Chapter 16 Chapter 16 Shocked Again
When Fu Mingze walked into the educated youth camp, Zheng Jiamin was just coming out of the kitchen with two bowls of vegetable porridge. "I've scooped it for you. Let's go and eat."
There were two tables in the main room, one for each of the male and female educated youth, clearly separated.
As soon as Zheng Jiamin sat down, he started eating without hesitation, and asked while eating: "What did Comrade Chen Moer want to talk to you about? Since when did you two become so familiar with each other?" It's no wonder that he was curious. Fu Mingze didn't talk much to the female educated youth who lived under the same roof, let alone the villagers.
Even though everyone was busy eating, everyone pricked up their ears in an instant. Fu Mingze seemed not to notice and said calmly, "I'm not familiar with her. Her family is building a new house, and I want to ask how it's usually built in a big city."
"Then she should come and ask me. I know everything about Shanghai's alleys. There are quite a few small Western-style houses near my home. They are very Western-style." Zheng Jiamin said in an exaggerated tone.
Fu Mingze didn't say anything either, just looked at him as if he was a fool.
Zheng Jiamin understood that it was impossible for the villagers to build a house based on the small western-style house. However, he asked curiously, "How did Comrade Shen Moer's family suddenly have the money to build a new house?"
Having three hundred yuan taken back was not something to be proud of, so the first and second wives of the Shen family naturally would not take the initiative to tell others about it, and Shen Moer and Shen Shaoyuan would not say it even more. Therefore, this matter was not widely circulated in the village, and even Zheng Jiamin, who was a gossiper, had not heard of it.
But Zhang Zhiqiang obviously knew. He snorted and said sarcastically, "How did you suddenly become rich? You must have extorted money from Shen Lingling and her uncle's family."
Fu Mingze put down his chopsticks, glanced at Zhang Zhiqiang calmly, and asked, "Is it extortion to ask a relative who has occupied your house for money?"
Zhang Zhiqiang was suddenly speechless.
He knew that Shen Moli's family was in the right in this matter, but people have their own relationships. When Shen Lingling complained to him that she would have to give her family three dollars more every month, he of course sympathized with Shen Lingling more.
Fu Mingze didn't care about Zhang Zhiqiang's reaction. He spread out the handkerchief beside him, took out two eggs, and gave one to Zheng Jiamin: "This is a thank-you gift from Comrade Shen. It's still hot after being cooked." After that, he cracked the eggshell and started eating.
Zheng Jiamin was born into a working-class family. His family was well off and would send him things every now and then. He would often share good things with Fu Mingze. Due to various factors, Fu Mingze rarely had the opportunity to give back in a fair and honest way.
Zheng Jiamin was naturally not polite when it came to an egg. He smiled and cracked the shell and ate it: "It's such a small thing, but you gave me two eggs as a thank you gift, and you even helped to cook them. Comrade Shen Moer is pretty good!"
Fu Mingze paused and curled his lips.
Eggs are a rare nutritious product these days. Even though many farmers in the brigade raise chickens at home, it is actually more convenient to exchange eggs than in the city. However, few people are willing to spend money or give things in exchange for eggs, so they have very few opportunities to eat eggs.
Although boiled eggs clearly had no smell, the male educated youth at the same table all had an inexplicable illusion that they smelled the fresh and tender aroma of protein, and could not help but swallow their saliva secretly.
Even the female educated youth at the other table cast a subtle glance at him.
Zhang Zhiqiang was sitting next to Zheng Jiamin. His eyes hurt because of the way he ate. He finished his porridge in just a few mouthfuls and ran away.
Zheng Jiamin raised his eyebrows proudly at Fu Mingze.
Since they were cooked eggs, they could actually hide and eat them secretly. Fu Mingze took them out at this time just to annoy Zhang Zhiqiang. He understood!
After dinner, Fu Mingze fetched some water to wash himself, changed his clothes and was about to wash them when he took out the soap from under the bunk bed and took a look. He almost laughed out of anger.
Most of the soap he had just bought a few days ago was broken off by someone, leaving only a small piece.
Zheng Jiamin looked out and immediately started cursing in anger: "Which shameless bastard stole Fu Mingze's soap? Oh, and left a small piece for him. What? Do you think stealing is justified?!"
The male educated youth were all there, looking at each other, and no one dared to speak easily for fear of being mistaken for thieves.
Zhang Zhiqiang sat on the edge of the bed and said sarcastically, "Who would steal Fu Mingze's things? Is there anyone here who is poorer than him?"
Zheng Jiamin angrily said, "It was newly bought, a whole bar of soap, and the soap ticket was from me, how could I not know?! The educated youth pointed out the thief, but you didn't investigate, and you even mocked and ridiculed him. Zhang Zhiqiang, you bastard, what kind of leader are you?!"
Zhang Zhiqiang was just gloating over Fu Mingze's misfortune when he saw that he was uncomfortable. After being scolded by Zheng Jiamin, he finally realized that he, as the head of the educated youth camp, was responsible for the loss of things. So he put on his shoes and ran out: "I'm going to find the team leader."
Not long after, Zhou Mancang was called over. However, there were seven people living in the room, coming in and out all the time, so how could they possibly investigate a matter like half a bar of soap being lost?
As you can imagine, it ended up in nothing.
Zheng Jiamin was even angrier than if he had lost something. He stood there with his cheeks red with anger and threatened that if he caught the thief, he would beat him so badly that even his parents would not be able to recognize him.
Fu Mingze patted his shoulder, signaling Zheng Jiamin not to say anything more, and went out with the enamel basin.
*
The news that half a bar of soap was lost from the educated youth's site soon spread throughout the village. The villagers were idle at the time, so they couldn't help but grumble about it. It was so strange that the educated youth from the city could actually steal things!
Even Shen Moer heard from Aunt Chen that half of the newly bought soap of Fu, the most handsome educated youth in the educated youth point, was secretly broken off and taken away. As a result, the next day, the soaps of several households in the village disappeared.
They were all taken away by the girls in the family to serve as educated youth.
If Fu Zhiqing had not refused to take it, the girls would have taken the soap back. It is unknown how long the lawsuit over the lost soap would have ended.
Shen Moer hadn't noticed it before, but she only found out after hearing Aunt Chen say that although Fu Zhiqing didn't talk to people much, he was actually very popular among the female comrades in the village. The older ones simply thought that the young man was good-looking, and many young girls were tempted and wanted to show their affection from time to time.
Shen Moer recalled Fu Zhiqing's appearance and could understand the girls' thoughts.
However, the soap theft was soon overshadowed by another incident.
The reason was that Shen Moer asked Aunt Chen, Aunt Cai and other enthusiastic aunts to help find stones for the foundation and wood for the beams. This made a big splash, and the villagers discovered that Shen Laoqi's family was actually going to build a new house!
Then they soon discovered that not only were Shen Laoqi's family going to build a new house, but the new house was going to be a large blue brick and tile house!
Many people don't understand. Even if the first and second wives compensated you, you almost starved to death a while ago, so you should have taken the opportunity to save some money. Why did you want to build a big brick and tile house? It's just the father and daughter. The current room is enough for you. Even if you really want to build another one, can't you use mud bricks? How much money is the difference between the inside and the outside?
Then they soon heard that Chen Shaoyuan went to work as a temporary worker in the commune kiln factory. The leader of the kiln factory approved his work and gave him bricks and tiles at the factory price.
For a moment, the members didn’t know whether it was more surprising that Shen Laoqi could get bricks and tiles at the factory price, or that he went to work as a temporary worker in the commune kiln factory!
Many people realized it belatedly, it seemed, as if, they hadn't seen Shen Shaoyuan come to work for a while?
The weather was getting hotter day by day, and the working hours were getting shorter and shorter. Plus, Shen Laoqi had never had a strong presence, so no one had ever noticed him before.
As for a kiln factory, all you have to do is digging, beating pulp, firing kilns, moving bricks...it's all hard labor. It's a bit hard, but the workers have good benefits. Even if they are temporary workers, they can get wages on a regular basis, and they can get benefits based on annual savings. It's much better than working in the dirt to earn work points to repair the earth.
Moreover, many people felt that since Shen Laoqi looked like he would fall down at the slightest gust of wind, they were definitely better than him when it came to work!
So someone went to ask Zhou Mancang how Shen Laoqi got into the kiln factory and what kind of job he did.
At first, Shen Shaoyuan just went to the kiln factory to help out, and he had to ask for leave from the brigade. After working for a few days, Xu Weiguo got him a temporary worker position, which also required procedures at the brigade.
So Zhou Mancang actually knew how he got into the kiln factory and what kind of work he did.
"Why, you all want to work in the kiln factory?" Zhou Mancang stared at the group of people, his voice as loud as thunder, "They are working in the Propaganda Department, writing slogans and drawing woodcuts for the kiln factory. Can you do that? You all have no idea what's going on!"
The members were shocked once again.
"What? It's just Old Seven Shen. He can also write slogans and draw woodcuts?!"
"No, he only has a primary school education and can recognize a few words. How can the kiln factory recruit him to write and paint?!"
Zhou Mancang: "He only has a junior high school education. Isn't his wife also well-educated? I heard that she can write and draw. He learned it from his wife."
The members were speechless.
You know what, if you think about it carefully, those who are a little older have some impression that Shen Laoqi's wife who fled from famine did seem to be quite educated. She spoke and acted in a very polite manner. It seemed that she even taught the children in the village to recite poems for a while.
Neither the couple is an extrovert and they spend most of their time at home. It is possible that Shen Laoqi learned writing and painting from his wife.
Moreover, the villagers are not very familiar with Shen Laoqi. If they say that he has been studying secretly over the years, no one dares to deny the possibility.
So, Shen Laoqi has become a worker, and his family is going to build a big brick and tile house?
Looking at it this way, the idea of his daughter marrying a live-in son-in-law doesn't seem so unacceptable!
Shen Laoqi and his daughter, who had been unknown for many years, became celebrities in Yangliu Brigade, and the news was gradually spreading to the surrounding villages.
Then soon, the negative impact came.
That day, Shen Moer drank too much water before going to bed. She got up in the middle of the night and just came out of the treasure house when she heard a slight noise outside.
Shen Moer was awakened from her nap and quietly walked to the door. Sure enough, she heard some noise outside.
She squatted by the door and waited for a while. A thin piece of iron slowly came in through the crack in the door. The iron sheet gently pressed against the bolt and pushed it open little by little.
In the darkness, Shen Moer raised her eyebrows and moved aside a little. Almost at the same time, with a very light "creak", the door slowly opened and a figure jumped in from outside -
Oh, he didn't jump in, because at the moment he wanted to jump in, Shen Moer lowered her body slightly and kicked out fiercely.
Bang!
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