Chapter 78: Can't Be Provoked
They had to fetch water and cook for themselves, and for a while, the entrance of the educated youth site was completely silent.
Xu Qingming felt that he could still do something like fetching water, but cooking? He looked at his hands, wondering if he had any talent for it.
Lu Minghai glanced around and said, "Why are you all silent? If you want to eat, you have to pay. Everyone is equal here, you are all the same. You can't even solve the problem of food, and you are still educated youth. You still support rural construction?"
Xu Qingming rarely spoke: "Okay, that's it. I don't care about others, but I myself may not be very good at cooking. I'll have to trouble you to cook for a day tomorrow. I'll learn from you." After saying that, he turned to look at Lu Minghai: "Captain, can we get our rations by writing a note tomorrow?"
Lu Minghai nodded: "Sure. Go to Liu Chaoxing tomorrow to write a note and collect rations. They will be deducted from your work points at the end of the year. If you don't have enough work points, you will have to pay the team to make up for it. Let's agree on this first, so that you don't make a fuss later. Then I won't be as easy to talk to as you are now." There is endless work to do every day. Who doesn't have things to do? Who has the time to waste the whole day with them?
Xu Qingming agreed: "Okay, then I'll trouble you for one day tomorrow." As he said that, he took out a dollar and a pound of national food coupons from his pocket and handed them to Wang Jianmao without asking any questions.
Wang Jianmao took it, went into the house and rummaged through it for a long time, then came out and gave him the change.
With Xu Qingming taking the lead, Zhou Guoping followed closely: "I'll also have one day tomorrow." First give the money and tickets, and then figure out what to do after tomorrow's rations are brought.
Deng Hongjuan asked, "Tomorrow's, what about tonight? What should we do tonight?"
Still no one paid any attention to her. She could barely protect herself, so who would care about whom? They weren't familiar with each other.
Besides, there is no fool. If she hadn't started the trouble in the afternoon, at least she would have eaten by now, no matter whether it was good or bad. Why would she still be hungry now?
Who cares what to do tonight after you've settled down tomorrow? You won't die from skipping a meal.
After everyone outside had left, Wen Wan ran out holding the teacup and called out to Xu Qingming, "Seventh Brother, Seventh Brother!"
Xu Qingming wanted to sleep right now. He wanted to sleep first, and he wanted to sleep while he was still so hungry that he didn't even feel hungry anymore. It was pitch dark now, and he couldn't cook, so who else could he rely on?
As soon as he entered the house in the dark and sat down, he heard the little girl calling "Seventh Brother" softly, and he stood up and left the house again.
"Seventh Brother, come here, hurry up."
Xu Qingming followed her to the edge of the yard and sniffed: "What?"
Wen Wan handed him the teacup: "Drink it, drink it quickly. I made it strong and soaked biscuits in it. How can you sleep on an empty stomach?" She used up the amount of milk powder in it that she could drink twice.
Milk powder, Xu Qingming had never drunk this stuff in his life. The hot porcelain jar felt scalding hot in his hand.
Wen Wan urged him: "Hurry up, give me the jar when you finish drinking it, I'm going to sleep."
Xu Qingming held the teacup and gulped down the milk-soaked biscuits in one gulp.
After drinking, he grabbed Wen Wan's head and said, "Little girl, your love for you is not in vain."
Wen Wan rudely slapped his hand away: "Do you act like a brother?"
"It's time to go to bed. You should rest early too." After drinking a cup of sweet and slightly fishy milk, he felt warm all over and felt that he could have a good sleep tonight.
The six people in the room were obviously a bit crowded, but at this point, they had to make do with it.
Wen Wan went into the house, rinsed the teacup and put it back in her pocket, then took off her outer clothes and pants and snuggled into the quilt.
Lu Dongping couldn't sleep yet. Lu Mingjiang and Zhang Hongying looked worried and told him about Wen Wan: "I think this matter is doomed. Wen Wan's brother obviously looks down on our family." He didn't even come to the dinner party, and when he arrived at the door, he didn't even look over here.
Lu Dongping said, "It's normal for her to look down on me. Our family's conditions are not as good as others'. Besides, I'm going to kidnap someone's daughter who has been raised for over ten years. Looking down on me is the least of my worries. I'm afraid she's going to eat me alive."
"I think this matter is difficult to handle." Lu Mingjiang said slowly and sighed. Raising a son is always a headache.
Lu Dongping stood up and said, "Okay, I know what's going on. Go to sleep. We have to go to work tomorrow!"
Speaking of going to work, Zhang Hongying remembered: "Remember to bring your matches tomorrow and your coat. It's dangerous to go into the water today, don't freeze yourself to death."
"knew!"
Lu Dongping entered the room in the dark. Lu Donglin, who had gone to bed early in the morning, heard the voice and shouted, "Brother, I can't sleep."
Lu Dongping rustled as he undressed and got into bed, scoffing softly, "You little brat can't sleep. What kind of mess is going on in your head? Do you want to be a dwarf if you don't sleep?"
Lu Donglin rarely refrained from arguing with him: "Brother, why does that new educated youth want to live with us? Is she attracted to you?"
Lu Dongping was about to lie down when he sat up again after hearing his words. "No, are you itching for a beating in the middle of the night? Are you attracted to me? I'm not a great person, but I'm not someone you can get stained with stinky dog shit. Want to live with us? Is she crazy? Who does she think she is? She can be arranged wherever she points? Who is she trying to annoy?"
Lu Donglin let out a long, mock sigh: "Hey! You don't know, I was so scared. I was afraid that my uncle would nod and agree, and then it would be over."
"What are you trying to scare? Can my uncle be the head of my family or my master? He's not senile yet! That new female educated youth is obviously a troublemaker."
"Hey! Sister Wenwan will have a hard time in the future! Brother, you better work hard and bring her back quickly, otherwise, there will be a lot of trouble in the future."
Lu Dongping rested his head on his arms and said nothing. He also wanted to be quick, but that wasn't something he could do as he pleased.
After this busy season, we'll have enough mud to build the house. If we hire a few more people, it won't take more than a few days to build it. The key is people.
He felt that he had to find an opportunity to have a good contact with Xu Qingming. No matter what Xu Qingming's attitude was, he had to express his attitude first.
Thinking about it, I thought of Wen Wan again, thinking of that soft voice and that soft person, the corners of my mouth raised high in the night.
The three female educated youth on the big bed were talking as if no one was around. Wen Wan curled up in the quilt, covering her head, and fell asleep in a short while. She seemed to hear someone crying in a daze, but the sound had no effect on her at all. She turned over and continued to sleep until it was light outside. She woke up when she heard some movement.
The person on the big bed was sleeping soundly. Maybe he was dreaming about something delicious, but Wen Wan heard someone mumbling in his sleep and smacking his lips.
She got up, made the bed, added some water, opened the door, and went outside to wash up. Then she heard an irritated roar from inside: "What's going on? Are you going to let me sleep?"
Wen Wan pretended not to hear and said, "Go to sleep, sleep well, it's best to sleep until half a day and then get up at noon."
Smoke had started to rise from the shed next to the educated youth site. Wang Jianmao was cooking, and Xu Qingming was helping to light the fire and learning at the same time. Zhou Guoping and Huang Wancheng went to fetch water. Like Zhu Feng before, they didn't know how to use the shoulder pole, so they simply carried one end each, which was a solution.
Wen Wan smiled and greeted the other male comrades. Huang Wancheng and the others felt a little embarrassed and asked dryly, "Are they still not up?"
Wen Wan nodded: "Still asleep!" He was still very angry and couldn't be provoked.
After tidying up her place and closing the door, she headed towards Lu's house carrying a kettle.
Since Xu Qingming wants to live with the educated youth, I won’t invite him. He won’t go even if I invite him. He is so stubborn.
Lu Dongping said he would come to pick her up in the morning, but for some reason he was still nowhere to be seen.
Wen Wan arrived at the Lu family. Zhang Hongying was cooking in the kitchen, and Lu Mingjiang was nowhere to be seen.
"Aunt!" Wen Wan called out, putting the kettle against the wall and then going behind the stove to help light the fire. "Are uncle and Lu Dongping not here?"
Zhang Hongying was making pancakes and replied, "Well, I went to the mountains early in the morning. I don't know what I did." She took a piece of pig skin in her hand, smeared it on the bottom of the pot, scooped in the batter mixed with a little white flour, spread it with a spatula, and after a while it stuck together and took shape. She turned it over, and soon a pancake was out of the pot.
"Want some pancakes for breakfast?"
Zhang Hongying responded, "Eat some pancakes, stir-fry some salted vegetables and roll them up, and make some potato soup with rice water. I'll make more at once and have this for dinner too."
The batter is made with a little white flour and a good amount of cornmeal, and the pancakes are especially fragrant when hot. There's also a lot of soup, half the pot is filled with shredded potatoes, with a little oil floating on top, but it's also very fragrant.
Zhang Hongying wasn't as tough as Gao Xiulan, nor as quick-witted as her, but she was also quite capable of managing life. A row of crude jars and cans lined up under the chopping board at home, ensuring that no matter how busy she was, there would always be something inside. Although food was scarce at home, she had her own way of managing it, not wasting anything and doing her best to ensure everyone in the family had enough to eat.
This is a science, and Wen Wan feels that she probably won't be able to learn it, it's quite difficult.
The meal was ready, but Lu Mingjiang and Lu Dongping still hadn't returned. Zhang Hongying called out to her, "Let's eat first, mother and daughter. We won't wait for them."
The baked pancakes are cut into strips shaped like flag flowers, half pancake and half potato shreds, and topped with sour soup, which makes people particularly appetizing.
After dinner, Zhang Hongying said, "Dongping is taking people to repair the weir today. Are you going up the ditch to pick pig grass? If you know the way, you can ask him to bring it back to you when we finish work this afternoon."
"I know him. I went there with Chun'e last time."
The weir of Lujiazui is between Laoyaliang and Maoerling, with a small river in the middle that meanders along the mountain and flows into Xiheli.
There are terraces on both sides of the stream, and the middle area is very wide because of the river water. It is full of stones, and there are all kinds of grass in the cracks of the stones, enough for pigs to eat.
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