Anqing County lay at the boundary between north and south, and its food culture naturally carried influences from both regions. Most people preferred rice, but wheat was common too.

The area planted only slightly less wheat than rice, and wheat was always required as part of the annual grain tax. In the countryside, flour was milled at home. The steamed buns, baozi, and dumplings made from it never looked as white or refined as those made from commercial flour.

The texture wasn’t as delicate, but the wheat’s natural fragrance was stronger.

Xia Xiaolan’s aunt was especially skilled at making pickles.

Her pickled radishes were made from large red-skinned, white-fleshed radishes. The brine contained salt and brown sugar, and Li Fengmei added a bit of red chili pepper. The result was sweet, sour, and faintly spicy—perfectly appetizing. Just thinking about pairing them with meat made one’s mouth water.

Kneading dough was Liu Fen’s job, but Xia Xiaolan took charge of preparing the filling. She had woken up an hour early, chopping and washing in the kitchen until she finished enough dumpling filling for two jin. That was all the meat the family had. She packed two enamel jars full of dumplings, ate only a few herself, and left the rest for Tao Tao, who was still asleep.

She felt a little embarrassed.

“I’ll buy some more meat when I come back today.”

Meat was expensive, but eating a jin a day wasn’t impossible.

Xia Xiaolan knew money should be saved but earning money only to never spend it made no sense either. She could resist buying pretty clothes or face cream and keep her personal needs simple, but she couldn’t let her family go hungry.

Li Fengmei shooed her toward the door.

“Your uncle’s ready and waiting outside. Hurry up. No need for you to buy meat! I already asked the butcher to save half a pig liver yesterday. You and your uncle come back early.”

Liu Yong’s rice harvest was nearly finished, but he still needed to ask others to help today, so Li Fengmei planned to cook several good dishes that evening.

Liu Yong had already packed the eggs and was waiting beside his bicycle.

“Sit sideways on the back. Be careful not to crush the eggs in the baskets. Your mother felt awful cleaning up broken eggs last night.”

Dozens of eggs had been lost... of course it hurt.

These weren’t wild duck eggs picked up for free. Every one of them had been purchased. Xia Xiaolan worked hard traveling from village to village collecting them. People said opportunities were everywhere in the 1980s, but even easy money required sweat and effort.

Holding the two enamel jars in her arms, Xia Xiaolan steadied herself on the back seat.

Liu Yong smiled. “Those few dumplings this morning weren’t enough, were they? Hang on. When we get to Anqing County, your uncle will treat you to something good.”

Xia Xiaolan guessed that besides gathering information in the county, Liu Yong also wanted to properly thank Zhou Cheng and Kang Wei. No matter the era, gratitude usually meant treating someone to a meal. This time, it wouldn’t be just a simple bowl of noodles.

Her uncle hadn’t even recovered his investment yet, and now she was making him spend more. Xia Xiaolan felt uneasy.

“Uncle, you’re really good to me.”

He was small in stature, but to Xia Xiaolan, he felt more like a father than the tall Xia Dajun ever had.

Liu Yong pedaled silently, thinking the girl was talking nonsense again.

He cared for Xia Xiaolan the same way he cared for his son Tao Tao. They were both children of the Liu family, how could he not?

If he had come to his senses a few years earlier, the family could already be living without worry about food and clothing. Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t need to earn such hard money reselling eggs.

Halfway down the road, Liu Yong noticed someone standing by the roadside in the dim light before sunrise.

His guard immediately went up. Who would be loitering here so early?

Could it be an accomplice of yesterday’s hooligans waiting to cause trouble?

“Xiaolan, look ahead. Do you know that person?” She craned her neck to see.

In the morning light, the distinctive crew cut and unforgettable face made it obvious.

Who else could it be but Zhou Cheng?

“It’s Brother Zhou Cheng! The one who saved me yesterday with another comrade.”

Liu Yong quickly braked. Xia Xiaolan jumped off the bicycle.

“Brother Zhou, why are you here?”

Morning dew had dampened Zhou Cheng’s shoulders. No one knew how long he had been waiting, but seven or eight cigarette butts lay scattered on the ground.

When he saw Xia Xiaolan, he dropped the half-smoked cigarette in his hand and crushed it underfoot.

“Didn’t I tell you to leave later?”

He glanced at Liu Yong, and Xia Xiaolan hurried to introduce them.

“This is my uncle. He wanted to thank you both. Uncle, this is Brother Zhou Cheng.”

Zhou Cheng looked momentarily awkward.

Xia Xiaolan was tall and fair, while Liu Yong was short and dark. They didn’t look related at all. Meeting family so suddenly caught Zhou Cheng off guard. Still, he was never one to worry about formalities.

As soon as he opened his mouth, he followed Xia Xiaolan’s lead.

“Uncle, I’m Zhou Cheng.”

The young man looked respectable enough.

He must have been around 185 centimeters tall. Earlier he seemed somewhat carefree, but once he straightened his back, he looked energetic and upright.

Talking to him meant Liu Yong had to tilt his head upward, which was tiring.

Liu Yong greeted him warmly. “Comrade Zhou Cheng, thank you so much. I told Xiaolan we had to come personally to thank you both. This girl doesn’t understand the seriousness of things. How could saving her life be repaid with just a bowl of noodles? By the way, where’s Comrade Kang Wei?”

Up so early, waiting halfway down the road for Xiaolan?

Liu Yong kept smiling. A life-saving favor couldn’t be repaid with a bowl of noodles, but it certainly couldn’t cost him his niece, either.

Though only an uncle, Liu Yong clearly stood up for Xia Xiaolan.

Seeing this, Zhou Cheng responded respectfully.

“We stayed at the Anqing County guesthouse last night with a truckload of goods. I asked Kang Wei to guard them. Xiaolan said she was coming into town today, and I was worried those hooligans might have accomplices, so I came to wait for her.”

Liu Yong nodded.

“Let’s go into town first.”

Zhou Cheng had originally come just to meet Xia Xiaolan and hadn’t expected Liu Yong to be there. Now that he was, Zhou Cheng behaved properly, speaking respectfully to her Uncle.

He took the bicycle loaded with eggs from Liu Yong and pushed it slowly, doing his best not to sneak glances at Xia Xiaolan.

By the time they reached the county town, Zhou Cheng had learned most of her situation. She and her mother were temporarily living with her uncle, she had only started reselling eggs a few days ago, and because of the busy harvest season, she had to travel alone.

No one else in the family could spare time to help. Xia Xiaolan had been traveling alone from village to village. That was why she encountered hooligans yesterday.

Zhou Cheng frowned. She was delicate and charming. Going from village to village alone like that was practically putting herself in danger.

When they arrived at the guesthouse, Kang Wei was already craning his neck in anxiously.

His eyes lit up at the sight of Xia Xiaolan, though a glance at the silent Zhou Cheng dampened his excitement.

Xia Xiaolan handed him the pickled-radish pork dumplings and introduced her uncle.

Without hesitation, Kang Wei also called him “Uncle.”

Zhou Cheng cleared his throat.

“What are you calling him that for? You should call him Uncle Liu.”

Liu Yong said nothing.

He understood now.

Zhou Cheng’s intentions were written all over him—he wasn’t even trying to hide them.

T/N:

When XXL called LY “舅舅” (jiùjiu) — it was because he was her Maternal Uncle.

When ZC called LY in this phrase,

He followed Xia Xiaolan’s lead. “Uncle, I’m Zhou Cheng.”

He also called him “舅舅” (jiùjiu) — in this case it was inappropriate as he hold no kinship with LY. Calling someone by the same kinship term as the person you like can imply: ZC has romantic feelings with his niece. So bold of our ML.

Now to KW, he also use the same term to LY at first but scolded by ZC.

Zhou Cheng cleared his throat.

“What are you calling him that for? You should call him Uncle Liu.”

This term used “劉叔” (Liú shū) — the polite way to address an older man you are not related to. In English can also be “Mr. Liu” or “Uncle Liu”.

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