Duo Lu lifted his foot to follow, but Yu Rujia pulled the rope, pulling him back. By the time he realized what was happening, Gao Guojing had already disappeared.
Gao Guojing went to the market and bought some firecrackers, fireworks (double-bang firecrackers, snap pops, sparklers) and other toys. It was definitely from a boy's perspective.
The items weighed over a hundred pounds in total, and were all tied to the bicycle. The plank was long enough, and there was even some space left for the child to sit on when he got tired of walking.
They found the photo studio, where only the owner was inside. Seeing them enter, he greeted them warmly, "Is this the lady who wants her picture taken?"
Although Gao Guojing is tall, his face clearly shows that he is a young, inexperienced man.
The other toddlers were so young that a single photo of them cost more than meat. Even though the children's clothes had no patches, the owner never imagined that anyone would pay to have their photos taken.
I thought it was a photo taken by Yu Rujia, a female comrade, for a blind date.
Yu Rujia: "How much would it cost if we took one photo of all of us together, then one photo of each child, and then one photo of each child individually, and five copies of each photo were printed?"
The shop owner was astonished by this extravagant gesture: "Comrade, if we do this, we'll need to take six photos, develop thirty in total, which will cost eighteen yuan. Do you really want to do it this way?"
Whose spendthrift son is this? Eighteen yuan is a month's wages for a temporary worker, and he squandered it all in less than half an hour.
Yu Rujia: "Just shoot it like this." The wealthy man with several thousand yuan in his pocket said this amount of money wasn't a big deal. Even Gao Guojing didn't even flinch.
After taking the photos, they agreed to pick them up in two days, and the family of six then dragged their purchases home.
On the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, we deep-fried various snacks to serve guests after the New Year. We fried a whole bunch of peanut cakes, soybean cakes, pickled cabbage cakes, and ear-shaped cakes.
On the 29th of the lunar year, people would go to the ancestral graves to make offerings. This practice was eliminated after the "Four Olds" campaign. Electricity had been restored to Tongfeng Brigade, and Gao Shujing could now stay home and prepare for the New Year with peace of mind.
Since the tofu made on the 26th of the lunar year had already been cleaned up, Yu Rujia had Gao Guojing soak two large buckets of soybeans last night, preparing to use them to make tofu today.
There's no way around it; there are just too many family members. Even with other dishes, they still consume at least three pounds of tofu per meal.
In this kind of weather, keeping tofu in water, changing the water occasionally, can keep it fresh for several days. Two large buckets of soybeans yield less than 100 jin (50 kg) of tofu, which is hardly much.
With Gao Shujing busy at home, Gao Guojing can relax a bit.
To keep the kids from causing trouble at home, Gao Guojing suggested, "I'll take them out to pick goose intestines."
We've been busy these past few days and haven't had time to go outside to pick vegetables. Our own vegetable garden can't grow enough for them to eat, so we haven't had any tender goose intestines for the past two days. The whole family is really craving fresh goose intestines.
When Duo Shou, who prefers vegetarian food, heard about goose intestine dish, his eyes widened and he grinned, saying, "Great! I want to eat goose intestine dish."
Yu Rujia: "If you want to eat them, pick more and bring them back."
Gao Guojing: "Leave it to me."
The group went out with great enthusiasm, but less than an hour later they returned dejected, with only a pitiful amount of goose intestines in their basket.
As Yu Rujia put beans into the stone mill, she asked, "Why are you back so early? Didn't you say you were going to pick more goose intestines?"
Duo Shou said with a wronged expression, "The goose intestines are all gone; someone else picked them all."
Yu Rujia: "There are plenty of these vegetables in the fields, and they grow so fast, how could they all be picked? Have you checked other fields?"
Gao Guojing: "Everyone in the brigade went. There were so many people picking that we looked all over the land and found that almost all the roots had been dug up."
Yu Rujia recalled that when Sun Qingqing and the others brought over goose intestines a few days ago, she did see other people picking the vegetables, but there weren't many of them.
Unexpectedly, just a few days later, the goose intestines that used to grow everywhere were picked so much by the team members that they couldn't grow any longer.
You know, this thing used to grow so much that the team had to go through a lot of trouble to clean it up every year after the New Year, but this year it turned out like this.
Yu Rujia said regretfully, "I was thinking of getting some to cook with tomorrow night, but it seems that won't work. This little bit of goose intestines isn't enough. We have some more growing in our vegetable garden. Go and look for them, and we'll make do for dinner tonight."
I was busy the past two days and didn't have time to pick them. These vegetables grow quickly, so in two days, I should be able to harvest a batch.
The vegetable patch was too small to make a meal, so they thought of going out to pick more, but they ended up making a wasted trip.
These past few days I've eaten too much meat and fried food, so when the cold goose intestine salad was served, its tenderness attracted several pairs of chopsticks, and the plate of goose intestine salad was quickly devoured.
The less something is available, the better it seems. Even Duolu, who always loves meat, couldn't help but pout and say, "Auntie, I want to eat this dish."
Gao Shujing: "I'm going to the commune tomorrow to collect my January salary and New Year's gifts. I'll pick some goose intestines on the way back so we can have hot pot tonight."
The people of Shangfen Brigade only learned that goose intestines were edible because of Yu Rujia. Other brigades probably don't know this news yet. They must have plenty of it growing in their fields, so they don't have to worry about not having it.
Of course, under these circumstances, they can only enjoy goose intestines and vegetables to their heart's content this year. After next year, the surrounding brigades will all know that goose intestines and vegetables are edible.
In those days when everyone was poor, nothing that could be eaten would be wasted. Like Shangfen Brigade, other brigades also had goose intestines that were in short supply.
Gao Guojing had obviously thought of this problem as well, and patted his chest, saying, "That's right, aren't we going to town to pick up the photos tomorrow? My brother and I will go together. Leave the goose intestine dish to me, I guarantee you'll have your fill tomorrow."
Gao Shujing: "What photos? Did you take them?"
Duoshou raised his hand: "Uncle, it was on the day of the market, we took the photos together, but you didn't go."
Gao Shujing didn't expect that while he was working in another brigade, Yu Rujia and the others went to town to take photos. The whole family was in the photos, but he wasn't.
This is not Yu Rujia's fault. Her original intention in taking the children to take photos was simply for Gao Guojing to take back and show to Xia Taishun and the others.
Let them know that the little ones are doing well in Shangfen Brigade. It's not a family photo, so there's no need to gather everyone together before taking the picture.
The idea of taking photos came about the day Xu Huiniang told her about the market. Gao Shujing had to go to Tongfeng Brigade to connect the electricity and didn't have time to go out with them, so she naturally didn't mention it. Who knew that the usually nonchalant Gao Shujing would care about such a small matter?
Gao Shujing looked at Yu Rujia with a long, brooding gaze, as if she were a heartless woman: "Why didn't you wait for me to go and film together?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
