As for Xiao Yunying, when she first received the packages of meat that Ding Yun sent over, she was a little surprised and scared. However, as Ding Yun continued to send things – hundreds of pounds of dried vegetables, various kinds of fine rice and flour, dried meat, and canned goods – she was no longer surprised. Even the fear had mostly disappeared.
It was just too delicious. So delicious that she no longer wanted to advise her daughter to stop. So delicious that after more than half a year, she, her father, her mother, and her younger brother had all gained over ten pounds. They had become so accustomed to the good food that they couldn't bring themselves to stand on a moral high ground and persuade or stop her. They couldn't bring themselves to say such things.
So, in her later letters to Ding Yun, she mostly just told her to be careful and cautious. She no longer mentioned stopping or giving up.
Besides that, because Ding Yun sent so many things so frequently, not only could they eat their fill every day and get sufficient nutrition, but they also had leftovers to share with others, help each other, and even distribute some to the management staff of the reclamation farm. Therefore, with the management staff turning a blind eye, their daily labor was slightly reduced. They were not as tired as before, and their health and spirits had improved to a certain extent.
In short, life was pretty good, much better than before Ding Yun started sending things. The problems caused by lack of nutrition and long-term fatigue had mostly disappeared. However, they were passively accepting, and not actually asking for anything in their letters as Ding Yun had hoped.
This left Ding Yun a bit troubled later on. She was troubled because she didn't know what else to send them. You see, the food she could buy from the near-expiry inventory sales website was basically close to expiring, with a shelf life of generally three months, half a year, or at most a year. And lately, she had already sent a lot of food to her mother. If she continued to send more, she was afraid they wouldn't be able to finish it before it spoiled, or worse, that they would eat it even after the shelf life she mentioned, and harm their health.
So, she could only consider sending other things to improve their lives. However, there were very few things suitable for this era. Besides the most basic daily chemical products and clothing, Ding Yun couldn't find anything else to send. She also didn't know what they lacked. Whenever she asked in letters, they always said they lacked nothing.
In the end, she could only find some science textbooks on the near-expiry inventory sales website and send them over, writing that they could read them when they had nothing else to do, and that they were especially good for sleep. The more they didn't understand, the sleepier they would get. Later, she even found professional books on mechanical repair, sow postpartum care, good breed cultivation, and yield improvement. She didn't expect them to become experts, but mainly hoped they could learn a skill in their spare time so that they wouldn't have trouble finding jobs after leaving the farm years later. Moreover, having a skill would make it easier for them to get by on the farm. For example, if they understood machine repair and helped fix things for others for free, wouldn't that improve relationships? If they could make breakthroughs in agriculture and help increase yields, wouldn't that also be a contribution?
Her maternal grandparents and uncle actually quite liked these books. Although they didn't explicitly ask for more in their letters, since Ding Yun could see they liked them, she naturally continued to send them. Those books wouldn't spoil even if kept for ten or eight years, and they were cheap, with leftover stock often sold by the pound.
So, from then on, the frequency and content of Ding Yun's shipments became relatively fixed. For example, meat and canned goods were sent once a month, with about a hundred pounds each time. Rice and flour were also sent once a month, a hundred pounds each. Dried vegetables were sent only when the season was right, and one shipment would be enough for them to eat for more than half a year. Daily chemicals and fabrics were sent once every six months. Only books were sent more frequently, usually two or three times a month. In Ding Yun's opinion, after their basic needs for food and drink were met, they should have some spiritual entertainment. Since romance and martial arts novels were inconvenient to send at this time, she could only send science books. No matter how incomprehensible they were, it was better than having nothing to read.
It can be said that with the help of the near-expiry inventory sales website, not only did Ding Yun thrive in Wang Village, but she also helped her mother, her maternal grandparents, and her uncle thrive in the reclamation farm and its vicinity. Apart from a slight lack of spiritual entertainment, other aspects of their lives were far superior to those of ordinary people at that time.
With this concern resolved, the only thing that bothered Ding Yun was that she had become a hot commodity in the matchmaking market. As she approached twenty, everyone in the village, from the young to the old, and even the educated youths, was concerned about whether she had a partner or if they could introduce one to her. Anyone nearby who knew of her and had a son or grandson of marriageable age practically wished they could pack up their sons and grandsons and send them to Ding Yun. If it weren't for the prohibition of polygamy, some people might have even been willing to let their sons become Ding Yun's concubines.
Village Chief Wang sometimes saw her and sighed, lamenting that his youngest son had already gotten married years ago, and his eldest grandson was only ten years old, so there was no suitable match. Even some of the new educated youths at the educated youth point, who were young and considered themselves handsome and beautiful, were trying to seduce Ding Yun, wishing they could just get into her bed.
Ding Yun knew that her own beauty was a factor, but her wealth was clearly more important. If it were decades later, she wouldn't mind having a few more relationships, as some of the educated youths and young men were indeed quite good-looking and well-built. But for now, setting aside their impure motives, even if their motives were pure and they were only attracted to her beauty, she didn't want to be bogged down by family matters, daily chores, and firewood, rice, oil, and salt. Most importantly, she had quite a few secrets and was not ready to share them with anyone. It was easy to keep them secret when she was alone, but if they were together day in and day out, it would be difficult to guarantee that secrets wouldn't be leaked.
So, Ding Yun had to painfully refuse. In the end, she simply announced to everyone that she had decided not to get married before the age of thirty, asking them not to worry about her. This barely managed to stop the previous fervor. As for the educated youths, Ding Yun told them privately that the college entrance examination would be reinstated no later than five years from now. She wanted to go to university and didn't want to get married, which was why she refused. When they heard this, some educated youths who had already planned to settle down in the village or marry into a village family felt renewed hope. They thought that perhaps in five years, they could still persevere and wait. Of course, the most important thing was that they believed Ding Yun had connections and abilities, and that what she said was true. Otherwise, they wouldn't believe anyone else who said it. Thus, the educated youth situation was also smoothly resolved. Many of them started reviewing five years in advance.
As for the gossip from some people in the village privately calling her an old maid, Ding Yun couldn't completely prevent it, nor was she bothered to argue. She simply pretended not to hear it. After all, they weren't saying it to her face. Life was quite good lived leisurely like this.
It wasn't until a few years later, when the year officially became 1977, that Ding Yun stopped being so idle. She began to frequently go to recycling stations to collect textbooks and other materials, preparing in advance for the upcoming reinstatement of the college entrance examination.