Chapter 21

Zhai Hongyi had only been here for half a month, but he was very familiar with Wang Heizi.

Now Wang Heizi wants to engage in reselling, and this guy is also involved, which makes Tang Qingqing very curious.

"Hehe, without Brother Yi, I wouldn't dare go to the commune alone."

The distance between Rongshan Brigade and the commune is not close. If you walk, it will take more than ten hours to take the shortcut along the mountain road. If you go to the town to take a bus, it will take a total of four or five hours.

After all, Wang Heizi was still young. If he walked to the commune by himself along the mountain road, carrying things with him, it would not only be tiring but also dangerous. His family would not agree.

"How come you have such a good relationship with him? You've only known each other for a few days."

It might be fine at other times, but when doing something like this you have to do it with people you trust, otherwise if one of them betrays you, you’re done for.

Wang Heizi looked around slyly and whispered:

"Didn't I tell you before that we went hunting rabbits together in the mountains and established a deep revolutionary friendship?"

The things on the mountain are also public property, you can't just take them if you want.

“You guys are awesome.”

"Why do I call him Brother Yi? Even though he is from the city, he is better at finding and hunting rabbits than I am. I call him Brother because I admire him. We have caught a nest of rabbits and have secretly dried them. We are just waiting to take them to the city to sell them for money."

Although Wang Heizi is greedy for meat, he wants to make money more.

"Then there's no need for you to ask me for a wicker basket. It takes up too much space."

"In addition to rabbit meat, we also plan to sell eggs."

"Selling eggs?"

Wang Heizi looked excited: "Yes, we collected eggs from the brigade and then sold them to the commune. There were so many eggs that we needed rattan baskets to put them in, so we collected the baskets and sold them at the same time."

"You have too many ideas. Zhai Zhiqing has only been here for a few days, but he's already getting restless. Besides, he doesn't look like he's short of money."

White Rabbit milk candies were distributed as if they were free, and those biscuits that looked expensive at first glance were given to them without any regrets.

"Who would complain about having too much money?"

"Isn't he afraid of being discovered and punished? If he is punished, he won't be able to return to the city."

A voice came from behind: "It doesn't matter. I don't plan to go back to the city anyway."

The two turned around and saw that it was Zhai Hongyi.

You really can't talk about people behind their backs, because as soon as you do, the real culprit will appear.

"Brother Yi!" Wang Heizi jumped up from the ground and ran to his side with a smile on his face.

Tang Qingqing was even more surprised: "You don't want to go back to the city?"

Over the years, more than twenty educated youth have come to the brigade. No matter how they performed later, they were not able to adapt at first and cried and made a fuss about returning to the city.

Even those who are able to adapt and have the ideas and ambitions to go to the countryside to change it still want to return to the city.

After all, life in the countryside is hard, and there is nothing there. It's just mountains and farmland everywhere, unlike the city where you have everything, and this is not your home.

Many educated youth came from far away places, and once they arrived in the countryside, they had no time to go back. Whenever festivals came, they would hug each other and cry, missing their family and friends.

Zhai Hongyi actually had no plans to return to the city, which was really unusual.

Tang Qingqing looked him up and down. He didn't look like someone with lofty ambitions to change the countryside. She heard that he was always lazy at work.

Once you have finished your task, no matter how early or late it is, don't even think about asking him to help you again, even if you ask for extra points.

Zhai Hongyi: “Very strange?”

Tang Qingqing and Wang Heizi nodded in unison, their heads like chickens pecking at rice.

“I think it’s nice here.”

"What's good?"

Tang Qingqing and Wang Heizi said in unison.

Since the arrival of the educated youth, country bumpkins like Tang Qingqing, who had never left the village, also knew what the outside world was like.

The educated youth all said that life in big cities was great, with lights that turned on with the flip of a switch, cars that ran on gas, and wide, straight roads.

There is everything in big cities. As long as you have money and tickets, you can buy everything.

Unlike in the countryside, you have to grow and raise everything you want to eat, and you work hard all year round but earn very little money.

It's different in the city. If you can get a job as a factory worker, the money you earn in a month would take a country person a year to save.

“Everywhere is good.”

Tang Qingqing and Wang Heizi looked at each other, thinking that Zhai Hongyi might have lost his brain.

Zhai Hongyi tapped the foreheads of the two men with his fingers, one on each hand.

Tang Qingqing and Wang Heizi were caught off guard. They covered their foreheads and took a deep breath. They wanted to fight back, but Zhai Hongyi was much taller than them.

The two were about to join forces when Zhai Hongyi spoke:

"Don't think I don't know you're saying bad things about me in your heart."

Wang Heizi felt guilty: "How could that be? I just didn't expect you to like our team so much. When you came here before, you started a fight and everyone thought you had some opinion about our team."

"That person asked for it."

The person who fought with Zhai Hongyi was also a newly arrived educated youth. Tang Qingqing didn't know him, but Wang Heizi knew him.

"That person is really annoying and looks down on others." Wang Heizi snorted coldly.

Even though it is not expressed directly, if it were to be expressed it would be a problem of conduct and would be subject to criticism.

The man seemed to be smiling and easy to get along with, but he rolled his eyes at people as soon as he turned around.

Wang Heizi was very sensitive. When he interacted with the educated youth, he could tell who was really nice to him and who was annoying him.

Apart from Zhai Hongyi, Tang Qingqing did not have deep contact with other educated youth, so she did not understand them.

She only knew that they wanted to return to the city very much. Every time the commune had university places for workers, peasants and soldiers or places to return to the city, a group of educated youth would scramble for them.

Tang Qingqing finally agreed to let them take the rattan baskets to the commune to sell them without having to pay the bill.

But if she can’t sell it, I have to help her sell it to the supply and marketing cooperative, and I won’t pay her for the difference in price.

Wang Heizi responded repeatedly, and Tang Qingqing thought for a while and said:

"If you see maltose on the black market, buy me a bottle."

Wang Heizi stared at him, "Wow, you got rich? You actually want to buy maltose? That stuff is very expensive even if you have tickets."

Tang Qingqing said nothing, but she was actually very distressed.

But she heard people say that maltose is good for the body and that people would buy it as a gift when visiting patients, so she wanted to buy a bottle and eat it together with her master.

As Master got older, his health became worse and worse.

She cut the meat so thinly yesterday not only to make it look better, but also to make it easier for the master to eat.

Money is important, of course, but we never know what will happen in the future. However, if you are not in good health now, no amount of money can make up for it in the future.

Zhai Hongyi: "No need to buy it, I have two bottles, I'll get them for you later."

"You don't want to drink?"

"Not interested in that stuff."

"Then I'll give you money. How much is a bottle on the black market?"

"No need to pay, I don't like it anyway." Zhai Hongyi shrugged, looking nonchalant.

Tang Qingqing was unwilling to take advantage of this: "No, if you don't want money, I'd rather buy it on the black market."

Zhai Hongyi didn't hesitate: "I'll sell it to you for three yuan a can. If you want to buy two cans, it'll be five yuan."

Although Tang Qingqing knew that malted milk was expensive, she still gasped when she heard the price. She could only save about ten yuan a year.

But she thought of her master, gritted her teeth and said, "I'll give you 5.80 for two cans."

Wang Heizi laughed loudly: "Tang Qingqing, are you stupid? Why is it that the more you bargain, the more expensive it becomes!"

Zhai Hongyi and Tang Qingqing looked at him in confusion, while Wang Heizi still looked puzzled.

"I'm right. $5.80 is more expensive than $5."

Zhai Hongyi rubbed his head with his hand, still did not argue with Tang Qingqing, and agreed with her opinion.

He went straight back to the educated youth site and took the malted milk. "One of the cans was opened and only half is left. Do you want it? If you want it, just give me 3.5 yuan."

Tang Qingqing took a look at the opened can, which still had half of the can left.

"There's still a lot left. I'll give you four or five."

Zhai Hongyi looked at the yellow-haired girl in front of him and couldn't help twitching the corners of his mouth.

"Do you need to be so precise every time?"

Tang Qingqing said seriously: "When doing business, you have to calculate clearly so as not to hurt feelings."

Zhai Hongyi handed the malted milk to her without saying anything else.

"I don't have any money with me right now. If you're in a hurry, come with me to my master's house to get some money."

"No, give it to me later."

Wang Heizi: "Brother Yi, you are such a big eater, aren't you? This can is not the one you put in your bag before, right? It's only been a few days, and you've eaten so much?"

Malted milk is very expensive and is usually used as a gift. People also eat it at home in small bites.

Wang Heizi was very spoiled at home, but if there was maltose at home and he dared to take a little more, he would be beaten so hard that he could not even walk.

“It’s not what I eat.”

"Ah? If it wasn't you, then who ate it?"

Zhai Hongyi looked disgusted: "Rat."

Wang Heizi: "Brother Yi, I am not well educated, so don't lie to me. A mouse can't chew this iron sheet. Did you forget to cover it after eating?"

Tang Qingqing looked at Zhai Hongyi's handsome face, which was filled with displeasure, and asked tentatively, "Have you been bullied?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? My brother Yi can beat several people by himself. Who can bully him? Right, Brother Yi?"

Zhai Hongyi ignored him. He found a place with lots of grass and lay down.

Wang Heizi looked at him like this, blinked, and looked incredulous:

"Brother Yi, no way? Have you really been bullied? Tell me who it is, or I'll teach him a lesson! No matter what he does outside, if he comes to our team, he has to listen to me."

Zhai Hongyi rolled his eyes at him and said, "Can you still drive him out of the Rongshan Brigade?"

"Uh... I really can't do that." Wang Heizi still felt unhappy, "But we can't let that person take advantage of us for nothing."

Zhai Hongyi pulled up a weed nearby and held the root in his mouth.

"Who said I was taken advantage of?"

"No? That's good. You scared me. I was wondering how could you let others bully you."

Zhai Hongyi sneered: "I just look down on them and think they are boring. For such a small thing, they exposed their stupidity and greed. They didn't learn from their mistakes and were complacent after being at a loss. They are so stupid that I don't want to even look at them."

Wang Heizi's eyes turned and he said, "Brother Yi, why don't you come live at my house?"

Tang Qingqing couldn't stand it any longer: "Come on, your family is in chaos all the time."

Wang Heizi's family did not split up either, and the population was particularly large. The whole family lived in one place, and various conflicts continued to arise.

Wang Heizi couldn't refute it, "Ah, it's still noisy."

If their family had money, they could separate from their uncles and aunts, find their own plots of land to build houses, and there would be no more quarrels.

So he had to work hard to make money. When he grew up and got married, he was determined not to live with his whole family in one place. He would rather live halfway up the mountain than live together.

Tang Qingqing was originally envious of Zhai Hongyi and Wang Heizi for being able to go to the commune. She had never been to the city, and all the information she had heard came from other people or from books. After all, it was not as profound as going there to see it in person.

And she really wanted to go to the movies, but she never had the chance.

Unexpectedly, the night before the two of them were about to go to the commune, she received an invitation from the commune public security bureau.