Chapter 15

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For every group like Shen Mo'er and the others who returned laden with goods, there was someone like Fu Mingze, who came back empty-handed.

On the way back to Yangliu Brigade, Yang Qingqing made several oblique attempts to ask Fu Mingze what he had gone to the commune for and why he had not bought anything. Fu Mingze responded with indifference each time, and Yang Qingqing's eyes reddened once again.

Even Brigade Captain Zhou Mancang could not help glancing at Fu Mingze a few times. He probably thought that although the young man was handsome, his temper was less than appealing, and he was overly cold toward women.

Shen Mo'er cast Fu Mingze a sympathetic look.

When they had met at Sister Qiao's house, they had exchanged a few polite words. Although this Educated Youth Fu was not the warmhearted type, neither was he cold or arrogant.

Shen Mo'er had even found him rather adorable when he had awkwardly explained, while holding several steamed buns, that he had traded the eggs he earned by writing letters for someone else in exchange for the buns.

His handsome face, which never tanned despite working outdoors every day, had flushed faintly. He was truly a pleasure to look at.

So when Yang Qingqing once again found an excuse to strike up a conversation with Fu Mingze, Shen Mo'er put on an innocent, curious expression.

“Educated Youth Yang, so you've been following Educated Youth Fu all this time just to find out what he went to the commune for? There are only two reasons to go to the commune—to handle business or buy things. What's there to be curious about?”

Putting everything together, Shen Mo'er understood why Fu Mingze could not be bothered with Yang Qingqing. If someone watched her day in and day out like that, she would not want to deal with them either.

Yang Qingqing's expression changed slightly. With a dry laugh, she said, “Comrade Shen Mo'er, you've misunderstood. I wasn't following Educated Youth Fu. We're both educated youths, and I only thought we ought to care for and help one another. I didn't mean anything else.”

Shen Mo'er wore an unconvinced expression. “Educated Youth Yang, putting it that way makes you sound terribly distant from our team members. Educated youths are also part of our brigade. Caring for and helping one another shouldn't be limited to educated youths—we should all care for and help one another.”

Auntie Chen was the first to agree. “Exactly. We all live in the same brigade. There's no need to be so distant.”

Zhou Mancang nodded as well. “Mo'er is right. You came here to settle down, so you're part of the brigade. There's no need to distinguish between you and us, and even less need to form little cliques.” What he feared most was these educated youths banding together and opposing the brigade.

Yang Qingqing insisted tearfully that she had never meant anything of the sort. Her eyes red, she fell silent and did not speak again for the rest of the journey.

Fu Mingze had remained silent the entire time. He merely raised his eyes when Shen Mo'er said that Yang Qingqing had been following him. Then, when Shen Mo'er said that everyone ought to care for and help one another, the corners of his mouth lifted despite himself.

* * *

The commune kiln factory was desperate for talent, so Xu Weiguo had asked Shen Shaoyuan to report there the very next day. Since Shen Mo'er had managed to buy ten feet of flawed fabric that day—and it was an attractive ivory color—she began considering whether she could make her father a shirt like Xu Weiguo's.

After returning home, she first cooked a pot of porridge and stir-fried a small bowl of cowpeas. Once she had eaten a small bowl of porridge with the cowpeas, she went to Auntie Chen's house to borrow scissors for cutting cloth and a tailor's chalk.

Shen Mo'er's needlework skills had been taught to her by the finest embroiderer in Great Liang. She had begun learning at the age of ten and studied for six full years.

It was not because every young lady of noble birth had to learn needlework and she had been no exception. Shen Mo'er had grown up trailing after several princes; as soon as she learned to walk, she had begun studying martial arts and archery with them. Originally, she had had no patience for needlework.

Unfortunately, her Ninth Imperial Uncle was jealous and sour by nature. He resented the fact that her imperial uncle treated her father more warmly than his other brothers, and he was forever showing off in front of her father, boasting about how deeply devoted he and his wife were to one another. A purse embroidered by his wife could be flaunted for more than half a year.

Wasn't he simply rubbing salt into her father's wound, mocking him for being a widower whose only personal purse had been embroidered by a maid?

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At the time, Shen Mo'er was barely old enough for elementary lessons. She had brought a whole retinue of palace attendants and made a grand entrance into the palace, where she clung to her imperial uncle's leg and sobbed bitterly. In a fit of anger, her imperial uncle docked her Ninth Imperial Uncle's salary for half a year and, while he was at it, bestowed upon her the finest embroiderer in the palace.

After that, her Ninth Imperial Uncle would turn away whenever he saw her for several months. He told everyone that Shen Mo'er was a glutinous rice dumpling filled with sesame: soft and sweet on the outside, but black-hearted within, exactly like Shen Shaoyuan.

Compared with the garments of Great Liang, the clothing in this world was so simple that it could almost be called crude. A short-sleeved shirt was naturally child's play for Shen Mo'er, and she finished it in a single afternoon.

Shen Shaoyuan tried it on and was delighted. “It fits beautifully and holds its shape. It's even better made than the ready-made clothes hanging in the cooperative store.”

Shen Mo'er was quite pleased as well. They said that the Buddha relied on gold adornments and people relied on fine clothing. Once her father put on new clothes, his refined and scholarly air had returned.

Before nightfall, Shen Shaoyuan took a basin to the well and washed the shirt. By dusk, it was only half-dry, so he brought it inside and hung it up. Their house had no enclosing wall, and if they left new clothing outside overnight, it would certainly be gone by morning.

Dinner consisted of the leftover porridge and cowpeas from noon. Afterward, father and daughter sat together and discussed the construction of their new house for a while.

Now that Shen Shaoyuan was going to work at the kiln factory, Shen Mo'er would have to handle such matters as drawing the plans and gathering materials.

Those tasks were not difficult for Shen Mo'er. The only thing giving her trouble was deciding exactly how the house should be built.

She remembered hearing that houses in the cities were wonderfully equipped. They had electric lights, running water, and, most importantly, bathrooms that were both convenient and clean.

Their village had not yet been fitted with electricity or running water, so there was no point thinking about those. But Shen Mo'er truly wanted a convenient, hygienic bathroom. Unfortunately, the original owner of the body had only heard about such things from others and had never seen one with her own eyes, so she had no idea how to build one.

“Ask one of the educated youths,” Shen Shaoyuan suggested. “Quite a few of the educated youths in our brigade seem to come from major cities.”

He was thinking that there were many female educated youths in the brigade, and with his daughter Mo'er's personality, finding an opportunity to strike up a conversation would be easy. Yang Qingqing was out of the question. A grown girl who secretly followed a young man and spoke and acted in such an indirect, evasive way was not worth befriending.

Shen Mo'er, meanwhile, thought of Educated Youth Fu, who came from the capital. If they were going to ask someone, they might as well ask someone from the biggest city of all. She readily agreed.

Father and daughter reached an agreement and were both satisfied. After chatting a little longer, they went to bed.

The next morning, after breakfast, Shen Shaoyuan put on his brand-new shirt and went to the commune kiln factory. Shen Mo'er, meanwhile, returned the scissors and tailor's chalk she had borrowed from Auntie Chen. She also brought along the more than two feet of fabric left over from making the shirt, intending to exchange it with Auntie Chen for eggs and vegetables.

The fabric had a dyeing flaw at one end, so it was of little use to Shen Mo'er. Auntie Chen, however, was overjoyed.

In terms of money, a little over two feet of fabric was worth barely more than one yuan. But supplies were scarce in those days. Each person was allotted only a few feet of cloth per year, and cloth coupons were exceedingly difficult to obtain. In Auntie Chen's eyes, those two feet were immensely valuable.

With a broad smile, Auntie Chen placed twelve eggs into the basket Shen Mo'er had brought. Then she took two handfuls of vegetables from the kitchen. “I pulled these up fresh this morning. Take them home and eat them. When you've finished them, I'll bring you some more in a couple of days. Vegetables are best pulled and eaten fresh. If you leave them for even a few days, they'll become tough and old.”

After these past two days of contact, Auntie Chen knew that Shen Mo'er was sensible, and so she made even more effort to plan for her. Otherwise, it would actually have been more convenient for her to give Shen Mo'er enough vegetables all at once and let her decide how many days they would last and whether they might grow old.

Before Shen Mo'er left, the old woman placed a piece of homemade pickled vegetable into her basket as well. “The weather's hot. Stir-fried pickles with porridge are wonderfully refreshing.”

With the eggs, vegetables, and pickles, their food problem was temporarily solved.

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Shen Mo'er carried the basket home, took two eggs, and prepared to leave again. After thinking it over, she turned back, lit the fire, and boiled water to cook the eggs. Only then did she tuck them into her hands and head for the educated youths' quarters.

The male educated youths had just returned from work. From a distance, Shen Mo'er saw Fu Mingze trailing at the very back of the group. Dressed in a white shirt and black trousers, he walked with his back straight and his bearing upright. Even though his clothes were covered in patches and one trouser leg was rolled higher than the other, he somehow lost none of his striking, crane-among-chickens air.

Fu Mingze walked at an unhurried pace, his handsome, refined face devoid of expression. Beside him, Zheng Jiamin chattered away incessantly.

When they drew closer, Zheng Jiamin spotted Shen Mo'er first and greeted her with great familiarity. “Comrade Shen Mo'er!”

Fu Mingze turned his head to look over.

Remembering Zheng Jiamin's name, Shen Mo'er smiled and nodded. “Hello, Educated Youth Zheng.”

Then she added, “I need to speak with Educated Youth Fu about something.”

Zheng Jiamin looked surprised. “You're looking for Fu Mingze? Oh, oh, all right. I'll go back first, then. Take your time talking.”

Where Shen Mo'er could not see, he winked and made several exaggerated expressions at Fu Mingze.

Fu Mingze ignored him. He stopped and asked, “What can I do for you, Comrade Shen?”

Shen Mo'er briefly explained that her family planned to build a new house and that she also wanted to add a bathroom. Fu Mingze looked somewhat surprised. “Your family is building a new house?”

In truth, Fu Mingze had already found it strange when they were at the commune that day. Someone who had nearly starved to death just a few days earlier had suddenly gone on a lavish shopping spree and bought so many things. And now she was saying that her family planned to build a new house?

Apparently, news that her family had recovered three hundred yuan had not yet reached the educated youths' quarters, so Shen Mo'er explained the matter to him.

Only after hearing her explanation did Fu Mingze understand what had happened. He considered it for a few seconds, then readily agreed. “Generally speaking, separate bathrooms are more common in urban buildings and relatively rare in single-story houses. But my family—well, a distant relative of mine had a courtyard renovated in a similar way. I have a general idea of how it was done. I'll draw you a plan when I get the chance and give it to you in a couple of days.”

Shen Mo'er failed to notice his brief hesitation. Delighted that he had agreed so readily, she said, “That's wonderful. Thank you for your help, Educated Youth Fu.” Her greatest difficulty had been solved with ease.

Beaming, she took the eggs from her hands and offered them to him. “Please keep these two eggs for breakfast, Educated Youth Fu.”

Fu Mingze paused slightly. “There's no need to be so formal.”

Shen Mo'er simply pressed the eggs into his hand. “When asking someone for help, one should at least bring a small gift. Please don't refuse, Educated Youth Fu. I was worried they might be inconvenient for you, so I boiled them already. Be sure to eat them today, or they'll spoil.”

The sun had grown rather fierce. Even standing in the shade, sweat appeared at Fu Mingze's temples. The beads of perspiration glistened on his skin in the sunlight, making his features look even more handsome.

Shen Mo'er could not help looking at him twice more before bidding him farewell with a smile in her eyes. “Educated Youth Fu, I'll come find you again in a few days.”