Chapter Twenty-Two: The Gathering

It was past ten o'clock on a winter night in the town, and there wasn't a soul in sight—not even a ghost.

The three men—two middle-aged and one young—knew they wouldn't be able to sleep if they went back now, so they simply squatted by the roadside, puffing on cigarettes and chatting away. They talked about everything from the birth of children to their upbringing, and then moved on to the various challenges they might face in the future.

As they spoke, Zhou Guotao and Ma Quanhu suddenly felt something was amiss. They exchanged a look and then turned their eyes toward Li Yancheng, their gazes filled with skepticism.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Li Yancheng felt a chill at their strange expressions and quickly scooted a bit further away from them.

"It’s just... Yancheng, you don’t have children, and you don’t have siblings, so how do you have so much insight into raising kids?"

In this day and age, most families had several children. If both parents worked, the older ones were left to look after the younger ones. Many children, mature beyond their years, would not only care for their siblings but also take care of the household chores and even cook. This was especially true in rural areas, where parents spent all day in the fields earning work points. The eldest child, regardless of gender, was expected to do everything: watching the little ones, doing laundry, cooking, and mending clothes. After the harvest, they would even have to carry the younger ones to the fields to glean wheat or rice. It was no easy task; some were barely taller than the stove, yet they had to stand on stools just to cook. They had no other choice.

But that was the reality for families with multiple children. For someone like Li Yancheng...

"Uh..."

Oh no. They were right—loose lips sink ships. The ancients never lied.

"I haven’t raised children, but I grew up as one, didn't I? Besides, there were kids in our courtyard several years younger than me, and I used to help look after them."

He wasn't lying. Whether it was little Ningning from the Jin family in the west wing or Cai Qiling from the east wing—who had since moved with her parents to the Yangchao District—Li Yancheng had indeed helped care for them when they were small.

Well, that was a plausible enough explanation.

...

If there was one thing that spread faster than anything else, it was gossip.

The next day, January 11th, happened to be the twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month. In Mulin Town, market days fell on the second and seventh of the lunar month. Since entering the twelfth lunar month, every market had been exceptionally lively. Everyone was busy preparing for the upcoming Spring Festival. Even though there was no official holiday and firecrackers were banned, the streets were packed with people.

After saving up all year, people wanted to have a couple of decent meals for the festival to improve their diet. A grand feast of fish and meat was out of the question, but a meal of meat-filled dumplings was a must. If things were really tight, they’d settle for crackling filling, and for the truly destitute, even cabbage filling would have to suffice. Those who were slightly better off would buy a few feet of cloth to make new clothes for their children—a sign of a fresh start for the new year.

What happened last night had already spread across the market by this morning, with all sorts of rumors flying. In short, the core message was about "indecency," and everyone knew exactly who they were talking about. Many men spoke of that Accountant Chang with a tone of sour jealousy, causing Li Yancheng, who was also walking through the market, to shake his head inwardly.

People really need to learn to love themselves first. Only when you value yourself will others hold you in high regard.

Piecing together snippets of conversation from villagers of Tangzhishan who had come to the market, he managed to gather a rough idea of how the girl had ended up in this situation.

Two days after leaving his clinic, she had gone to the county hospital. She confirmed she wasn't pregnant; her irregular periods were simply due to malnutrition, a deficiency of qi and blood, and a hormonal imbalance. She had picked up the medicine the doctor prescribed and returned.

Originally, that should have been the end of it. Her roommates knew she was seeing someone, but no one had spoken of it, so it had remained a secret with no malicious gossip. But as luck would have it, someone from her village spotted her at the hospital. That person, having nothing better to do, asked a nurse about her. Back then, there were no strict patient confidentiality regulations, so the nurse casually mentioned she was there for a pregnancy check.

That was all it took. The villager spread the word immediately upon returning.

The rumors hit her like a tidal wave. She thought she could handle it, but she underestimated how deadly gossip could be. As a young girl fresh out of school who had never weathered such storms, she had no experience in dealing with such things. Within two days, she had completely collapsed, both physically and mentally.

And that fellow, Chang, was the type who had the nerve to untie a woman's belt but not the courage to take responsibility for the consequences. With both factors combined, the girl broke down, leading to the current state of affairs.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Li Yancheng began to scan the market for things he could buy.

There was plenty to choose from. Chickens and eggs—things that made his mouth water. He had to have them.

There was even beef?

Ah, the town had issued a permit; it was certified as a cow that had died of old age. The beef was cheap, the same price as the ribs he’d bought the other day—sixty-five cents a pound. You rarely saw this in a year, as the slaughter of draft cattle was strictly prohibited.

Though he was dying to buy the whole lot, he only bought two pounds. The seller was representing the village and didn't want meat coupons, only grain coupons. It made sense; every village raised pigs, and by year's end, after delivering their quota to the town, they usually kept one or two for themselves to distribute among the villagers. They never had a reason to buy meat, so meat coupons were useless to them, whereas grain coupons were invaluable.

Li Yancheng worked like a busy bee, picking up a little here and a little there. In no time, he had spent over fifty yuan and twenty catties worth of grain coupons. In this era, that was a small fortune.

His haul was significant, but because he bought small amounts from different stalls and tucked them away bit by bit, and few people recognized him, he didn't draw much attention. By the time he returned to the health center, he was only carrying a bag of corn grits.

The items he had quietly tucked away into his storage were enough to last him for a while.

He didn't dare be too bold while in town, but once he returned home in a few days, it would be different. The city was vast, and as long as he didn't shop at the market near his home, almost no one would recognize him. If all else failed, there was always the "ghost market"—almost anything you could think of, and even things you couldn't, could be found there, provided you had the money.

However, the ghost market was monitored by the authorities. If you were caught buying, it was usually just a scolding, a fine, and a call to your employer or neighborhood committee to pick you up. But for those selling—especially those selling various ration coupons—it was much more serious. Getting caught usually meant prison.

Of course, the people selling coupons weren't ordinary folks; the average person had no way of obtaining so many restricted vouchers.