138, grain and vegetables

After Liu Gang finished handling his tasks, he joined the others in stuffing red envelopes. Sensing that the time was right, Jing Qingxin headed into the kitchen to start preparing dinner for the household. Since the family had a limited variety of ingredients on hand, she had to get creative with how she prepared the same staples.

Currently, there was plenty of meat, but a severe shortage of vegetables. Between yesterday evening and this morning, the game Gao Shen and the others had brought back was piled high in a corner of the kitchen—enough meat to cover about ten tables for the wedding banquet. As for the vegetables, she and Gao Shen would have to pretend to take a trip to town the next morning to provide a cover story, though they could certainly purchase some of the available produce there as well. Even though the menu remained the same, the food was so delicious that everyone ate with great delight.

At the first light of dawn the next day, Gao Shen and Jing Qingxin slipped out while the rest of the household was still asleep. They walked to An Town. Once the supply and marketing cooperative opened, they bought various vegetables not grown in her space and packed them into the baskets they had brought. Gao Shen also made sure to buy over a dozen burlap sacks.

Next, they went to the post office to exchange money for smaller denominations to fill the red envelopes. These were needed for the wedding day—partly for the tradition of scattering envelopes during the wedding procession and partly to thank those who would be helping out at the banquet.

Afterward, the pair deliberately sought out a secluded area surrounded by dilapidated, vacant houses. Gao Shen handed the burlap sacks to Jing Qingxin, and she vanished from sight with them. Gao Shen stood guard over the two baskets, scanning the surroundings vigilantly. Not long after, Jing Qingxin reappeared. With a wave of her hand, the burlap sacks were back on the ground, but now they were bulging, filled to the brim with various grains and flour.

Both Jing Qingxin and Gao Shen wanted the wedding banquet to run smoothly and to be as comprehensive as possible. While they were willing to do their best, providing white rice for over a hundred guests across ten tables would be far too ostentatious. Although there was plenty of fine grain in her space, they had no desire to draw unnecessary attention. Furthermore, their planned menu was already the most extravagant the village had ever seen. Having money and supplies was one thing, but there was no need to be so flashy. As it stood, their wedding arrangements were already excellent.

Next to the grain sacks were the vegetables they had organized the night before, now packed into four large burlap sacks. While she had plenty of plastic food bags in her space, they were far too modern; to better fit the era, she had opted for burlap.

Gao Shen quickly hired an ox cart to haul the produce, and the two of them rode back to Dajing Village. The driver was kind, and since they had so many sacks, he dropped them off directly at their courtyard gate. Gao Shen gave him an extra ten cents as a token of gratitude.

Hearing the commotion, Liu Gang ran out. Seeing the situation, he immediately understood what was going on and pouted, "Company Commander, why didn't you call me to go to town for supplies? How could you let my sister-in-law do the heavy lifting?"

That morning, when Jing Suyun and Zhang Liangping had gotten up, they hadn't seen Gao Shen or Jing Qingxin and assumed the couple was still sleeping, so they hadn't disturbed them. By the time breakfast was ready and Liu Shen, Jiang Min, and Liu Gang arrived, the two still hadn't emerged. After calling out a few times with no response, they checked the room to find the bedding neatly folded. That was when everyone realized they had left at the crack of dawn.

"Do you even know which ingredients are needed for the banquet? Do you know what dishes are on the menu?" Gao Shen asked calmly.

Liu Gang was immediately silenced; he clearly didn't know as much as his sister-in-law, who was in charge of the menu. Without further argument, he helped Gao Shen carry the heavy sacks into the house.

Throughout the morning, everyone was busy again. The wedding candies had already been wrapped and placed in bamboo baskets, while the three men continued stuffing red envelopes. They followed Jing Qingxin’s instructions, folding the paper into small, rectangular envelopes and sealing them with glue. Gao Shen and Liu Gang were responsible for inserting the money, while Zhang Liangping used a fine brush dipped in red ink to write on the front of each one.

According to Aunt Li, it was customary in the village to give one or two cents in red envelopes for weddings—just for a bit of luck—and no one was usually generous enough to put in more. Jing Qingxin felt that a wedding was a once-in-a-lifetime event with immense sentimental value, and she wanted everyone who attended to feel the joy and excitement.

However, the constraints of the era limited the possibilities. Otherwise, she would have meticulously planned a grand and unique celebration. Because she cared deeply about the details, she hoped to make their wedding as perfect as possible within the given circumstances, creating a beautiful memory for herself and Gao Shen.