Chapter 55: Beast Luring Powder

At noon, everyone ate the dry rations they had brought from home, washing it down with cold water. After their meal, Shijian, who was leading the group, urged everyone to set out quickly.

The afternoon brought a little sunlight, so they picked up the pace and finally arrived at their destination just before darkness fell. Upon arrival, they set down their luggage. There was no time to rest; Shijian organized the people to go up the mountain to cut trees and build shelters.

Tang Banxia and Hu Zhaodi stayed behind to watch over the luggage and set up the stoves. Amidst the busy work, a row of shelters sprang up from the ground. The conditions were rough, but there was no time for complaints.

Tang Banxia and Hu Zhaodi, both women, shared a small shelter, while Wen Mubai, Hu Qixin, and Sun Wenming had theirs right next to the women's. The rest of the group split up in twos or threes, each group claiming a spot for themselves.

The stoves were built outside, only two in total. It wasn’t that they didn’t want more, but with only two pots among them, more stoves would be useless. They had brought some grain from the village. After a day’s march, everyone was exhausted.

Once the stoves were ready, Tang Banxia and Hu Zhaodi immediately set the pots to boil water. They first cooked two pots of cornmeal porridge—each person got a steaming bowl, which warmed them through. Then they steamed two pots of black bread buns, two for each person—this was dinner for the day. After the meal, Tang Banxia boiled two large pots of water, letting everyone mix in some cold water to wash up.

While they were cleaning up, Shijian returned with the food rations. Meals were provided for those repairing the dam, with rations supplied by the commune, though nothing of great quality. The food he brought included a small can of lard, a small can of salt, a cartload of cabbage and radishes, and two cartloads of grain—this was to last them a whole month.

Tang Banxia frowned as she inspected the supplies. This little bit, for a whole month? Clearly, government benefits weren’t so easy to come by after all. She knew that working on the dam meant not only a wage but also three meals a day, which was why many struggling families had scrambled for a spot. Yet—

She sighed.

Noticing Tang Banxia’s troubled expression, Hu Zhaodi approached her. “Comrade Tang, what’s wrong?”

Tang Banxia said nothing, simply gazing worriedly at the rations. Hu Zhaodi understood. “Comrade Tang, it’s like this every year.” As she spoke, she opened a burlap sack to reveal the grain inside. “Take a look.”

Tang Banxia peered inside and finally understood what “pebble rice” really meant. The grain was mixed with small stones—by her estimate, at least a fifth of every sack. Indeed, there was never a shortage of people lining their own pockets.

It was getting late, so the two could only tidy up the rations and get some rest. After extinguishing the torches, Tang Banxia spoke briefly to Wen Mubai before crawling into the shelter.

Inside, a small brazier glowed. She and Hu Zhaodi huddled together and soon fell asleep.

The next day, dawn had not yet broken.

The two women rose early to prepare breakfast for everyone. Tang Banxia chopped a large cabbage and used the lard to cook a pot of cabbage soup until it was soft and mushy. Once it boiled, she added some black flour dumplings. The cabbage and dumpling soup was soon ready.

Hu Zhaodi used the other pot to bake flatbread. Her technique was skillful—each piece was the same size, so no one could accuse her of favoritism.

On the first day of dam repairs, breakfast for each person was a flatbread and a bowl of cabbage dumpling soup. Afterward, everyone felt warmed through. There was no time to linger—the work horn was already sounding.

Tang Banxia barely had time to hand Wen Mubai a few vegetable rice balls. “Be careful,” she reminded him.

Wen Mubai gave her a small nod and joined the others. Tang Banxia watched his thin figure with concern, but there was nothing she could do except steady herself.

“Zhaodi, let’s pick the stones out of the grain,” Tang Banxia said. She couldn’t bring herself to cook the rice with the stones, even if it made the porridge look thicker. Stones would break teeth and were indigestible; as a doctor, she couldn't let people eat such things.

Hu Zhaodi hesitated.

Tang Banxia continued, “This afternoon, let’s go up the mountain. They didn’t say we couldn’t look for food, right?” Living by the mountain, there was always a way.

Hu Zhaodi shook her head. “I’ll do as you say, Comrade Tang.”

The two of them spent the entire morning picking the stones from the grain. When they finished, it was already noon.

They hurried to prepare lunch. Knowing everyone needed to be full, Tang Banxia and Hu Zhaodi decided to make noodles, stir-frying cabbage for flavor and boiling the noodles in the broth. The soupy noodles were filling and warming.

When the workers returned, they obediently lined up for their meal. Shijian was last. Seeing the golden noodles in the pot, he worried aloud, “Comrade Tang, we should save the grain, or we’ll go hungry at the end.”

“Team Leader Shi,” Tang Banxia replied, “I’m thinking we’ll go up the mountain this afternoon. Even if we save the rations, it won’t be enough. The villagers are doing hard labor—they need to eat their fill. If they can’t sleep well in this cold, and then don’t eat enough, their health will collapse.”

Shijian knew this very well. “But it’s winter—there aren’t even leaves on the trees. What could we possibly find on the mountain?”

Tang Banxia smiled lightly. “I have my ways.”

He could only agree. “Alright, I’ll go with you this afternoon.”

With that settled, Tang Banxia wasted no time. Taking her lunch box, she sat beside Wen Mubai.

“Xiaobai, how are you?” she asked, handing him two rice balls. “I warmed them up.”

Starving, Wen Mubai devoured the food. Seeing the fatigue in his features, Tang Banxia’s heart ached. Out of sight of others, she secretly gave him a little beef sauce. “Don’t push yourself too hard—slack off when you can. Let me think of a way to change your work assignment.”

With his hunger somewhat appeased, Wen Mubai finally managed to speak. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. I’ll find a way.”

Lunch break was short—only half an hour. In the blink of an eye, everyone was hurrying back to work.

Tang Banxia and Hu Zhaodi cleaned up and, together with Shijian, set off up the mountain. The mountains here were part of the same range as those behind Guyue Village, stretching on and on.

Once they were up there, Shijian and Hu Zhaodi both looked to Tang Banxia. She scanned the landscape. “Let’s go deeper.”

After walking a while, they stopped. At Tang Banxia’s direction, the three of them dug several traps, lining the pits with sharpened wooden stakes.

While Hu Zhaodi and Shijian looked on in puzzlement, Tang Banxia pulled several radishes from her basket, cutting them into pieces. Then she took out a glass jar filled with white powder, sprinkled it over the radishes, and tossed them into the traps. Dusting off her hands, she declared, “Alright, let’s go look elsewhere.”

Shijian asked, “Comrade Tang, what’s that white powder?”

“Beast attractant,” Tang Banxia replied honestly. She had come up with the idea as a child in her previous life, and her grandmother, indulging her, had developed it and even patented it.

“Beast attractant?” Shijian understood from the name, but was surprised. “There’s such a thing?”

“It’s a unique, patented formula—one of a kind!”

Hu Zhaodi’s eyes sparkled with admiration. Tang Banxia was truly impressive.

The three wandered to other parts of the mountain, gathering firewood and, in Tang Banxia’s case, digging up some herbs. When enough time had passed, they returned to where they’d set the traps.

“A pheasant!”
“A rabbit!”
“A silly mushroom!”

The three were so excited their voices nearly cracked.

Seeing the catch in the traps, they exchanged glances, each seeing hope and joy in the others’ eyes.

Shijian carefully retrieved the animals and counted them. Today, they had caught three pheasants, two rabbits, and a silly mushroom—a great haul.

Beaming, he said, “Comrade Tang, your beast attractant is amazing!”

Tang Banxia smiled modestly. She had originally prepared the powder for Wen Mubai, but hadn’t expected to use it here first.

“Let’s go deal with the game,” she suggested.

“Absolutely!” Shijian was now utterly convinced by Tang Banxia’s abilities.