A hundred miles away, Wangjia Village was unaware of the farce unfolding within the Li family of Heyan Brigade. Technician Li was still a popular figure.
Technician Li usually stayed at the captain's house. After Li Xiuyuan arrived, he and his brother also stayed at the captain's house.
The young man was lively, sweet-talking, and perceptive. When Technician Li was busy, he'd follow him around to lend a hand or learn from him. When he wasn't busy, he'd help the elderly villagers collect firewood or fetch water. The people of Wangjia Village loved Li Xiuyuan, and they loved him too.
This was the most relaxing period of time Li Xiuyuan had ever had since he could remember.
The people in Wangjia Village are very warm and friendly, and the relationship between neighbors is harmonious. Everyone is laughing and having a great time together.
Moreover, the people of Wangjia Village are very united. They listen to whatever the team leader says. If they are asked to plant sweet potatoes, they will never plant potatoes. If they are asked to plant corn, they will never plant peas.
The team leader said again: "Chinese New Year is the day after tomorrow, and we still have a few pigs. Let's kill three more today. If any of the wives are visiting their parents, they can take some meat back."
Although the Wangjia Village canteen is thriving, many other local canteens were closed as early as last year's natural disaster. The reason was simple: there was no rice to cook.
The canteen was disbanded and everyone took care of themselves. If they had a handful of rice, they would eat a meal; if they didn’t, they would go hungry.
Giving some food such as grain and meat during the Chinese New Year is the most popular gift.
Almost every family in Wangjia Village has a daughter-in-law, so naturally no one objects. If they don’t give the food away, they can just cook it themselves and eat it. Who would disagree?
The brigade raised ten pigs this year, and slaughtered three of them on New Year's Eve. Everyone had a lively pig-slaughtering dinner, and also made sausages and smoked bacon to save for next year's enjoyment.
Now we have killed three more. Apart from giving some away, we will keep the rest for the New Year’s Eve dinner.
The pigs raised in Wangjia Village are indeed pleasing to the eye. They are fat and have big ears, twice as big as those raised in other brigades.
Li Xiuyuan was drooling just by looking at the big fat pig.
No one in Wangjia Village knew how to slaughter pigs, so they asked Yan the butcher from Yanjia Village to help.
Butcher Yan had never seen such a fat pig and was amazed.
"When did the feng shui of Wangjia Village become so good? The crops are fertile, and the pigs are strong. I'm so envious!"
Butcher Yan muttered enviously.
Li Xiuyuan pricked up his ears, wanting to hear some more gossip, but unfortunately Butcher Yan started sharpening his knife to attack the fat pig.
Li Xiuyuan seemed to be lost in thought, and looked at Wangjia Village and its villagers again.
Technician Li's work finally came to an end.
He came out of the peach orchard in Wangjia Village. The winter maintenance was basically completed and he could wait for the fruits to come next year with peace of mind.
Technician Li walked into Wangjia Village and passed by Old Lady Feng's house. Seeing Old Lady Feng in the yard, he called out through the fence, "Old Lady Feng, I'm done here. I'm going home today. I wish you a happy new year and see you next year!"
Old Lady Feng called out to him, "Xiao Li, don't leave yet. I've got something for you. Please run a trip for me and deliver it to your elder sister Cai's house."
Sister Cai has always maintained close contact with Mrs. Feng's family. She often asks Xiao Li to bring her gifts. A few days ago, when Technician Li returned to the city to report on his work, Sister Cai asked him to bring back many New Year gifts, which made Technician Li feel that his own New Year gifts seemed very meager.
Old Lady Feng brought out two large bags and said to Technician Li, "Give this one to Xiao Cai. Take the other one back home. You've worked hard here for a year, go home and have a good New Year! Most of our fields are fine, and the peach trees are fine too, so don't worry!"
Technician Li felt very embarrassed and kept declining.
"It's nothing valuable; it's all homegrown produce. You went to exchange some sugar coupons for Jiaojiao a few days ago and bought two kilograms of White Rabbit sugar, and I didn't refuse. Don't be so polite, it's too formal!"
Technician Li accepted it with a red face, feeling more and more that he owed the Feng family a favor.
Lianhua came out of the house carrying a noodle starter. When she saw Technician Li, she greeted him, "Technician Li, are you going home? See you next year!"
Technician Li's face turned redder and redder. He whispered, "See you next year!" Then he picked up his bag, said goodbye to Old Lady Feng, and left in a hurry.
Lianhua looked at Technician Li's back in surprise and asked doubtfully, "This Technician Li is a bit petty. I wrongly accused him before, and he still holds a grudge against me. He never speaks to me every time we meet! Hey, I've already apologized, how can there be such a petty man?"
Old Mrs. Feng looked at her and said nothing.
Li Jishu walked to the captain's house, packed his things, and said goodbye to the captain. It was not until he had ridden his bicycle for several miles on the main road that he remembered that he seemed to have left something behind.
He thought about it and realized it was Li Xiuyuan!
Li Xiuyuan, who was forgotten by his brother, was watching a butcher slaughtering a pig with a group of fellow villagers.
A group of children were standing not far away in Jiaojiao River, drooling as they waited to eat the pig-killing dishes.
Butcher Yan is indeed very skilled. He just raises his knife and cuts the meat into pieces in a few strokes.
Each of the big fat pigs in Wangjia Village weighs more than 400 pounds, and the meat is piled high after being slaughtered.
When a pig is slaughtered, every household lines up to get the meat.
The brigade accountant was Grandpa Dashan. At this time, he was sitting at a table, taking roll call from house to house.
The first one is Old Lady Feng’s house.
Jiaojiao had already said she wanted spare ribs, so Shuixiu went up and asked for some. Butcher Yan was particular about how he divided the meat. The spare ribs weighed less, so when a family was given five pounds of meat, he gave them five pounds more.
Shuixiu was carrying ten pounds of spareribs, a heavy load. Everyone was envious of such a large pile of meat, but few wanted the spareribs. Pork belly is so good, a mouthful of fat, that's the real kick! The spareribs were dry and unremarkable!
Jiaojiao followed Shuixiu home skipping and hopping.
Li Xiuyuan, who was squeezed in the crowd to watch the fun, was found by Technician Li. He could only helplessly watch his silly brother staring at the pile of meat, his eyes almost drooling with envy.
When the accountant saw Technician Li, he quickly called out, "Come on, Xiao Li! You have your share too! You're now a member of our Wangjia Village. This is your portion: five and a half pounds of fat and half of lean. Take it home and have a good New Year!"
Technician Li repeatedly declined, but the other members of the team laughed and stuffed five pounds of meat into his hands, pushing the two brothers out: "Go back quickly, go home and have a good rest! You've been exhausted this year. Go back and have a good New Year!"
He patted Li Xiuyuan again and said, "Come and play with your fourth brother after the New Year!"
Li Xiuyuan nodded repeatedly: "Okay, okay."
Technician Li...what a foolish kid!
On the way back, Technician Li thought for a long time and decided to give his naive younger brother a blow.
“Sometimes, when someone invites you, it may not be sincere; it may just be a polite gesture.”
Li Xiuyuan was shocked. "Fourth brother, so this is how you view people? Goudan's father is not like that! Can't you just open your heart and treat others sincerely?"
Technician Li...
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