"Dad! Mom, Mingqi and I want to continue our studies and go to junior high school..."
"Okay, I'll let you two study. Your third brother will be back tomorrow. Ask him whether the No. 1 or No. 2 middle school in the county is better.
Since your family is supporting your education, you should study hard and don't let us down.
My family isn't wealthy, and it's not easy for us to support the two of you in school."
Zhang Ercheng, Zhang Wenguo and his wife, and Zhang Wenfu and his wife did not say much. They also had children who were in school. Moreover, they saw that their son Zhang Wenmin had finished junior high school and had served in the army for two years. After returning, he went to work in a factory in the county and earned about 30 yuan a month.
They also wanted Zhang Qiurui and Zhang Mingqi to graduate and earn money for the family.
"Oh, okay, thank you, Mom!" Zhang Qiurui didn't expect Zhou Guihua to agree so readily. She had originally thought of many reasons and strategies to persuade her parents, but she didn't expect this step to be so smooth.
Zhang Qiurui turned to look at Mingqi beside him, only to see that her face also turned from disbelief to joy, and her eyes seemed to be slightly red.
..........
"Jung Yourong."
"arrive."
"Li Erling."
"arrive."
"Zhang Qiurui."
"arrive."
"Zhang Mingqi."
"arrive."
Early in the morning of the second day, around five o'clock, the women's team leader Zhou Zhengxiang started calling the roll. Because it was summer, the work start time was early and the lunch break was extended to prevent anyone from getting heatstroke.
"Everyone is here. Today, Zheng Yourong, you... Zhang Qiurui, Zhang Mingqi, Zhang Mingren, Li Cui, Zhang Yuan, Zhou Zhou, you guys go to the sweet potato field to cut the sweet potato vines, carry them to the brigade's pig farm, and feed the pigs." After Zhou Zhengxiang finished calling the roll, she quickly assigned tasks to everyone.
The team members who were assigned tasks went to their respective work places in groups of three or four, carrying their tools.
Zhang Qiurui and a few others, all in their teens, were assigned to collect grass for the pigs. When they arrived at the sweet potato field, the morning dew was still hanging on the tips of the sweet potato leaves, glistening and translucent. The sunlight shone through the sparse clouds onto this vibrant field, adding a bit of warmth and hope to this ordinary work.
"Zhang Yuan, Zhang Mingqi and I will carry the pig grass. Li Cui, Mingren and Qiurui, you three will be responsible for cutting the sweet potato vines! After cutting the sweet potato vines, you can carry them together. This way, we can divide the work and cooperate, which will speed up the process." Zhou Zhou suggested when they arrived at the sweet potato field. There was a bit of maturity and stability in his words of a little adult.
The others immediately nodded in agreement, expressing their approval of the proposal. It seemed that this was not the first time they had worked together to collect grass for the pigs.
"Mingqi, are these all for pigs?" Zhang Qiurui looked at the green sweet potato vines with a look of regret on his face.
This natural and pollution-free sweet potato vine, if stir-fried with some chili peppers and minced garlic, will definitely be refreshing, sweet and delicious. It would be a waste to feed it to pigs!
There are also golden pumpkins planted next to them. The vines are slender and tender. You can pick some of the pointed leaves and fry them into egg pancakes. They taste great. But if you just let them grow wildly in the fields, they will eventually become food for livestock.
Zhang Qiurui felt sad just thinking about it. If this happened in later times, a bunch of sweet potato leaves and golden pumpkin vines would cost at least five dollars.
She couldn't help but squat down and gently stroke the lush sweet potato vines, her eyes full of regret that these ingredients were not fully utilized.
"Mingqi, I will carry the pig grass to the pig farm for you today." Zhang Qiurui said with a turn of her eyes, not knowing what she was thinking of.
"Okay!" Zhang Mingqi glanced at her aunt. She didn't know what her aunt was planning, so she didn't think much about it and nodded in agreement.
In the past, when she collected pig grass, she only had to help transport the grass back to the pig farm, then chop it up, cook it and feed it to the pigs. This job was simple and not tiring.
They quickly took sickles and started cutting sweet potato leaves. Zhang Qiurui took the opportunity to cut a lot of young golden pumpkin seedlings and hid them in a backpack.
Soon they cut several baskets full of sweet potato vines, and then Zhang Qiurui, Zhang Yuan and Zhou Zhou carried the pig grass and walked towards the brigade's pig farm.
When they arrived at the pig farm, the two children, Zhang Yuan and Zhou Zhou, greeted the adults in the pig farm, poured the pig feed in an open space, and then carried the empty backpacks back to the fields to continue carrying the pig feed.
"Why are you here today?" Zhang Ercheng was a little surprised to see Zhang Qiurui coming in person to carry pig feed, as Mingqi usually came here in the past.
"Dad, where are they?" Zhang Qiurui looked around and asked after not seeing the other two people from the pig farm.
The production team raised a total of 30 pigs this year and assigned three people to take care of them, Zhang Ercheng being one of them.
"They've gone to clean the pigsty."
"Dad, please keep an eye on it. If you see anyone coming, remind me." Seeing this, Zhang Qiurui quickly picked out the golden pumpkin seedlings he had cut from a backpack, and quickly picked a handful of tender sweet potato leaves.
Then hide it and take it home later.
"Why are you doing this? Even if you take it home to feed the pigs at home, it won't make a big difference. If other people see it, it will be considered as undermining socialism. It's not worth it for such a small thing." Zhang Ercheng couldn't help but frowning when he saw his little girl's actions, with a hint of blame in his tone.
In this era, although life is hard, everyone attaches great importance to collective property. Any act of encroaching on public interests will be regarded as disrespectful, especially in special times like now, we must act with caution.
"Dad, you don't understand. I'm not making this for our pigs. I'm making this for us to eat at noon.
Pigs eat this and grow fat and strong, and humans can eat it, as it also increases their nutrition." Zhang Qiurui shook his head slightly, a cunning glint in his eyes.
"Can this person eat it? There won't be any problem, right?" Zhang Ercheng's tone was full of uncertainty. He was obviously surprised that his daughter said that she could eat it.
Sweet potato leaves and pumpkin seedlings are usually used to feed pigs. He never thought that they could become delicacies on the table.
"You'll know if it's edible or not when my daughter cooks it for you at noon. Even pigs can eat it, so it won't harm you anyway."
Seeing his daughter so confident, Zhang Ercheng's doubts gradually dissipated. He nodded, but still reminded her, "Okay, but you have to be careful not to let anyone see you. In this situation, we have to be extra careful."
"I got it, Dad. Don't worry, I know what to do." Zhang Qiurui said, and then he carefully checked the surroundings again. After confirming that there was no one else, he carefully packed the sweet potato leaves and pumpkin seedlings in the basket and hid them in a secluded place.
The father and daughter continued their farm work, but Zhang Qiurui was already thinking about lunch.
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