Chapter 92 I Can’t Just Sit Back and Watch
On this day, the hens at home were clucking. Liu Guizhi went to the chicken coop to pick up eggs. After searching, she picked up seven eggs, two of which were still warm, obviously newly laid by the hens. She was happy and carefully held the seven eggs with her clothes and went back to the house.
Just at this time, Chen Youhui's family next door also came out to pick up eggs. Her family also raised seven or eight chickens like Liu Guizhi's, but she only picked up three eggs, and sometimes even only one or two.
Chen Youhui's wife looked at the eggs in Liu Guizhi's arms through the fence and smacked her lips in envy: "How do you raise chickens? How come every chicken lays eggs every day? How many eggs do you get this month?"
She had seen Liu Guizhi pick up a lot of eggs several times. She couldn't hold them in her hands and had to wrap them with her clothes. The chickens in Liu Guizhi's family were really good at laying eggs!
Liu Guizhi: "Fubao and Shengtian are both hardworking. As soon as they get home from school, they pick up insects for me to feed the chickens. The chickens are well fed and lay eggs diligently. This is all thanks to these two children."
Liu Guizhi felt that her family was blessed, but she couldn't say it directly, so she just made up an excuse.
Chen Youhui was immediately envious when he heard this: "Your Fubao is so sensible, pretty, and capable. I see her either studying or helping you with chores after school."
Of course Gu Shengtian also helped, but he was a careless boy after all and could only do some physical work. Fubao was different. He was really Liu Guizhi's little helper and was very capable.
Liu Guizhi thought about it and smiled: "Fubao is really hardworking. Sometimes I tell her to go play, but she refuses and insists on helping with the work. Even when she goes out to play, she goes to the mountains with Shengtian to pick wild vegetables and firewood."
Chen Youhui thought about it and became even more envious. He then looked at the seven eggs in Liu Guizhi's arms and couldn't help asking, "You must have eaten 200 eggs this month, right? You must not have eaten them all yourself. Did you take them to the market to exchange for things or money?"
After hearing this, Liu Guizhi felt a pause in her heart.
Although the family has enough food now, they don’t eat much. They usually try to save as much as possible and carefully save up whatever they have and sell it for some money.
In the past, because there were plenty of eggs, Liu Guizhi would let the children eat some. For example, Fubao and Shengtian would eat one steamed egg every day. Going to school was hard and studying was brain-intensive, so they had to increase their nutrition. She would take the rest to the market to sell and save money.
But now, Liu Guizhi was reluctant to sell them. If a famine really happened, eggs would be precious food. One egg was equivalent to several cornmeal steamed buns. So she decided to keep them.
She was afraid that the eggs would go bad, so she pickled them. Now the pickle jar is almost half full of eggs.
Of course, you must not let others know about this. If others knew, they would be so greedy that they would die. You can eat what others cannot. Do you think others would feel happy?
So Liu Guizhi said casually: "The kids at home eat too much. Two of them go to school in the commune, and the other two will have to go to school in the commune soon. I can only exchange the money for money and buy books for them. There is no other way. The consumption is too high."
Actually, our family has been doing well in the past few years. Not to mention other things, we can still have a hundred eggs left after eating them in a month. Now eggs are sold individually. If the business is good, ten eggs can be sold for fifty-five cents, and a hundred eggs means five dollars and fifty cents a month. This is a considerable income!
Liu Guizhi lived a frugal life. In the past few years, she could save 60 yuan a year just to buy eggs, not to mention other things. So, apart from the 200 yuan for buying food, the family still had more than 300 yuan in case of any emergency.
But Chen Youhui's wife didn't know that. She smiled and said, "That's true. Your family is really expensive. But why do you go to school so much? It's useless. In the end, you still have to dig in the dirt for food!"
Liu Guizhi did not respond to this statement. She was not well educated, but her brother from her mother's side said that studying was good, and her husband also said that studying was good. She also felt that if she could support her children, she would do so. Anyway, the family's conditions were good now, so she should let the children go to school as much as possible.
As he was speaking, he heard a call from the loudspeaker: "Attention everyone, all members, please pay attention. The grain station has issued a notice that they are collecting old grain. Anyone who has grain that they can't eat can hand it in."
Chen Youfu's words were broadcast throughout the Pingxi Production Brigade through the loudspeaker. Chen Youhui's wife was immediately delighted: "Oh, we still have some food at home. I guess we won't be able to eat it all when the new food comes in. Since they're collecting it, we might as well hand it over quickly!"
If you want to exchange grain for money, you can do it at the market, but it is a private transaction. Buyers are afraid of being caught for speculation, so they cannot sell it casually. Now the public grain station collects grain, which is the best. Although the price is a little cheaper than outside, it can be counted as a public grain indicator. When the time comes, they will collect the grain and give you a receipt. You take the receipt and give it to Chen Youfu, which is considered to be a discount for some of the public grain for next year for the production team, and the production team will also give you benefits in terms of work points.
After all the calculation, it is still more profitable for the government to collect grain.
Liu Guizhi frowned when she heard this: "I don't think there's any rush. Just keep the food and eat it slowly. It won't go bad anyway."
Chen Youhui's wife didn't want to hear this. She was only thinking about how to make money.
Her family couldn't produce 200 eggs a month like Liu Guizhi's family. If she could produce 200 eggs a month, she wouldn't be willing to eat any of them and would sell them all at the market. She could make ten yuan a month, which is more than a hundred yuan a year. She would have become rich long ago!
Chen Youhui felt sad and said, "There's nothing I can do. I don't have the good fortune to pick up eggs. I can only sell grain."
After hearing this, Liu Guizhi stopped talking.
It's impossible to persuade him. There's no evidence. It was just a dream of Fubao. Why would others listen to you and believe you?
Liu Guizhi thought about it and said that she would go to Miao Xiujiu and say that if she could persuade a few people not to sell grain, it would be a good deed. If she really couldn't persuade them, then forget it.
Who knew that as soon as she walked onto the street, she saw everyone greeting her and carrying their own grain to sell at the commune grain station. Among them, Wang Fugui ran into Liu Guizhi and pulled her aside: "Guizhi, hurry up, don't you still have some old grain at home? Take out the ones you can't eat, you can exchange them for money!"
Liu Guizhi had always had a good relationship with Wang Fugui's wife, so she took the opportunity to say, "I think we should wait until the new grain arrives before we talk about selling the old grain. There's no rush anyway..."
Before she could finish, Shen Hongying next to her teased her, "You know what? After we hand over the old grain, not only will we have money, but we can also count it towards next year's public grain tax. It's like we're using this year's old grain to pay for next year's new grain. It's a good deal both inside and out. Why don't you take advantage of such a good deal and stop others from doing it?"
Liu Guizhi had no choice but to say, "There's nothing I can do. I don't have much food left."
Liu Zhaodi chuckled: "Guizhi, you are really something. What can I say about you? You have no food for Master Du at home, yet you stop others. This is a great opportunity, how can you miss it!"
Wang Fugui's wife was close to Liu Guizhi, but she couldn't bear to hear them say that: "Guizhi is doing this for everyone's own good. She's worried that everyone will starve if there's a food shortage. This is good, but this year our crops are growing well, the weather is favorable, and God has provided us with food. We're about to have a bumper harvest!"
Liu Guizhi fell silent. Miao Xiuju, observing this from the side, also remained silent.
In this kind of situation, standing up to advise everyone is likely to be a thankless task. Miao Xiujiu is a smart person and will not do such a thing that offends people and ends in bad consequences.
Fubao and Gu Shengtian had just finished school and were passing by here chatting and laughing with Chen Cuier.
Fubao listened to the wives talking and saw others talking about the upcoming big harvest with smiles on their faces, and he felt a little uncomfortable in his heart.
At this moment, Chen Cui'er whispered, "Fubao, my mother will make me some pancakes tomorrow. They're white flour pancakes. They're delicious. I'll secretly bring half a pancake for you to try. Don't tell anyone else!"
The two of them have a good relationship, and they don't want to let others eat some delicious food, so they share it privately.
Fubao's heart moved, and he turned around to see two red spots on Chen Cui'er's face.
They have such a good relationship, how could she bear to see her starve in the future?
We can't persuade everyone to buy and store grain, but how can we sell the remaining old grain?
Fubao made up her mind at once. She hurriedly said something to Gu Shengtian and Chen Cuier, and went straight to find Huo Jinyun.
Gu Shengtian and Chen Cuier were startled. "Fubao, where are you going?"
However, Fubao had already disappeared.
——
Fubao ran straight back to school. Su Wanru had already left, and Huo Jinyun was packing up her books. She looked up and saw Fubao coming back. She smiled and said, "Fubao, why are you back again? Did you forget something?"
Huo Jinyun has been in the Pingxi Production Brigade for five years. His accent has gradually become like that of a local, and even some of his spoken expressions are closer to the local Pingxi dialect, such as the frequent use of the word "zha".
Fubao stood there panting, looking at Huo Jinyun.
Seeing Fubao remained silent, Huo Jinyun looked at her in surprise and asked, "What's going on?"
When she looked up at herself, there was a hint of moisture in her eyes, which looked very strange, different from usual?
Her expression was solemn and resolute, as if she had made some great decision.
Fubao was silent for a long time, then suddenly said, "Brother Jinyun, can you do me a favor?"
Huo Jinyun was even more surprised. A long time ago, when he was not yet a teacher in this school, Fubao called him Brother Jinyun, but now everyone called him Teacher Huo, and Fubao called him that too.
Fubao suddenly called him like this, which reminded him of a long time ago and his good friend Xiao Dingkun.
Huo Jinyun: "What happened?"
Fubao: "I can't explain it to you, but I want you to stop everyone from handing in the old grain."
At this time, Fubao's heart was beating wildly.
I couldn't tell if it was because I ran back too fast, or if the decision I made suddenly was too reckless.
She listened to her own pounding heart and said to Huo Jinyun seriously, "We can't turn in the old grain. We have to keep it, because we might not have a good harvest this year."
Huo Jinyun was stunned.
He stared at Fubao intently. Twelve-year-old Fubao was very pretty, so pretty that it was rare to find such a stunning girl even in a big city. But what shocked him at this moment was not her beauty.
At this time, the little girl raised her head slightly, her eyes were clear and firm, and her expression showed a stubbornness that no one else could do it but her.
Obviously the little girl was shorter than him, only reaching his shoulders, but at that moment he even had an illusion that she was standing on a high mountain, so proud that no one in the world could stand shoulder to shoulder with her.
It took Huo Jinyun a long time to find his voice: "Why... why can't we have a good harvest?"
Fubao: "I don't know why we can't have a good harvest, but Brother Jinyun, you must stop everyone from handing in the old grain, because the old grain is life-saving food and the last line of defense for our members against disasters. If anything goes wrong, the consequences will be unimaginable."
Huo Jinyun stared at Fubao blankly.
He didn't understand why, but he felt that Fubao was telling the truth. At this moment, he almost believed Fubao and believed that the little girl in front of him was definitely not lying.
Fubao added, "Brother Jinyun, why did I come to you? Because you are a friend of my brother Dingkun, and because you are a teacher in our elementary school. You have prestige and you can find a way to stop them. I can't do it, but I think you can do it, so I came to you."
Huo Jinyun fell into silence.
Fubao remembered something and said, "Brother Jinyun, please help me this time, and also help the members of the Pingxi Production Brigade. Although I don't like some people here, most of them are very good people, very kind people. I was an orphan. After the nunnery collapsed, I had nowhere to go. It was the land and water here that adopted me. They are my friends and my relatives. I can't watch them walk into the darkness and ignore them."
She looked into his eyes and clearly saw the struggle in them.
She suddenly understood.
At that time, no one in the production brigade knew how to use the diesel water pump, except Huo Jinyun. He was a capable and knowledgeable person, but he would not step forward. It was Xiao Dingkun who pushed him to the front.
Now, he needs someone to push him.
Fu Bao tilted his head and stared at Huo Jinyun. "Brother Jinyun, you can find some knowledge in books. Just say you've studied meteorology and know there's a high probability of bad weather this year. You understand technology and science. Uncle Chen Youfu will believe you. Go tell him that this year's bumper harvest comes with risks. Because of the risks, we can't just sell all the old grain. If we sell it, what will we eat if there's a famine?"
Huo Jinyun was a man of technology. He had once started a diesel engine and made water rise from a river. He was also an elementary school teacher, a respected figure. If he were willing to step forward, the results would be far greater than if a child were to do it himself.
Huo Jinyun understood immediately after hearing this and nodded. "Okay, Fubao, I believe you. I know what to do now. You're right. We can't sell the old grain."
When Fubao heard this, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
With the old grain in hand, people might starve, but no one would die.
At least no one will die!
She raised her eyes and looked again at Huo Jinyun, the man who had been her teacher for five years.
"Thank you, Teacher Huo. Good things will happen to good people. Teacher Huo will definitely get what he wants most."
After saying that, Fubao turned and ran away.
Huo Jinyun just stood there in a daze.
He has been in the countryside for five years, and has forgotten and taken lightly many things.
What does he want most?
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