Chapter 6 Chapter 6 I gently stamped a seal on his lips

The wild ginseng that Gu Changzong washed was as long as chopsticks including the long ginseng whiskers, and the main ginseng root was as thick as a thumb. It is said to be ginseng, but at first glance, it really looks like a wrinkled old man.

I was chatting at Aunt Wang's house just now, and she described the one her family sold in detail. She said it was as thick as a little finger and had no human shape, but it was sold for more than a hundred yuan. Then the one in Changzong's hand must have been sold for more than two hundred yuan, right?

Dayang Village is close to the mountain, but no one from the village has ever dug it. A daughter-in-law who married from outside the village and an educated youth who went to the countryside, two people who are not from the village, happened to run into wild ginseng, but they both don’t feel scared?

But Hong Guo was afraid, so he wiped the wild ginseng clean with a dry cloth and wrapped it up. This was fresh ginseng, how should it be preserved? He didn't dare to ask anyone, and was afraid that it would go bad, so he was very worried.

Gu Changzong told her not to be afraid: "If it breaks, just find another one."

Although there are few ginseng in this mountain, even if Meng Qingdai dug them all up, he can still look for them in other mountains. There are many mountains, so Guoguo doesn't need to worry about the small problem of whether it is good or not.

Jiang Hongguo was so angry at his attitude. Didn't he know how to be careful?

Even if they are close husband and wife, there is still a gap between them. Look at Qingdai's in-laws. It has only been more than a month, and they have already got everything from pheasant and duck eggs to wild Gastrodia elata. Why do they need her to dig wild ginseng? Isn't it greedy? Aunt Wang is counting on Qingdai's luck to build a house. Isn't she afraid of harming Qingdai?

Although she was angry, Changzong trusted her, and he went to sell the ginseng to make money to make life better for his family. Knowing that he trusted her without reservation, Jiang Hongguo also started to make serious plans.

We don't know how to prepare fresh ginseng at home, so we have to sell it as soon as possible. It has been more than three years since the economic liberalization. Some private Chinese medicine shops can buy it, but they cannot sell it in the county town here. We have to go to the neighboring county, and it would be best if we can go to the city, so that we can make more money and it is safer without being discovered.

It just so happened that the money Changzong saved from odd jobs was enough for the round-trip fare to the city. Jiang Hongguo asked Changzong to take the ginseng to the city to sell it, and explained everything in detail.

"Just say it's hard to find work in the county, so go try in the city. Don't dress too nicely, be alert on the way, and ask around at two more stores in the city. Sell if the price is similar, but don't sell it for less than 200. If you sell it quickly, stay in the city for two or three days. Otherwise, if you come back so soon, it won't look like you're looking for work."

Each one of them was for Gu Changzong's consideration. His smile grew deeper and deeper, and the distance between them became closer and closer. When they were close, he hugged Jiang Hongguo and couldn't help murmuring in a hoarse voice: "Guoguo, you've been gone for several days."

Jiang Hongguo's waist and back felt numb, and his face and ears were red as he was about to get off: "It's daytime now, don't make a fuss."

Changzong was very obedient. He looked at the bright sun outside, put the red fruit down, but did not let go. He begged in her ear: "Don't go to Aunt Liu's house to mend the soles tonight. I will buy you new shoes this time."

Chang Zong is a man who spends money as soon as he earns it. Jiang Hongguo reminded him again: "No, you must bring back all the money except for food, accommodation and travel expenses."

In the evening, Jiang Hongguo went to Aunt Liu's house to make shoe soles. She was not good at making shoes and needed Aunt Liu's guidance. She urged Chang Zong to go to the city to make this pair of cloth shoes, and also mentioned that Chang Zong planned to find a job in the city.

Aunt Liu became interested again. Aunt Wang's daughter-in-law was lucky and could even dig up wild ginseng. Many people went up the mountain to try their luck today.

After Gu Zhiqing from Hongguo's family gave up the idea of repeating her studies, she became diligent. Every family was working hard to live a good life. She also wanted her man to go to the city with her, but she was afraid that she would not be able to find a job and would lose money on the trip, so she waited a little longer and let Gu Zhiqing go and explore the way first.

Just when they had pasted the shoe uppers, Gu Changzong came to pick up his wife. Aunt Liu envied the young couple's insemination of love, and asked Jiang Hongguo to put the things here, saying that she would help her paste the shoe uppers in the evening. Gu Zhiqing was very motivated, and being nice to the young couple would be rewarded in the future, Aunt Liu thought.

As soon as she left Aunt Liu's house, Jiang Hongguo touched her hot face and complained, "I want to make shoes for you. Why are you coming to pick me up so early? Aren't you afraid of being laughed at?"

Gu Changzong said, "You said not to wear something too new or too nice when you go out. I'm wearing old shoes. There's no rush to make these new shoes. I'll take my time."

Jiang Hongguo sighed in her heart. She knew what was going on at night. She was a little resistant to it being too frequent, but Changzong begged in her ear: "Guoguo, hug me."

Whenever Jiang Hongguo said this to Gu Changzong before, he would come and hug her immediately. Jiang Hongguo was not pretending not to hear or respond like she did before. This time she responded and did not disappoint him.

When her love reached a deep level, she couldn't help biting his shoulder. The person bitten didn't feel any pain, and encouraged him as if he was happy: "Guoguo, bite harder, it doesn't hurt, it's uncomfortable."

In the morning, Jiang Hongguo got up despite the pain in her waist. It was already drizzling, so she went to Aunt Liu's house to take the shoe uppers home. Then it rained for two days. When the rain stopped, the cloth shoes were ready.

She was afraid that the fresh ginseng would go bad, so she checked on it several times a day. As soon as the rain stopped, she asked Changzong to go to the city.

Gu Changzong left with the ginseng early in the morning. Jiang Hongguo was very nervous, not knowing whether he could sell it or how much he could get for it.

Few people in the village have ever been to the city, so they probably won’t run into anyone they know, nor will they be remembered, right?

Now that I’ve dug it up and paid for the travel expenses, I hope I can sell it for a good price.

…

Changzong made this trip under the guise of looking for a job and would not be back for at least three or four days. Before Changzong came back, good things happened again in Aunt Wang's family. They were cheated when they bought a job for Kong Laosan, and their family fortune was spent. The eldest and second sons separated, and they lived in the woodshed with their youngest son and daughter-in-law. They were very miserable. When Aunt Wang began to regret it, Meng Qingdai picked up another piece of gold in the wasteland.

If people had known about this in the past, it might not have been possible to get it resolved, unless we kept it secret. But now that the contract responsibility system is divided among households, the economy is freer, and whoever picks up something in the wasteland owns it. I took the gold to a gold shop and sold it for nearly a thousand yuan, which is enough to build three new tiled houses for my family.

This time, while feeling envious, some people said weird things like Qingdai might be destined to be blessed, and Jiang Hongguo became more and more uneasy after listening to them.

Changzong didn't come back, and she was really afraid that someone would break through the window in the middle of the night, so she stayed at Aunt Liu's house. Aunt Liu's younger brother was attending high school in the county town and was not at home. Aunt Liu was happy about it, but Jiang Hongguo couldn't avoid listening to Aunt Liu's speculations.

"Hongguo, do you think the daughter-in-law of Aunt Wang is the Wong Tai Sin who came to repay her gratitude? The car she was riding in flipped over, and she was carried up by Kong Lao San. Could she be possessed by a strange thing and come to repay the favor of saving her life?"

How is that possible? Besides, Changzong was also in the upper position at that time. If he came back and became diligent and loving, wouldn't he also be talked about?

Jiang Hongguo couldn't let Aunt Liu go out and say this, so she hurriedly said, "Why can't it be that Sister Qingdai had accumulated great virtues in her previous life, so she has good luck in this life? No one has ever seen anything like supernatural things, and we have all heard of people with good luck. We can't say such superstitious things just because Qingdai is lucky, and bring trouble to her. We are from the same village, there is no need to harm her, what do you think?"

Aunt Liu is not such a mean person. She just said it casually out of envy. But even if she didn't say it, someone else would have said it.

"Tomorrow I will go and persuade Aunt Wang not to be so ostentatious and make others hate her. If there are any good things, just keep them to yourself and don't tell others about it to arouse jealousy."

Aunt Wang listened to the advice, but could not help but build a house immediately.

The village allocated a residential plot for her youngest son, so she immediately started ordering bricks, tiles and wood, which aroused envy in the village. The other two daughters-in-law were so jealous that they spread rumors, saying that the third daughter-in-law was a bad person and was beaten by Aunt Wang. She also called her two sons to scold them, saying that they asked for it because they were too soft-hearted and listened to their daughter-in-law's request to divide the family property.

Jiang Hongguo didn't go to see, she just listened to what Aunt Liu said. She was always worried about Meng Qingdai and Gu Changzong.

…

When they were digging the foundation, Chang Zong came back. Aunt Wang came over happily and told Jiang Hongguo that she wanted Chang Zong to come with her to help lay the foundation for her new house tomorrow.

When people in the village build houses, they always look for experienced bricklayers to help. Changzong is young and strong, and although he doesn't know how to do it, he is the first choice for help. Everyone helps each other. After the household contract responsibility system was implemented, Hongguo's family was short of labor, so the work in the fields was done with the help of the villagers. Now of course she has to return the work, and she agreed.

As soon as Aunt Wang left, Gu Changzong locked the courtyard gate, pulled Jiang Hongguo into the house, took out the new skirt he had bought, and let Jiang Hongguo try it on with great anticipation.

Jiang Hongguo had envied this dress. The bragi worn by city people was a style that was popular in the Soviet Union. Bragi means dress, with loose puff sleeves and pleated skirt. Anyone who has a bragi would be envied.

People in the city are precious, let alone in the countryside. Who has the spare money to follow this fashion?

Jiang Hongguo was happy, but she was worried about the money. She kept asking, "This style is not even available in the county. How much did you spend on it? Didn't I tell you not to waste money? Why don't you listen?"

Not only was she disobedient, she also went over budget and bought some black leather shoes with round toes and white socks. You can tell that this outfit looks good without even trying it on. This is the kind of thing that only city girls would wear. How much does this outfit cost?

Jiang Hongguo was really worried about the money now, and asked anxiously: "You sold the ginseng, right? No matter how much money it sold for, you can't spend it like this."

Gu Changzong insisted that Hongguo try on the clothes first and then put on the little leather shoes. She looked very beautiful. His Hongguo was no worse than anyone else. He had to let Hongguo have what others had. He just wanted to give it to her.

Gu Changzong gave the money from selling ginseng to Hongguo, a total of two hundred and eighty-five yuan.

"Guoguo, the money for buying things and the round-trip fare for you are what I earned from working in the city. I listened to you and didn't touch the money from selling ginseng. It's all here."

Gu Changzong looked like he was asking for a reward, and Jiang Hongguo didn't know what to do.

No wonder he took a week to get back when he could have done so in three or four days. She thought the ginseng was not easy to sell.

Ginseng is easy to sell, but Jiang Hongguo only earns at least thirty or forty yuan from odd jobs in a week. He is worried because he cannot tell anyone in the village about this and cannot let him go again.

He works so hard, does his job well, and earns extra money by working. Doesn't he just want to hear some praise?

I'll tell you about other things later, let's give you the reward now.

Hongguo stood on tiptoe and gently pressed a stamp on his lips.