising broth.

A dish of stir-fried pork liver with pickled beans was thus prepared, and finally she shredded some shepherd’s purse root into strips, and that was that.

Originally she had wanted to go ask the villagers to trade for two eggs and make a pot of egg-and-mushroom soup.

But thinking that the educated youth compound had argued over a meal, and that the villagers were all gathered around watching the commotion, she felt it would be rather improper to go trade for eggs at such a time, so they could only make do with some coarse cornmeal porridge.

The wood-fired stove was impressively efficient. Before Han Li and the others had even felt they had chatted for very long, Hao Hong-min was already calling them in to eat.

The pickled-bean stir-fry with pork liver that Yun Jing-jing made was wonderfully refreshing, sour and spicy and extremely appetizing, winning unanimous praise from everyone.

After dinner, as they chatted together, Yang Xiu-ying mentioned something.

“Over the past couple of days, I’ve heard the village aunties and elder sisters say that once the autumn harvest ends, most people are like they’ve lost all discipline. The ones who know how to live frugally usually go up the mountain to pick things, hunt, and gather firewood before the heavy snows seal off the mountains. But some people just start wandering around aimlessly, drinking, playing cards, and looking for someone to take a fancy to; that’s all well and good. Some even do worse things. When Village Head Zhao was just reinstated, he led people to build up quite a reputation nearby, and very few dared come causing trouble. But when you go out of the village, you still have to be careful, especially when going to the county seat. It’s best to find a few more people to go with you, and don’t come back too late.”

Han Li said, “This kind of thing can’t be avoided anywhere. What kind of place is the capital? Even there, girls wouldn’t dare walk alone through a too-deserted side alley. So just be careful in your daily lives. If you really need to go to the county seat, you can call me.”

At that point He Mi said, “I saw that on the walls, outside walls, and even on the tops of the walls of Third Aunt Zhao’s family at the south end of the village, they planted a lot of thorns. Why don’t we plant a ring of them around our yard too?”

“But we have several yards. If we enclose all of them with thorns, that would take quite a lot.”

“I know of a place up on the mountain where there are a lot of thorns. If we borrow a cart from the villagers, we could have it all fenced in within at most two days.”

Han Li said, “You’d better keep a dog as well. It can help guard the house, protect your safety, and when the heavy snows trap the village, it can even be good company.”

After a lively round of discussion, both matters were settled: they would plant thorns, and they would raise a dog.

By the time the girls left, the commotion over at the educated youth compound had already died down.

Han Li did not even need to inquire about the outcome, because by tomorrow the whole village would know, and he would not be able to avoid hearing it even if he wanted to.

What Han Li did not know, however, was that this trip by the village head and the brigade leader to the county seat for a meeting had only been a pretext.

The main reason was Aunt Liu. Her husband had successfully risen to a post in the Political and Ideological Affairs Office, where he now held the deputy position.

Ordinarily, in such a setting, Village Head Zhao and the others would merely have gone along to cast a vote. But since Han Li was still making his living under that man’s hands, how could it be otherwise?

On Aunt Liu’s reminder, Village Head Zhao and Brigade Leader Liang were fortunate enough to attend this family banquet.

Early the next morning, on the threshing ground of Shanghe Village, Han Li was still among the first to arrive.

The next afternoon, this book will be promoted to the Sanjiang channel.

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