Chapter 5 Chapter 5 If you meet someone suitable, you can also get married in the countryside...

In the evening, every household ran to the threshing ground to wait for the team to distribute grain. Everyone's face was filled with joy, and the children were even more excited. The braver ones would take the opportunity to beg their parents to cook them a meal for dinner.

There has been no busy work in the fields recently, so families are eating very simply. Some who are particularly good at calculating simply don't cook dinner and save a meal.

But distributing food is a happy thing after all. Isn't it just for this little bit of food that people endure the wind and snow and the scorching sun all year round? This is the harvest time after hard work. Many parents are rarely generous and wave their hands to say, "Make a meal and eat as much as you want!"

The crowd suddenly burst into cheers from children.

The educated youths also mixed in the crowd. Zheng Jiamin said cheerfully, "Why don't we make a dry meal tonight? I haven't felt full for a long time."

Many educated youth showed expressions of interest. Zhang Zhiqiang frowned and said, "What if the food is gone before we get it distributed? Will we starve to death? Or will we faint in the field like Shen Moer you mentioned?"

Zheng Jiamin: "...No, then no, why are you dragging Chen Moer, what you said is too harsh."

Zhang Zhiqiang: “I told the truth.”

As he spoke, he glanced at Fu Mingze. Zhang Zhiqiang was one of the first batch of people to go to the countryside, earlier than Fu Mingze and Zheng Jiamin, and was the "head" of the educated youth center. Although this head was not a formal official, Zhang Zhiqiang still cared about him. There were so many educated youths who came before and after, why did the team choose him to be the head? Wasn't it because he was excellent?

Zhang Zhiqiang felt good about himself and thought he was an outstanding young man, but in his heart he was secretly afraid of Fu Mingze.

Fu Mingze was well-educated, good-looking, and a native of the capital. Although he didn't talk much, the other educated youth were very impressed by him and thought he was knowledgeable, especially the female educated youth. They basically supported whatever Fu Mingze said unconditionally, which made Zhang Zhiqiang feel a sense of crisis.

Zhang Zhiqiang glanced at Fu Mingze's patched clothes and thought to himself, so what if he's from the capital, isn't he still so poor that he doesn't even have a decent piece of clothing?

Thinking of this, I felt relieved for some reason.

Fu Mingze didn't notice Zhang Zhiqiang's look at all. He heard the conversation between Zheng Jiamin and Zhang Zhiqiang, but he was thinking about whether he could find a reason to take a leave and go to the county to have a good meal in the next few days.

There were many people and eyes at the educated youth site, so he never stored anything there. He would go to the county every once in a while to get a bite to eat, but the frequency was not very high. After all, the educated youth lived together, and there were people watching every little movement.

Fu Mingze couldn't help but think of the night before he went to the countryside, when his grandfather told him earnestly: "It is said that poverty should not be revealed, and wealth should not be revealed. I think it is really not okay to show off your wealth nowadays, but you can show off your poverty. When you go to the countryside, just pretend that you are an orphan without a father or a mother, who is poor and destitute."

My father stroked his glasses and said, "Yes, just pretend to be poor. The poorer the better. We will prepare the oldest and most worn clothes and bedding for you. I think the trend will not change for a while. If you meet the right person in the future, you can get married and settle down in the countryside. The conditions don't have to be too strict. Eight generations of poor peasants, three generations of poor peasants, etc. are all fine. Otherwise, if you waste half your life in the countryside, you can't always be a bachelor, right?"

The other people in the family echoed the words, and grandma even sighed, "Thank goodness your mom gave you a handsome face. With this face, you can at least trick a girl into giving you a girl, right?"

After hearing all of their chatter, the atmosphere of panic, impending disaster, and the idea of ​​being separated from each other disappeared completely, and Fu Mingze went back to his room with a gloomy face to pack his luggage.

However, Fu Mingze also knew that what the elders in his family said was not entirely unreasonable.

His elders sent him to the countryside before something happened at home. There was nothing wrong with his household registration file, and most people would not investigate it thoroughly. But if he was too ostentatious and attracted attention, there would be trouble. So after going to the countryside, he still followed the instructions of his elders and tried hard to pretend to be poor.

At first, he would reveal his true colors on the train, as the educated youth traveling with him would secretly ask him if his family had once been wealthy. Later, he secretly observed the poorest people in the carriage and learned their words and actions. By the time he got off the train, he had almost no flaws.

Now that I have lived in Yangliu Brigade for more than nine months, I am naturally familiar with the situation.

It is indeed inconvenient for so many people to live together.

"If you meet someone suitable in the future, you can get married and settle down in the countryside... You can't always be single..."

Thinking of what his father said, Fu Mingze's face darkened.

The only advantage of getting married and settling down in the countryside is probably that you can move out of the educated youth center and no longer have to live together with so many people.

However, although the houses in the countryside are more spacious than those in the city, there are actually more people than in the city. Almost every family has a large group of brothers and sisters. Some families have not separated, and several generations live together. When they have a meal, they can sit at several tables.

It may not be quieter than the educated youth camp.

Besides, no matter what, he would not sell himself just for a place to live.

While the educated youths were bickering, not far away Cao Mei was scolding her two grandsons with a gloomy face: "Eat, eat, eat, all you know is to eat. There's no food left, what's the point of eating! Forget about eating rice, even porridge won't be available! You're all debt collectors and ungrateful bastards!"

The ten-year-old child just followed other children and said a few words that he wanted to eat dry rice, but his grandmother caught him and scolded him. He immediately wilted like a seedling hit by a rainstorm.

Shen Lingling, who was standing nearby, couldn't bear to watch and advised, "Aunt San, Xiaowei and the others are just happy about the food distribution, why are you scolding them?"

Then he took out a candy from his bag and stuffed it into Xiaowei's hand: "Share it with your brother."

In fact, Cao Mei already had some resentment towards Tian Fang. The grain was clearly shared by the two families, but in the end, she was the one who was gossiped about.

However, Shen Lingling was a private teacher at the village primary school, and the children at home had to rely on her to take care of them at school. Besides, she was given a candy, so Cao Mei couldn't be rude to her, so she replied awkwardly and asked, "Where's your mother?"

Tian Fang naturally felt ashamed and stayed at home.

Shen Lingling was actually a little annoyed that her mother was short-sighted and had tarnished her family's good reputation for a few dozen kilograms of grain. But now that things had come to this, she still had to protect her mother's reputation, so she said, "She is not feeling well. Besides, my second brother and I can do the hard work of moving grain."

Her second brother Shen Jianshe was also there.

Cao Mei choked. The men in her family had gone to repair the reservoir during the day. When they came back and heard that Shen Laoqi had come to their house to ask for food, they felt it was too embarrassing to come and wait for the distribution of food. Her daughter-in-law had also disappeared long ago, and in the end, she was the only adult in her family who came.

Although both of them lost face, the treatment she and Tian Fang received was completely different.

This scene was naturally seen by many people. Zhang Zhiqiang once again sighed: "Comrade Shen Lingling is really a beautiful person with a kind heart."

This time, Zheng Jiamin didn't argue with him. Shen Lingling was a good comrade with a beautiful and kind heart, which was recognized by the male educated youth...Except for Fu Mingze, he seemed to never comment on the appearance of female comrades.

Soon the food distribution began.

The first few teams went smoothly, and when they reached the eighth team and were assigned to Shen Laoer's home, Zhou Peijun stepped forward and explained the situation to the team leader and the team accountant.

Team leader Zhou Mancang frowned. Their Yangliu Brigade was one of the largest villages in the surrounding area. From time to time, they would compete for honors from the commune or even the county. What the families of Shen Laoer and Shen Laosan had done really tarnished the reputation of the brigade.

However, he did not want to make such a scandal worse, so he signaled the accountant Ding Shouchang to follow Zhou Peijun's instructions and quickly replenish the food supply to Shen Laoqi's family.

"Has Shen Laoqi's family arrived?" Ding Shouchang calculated the weight, asked someone to divide out some of Shen Laoer's food, and shouted loudly.

"Here we come." Shen Shaoyuan supported Shen Moer and slowly came out from behind the crowd, explaining as he walked, "My house is leaking, the quilt and mattress are all wet, and it took some time to move in and out. I'm late, late."

The enthusiastic Aunt Chen immediately said, "Oh, the quilt and mattress are all wet. The sun can't dry them through. What are you going to do tonight?"

Shen Shaoyuan smiled naively: "The weather is getting warmer, it's okay not to cover yourself with a blanket. It has been raining for a while, and we have been through it this way."

Aunt Chen frowned: "No wonder your daughter Moer caught a cold. The weather is hot, but it's still cold in the middle of the night. How can she not cover herself with anything?"

Shen Shaoyuan looked helpless: "There's nothing I can do. Fortunately, the sun is out today and the clothes are all dry. I'll just cover myself with a few clothes at night."

The bedding and clothes were all soaked. Aunt Chen sighed, "Then you have to repair the house quickly while the weather is fine."

Shen Shaoyuan also sighed: "I did climb up and fix it this afternoon, but many of the tiles were broken, so I could only put the tiles in the corners together in the middle. I really don't have money to buy tiles."

He didn't say that it was his daughter who repaired the roof. His daughter was "sick", and the original Shen Moer didn't have the skills of his daughter.

It’s not that I don’t have money, otherwise my daughter wouldn’t have fainted from hunger.

Aunt Chen glanced at the people in the homes of the second and third Shens, and said meaningfully, "Your house is the landlord's firewood room. How can it be a good house? You are just too easy to talk to. Back then, your father... Oh!"

After all, it was someone else's family affair, so Aunt Chen swallowed the words back when they came to her lips. Shen Laoqi couldn't stand up on his own, so no matter how much others said, it would be useless.

Aunt Chen thought that even if she brought up the topic, Shen Laoqi, an honest man, would not dare to mention the house. Unexpectedly, Shen Laoqi grabbed her and choked loudly, "Aunt Chen, you understand me! I'm just too easy to talk to! My father built a big blue brick and tile house for me. I wasn't married at that time, and I lent it to my nephews because I wanted them to get married first. After I got married, they said they were used to living there and it would be troublesome to move, so they bought the house for me from the team. In fact, it doesn't matter to me. It doesn't matter where I live. My wife is also a kind person. She escaped from famine and has suffered all kinds of hardships. She doesn't care about these things, but, but my Mo'er can't do that, wuwuwu!"

Not to mention Aunt Chen, everyone nearby who was waiting for food distribution was startled by him.

This Shen Laoqi has always been a man who can't get anything out of people even if you hit him with three sticks. If a problem can be solved with two words, he will never say three words, and he usually doesn't speak loudly. His family has a very low sense of presence in the village.

Who would have thought it would suddenly break out today?

Some people said before that because Shen Moer fainted from hunger, Shen Laoqi was shocked and suddenly became like a different person. It seems to be true!

"My house is two big rooms made of blue bricks and tiles. My father invested all the money he had for me to marry a wife into it, and also spent the little dowry my mother brought over. They hoped that even after they were gone, I would be able to start a family and live a good life."

Shen Shaoyuan shed tears and said: "I have failed my parents' efforts!"

It's not appropriate for a grown man to cry, but maybe it was because Shen Laoqi cried too hard or what, the onlookers felt that they didn't feel uncomfortable watching Shen Laoqi cry.

Nonsense, if her crying made people uncomfortable, how could she have fooled her brother who was the emperor for decades?

Someone in the crowd said, "Oh, what shall we do?"

This is actually just an exclamation. Who knows that Shen Shaoyuan wiped his tears and his eyes suddenly became firm: "I want to change the house back!"