Volume 1, Chapter 7: Comrade Tang Wanguan, Please Mind Your Conduct in Broad Daylight

Tang Wangwan picked up a basket from the courtyard. After a moment’s thought, she retrieved a small iron shovel and a sickle from the corner, tucked them into the basket, and made her way through the eaves corridor to the backyard. The Tang family residence had both a front and back yard, with a small gate located at the rear. It was blocked by a discarded, peeling blue-painted door panel. Since the gate was rarely used, the bolt and hinges were nearly rusted shut, emitting a harsh, grating sound whenever moved. It took quite an effort for Tang Wangwan to pry it open.

She had no desire to leave through the front door. At this hour, the path from the front entrance to the mountain behind the village passed by many neighbors' homes. At this time of day, those doorsteps were surely crowded with elderly folks, children, and idle women. There was no shortage of gossiping. Even in the biting cold, rural life offered little entertainment, and gossip was the villagers' greatest pastime. No temperature was cold enough to dampen their appetite for rumors. Winter was the slack season for farming; groups would gather to trade stories about one another, or the local loafers would congregate to brag and bluster.

Tang Wangwan knew well that she had no favorable reputation in Stone Village, and she had no interest in playing nice. She was certain that the moment she walked past, someone would be stabbing her in the back. Besides, the shortcut through the backyard was much closer to the mountain. Her house was at the east end of the village; after exiting the back gate and walking for about ten minutes, she would reach a small river. By stepping across the large, exposed rocks at the shallow ford, she could cross the water and reach the mountain behind.

The snow had stopped by late at night, and patches remained on the road, crunching beneath her feet. Before long, the soles of her cloth shoes were soaked, and her feet stung with cold. Tang Wangwan felt a sense of relief that she hadn't run into anyone. Unfortunately, after wandering around the mountain for a long time, she hadn't found anything worth digging up to sell. She curled her lip. Stone Village truly lived up to its name; even the mountain was nothing but jagged, barren rocks.

Looking into the distance, the mountain behind this one appeared greener. She had heard that in its depths, there were chestnut and prickly ash trees. Sadly, Tang Wangwan wasn't daring enough to venture that deep alone. What if there were wolves? She had heard recently that the militia had been sent into the mountains to hunt them, and quite a few people had been injured. She cast a reluctant glance toward the mountain once more. "Ugh..." She didn't even dare to go halfway up the slopes alone; there were rows of small grave mounds marked with rocks and white paper, which looked chilling. Sighing, she decided to head back the way she came.

Feeling dejected on the return trip, she let her mind wander and her foot slipped. Her body tilted, and with a crisp *snap*, the thin ice on the river shattered, and she plunged one leg straight into the water. "Hiss—"

The bone-chilling cold sent a shiver through her. The river wasn't deep, but it had surged over her knee. In an instant, the leg went numb. The worst part was—Tang Wangwan felt like crying—damn it! Her leg was cramping. There was no way around it; she couldn't just stand there with one foot on a rock and the other stuck in the river in such a ridiculous pose. Gritting her teeth, she gripped the edge of a rock and heaved herself up, pulling her leg out of the water. She sat on the rock, pounding her leg and catching her breath.

Suddenly, her gaze fell upon the hole in the ice she had just shattered. Her lips slowly curled into a smile. Good heavens! There were fish and shrimp in this river! In her past life, that pervert Meng Tao, having lived a life of luxury, would often indulge in "recalling bitterness" by fishing. Back then, she had been the one to weave all the fish traps. It had honed her into a skilled weaver. If she could weave some traps and set them in a deeper part of the river upstream, wouldn't that be—? It was fortunate that she had seen bamboo strips in her small courtyard at home; they would be perfect for weaving traps.

At the thought, the cold vanished, and the light in her eyes was more brilliant than the sun hanging in the sky. Once the cramp in her leg subsided, she scrambled up from the rock and hopped buoyantly across the river stones to the bank. She gave her wet cotton pant leg a hasty wring and headed upstream along the riverbank.

Sure enough, after a few hundred meters, she found an ideal spot. It was a river junction where the water flowed beneath the ice. The ice here was extremely thin—so thin that it would melt under the sun's warmth. She poked a long, dry branch into the water and couldn't touch the bottom. She could even see large silver carp darting away in panic. Tang Wangwan grinned. Setting traps here would surely yield a harvest! She scouted the surroundings and discovered several other promising spots, especially near a patch of withered reeds by the bank. The reeds were dense and formed a corner, surely hiding plenty of fish and shrimp.

Excited, Tang Wangwan blew on her hands for warmth and turned to dash home to weave the traps. After only a few steps, she stopped abruptly, her eyes lighting up. *Shepherd's purse?!* It was shepherd's purse! And it was the fine-leaf variety, the most fragrant and delicious kind.

It was hidden in the clearing behind the reed bed, partially covered by a thin layer of snow. In some places, the snow had melted, revealing a vibrant, tender green. This was a treasure; in a dozen years or so, it would be touted by city folk as a pure, pollution-free ingredient. However, Stone Village was poor, and since shepherd's purse required a good amount of oil to cook well, few villagers ate it.

But it was already 1980. The quality of life in the county seat had improved significantly, and she believed there would be people who knew its value and had a taste for it. If she made them into wontons or dumplings with a bit of lard, the flavor would be absolutely divine!

Wielding her small shovel, Tang Wangwan hurried over and spent ten minutes filling her basket. Looking around, she saw specks of green poking through the snow. There was likely a whole patch beneath, but her basket could only hold so much. She wondered if someone else would come by to dig after she left. Although the villagers were stingy with oil, in this frigid weather, fresh greens were rare. Tang Wangwan felt a pang of regret. She couldn't take it all at once. After a moment's hesitation, she used her sickle to cut some withered reeds and spread them over the patch, concealing it slightly before leaving.

It was just past noon when she returned home. The sun was stronger, and the temperature had risen above freezing. She was fortunate that her pant leg hadn't frozen solid, though the cold, wet fabric clinging to her leg was still quite miserable. Tang Wangwan first took the shepherd's purse to the storage room, then hurried into the house to change out of her wet cotton trousers.

Lu Hang stared at her damp pant leg, his brow furrowed into a deep frown. "Did you fall into the river?"

"Yeah, my foot slipped." Tang Wangwan didn't look up, instead hunching over to rummage through a trunk for pants. When she had been kicked out of the Zhao family, she hadn't brought many clothes. She only had the pair she had washed that morning and the ones she was wearing—those were the only two winter outfits she owned. Later, after returning to the Tang family, her mother Wang Xiuying had made her a pair out of coarse, grey fabric, but she had disliked them and never worn them. Now, with no other choice, she couldn't afford to be picky about aesthetics.

She pulled the trousers from the bottom of the trunk and set them aside, reaching for the waist tie of her current pair. She was truly freezing and needed to change immediately. Suddenly, she heard the sound of teeth grinding behind her.

"Comrade Tang Wangwan, it's the middle of the day... please mind the influence!"