The variety show organized by the Forestry Bureau traditionally reserved the first performance for the town's Forestry Bureau, while the finale featured all the leaders taking the stage for a chorus.
Yan Xue and her group's poetry recitation, being a joint selection from all the forest farms, was scheduled second. Before the show officially began, they were already waiting backstage.
By the time the first performance took the stage, they were already standing behind the side curtains. Yan Xue remained composed, but the girl beside her was visibly nervous, quietly rehearsing her lines.
"Don’t worry, you’ll do just fine," Yan Xue turned to reassure her. "Yang Wenhua, your roommate, said you’ve been reciting the script even in your dreams."
The young woman’s face flushed instantly, but the teasing remark eased her tension. "Don’t listen to her nonsense. It only happened once."
Soon, the first performance concluded. After the applause, the host stepped forward to announce the next act—their turn.
Yan Xue took her designated position, lifted her script folder, and as she raised her head, a wave of applause erupted from the audience.
"It’s Qi Fang and Yan Xue from our forest farm leading the recitation!" Liu Weiguo was the first to clap enthusiastically.
The audience, aside from the front-row officials, mostly consisted of performers from various units. This section happened to be the choir from Jinchuan Forest Farm, who immediately swelled with pride.
Out of seven forest farms performing, both lead reciters were from theirs—what an honor!
Regardless of any prior reservations, the fact that Yan Xue and Qi Fang stood center stage brought glory to their forest farm.
Yan Xue smiled briefly in their direction before her gaze shifted to the front row, where she was surprised to recognize someone.
Seated in the very center was the bespectacled man who had nearly collided with them on his bicycle that day.
His glasses had clearly been replaced, and he sat relaxed, sipping from an enamel mug while exchanging occasional remarks with those beside him.
That seat was usually reserved for the town Forestry Bureau’s Party Secretary. The world really was small.
Then again, not just anyone could afford a Roma-brand wristwatch—over four hundred yuan, a rarity even in all of Chengshui.
Yan Xue didn’t linger on the sight, nor did she react. She calmly averted her gaze as Qi Fang’s deep voice introduced their piece.
And so, as the morning mist dispersed and gentle sunlight spilled in, the forest farm welcomed a brand-new day.
The diligent lumberjacks shouldered their tools, chanting work songs as they labored across the vast mountains, contributing their strength to the nation’s construction.
The hardworking women of the forest farm set aside their cooking utensils for shovels, clearing, planting, and protecting the forests—a formidable force no less capable than the men.
If Qi Fang’s voice was the verdant mountain, the towering pines, then Yan Xue’s was the clear mountain spring, the hopeful wind through the trees.
There was an irrepressible vitality in her, conveyed through every word she spoke. Especially at the climax of the recitation, when her voice soared, leading everyone into the final chorus, it felt as though the entire mountain range echoed their cry.
When the recitation ended, the resonance lingered in the theater long before thunderous applause finally broke out.
This time, it wasn’t just Jinchuan Forest Farm—other forest farms, the town Forestry Bureau, the Machinery Repair Plant, even the Plywood Factory joined in the ovation.
The impact was beyond expectations, even for Lang Yue'e, who had initially approached Yan Xue and Qi Fang with some personal bias.
Section Chief Miao, too, was taken aback. The two youngest performers had delivered the best performance of the night. As he stood applauding, someone approached.
"Secretary Qu wants to know which forest farm the two lead reciters are from and their names."
Section Chief Miao hurried over. "They’re Qi Fang and Yan Xue from Jinchuan Forest Farm."
Qu Mingli nodded approvingly. "These two young people are impressive."
Not only were they striking in appearance and skilled in recitation, but they also had good hearts—willing to help strangers in need.
Moreover, though they had clearly noticed him, neither showed any reaction, performing flawlessly. Even when passing the audience afterward, neither glanced his way.
Whether he was a stranger on the road or the town’s Forestry Bureau Secretary, their demeanor remained unchanged. That was what he admired most.
With Yan Xue and Qi Fang’s recitation setting such a high bar, the subsequent performances paled in comparison—especially the Machinery Repair Plant’s act, which followed immediately.
Chen Jizhong, as the organizer, stood offstage, the contrast painfully obvious. His expression darkened halfway through the recitation and never recovered.
The recitation’s success had clearly rattled the Machinery Repair Plant performers, who delivered a lackluster show, stepping offstage grim-faced.
Whispers circulated among them: "That male lead reciter—doesn’t he look familiar? Wasn’t he that guy from our factory before?"
"You just noticed? I thought so during the rehearsal two days ago but didn’t dare confirm it."
"Who?" Some newer workers didn’t recognize Qi Fang.
"He used to work at our factory. Master Chen’s—"
A sharp glance from Chen Jizhong silenced them.
But Qi Fang’s sudden prominence would inevitably stir up such talk—precisely why Chen Jizhong had wanted to keep him out of town events.
Every time Qi Fang appeared, it reminded everyone how a newcomer had once overshadowed him, a seasoned veteran.
Finally, Qu Mingli led the leaders and workers in a grand chorus, bringing the variety show to a close.
As everyone mingled offstage, Qu Mingli spotted Secretary Lang and praised again, "Those two from your forest farm were outstanding."
Secretary Lang’s smile hadn’t faded since the recitation. "You flatter us. It’s all thanks to the Bureau’s guidance and the opportunity they provided."
Having Yan Xue and Qi Fang as lead reciters alone was an honor, but their stellar performance had doubled his pride. A little humility was only fitting.
His appreciation for the two young talents grew even stronger. On the train back to the forest farm, he announced, considering their recent business trip, Qi Fang would be exempt from next month’s mountain patrol.
Mountain patrol was grueling—sleeping and eating in watchtowers. The reprieve was welcome, and Yan Xue quickly expressed her gratitude.
By the time they returned home, Yan Jigang was already back from school. As they entered the courtyard, his childish voice recited, "Spring sleep, not aware of dawn…"
Followed by the dogs’ enthusiastic barks: "Woof!"
"Everywhere, birds’ songs are heard…"
Another "Woof!"
"In the night, sounds of wind and rain…"
"Woof woof! Woof woof woof woof!"
The boy and the two dogs had quite the rhythm going. Soon, Yan Jigang’s laughter bubbled up. "L-Let’s do ‘Sympathy for the Peasants’ next!"
Second Old Lady’s unhurried voice chimed in, "No rush. Take your time."
Yan Jigang slowed his pace. "‘Sympathy for the Peasants.’ Tang Dynasty. Li Shen…"
The warmth of everyday life washed over them, and Qi Fang paused in the courtyard, taking it all in.
Only after Yan Jigang finished reciting the poem did he lower his voice and say to Yan Xue, "Jigang doesn’t stutter when reciting poetry."
Yan Xue wasn’t in a hurry to go inside either. Hearing this, she simply hummed in agreement. "The more nervous he gets, the harder it is for him to speak. But with rhythmic things like poetry, if he slows down, he doesn’t stutter."
"Then we should teach him more poems in the future," Qi Fang had just finished speaking when the Second Old Lady opened the door and stepped out. Seeing the two of them, she paused in surprise. "You’re back?"
Yan Jigang immediately ran out upon hearing this. "Sister! Sis—sister! Brother-in-law!"
Behind him followed two noticeably larger puppies, wagging their tails and barking excitedly.
Seeing her younger brother’s bright eyes, Yan Xue smiled and patted his head. "While your sister and brother-in-law were away these past few days, did you listen to Grandma?"
Yan Jigang nodded vigorously, and the Second Old Lady added, "You know Jigang—he does his homework on his own and walks to and from school by himself every day."
"Good. Then tomorrow, we’ll have braised pork from a can," Yan Xue said as she stepped inside, pulling out a tin can from the bag she had taken to town.
Yan Jigang’s eyes lit up even more, his little face flushing with excitement.
He had never eaten this back in his hometown. The first time he tried it after coming to the forestry station, he couldn’t stop himself from eating until he was stuffed.
At the time, every time he opened his mouth to speak, he hiccuped, making his words even more disjointed. He thought his sister and brother-in-law would scold him, but Yan Xue just laughed and said, "After a few more meals, you won’t be like this anymore."
But canned meat like this was rarely sold at the forestry station’s store. Sometimes it wouldn’t be restocked for months, and when it did arrive, those with quick connections would buy it all up immediately. The only option was to try and get it from town.
Now, the thought of it made him squint happily, but he still remembered to ask about his sister and brother-in-law first. "H-how was the performance?"
"Of course it went well," Yan Xue said with a bright smile. "Don’t you trust your sister and brother-in-law? We stunned the whole audience the moment we started."
"Really?!" Yan Jigang immediately tugged at her sleeve, urging her to elaborate.
Meanwhile, Qi Fang picked up the can, intending to store it in the cupboard in the main room, but the Second Old Lady took it from him. "You two must be tired after the trip. Go rest."
The words "I’m fine" were already on the tip of his tongue, but after a pause, he changed them to, "Alright. Then we’ll turn in early tonight."
Grandma had only told him to rest now, without mentioning the evening. Yan Xue couldn’t help but give the man a sidelong glance.
Besides, how exhausting could a trip to town be compared to logging in the mountains?
He never made a sound during the grueling work in the mountains and still managed to maintain good hygiene every day. Now, suddenly, he couldn’t handle it?
Yan Xue almost scoffed, but the man’s face was so composed and serious that it was almost convincing.
At the very least, the old lady genuinely believed they were exhausted and immediately nodded in agreement. Yan Jigang, ever the thoughtful child, also promised they could sleep in the next day—he’d make sure not to make any noise to wake them.
So, the next day, Yan Xue naturally overslept, and indeed, her whole body felt sluggish, as if she had been working tirelessly day and night.
In contrast, Qi Fang was full of energy. He even went out early to harvest wood ear mushrooms and returned to tell her, "It’s less than half of what we got before."
"That’s normal," Yan Xue said, unsurprised. "Once the temperature drops below five degrees, they’ll stop growing."
In the warmer south, they might last until late November, but here in the northeast, they’d be done by October at the latest.
Today was October 1st. In a few days, frost would probably start appearing at the forestry station.
Sure enough, not long after they finished the braised pork can, while Yan Jigang was still savoring the memory, Yan Xue woke up one morning to find a thin layer of frost covering the ground.
"Time to dismantle the frames," she said to Qi Fang when she went back inside. "Get the old railroad ties we prepared and prop up both ends of the logs. We need to get them ready for winter."
Once the mycelium stopped growing and entered dormancy, the logs needed proper winter management. If done well, the wood ear mushrooms could keep producing for three years. If neglected, the yield would drop sharply the following year.
First-year logs were still hard and sturdy, so they could be stacked flat. The reason for propping up both ends was to prevent rot—if heavy snow melted and the logs stayed pressed against the damp ground, they’d spoil.
After all the logs were properly arranged, Yan Xue gathered the remaining dried wood ears and summarized this year’s harvest.
First, they still had over thirty pounds of dried wood ears left. Selling all of it would bring in a little over a hundred yuan. She could make time to visit Aunt Qiufang’s place and the small market again.
Second, they had started planting too late this year. There was still space in the backyard, and she had already selected the plumpest, thickest wood ears to extract spores. Next year, they’d start cultivating the fungal strains in January and plant them by April, just in time for harvesting in June.
Third, to thank the whole family for their hard work, Yan Xue bought small gifts for everyone, prepared a big feast, and even brought out some liquor—though, of course, Yan Jigang wasn’t allowed any.
Lastly, she decided not to sell all the wood ears. She’d keep some for the family and give portions to the Lius, the Guos, and Secretary Lang’s household.
Especially the Guo family—after all, they had helped preserve the fungal strains, and Guo Chang’an had worked here for so long. It was only right to let him taste the fruits of his labor.
Unexpectedly, before Yan Xue could deliver the gifts, Guo Chang’an came to her first. The moment he entered the yard, the rhythmic tapping of his cane against the ground announced his arrival.
After months of recovery, Guo Chang’an could now move around with a cane, though it was still strenuous, and his right arm remained weak.
After October 1st, the forestry station had assigned him a job—as expected, it was a light-duty position overseeing the equipment storage at the base. Since the logging teams spent half the year in the mountains, there wasn’t much to manage down below.
Still, when she saw him, Yan Xue smiled and congratulated him first. "Finally getting some rest, huh? I heard your job’s been settled."
Guo Chang’an nodded but didn’t elaborate on work. Instead, he sat by the kang, leaning his cane against the wall. "I remember you said you’d be cultivating fungal strains again next year."
Yan Xue had indeed mentioned it to him. She casually poured him a cup of water. "Yes, we’ll start in January."
Guo Chang’an was a man of action. If he was bringing this up now, he must have something to say.
Sure enough, he reached into his pocket with his good hand and pulled out a few sheets of paper, handing them to her. "I asked my old classmate at the food factory to sketch these. See if they’re useful."
Yan Xue unfolded the papers and saw a rough diagram of a room’s structure. The walls and ceiling were only roughly outlined, but the floor was detailed, with several distinct grooves drawn beneath it, extending to the edges of the room.
"What’s this?" She looked up, puzzled.
"The fermentation room they use at the food factory for making fermented bean curd," Guo Chang’an explained. "They also rely on mold for fermentation—if the temperature’s too low, it won’t ferment; if it’s too high, the mold dies. I thought it was similar to cultivating fungal strains, and better than heating the kang, so I copied the design."
He pointed to the first sheet. "The floor is built with cement, and the grooves are air ducts. When in use, they fill the ducts with water and connect them to a boiler outside. The boiler pumps in steam to control the temperature—they use the same method for making soybean paste and bread."
Making soybean paste also required heating, but instead of piping steam underground, they directed it straight into cement fermentation vats, which also had built-in ducts in their walls.
Guo Chang'an pointed to the second sheet. "This one's for the boiler—homemade, welded from sheet metal. Your Qi Fang should be able to understand it."
Properly manufactured boilers start at one ton, expensive and hard to come by, not to mention impractical for small businesses. So places like the town's food factory welded their own from scrap metal.
Qi Fang, who had been sketching something incomprehensible to Yan Xue at the table without joining their conversation, reached over with a hand of distinct knuckles. "Let me see."
Yan Xue handed him both sheets. "I checked—it lists the dimensions. Two meters tall, one meter in diameter."
"That's the size of the food factory's boiler," Guo Chang'an said. "I didn’t understand it myself, so I just copied everything down."
Qi Fang glanced at the drawings without comment. "How many rooms can it heat?"
Unlike the small sheet-metal stoves used at home or the worksite, a boiler this size could easily supply heat to multiple rooms.
Sure enough, Guo Chang'an replied, "I asked—six or seven rooms, no problem. Over there, they just connect them all. Any room needing steam just notifies the boiler room."
That seemed excessive. Even if Yan Xue added another room for cultivating fungi, she wouldn’t need six or seven.
Besides, the food factory’s setup was different from theirs. Guo Chang'an knew this too. "I just asked around while I was at it. Use what you can, ignore the rest."
He picked up his crutch to leave, but given his current condition, getting these blueprints couldn’t have been as simple as he made it sound.
Qi Fang carefully stored the drawings. "Thanks." Yan Xue called out, "Wait, don’t rush off," and handed Guo Chang'an two packs of dried wood ear mushrooms.
Guo Chang'an hesitated, clearly about to refuse, but Yan Xue was already grabbing her coat to walk him out. "One’s for Aunt Guo, Changping, and Sister Baozhi. The other’s your employee benefit." She eyed him. "If you’re this standoffish, are you planning to quit next year?"
"Not at all." For Guo Chang'an, managing the equipment shed was the forestry bureau’s compensation for his work injury. Yan Xue’s venture was what truly gave him hope to move forward.
"Then stop being so polite." Yan Xue held the door open for him. "This year’s earnings are modest, but next year, when we profit more, I’ll give you a bonus."
No motivational speech could match the tangibility of a bonus. Yan Xue, pragmatic herself, believed in keeping things practical.
At the Guo household, she didn’t give them a chance to refuse, simply placing the packages inside and leaving. "Don’t be shy—this is the fruit of our collective labor. Everyone should taste it."
Aunt Guo couldn’t catch up in time and sighed, "That Yan Xue..."
Guo Changping eyed the mushrooms. "Should we soak some tomorrow? I’ve never tasted cultivated wood ear before."
Aunt Guo nodded. Without the mushroom project, Chang'an might not have recovered so quickly. "Alright, let’s try Chang'an’s harvest tomorrow."
She gingerly touched the paper wrapping, as if handling something rare and precious.
When Yan Xue returned, Qi Fang was still studying the boiler blueprint. "Well? Can we use it?"
"Needs modifications." Qi Fang had been pondering this—the food factory’s homemade boiler was far too large for them.
It would consume coal and require constant supervision. Investing that much labor and resources for unused capacity would be wasteful.
Yan Xue agreed. "Maybe we should drop it. I managed without it this year."
"It’s fine. We can scale it down." Qi Fang was more determined. "I’ll adjust the size and extend the heat to the other rooms."
"Extend it to the other rooms?" Yan Xue was surprised.
Qi Fang set the drawings aside and looked at her. "You’re always huddled on the kang in winter. Grandma and Jigang must struggle too."
Northeastern winters without proper heating were harsh. Only the kang (heated bed) offered warmth; the rest of the house stayed frigid.
Many households added a sheet-metal stove, locally nicknamed the "turtle stove" for its resemblance to a squatting turtle when fitted with rings and a lid.
To maximize heat dispersion and vent smoke, a metal pipe—called a "stove pipe"—was attached, running straight out the window.
Since they’d rented their place, Yan Xue hadn’t bothered installing one, enduring the cold by staying on the kang. She hadn’t realized Qi Fang, rarely home, had noticed.
If it were just her, she’d tough it out or settle for a small stove. But with Jigang and Grandma, she stayed silent.
However, heating the other rooms would require renovating the existing ones. Qi Fang eventually took the revised plans to Liu Daniu.
"Run heating ducts through all the rooms?" Liu Daniu frowned at the blueprint. "That won’t work unless you tear the house down and rebuild."
Qi Fang had already considered this. "What if we build a heated wall instead?"
He flipped to his revised sketch. "Construct it entirely from cement, with just one pipe leading outside to connect to the boiler."
"That could work."
As they discussed, Liu Weiguo and Zhou Wenhui hurried in, whispering excitedly to Huang Fengying.
Soon, Huang Fengying gasped. "She might really be pregnant!" and ushered them inside.
This was joyous news. Liu Daniu immediately paused his conversation with Qi Fang.
Liu Weiguo, noticing Qi Fang, grinned ear to ear.
Qi Fang offered congratulations, which only widened Liu Weiguo’s smile.
Walking Qi Fang out later, Liu Weiguo couldn’t resist boasting. "Two months married, and Wenhui’s already expecting. Three kids in two years should be easy, right?"
Qi Fang merely gave a noncommittal "Hmm."
"Tell Yan Xue for me—she promised to be the godmother. I’ve been working hard these two months!"
At Yan Xue’s mention, Qi Fang finally responded, glancing at him. "Pregnant right after the wedding? How will you survive the next year?"
Liu Weiguo’s joy froze.
He’d forgotten.
Two months into marriage, and now he’d be celibate for a year—worse off than Qi Fang, who’d never rushed for kids despite claiming they’d have three in two years.
Wait—Liu Weiguo remembered another detail.
"It’s October. Once the snow falls, we’ll be in the mountains for half a year. You won’t be able to go home either, right?"
Liu Weiguo: Let’s suffer together!
Qi Fang: ...You sure about that?
