Chapter 263: Red Hot 263: OK

The boy curled up and dared not move.

After a while, he tentatively moved his numb feet and gently pushed the half-asleep Tuan Tuan next to him, "Brother."

Tuantuan opened his eyes and looked at him in confusion.

"My feet are cold." His voice was soft, a little aggrieved.

There was no charcoal stove in the room, and he had not moved for a while, so his feet were cold and numb.

"My feet are cold too. Go to sleep nicely, and you won't be cold when you fall asleep." Tuantuan imitated A'niang and patted his back: "Be good, Niannian." He yawned as he spoke, he was really very sleepy.

"Okay." Xiao Niannian pouted, closed his eyes and fell asleep next to his brother's little head.

While half asleep, he felt a warm hand picking up his feet, and they soon warmed up.

Gu Qingqing woke up and turned to ask the man next to her: "Aren't these two kids using the heater? Why are their feet so cold?" She put her hands on her eldest son's feet, grabbed his little feet and placed them on her legs to keep them warm.

Tuan Tuan slept more comfortably every day, with no intention of waking up. Her fair little face was slightly red from being suffocated by the quilt.

"You must have gotten cold playing outside." The man said lazily, "Your socks are too thin. It's much colder here than in Nanyang. Dad said it might snow in the next two days."

There are mountains everywhere here. It is especially cold at night and in the early morning. The water in the fields will freeze. Looking out, the mountains in the distance are all covered in white frost.

Gu Qingqing nestled in the man's arms, holding her son's feet with her hands, and said softly, "Then you have to get another quilt from the closet tonight."

"Okay, I'll listen to you."

Xiao Xingxing and Jiaojiao are very good sleepers and have not woken up yet. The siblings are still young and don't turn over much.

Tuan Tuan was very noisy when she fell asleep every year, and she would kick the quilt. She would often feel cold in the middle of the night and the quilt would fall to the ground.

They rarely sleep with their parents now. They are three years old and can sleep by themselves.

In Nanyang, I slept in the room next to mine on the second floor, and sometimes I went to the third floor to visit my two uncles.

Sometimes I would climb onto my parents' bed in the middle of the night and squeeze in between them.

Gu Qingqing caught a cold several times because of them, and the two brothers were scolded by Chu Dai for a long time. Now they cover themselves with a separate quilt when sleeping with them.

Fortunately, the bed at home was big enough. Xiao Xingxing and Jiaojiao slept against the wall, and the two brothers slept at the other end, with their feet stretched out next to their younger siblings, while Gu Qingqing nestled in the man's arms.

Chu Dai looked sideways and saw that it was not too late outside. "I'll take a nap." He hadn't slept yet. The little guy was restless, and his wife was beside him, nudging him all the way.

"Go to sleep." Gu Qingqing covered her eldest son's little feet with her left hand and patted his back with her right hand: "Be good."

"..." The man laughed: "Tuantuan just coaxed Nian Nian in the same way."

"Oh?" Gu Qingqing just woke up and had no idea what had happened before.

She thought for a moment and said, "Brother, be good and go to sleep." She patted his waist from time to time.

The man snorted and laughed: "Got it, sister."

Gu Qingqing rested her head on his neck, trembling with laughter.

Chu Dai was really sleepy. He leaned over to pick up his watch from the bedside table and saw that it was only five forty-three.

There are still more than two hours before dinner.

With his legs wrapped around his son's feet, he turned over and held the woman tightly in his arms, holding her waist with his hands and resting his chin on her hair: "Sleep a little longer, sister."

"Okay, brother." Gu Qingqing yawned. She felt a little sleepy again after hearing what he said. It is good to sleep in winter.

Gu Jin chatted with his in-laws for a while, then went to the brigade headquarters to look for the accountant to look at the account book for the distribution of fish and meat, and took them for a stroll in the village.

"The team settled the work points two days ago and distributed the grain per person. Yesterday, we cleaned the pond and killed pigs and distributed fish and meat. We can have another good New Year this year." He smiled naively and seemed like an honest man.

Qin Zhou was a little curious: "My dear, how is the food distributed to those households that are short of food?"

Chu Yuan couldn't help laughing when he heard this. It was a rare opportunity for him to tease his old friend: "Look at the two-story red brick buildings everywhere. Are there any households that are short of food?"

There were two types of households that were short of food in the Invincible Production Team. One was people like Zhang Bufan who were extremely lazy and refused to work for the team because they thought it was too tiring and they could not earn any work points. They had to rely on their mother and brothers for support and wait for food support when the team settled its accounts.

Every year the team would reserve a portion of food to help those in food shortage.

The second situation is that there is no labor in the family, and the elderly, widowed, women, girls and children cannot earn work points from working, and therefore cannot exchange them for food to fill their stomachs.

Before Gu Jin took over, there were many households in the Wudi Production Team that were short of food. Some children had lost both their parents and had separated from their families early on, living alone and usually relying on the little food given by their neighbors to survive.

We are not rich, and there are so many mouths to feed at home, so it’s good to be able to give a little. It’s also hard to bear to see the children suffer.

At that time, grain production was also low. If there was a drought or flood, the grain that was harvested would be very little, and people still had to pay the public grain.

Everyone is busy taking care of themselves, let alone others.

A few years ago, Gu Jin was elected as the team leader without knowing it. He led the Gu family, young and old, to break stones, build river embankments and reservoirs, and worked with the Red Flag and Red Star Production Team to build a hydroelectric power station.

Droughts, floods and floods were solved, and grain production was increased through deep plowing and composting. With the help of the educated youth, the production team planted economic crops such as ramie, cotton, and traditional Chinese medicine.

All the vacant land that can be developed in Datunzi Village and Dagouzi Village has been developed to grow herbs and rapeseed.

When the team had a little money, they bought a rice mill and set up an oil press. Since the land was too barren, they dug a fish pond.

There is no one in the team who is short of food now.

After paying the public rations and distributing the grain, the brigade would habitually store some grain every year in case of emergency.

The rest will support some surrounding counties and cities. Some places are too barren, with bare mountains and even wild vegetables cannot be found.

After listening to Gu Jin's explanation, Mr. Qin also suddenly realized.

The words came to my lips, but I swallowed them back.

He also knew in his heart that the situation of the Invincible Production Team was only accidental. The villagers and educated youth in the brigade were united, and the brigade leader and the party branch secretary dared to think and act.

Qin Wu withstood the pressure from the commune, slammed the table and glared at his superiors, but Gu Jin covered it up. Gu Jin then played the good guy and tried hard to persuade the leaders to speak well of Qin Wu.

Because they have the support of the Gu family, Gu Jin only needs to give the word and the Gu family will take the lead in doing the work. When the villagers were not optimistic about the construction of the river embankment and reservoir, it was the Gu family who took the lead in doing the work.

Chu Yuan knew what his old friend was thinking and patted him on the shoulder: "Don't bother yourself. You and I both know that it's easy for brothers to have conflicts. This model can only work here."

The most incredible thing is that the educated youth regarded this place as their home. Villagers from other places and the educated youth sometimes disliked each other. The villagers thought that the educated youth were lazy and uninhibited and were here to share their food.

Most of the educated youth also looked down on them.

Not to mention the hard work of the production team in planting and developing the economy.

Old Qin was very insightful. He didn't need to explain much. I understood it after just a moment's thought. I nodded and said nothing more.

"Captain, is this your relative? Where are you going?" Someone was standing at the door chatting casually.

"Yes, my relative. Let's go to the brigade headquarters and take a look. What are you doing standing outside the door in such a cold weather?" Gu Jin slowed down his pace and asked with a smile on his face.

"The girl is going to bring her aunt back to celebrate the New Year, so she is waiting here," the villagers said, and then they teased him, "Aren't you also thinking about Qingqing and the others coming back day and night?"

Gu Jin rubbed his hands, laughed twice, nodded, and walked forward while talking to his in-laws.

"Our rapeseed oil is still at the oil mill. I'll take you there later. It's just in time to get the oil back so we can fry New Year's goods tomorrow."

Fried fish, fried meat and fried pancakes are made every year.

"good."

It was nearly seven o'clock when Gu Qingqing woke up. There was no light or shadow outside. She blinked and nudged the man next to her: "Brother?"

"Yeah." Chu Dai tilted his head: "What's wrong?"

"Go turn on the light. I can't see."

Chu Dai raised his foot and kicked his son: "Wake up, Chu Jinghong, Chu Liuying, don't sleep any more, it's time to eat."

"Oh, I see." Niannian woke up rubbing his eyes, jumped out of bed, touched the coat he used as a pillow and started to put it on.

"Turn on the light." the man reminded him.

The boy put on his shoes along the bed, then slowly groped along the wall. When he felt the door frame, he stood on tiptoe to look for the switch.

Gu Qingqing was somewhat speechless and pinched the man's soft flesh: "You're so lazy."

"That's enough." Chu Dai lowered his head and kissed her forehead: "Get up."

The family of six arrived downstairs at ten past seven. The main room was very lively with many people coming to visit.

When Qian Guihua saw her, she shouted loudly, "Hey, how long has it been since our Qingqing came back? Do you still recognize your aunt?"

Gu Qingqing handed her daughter in her arms to her second brother, "Ah Sui, go get the milk powder from your bag and make two bottles."

"Okay." Shen Sui responded and left.

Then, she walked over to sit next to Qian Guihua, took her arm and said coquettishly: "Auntie, aren't you insulting me? Everyone knows that you have been treating me well since I was a child. I am also thinking about you in my heart."

"You are still so sweet, kid." Qian Guihua was dizzy from being shaken by her. "Xiaoyu will return to her parents' home on the second day of the Chinese New Year. You two sisters can meet each other then."

Thinking of something, she asked again: "When did you go to your grandmother's house to pay New Year's greetings?"

Gu Qingqing looked at Shi Rushuang subconsciously: "Mother, when are you leaving?"

Qian Guihua laughed when she heard this, and said to Shi Rushuang, who was holding Tuan Tuan by the fire, "Look at her, she's already a mother, but she still looks like a child."

"That's right." Shi Rushuang said helplessly, "It's the habit of her family. Before she got married, her grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins ​​spoiled her. After she got married, her husband gave in to her in everything, her father-in-law indulged her, and her brothers were also around. Isn't it true that she will never grow up?" Although she said this, her eyes were full of smiles.

Everyone in Datunzi Village and Dagouzi Village knew about this precious little girl of the Gu family. She had been naughty and mischievous since she was little, but she was sweet-mouthed and knew how to act coquettishly. The Gu family had fought many battles because of her.

Qian Guihua could see that although Shi Rushuang said that the child would never grow up, she was very happy in her heart, thinking that her daughter would be blessed from childhood to adulthood if she married well.

"That's not true. As elders, we always think that our children never grow up, but that's actually a big problem."