Chapter Summaries

Liang Xin used his influence and promises of meat to choose Li Haiyang and two familiar cart drivers for his team, then settled comfortably into their ox cart. They reached his home village near the end of lunchtime and went straight to the village committee.

• Liang Xin took Li Haiyang aside and offered him meat, persuading him to let Liang Xin discuss team assignments with the two cart drivers.
• Liang Xin asked the two drivers to switch from short-distance to medium-distance routes, and they eagerly agreed.
• Team Leader Xiang approved Liang Xin's choices, and the team arrangements were settled.
• The ox cart set off with Liang Xin resting on hay and reading a picture book during the slow journey.
• Liang Xin and the two drivers reached his home village near lunchtime and headed to the village committee.

Liang Xin visited the village committee on a supply and marketing cooperative assignment to purchase supplies, and the village chief welcomed him and agreed to sign and stamp his paperwork. After reporting in, Liang Xin was ready to go home and begin the purchase.

• Liang Xin arrived at the village committee, where the officials warmly welcomed him back from the capital.
• Liang Xin told Uncle Song he had come on behalf of the supply and marketing cooperative and asked him to guide him through the assignment.
• Uncle Song praised Liang Xin’s improved appearance and offered to sign and stamp his paperwork before he went home.
• The chapter explained that the village’s planned quotas and year-end payments determined how supplies were purchased and how villagers were compensated.

Liang Xin finished handing over the goods and arranged for the village chief to oversee the weighing and loading. He left the two cart drivers with cigarettes and headed home to see his worried family.

• The village chief told Liang Xin that the villagers would handle his goods carefully and urged him to go home to his family.
• Liang Xin completed the handover and left after the village chief promised to arrange everything.
• Liang Xin found the two men caring for the oxen and apologized for leaving them to load the carts while he recovered.
• The two men accepted Liang Xin's cigarettes and encouraged him to go home and rest.
• Li Haiyang had secretly offered the men three packs of Economy cigarettes for each pack of Liang Xin's high-grade export cigarettes.

Liang Xin weighed how much money and food to bring his poor family, unsure whether he would care for them out of duty or affection. As he reached their dilapidated home, he remained uncertain how comfortably he could live alongside them.

• Li Haiyang traded three packs of Economy cigarettes for one at Team Leader Xiang's request, keeping two packs from the five-pack offer for himself.
• Liang Xin reached home carrying an empty cardboard box and considered how much to bring his family.
• Liang Xin weighed giving his family money out of duty against supporting them more generously if he grew close to them.
• Liang Xin looked at his family's dilapidated earthen house and remembered that they were among the poorest families in the village.

Liang Xin returned to his cramped family home and met his three-year-old younger brother, Liang Yong, and two neighborhood children. He gave them candy, then sent Liang Yong to call their parents and siblings home.

• Liang Xin stopped Liang Yong from hugging him because the boy was covered in dirt.
• Liang Xin gave Liang Yong and his two playmates candy, earning experience points from their delight.
• Liang Xin asked Liang Yong to call their parents back from work and say that he had returned.
• Liang Xin gave Liang Yong extra candy for himself and his second, third, and fourth siblings.

Liang Xin brought an empty cardboard box into his poor family’s house and reflected on the family’s history and hardship. The chapter ended with his memories explaining why the Liang family was poorer than most villagers.

• Liang Yong cheered when Liang Xin told him he could ask for more candy after the pieces were gone, then ran off pretending to ride a horse.
• Liang Xin entered the courtyard, ate several tiny cucumbers, and carried his empty cardboard box into the house.
• Liang Xin noticed that the kang was unusually clean, a sign of his mother’s diligence.
• Liang Xin recalled that his grandfather had studied for years but never passed the xiucai exam before the imperial examinations were abolished.
• Liang Xin remembered that the Liang family had been classified as landlords and had their property confiscated, leaving his grandfather to earn few work points through manual labor.

Liang Xin remembered his family’s hopes for him and worried they would discover he was an impostor when they returned. He successfully greeted his parents and learned he would be able to visit home every two days, then met his younger siblings.

• Liang Xin recalled that his grandfather doted on him because he had done well in school and seemed likely to improve the family’s fortunes.
• Liang Xin heard his family approaching and reminded himself to call the adults Mom and Dad so they would not notice anything amiss.
• Liang Xin greeted his parents, and his mother excitedly checked on him after his month away in the capital.
• Liang Xin told his parents that his work unit had assigned him a route through the village and nearby towns, allowing him to come home every two days.
• Liang Xin introduced his four younger siblings and remembered that Liang Yong had been an unplanned fifth child.

Liang Xin returned home with candy, five jin of fatty pork, and half a jin of pork belly, then asked his mother to cook the pork belly for him. His mother agreed after he insisted that his new job would bring the family more food and oil.

• Liang Xin gave Liang Jia candy and told her he would give her more when she finished it.
• Liang Xin told his mother he was hungry and asked her to make him something to eat.
• Liang Xin showed his family five jin of fatty pork, and his mother opened the parcel in astonishment.
• Liang Xin took out half a jin of pork belly and asked his mother to stir-fry it for him.
• His mother wanted to render the pork belly into lard, but Liang Xin insisted she cook it and promised the family would have plenty in the future.
• His mother agreed to make Liang Xin the meal.

Liang Xin brought home rice and meat and persuaded his family to prepare a celebratory meal, while warning them to keep his benefits from the supply and marketing cooperative secret. The family gathered around their first rice meal in months, and Dad asked Liang Xin to invite his grandparents over.

• Liang Xin gave Mom five more jin of rice and urged her to use the food he brought to make a reunion meal.
• Dad agreed that the family should celebrate Liang Xin's new job, and Mom took Second and Fourth to help cook.
• Dad asked Liang Xin whether the city supply and marketing cooperative provided such good benefits, and Liang Xin warned him and Third not to reveal the food's source.
• The family ate rice and stewed green beans with meat, and Dad sent Liang Xin to invite his grandparents over.

Liang Xin brought two jin of pork to his eldest uncle’s family and invited his grandparents to eat with his family. His grandmother was surprised by the meat and urged him to keep some for himself, while the family prepared to spend time together.

• Liang Xin agreed to fetch his grandparents and his mother gave him two jin of meat to take to his eldest uncle’s family.
• Liang Xin went to his grandparents’ house, where they eagerly welcomed him and he invited them to dinner.
• Liang Xin’s grandfather’s choice of the name Xin was explained as a wish for him to become wealthy.
• Liang Xin’s grandmother uncovered the pork, was astonished by its size, and told him to keep some to eat.