"Qingya, Ruirui and Feifei, you have come to collect your admission notices today, right? How did you all do in the exams?" After taking the money, Xuemei sat in the firebox and said to Qingya and the other three.
Ever since Xuemei started junior high school, Liu's father asked his second uncle to make a smaller fire box. Now Liu's father and mother use this fire box to keep warm.
Once, when Xuemei was warming up by the fire with Liu's parents in the small firebox, Liu's father would always whisper to Liu's mother. He didn't even care that Xuemei was there, and would often tell her to go get something, thinking she was in the way. Since then, Xuemei and her other siblings have never warmed up by the fire with Liu's parents alone; they always sit together in the large firebox.
Qingya looked at the sparkling money in Xuemei's hand and said, "Sister, I have improved five places this time. I am now in the 15th grade!" After that, she stretched out her palm in front of Xuemei.
After Xuemei entered high school, in order to encourage Qingya and the other three to study hard, she rewarded them with 10 cents for each improvement in rank, and 50 cents for an improvement of ten or more ranks at a time; the top three were rewarded with 1 yuan, and if they could maintain their position in the top three, they would be rewarded another 1 yuan, but if they dropped one rank, Xuemei would be given 5 cents.
Xuemei looked at Qingya, counted out fifty cents, put it in Qingya's hand, and said, "Qingya, you did well on the test this time. Keep up the good work!"
After seeing Qingya get the money, Ruirui couldn't wait to say, "Sister, I! I! I made a lot of progress this time. I moved up ten places. I'm now ranked 15th in the grade!"
Xuemei was very surprised when she heard this. She looked at Ruirui and said, "You've made such rapid progress this time. It seems you've worked hard! Your reward is one yuan and fifty cents plus fifty cents, which makes two yuan. Here, take it!"
Xuemei handed the money to Ruirui and looked at Feifei. Feifei made a number one with his finger. Xuemei immediately understood that he was the first in the grade again and handed Feifei two dollars.
Qingya took one look and said sadly, "I worked so hard for half a semester and only got fifty cents. How come you two only got two dollars? It's really frustrating to compare yourself to others! By the way, Ruirui, why did you make so much progress this time? The fluctuation is so big? Be careful next semester and don't return the money to me!"
Ruirui quickly said, "Pfft! Second sister, can't you say something nice? I won't fall behind. I have Feifei as my assistant. He supervises my studies every day."
"I said you and I are usually about the same, how come you made such great progress this time? It turns out you have help!" Qing Ya said enviously.
"Then I have to pay Feifei too. I will give Feifei half of the reward, which is equivalent to me only getting one dollar." Ruirui was a little reluctant and took out a dollar and handed it to Feifei.
"Why would I be reluctant? The money you have left is still twice as much as mine." Qing Ya said sourly. After thinking for a moment, she said to Liu's father and mother, "Dad, Mom, if only I had someone my own age to supervise me like Ruirui does. Ah! Mom, after you gave birth to me, did you forget to give birth to another one? I should have had a sister or brother who was almost the same age as me!"
After hearing this, Liu's mother said angrily, "Don't let your imagination run wild. There's no such thing as a free lunch. If you want to get more rewards, you better work hard!"
Qing Ya curled her lips after hearing this and muttered, "I just thought about it, but it's not easy! But studying is not easy either!"
As Xuemei listened to them talking, she suddenly remembered something: "Dad, the purchasing station said it's going to be very cold at the end of the year, and they're worried about ice and snow on the roads, so they're buying the pigs early. Did the commune notify you when they'll come to buy the pigs?"
Father Liu nodded and said, "It might snow in a few days. The ground has been a little frozen in the mornings these past few days. We in Liujia Village will harvest the pigs the day after tomorrow, which is the fifteenth day."
"Then can we keep a pig?" Xuemei asked expectantly, and Qingya and the other two also looked at Liu's father intently.
"We'll hand over the pig that weighs more than 130 kilograms, keep some of the other one that weighs about 120 kilograms for ourselves, and sell the rest to the villagers to be used for the New Year pigs." Liu's father replied.
"Dad, can we keep the pig blood for ourselves? We haven't made pig blood cakes in several years. Also, let's keep some meat for ourselves. When there is extra, our colleagues in the supply and marketing cooperative will want some. I'd also like to take this opportunity to exchange some of their internal resources." Xuemei said.
Father Liu thought for a moment, frowned, and said, "You'd better be careful when exchanging things. Now that you have a job, try not to exchange them, especially not to take them to work. If they need to wait until the day when our village distributes meat, you can bring two colleagues and say they are relatives of our family. After we distribute the meat, let them buy it themselves in the village. As for the pig's blood, I'll discuss it with the villagers. I think they should be able to keep it for themselves. The village is going to slaughter several pigs this year!"
"Dad, you're very thoughtful. I also think it's inappropriate, but I can't bear to give up their good things. I heard that they have enamel basins, thermos bottles, red cloths, etc. I will go and explain it to them tomorrow. If they are willing, let them send two representatives." Xuemei said to Liu's father with admiration.
After seeing Xuemei and Liu's father finish their conversation, Qingya said to Liu's mother, "Mom, how much money can we get from the pig this year? Can you give me some too? Every time I come back from school during the summer vacation, I will cut grass and feed the pigs. Mom, is that okay?"
Mother Liu looked at Qingya and said, "Go get my abacus, I'll calculate how much money it is." Mother Liu looked at Qingya who ran to the room to get the abacus, and then shouted, "Qingya, remember the paper and pen, I want to write it down!"
After Liu's mother had calculated the weight, she said to the others, "Even if our pig weighs 130 kilograms, we can at least reward one kilogram of meat coupons. The pig looks quite fat, so it should sell for 46 cents a kilogram, which works out to 59.8 yuan. I'll give Ruirui and Feifei five yuan each, and Qingya and Xuemei one yuan each. Is that okay? Do you all agree?"
Qingya and the other two nodded in satisfaction.
Father Liu said dissatisfiedly: "Mother, how could I not have any? I was the one who cleaned the pig pen most of the time."
Mother Liu looked at Father Liu lovingly and said, "How could I forget you? I was planning to give it to you directly when the time comes. You will also get a three-yuan reward."
This time, Father Liu nodded with satisfaction.
Seeing the family's happy expressions, Xuemei said, "Mom, I didn't help much with the pigs this year, so I don't want the reward. But when you slaughter the pig, can you please leave me a pig's trotter and a piece of large intestine? I know how to braise meat now, and I'd like to give it a try."
"Mom, please agree to my elder sister?" Ruirui said expectantly to Liu's mother.
Mother Liu looked at the whole family of foodies, and she was also tempted, so she nodded in agreement.
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