Chapter 23: The Assigned Meal

“Have you implemented the meal assignment system?” Yun Suji asked. “Let’s do that. Remember, arrange it at a villager’s house, not a cadre’s. And since you’re all from Shandong, just cook according to your local customs. No need to make rice specially.”

The village chief agreed and, not trusting anyone else with the task, went to make the arrangements himself. One of the Chief’s soldiers followed him closely to ensure the safety of the food.

While Yun Suji waited to meet with the group leaders, the village chief went from house to house, giving orders:

“Zhao Xinjia’s family, you’re on meal duty today. Kill a chicken, quickly.”

“What? Where should I send it when it’s done? You silly woman, send it to the first house.”

“Liu Chuan’s family, you’re assigned to cook fish today. Don’t think I don’t know you’ve been fishing in the river. I just saw your third son walking by with a fish basket. Use a good, live fish, or you’ll be in for it. Send it to the first house when it’s ready.”

“Caipi, go to your uncle’s place and gather up all their porcelain dishes. Take them to the first house for official use.”

He then explained to the soldier following him that the “first house” was the designated location for these assigned meals, as he couldn’t trust the others.

However, the soldier said, “The Chief’s safety is paramount. We can’t accept food from just anywhere, nor can we use the local tableware. Everything must be prepared in one house.”

“Good heavens, there’s no time for that.”

“Just do as I say. I saw a house earlier with dried fish hanging by the door. That one will do. I checked it out; it’s clean. We can’t use just any ingredients, either. Keep it simple. I will supervise the entire process.”

The village chief looked at the house the soldier pointed to. “This is bad,” he thought.

The soldier had already walked in. The chief had no choice but to follow. “Kong Xiaode, you’re on meal duty today,” he said, shooting the homeowner a harsh glare.

The owner of the house was also from Shandong and lived with just his wife. The Kong family had never experienced this system before. They didn’t understand that they would be paid for the meal; they thought it was just another levy, like being conscripted for labor or taxes. They also didn’t realize a simple, home-cooked meal would suffice, assuming that an official from the government must be served fine food. With this misunderstanding, he made things more complicated. He grew even more flustered when the soldier entered, looked around, and then opened his grain chests and rice vats for a thorough inspection.

Because the family had little labor, they didn’t harvest much grain and weren’t used to coarse rice. Their daily fare was usually multigrain pancakes with some scallion paste or, for variety, multigrain steamed buns. The homeowner felt neither was presentable. Flatbreads would be a better option, but he had no white flour. He had to go to a neighbor to borrow a scoop of whole wheat flour for his wife to knead. He then took a few eggs from his own chicken coop, but seeing he had no oil, he had to borrow sesame oil from another neighbor.

When Yun Suji and his guards arrived at the Kong house for dinner, they saw a basket of neatly arranged flatbreads on the square table in the main room, along with a coarse pottery jug of brown rice porridge. In the center was a plate of scrambled eggs with dried shrimp, surrounded by four small dishes: shredded mustard greens, dressed cucumbers, pickled leek flowers, and fermented bean curd.

It was clear they were treating him as an honored guest. Flour was a rarity in Lingao, so the village chief must have given special instructions. After washing his hands, Yun Suji sat down. The homeowner, Kong Xiaode, poured a bowl of cloudy wine and respectfully offered it to Yun Suji with both hands.

“Please, Chief, have your meal. We don’t have much to offer in our humble home, but please have some sugarcane wine!”

The more polite he was, the more uncomfortable Yun Suji felt. “I can pour it myself,” he said, taking the bowl. “Ah, my friend! We should be eating from the same pot. Why did you have to cook a separate meal?”

“To be honest with you, Chief, we hadn’t prepared a meal at all. After the rice harvest, we rest for the winter. We don’t usually eat at noon,” Kong Xiaode explained.

Kong’s wife added, “Chief! We have nothing, just a few cold dishes! Not even a meat dish! Back in our old home, we couldn’t even manage a meal like this for New Year’s! It’s only since we came to Hainan Island two years ago that we’ve been able to prepare such things!”

Yun Suji nodded, thinking the family was well-mannered. He sat down and began to eat and drink slowly with his four guards. The Kong couple stood by, ready to serve. Yun Suji couldn’t bear it and insisted they sit down. The couple, unable to refuse, finally pulled up bamboo stools and sat to the side.

As he ate, Yun Suji asked, “Do you still only eat two meals a day?”

“Yes, two meals. During the busy farming season, we eat three. It’s hard work, and you can’t get by without eating more,” Kong Xiaode said, taking out his pipe but then putting it away again.

“It’s no problem, go ahead and smoke. I enjoy a few puffs myself.”

Kong Xiaode filled his pipe, bowed slightly, and said, “Thank you for your consideration.” He struck a match on the sole of his shoe and lit the tobacco.

Seeing that he was less tense, Yun Suji asked, “Does everyone in the village eat two meals a day?”

“Yes, we all eat two meals,” Kong Xiaode replied.

“It seems life is still just average,” Yun Suji remarked.

Kong Xiaode didn’t know what he meant. He took a puff from his pipe before speaking slowly. “Now, during the busy season, we can eat three meals, with both porridge and dry grain, and even white rice. In the past, we wouldn’t have dared to dream of this! Back home, these past few years, we couldn’t even get proper grain. During the spring famine, even small landowners had to eat coarse buns.” A bitter expression appeared on his face as he recalled the past.

Yun Suji suddenly stood up and walked to the stove. He lifted a bamboo hat and, just as he suspected, found a pancake container underneath. Though not from Shandong himself, he was familiar with the custom: they often made a large batch of pancakes at once and stored them to eat over time.

The container was about eighty percent full, suggesting their grain stores were ample.

Kong Xiaode panicked and quickly stood up. “Chief, Chief…”

Yun Suji paid him no mind, took a pancake, and returned to the table. He tore off a piece, wrapped some mustard greens in it, and took a large bite.

The pancake had a sour taste, and its coarse texture indicated a high proportion of sweet potato flour. He chewed for a long time before swallowing and then took a sip of porridge.

“That’s coarse food for us country folk,” Kong Xiaode said quickly. “Don’t hurt your teeth, sir! If there’s not enough, I can make more flatbreads.”

“It’s fine. If you can eat it, why can’t I?” Yun Suji said with a smile. “It’s a nice change of pace, something new to try.”

Kong Xiaode didn’t know what to make of the Chief. What was so good about these multigrain pancakes? Remembering the village chief’s glare, he didn’t dare say more and just smiled apologetically.

As they were talking, a little girl of about five or six appeared at the door. She had two small braids and wore a coarse cloth jacket. She watched them eat the flatbreads, her finger in her mouth, drool dripping down, a look of pure craving on her face.

Amused, Yun Suji called to her, “Come in.”

After a few invitations, the girl still didn’t dare to enter. Kong Xiaode said, “Hei Ni, come in. The Chief is calling you.”

Hei Ni seemed to know the Kong family well and came in after he spoke. Yun Suji saw that although she was a bit dark-skinned, she had regular features and was chubby and cute. He couldn’t help but think of his own daughter. He took a flatbread from the table and gave it to her. “Here, Hei Ni, eat up.”

The girl was still hesitant to take it. Kong Xiaode said, “The Chief is giving it to you. Just take it and eat.”

Only then did Hei Ni take the bread. She stood by the table, her dark eyes darting between the people, looking incredibly cute. Yun Suji teased her as he asked, “Is this your child?”

Kong Xiaode sighed. “I’m not so fortunate. This is my neighbor Old Yang’s daughter. When she got on the boat, she was naked and as thin as a skeleton, barely breathing. But at least she was still breathing!” As he spoke, he puffed on his pipe, and Yun Suji saw tears welling in his eyes, knowing he had touched upon a painful memory.

Just then, Old Yang came looking for Kong Xiaode. He walked in and saw Yun Suji with his daughter. Seeing the great leader eating heartily and his own daughter eating alongside, he was startled. He first bowed to Yun Suji, then scolded Hei Ni, “You little corpse! What are you doing here scrounging for food!” He raised his hand as if to strike her.

Yun Suji quickly intervened. “What are you doing? It’s normal for a child to be hungry. A few bites are nothing.” He then said to Hei Ni, “Eat, don’t be afraid. I have more here.”

Old Yang then turned to Kong Xiaode. “Old Kong! Everyone else has already applied ammonia water to their grain. My son has been conscripted for labor again. Can you help me with mine this afternoon?”

Kong Xiaode replied, “I have to apply it to my own this afternoon!”

“I can help with yours first,” Old Yang said. “We can do mine later when you’re done!”

Yun Suji asked, “What labor was your son conscripted for, Old Yang?”

“The organization sent him to the reservoir construction site to dig canals,” Old Yang said. “Every family has to send at least one able-bodied man. I only have one son, so with him gone, it’s just me doing the farm work.”

“They conscripted him even though he’s your only son?”

“It doesn’t matter if you have one son or many. When they tell you to go, you go. Otherwise, they’ll accuse you of ‘counter-production’ and ‘dragging your feet.’ I can’t afford to be tied up by the militia and sent to dig sand. Anyway, these old bones can still manage. With a little help from the neighbors, I can get by. In these peaceful times, having enough to eat is already a blessing.”

Kong Xiaode felt this was inappropriate and tried to signal Old Yang with his eyes. But Old Yang was a talkative man and couldn’t stop once he got going. “It doesn’t matter if you have no able-bodied men; even if you only have women, they’ll still send you to the construction site. Last winter, Chief Du insisted on building some ‘Thousand Women Dike’ and ordered every village to send women to the site, saying something about ‘women holding up half the sky.’ Forcing women to build a dike—who’s ever heard of such a thing? The Nanman women are one thing—they don’t bind their feet from a young age and have big, natural feet. Our women are half-crippled even after unbinding their feet. It’s a wonder they can work in the fields, let alone carry heavy loads! And when they go, the fires go out in every household, leaving the old and young with nothing to eat! The work on the site is heavy, and after a few days, some come back with sprains and broken bones, others are coughing up blood. And then they need to be taken care of! I have no idea what that Chief Du was thinking.”

Yun Suji’s smile vanished. This “Thousand Women Dike” was a water project personally overseen by Du Wen. The Executive Committee had approved it at the time because of its symbolic value and the genuine need for labor. He never imagined this was the reality of the situation.