"What! You guys had already agreed on this?"
Wang Qiufen never expected that her and her father's laissez-faire attitude would lead to this outcome.
But Zhao Jianbin said something that surprised her even more: "Yes, we agreed on this from the beginning, and that's why she accepted me."
"Are you trying to drive me crazy? Why didn't you tell me sooner? What will your dad and I do if you leave? Huh! We've raised you for nothing!" She was so angry that her eyes turned red, and she slapped Zhao Jianbin hard.
Zhao Jianbin quickly reached out to stop her, "Mom! Why are you angry? It's not like I'm abandoning you and Dad after I leave. I'll send money back. You have your younger brother to take care of you at home, so what's the problem!"
"You still say there's a problem? Let me tell you, the problem is huge!" Wang Qiufen scolded him, one hand on her hip and the other pointing at his head.
"Now people in the city can't find jobs and have to come to our countryside to scrape by in the fields. What can you do in the city? You'll need money for food and drink, how will you survive there? Humph, and you'll even send money back? You should be grateful if you don't ask us for money!"
Zhao Jianbin, a bachelor, said, "We'll talk about the future later. There's no use thinking about it now. Anyway, I'm strong enough to support my family."
"Why are you so stubborn? Can't you think things through a little more? If jobs in the city were so easy to find, would there still be so many educated youth going to the countryside?"
"Mom, I'm going to sleep!" Zhao Jianbin buried himself under the covers, ignoring his mother's slaps and angry scolding. He was determined, and no one could change his mind.
Seeing his ostrich-like attitude, Wang Qiufen pushed him several times without getting a response, then muttered to herself for a while before leaving helplessly.
Meanwhile, on Zhao Honghui's side, after a few rounds of drinks, Ye Xingchang offered cigarettes, and amidst the swirling smoke, they began to discuss serious matters.
"The Fifth Regiment wants to exchange coarse grains for fine grains, one pound can be exchanged for five or six pounds. Last time I heard the Fifth Regiment Commander say that they had a lot of sprouted wheat left over this year, which turned green after being ground into flour. They don't like to eat it, but if they exchange it for poor families, it will become a life-saving food."
Ye Xingchang borrowed manpower from the Fifth Regiment to carry out this mission, which enabled him to arrest dozens of enemy agents who had fled. He wanted to help the Fifth Regiment connect with Qi Tai.
Qi Tai understood Ye Xingchang's meaning, but he also had his own difficulties: "To be honest, I really need a source of coarse grains. There's a lot of cured and smoked meat at the forest farm, but it's hard to sell, and we don't dare to cook it for ourselves all the time. If someone smells the meat and reports us for 'stealing from the collective wall,' it'll be a disaster. They want to exchange meat for coarse grains to fill their stomachs first."
As for me, I never have to worry about selling any amount of meat.
The problem is that I don't have much refined grain in stock, and there's also little refined grain being sold in small quantities on the black market, making it difficult to achieve large-scale production.
If someone could procure some fine grains, these places would be saved.
Finally, Qi Tai's gaze fell on Zhao Honghui, and the meaning of "who" was self-evident.
Zhao Honghui frowned slightly, looking troubled. "If it's just a small amount of coarse grain, I can ask the people at the grain station if they have any old grain or grain that has been soaked in water, and I can exchange some meat for it."
However, they must have their own exchange channels, and the forest farms and production and construction corps are so large that their demand is not small.
As for smuggling fine grains from grain depots..."
Zhao Honghui thought of Yao Yao, wondering how much she had hoarded, but since she used every penny she had, she certainly wouldn't be willing to sell it.
He pondered for a moment, then shook his head.
"Then let's think of another way." Ye Xingchang raised his glass. "Qi Tai, keep an eye out for sellers of old items and gold on the black market, especially gold. Also, help me collect some gold, but be careful."
If you get caught, you'll be eating peanuts.
"no problem."
Zhao Honghui glanced at Ye Xingchang subtly, understanding that he wanted to track down the treasure's whereabouts, and that he should remind Yao Yao not to touch it for now.
Even though she was intelligent enough not to use him, he was still worried.
After seeing Qi Tai off, Ye Xingchang leaned closer to Zhao Honghui and asked, "Does your boyfriend have a solution?"
He didn't have high hopes, but he felt that Xie Yuyao was so mysterious that she might have special connections.
"I don't know." Zhao Honghui's eyes flashed. This wasn't a lie; he genuinely didn't know.
"Then let's ask her."
Zhao Honghui turned his head and looked at him for a few seconds. "You know, even if there really is such a thing, I won't put her in any risk."
"If anything goes wrong, I'll take responsibility."
Zhao Honghui asked, puzzled, "Why are you helping the Fifth Regiment so much?"
"The leader of the Wutuan Regiment is my father's protégé, and he helped a lot this time. After I go back, I can loosen up my position a bit," Ye Xingchang explained.
"Then I'll ask Yao Yao tomorrow." It's so late, I won't bother her.
At this moment, Xie Yuyao was already lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), her consciousness entering the space, where she harvested another batch of crops.
Looking at the bountiful harvest, she sighed inwardly: "If only we could make good use of it."
There are so many people outside who are starving, yet the grain in the warehouses is piled up unusable—what a waste!
However, if large quantities of grain were to flow into the black market, it would inevitably attract the attention of the authorities.
She had no idea that an opportunity was right in front of her.
*
A cold wind howled past, pounding against the fragile doors and windows, and the chill seeped into the room through the cracks, causing the room temperature to drop sharply.
Zhao Honghui was awakened by the soreness in his left leg; the injury flared up late but was not absent.
He checked the time; it was nearly 5 a.m., the coldest time of day.
The kang (heated brick bed) beneath him had not yet been lit, but the cotton quilt could no longer keep out the chill. He got up, dressed, and then folded the quilt into two layers to cover his legs, waiting for dawn.
The pain made him even more alert, and in the freezing early morning, the biggest obstacle between him and Yao Yao came into view.
Since that night when he had a falling out with his parents, he and his mother have been in a cold war, and he is even more determined not to go back to the educated youth compound.
But his mother was right about one thing: the house was built jointly by Yao Yao and Yang Shumei, and it would indeed be inappropriate for them to live there after they got married.
He could separate from his family and live separately, but his mother wouldn't agree, so he couldn't force the issue.
That night, his mother scolded him for being an unfilial son, which was like a sharp sword piercing his heart.
Aside from finding a partner, Zhao Honghui basically followed his parents' wishes in everything else. Since joining the army at the age of eighteen, he has sent most of his income back to his hometown to help support the family.
He knew his mother was just saying it in anger, but according to her thinking, he would eventually live up to that reputation.
After the last breakup, he had enough of the pain of unrequited love; that feeling was worse than being torn apart by a hundred claws.
How could a promise once made be taken back?
Besides, he didn't understand Yao Yao back then, but after this period of time, he has come to fully understand Yao Yao's insistence and is even less likely to compromise with his mother.
Perhaps he could inquire in the commune about whether anyone was selling a house, and he could live in the commune with Yao Yao.
Knock knock knock!
The knocking sounded particularly abrupt in the quiet, cold night.
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