Chapter 60: Keeping a Diary
"Arrived here on January 19th, unconscious for half a day and a night. Woke up on the morning of January 20th, caught and ate a turtle in the afternoon. January 21st – taught Team 6 how to butcher turtles. January 22nd – Captain Yang’s family butchered a pig in the morning, went to the brigade headquarters to teach turtle butchering in the afternoon. January 23rd – went to Team 4 in the morning, Team 7 in the afternoon; on the same day, all production teams went to the commune to fetch utility poles. January 24th – went to Team 8 in the morning, Team 9 in the afternoon; production teams planted utility poles. Today is January 25th – going to the brigade headquarters to teach Deputy Captain Xiao’s family how to make pickled cabbage; production teams continue planting utility poles."
Chen Fan stuck his dip pen back into its bamboo holder, his face carrying a hint of melancholy.
It had already been five days – today was the sixth day. Why hadn’t Officer Zhu gotten back to him yet?
Jiang Lili stood beside him, staring wide-eyed at what he’d written. "Is this really your diary?"
Chen Fan looked at her curiously. "Yeah – is there something wrong with it?"
Jiang Lili looked from him to the words in the notebook. "It’s way too simple."
In her opinion, even elementary school students wrote more detailed entries than this.
She was now starting to wonder if Chen Fan had even completed junior primary school (lower primary school covers grades 1-3, upper primary covers grades 4-5).
But Chen Fan didn’t care. "A diary is just for recording what happened each day – why write it out in detail?"
If it weren’t to help with his memory, who in their right mind would keep a diary anyway?
He flipped the notebook over, lifted the back cover, and opened to the last page. "Now I’m going to keep an inventory – help me count everything."
Even though Captain Yang had clearly explained that these were rewards, thank-you gifts, and return gifts, Chen Fan couldn’t just accept them as if they were his by right. He’d have to find a way to repay these kindnesses someday.
After all, in his eyes, teaching people how to butcher turtles really wasn’t that big a deal – not to mention Team 6 had even credited him with work points for it.
Before, he’d had no paper or pens, and he’d felt awkward asking Jiang Lili to lend him any. But the day before at Team 9, their accountant had given him a notebook, two dip pens, and several packets of ink powder.
Dip pens weren’t true fountain pens – they were more like quills, with a nib attached to a long barrel. To write, you dipped the nib in ink, wrote until it ran dry, then dipped again. It was quite inconvenient, and the ink flow was uneven – dark when freshly dipped, fading gradually until you needed to dip again.
The accountant had given them to him specially because he thought Chen Fan seemed like a scholar.
Ink powder came in small packets of dry powder – mix with water and shake well to make ink.
Chen Fan had never seen either of these things before and had initially refused to accept them. He’d only taken them after the team leader said they weren’t worth much.
Along with the rough-paper notebook, they were perfect for keeping records.
"Okay."
Jiang Lili puffed out her cheeks and looked at the piles of items covering two beds. "Where do we start?"
Chen Fan thought for a moment. "Let’s start with the things from the brigade headquarters – take it one item at a time."
Then Jiang Lili counted and called out each item while Chen Fan wrote them down quickly.
When they finished tallying up, they realized just how much stuff there was.
Not to mention the "educated youth care package" from the brigade headquarters, or the military greatcoat and leather boots from Deputy Captain Xiao – even the items from each team added up to quite a lot.
There were 12 teams total. Team 6 had given him clothes, shoes, 30 jin of rice, and half a sack of sweet potatoes. For the remaining 11 teams, Chen Fan had visited 5 himself and Master Liu had gone to 6. Master Liu had taken one piece of meat and one fish from each team he visited as payment, while the rest had been sent to Chen Fan.
In total, he now had: 250 jin of rice, 16 cured pork bellies, 16 cured fish, 33 jin of cotton, and 11 jin of rapeseed oil.
These were the main supplies. The miscellaneous items included 5 packages of pickled vegetables, 8 bottles of homemade soy sauce, 8 bottles of homemade vinegar, 6 jars of chili sauce, 6 jars of pickled vegetables, one kidney-shaped basin, two bamboo chairs, one bamboo basket, one bamboo backpack, two carrying poles, four water buckets, two bathtubs, two bamboo hats, two rain capes, four pairs of straw sandals, three pairs of wooden clogs, two washboards, and finally the pen, ink, and paper he was currently using.
These wooden clogs weren’t like the Japanese kind – they were a common daily item that had been used in China for over three thousand years. King Fuchai of Wu loved listening to the sound of Xi Shi dancing in clogs so much that he built a "Ringing Clog Corridor" for her. Li Bai also wrote in his poem: "Feet shod in Lord Xie’s clogs, I climb the ladder to the blue clouds."
Made by shaping a wooden board to fit the foot, with two vertical wooden blocks nailed to the bottom front and back. Holes were drilled around the edge, and hemp rope was threaded through to secure them to the feet – these were the common wooden clogs used in the countryside.
On rainy days, you’d strap them over your shoes to avoid getting them muddy and to prevent slipping. Wealthier families would attach leather to the board so you could wear them barefoot. Poor families who wanted to wear them barefoot would layer on homespun cloth, letting it dry hard to make a makeshift insole.
A good pair of leather clogs cost 2 yuan – not cheap at the time.
As for bamboo hats, rain capes, and straw sandals – these were essential "three-piece sets" in every household.
Families with means even had a set per person; poorer families at least had two bamboo hats and one rain cape.
The most expensive of these was the rain cape – it took a lot of time and effort to make, and could sell for 2 yuan at the market. The cheapest was straw sandals – 5 cents a pair, and almost every household in the production team had someone who could weave them.
While none of these miscellaneous items were particularly valuable on their own, the thought behind them was precious, and Chen Fan recorded every single one.
By the time they finished, it was already bright outside. Chen Fan stretched and stood up. "I’m heading to Team 5 to help Captain Xiao’s family make pickled cabbage. If everything goes smoothly, I should be back this afternoon. We’ll have turtle again for dinner tonight."
Speaking of turtles, he suddenly remembered something. "Oh right – how are those turtles I put in the trough at the back?"
Jiang Lili grinned. "By the time you remembered, they’d have starved or frozen to death if no one had done anything."
Chen Fan’s eyes widened. "What?"
Jiang Lili smiled. "Don’t worry – I got some mud and filled two stone troughs with it. They’re doing just fine now."
Chen Fan let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "It would’ve been a shame if they’d died – you can’t drain the blood properly, and the meat tastes terrible."
After a pause, he added, "Don’t just leave all that cured meat hanging there either – you can cut off some to eat when you make your meals."
Jiang Lili shook her head repeatedly. "These are your things – I can’t eat them."
Chen Fan pretended to look stern. "But I accepted a pair of cotton shoes from you."
Jiang Lili lowered her head and said nothing.
Chen Fan’s expression softened – clearly this was her way of silently protesting.
He could only wave his hand. "Once I’m done with things today, I’ll take over cooking from now on."
Jiang Lili looked up quickly, puffing out her cheeks without speaking.
Chen Fan felt an urge to laugh just looking at her.
Just then, there was a knock at the gate. Captain Yang pushed it open and walked in. "Hey, Xiao Chen – you’re still here! I was worried you’d already left. Officer Zhu will be here shortly to talk to you about your situation."
(End of Chapter)
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