Duoshou nudged him with her small shoulder: "Silly, they, they, are building a house, a new house."
When Gao Shujing came over and talked to Yu Rujia about this, Duoshou kept it in mind. In addition, with so many people working and talking enthusiastically here, little Duoshou learned from their words that this was what building a house was like.
Gao Shujing: "Yes, once the house is finished, Uncle will move in next to you and see you every day. Aren't you happy?"
He had eaten with them and played with them. The three children liked him very much and nodded their little heads to express their happiness.
A clear voice rang out: "Ah, these kids are so cute. No wonder Yu, the educated youth, wanted to raise them. Even I want to take them home. Little friends, what are your names?"
Gao Shujing looked back and saw that the person who came was Chen Manman from the educated youth compound.
Duolu and Duoshou were quite young, and when they heard the stranger's voice, they were so frightened that they hid behind Duofu.
Duofu, with his small body, tried his best to stand up straight, attempting to block Chen Manman's view of his two younger brothers. He looked at the person in front of him warily, for he had just heard her say that she wanted to take them back.
The experience with human traffickers that he had recently had taken root in his young mind, and he knew that once he was taken away, he would never see his aunt and father again.
Gao Shujing noticed their fear and subtly shifted his body to stand between Chen Manman and Duofu.
Gao Shujing: "Chen Zhiqing, what are you doing here?"
Chen Manman's eyes swept over Gao Shujing's fair face, and she said with a smile, "I came out to collect some firewood and passed by here, so I thought I'd drop by to see you. Why did you, a educated youth, choose to build a house here?"
Gao Shujing: "There are few people living here, so it's quiet."
Based on her woman's intuition, Chen Manman didn't believe Gao Shujing's story, but seeing that he didn't want to continue, she cleverly changed the subject and asked about the names of the three little ones.
Gao Shujing explained, "The older one is called Duofu, the twins are Duolu and Duoshou, and there's also a Duoxi who's at home and hasn't come out yet."
Then he turned to the three children and introduced her: "This is Chen Zhiqing, you can call her Sister Chen. Come on, say hello to Sister Chen."
With Gao Shujing standing in front of him, Duofu calmed down and said, "Hello, Sister Chen."
Duo Shou greeted in her soft, sweet voice, "Sister Chen."
Doro moved his little head and greeted them in return.
Chen Manman took out a few fruit candies from her pocket and handed them to the group: "They're so cute, here's some candy for you."
The twins had never eaten fruit candy before and didn't know what it was.
Duolu leaned forward, his warrior spirit rising again, and reached out his little hand to grab one to taste, but Duofu held him firmly, preventing him from moving an inch.
Duoshou leaned her small body against Duofu's shoulder, her big eyes glancing at the fruit candy in Chen Manman's hand, but she didn't move.
Gao Shujing: "Chen Zhiqing, they are still young. The fruit candy is hard and can easily get stuck in their throats. Please take the candy back."
Chen Manman comes from a well-off family. She volunteered to come to the countryside to help build a new rural area. However, after arriving, she found that the countryside was not what she had imagined. After going through a period of hardship, she has adapted to the rural environment.
She was a spoiled child who had never married and had no one younger than her in her family. She hadn't thought these things through, which led to this misunderstanding.
Chen Manman was a little embarrassed, but she had no bad intentions. She immediately took back the fruit candies and sincerely apologized, "I'm sorry, I forgot about these. I'll go back and get some chicken cake for them later."
Gao Shujing: "It's not your fault that you haven't had much contact with children."
Three exquisitely beautiful dolls appeared here, and the burly men working there couldn't help but praise them.
"Yu, the educated youth, really knows how to raise children. They're so fair and delicate. Where in our countryside can you see such beautiful children?"
“City children are pampered. They eat well from a young age, and I heard that they drink expensive malted milk powder as milk. They also live in good houses. It’s different for us country children. We just need to be fed. If you raise children like city people do, you can raise such beautiful children too.”
“City people have wages, they can earn tens of yuan a month, but we can’t earn that much all year round, how can we raise children like them?”
"That's why everyone wants to go to the city. Once you get to the city, you'll have good fortune for life. It's a pity that we people without connections can't do anything about it."
“If you want to go to the city, just become a live-in son-in-law. Look at Huang Jingbei, he got a job in the city because he became a live-in son-in-law. Every time he comes back, he acts all high and mighty, like a big official visiting the countryside.”
"He's just a temporary worker, but he acts like he's got all the skills in the world. Instead of showing off, he should save some good stuff for his family. Look at his nieces, they're so skinny you could count their bones on one hand."
“He’s not a good person, and his mother is even worse. She treats people like cattle and horses every day, and doesn’t even give them food. I’ve seen his nieces eating grass from the mountain before.”
"Poor thing, if this continues, those sisters might become the first people in our Shangfen Brigade to starve to death."
Province Y has few natural disasters, and two or three crops can be grown a year. Although the rice yield is not high, there is plenty of land, so sweet potatoes are grown in large quantities. In good years, ten work points can earn five or six catties of sweet potatoes (according to Baidu), so people won't go hungry.
The Shangfen Brigade is also backed by the Shiwan Mountains, which are rich in resources. Even if you don't have enough to eat, you won't starve if you work hard.
Shangfen Brigade was once the most prosperous brigade in Dongyuan Commune. Except for special circumstances, we rarely saw anyone starve to death.
“Jingnan is incompetent. He listens to his mother in everything and watches his wife and daughters suffer without saying a word. He’ll regret it sooner or later.”
"Forget it, let's not talk about his family anymore, it's bad luck. Gao Zhiqing, you're from the city, why would you want to go to the countryside?"
"That's right, Gao Zhiqing is a college graduate, she's guaranteed a job, much better than that scoundrel Huang Jingbei. Why did you give up a job in the city and come to our countryside?"
Before the policy of mandatory rural relocation was introduced, the educated youth sent to the countryside in 1966 were still subject to voluntary application. They really couldn't understand why so many educated youth would give up a good life in the city and insist on going to the countryside.
It's strange that these country folks are so eager to move to the city, while city dwellers are thinking about going back to the countryside.
Gao Shujing didn't answer their questions directly, but instead analyzed the situation in the city and the countryside for them: "The city has its advantages, and the countryside has its advantages; in the city, income is higher, but expenses are also higher, even vegetables cost money."
"The living conditions here are not as good as in the countryside. Some families have more than ten people crammed into a small house of only a few dozen square meters. It's different in the countryside. As long as you have money, you can build your own house and live comfortably."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
