"Being an official... oh no, being a captain is to serve the people, there's no need to be afraid of troubles," Gu Bao said with a righteous look on his face, "Dad, you need to improve your ideological awareness."

Gu Tiezhu looked at the dough in his hand, then looked at Lao Laizi's hypocritical face, and he endured it. If he had a brick in his hand, he would have smashed it long ago.

Zhang Cuifen saw her son's eyes rolling around and knew that he was plotting something. "Are you thinking that when your brother becomes the captain, he will give you some easy work to do?"

It is said that no one knows a child better than his mother. When she saw Gu Bao coughing repeatedly because of the vegetable soup, she knew that this was true.

"As soon as you move your butt, I know what you are going to say." Zhang Cuifen saw that they were almost done eating, so she stood up to collect the bowls. "If your eldest brother becomes the captain, you brothers will have to work harder to avoid gossip. It's fine if your third brother and his wife are in the city and haven't come back, but if you dare to be lazy and go out, don't say you are our Gu family's child."

"Other people's old sons are treasures, but ours are weeds." After Gu Bao finished drinking the vegetable soup and eating the last bran bun, he looked at his eldest brother eagerly and said, "My father and mother don't love me now. Only my three brothers love me."

Gu Jin helped collect the chopsticks and said with a silly smile, "Okay, when I become the captain, I will definitely leave the best jobs for you."

"...Big brother!" Gu Bao licked his face as if he was still the big brother who was nice to me, and Gu Tiezhu snorted and laughed without looking at him.

"Defecation, ammonia and well digging are all good. Abao, which one do you like?" Gu Jin still had an honest and simple smile on his face.

Han Lianxin saw that her brother-in-law immediately changed into a bitter and resentful look, and laughed out loud: "Brother, these jobs you mentioned are all lucrative. For hauling 400 kilograms of ammonia for 30 kilometers, you can earn 12 work points and 30 cents. I think Abao is a good fit."

Seeing that his second sister-in-law was also teasing him, Gu Bao hid away with his head in his hands: "If you continue like this, I will become the younger brother of the idiot next door."

"Okay," Gu Tiezhu threw a hoe to him and sneered, "Don't think you can get away from work by going to Erlangzi's house. Hurry up and weed the vegetable garden in the backyard."

Every household has been allocated three acres of private land in front of or behind the house. Now during the busy farming season, people get up early and go to work in the dark to harvest the vegetables. The grass in the private vegetable plots is now half a person tall.

The eldest daughter-in-law of the Gu family, Shi Rushuang, and the second daughter-in-law, Han Lianxin, followed Zhang Cuifen to the kitchen to wash the dishes. The other grandfathers in the family went to their private plots, some weeding and some watering.

Gu Qingqing usually doesn't need to do this kind of housework. The most abundant thing in the Gu family is labor. There are more than ten men of all ages. In the words of grandma, "There are so many old and young men in the family. There is no need for a girl like us, Qingqing, to help out."

Gu Qingqing looked up at the moon and estimated that it was already past ten o'clock. She picked up a bundle of dry firewood from outside and went to the kitchen to boil water for a bath.

There are many people in the family and many pots. There are three large iron pots lined up side by side on a big stove, and Gu Xiong had already filled the pots with water.

Sitting on the small stool in front of the stove, he picked up a bundle of dry bamboo leaves and rolled them into a ball. He took out a matchbox and struck it twice, and the flame instantly ignited.

She used a flintlock to pick up the fire and put it into the stove. Gu Qingqing also chopped the firewood into pieces so that it would be easier to burn.

When the fire was burning, she added a few large tree roots and divided them between the other two stoves. She patted the ashes off her hands, thinking of what Aunt Zhao had said, and asked absentmindedly, "Mother, do you think Dad has a chance of becoming a captain?"

Shi Rushuang was washing dishes, and upon hearing this she laughed, "Who knows? I don't know where Aunt Zhao got the news from, but the captain is indeed old now, and it's time for him to retire."

As for Gu Jin, she knew from the moment she married him that he was a kind-hearted and steady person. She felt that her man could take on important responsibilities as the captain.

Gu Qingqing nodded, "I don't think my father has this idea..."

The mother and daughter were talking in the kitchen, while Zhang Cuifen and her second daughter-in-law were in the room, lighting kerosene lamps and sewing cloth shoes with thousand-layer soles for the men in the family. After the busy farming season, the laborers in the family would go to dig canals, quarry rocks, and repair river dikes. They would have to use up two pairs of shoes a month.

The night in Datun Village is quiet. Occasionally, you can hear a few cicadas chirping. The men are working in the backyard, and the women are chatting about family matters.

“Woof woof——”

Hearing the barking of a dog, Zhang Cuifen twisted the needle and rubbed it on her hair a few times. She held the thimble in her hand against the end of the needle and continued to put the soles in: "Jianshan is out on patrol. It looks like it's half past eleven. I'll finish sewing the uppers." Just go and rest. You have to work early tomorrow morning. Don't secretly light a lamp and sew in oil at night, or you may damage your eyes. "

She warned her second daughter-in-law: "Listen to your mother, it won't take a while."

"Yeah!" Han Lianxin grinned, "I'll listen to my mother." She has been married to the Gu family for more than ten or twenty years and has never suffered any grievances from her in-laws. It's just that the man is a little dull, but Gu Yin is actually a very thoughtful person.

I used to often hear that Gu’s family is good, and now I understand it even more deeply.

"Qingqing." Xue Jianshan, holding a yellow dog in his right hand and a puppy in his left hand, shouted towards the gate of Gu's courtyard with full energy.

Gu Bao had sharp ears. When he heard Xue Jianshan's voice, he dropped his hoe and ran away quickly: "The militia battalion commander, Old Xue, is here. Dad, I'll go see what he wants."

Gu Tiezhu rolled his eyes. This kid was fiddling around here and there. This was finally an opportunity for him to be lazy. He would probably not come to work anymore.

Looking at the diligent eldest brother, the taciturn second brother who was working hard, and the eldest grandson who was digging the soil with a grunt, Gu Tiezhu felt somewhat comforted.

If you don't want to come, then don't come. If you come, you'll just be showing off.

Fortunately, I still have two useful sons and several hardworking grandsons.

He no longer has any hope for his younger son.

"Mother," Gu Qingqing also heard the call, "Uncle Xue called me, please help me watch the water, it's almost time to boil, don't forget to back out the firewood."

"Okay, okay, mom is not the idiot next door." Shi Rushuang found it a little funny.

Erlangzi next door is a name passed down in Datun Village. He does not live next door to the Gu family, but exists in the spoken language of generations when scolding others. Every household mentions Erlangzi next door when they talk about who is stupid.

In fact, there is no such person.

Gu Bao always felt sorry for him: "It's hard for a fool to live like this. He has lived for hundreds of years and has been both a grandfather and a grandson. He is in every household next door."

"Qingqing, this is the dog you wanted." Xue Jianshan saw her running out, and handed the puppy to Gu Qingqing by its neck. Seeing the joy and curiosity in her eyes, he said, "Don't worry, it won't bite."

Gu Qingqing then took the puppy with confidence. The puppy was just like its mother, the Dahuang dog that Xue Jianshan was holding. It was a yellow local dog with big eyes and looked ignorant.

Gu Qingqing gently rubbed the soft fur on its head. The little yellow dog let out a "wool" and lay comfortably in her arms.

"It seems that this puppy likes you very much." Xue Jianshan said with a smile.

"Excuse me, Uncle Xue."

"No trouble." It happened that Dahuang had just given birth to a few puppies, and when he heard Qingqing say that she wanted to adopt one, he sent one over.

"Old Xue!" Gu Bao came over happily. When he saw the dog in his niece's hand, he immediately understood what was going on: "Hasn't you named it Qingqing? How about we give it one?"

Gu Qingqing really hadn't figured out what to do yet, so she looked at the person next to her.

"Uncle Xue..."

Xue Jianshan shook his head helplessly: "Don't count on me. My Dahuang was named by the director of public security."

Gu Qingqing: “…Okay.” She sighed.

The Gu family is not very good at naming. Like her father and several uncles, they were named gold, silver, wealth and treasure. When her two older brothers were just born, her grandfather, with a red face and rubbing his hands, gave them two resounding names, Gousheng and Goudan. When her mother heard these, she almost fainted from tears. Fortunately, it was her grandfather who gave them new names later.

Gu Bao took the little yellow dog from Gu Qingqing's hand and put it on the ground to play with it. He also liked small animals very much. Seeing his niece scratching her ears and cheeks, he suddenly had an idea -

"How about calling me Iron Hammer? Yeah, I can still be of the same generation as my father." Gu Bao felt more and more satisfied as he thought about it. He patted the little yellow dog on the head and said, "I see you like it too. It's settled then. According to the generation points, I still have to call you Uncle Dog!"

Xue Jianshan's mouth twitched when he heard this. It had been a while since the old man from the Gu family had been acting out of tune with him. Now that he was used to it, he didn't think it was that ridiculous anymore.

Gu Qingqing also squatted down and muttered, "It sounds okay, but it seems a little familiar..."

"You're asking for a beating, Gu Bao," Gu Tiezhu just put down his hoe when he heard Gu Bao talking nonsense. He slapped Gu Bao in the face and knocked him to the ground: "You are really the eldest son of our Gu family."

Gu Bao lay on the ground with his arms and legs spread out, covering his head with his hands, looking aggrieved: "You don't like me giving the dog a name?" It was true that Tiezhu was an old fool. He just didn't like anything about him.

Gu Tiezhu pulled up his granddaughter who was squatting on the ground, and kicked Gu Bao on the butt: "You still have the nerve to yell in front of your father, naming the dog after your uncle. I think it's been three days since I spanked you, right?!"

Gu Qingqing slapped her head, feeling a little annoyed.

No wonder she said the name sounded familiar, it turned out to be from her grandfather Gu Tiechui.

Xue Jianshan couldn't hold back the smile on his face, and his shoulders trembled. The old man from the Gu family was always making a fuss. He cleared his throat and said, "Uncle Tiezhu, I'm going to patrol the streets. You should go to bed early."

After saying this, he led Dahuang and walked briskly to the other side.