When Lao Shi came over in the evening, he was stuffed with three Da Tuanjie cigarettes and a pack of Liuyang River cigarettes.
Lao Shi himself didn't even remember that the box was so valuable, so he quickly stuffed some money and cigarettes back into it.
"There's only one cigarette ticket in my box, right? You're giving me money and cigarettes, what have I become? And the cost of those tickets isn't that much..."
Lin Guoqing insisted on giving him cigarettes and money.
"Are we still brothers? If we are, then keep it! I wanted to buy you a Daqianmen, and I already bought it last time, but I gave it away when I bought a tricycle... You have to keep this Liuyang River!"
Speaking of this, Lin Guoqing still felt a little inexplicably guilty, so he stuffed the money and cigarettes directly into Lao Shi's pocket and didn't allow him to take them out.
"Didn't you tell Chunhua and I to come find you if we have something to do? We plan to come and get together with you if we have nothing to do. If you have nothing to do during the New Year, come to my house for dinner. We don't have to work during the New Year, so we have some free time anyway, so it's nice to visit..."
Before everyone arrived, Lin Guoqing explained the address of their village and how to get there in detail, and even imitated what Lao Shi said to Chen Chunhua yesterday.
"Go to Sihe Village and look for Lin Guoqing; he knows everyone there!"
The corners of Lao Shi's eyes were red, and he kept smiling and nodding.
"Okay! I'll come!"
In fact, he is still very lucky. Just like what his father wrote in the letter he left him, even without them, Shi Zhiqiang will still have his own life and friends.
Colleagues at the steel plant, neighbors in the residential building... and "colleagues" here in Guanqian Lane.
He knew that perhaps to some extent, they were all feeling sorry for him and worried that he would be left alone with his imagination.
So what? It was hard for him to reject the kindness of these "own people". It was too warm, and he would not push them all away because of his illusory self-esteem.
Since it has been given, then he will keep it in mind. Maybe one day in the future, he will be able to provide them with timely help when he is able to do so?
＊＊＊
The slack season during farming actually passes quite quickly. Every household is busy preparing for winter and the New Year. From dawn to dusk, it feels like not much work has been done and the day is over.
On the day of the college entrance examination, some young people in the village could not sit still and ran out, saying that they wanted to go to the county together to watch others take the exam.
"What's so good about this?" Wang Jingui said to Chen Chunhua as a group of young women sat together sewing cotton clothes.
"I think it's because he's still single. If he could get married sooner, he wouldn't be so obsessed with watching the fun!"
Her brother-in-law ran out and asked her for 50 cents, saying he was going to eat out. She felt bad for him. She should find him a wife as soon as possible to take care of him.
Chen Chunhua smiled and said, "Young men of seventeen or eighteen are naturally active. Do you really want them to sit under the eaves and sew clothes all day like us women? If that's the case, you'll be worried again!"
"That's right! Do you think everything will be fine once you have a wife? There are so many things to worry about..."
…
Several people chatted while sewing, without delaying their stitches at all. When the party was over, young people who were going back to the village early for dinner would stop and chat with them when they passed by.
Although the women said it was boring, it was actually lively and everyone wanted to join in.
It is said that the school gate was crowded with people, and when the bell rang inside the school, a large group of people came out.
Everyone who came out looked very energetic and clean, carrying a bag and a book, and they all looked like high-level intellectuals!
The women were amused by this description and laughed so hard that they fell down.
"I wonder if the little ones in our family will have the chance to take the college entrance exam when they grow up. If they can get into a university, it would be a real blessing!"
"Study hard! Let's get them into junior high school first! Oh, my monkey is jumping around all day, it doesn't look like he's cut out for it!"
"Chunhua's two children have excellent grades! My daughter Yinchun said Shuying always gets full marks on her exams and will definitely be able to go to junior high school!"
"Only junior high school?" Chen Chunhua narrowed her eyes and smiled happily, "I'm still hoping my Shuying can go to college! Don't flatter me!"
"Hahahahahahahahaha..."
Another group of people came back and said that there were many more people carrying loads on their shoulders and walking around the streets in the county town. They looked like honest farmers, just like them. They had everything in their baskets.
Flatbread, steamed buns, eggs, duck eggs, radishes, corn... there are actually people buying them, and no one cares!
Isn't this just speculation? And no one's doing anything about it? Everyone was getting excited, and they started asking about the specifics of the situation outside.
Chen Chunhua raised her eyebrows, said nothing, and just listened to their conversation quietly.
She knew that the days of running to Guanqian Lane every night were numbered.
The college entrance examination is like a sign of a vanguard. With the end of the college entrance examination next summer, the decision to implement reform and opening up will follow.
In the future, policies will become more and more relaxed, and more and more people will make money by setting up stalls, and everyone will be able to live a good life.
Chen Chunhua finally finished sewing a pair of bright red cotton pants for Xiaonan. She bit off the thread with her teeth, checked it carefully, folded it neatly and put it aside, then started sewing on another piece of quilted floral fabric.
By the way, can their family expand their business a bit in the next few years? They can't always just sell vegetables on a tricycle, right?
Everything should be done early, the early start, the early wealth. Even the payment of pension insurance should be done early. Haven’t you seen those young people who complained about going to work every day and still worried about not getting their pension?
Chen Chunhua worked tirelessly while her thoughts drifted away.
＊＊＊
Two days before the winter solstice, the village organizes a rice cake making party. Each household contributes as much rice as they want to make, and the accountant records the amount. If every household contributes, there won't be any mistakes.
But the rice has to be soaked before it can be sent over. In winter, the rice has to be soaked for more than ten days, so as soon as the autumn harvest and grain distribution are over, almost everyone soaks all the rice.
Chen Chunhua soaked a total of 70 kilograms of rice and 20 kilograms of millet in a large vat.
Sieve the soaked rice, remove the bran, wash it several times, drain the water and then grind it into powder.
This step requires the help of Lin Guoqing and Liang Shengdi, as the village doesn't have a flour-grinding machine yet, so it has to be done by hand. It's labor-intensive and time-consuming, and the sifting alone requires repeated cycles. But only in this way can the rice cakes be white and delicate.
The sticky rice flour was sent to the village cake shop and put into the steamer in order. The 90 kilograms of rice flour from Chen Chunhua's family was divided into three large wooden barrels.
The pastry shop has all the necessary tools. Before putting the pastries on the stove for steaming, a layer of cloth and a conical wire rack will be placed on the bottom of the steamer to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
As soon as their steamer was put up, someone called out "Lin Guoqing" in the smoke.
"National Day! Come out and shove the rice cakes!"
"Here we come!"
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Push = hit = beat, dialect
I suddenly want to eat authentic rice cakes (ノДＴ)
Stir-fried rice cakes with green vegetables and shredded pork, grilled vegetable rice cakes, rice cake with rice, tofu rice cakes, and stir-fried rice cakes with swimming crab...?(o﹃o?)
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