Chapter 61 Ma Xiaojuan Visits

Su Mo strolled around the mountain again, picked some hazel mushrooms, and dug some wild vegetables.

Compared with the previous few days, the number of people she met was obviously much larger, and most of them were aunts or young wives. The autumn harvest of all the brigades must have been completed, and the adults began to go up the mountain to harvest.

With more people on the mountain, many things became inconvenient, and there were also many mountain products to be harvested, so Su Mo was not going to stroll around the mountain anymore. She still had a lot of things to do. It was just right that everyone was running up the mountain during this period, and she was busy with other things.

At about noon, Su Mo went down the mountain with half a basket of wild grass and hazel mushrooms on her back.

When she got home, Su Mo took out the rice she cooked a few days ago from the space, and estimated that there was only enough for one meal left, so Su Mo ate it all and cooked new ones tonight.

After dinner, Su Mo went to the well to fetch water, washed the newly picked hazel mushrooms and wild grass, and hung them up to dry.

While Su Mo was busy, she suddenly heard someone calling her outside the yard: "Su Mo, are you home?"

Su Mo looked out and saw that it was Ma Xiaojuan and Chen Lan. She thought to herself what a coincidence. She was just about to look for Ma Xiaojuan, but she was already there.

Su Mo stood up quickly, "I'm here, Xiaojuan, Chen Lan. The gate is not closed, just push it open and come in."

Ma Xiaojuan was very happy to see Su Mo at home. She quickly pushed the gate open and went in. She was a little surprised to see the lush vegetable field.

"Su Mo, did you grow these vegetables? They are growing really well."

"Yes." Su Mo said with a smile, "Maybe I am suitable for growing vegetables." As she said this, she put the washed hazel mushrooms into the bamboo sieve.

"Come on, sit inside." After Su Mo put the hazel mushrooms in the bamboo sieve, she welcomed the two people into the living room.

It was the first time for the two people to come here. After entering, Chen Lan's eyes were full of amazement and envy, while Ma Xiaojuan was much more direct.

"Su Mo, your house is good. Compared with this, the youth camp is really shabby. I used to think our brigade youth camp was good."

Su Mo pursed her lips and smiled, joking: "Yes, thanks to my husband, I can live in such a good house."

Ma Xiaojuan smiled: "It's true that getting married is different. People are much more cheerful." Su Mo didn't like to talk much before.

Su Mo led the two to sit in the hall, took two clean cups, and poured two cups of boiled water for them.

"What you washed just now was hazel mushrooms?" Ma Xiaojuan asked.

"Yes, I picked it this morning on the mountain."

"Where did you pick it? We also went up the mountain this morning, and we just picked some pine nuts and dug a few wild vegetables, and didn't see anything else."

"I picked it on the mountain, a little closer. I've been wandering around the mountain for several days." Su Mo said.

"No wonder I haven't seen you go to work these days, it turns out you went up the mountain to harvest the autumn crops, you are really smart." Ma Xiaojuan also went to rub corn these days, 6 work points a day, and her hands are almost rubbed bare.

But she couldn't not go, this job was easy, and there were many people in the brigade who wanted to do it. Or the brigade leader took into account that the new educated youth didn't have many work points, so he specially arranged it for them.

The other young people in the brigade were all sent to thresh wheat. That's not an easy job. Not only do your arms ache after a day, but you're also covered in dust.

Ma Jianmin and Zhao Guoping from the educated youth camp went to pound wheat, and they came back every day covered in dust.

"So what did you pick?" Ma Xiaojuan was curious.

"Just chestnuts, walnuts, and pine nuts. I also picked some hazel mushrooms and dug some wild vegetables." Su Mo said.

"Is it a lot?"

"Not bad. When you go back later, pack some to take back to the educated youth camp to eat."

"No, no, no." Ma Xiaojuan waved her hands repeatedly. "I'm just asking, not asking for anything."

"I know." Su Mo smiled. "Anyway, you don't have the things I picked up from the mountains, so I'll give you some to try."

Ma Xiaojuan felt embarrassed.

"By the way, Xiaojuan, you said you were going to make a quilt. Have you done it?" Su Mo changed the subject.

Ma Xiaojuan's eyes lit up, "Yes."

"How many beds?"

Ma Xiaojuan pointed with three fingers, "Three."

"Then what did Director Qi say?"

"I asked, and I said that my family heard about this benefit, and I wanted to see if I could do it. If I could, I would do it and send it back. Director Qi didn't say anything, he just wrote a list and asked me to pay." Ma Xiaojuan was very happy.

She called home, and her brother and sister were so happy when they heard that she could make cotton batting here and send it back. Finally, they don't have to cover the quilt made by her mother with loose cotton. The cotton used to make the quilt can also be taken out to make new cotton quilts.

"Why? You also want to make it and send it back?" Ma Xiaojuan asked.

"Yes, a few days ago, my relative called me and asked me if I could make a bed and send it back. I was busy with the autumn harvest these days and was delayed. I was just going to ask him this afternoon."

"Why didn't you ask the commune secretary... By the way, you are so mean. The commune secretary is your uncle, and you haven't mentioned him."

"Yes, I haven't heard you mention him." Chen Lan finally got the chance to interrupt.

She had to serve Su Mo now. Her husband was a military officer, her father-in-law was the brigade secretary, and the commune secretary was her uncle. If she had a good relationship with him, her life in the brigade would be much easier.

She regretted that she didn't send the wedding gift together when Ma Xiaojuan told her to.

"I only found out on the day of the banquet. My family never told me that he was the secretary here. Leaders have to be careful about influence. They don't even let their relatives make cotton quilts, for fear that people will accuse them of favoritism. So I have to go."

"That's right. Officials are all careful about their reputation." Ma Xiaojuan said.

Her uncle was the same. When the street office mobilized people to go to the countryside, her uncle immediately responded actively and sent her cousin and brother to the countryside, which made her aunt so angry that she almost divorced her uncle.

Seeing that Ma Xiaojuan hadn't said anything, Su Mo asked, "Xiaojuan, you came here to see me today, what's the matter?"

"Hehe..." Ma Xiaojuan laughed embarrassedly, "It's like this, my family saved money for me, I want to go to the county town to buy a bicycle, and I want you to accompany me to the county town."

Because Hongqi Commune is closer to the county town than other communes, it still hasn't been assigned a bus to the county town.

To go to the county town, you either walk, ride a bicycle, or take a donkey cart or ox cart. But now that the autumn harvest has just ended, the oxen and donkeys in the brigade are almost dead tired, and no one is going to the county town.

It takes an hour to ride a bicycle from Lujia Village to the county town, and at least three hours to walk.

Ma Xiaojuan didn't want to walk, but she came to ask Su Mo because she thought she had a bicycle.

"Sure, I'll go with you tomorrow." Su Mo agreed readily. It just so happened that she was going to the county town to buy some things.

"Good sister." Ma Xiaojuan clapped her hands and smiled, "Tomorrow I'll treat you to a good meal at the state-owned hotel."

"Okay, then I'll save my stomach and have a good meal tomorrow." Su Mo also smiled.

After chatting for a while, Ma Xiaojuan and the other two prepared to go back. In the afternoon, they wanted to go up the mountain again to see if there were any other mountain products to pick up.

Su Mo took a straw basket and filled a small half basket of chestnuts and walnuts for Ma Xiaojuan to take back. It wasn't much, estimated to be only about two or three pounds.

After the two left, Su Mo washed the remaining wild vegetables, took a nap, and then pushed her bicycle out.