The Lu family prepared a lot of things. Just the food alone included cured meat, large chunks of beef, noodles, brown and white sugar, some flour, milk powder, and pastries— not to mention other necessities, clothing, and daily necessities for the brothers.

Fortunately, the three Lu brothers were all strong, and each of them carried the load out of the vehicle. After they got out, Lu Shouyan drove away.

The three brothers then surrounded Chu Wan. “Wanwan, where do you live?”

Chu Wan said, “Come with me.”

The three brothers hurriedly followed Chu Wan forward, looking around as they went. Since they had never been here before, they naturally found it all very interesting. 

At one point, Lu Jianshi said, “We should also go and see the various parts of the Ming Tombs tomorrow. I heard that the reservoir has now been contracted out to a private individual, and there are fish farms in it. The fish are all very fat.”

Upon hearing this, Lu Jianzhao raised an eyebrow and said sarcastically, “Did you come here to enjoy the fish or to help with the work?”

Lu Jianshi retorted, “I was just saying!”

Lu Jianhui remained silent, looking around. He saw cut-open urea bags or plastic tarpaulins spread everywhere on the road, with medicinal herbs drying on them, as well as dried persimmons.

These were probably all mountain products, dried by rural people to supplement their household income.

He casually asked, “Where do you sell all of these?”

Chu Wan replied, “The medicinal herbs are sold at the purchasing station, but you can set up a stall in the city to sell things like dried persimmons.”

Upon hearing this, Lu Jianshi became interested. “Wanwan, do you dry these at home? If so, I’ll help you sell them. I have connections for selling dried persimmons, and I can help you collect medicinal herbs!”

Looking at his ingratiating expression, Chu Wan said, “I don’t have any at home.”

Lu Jianshi was slightly embarrassed but still said, “It’s okay, we’ll talk about it when your family has some.”

Lu Jianzhao sneered, “What are you talking about? It’s all incoherent.”

Upon hearing this, Lu Jianshi glared at Lu Jianzhao.

Just then, Grandpa Hu, who herded sheep in the village, saw them. He was wearing an old cotton-padded coat, with his hands behind his back and a sheep-herding stick in his hand.

Upon seeing Chu Wan and her group, he rubbed his eyes in confusion, then looked at Chu Wan with a puzzled expression. “Wanwan, you’re back? What happened? Who came with you?”

Chu Wan smiled and said, “Grandpa Hu, these are the grandsons of my great-grandfather’s friend. They’re here to visit and help us with farm work.”

Grandpa Hu suddenly understood, but he was still puzzled and couldn’t help but look at the Lu brothers some more.

The brothers were dressed smartly, their woolen clothes crisp, and they all wore scarves, leather hats, and leather shoes. They looked like well-dressed people, and they didn’t look like workers at all.

Chu Wan and the brothers quickly arrived at the village entrance. The people sitting by the millstone, basking in the sun with their sleeves tucked in and gossiping, all saw this and were quite surprised.

This village rarely saw outsiders, especially in winter. Even tourists were few and far between, so everyone was quite excited whenever a stranger came.

Now, things were even more exciting. Chu Wan was accompanied by three men, and they all seemed to be quite young, calling her ‘Wanwan’ affectionately.

What were they doing here?

The three brothers were also curious when they saw the villagers. The old women here all had bound feet¹, wore blue coarse fabric jackets, and had their hair tied into a bun at the back of their heads, covered with a black net. They looked quite old-fashioned and were about ten years behind the city.

Chu Wan greeted the villagers and explained the three brothers to them.

The toothless old ladies finally understood, and after understanding, they became intrigued again.

After all, the Lu family’s grandsons were really eye-catching. Rural people didn’t dress like that. They looked like they came from a wealthy family in the city, so some people guessed that ‘they must be the Chu family’s relatives in the city’.

The three young men didn’t seem uncomfortable being stared at by the entire village. They even looked back at the villagers. Lu Jianshi asked in a low voice, “What’s that old man carrying on his back?”

Chu Wan replied, “A manure basket, that’s for collecting manure.”

Lu Jianshi was astonished, his eyes widening. “You have to pick up manure?”

Lu Jianzhao said disdainfully, “Speak less, observe more!”

Lu Jianshi glared back.

At this moment, Lu Jianhui noticed the bags of urea next to them. “I heard that fertilizer was in short supply now. Has your village bought any fertilizer?”

Chu Wan replied, “They said they were going to the city to pick it up a few days ago, but I don’t know if they succeeded. I haven’t asked them yet.”

Upon hearing this, Lu Jianshi asked, “Is it necessary to use chemical fertilizers for farming?”

Chu Wan replied dismissively, “Of course.”

Lu Jianshi quickly coaxed, “Did your family buy fertilizer?”

Chu Wan: “No.”

Lu Jianshi: “Then I’ll help you. I’ll see if I can help you buy some fertilizer.”

Chu Wan: “No need, it’s not necessary. Our family has very little land, and we only use half a bag of urea. We can just buy some more.”

Lu Jianshi wanted to please Chu Wan, but he didn’t know where to start, so he asked again, “So what are we going to do next?”

Chu Wan: “Our family was busy last year and didn’t plant any wheat, so the land is currently lying fallow. We need to prepare the land, water it, apply fertilizer, and then sow the seeds. This spring, we’ll plant some corn or beans.”

She looked at the three young men and sighed, “I’m not strong enough to do any work, so our family has always had little food and we’ve always lived in poverty, often going hungry. Now that you’re here, we’re counting on you.”

The three men nodded in unison.

Chu Wan: “Do you guys know how?”

Lu Jianshi: “Of course! I can do farm work!”

Lu Jianzhao hesitated for a moment. “Of course I can too!”

Lu Jianhui thought about it for a moment and said, “Let’s give it a try.”

… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

As they were talking, the group arrived at the Chu family home, where Chu Wan led the three young men to meet her great-grandfather.

The old patriarch of the Chu family squinted and looked each of the grandsons over.

At his scrutiny, all three men respectfully lowered their heads.

They knew that although the old man in front of them looked old and withered like a dead tree, he was their grandfather’s savior and the person who had raised their grandfather.

Even their grandfather had to be extremely respectful and cautious in front of this person.

The old man looked the three Lu boys over and asked them with a smile. Knowing they were coming to help with the farming, he laughed and said, “Alright, farming is good. Then you can help plow the family’s land.”

After everything was explained and everyone ate something, Chu Wan led them to the family’s field. Their land was located at the foot of the mountain and wasn’t exactly prime land.

Actually, when the land was being allocated, they drew lots, and Chu Wan drew a fertile plot. But later, it was said that Chu Wan’s family didn’t lack food, so the good plot was given to Chen Lei’s family, and the bad plot was exchanged to Chu Wan’s family.

Chu Wan was very young at the time and was quite upset. She wanted to find Grandpa Lu in the city, but great-grandpa Lu wouldn’t let her, saying that her family had enough to eat and they might not even be able to cultivate good land, so there was no need to compete with others for it. And that’s how the family’s land situation came to be.

Chu Wan instructed the three men to first use hoes and shovels to clear away the weeds and stubble in the field.

After giving instructions, she said, “You guys keep working, I’m going back to cook for you.”

Upon hearing this, Lu Jianshi exclaimed, “Wanwan is truly capable!”

Lu Jianzhao muttered, “Bootlicker!”

Lu Jianshi gave a cold laugh and ignored Lu Jianzhao.

Chu Wan took the opportunity to pick some wild vegetables in the field. She carried the basket and was about to walk back when she saw Su Yanjing rushing over.

Su Yanjing was furious when he saw Chu Wan. “Wanwan, what do you mean? Wanwan, is this how you do things?”

Chu Wan looked at him expressionlessly. “What?”

After causing a ruckus at the Lu family, she had already forgotten about Su Yanjing.

Su Yanjing sneered, glancing at the group of men over there—men whose attire clearly indicated they were not ordinary—and gritted his teeth, saying, “Wanwan, I never expected you to be this kind of person. We were dating properly, what did I do to wrong you? And yet you just abandon me like this?”

Chu Wan’s eyes were cold. “We dated, but we’re not related anymore. You don’t need to say anything more, stay away from me.”

Su Yanjing became furious. “I misjudged you! I thought you wouldn’t care about those trivial things, but now I know you do. You’ve got your eye on the Lu family in the city, haven’t you? They’re from the city, they’re rich, and they can give you a good life, so of course you look down on me!”

He said sadly, “What am I? Just a poor boy. Someone like me can’t bring you a good life, so of course you look down on me. If you despise me, just tell me. Is it really necessary to be like this?”

He shook his head helplessly, “I really didn’t expect you to be such a snob! Oh well, I must have been blind!”

Chu Wan looked at Su Yanjing with a puzzled expression. He was so eloquent, why didn’t he go into acting?

Pearls and Jade Beside Me in the ’80s translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

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T/N: Ayoo! I’ve been traveling with family, and logistics got too complicated for chapter posting. But I’m back now and we should be back to normal posting schedule.

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FOOTNOTE:

1. There had been attempts to ban foot binding over the centuries but it was too deeply rooted to be eradicated. In modern times, foot binding was made illegal in 1912 after the fall of the Qing dynasty, but it was still practiced many decades later, especially in the rural areas. The last new case of foot binding was reported in 1957.
   
   The story is set in 1980, and the old women in Chu Wan’s rural village still underwent foot binding in their youth.  ↩︎