Chapter 33 Chapter 33 Her family was so poor that they could only fight for six baskets of bricks...

Fu Mingze met Zheng Jiamin on the way. After hearing what he had said before, Zheng Jiamin said angrily, "Shi Wei has been yelling at the educated youth center for a long time, saying that Yang Qingqing is missing. I said at the time that Yang Qingqing is such a grown-up, where else could she run away in broad daylight? I said he was acting weird today, so are the two of them teaming up to trick you?"

He thought about it and smiled: "No, I have to go and take a look."

Originally, Shi Wei was there calling people to go to the stream to take a look, but Zheng Jiamin was reluctant. Recently, Yang Qingqing kept staring at Fu Mingze, which made Zheng Jiamin annoyed. He also didn't think anything could happen in broad daylight.

That's why Shi Wei and the others were in a hurry, while Zheng Jiamin was lagging behind slowly. Now when he heard that there was something exciting to watch, Zheng Jiamin immediately started running.

Fu Mingze ignored it and went straight back to the educated youth site. He fetched some water, washed up quickly, and then leaned against the head of the bed to rest.

There was a stinging pain on the back of his hand. He looked at it and found two broken spots.

It should have been the injury he got when he beat Wang Jinbao before.

Tsk.

Fu Mingze's bunk was at the innermost side, against the wall, with no windows, and the worst light. The door of the dormitory was open, and the midday sun shone on the door, making the room even darker. Fu Mingze closed his eyes slightly in this darkness, and his fingers unconsciously rubbed the wound on the back of his hand.

Why beat Wang Jinbao?

Because I wanted to beat him up half a month ago.

After an unknown amount of time, there were clattering footsteps outside. Zheng Jiamin ran in quickly, holding his stomach and laughing as he said, "Yang Qingqing really had a leg cramp. She must have choked on a lot of water. Her mind was confused and she clung to Shi Wei tightly. Shi Wei insisted that he couldn't swim and asked people to go down to rescue them. He kept calling for a few female comrades. In the end, Zhang Zhiqiang couldn't stand it anymore and went down to pull him up. Well, as a result, Shi Wei stood up straight before the water hit his chest. Hahahaha, in order to coax people to go down, he deliberately kept his knees bent."

"You don't know. Even so, Shi Wei wanted to throw Yang Qingqing to Zhang Zhiqiang. But Zhang Zhiqiang is not stupid. Yang Qingqing has been in the water for so long that she is soaked. She is also unconscious. Physical contact is inevitable. It will be hard to explain in the future."

Moreover, the commotion was so serious that not only the educated youth but also countless members of the commune gathered to watch.

Seeing that Fu Mingze had no expression and looked as if it had nothing to do with him, Zheng Jiamin chuckled and said with a wink, "You were not there. Yang Qingqing hugged Shi Wei so tightly. My God, she was completely entangled with him. However, I don't know if she was really confused. She kept shouting..."

After a pause, Zheng Jiamin said with a strange expression: "She kept shouting, 'Fu Zhiqing, save me! Fu Zhiqing, you are a good person! Fu Zhiqing, please don't abandon me...'"

Zheng Jiamin imitated Yang Qingqing's tone in an artificial way, successfully defeating Fu Mingze, who showed a look of disgust on his face.

Zheng Jiamin burst into laughter: "She really wanted to blackmail you. You don't know how colorful the expressions of the people present were at that time."

Fu Mingze frowned: "Are there many people in the village?"

Zheng Jiamin: "Grandpas, aunts, uncles, aunts, and many children, I guess those who don't have to cook at home all ran out to watch, Comrade Shen Moer..."

Fu Mingze raised his eyes to look at him, but Zheng Jiamin was completely unaware and said with a heavy breath, “Comrade Shen Moer was so close, but she didn’t even come out to watch the fun.”

Fu Mingze breathed a sigh of relief and said, "She should be cooking."

Speaking of Shen Moer, Zheng Jiamin remembered: "By the way, Comrade Shen Moer came to the educated youth site to find you before. She seems to be studying high school lessons on her own and wants you to help tutor her."

Fu Mingze stood up upon hearing this: "I'll go take a look."

He picked up the bamboo basket he had brought to the commune and walked to the entrance of the educated youth site. He happened to meet the large group returning. Shi Wei, who was soaking wet, walked in front with a gloomy face. Yang Qingqing, who was also soaking wet, walked behind with the support of two female educated youth. The others also followed behind them.

Seeing Fu Mingze, Shi Wei rushed over with an angry face: "Fu Mingze, how could you stand by and watch someone die without helping! You are so cold-blooded. We are all educated youth who went to the countryside to work in the production team. Shouldn't we all unite and help each other? Even if we are not educated youth living under the same roof, even if they are members of the production team, or even if they are people you don't know, when you see someone about to drown, shouldn't you lend a helping hand?!"

This is condemning Fu Mingze from a moral high ground.

Fu Mingze said calmly: "I can't swim."

Shi Wei choked and then became furious: "So what if you can't swim? The stream is not deep at all. You just need to go in and give it a pull."

Fu Mingze asked back: "Didn't you go into the water?"

Fu Mingze looked at Shi Wei expressionlessly. Shi Wei felt an inexplicable chill in his heart, unsure whether Fu Mingze had noticed that he had pushed him before.

In fact, Shi Wei suspected that it was Fu Mingze who kicked him into the water. However, he wanted to push someone but missed, and was thrown forward by inertia. Moreover, Fu Mingze seemed to try to stop him when he fell into the water. So Shi Wei suspected that Fu Mingze had accidentally hit him.

No matter what, Shi Wei absolutely dared not mention this matter. After all, he was the one who pushed the person first, and Wang Qiutong was there at the time. If Wang Qiutong stood up to speak for Fu Mingze, he would be in trouble.

When people think too much, they tend to be hesitant and timid, and they won't be as confident, resolute and decisive in what they say and do.

Shi Wei was like this. As various thoughts flashed through his mind, his momentum, which was supported by the anger in his heart, immediately weakened. His voice became several degrees lower: "You can't just watch me go into the water and leave, right?"

Fu Mingze: "You said it all, the water is not deep."

After saying that, he was too lazy to pay any more attention to Shi Wei and just walked through the crowd.

If he wasn't afraid that Shi Wei would get involved with him and cause other troubles, according to Fu Mingze's original personality, he would not bother to say a word to Shi Wei.

As for Yang Qingqing, he didn't even look at her.

Fu Mingze knew that Yang Qingqing wanted to blackmail him. Although he never understood why Yang Qingqing targeted him, Fu Mingze felt that with the brains of Yang Qingqing and Shi Wei, he deserved it if he could be blackmailed by them.

Fu Mingze walked away without looking around, so naturally he didn't notice that Yang Qingqing was staring at him, her eyes revealing terrifying resentment and hatred.

Of course, I wouldn’t care even if I saw Fu Mingze.

After leaving the educated youth camp, Fu Mingze walked all the way to the village entrance. On the way, he met Aunt Cai and her grandson. Aunt Cai took the initiative to greet Fu Mingze with a smile: "Fu educated youth, have you had lunch? Oh, yes, something happened at your educated youth camp, and you haven't had time to make lunch yet, right?"

Fu Mingze nodded in response.

Aunt Cai had obviously come back from watching the fun at the entrance of the village. Whenever she caught someone, she couldn't help but complain: "You city kids are so inexperienced. The stream at the entrance of our village, except for immature kids, how could anyone drown? I think that Yang Zhiqing scared herself. She didn't dare to move in the water and her legs cramped. If she had stood firmly and taken a few steps, she would have climbed out by herself."

She asked Fu Mingze curiously, "It seems that Yang Zhiqing and Shi Zhiqing have a good relationship. They are hugging each other like that. Are they getting married?"

Fu Mingze: “…I don’t know about this either.”

Aunt Cai nodded: "You were not there just now, so you didn't see that scene. Oh my, it was so embarrassing. I didn't even let my little baby see it..."

She continued to talk a lot until her grandson tugged at her clothes and cried out that he was hungry. Then she left with a feeling of unsatisfied desire, muttering as she walked away, "Fu Zhiqing is a really good person. He is knowledgeable and good at chatting."

Fu Mingze, who hadn't walked far yet, said: "..."

In fact, he only said two sentences in total, no more than ten words.

*

Shen Shaoyuan went to work, and Shen Moer ate alone at noon. However, she was used to a life of luxury, and even if she was living in poverty in another world, she would never cook anything casually or even eat coarse food to get by alone.

Aunt Chen's family planted some mung beans this year. Shen Moer exchanged some with her a while ago. At noon, she first cooked a large enamel pot of mung bean soup, then washed the pot, stirred the flour, and made an egg pancake.

The pancake is spread thin and crispy, drizzled with beaten egg liquid, and stuffed with shredded cucumber, green vegetables, green onions and a little minced meat. Roll it up, and take a bite. It’s crispy, crunchy and fragrant.

Paired with sweet mung bean soup, it really complements each other.

The omelet had just come out of the pan when Shen Moer heard a knock on the door. She scooped up the omelet and put it in a basin, wiped her hands and went to open the door.

Opening the gate, Shen Moer saw Fu Mingze standing outside like a small poplar in the midday sun, and a smile appeared on her face unconsciously: "Fu Zhiqing, are you back from the commune?"

Fu Mingze hummed, and then smelled the tempting aroma of the omelet.

As soon as he came out of the educated youth center, he felt as if he had forgotten something. It was not until this moment, when he smelled the aroma of food, that he suddenly realized that it was lunch time and it was not appropriate to come at this time.

But when he heard that Shen Moer had looked for him, he didn't consider anything else.

Shen Moer stepped aside and made way: "Fu Zhiqing, come in first."

Fu Mingze hesitated for a moment, but still followed him into the yard.

Shen Moer: "Fu Zhiqing hasn't had lunch yet, right? I just made some egg pancakes, can we have some together?"

The mixed flour can make three pancakes. Shen Moer had originally planned to bring two for Fu Mingze when she went to see him again. Now that he came by himself, she could just eat a hot pancake.

Since we are looking for someone to teach us, there is no question of tuition, but isn't it only right that we send some food and drinks?

Although the new house was built, Shen Moer and Shen Shaoyuan had not moved in yet. The newly built house was damp, and Shen Shaoyuan was afraid that his daughter's body would be contaminated by the dampness if she lived in such a house, so he planned to let it air out for a while. The father and daughter still lived in the old house and still ate in the kitchen.

Chen Moer originally wanted Fu Mingze to sit in a ventilated place under the eaves for a while, but Fu Mingze put down the bamboo basket and followed her into the kitchen.

Although the Beginning of Autumn has passed and the White Dew is just around the corner, the weather is still very hot and humid, and the kitchen is even hotter.

Shen Moer stirred the flour and gently spread the egg pancakes in the pan. Occasionally, she looked up and saw Fu Mingze sitting behind the stove. The faint light of the fire was reflected on his fair and handsome face, and beads of sweat were shining on his forehead.

In fact, it was just a matter of using one piece of firewood to make two pancakes, but one didn't remind him and the other didn't seem to have thought of it either.

After spreading the pancake, Shen Moer scooped two large bowls of mung bean soup. There was still a little left in the enamel pot, so she put the enamel pot into the water tank to soak it, preparing to save it for Shen Shaoyuan to drink when he came back in the evening.

The kitchen was a little hot, so Shen Moer opened the door after cooking. There was a small table near the door. Shen Moer took two small stools and smiled as she invited Fu Mingze to eat.

The small table and stool were made by the Zhao Zhengyang brothers using the leftover scraps from building the house.

It is not convenient for people in the mountains to buy anything, and they usually have to rely on themselves for everything they have at home.

"I'm studying my high school textbooks on my own. Chinese, politics, history and geography are fine, but math and physics are a bit difficult. Fu Zhiqing should be quite knowledgeable, right? Could you spare some time to teach me in the future?"

Shen Moer put the egg pancake and mung bean soup in front of Fu Mingze and said straight to the point: "I am bribing the teacher in advance, Fu Zhiqing, don't worry about eating."

Fu Mingze raised his eyebrows slightly: "Then I'm welcome."

He picked up the chopsticks and started eating slowly.

After running around all morning, he was actually hungry a long time ago, especially when he stood at the gate of the courtyard and smelled the aroma of egg pancakes, he immediately felt hungry.

The omelet was crispy, salty and fragrant. The mung bean soup had cooled down a bit and was sweet, perfect with the omelet.

Both of them had good eating habits. They didn't talk while eating, and made almost no sound. There were two cakes on Fu Mingze's plate, but when he finished the cakes and drank the mung bean soup, there was still one third of Shen Moer's cake left.

When Shen Moer finished the cakes and mung bean soup, Fu Mingze took the initiative to collect the dishes and wash them: “You cooked, I’ll wash the dishes.”

Shen Moer took the bowl and chopsticks from him again: “Next time, don’t you hurt your hand? It’s just a few bowls, and you can wash them in a short time.”

Fu Mingze glanced at the two wounds on the back of his hand that he had forgotten about, and the corners of his mouth curled up unconsciously. He was not idle either, and swept the floor with a broom.

While working, the two of them discussed the future "teaching arrangements". They were both busy during the day and only had time at noon and in the evening. In order to avoid gossip, Shen Moer also planned to call Aunt Chen's two grandsons who were in elementary school to come and do homework.

After discussing the matter, Fu Mingze stood up to say goodbye. Shen Moer asked him to wait for a moment, then turned around and went into the house to get something out: "This is a burn ointment. It can also be applied to other wounds. The effect is pretty good. Fu Zhiqing, you can try it."

Fu Mingze looked down and saw a round clam oil in her white and rosy palm. He asked in surprise, "You said this is a burn ointment?"

Shen Moer explained: “This clam oil has been used up a long time ago. I washed and dried it. I used it to put some burn ointment.”

It is said to be a burn ointment, but in fact it is a plaster prepared by the imperial physician in the palace during the Daliang period. It can be used for all kinds of injuries such as bruises, scalds and burns.

However, the jar containing the ointment was too delicate and was not suitable for a family that had just spent all their savings to build a new house and was so poor that they could not even afford a new quilt. It happened that the original owner had left behind a few old clam oil shells, so Shen Moer washed the shells, packed some in it and put it outside for emergency use.

Originally, Fu Mingze thought that he didn't need to worry about the minor wound on his hand. It would probably heal on its own the next day or the day after tomorrow, so he didn't even think about using any ointment.

But when he saw the plump clam shell, he couldn't help but take it.

Fu Mingze opened the clam oil shell and took a look. It was a beige paste. At first glance, it really looked a bit like clam oil, and it also had a faint fragrance. He applied a little on the back of his hand. It felt cool and quite comfortable.

"This is for you. Keep it for tomorrow. If it's not healed yet, apply some more." Shen Moer said.

Fu Mingze nodded, and without further ado, he put the things away directly, then took out a paper bag from the bamboo basket he brought, and handed it to Shen Moer: "This is a return gift."

Shen Moer didn't expect that after she only gave him a plaster that was not much bigger than a fingernail, he would immediately take out a return gift. The paper bag was bulging, and there must be a lot of things inside.

But she quickly realized that returning the gift was probably just an excuse. The things were probably prepared long ago. No wonder he didn't refuse when she asked him to have dinner with her.

Shen Moer then said, "I haven't paid the teacher any tuition yet, but I'm accepting a gift from the teacher. Isn't that inappropriate?"

Fu Mingze looked at her with a smile in his eyes and said, "You only asked me to teach you what you don't understand, so I can't be considered a teacher."

Shen Moer said confidently: "There may be more things I don't understand than you think."

Fu Mingze simply opened the paper bag himself and took out a piece of neatly folded aqua blue cotton cloth: "Don't you and Uncle Shen Qi want to save cloth coupons to buy cloth for a new quilt? This piece of cloth should be enough for a quilt."

Shen Moer knew very well how rare fabrics were in this world. In the past, Liu Yinshuang had a big fight with the salesperson at the supply and marketing cooperative in order to buy some defective fabrics without any tickets.

There was no shortage of silks and satins in the treasury, but there was no ordinary cotton or linen.

Shen Shaoyuan asked Xu Weiguo to help him exchange cloth coupons. After such a long time, he only exchanged a few feet of cloth, which was still far from enough to make a quilt.

If Fu Mingze wanted to give her something else, Shen Moer would definitely say that she would not accept it no matter what. But what he gave her was cloth, just enough to make a quilt. Shen Moer couldn't say no.

"This is too expensive, Fu Zhiqing. I definitely can't accept it as a gift, but my family really needs it. Can I exchange it with you? Can you tell me how much the total amount is?"

After thinking it over, Shen Moer felt that she really couldn't miss this opportunity to get a quilt of bedding fabric. So she said it was an exchange, but in fact she just wanted Fu Mingze to calculate the appropriate price.

Fu Mingze was about to say that he didn't need money when he heard Shen Moer add, "Fu Zhiqing, you also said last time that you were a little tight financially. If you don't want money, I definitely can't accept it."

Fu Mingze choked and said, "This was sent by my friend who is financially well-off. My original bedding is still in good condition and I really don't need it. I'm just lending it to you."

Shen Moer remembered that he had said last time that he had a good friend whose family was relatively well-off. It seemed that the friend knew that Fu Zhiqing was in financial difficulty, so he took the initiative to send him things.

The more this was the case, the less likely Shen Moer would accept Fu Mingze's things for nothing.

Everyone knows their own family's own affairs. Her family only looks poor on the surface, but there are actually many things in the treasure house. If they search around, they will always find something that can be exchanged for money. Besides, she and her father both have jobs now, and their combined monthly salary is 30 yuan, which is considered a high income in the village.

Both father and daughter are now worried about how to continue to maintain the image of a poor household.

Since her family is not really poor, how can she accept things from people who are really financially strapped for money? When Shen Moer thought about it, she felt guilty.

She resolutely refused to accept it: "Fu Zhiqing, in fact, if you take this piece of cloth out, you can exchange it for a lot of things with the villagers, and you can also make a new set of clothes for yourself. I am already very grateful that you are willing to give it to me. How can I be so shameless as to take it from you for free? If I can't help someone in need, I can't do anything to make it worse, right?"

Fu Mingze: “…”

I don’t know whether I should be happy that my image as a poor person is so deeply rooted in people’s hearts.

Fu Mingze couldn't convince Shen Moer, so he had to compromise and offer a price that was one-third less than the actual price. "You said last time that your family is financially tight, and you don't have much money to build a new house. I don't think there will be much money left after the house is built, and it will cost a lot to buy furniture and daily necessities. I am not financially well-off, but I live and eat at the educated youth site, and I don't spend much money on daily life. In fact, my life is better than yours, so Comrade Shen Moer, you don't have to be polite to me."

Shen Moer: “…”

Yes, her family was so poor that they would fight for six baskets of bricks.

One of them wanted the other to charge more money to alleviate the difficult financial situation, while the other wanted the other to pay less money so as not to bring greater financial pressure to the already poor family. They both tried every means to persuade the other. In the end, Shen Moli bought the cloth for less than a quarter of the market price.

After the payment was made, both of them sighed secretly in their hearts.

There's nothing you can do about it. Who makes her/him pretend to be poor?

In the evening, Shen Shaoyuan, who had just returned from get off work, learned that Fu Zhiqing had sent their family a piece of cloth enough to make a quilt. He also sighed that Fu Zhiqing was really a person with a cold face but a warm heart. Even though he was so poor, he was unwilling to charge them a penny more. He was really a man of noble character.

Because of helping to build the new house, Shen Shaoyuan had a pretty good impression of Fu Mingze. He even privately thought that this kid had decent knowledge and personality, and his appearance was rare and one in a hundred, the tallest among the short guys. Judging from the people he had come into contact with in Yangliu Brigade and even Liuqiao Commune, he was indeed a relatively suitable candidate for the county horse.

However, Shen Shaoyuan and Shen Moer had the same idea. They felt that Fu Mingze, with his somewhat arrogant personality, would definitely not be willing to be a live-in son-in-law. So both father and daughter thought Fu Mingze was pretty good, but coincidentally, they had never really thought about recruiting Fu Mingze as a live-in son-in-law.

"Xu Weiguo introduced someone to me. He's a skilled worker in a textile factory. He sounds decent. Can we meet on the weekend?" While having dinner at night, Shen Shaoyuan told her about how Xu Weiguo had helped her find a date.

"OK."

Shen Moer responded.

She was originally planning to go to the commune to buy some things needed for her family at the weekend, so it wouldn't delay anything if she met him by the way.

Shen Moer planned to look at more people. After all, if she met more often, maybe she would meet someone as good-looking as Fu Zhiqing.