Chapter 21: The Deceived Innocent Educated Youth 3 "......
"An An, look how much your brother loves you."
Mother Shen sat at the table, mending Shen Xiannian's pants, which had countless patches on them, and looked at her little daughter lovingly.
Because Shen Anan didn't have to work and often ate meat, she was fair and clean, and her appearance was also delicate like her mother. She was actually better looking than the girls in the village.
"My brother and mother also eat meat."
Shen Anan held the bowl in front of Shen Xiannian,
"Eat it yourself. We have it all. I'll serve you more after you finish."
Chen Xiannian scooped out the remaining meat, filling a large bowl, and then brought three bowls of white noodles. The quantity was not too large, so it would not cause indigestion after eating.
In this era when ordinary families can only eat meat a few times a year, Shen Xiannian can make sure his family eat refined rice, white flour and braised pork three days a week. If this is known by someone with ulterior motives, it will definitely cause trouble.
Therefore, Shen Xiannian usually waits until the villagers are almost asleep before cooking meat dishes with strong flavors. Fortunately, the two houses of the Shen family are built at the foot of the mountain, far away from the center of the village. The mountain wind is strong, and the smell cannot be carried that far, otherwise Shen Xiannian would not dare to eat it like this.
"Mom, I'll take An An to the hospital in the city after the busy farming season is over."
Shen's mother was probably in her thirties, very thin. Because of her poor health, her voice always sounded a little short of breath and her face was a little pale, but her eyes were often full of smiles and she was in good spirits.
After listening to Shen Xiannian's words, Shen's mother had expectations in her heart, but on the other hand, she was afraid of wasting money, after all, she had been treated for so many years and there was no improvement.
"Okay, let's take a look. If it can't be cured, don't force it. We can find another hospital later."
Mother Shen looked at her grown-up son with a look of distress and worry in her eyes. This trip to the city would cost a lot of money.
She knew that her eldest son had a knot in his heart and felt that he had ruined his sister's life.
In order to make money and let them live a good life, he has been doing dangerous things secretly over the years. During the slack season, he goes to the black market early in the morning and comes back after dark. No matter how people try to stop him, he won't listen.
That chaotic era had just passed, and many policies had not yet been relaxed. At that time, in most parts of the country, the "black market" was still banned, and those caught would be sentenced to life imprisonment.
But when they couldn't even get enough to eat, who could care less? If they hadn't taken the risk of reselling food, their family would have starved to death.
For a moment, she didn't know what was right.
Mother Shen sighed, stopped talking about this topic, and started talking about other things:
"Recently, your Aunt Miao said there's a nice girl in her hometown village. She's a down-to-earth, hardworking girl with nice parents. She met you once and had a very good impression of you..."
"mom!"
Before Shen's mother finished speaking, Shen Xiannian interrupted without thinking:
"Don't bother with this. I don't want to get married now."
Every time this matter was brought up, he looked like he didn't want to listen at all, as if he was determined not to get married, which made Mother Shen so angry that she raised her hand to hit him:
"You little bastard, you're already 22. If you don't get married now, when will you start a family? Why on earth don't you want to meet someone? Are you still looking for a fairy?"
"Yes, if he is not a fairy, how can he be worthy of me? Your son is so capable."
Chen Xiannian stood there with a smile on his face, joking. He didn't even dodge when his mother hit him. He looked good-tempered, but no matter what Chen's mother said, he just wouldn't give in.
It makes people angry just looking at it.
"Mom, don't be angry. Eat more meat. This is the pork belly I exchanged for. If you don't eat it, An An will eat it all."
Shen Xiannian picked up some meat for her as if nothing had happened. When Shen Anan heard what her brother said, she dug into the meat even harder and almost buried her little face in it.
"An An, you can't eat anymore. If you eat too much, you'll have indigestion at night. I'll make it for you tomorrow."
"oh."
Shen Anan was quite obedient. She stopped putting food into the bowl and just held the bowl and slowly enjoyed the few pieces of meat left in the bowl.
Seeing that Shen Xiannian obviously didn’t want to tell her about this, Mother Shen glared at him angrily and picked up the bowl to eat.
Out of sight, out of mind!
After Shen's mother and Shen An'an fell asleep, Shen Xiannian put the piece of meat that he had divided early in the morning into a bamboo basket and hung it in the well. It was hot now, so it wouldn't spoil easily.
The next morning, before daybreak, Chen Xiannian rose and cut the pork belly into thin strips, adding some lard. His rough hands pressed the meat against the bottom of the pot, rubbing it. As the lard sizzled and bubbled, he flicked the ginger slices from the chopping board into the pot. The firewood crackled in the hearth, and the aroma of pine resin mingled with the scent of stale oil.
He squatted in front of the stove with his bare chest. The firelight gave his waist and back a coppery color, and beads of sweat slid down the groove of his spine into his waistband.
The local rock sugar is boiled into an amber color in an aluminum spoon, and suddenly half a bowl of well water is poured into it to bring out the burnt aroma, which makes people drool just by looking at it.
Chen Xiannian put the braised pork into an enamel pot, covered it with a lid, wrapped it with cloth, took the ticket for reselling, and set off for the black market.
It was still dark when I left, and it was almost dark when I came back.
When Qiao Yin followed the large group to work, it was already dawn. She and Xu Suyuan had swapped jobs, and today she was going to cut grass.
The sun is so scorching during the dog days of summer that even the dirt road beneath your feet seems to have been scorched by fire. Old men who usually like to work barefoot have to wear shoes.
Qiao Yin wore a straw hat and thin long-sleeved shirt and trousers, covering herself completely.
She started sweating after working for a while, but when she looked up, she saw that the other members and educated youth were already far ahead of her. She wiped the sweat off her face and tried hard to catch up with others.
While working, I heard Jiang Yan's weak voice not far away asking for leave from the team leader, saying that she was not feeling well.
"You can ask for leave. You'll get points based on how much work you do. If you don't need the team's food, I won't say anything if you don't work."
The captain was used to it. He looked at the scorebook in his hand without looking up and continued:
"So I advise those who want to slack off not to do this to me. If you run out of food, don't beg the team for food."
There are people in the team who don't work. For example, Shen Xiannian's mother and sister never go to work. But Shen Xiannian is capable. The work points earned by one person can support three people. But is anyone willing to support Jiang Yan for free?
The people at the educated youth site would not agree either. After all, the food at the educated youth site was eaten together. Jiang Yan wanted to eat the food they earned with great effort without working. Who would agree to that?
Upon hearing this, the members in the field all looked at her with naked dislike and disgust in their eyes, and some even laughed in disdain.
It's only been a few days since she came here, but Jiang Yan keeps asking for leave to be lazy. Qiao Zhiqing looks even more fragile than her, but he never says a word.
Jiang Yan's face turned pale and blue. She was angry that the captain did not give her face, and she was also angry that these rural people laughed at her.
She threw her tools on the ground and said angrily:
"If I don't want to do it, then I won't do it. Anyway, my family has sent me a lot of food, and I won't starve to death if I don't eat the food provided by the team."
Then he stormed out of the field and stood on the path, glaring back at the people on the ground. His eyes deliberately swept over a certain spot, paused, and then said sarcastically:
"Even if I starve to death, I would rather be like some people who degenerate into slavery and let men work for them!"
After saying this, he didn't care about the reactions of the people in the field, he just snorted and walked towards the educated youth point.
Nie Hongxia, who had been keeping her head down in the field, was stunned and bit her lips tightly.
Qiao Yin looked up at Nie Hongxia in surprise, but Nie Hongxia kept her head down, so Qiao Yin couldn't see her expression clearly.
In recent days, she often saw a young man helping Nie Hongxia with work. She heard that the man's name was Ge Erqiang, and she guessed that the two were probably dating.
In the village, men usually only help their partners with work.
I just don't know when Jiang Yan and Nie Hongxia fell out. Jiang Yan's words were obviously meant to ridicule Nie Hongxia.
Qiao Yin didn't think the people of Green Water Bay were any different from them, nor did she know where Jiang Yan's sense of superiority came from. She only knew that she would offend a lot of people by having a peasant on one side and a country girl on the other, and her future life would probably be even more difficult.
After all, apart from the educated youth who came to the countryside, all the people here are villagers from Lushuiwan. What Jiang Yan said just now was not only directed at Nie Hongxia, but also at them as well.
Qiao Yin was right. After this incident, they would dislike Jiang Yan even more. In contrast, they would be more friendly towards Nie Hongxia.
"Sister, don't listen to her. She really thinks she's a nobody and looks down on us. If she's capable of that, then go back to her city. What's the point of just talking big?"
"That's right, my daughter-in-law is also an educated youth. What's wrong with her marrying a peasant? My son is very capable, and he can let my daughter-in-law give birth to a son. I even look down on her!"
An aunt from the village spat and rolled her eyes at Jiang Yan's back.
"Giving birth to a son is your daughter-in-law's ability. What does it have to do with your son? You just flatter your son, hahaha."
Several aunts started teasing that aunt, and the topic suddenly went off track. The women from Green Water Bay had loud voices, and their voices and laughter could be heard throughout the field.
Nie Hongxia forced a smile and continued to work with her head down, but her grip on the hoe gradually tightened and resentment flashed in her eyes.
She hadn't agreed to Ge Erqiang yet, she just wanted to use him to do some work for her and give him some sweet treats from time to time. She never expected Jiang Yan to yell like this.
Now, everyone in Lushui Bay must think that she is dating Ge Erqiang, and even if she denies their relationship in the future, it will still be affected.
She didn't expect that Jiang Yan would treat her like this after knowing that she was in contact with Ge Erqiang. She said that she was self-indulgent and asked her to stay away from him. No matter how she begged and flattered, she ignored her with a cold face.
But what could she do? She didn't want to. She wasn't as well off as Jiang Yan, whose family often sent her things. She wasn't as pretty as Qiao Yin, so none of the male educated youth at the educated youth camp looked down on her. She could only look for men in the village.
Since she came to the countryside, she has not had enough to eat every day and the work is tiring. If no one helps her, she simply cannot hold on.
What right did Jiang Yan have to look down on her? How long did she think she could be so proud? They didn't know how long they would stay in the countryside. There were many educated youth who hadn't been able to return to the city for many years. Some of them were still holding on, while others had already married and had children.
Only Jiang Yan was still dreaming of returning to the city, but she didn't know that she had already offended everyone in Green Water Bay.
Nie Hongxia sneered, waiting to see what would happen to Jiang Yan.
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