Chapter 63 The mute spoke?
Everyone looked at Liu Guizhi in disbelief, thinking they had heard it wrong.
After glancing at her daughter several times, Liu Guizhi's mother looked away and called out to her granddaughter and grandson, "Eat, eat! Look at how many delicious dishes your aunt-in-law has prepared for you today. You must enjoy them well."
However, just as she finished speaking, she heard another voice saying, "Eat...eat..."
Liu Guizhi's mother was stunned. This time she really didn't hear it wrong.
The voice was hoarse, but clear as day, and... it came from her daughter.
Liu Guizhi's mother slowly raised her head and looked at her daughter.
Her daughter looked at her with a smile.
Liu Guizhi's mother was incredulous: "Guizhi, Guizhi, you...was it you who said the word 'eat' just now?"
Liu Guizhi's eyes were bright, and she looked at her mother with a smile: "Baby, eat..."
Tears welled up in Liu Guizhi's mother's eyes. "What's going on? How could she actually speak? Guizhi, say one more word, one more word so I can hear it. How could my dumb daughter actually speak?"
Seeing her mother like that, Liu Guizhi smiled but tears came to her eyes.
Her muteness was caused by an illness she had when she was a child. She had a high fever at the time, but her parents and brother were busy with farming and failed to discover it in time. When they found out later, they hurriedly took her to the county for treatment, but it was too late. The illness was cured, but her voice was hoarse. The doctor said it was caused by a fever.
From then on, Liu Guizhi became mute and the most beloved child in the family.
Her parents felt guilty and felt sorry for their little girl. They failed to take good care of her and made her mute.
Unexpectedly, her mute daughter could speak now?
Although there were only a few words, and although they were a little hoarse, the pronunciation was very clear, so clear that it definitely could not be her illusion.
Her mute daughter can speak now!
Liu Guizhi's mother's lips trembled: "Guizhi, Guizhi, you, you can really talk, how can you talk..."
As she spoke, she stretched out her hand.
Liu Guizhi cried and threw herself into her mother's arms: "...brew..."
Amidst the crying, she murmured a vague "niang". Although the sound was a little different from "niang", everyone could understand what she meant.
She actually called me mother!
The mother and daughter hugged each other and cried bitterly. Liu Guizhi's father couldn't believe it at first, but later he heard it and couldn't help wiping his tears with his sleeves. His daughter could actually speak.
The brother and sister-in-law next to them also had tears in their eyes when they saw this scene.
After crying for a while, they wiped their tears and both mother and daughter started laughing again.
The eldest sister-in-law quickly joked: "This is a happy event, why are you crying for no reason? Guizhi, please tell us quickly, how did you become able to speak?"
The second sister-in-law also laughed: "Guizhi never knew how to speak, but now she can speak. This is really new, I have never heard of it before!"
Of course, Liu Guizhi couldn't tell everyone. Although she could speak, she only knew a few words and couldn't say more. She could only babble and gesture with her hands.
Seeing this, Gu Shengtian who was standing by also helped his mother to explain. Finally, the Liu family finally understood. It was because of Fubao at the beginning. She suddenly knew how to call Fubao's "Bao". Then she could say "pig" and "eat". The number of words she knew became more and more.
I went back to my mother's house today and found that I have learned some new skills. I can even say "酿".
Liu Guizhi's mother listened and sighed with emotion: "I've heard that our Fubao is a little lucky star, who can bring good luck to others. I didn't take it seriously before, but now it seems to be true... Ever since you adopted Fubao, life has obviously been more relaxed than before. Now he's even starting to speak!"
Not to mention that the fish before were really rare, just imagine wanting a mute who had been mute for thirty years to open his mouth and speak, that's something no one has ever heard of.
When something like this happens, I can only think that this little girl Fubao is a lucky star for the family, and this is bringing good luck to my daughter!
Gu Shengtian was busy eating his meal when he heard this and suddenly said, "Follow Fubao, you'll always find bird eggs. If we go out with her, we can roast the eggs and eat them!"
The child was only thinking about food, and when he said this, everyone couldn't help laughing.
At this time, everyone looked at Fubao differently.
In the past, I just thought that since Liu Guizhi had no daughter, it would be nice to adopt such a well-behaved and pretty little girl. Besides, this little girl was sweet-mouthed and quite likable.
But looking at Fubao again now, I feel grateful, relieved and lucky, thinking that it is thanks to Liu Guizhi that she adopted such a girl, otherwise how could she have learned to speak?
Liu Guizhi's mother secretly chanted "Amitabha" in her heart, and then picked up another piece of braised pork with chopsticks: "Fubao, eat meat. Fubao looks like the little boy in front of Guanyin Bodhisattva. You can tell at a glance that he is destined for a life of enjoyment!"
The braised pork held by the chopsticks is crystal clear, with a bright red oily sheen, making people drool.
Two pounds of meat is actually not a lot, and it only makes up a whole plate of braised pork. There are many children in the family, and they are all jealous, but Liu Guizhi went up and picked up a big piece of meat for Fubao with her chopsticks.
However, no one in the Liu family said anything. They even began to think that this little girl Fubao was very blessed and should be loved.
This was the first time that Fubao had eaten braised pork.
The Gu family had eaten meat before, but not in this way. The cooking was not as elaborate as the Liu family's, and the meat was not this high-quality three-layer pork belly with alternating fat and lean meat. Naturally, the taste was not as good as this.
Liu's pork belly is fat but not greasy, soft, glutinous and sweet, and it feels like it melts in your mouth when you take a bite.
This was the best meat she had ever eaten in her life.
After a hearty lunch, the children went out to play in the yard. The Liu children took out their collection of glass balls and stacking cubes to play with their two younger relatives. Fubao was intrigued by the sparkling glass balls and found them quite amusing, flicking them with his fingers. Gu Shengtian, on the other hand, was busy playing hopscotch with the other boys.
In the inner room, after cleaning up the dishes in the main room, Liu Guizhi's mother called Liu Guizhi into the inner room, and Liu Guizhi slowly gestured to her mother about her recent troubles.
Liu Guizhi's mother thought for a moment and sighed, "My son-in-law is a stubborn man. He's made up his mind and he hasn't backed down. He's really doing it for you and the child. He's a wild man, not someone who can be trapped in the fields. You can't stop him."
Liu Guizhi lowered her head, she actually didn't want to stop it.
If he wants to do it, then let him do it. If he does it well, she will eat meat with him. If he doesn't do it well, she will starve and be poor with him.
Liu Guizhi's mother thought about it and looked outside. Her sons and daughters-in-law were busy with their own things, and the old man was watching the children play on the steps outside. She walked to the cupboard, opened it, and rummaged through it. She took out a wrapped piece of clothing. When she opened the clothes, there was a wooden box inside.
As soon as Liu Guizhi saw the wooden box, she knew what was going on. Her mother's family had some wealth, and when her mother got married, she came with a dowry, which had been kept in the wooden box.
When Liu Guizhi was a child, she saw her mother secretly opening a wooden box under a tung oil lamp, stroking the precious things inside one by one, and then reluctantly putting them away.
This was the only comfort and thought for Liu Guizhi's mother in those poor years. To be honest, she had to sell this to make a living when she really couldn't make ends meet.
Later, when life got better, her father saved quite a bit from his carpentry work, so her mother didn't have to sell these valuable things, but she would still take them out and play with them whenever she was happy or unhappy.
Liu Guizhi's mother opened the wooden box and took out the largest gold ring from it.
"These things will eventually be given to you and your three brothers. I'll give you this gold ring first. Have Weidong sell it. I've heard it can fetch eighty yuan. You can use the money as capital for Weidong, and this business can be successful."
When Liu Guizhi saw this, she was shocked and quickly shook her head and waved her hands.
Of course she knew that her mother had sold a pair of gold earrings when she got married. Now that she was back home, her mother wanted to give her another one, but she was embarrassed to accept it.
Liu Guizhi's mother insisted, secretly looked outside, and stuffed the gold ring into her hand: "Put it away, don't let anyone see it. Your three sisters-in-law are all reasonable, but knowing this, it's inevitable that they have some thoughts. This is all the dowry my parents brought over. I can give my things to whoever I want. Besides, I will need them in the future."
Liu Guizhi held the gold ring in her hand, thought about it, and her eyes turned red, but she still put it away.
She knew that Weidong had no capital to do business, and this ring was just what he needed.
She put the ring away, raised her hand and gestured slowly to her mother.
Her mother understood what her daughter meant without having to see what she was gesturing.
Her mother held her hand and said tearfully, "My dear, I understand your feelings. Don't worry about anything else. Just live a good life with my son-in-law."
After dinner, they talked for a while and then Liu Guizhi took Gu Shengtian and Fubao home. She felt uneasy all the way and touched the place where the gold ring was in her arms from time to time.
This thing is very valuable, worth seventy or eighty yuan. If she loses it, she won’t have anywhere to cry. She has to hide it well.
After returning home, Shen Hongying came over and tried to talk to her, but she was not interested. She gestured a few times with her hands and hurried into the house. At this time, being a mute has its advantages. If you don't talk, others can't pick on you.
After entering the house, she pulled Gu Weidong and quickly showed him the gold ring, and gestured to him what her mother meant.
Gu Weidong was shocked when he saw the gold ring: "Why did you ask for it? How can you have the nerve to take it?"
Liu Guizhi lowered her head, pinched the gold ring, hesitated for a moment, and gestured again.
Gu Weidong hesitated for a moment and said, "Send it back. I want to do business, but I'm embarrassed to take my mother-in-law's gold jewelry."
Liu Guizhi became anxious when she heard this. She took it back because she hoped that Gu Weidong could make a better life by doing business with it. What would happen if she gave it back?
Liu Guizhi gestured here and there, looking anxious.
Gu Weidong looked at the gold ring and was silent for a long time before he said, "Then I must succeed."
It’s done. Use the money to buy a new ring for my mother-in-law.
Otherwise, he would really be too embarrassed to let Liu Guizhi go back to her parents' home.
——
The end of June was wheat harvest season. The Pingxi Production Brigade didn't grow much wheat. The harvest was used to pay the public grain tax, and each household received only a small share. There was no other way. Wheat yields were low, so growing higher-yielding crops like corn, soybeans, and sorghum was the only way to ensure everyone had enough to eat. If it weren't for the public grain tax, everyone would have preferred to plant less wheat.
So every year during the wheat harvest, everyone was not very busy. They cut the wheat, reaped it, threshed it, and finally dried it, packed it up, and weighed it. Chen Youfu was very happy.
This year's harvest was good, and after paying the public grain tax, there was still some left. Each household in the brigade would receive several dozen kilograms of wheat. When the news got out, everyone was naturally delighted. Wheat flour was delicious, and even if they couldn't bear to eat it, they could trade it for coarse grains. One kilogram of wheat could be exchanged for two kilograms of coarse grains, which was a good thing anyway.
Just when everyone in the production team was happy, the Gu family was dumbfounded.
This year they also planted some wheat in their own plots, hoping to exchange it for coarse grains. Seeing that the production team had a bumper wheat harvest this year, they didn't take it too seriously, thinking that maybe this year was just a good harvest and God had given them food to eat.
When they harvested their own wheat, they felt that the ears of wheat seemed heavier than usual. When they ground the wheat, they also felt that the wheat grains seemed fuller than in previous years. But even here, they didn't think much about it.
Even when other families passed by their wheat spread out to dry and stared at them and said, "You have harvested so much," they didn't think much of it.
They were not surprised until they weighed the dried fruits.
With so many people in the family, they only planted wheat on one and a half acres of private land, but they harvested 350 kilograms of wheat!
This means that the yield per mu is about 230 kilograms!
What does it mean to produce 230 kilograms per mu?
Pingxi Production Brigade is located in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, next to the mountains. The climate is not very good and the soil is not very fertile. Generally speaking, the normal yield per mu is 120 to 150 kilograms. The yield of worse land may be less than 100 kilograms.
If the land is of the best quality and fertile, and the season is good, God will give us about 200 kilograms of food.
But now, the Gu family’s one and a half acres of wheat field actually produced 350 kilograms of wheat!
Miao Xiuju didn't quite believe it: "Did you weigh it wrong? Weigh it for me again."
After hearing this, the Gu family's sons put the bags of wheat on the large scale borrowed from the commune and counted them on their fingers. Finally, Gu Weidong calculated: "Mom, it's 350 and a half kilograms, and there's still some left!"
Miao Xiuju really believed it this time: "God is so kind to our family. The harvest this year is so good! I heard Wang Fugui's family only harvested 300 kilograms from two mu of land, and he was still laughing foolishly! We actually got 350 kilograms from one and a half mu of land. If this gets out, it will be the highest yield we've ever seen."
Gu Weidong nodded. "The harvest is good this year. Our production team's land yields over 100 kilograms per mu. I even saw Youfu today. He was very happy and said he would write a report to the commune."
Miao Xiuju was naturally delighted as she looked at her own family's bags of wheat, which were filled with plump grains. However, she thought for a moment, "Remember this, everyone. This can't be spread outside. If it gets out, people will be jealous of us and ask how we take care of the crops. Can you tell me how? If you can't, people might think we're hiding something. So I'll just keep this to myself. If anyone brags about it on the street, I'll give them a slap in the face!"
After Miao Xiujiu said this, her sons and daughters-in-law fell silent.
Shen Hongying really wanted to go out on the street and show off, so now she naturally tried hard to keep her mouth shut and told herself not to talk too much.
My mother is very powerful, don't mess with her.
It was a bumper harvest, and Miao Xiujiu was very happy. She took out half a bag of wheat, which was rare in a thousand years, and asked Gu Weidong to go to the market to grind it into flour so that she could steam buns for everyone.
The children were all delighted when they heard this.
I have never eaten white flour buns in my life, but this year I can finally try them.
The adults also grinned from ear to ear. It was a good harvest and they could indeed have something good to eat.
Gu Weidong arrived at the market in the commune and left the wheat there for someone to grind. He then ran to a nearby bank.
Banks collect gold. When collecting gold, they take out a color card for comparison. The color of your gold is the same as that of the card, which determines the quality of the gold. This quality determines the purchase price.
The bank staff compared and gave Gu Weidong's gold ring a grade of "99" gold.
Gu Weidong didn't understand: "99 gold? What does that mean? Is it good or bad?"
He felt that since he had been to the city and consulted the educated youth on many things, he should have understood a lot, but he now discovered that there were too many things in this world that he did not understand.
The staff member smiled and looked at him: "99 is the best. Gold can't be completely 100% gold. 99% gold is the highest grade."
This has something to do with current technology. Gold can only be 99% pure.
Gu Weidong was delighted: "Then, how much can it sell for?"
The staff weighed it and calculated: "It can be sold for eighty-four yuan."
When Gu Weidong heard the number eighty-four, even though he had expected it, he still smiled: "Okay, okay, sell it for eighty-four, please help me sell it, I'll sell it!"
Gu Weidong sold the gold ring very smoothly and got back a brand new eighty-four yuan, eight Great Unity notes, four of which were one yuan each, all of which made a crisp sound when he swung them in his hand.
The staff also gave him an envelope and helped him put the money in it.
Gu Weidong put the envelope in his clothes and looked around carefully as he went out, his face full of vigilance, afraid that someone would steal his money. After walking a few steps, he found that everyone was looking at him with strange eyes, and then he suddenly realized what was going on.
The more uncomfortable you are, the more suspicious others will be of you, and you might even be targeted by a thief.
He quickly coughed, straightened his back, and pretended nothing had happened, and sure enough, no one noticed.
He immediately went to the flour mill. The wheat had already turned into white flour. It looked good. He stretched out his finger, picked up a little flour and put it in his mouth to taste it.
He didn't taste anything, but then he thought about it and realized it was flour. Flour was delicious, really delicious.
Gu Weidong returned to the Pingxi Production Brigade carrying half a bag of flour. He sneaked back from the back of the house under cover of darkness, fearing anyone would see him and ask him about it. After returning, Miao Xiuju put the half bag of flour into her room. She knew it wasn't something she could eat casually; she had to use it when she had something important to do, so she hid it away first.
It's summer now, and there's no need to heat the kang, so I just hid inside.
After Gu Weidong delivered the half bag of flour, he hurried back to the house, closed the door, and took out the envelope. Because it was kept in his arms, the envelope was wrinkled. Gu Weidong smoothed it out with heartache and opened it to show Liu Guizhi.
When Liu Guizhi saw the eighty-four yuan, her eyes turned red.
This is eighty-four dollars. If I really lose it, I will have nothing.
Gu Weidong looked at her like this and comforted her, "It's okay, you'll be back sooner or later."
Liu Guizhi looked at her man and nodded.
……………………………………
After the wheat was harvested, the happiest thing for children like Fubao was to go to the uncultivated fields of each family to pick up wheat ears.
Although everyone harvested carefully these days and not many wheat ears were left behind, there were always times when they were careless, especially when it came to the public land in the production brigade, where people might not be as careful as they were with their own private plots.
Fubao, Gu Shengtian and Dongni carried small backpacks and picked up wheat in the harvested wheat fields. Sometimes they could pick up some wheat ears after half a day. After returning, they asked Miao Xiujiu to use a hammer to chisel out one or two taels of wheat. That was also a harvest. The children were very happy to see the wheat and they couldn't wait to run out to pick up wheat every day.
The only worry is that it is July now, and there are frequent heavy rains in July, with lightning and thunder at any time. When it rains, the children cannot go out and can only stay at home.
Moreover, the rain was so heavy that the wheat ears and other things were washed away, making them even more difficult to pick up.
If we delay any further, the farmland will have to be plowed and new crops planted, and then there will be no hope at all.
Just when the children were worrying about the few ears of wheat they could pick up, Chen Youfu came back from the commune on his bicycle and quickly called everyone over through a loudspeaker, saying that there was something important to discuss.
It had been raining since noon, so Fubao and the others had hardly gone out. Now that they heard there was going to be a meeting, they were all happy and expressed their desire to go and join in the fun.
When Miao Xiujiu saw this, she put a handful of firewood in the stove, locked the door, and took Fubao Gu Shengtian out to attend a meeting.
The streets in the countryside were muddy after the rain, and there was occasionally chicken droppings mixed in the mud. Miao Xiuju reminded everyone along the way: "Watch your step and don't get your shoes dirty!"
The shoes Fubao was wearing were newly made for her by Liu Guizhi. She took good care of them. When she heard the news, she quickly lifted her feet high and stepped down carefully to avoid getting them stained with chicken shit and mud.
When we arrived at the threshing ground at the east end of the village, there were already quite a few people there. Everyone was talking and laughing, discussing this year's bumper harvest, and everyone had a smile on their face.
Although the wheat harvests of other families were not as good as that of the Gu family, the harvests were still good compared to previous years, and everyone was very happy.
As he spoke, Chen Youfu coughed solemnly and began speaking through the loudspeaker: "Everyone, I came here today from the commune. The commune received the weather forecast from above, saying that there will be heavy rain in the next few days. The district has given us instructions that the most important task in July this year is flood control!"
Flood control?
When Chen Youfu said this, everyone remembered the heavy rain this year.
This heavy rain falls every few days. At the beginning, everyone was very happy because God gave us rain and the crops no longer had to worry about drought. But we were happy the next time, the next two times, but when it rained more, everyone started to worry about too much rain again.
Too much rain will cause floods.
With more rain, the river water rushed against the rocks of Dagunzi Mountain and the river embankment beside the river. This was very dangerous. If things went wrong, the entire production team might be flooded.
The elderly people present all recalled the disasters they had experienced before liberation, and they all looked at Chen Youfu expectantly: "Has the district government said what we should do?"
Chen Youfu: "We have to fight the flood. We have to fight the flood. All members of the cooperative have their work divided. There are people guarding the riverbank day and night. If there is a problem, we have to call for help and repair it immediately. We also have to pay attention to the noise from the mountain. If there is any movement, we have to call for help immediately. Everyone has a whistle and blows it hard if there is any trouble. Go out as soon as possible!"
After hearing this, everyone felt heavy in their hearts.
Chen Youfu saw everyone's faces and knew they were frightened, so he quickly comforted them: "Don't be afraid, though. Everyone's house has a foundation, and it's several meters high. If there's a flood, it won't drown anyone easily."
When he said this, everyone didn't feel relieved, but became even more afraid.
Previously, we were worried about the crops being flooded and the harvest being lost, but now the team leader is worried about people dying?
This is a serious problem, more serious than anyone thinks!
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