RYEY – Chapter 12 The Boat of Friendship Capsized

In a hurry, she scooped half of the dough ball from her own bowl into Zhang Yuefang’s. This small gesture made Zhang Yuefang feel utterly content. She picked up her chopsticks and began eating.

She had been squatting in the fields all afternoon, her arms and legs weak with exhaustion, and her stomach rumbling with hunger. In just a few bites, she polished off the sorghum dough ball completely.

When she saw the bright red chili oil left at the bottom of the bowl, Zhang Yuefang carried the empty bowl into the kitchen. Hiding in a corner, she stretched out her tongue to lick it clean. She hadn’t dared to do that earlier when Cheng Qiao was still around.

Only after licking the bowl spotless did she wash the dishes and start preparing dinner. There wasn’t much to prepare anyway—just add some water to the pot, throw in some coarse corn grits, and cook them until soft. Whether it tasted good or not was another matter.

She then gathered up the sorghum flour each person had set aside. At first, she wanted to make dough balls like Cheng Qiao’s, but when she thought about the layer of chili oil that was missing, she gave up on the idea. Making flatbread would be simpler and less hassle.

As soon as Xu Laidi stepped into the girls’ dormitory, she sniffed hard. It seemed like she had smelled pork. Cheng Qiao’s heart tightened—she had just taken out the preserved pork belly with mustard greens earlier.

Could it be that Xu Laidi really caught a whiff in that short time? Was she a human or a dog? No, even saying that was unfair—comparing her to a dog would insult such adorable creatures.

“Who cooked meat today?”

Xu Laidi rolled her eyes slyly and deliberately asked in a loud voice.

The moment she said that, even Han Chunmei twitched her nose. It did feel as though there was a faint smell of meat in the air… but it wasn’t obvious. The stronger scent was definitely chili.

“You must be starving mad. That was just chili sauce I brought out. And yes, there’s minced meat in it.”

Zhang Yuefang snapped back irritably. The other educated youth girls nodded in agreement—indeed, the chili scent was much stronger than any meat smell.

“Yuefang, how come you were willing to use your chili sauce today?”

Han Chunmei asked with a smile. She knew well how precious that bottle of chili sauce was to Zhang Yuefang.

“Today Cheng Qiao made sorghum dough balls. Without chili sauce, they just didn’t taste authentic. So I scooped out a big spoonful, and sure enough, it was delicious.”

Han Chunmei nodded knowingly. Using a bit of chili sauce to go with Cheng Qiao’s sorghum dough was reasonable. After all, she had received Cheng Qiao’s clothes to use as bedding, and hadn’t yet figured out how to repay her.

“Come on, let’s eat, I’m starving!”

Xiaofang gave Xu Laidi a glare and called out loudly. At once, everyone—except Xu Laidi and Cheng Qiao—washed their hands and got ready to eat.

“What about my food?”

Xu Laidi went into the kitchen and saw everyone had two pieces of flatbread and a large bowl of coarse corn grits porridge. They were happily eating dinner, so she couldn’t help but ask.

Zhang Yuefang rolled her eyes. Everyone had put their rations into the cooking pot, and whoever cooked combined them together. Since Xu Laidi had no rations, did she expect to eat for free?

Seeing her come over, Han Chunmei quickened her pace at eating. The others followed suit, even Chai Jianmin—who usually defended Xu Laidi—lowered his head and gobbled down his food.

Xu Laidi stomped her foot and went back to the dorm. There, she spotted half a portion of sorghum dough ball on Cheng Qiao’s shelf, glistening with red oil. She swallowed hungrily.

“Cheng Qiao, you can’t finish this, can you? Wasting food isn’t right. Why don’t I make a sacrifice and help you out? No need to thank me.”

“Sacrifice my ass. You clearly just want a free meal and yet you make it sound so noble. You really have no shame.”

Cheng Qiao picked up her bowl and went to the kitchen. She scooped some dough into Han Chunmei’s bowl. Han Chunmei was overjoyed and quickly stuffed it into her mouth—mmm, delicious.

“Comrade Cheng, I’ll give you fifty cents. Can you sell me the rest of your dough?”

Qian Longkun’s mouth watered as he stared at the oily dough. Seeing that Cheng Qiao was about to share it, he hurried to speak up.

“Alright, take it. Forget the money. Just help me carry a few loads of firewood when you have time.”

Qian Longkun readily agreed and scraped all the dough into his own bowl, devouring it quickly.

Chai Jianmin glared at Cheng Qiao, his eyes full of disapproval. He accused her of dividing food like this, saying it went against unity and was promoting cliques.

That shameless remark almost made Cheng Qiao curse out loud, but instead she smiled:

“Comrade Chai, before accusing me of forming cliques, why don’t you first pay back the money and ration tickets you owe me? Otherwise, I suggest you keep your mouth shut. Truly shameless.”

Chai Jianmin: “……￥#……”

Jiang Guangrong gave him a disdainful look. He couldn’t understand what was wrong with this man’s brain—already on bad terms with Cheng Qiao, and yet still wanting to eat her food.

“Haha, Cheng Qiao, that’s the way to do it! No need to show kindness to certain people—they don’t deserve it.”

Xiaoqin and Xiaoping laughed happily as Chai Jianmin’s face turned red. They downed the last of their porridge in one gulp, grabbed their flatbread, and went back to the dorm.

From their cabinet, they pulled out a jar of meat paste, spread it on the flatbread, and ate in big bites. The rich aroma made Xu Laidi drool uncontrollably, and she even felt a faint stomachache.

She opened her mouth to say something, but in the end, swallowed it down. Instead, she opened her own cabinet, pulled out a small handkerchief bundle hidden in the pocket of a padded jacket, stuffed it into her pocket, and grabbed her ration bag before slipping out of the educated youth compound.

Xiaoqin and Xiaoping exchanged a glance. They were sure Xu Laidi must have some hidden money and was now going out to get food—otherwise, she’d really starve to death.

Xu Laidi hurried to Chen Chunhua’s house. Chen Chunhua was the daughter of the village accountant. Usually, she strutted around like a peacock, convinced she was the village’s number one beauty and looking down on everyone else.

But ever since Cheng Qiao arrived, all the unmarried men in the village shifted their attention to her—even the loafers who used to despise everyone were no exception. This infuriated Chen Chunhua so much she wished she could eat Cheng Qiao’s flesh and drink her blood.

Xu Laidi immediately spotted her weakness and smiled. She constantly made snide remarks about Cheng Qiao, and just like that, the two of them quickly formed a “revolutionary friendship.”

“Chunhua, are you home?”

“What do you want?”

Ever since Xu Laidi had led people to corner the loafer and Cheng Qiao, Chen Chunhua hadn’t been fond of her. She had a secret—she had fallen for that loafer. He might have acted like a rascal, but he was handsome.

Besides, his family wasn’t as poor as people thought. His elder brother had joined the army early on and was said to send money back every month.

“I’ve run out of rations. I was hoping to buy some from your family.”

Xu Laidi had no idea that her “boat of friendship” with Chen Chunhua had already capsized. Smiling brightly, she made her request.