The regiment was stationed in a remote location.
The unemployed women in the family compound were incredibly bored, and each of them seemed to thrive on chaos.
Once I hear something gossipy, I can't stop talking.
Regardless of whether the person involved was present or not, the women excitedly discussed it.
Lu Fangfang heard a name from the group: Xiao Ting.
Judging from the tone of the sisters-in-law's voices, they seemed to have a lot of opinions about Xiao Ting. As soon as they heard that she was Zhuang Mingcheng's fiancée, they all became gloating.
"Pah, what nonsense are you talking about? Battalion Commander Zhuang is not that kind of person."
The round-faced woman standing nearby couldn't stand it anymore and glared fiercely at the group.
She is a kind-hearted person and has some prestige in the family compound.
As soon as she spoke, the women next to her awkwardly shut their mouths.
However, judging from the gloating looks on their faces, they'll definitely gossip about it later.
The round-faced woman looked at Lu Fangfang apologetically, "Comrade, don't listen to their nonsense, it's all untrue."
Lu Fangfang smiled, not caring at all.
Yesterday in the reception room, she saw the military doctor named Xiao Ting in person; she was extremely beautiful.
If Zhuang Mingcheng were interested in Xiao Ting, he wouldn't have asked to become her revolutionary partner.
In this era, conduct was a very serious matter, unlike in later generations.
In this regard, Lu Fangfang was not worried about Zhuang Mingcheng, after all, he was a soldier!
While washing the clothes, Lu Fangfang chatted with her round-faced sister-in-law again.
From the conversation, she learned that the round-faced woman's name was Sun Manling, and she was the husband of the political instructor of the Second Battalion of the First Regiment. She had been living in the family compound for several years.
"Sister-in-law Manling, is there a supply and marketing cooperative near our unit?"
Lu Fangfang brought only a few clothes in her bundle; she didn't bring anything else.
Now that she had the fifty yuan Zhuang Mingcheng had given her, she planned to buy some personal items.
Sun Manling nodded and pointed to the path across the river, saying, "Follow this path for half an hour, and at the end there's a Sandaogou Commune with a small supply and marketing cooperative. They don't have much stuff there."
Sun Manling wrung out the clothes in her hands and continued:
“Every month at the end of the month, there is a bus from our troupe to the county town. The women in the troupe usually go to the county town to buy things, because they have everything there.”
Lu Fangfang stopped what she was doing and listened attentively.
"By the way, there's a woman in the Second Regiment who works as a saleswoman at the grocery market. If we go shopping there, she might give us some special treatment. I'll introduce you to her sometime."
"Salesperson..."
Lu Fangfang was extremely envious when she heard this.
Don't underestimate salespeople just because they think this job involves selling things.
In this day and age, being a sales clerk is highly sought after, known as one of the five "iron rice bowls" (guaranteed job); if one person becomes a sales clerk, the whole family will be happy.
Don't think this is an exaggeration. In those days, resources were scarce. Whenever good things were distributed to stores, they would buy them all up internally, and nothing could be distributed.
And they even offer internal discounts, so wouldn't you say this job is great?
Seeing Lu Fangfang's expression, Sun Manling wasn't surprised at all; she herself was quite envious.
"Sister-in-law Manling, when are we going to the county town this month?"
Sun Manling calculated the days, "Today is the 27th, it will be here in three days. If you want to go to the county, go to the entrance of the family compound early in the morning and wait for me. Don't forget."
There are still three days left, so there's no need to rush to the supply and marketing cooperative.
Lu Fangfang expressed her gratitude and planned to go to the county town with her sisters-in-law in three days.
She left in such a hurry last time that she didn't even get a chance to properly explore the county.
After chatting with Sister-in-law Manling for a few more minutes, Lu Fangfang focused on washing the clothes.
Her cotton-padded coat was terribly dirty; she washed it twice with soap, but it still didn't look clean.
If resources weren't scarce in this era, she would have thrown it away; it was just too dirty.
Lu Fangfang squeezed the water out of her hands and looked up at the opposite bank of the river.
A large expanse of land on the opposite bank, devoid of withered grass, appeared to have been cultivated.
It stands out prominently on this vast grassland.
Lu Fangfang pointed to the opposite bank and asked curiously, "Sister-in-law Manling, is that reclaimed wasteland?"
"Yes, the land reclaimed by the regiment is barren and doesn't yield much grain each year."
"Sister-in-law, I heard from Sister Shufen that our regiment has a policy that allows residents of our family compound to cultivate land. Every year, a portion of the harvest goes to the regiment, and the rest is theirs?"
Upon hearing this, Sun Manling knew that Lu Fangfang had the idea of reclaiming wasteland.
She quickly reminded her, "Fangfang, the land here is different from other places. It's all covered in grass, so it's not easy to clear it. Plus, the soil is thin. Newly cleared land yields very little. You might as well find a proper job."
“Our regiment does have such a policy, but few of the women in the family compound actually reclaim land; at most, they grow some vegetables in the compound.”
Fearing that Lu Fangfang might be confused, Sun Manling pointed to the north and said:
“Some of my sisters-in-law wanted to clear land and grow some grain to supplement their family income, but by the time the land was cleared, the harvest that year was less than the amount of seeds. So the land is now lying fallow again.”
Lu Fangfang put down the clothes she was holding.
She stood up and looked in the direction Sun Manling pointed.
Not far upstream, there is indeed a piece of land that is different from the others.
This plot of land must have been carefully selected by my sister-in-law. It's in a great location, right on a protrusion at the bend of the stream, with water both above and below. If we plant anything here, watering it will be very convenient.
Lu Fangfang became more and more interested as she looked at it, and she quickly asked:
"Sister-in-law Manling, do you still want this piece of wasteland that you've been clearing?"
Sun Manling was taken aback, then looked somewhat helpless.
It seems I still haven't dissuaded her from pioneering the land.
Forget it, young people love to have wild ideas. They'll only know the pain when they hit a wall.
Sun Manling nodded and said, "The sister-in-law who reclaimed the land back then moved away with her husband. If you want to plant, just tell the group. No one will compete with you."
Sun Manling laughed when she said the last sentence.
The wives who can live in the family compound all have husbands with decent salaries, enough to support their families and even save money.
Some of the women in the family don't even want to do a proper job, let alone do hard work like clearing land.
To be honest, it was out of necessity.
In this day and age, you need ration coupons to buy anything; money alone is useless.
Men's wages are high, but the ration coupons are limited, so it's not easy to spend all of that money.
Lu Fangfang didn't care what her sister-in-law Manling thought; this piece of land upstream was simply her dream destination.
She has already decided that once she moves into the family compound, she will apply to the regiment.
With this land, she had enough food to raise chickens and quails.
"Fangfang, if you really want to do something, why don't you raise a few sheep? You don't even need to clear land. Our group is surrounded by grasslands, so it's very convenient to feed them."
"However, we can't raise too many. The grass around the regiment is for the military horses to eat. If we raise too many, the regiment will have complaints. One or two is fine."
Lu Fangfang nodded. She really did have the idea of raising sheep, and the sheep manure could be used to grow crops.
Gazing at the distant snow-capped mountains, she really wanted to get started right away. Qilian Mountains, she really made the right choice coming here.
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