"What's wrong?" Du Xiaoying jumped off the tractor.
Song Guoliang handed over the army green water bottle slung over his shoulder and something wrapped in newspaper. "Here's some food and water. Have a sip before we start."
Du Xiaoying touched her empty stomach, reached out to take it, and was about to speak when she was interrupted by the joking voices of a group of people behind her.
"Brother Guoliang, you're so concerned about your sister-in-law that you came all the way here to talk to her?"
Li Chengshuan laughed so hard that his teeth showed, and said loudly: "You don't understand, right? This is what they call a short separation makes a new marriage better than a new one. Even though Brother Guoliang and Sister-in-law have been married for so many years and have five children, they are just like they were just married, and their relationship is very good."
"That is, I am a man. If I were a woman, I would definitely marry Guo Liang. Good fellow, look how much he cares for his wife."
"Hahaha...."
Li Erniu and his group of men grinned and laughed, their faces full of joking.
Du Xiaoying felt her face getting red with anger after hearing what these grown men said, so she quickly turned her back and pretended she didn't hear anything.
"Go away, stop talking so smoothly." Song Guoliang glanced at the pink tips of his wife's ears, and glanced at Shuanzi and the others who were talking the most happily, his eyes cold and warning.
He turned around and coughed lightly, his voice gentle, "Wife, there are so many old men here, don't get tired, I'm going to work first."
"Yeah." Du Xiaoying nodded and watched the man's back as he rode away on his bicycle. Her heart felt soft and warm.
Li Chengshuan winked and laughed, "Did you see that? Brother Liang from our country is so fierce to our old man, but he turns around and is so gentle to my sister-in-law. His expression changes like a magic trick, tsk tsk tsk..."
Li Erniu glanced at his brother and said in a rough voice, "Shuanzi, you are talking nonsense. If Brother Guoliang is not gentle to his sister-in-law, who else can he be gentle to?"
.....
Du Xiaoying, “….”
Boss Song gritted his teeth and cursed inwardly, calling her a slut who only knew how to seduce men. The second brother was not a good guy either, a traitor who was ungrateful and unfilial to his parents.
If I had known that the second brother was so heartless, I should never have let this brat join the army no matter what.
If I had known this would happen, I would have died outside. At least the pension would have gone to my family. Unlike now...
As a group of people were chatting and laughing, the gate of the commune was opened and the staff came out.
Everyone in the Shibaqing Brigade watched with trepidation as the staff member inserted a hollow iron rod into the sack, then skillfully put the grain into his mouth and bit it, nodding expressionlessly.
When they saw the staff members lowering their heads to issue tickets, everyone's uneasy and silent prayers finally calmed down and they couldn't help but grin.
Finally, under the envious gazes of the long line of people paying grain, some people rode on the tractor with their carts, while the rest drove the ox cart back.
"Lao Zhao, Lao Gao, your brigade is really good. This year, you beat our brigade to the punch and became the first brigade to pay public grain two days before ours."
Team leader Zhao Lei waved his hand, "Oh, Lao Li, it's mainly because our team has a tractor this year, otherwise——"
The village party secretary Gao Ming echoed, "Old Wang, you don't know, this big iron ox wastes oil~"
The captain of Wangjia Village twitched his lips and cursed inwardly with a dark face.
These two old guys!
....
"What? Still have to go to work?!" Zhang Xian was so shocked that her voice split open.
Zhang Yun, the old educated youth, smiled and nodded. "There's still a lot of work to do. The corn cobs in the warehouse haven't been threshed yet, the straw in the fields hasn't been collected yet, and I also have to find time to harvest the vegetables from my private plot, cut them into strips, and dry them in the sun..."
Zhang Xian's legs went weak and she almost fell down, crying with a sullen face.
Su Yueyue and Wang Yuting were not much better off, their faces looking miserable as they had become much thinner after the autumn harvest.
He Zhiqing asked, "Is there any other work in the fields?"
"Yes, and we have to plow the land after the autumn harvest."
"We still need to turn the soil?!" Zhang Xian's eyes widened. "Then when can we rest?"
Zhang Yun nodded, "After the autumn harvest, the purpose of turning the soil is to loosen the ground and eliminate insect eggs in the soil. After turning the land, we use the winter freeze-thaw to improve the soil quality.
We must also hurry up and go up the mountain to collect enough firewood to keep warm during the winter, and pick up more mountain products to fill our stomachs. Otherwise, the few work points we earn won't be enough to last until the autumn harvest next year."
Zhang Xian wanted to cry but had no tears. If she had known, she would never have gone to the countryside.
.....
"Hello, is anyone there?"
"Sister, who are you looking for?"
Zhang Xian and Su Yueyue were startled by the sudden sound. They looked down and saw a little kid with two red ribbons on his head, blinking his big black eyes and staring at them.
Su Yueyue half squatted down, smiled and softened her voice, "Your mother saved me last time, and I came here specially to thank you."
"Sister~ beautiful sister is here~"
Zhang Xian was so pleased with the compliment that she beamed with joy and pulled her cousin to follow the clever boy.
In the backyard, Daya and her sisters were busy harvesting vegetables from their own plots.
When Da Ya and Er Ya heard their little sister's voice, they hurried over.
"Sister Zhiqing, what's the matter with you guys?"
"Sister Daya, last time I fainted from heatstroke, it was Sister Du who helped me. I have been busy with the harvest these days, so I took advantage of my free time to come and express my gratitude. You must accept this bag of brown sugar." Su Yueyue handed over the candy gratefully.
Daya shook her head and refused, "Sister, it's only natural for a team to help each other. Brown sugar is very expensive, we can't take it, you take it back."
"Keep it, this is a little gift from us."
Arya, "No, we can't have—"
“Thump, thump, thump…”
When they heard the sound of the tractor, the five sisters' eyes lit up and they ran out happily.
"Mom~"
"Hey~" Du Xiaoying hugged her daughters one by one as usual when she came back. Then she noticed the two thin and pretty sisters behind her. She smiled and nodded, "Su Zhiqing, Zhang Zhiqing."
"Mrs. Du."
Erya quickly recounted what had just happened.
Du Xiaoying glanced at Zhang Zhiqing, who was looking awkward with his chin raised, and went into the house. She put some fried dried fish in oil paper and handed two bowls of brown sugar water to the two of them.
"Su Zhiqing and Zhang Zhiqing, I'll accept the brown sugar, and I'll give you these dried fish to take back and try.
It's not easy for you two girls to come to this unfamiliar place. If you need anything in the future, you can come to me and I will do my best to help you."
"This won't work." Su Yueyue quickly declined.
"Take it, we made it ourselves." Du Xiaoying thought about it and reminded him.
"You city people have plenty of money, but you don't know how rare sugar is in our countryside. From now on, if you need to ask someone for something, two taels of brown sugar will be great."
The two were stunned for a moment, remembering that they had given a pound of brown sugar. No wonder the educated youth looked at them strangely after hearing about it.
Now that I think about it, it was like looking at a fool!
"Just call me Auntie, otherwise the generations will be messed up, and my eldest daughter isn't much younger than you."
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