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The next morning, warmth still lingered in the bedding, but the air inside the room had already turned chilly.
Lin Xuejun stretched her arm out and immediately got goosebumps, so she shivered and quickly pulled it back under the covers.
So cold…
Since men and women shared the same room now, the moment they heard rustling sounds from the men’s side as they got up, the women also immediately sprang upright from their beds. Though they hissed and shivered from the cold, they gritted their teeth and quickly dressed.
Meng Tianxia was the first to jump off the kang, exclaiming “First!” before dashing out to gather clean snow for everyone to boil water.
She washed her face in a hurry, as if she were rushing off to battle, and her cheeks still flushed, she left with a shout of, “I’ll fetch breakfast today!” before running out the door as if someone were chasing her.
*
Half an hour later, when Meng Tianxia returned with breakfast, Mu Junqing sliced the coarse grain buns and toasted them on the cleaned stove until they turned golden and crispy. He then took out a bag of sugar he had brought from home and carefully sprinkled a bit into the congee.
Though the breakfast had been “upgraded” by Mu Junqing, the buns were still hard enough to scrape the roof of one’s mouth. The congee was bland, with only a few grains of white rice and mostly unsoftened corn grits. The pickled vegetables were unbearably salty, with just a small strip able to accompany half a bowl of congee.
Although all the food was barely edible, the educated youths ate in silence with their heads down, uttering not a single word of complaint.
Lin Xuejun was just thinking that once the roads reopened after the snowfall, the brigade could send someone to the Husehe Commune headquarters to restock supplies, and maybe the meals would improve… when suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
Yi Xiuyu, who was sitting closest to the door, got up to answer it and found a small aluminum bucket placed outside. Looking up, she only caught a glimpse of a figure running away. It was a man in a Mongolian deel1, clutching a triangular sheepskin yuden hat, stumbling through the deep snow without even turning back.
“Who was it?” someone inside called out.
“Not sure…” Yi Xiuyu carried the small bucket inside and, after closing the door, hesitated before saying, “I think it might be the uncle whose cow had a difficult birth last night.”
“Brother Ülzii, the herdsman?” Lin Xuejun, holding a rock-hard bun, turned to ask Yi Xiuyu.
“Maybe. He ran off in a flash and left this behind.” Yi Xiuyu lifted the small bucket, feeling the liquid sloshing inside. “Seems like water.”
Lin Xuejun set down her steamed bun and peered out the frost-covered window again, but all she saw was the blinding white snow, without a trace of anyone else.
“What is it?” Meng Tianxia circled it curiously.
Lin Xuejun took the bucket, unscrewed the lid, and froze at the sight of the milky-white liquid inside. Her eyes widened in delight. “It’s milk!”
A chorus of gasps and shuffling followed as all the educated youths stood up, their eyes practically glowing as they stared into the bucket. A few nearly drooled before catching themselves and awkwardly sitting back down.
“This must be from Herdsman Ülzii, for Comrade Lin,” Mu Junqing nodded. “Perfect for nourishing you.”
“Right, this bucket should last Comrade Lin several days,” another youth said, swallowing loudly before quickly turning away, pretending he wasn’t eyeing the milk at all.
“Could it be from the brigade leader for—” A male educated youth started to ask, unable to resist his craving.
Mu Junqing turned his head and glared at the other person, causing the male educated youth to quickly shut his mouth. That’s right, they hadn’t done anything, so why would the brigade leader send them milk? Moreover, if it really was the brigade leader who sent the milk, why didn’t he say anything to them before turning and running off?
Yesterday, when Ülzii came to deliver firewood, he had done the same, and dropped it off before leaving immediately. That was clearly Ülzii’s style. Even though they all craved the milk, they couldn’t just lie through their teeth and steal Comrade Lin’s hard-earned reward.
Lin Xuejun looked at the small aluminum bucket, about 15 centimetres tall, and raised her head to address everyone. “Let’s share the milk today. That way, it’ll give us energy for work.”
“How can we do that?” Meng Tianxia was the first to object, standing up and waving her hands. She wasn’t that greedy! Even though her eyes could barely tear themselves away from the milk, she couldn’t possibly indulge!
But Lin Xuejun generously handed the milk bucket to Meng Tianxia. “Comrade Meng, could you add half a bowl of water to the milk and boil it for us?”
Meng Tianxia looked longingly at Lin Xuejun, then at Mu Junqing.
“When you have something delicious in the future, you can share some with me too,” Lin Xuejun clapped her hands together. “Hurry up, we’ll be leaving soon. If we don’t drink it now, there won’t be enough time.”
Mu Junqing smiled faintly and finally nodded at Meng Tianxia.
With a delighted squeal, Meng Tianxia took the bucket of milk and headed for the stove. Normally a whirlwind of energy, she now walked with exaggerated care, as if afraid to spill even a drop.
After adding water to the bucket, she stood vigilantly by the stove, eyes fixed unblinkingly on the aluminum container, swearing she wouldn’t let the milk boil over. After all, not a single drop could be wasted!
Yi Xiuyu had already prepared six cups and bowls, rubbing her hands together as she hovered near the pot of milk.
“Is it really alright for us to drink this?” she asked, thinking guiltily about how she had once nicknamed Lin Xuejun ‘Little Sister Lin’ and complained about not wanting to take care of a sick person… Yet now here she was, about to drink Lin Xuejun’s milk. It was too embarrassing.
“Of course,” Lin Xuejun assured her solemnly, earning a shy smile from Yi Xiuyu.
A few minutes later, small bubbles began to rise in the aluminum bucket, and a fragrant steam gradually wafted out. The other educated youths also gathered around, some near, some far, all inhaling deeply.
The warm aroma of milk smells so delicious~~~
*
An early-rising villager passing by the educated youths’ residence noticed the empty courtyard—no carts, no firewood or dung piled against the walls, no chicken coops or sheep pens, not even a guard dog.
Shaking his head, the villager thought these newly arrived educated youths must be the poorest, most destitute folks in the brigade, with nothing but their own strength to rely on. But then, suddenly, he caught a whiff of an enticing aroma.
His mouth instantly started to water, and he hurried closer to the entrance of the educated youths’ small courtyard, tilting his head to sniff deeply.
“Tsk tsk, what’s that amazing smell?”
As he stood there inhaling, a grubby little kid from next door ran over, greeted him, and asked curiously, “Uncle, what are you doing?”
“Huh? Oh! Just passing by—passing by!” Flustered, the villager wiped his mouth and quickly walked away.
The grubby little kid watched him go in confusion, and just as he was about to continue his errand for his mother, he suddenly stopped.
His nose twitched rapidly, and before he knew it, he was standing in the exact same spot the uncle had been standing in.
So good… so good…
Before long, the grubby little kid had stealthily entered the courtyard, completely forgetting the errand his mother had given him, consumed entirely with the greedily sniffing that intoxicating scent.
…Inside the tiled house, after the milk was boiled, Meng Tianxia eagerly moved aside the milk bucket and carefully ladled a bowl for each person.
Not a single drop spilled or dripped out throughout the entire process.
Yi Xiuyu pulled her sleeves down to insulate her hands from the heat, cradled her bowl of milk, and returned to the dining table. Bending over, she blew on the steaming milk, looking just like a greedy cat that was eager to drink but wary of the head.
The last large bowl in the bucket, of course, was all for Lin Xuejun.
After serving Lin Xuejun, Meng Tianxia added water to the bucket, swirled it to rinse off the milk residue clinging to the sides, then placed it back on the stove to simmer over low heat.
By the time the milk was ladled from the stove to the table, a thin, creamy-yellow layer of milk skin had already formed on the surface.
Yi Xiuyu carefully lifted the milk skin with her fingernail, tilted her head back, and caught it in her mouth. With her eyes closed and head tilted, she chewed slowly, savoring the flavor, then shook her head with a sigh of satisfaction.
Lin Xuejun had often drunk fresh milk like this as a child. She watched her mother milk the cows, then carry the bucket to boil it, steam rising in the air.
The mist always blurred her mother’s face. She would take the bowl and, encouraged by her mother, blow on it to cool it down before drinking it earnestly. Only when she lifted her head after finishing the milk would she see her mother smiling at her with contentment.
During her years studying in Beijing for university and graduate school, she rarely went home during summer or winter breaks. Eager to gain more experience and thinking she might one day inherit her parents’ pastures and livestock on the grasslands, she felt she might not have many opportunities to explore the wider world. So, instead of going home, she was always either traveling or interning at veterinary clinics or dairy farms.
Looking back at it now, it had been many years since she last tasted such rich, piping-hot milk.
The taste of the cold milk she used to drink casually while living alone and the steaming milk her mother used to prepare had both faded from memory, gradually replaced by the aroma of the bowl before her now.
The rich milk first filled her mouth with its creaminess, then a delicate sweetness, its deliciousness warming her cheeks until they flushed.
As the milk slid down her throat and into her stomach, her entire body soon grew warm.
The taste of the dry, hard-to-swallow steamed buns and plain congee from earlier had now disappeared, replaced by the lingering fragrance of milk, so divine it could rival the nectar of the gods, lingering in her mouth and permeating the tiled house.
Her pores seemed to open, sighing softly—this was real. Lin Xuejun could actually see wisps of steam rising from the other educated youths drinking milk with her. Surely, their pores were resonating with their stomachs, expressing their joy to the outside world.
So delicious, so delicious, so delicious… their pores must be chattering, puffing out steam.
“I love milk. Cows truly are the most generous animals,” Lin Xuejun couldn’t help but exclaim.
“I love milk too, and you’re also very generous,” Yi Xiuyu replied, still savoring that bite of milk skin. Even as she answered, her eyes remained fixed on the milk in her bowl.
“Haha, I’m not the one producing the milk.” Lin Xuejun laughed, her bowl swaying slightly in her hands.
“You saved the cow, and the cow produces milk,” Mu Junqing stated with clear logic.
“Cause and effect—good deeds bring good rewards.” Lin Xuejun nodded.
“If you love the people, the people will love you back,” Mu Junqing said solemnly, then realized his milk was already finished.
“There’s more in the pot.” Meng Tianxia pointed back at the small aluminum bucket, where the water used to rinse the milk residue was still simmering.
Mu Junqing hurried over, poured the clear, faintly milky water into his bowl, swirled it to mix with the remaining milk, then tipped his head back and gulped it down in big mouthfuls.
The others followed suit. After drinking the milk, they all rushed to rinse their bowls again with the boiled water from the pot, drinking until not a single drop remained in the milk bucket or their bowls. Their bellies were filled to the brim with nothing but milk and water before they finally stopped.
*
pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:
When Brigade Leader Wang Xiaolei arrived at the educated youths’ courtyard with his hands tucked in his sleeves, he spotted a shabby-looking child crouching beneath their window from afar, tilting his head upward as if doing who-knows-what.
Wasn’t that Baat, the eight-year-old boy from the herder next door?!
“Little Baat, what are you doing?” Brigade Leader Wang barked as he stepped through the gate.
Baat, who’d been greedily sniffing the milky aroma with an upturned face, hastily wiped the drool from his mouth and dodged the brigade leader’s outstretched hand, scampering away like a cat.
The brigade leader stared suspiciously at Baat’s retreating figure for a long moment before striding over to knock on the educated youths’ door.
When Yi Xiuyu invited him inside, he was nearly bowled over by the overwhelming fragrance of milk filling the room. Having gone all winter without fresh milk, the brigade leader couldn’t help but instinctively take a deep breath in.
Now he finally understood what Baat had been sneaking around for under the window.
[Bonus Scene]
Lin Xuejun declared boldly, “Since fate has brought us together here, we’ll take root and build our motherland side by side from now on. We’re all brothers and sisters—we share hardships and fortunes alike. Anyone who says otherwise isn’t treating me like family!”
Meng Tianxia responded even more boldly, “Good! Let’s drip our blood into this milk! We’ll swear brotherhood and sisterhood as sworn siblings!”
Lin Xuejun: “…”
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