Chapter 44 Everyone quickly found a piece…
They quickly found a good spot. Everyone got out of the car. Cheng Xiuying led her two daughters to stretch their legs in place, while Yu Jiajia went to pick wildflowers. The clusters of wildflowers on the grass were quite pretty.
The three Yu brothers went to find an auspicious burial site.
They quickly found a pretty good spot, and Yu Songqing strolled around for a bit before heading back to the restroom. There was no need for everyone to follow.
He stayed at Yusong Rock to keep watch, and dug a pit in Yusong River.
When the younger brother goes to the toilet, the older brother, worried that someone might be nearby, asks him to keep an eye on things. How reasonable!
You can't have the whole family keeping watch when one person goes to the toilet.
Yu Songyan glimpsed a young man climbing a tree to secretly observe, another looking from behind the tree, and two others following behind on the main road, watching Yu Hongding and the others. They didn't dare to follow too closely, probably because they couldn't see exactly what was going on here, only vaguely seeing this area, and could probably guess that Lao Wu was digging a pit.
Yu Songchuan quickly resolved his personal issues, then covered the hole up again, and finally tamped the soil down.
Digging a hole like this in the suburbs is too obvious. The grass is all bald, and the soil is new. It won't be noticeable until new grass grows.
Therefore, hiding treasure in the wild is a skill; you can't let others see any signs of digging or rummaging.
Yu Songchuan chuckled, “Let’s go, let’s go to the Hongcheng Brigade.”
The thought of someone digging a hole soon made him want to laugh, and he prayed that these people wouldn't dig it with their bare hands.
The family continued on their way. When they passed the place where they had rescued Lu Yuan last time, Cheng Xiuying pointed it out to everyone, saying, "It's right here in this grassy patch. If I hadn't thrown Si Bao and Lao Wu into it while riding my bike, they probably wouldn't have been discovered until they started to stink."
This place is unremarkable, overgrown with weeds as tall as a person, and no one would go in. On the other side of the road are cornfields taller than a person, and when the commune members come to work, they don't venture into the grassy fields.
Lu Yuan was unconscious at that time, let alone able to call for help. When he was found, it was most likely that the commune members found him by smelling the stench.
Yu Songchuan: "With my agility, there's no way I could have fallen in. Fourth Sister was asleep at the time. If I had dodged, she would have fallen in herself."
Fourth sister is a good older sister, so he should be a good younger brother!
Yu Jiajia was quite touched and gave Yu Songchuan a look, meaning that they would sneak a bite together next time.
Yu Songchuan understood immediately and was delighted.
When they passed a reservoir, Yu Jiajia said, "Mom, let's catch a couple more fish and bring them with us. I brought my fishing hooks."
Everyone: ...
If the person speaking wasn't her beloved fourth child, she would definitely have scolded him. "You think you can just go fishing like that? If there were fish in this reservoir, would it be your turn?"
But this was her prized possession, and she had plenty of patience: "Okay, let's go fishing for a while."
Yu Songqing: "Jiajia, there are no fish here. If there were, they would have been caught long ago."
Cheng Xiuying retorted, "You think you know everything? You think you're so great? What's wrong with Sibao fishing for a while? If you don't want to wait, then go ahead."
Yu Songqing explained, "It's not that I don't want to wait, I'm just afraid Jiajia will be disappointed if she doesn't catch any fish." He comforted her, "It doesn't matter if there are fish or not, there's plenty of meat in this pig's head, enough to eat."
How could he not want to wait for Jiajia now? He can wait for her no matter what she's doing.
Yu Jiajia smiled sweetly: "Mom, you're so kind. And thank you, big brother too~ Let's give it a try, what if we catch a fish! Let's try for half an hour."
Yu Songchuan: "Big brother, don't worry. Everyone said there were no fish at the reservoir where we went fishing last time. Fourth Sister even caught two fish, but unfortunately the second one was stolen."
Everyone parked their cars on the side of the road and went to the reservoir to prepare for fishing.
Yu Songyan and Yu Songchuan went to find earthworms, and soon they found a handful, which they wrapped in leaves. Yu Songqing also found a stick to use as a fishing rod and tied the fishing line securely.
"Next time I'll make Jiajia a better fishhook. A fishhook made of needles doesn't have barbs, so it's easier for the fish to come off the hook."
Any stick will do for a fishing rod; carrying it by hand is actually inconvenient.
Yu Jiajia: "Thank you, big brother!"
It would be difficult for her to replace the all-purpose fish food under the watchful eyes of so many people, but she could replace earthworms. They are both earthworms, so she has the opportunity to replace them.
She had previously put two earthworms in the all-purpose fish food bag, and they ate quite a bit of the food, so it should have the same effect.
If not, then forget it, it's okay if you can't catch it.
She certainly can't casually reveal the all-purpose fish food; she won't take out anything whose origin is unclear.
She easily replaced the earthworm with a fresh one, but it felt rather disgusting to hold in her hand. She touched it and quickly tossed it to Yu Songchuan, saying, "Help me put it on the fishing hook."
An earthworm was broken into three pieces, one of which got caught on a fishhook.
Yu Jiajia cast her hook into the reservoir.
Nobody expected to catch any fish. Just like Yu Songqing said, if there were any fish here, they would have been caught long ago. Even the poorest family has a needle and a few earthworms.
How could no children have tried it? Of course they have.
Yu Songchuan was eager to try, staring intently at the fishing line. Soon he noticed that the fishing line moved slightly, not because of the wind!
Yu Jiajia had already lifted the fishing rod, and a large carp was caught.
Cheng Xiuying exclaimed "Ouch!" and quickly helped pull the fishing rod, while the others watched carefully, ready to jump into the water to retrieve the fish if it got off the hook!
When the fish got close, Yu Songqing reached out and grabbed it, then steadily lifted it onto the shore!
This fish is huge, it weighs almost two and a half pounds!
These days, we certainly don't lack meat at home, but it's impossible to eat a lavish feast of fish and meat. Now that we've caught such a big carp, who wouldn't be happy?
Yu Jiajia was also very happy, which showed that earthworms could also be used to catch fish after eating all-purpose fish food.
Soon they caught another big grass carp, weighing three and a half pounds, plump and chubby!
Not long after casting the hook again, he caught another grass carp weighing over two pounds.
The Yu family couldn't help but smile, their mouths agape. Cheng Xiuying exclaimed, "My darling, how are you so amazing? You actually managed to catch three big fish!"
After catching three fish in a row, no more fish took the bait.
Yu Songchuan: "Sis, pick an earthworm to fish for yourself."
Yu Jiajia picked one, but still couldn't catch any more fish.
Cheng Xiuying: "I'll do it!"
There were no fish!
The others took turns fishing for a while, but no fish took the bait.
Cheng Xiuying: "Have you finished fishing in the reservoir?"
She hung the three fish, with their mouths strung together with straw rope, on Little Green's bicycle handlebars.
She looked at the pretty little green bike, with a pig's head on one side of the handlebars and three big fish on the other. Her adorable baby, who looked like a fairy, was sitting on the back seat. It was too extravagant. She could already imagine the scene when they arrived at the Hongcheng Brigade.
Who can rival her success?
This will be something the members of Hongcheng Brigade will remember for a lifetime.
The Yu family caught three fish, which made the people following them extremely envious. Who wouldn't crave meat?
The team leader, who had just touched the "landmine," hurriedly washed his hands frantically by the reservoir. He had already washed them, but he still felt like they weren't clean enough. Seeing the water, he wanted to scrub them even harder. He cursed a few times: "You little brat, you even dig a hole to bury your poop, what kind of quirk is that! You'll regret this later!"
The other three felt sorry for them. Luckily, the leader volunteered to do this "good thing," otherwise they would have been the ones to suffer.
After rubbing his hands together, the team leader left two people who could swim to catch fish in the reservoir. "There are a lot of fish here. Catch two and then hurry up and catch up. Don't be greedy, two is enough to eat. Come back quickly, we'll have grilled fish for lunch."
The two who were left behind were also very happy. They had finally found a reservoir with lots of fish! They caught three or four first, and when they came back, they would catch a few more to share and take home.
After the two took off their clothes and went into the reservoir, they didn't find any big fish, only small fry about the length of a finger. They dived into the water but couldn't see any fish at all.
Where are the fish? Lots of fish!
Why are the Yu family members able to catch fish in this reservoir?
Do we really have to use a fishhook and earthworm to fish?
...
Cheng Xiuying and her group had arrived at the territory of Hongcheng Brigade. On both sides of the road, the commune members were weeding in the fields. When they saw Cheng Xiuying and her family returning like this, their eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
My God!
Is this not going to work?
That big pig's head looks so fat and big, with two big ears, big pig head meat, pig face meat, pig nose, pig eyes, and pig brain. How many dishes could you make with that?
And those three fish, one carp and two grass carp, together weighed about seventy or eighty pounds.
There were also fruits and pastries in the truck bed.
Besides, who has three cars?
Then look at Cheng Xiuying's boyfriend; he's already a father of several children, and he looks even more handsome than young men—young women wouldn't dare look him in the eye. And then there are Chen Xiuying's five children, all good-looking and looking like intellectuals!
How come she's so lucky?
Of the three women from Hongcheng Brigade who married into the city, Cheng Xiuying was the best off, with a good-looking husband and a good job. And look at her children—they don't seem like children from ordinary families at all.
It's true what they say, comparisons are odious! Everyone's so envious. I really hope my family can have a daughter like that, who can snag a good son-in-law from the city and bring home a pig's head in the future.
"Xiuying, how did you manage to buy a pig's head?"
"Xiuying, why did you buy so many fish?"
"Xiuying, is this women's bicycle new?"
"Xiuying, your family has three cars in total?"
"Xiuying..."
...
Now it's Cheng Xiuying's turn to shine. Pig heads are a reward, fish are a reward, fruits and pastries are rewards, and a new bicycle is an even bigger reward.
The onlookers were shocked, one after another, and were almost moved to tears by their envy.
How did Cheng Xiuying's family get such good luck?
Cheng Xiuying took out a bunch of grapes and distributed them to everyone, one for each person to taste.
Some people took the grapes but couldn't bear to eat them, saving them to take home for their children, and even wanted Cheng Xiuying to give them two more grapes.
Cheng Xiuying wasn't really generous; she only gave one to each person, and there wouldn't be any more. In the Hongcheng Brigade, she didn't need to pretend; the only person more shrewish than her was her mother.
I sent out grapes just to mark the occasion, but I only sent out a small bunch and that's all for now.
Grandma Cheng came running over, calling out, "My Sanbao, you're finally back! I've missed you so much. Your grandma talks about you every day."
She rushed forward and was dazzled by the pig's head and the big fish in front of her. She almost fainted from the overwhelming joy. Her three children had made something of themselves.
She held Cheng Xiuying's hand: "Sanbao, you've come all this way, why are you carrying so much stuff? Meat is so precious these days, aren't you going to waste it?" Then she grabbed Yu Hongding's hand: "Hongding, your grandma said this morning that her left eyelid kept twitching, and you're here now, hurry home."
Following behind was a string of nine little radish heads, all children of the Cheng family, who surrounded Old Lady Cheng, calling out, "Third Aunt, Third Aunt."
Cheng Xiuying distributed the grapes that hadn't been distributed to the children, giving each of them three purple grapes.
The children were overjoyed. "Third Aunt is so kind, thank you, Third Aunt!"
Grandma Cheng called out, "Make way, make way, don't block the way, let my Sanbao family come in and rest for a bit."
The rest of the Cheng family also rushed over from the fields when they heard the news. Seeing Cheng Xiuying return home like this, they couldn't stop smiling. They quickly took the things off the handlebars and helped push the bicycle.
Cheng Xiuying was surrounded by her mother, brother, and sister-in-law as she walked home.
Yu Songqing and his siblings were surrounded by their cousins as they walked home.
The Cheng family now has four generations living together. Old Mrs. Cheng is still alive and in good health, but her eyesight has deteriorated and she can no longer see people clearly.
She was waiting at the door when she saw a group of people returning. She called out, "Sanbao's back?"
Every generation has its own treasures.
In the Cheng family, the most promising member of this generation is Cheng Xiuying.
The old lady took a few steps and precisely grasped Cheng Xiuying's hand. "My left eye has been twitching all morning, so I guessed good news was coming. I had your sister-in-law and your nieces-in-law clean the house inside and out. Just now, magpies were circling and chirping around the house, and they really came to bring good news." She looked at the pig's head, then at the big carp and the big grass carp. "Sanbao, Hongding, come and sit down."
The old lady was so happy that she showed off her teeth.
The Cheng family had many descendants and a large number of children, so they needed many houses. After getting married, they needed a place to live, so they gradually expanded the house by six rooms. The courtyard was filled with seasonal vegetables and was kept very clean and tidy.
The pickled vegetables that the Yu family often eats in the morning are all pickled by the Cheng family.
Everyone was led into the main room. Old Mrs. Cheng asked her daughter-in-law, Wang Shuhua, to bring up the mung bean soup, cucumbers, and tomatoes hanging in the well. She poured mung bean soup for everyone to drink and then said to Cheng Xiuying, "Your grandmother had a pot of mung bean soup made early this morning, with added sugar. She said to hang it in the well, waiting for our distinguished guests to come and drink it."
Cheng Xiuying also considered herself a distinguished guest and was not modest at all: "My grandma is amazing. She can guess I'm coming just by the twitch of her eyelids."
Wang Shuhua poured mung bean soup for everyone. It had been simmering for a long time, so it was mushy, and she added white sugar. It was icy cold and sweet.
A group of little kids were drooling with envy. Wang Shuhua served them a large bowl, and then took two cucumbers and two tomatoes, giving them to her 9-year-old grandson: "Take your younger siblings to the yard and share them."
A group of children ran out with their older brother.
After chatting for a while, Grandma Cheng said, "Shuhua, stay home and cook. Yongyi can lend a hand. Everyone else, go to work so you don't miss out on your work points. Xiufeng, invite your second uncle and aunt, and Uncle Zhiqiang and his wife over for lunch."
Second Uncle is the captain of Hongcheng Brigade. He is in his early forties and has a high seniority.
He is Old Lady Cheng's cousin.
Yu Zhiqiang is the eldest son of the second uncle.
Chen Xiufeng responded and then said to Yu Hongding, "Hongding, let's have a couple of drinks at noon. I'm going to work now."
Yu Hongding, Yu Songqing, and the others stood up to see him out.
Others also went out to work one after another, and the house became empty.
Grandma Cheng cuddled with her three children for a while, patting Yu Songchuan's chubby head: "Chuan, you've grown taller and fatter, you're getting better and better." Then she looked at Yu Songqing, "Qing, you're so handsome and knowledgeable, you're the most promising one in our family."
Cheng Xiuying hugged Yu Jiajia: "Mother, you're wrong. My fourth child is the most promising and the most learned!"
Grandma Cheng: !!!
Has Siya become her third daughter's darling? Did she just praise people in the wrong order?
She looked at Yu Jiajia, and wow, upon closer inspection, she almost couldn't recognize her—she was so beautiful! She was even more stunning than when she first met Yu Hongding; she was as beautiful as a fairy.
But beauty is only an external thing. Now this is her daughter's treasure, and her daughter's treasure is her treasure. She held Yu Jiajia's little hand and thought, "Ah, it's so soft." "Jiajia, you're so beautiful. If I ran into you on the street, I wouldn't even recognize you! Sanbao is amazing to have given birth to such a beautiful daughter."
Yu Jiajia smiled sweetly: "Grandma, you're absolutely right. My mom is amazing; she gave birth to me so beautifully!"
Grandma Cheng: "That's right. Your mother has been formidable since she was a child."
Yu Jiajia: "How was my mom so amazing when she was little?"
At that time, Old Mrs. Cheng didn't care what her three daughters were doing. They were always out and about, either fighting with people or running around in the mountains. They would shirk their chores at home. In my memory, she was always the one who disciplined Cheng Xiuying.
Grandma Cheng: "...When your mother was a child, she dared to go up the mountain to hunt wild boars and beat up a group of people who bullied your aunt. All the children in the village called your mother 'Big Sister' and wanted to play with her."
Yu Jiajia: "Wow! So my mom has been amazing since she was little! Grandma, you have no idea how amazing my mom is. She catches bad guys with ease, and she even found the stolen bicycle from our house and busted the bike thieves' den!"
Grandma Cheng: "Oh my, how come my Sanbao is so amazing?"
Grandma Cheng talked about Cheng Xiuying's childhood, while Yu Jiajia talked about Cheng Xiuying's present. The two of them exclaimed "Oh!" and "Wow!" every now and then, and Yu Songchuan would occasionally chime in, which made Cheng Xiuying very happy.
Others: ...
Yu Jiamin truly admires this; love really doesn't come from nowhere.
Her mother loves Jiajia, and she's not jealous at all.
Yu Songqing tried several times to speak up and salvage Cheng Xiuying's impression of him, but he couldn't open his mouth and couldn't get a word in edgewise.
The old lady pulled Yu Jiajia to her side, reaching out to touch her hand, arm, head, and face. Yu Jiajia obediently let her great-grandmother look at her.
The old lady was overjoyed: "Our Jiajia is a person with great fortune and blessings."
Cheng Xiuying was thrilled. Her grandmother rarely spoke of good fortune or luck! For her to say that Sibao had great fortune and luck meant that Sibao was indeed a lucky treasure. She quickly said, "Thank you, Great-Grandma."
Yu Jiajia didn't know why she should thank her, but since her mother told her to, she definitely should: "Thank you, Great-Grandma."
The little old lady smiled.
Cheng Xiuying continued, "Grandma, last time Sibao and Laowu saved a couple in the reservoir. Two people had drowned in that reservoir before. You should rub Sibao and Laowu's hands to make sure they don't get tainted by water ghosts."
The old lady touched it for a while longer, then said with a smile, "It's fine."
Then she touched Yu Songchuan's hand for a while, and said, "It's fine too."
Cheng Xiuying was completely relieved, otherwise she would always be thinking about the water ghost. "Let's braise this pig's head. My dad loves to eat pig's head and pig's ears. Let him have a taste today. Also, braise a grass carp."
The old woman smiled and said, "Your father, having eaten this good food, will be able to sing happily at his grave."
"I'll give that old man some peanuts again." Grandma Cheng added, "I'll save you a plate each of pig's head meat, pig's face meat, and pig's ears. Take them back and eat them tomorrow. Grass carp and carp, which does Jiajia like to eat? I'll marinate them for you and take them back to make soup for Jiajia tomorrow."
Even if she doesn't ask for it herself, her third daughter will ask for it eventually!
Cheng Xiuying didn't stand on ceremony at all. Even if her mother hadn't said anything, she would have taken some back with her. She said, "Grass carp, please."
Grandma Cheng: "Then marinate the biggest grass carp."
Cheng Xiuying: "There is another matter. I have a job opening here, a formal employee position at Hongxing Livestock Farm. The starting salary is 38 yuan, and the grain and oil ration can also be transferred to the farm."
The Cheng family gasped, their eyes shining as they looked at Cheng Xiuying. Could she be thinking of giving her job to her family? Otherwise, why would she bring this up?
Grandma Cheng was so excited she could hardly breathe. "Sanbao, what do you mean by this?"
Cheng Xiuying: "Give this job to your eldest brother or sister-in-law. You can decide the specifics yourselves. Remember, you only got this job because of Sibao."
Wang Shuhua was so excited she almost fainted. The Cheng family was going to have a permanent employee, a secure job with a salary of 38 yuan. She opened her mouth, but was too excited to speak.
Grandma Cheng was also very excited. She held Cheng Xiuying's hand in one hand and Yu Jiajia's hand in the other. "I'm not exaggerating. Our Cheng family will remember your kindness for the rest of our lives. We will take out half of our future salaries and save them for Jiajia's dowry."
Cheng Xiuying: "I can't bear to see Sibao get married too early. I'd like to keep her for another three to five years. Mother, are you willing to let her go too?"
Sibao is only 17 years old; she should wait until she's at least 20 before considering marriage. There are no advantages to a girl getting married too early.
Grandma Cheng raised her hand to wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes: "Don't even mention three to five years, I'd be willing to give up ten years!"
Cheng Xiuying laughed: "About a year, I'll save up 200 yuan, and then I'll exchange it for a sewing ticket and buy a sewing machine for Sibao."
Grandma Cheng: "Two years, and we'll save up 400 yuan to buy Sibao a watch."
She knew her third daughter best and had a good grasp of her feelings. 400 yuan was indeed a lot; the family had only saved 40 yuan over the years. But the money was well spent; without a job, where would they get 400 yuan?
The third daughter was given a hen that lays golden eggs, so of course she was willing to give away some of the golden eggs!
Moreover, the third daughter's family is very capable, especially what the mother-in-law just said—Jiajia is destined for great things! This money is even more worthwhile.
This is just one job! They have three sons and two daughters!
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Author's note: Sorry for the lateness in correcting the typos. I'll send out red envelopes to everyone tomorrow morning as an apology.
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