Chapter 35 What did you say? Who's in trouble?
As soon as he stepped outside, he saw Brother Long and Xiao Ming leaning against their own wall, panting and stamping their feet.
Seeing him come out, the two men's eyes lit up: "Finally awake! Damn, we were freezing to death standing outside! We brought you your car, come in and sit down! My legs are stiff!" After saying that, the two men didn't look at him and turned to go into the yard.
"Good morning, Auntie! Good morning, Yin-mei!" The two greeted each other and quickly offered their help.
Li Mengxin was surprised to see the two of them: "Why are you here? I don't need your help. It's so cold, go home and sleep!"
“It’s alright, Auntie! Ah Shu hired us. He’ll treat us to breakfast when we go out! I’ve been craving that radish and snail stew from that restaurant on the street for ages, but unfortunately my dad didn’t give me any extra money. As soon as Ah Shu mentioned it, I immediately agreed! You can’t stop us! We’ve been craving it for so long!” Li Dalong said as he quickly put the pea shoots into the bamboo basket.
Seeing that they didn't do that, Li Mengxin stopped talking. The group worked together and packed all the pea shoots in half an hour, tying them to the back of Li Mengxin's old bicycle. The remaining small basket was tied to the back of Gu Shu's car.
"I buried several sweet potatoes in the stove. They should be cooked by now. Go dig them up and eat some to warm yourselves up. We'll leave after you've eaten!"
Upon hearing that there were sweet potatoes, Gu Shu called them into the kitchen and dug them out of the ashes.
While eating, Li Dalong asked in a low voice, "When we pass by there later, you can't be trembling with fear, or I'm afraid I won't be able to handle it!" He couldn't sleep all night after what happened that night! It was too creepy!
Gu Shu nodded: "What's there to be afraid of! Even my sister isn't afraid, why should we grown men be?"
Li Xiaoming gave Gu Yin a thumbs up: "You're the one! Seriously, you're better than your brother! If I wasn't afraid of getting a beating from the adults, I would call you 'sister'!"
Li Dalong nodded: "That's really impressive!" Seeing Gu Le listening with a frown, Li Dalong nudged Gu Shu with his knee, signaling him to pay attention.
Gu Shu forgot that Gu Le didn't know about this, and seeing his reaction, she quickly changed the subject: "Are you sure you want snails stewed with radish? You're not changing it?"
Upon hearing about food, Li Xiaoming quickly nodded: "Yes, yes, no change. It would be even better if you added instant noodles along with it, that would be awesome!"
"What's the big deal? I'll grant your wish!"
Li Dalong's eyes lit up, and he laughed, "Wow! That's impressive! Our Brother Shu is so generous!"
Gu Shu ignored his teasing: "Go, go, go, eat quickly, we'll leave after we finish eating!"
Seeing that they had stopped talking, Gu Le looked at her older sister.
Gu Yin: "...Eat quickly, you'll know when you get back tomorrow."
Seeing this, Gu Le could only nod and continue eating the sweet potato.
After everyone finished eating and warmed up, they set off together after Li Mengxin closed the door.
When they left, Li Xiaoming took a few sticks from the woodpile and tied them to the back seat. Li Mengxin saw this but didn't say anything; it did make them feel safer.
The group remained silent the entire way. Li Mengxin, Gu Yin, and Gu Shu all had flashlights strapped to the front of their cars, providing a bright light. Since there were many of them, they weren't afraid.
When they reached the cornfield at the fork in the road, the few who knew the situation gritted their teeth and accelerated their pace on the pedals.
Seeing them like this, Li Mengxin had no choice but to speed up, thinking that they were scared, since something had really happened in this place.
Gu Yin passed by the place where there used to be blood, but after a night of rain, nothing could be seen anymore. She breathed a sigh of relief, as she was afraid of scaring them.
When we arrived at the old street, the owner was already there, and several people had already delivered the pea shoots. However, apart from the Gu family, no one from Lijia Village came.
"Put them here to be weighed!" The boss came over and told them to take off their bamboo baskets. Then he reached out and picked a few pea pods. Seeing that they were tender, he was satisfied and led them to the large scale to line up.
Gu Yin stood with Gu Le under the eaves of a house in town. Not far away, there were people harvesting garlic sprouts and cilantro, a scene of bustling activity.
"I didn't expect it to be so lively. Usually when my dad comes, I want to come too, but he won't let me. He says there are too many people and I won't even know if I get lost. I always thought he didn't let me come because he wanted to save a few dollars on breakfast. I didn't expect there to be so many people!" Li Xiaoming came over with Li Dalong so as not to bother others.
Li Dalong leaned against the wall, looking into the distance, and said in a low voice, "I've been here a few times. I've sold corn and cilantro. The prices are super cheap. Why would I spend a few dollars on food and drinks? Sometimes it's just too cold. My dad buys me a bowl of noodles, but he doesn't eat it himself. He only drinks hot water and says he's not hungry. But he's not hungry. He's just reluctant to spend the money."
Gu Shu heard this as soon as he came over, patted him on the shoulder, and said that the families were all in the same boat, poor. Their family had not split up, so they had relatively few children and more labor force, so they were doing alright. But the Li Xiaoming and Li Xiaolong families only had two or three labor force members and four or five children, all of whom were still struggling financially.
Li Dalong looked away and patted Gu Shu's hand: "It's okay, everyone goes through this. I've already thought it through. After I graduate next year, I'll sign up to join the army! I refuse to believe that I, Li Dalong, can't make something of myself!"
Li Xiaoming's grades weren't good either. He planned to join the army with Li Dalong. Gu Shu's grades were okay, and he could get into high school. He planned to finish high school first.
"Keep it up! I believe you can do it!" Gu Yin smiled at them, her eyes full of affirmation and recognition.
In their past lives, these two went to work on the coast after graduation. Gu Shu went to look for them, but then all three disappeared without a trace. Li Dalong and Li Xiaoming's families felt that their children had led Gu Shu astray. After the three disappeared, both families felt guilty towards Uncle Gu and wanted to make amends, but Uncle Gu refused. He felt that they didn't know anything about what was happening outside, and that Gu Shu might have been a burden to them. The children from both families would give Gu Qingming a share when they went up the mountain to collect firewood, which helped Gu Qingming a lot.
Later, when she became a star, she would bring things to visit them when she came back.
Seeing Gu Yin's affirmative look, Li Dalong and Li Xiaoming, for some reason, felt that they were destined for success. They coughed lightly and straightened up.
Seeing their reaction, Gu Yin suggested, "But before you sign up, you can start training in advance. Once you're in the army, you'll be able to surpass some people and get used to various physical training exercises. We can ask the physical education teachers later; they should know more about this!"
Li Dalong was embarrassed: "Uh, we are bad students. Teachers avoid us like the plague, how could they possibly teach us?"
Gu Yin smiled and said, "It's okay, I'm on good terms with our PE teacher, I'll ask him for help!" Anyway, Teacher Mo Wen just wanders around aimlessly, so it's fine to give him something to do. Whenever Gu Yin's family has something to buy, Gu's father will ask Gu Yin to bring some over to Mo Wen. The two of them are no longer teacher and student, but brother and sister!
"Thank you so much, Yin! If you need any help later, just let me know!" Li Dalong thanked her sincerely. He knew that the physical education teachers had all undergone professional training and were definitely good at physical fitness. If he worked hard, he might just be the top student in the recruit camp!
Gu Yin shook her head: "No need to be polite, you and my brother are good friends! Besides, we're from the same village, we grew up together, so we'll help each other if we can."
Gu Shu laughed too: "That's right, don't be shy!"
It took more than an hour to finally load the pea shoots onto the cart. After getting the money, Li Mengxin tidied up the things, looked at the children, and said with a smile, "Let's go eat, it's on me!" Originally weighing 200 jin, the pea shoots, which had been soaked in water overnight and were somewhat wilted, had revived and gained more than ten jin.
Gu Shu got on his bike: "Auntie, don't worry about it. I said I'd treat, so I will. I can't break my promise to my brothers! I still have some New Year's money!"
Since he had already said that, Li Mengxin felt embarrassed to stop him: "Then you do it!"
The shop is in the center of the street. It's a little past five o'clock now, and the shop has already opened. There aren't many people inside. In another hour, people will come, and they will all be students. Only students are willing to come and eat a bowl of snail stew with radish for two yuan and fifty cents.
After everyone sat down, stewed radishes and snails, cooked until soft and tender, were brought over. Gu Yin looked down at her bowl; it looked a bit like the spicy hot pot of later generations. She tasted the soft radish, and, hmm, it was incredibly sweet and delicious! It was quite tasty, somewhat like stewed radish with beef brisket, and also a bit like braised dishes. Anyway, it was exceptionally delicious. The snail meat wasn't tough when sucked out, and there was even tender meat that had fallen from the large bones in the soup. No wonder the students liked it; it was a bit pricey, but still very popular.
Gu Yin, Gu Le, and Li Mengxin were full after eating. There were quite a lot of snails and radishes, and one bowl was definitely enough. However, it wasn't enough for the three young men, so each of them added an instant noodle cake. The instant noodles soaked in the sweet and delicious soup were so delicious that the three of them didn't even look up.
Gu Yin got up, walked to the cashier inside, and paid the bill. She still had several hundred yuan in royalties left. Her family hadn't accepted the money; they had kept it all for her. If she paid off Gu Shu's New Year's money this time, her pockets would be almost empty.
The soup was 2.5 yuan a bowl, 15 yuan for six people, and the flatbread was 1 yuan each, or 3 yuan for three, totaling 18 yuan, which was nothing to Gu Yin.
"Didn't we agree to treat each other on a budget? Why did you pay, sis?" Gu Shu came over and saw the shopkeeper giving Gu Yin change.
Gu Yin took the money and said with a smile, "You can treat me next time. I still have my royalties."
The store was getting more and more crowded, and it wasn't a very pleasant place to talk to people. Seeing her say that, Gu Shu had no choice but to nod: "Then I'll treat you all again later!"
At six o'clock, it was already light, and it was safe for Li Mengxin to go back. So they parted ways on the street, one going home and the other going to school.
After the first class, Wang Shumei came to the classroom and called Gu Yin out. When Gu Yin saw Officer Wang in the office, she raised her eyebrows, probably because of what happened yesterday.
really.
After waiting a while, the people who were at the scene last night were called down and then followed Officer Wang to the police station. Seeing how calm Gu Yin was on the way, Gu Shu and the others, who were originally a little worried, also calmed down. Anyway, they weren't the murderers, so what were they afraid of!
After Li Mengxin returned home, she took the clothes to the well to wash them. Just as she finished washing, the old lady returned with Li Xiang.
"Mom, sister-in-law, why are you back so early?! Have you had breakfast? I'll make you something." Li Mengxin got up and was surprised to see the two of them come in.
The old lady put down her things, catching her breath: "No need, we've already eaten. We caught the earliest bus back. We'll go pick pea shoots together later and try to finish harvesting everything in the field! Prices are high now, and we'd be heartbroken if they dropped later!"
Li Xiang came over and helped Li Mengxin wash clothes.
Just as the clothes were washed, Li Sen came in and saw the three of them carrying bamboo baskets, clearly preparing to go out.
He quickly stopped them: "Stop with this nonsense, come with me right now. The kids got into trouble on their way home last night. Li Li was blinded in one eye and his tendons in his hands and feet were severed! Your two kids are at the police station now. They're both minors, so their parents need to come with them. Let's go!"
"What?! What did you say?!" The loads on the shoulders of the old lady and Li Xiang fell to the ground, and for a moment they felt as if the world had turned upside down.
Li Mengxin was also stunned for a moment. Thinking of what had happened last night, she wanted nothing more than to grab the two children and give them a good beating! They didn't even tell their family about such a big thing! Seeing her mother-in-law and sister-in-law like this, she hurriedly went over to support them: "Ashu and Ayin are alright, don't worry. I saw them go to school this morning myself. Take a breath and don't be too frightened!"
The old lady's eyes were red: "Are you really alright?"
Li Sen touched his nose, feeling embarrassed, and hurriedly explained, "They're all fine, only Li Li got into trouble. Don't worry, let's go, the children are at the police station!"
The old lady and Li Xiang snapped out of their daze and grabbed Li Mengxin, saying, "Come on, let's go!"
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