In the twelfth lunar month of 1962, Fang Xiulan opened her eyes to find that her own father had married her off in exchange for eighty jin of cornmeal.
The first thing she did after waking up was make a bet in front of everyone: in three days, she would get the whole family a filling meal cooked with oil.
With a bag of corn cobs meant for pigs and a basket of wild acorns, she steamed a whole basket of cakes softer than those made with white flour.
From that point on, the woodshed produced sauces, vegetables, and even a glimmer of oil. She started with half a mu of private land and built the county's very first food factory.
When awful relatives came calling, she settled things on the scales. When the supply and marketing cooperative tried to force down her prices, she answered with the books. When the county factory tried to steal her business, she let her cooking speak for itself.
In this life, she would not give up an inch of what was hers.
