Chapter 27 Tianma is afraid that others don’t know that your wife is capable…
Zhang Guogang did borrow another watch from someone and replaced a part inside it.
I originally wanted to just take one apart, but I was afraid that Qi Fang was really good at repairing it, and a missing part would be too obvious.
In this way, even if Qi Fang knew how to repair it, he wouldn't be able to do it. They could take the opportunity to laugh at Liu Weiguo, and maybe even ruin the relationship between Liu Weiguo and Zhou Wenhui.
I hadn't expected Qi Fang's eyes to be so sharp, able to detect such a tiny difference. Being stared at by the two young women, his mind went blank, and he was speechless for a long while.
Yang Tao quickly intervened, "How is that possible? The parts are so worn out. Did you see it wrong?"
"His watch is a Beijing brand, and the parts are from a Shanghai brand," Qi Fang pointed out calmly. "I have a Shanghai brand men's watch at home. If you want to see it, I can take it apart."
Now even Yang Tao shut up. If he didn't cry until he saw the coffin, it would only make them more embarrassed.
"So it's true?" Zhou Wenhui's eyes were filled with disbelief and blazing anger. "What did I do to you? I didn't offend you, and I was even kind enough to help you fix your things, and you guys played tricks on me like this!"
The girl who usually seemed easy to get along with actually had her eyes red with anger. "And you!"
She pointed at the one who was always stirring up trouble, "You even said that Yan Xue's wife broke it for you and asked her to pay for it. Do you want to pay for it? Do you want to pay for it?"
After all, she is a well-educated young girl, and it is difficult to directly scold her like "shameless".
This reaction calmed down the equally angry Liu Weiguo. "Don't be angry. There's no point getting angry at this kind of person."
The person being pointed at also blushed, "I was just saying it, I didn't really want them to buy it..."
"Yeah, we were just joking. We weren't trying to take advantage of them, were you?"
Others also tried to defend themselves, but Zhou Wenhui obviously didn't buy it.
Liu Weiguo also looked at Qi Fang, "Whatever parts they want, that's it. Install them quickly and get them out!"
The words were really unpleasant, but they were exposed in public, and in front of two female educated youth in the same team, so they were really embarrassed.
Some people wanted to make amends for themselves, but Zhang Guogang was quite tough and directly took the things back from Qi Fang, saying, "I can do it myself, there's no need for you to pretend."
Several people walked out with all their might. Before they reached the main hall door, they heard Qi Fang's cold voice: "I forgot to mention that the internal structures of these two watches are similar. Even if one part is replaced, they can still work."
What I mean is that they are just messing around and it's totally useless.
The chaotic footsteps paused noticeably, and then a deafening slam of a door was heard outside.
Liu Weiguo immediately chased after them, "You are so mean and stupid, and you still have the nerve to slam the door!"
For a moment, only Yan Xue and his wife and the two female educated youth were left in the room. The discomfort that had just been suppressed by anger finally came back to the fore.
"I'm sorry." Zhou Wenhui lowered her head and apologized to the couple. "If I had known they would be like this, I wouldn't have let them come, and I wouldn't have let them come to you for repairs."
"It's not your responsibility to do this. They insisted that I help find someone." Liu Weiguo came back from outside and hurriedly explained for her.
After saying that, he looked at Qi Fang apologetically and said, "I'm sorry. I won't cause you any trouble next time."
The two of them spoke faster and more sincerely than each other, which made the other female educated youth standing next to them seem a little out of place.
She simply came out and made a self-criticism, "This is also my fault. I was the one who told others about the alarm clock repair."
"Are you holding a self-criticism meeting here?" Yan Xue couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Her smile was so charming that even the slightly heavy atmosphere in the room seemed to be blown away. Liu Weiguo touched his nose and said, "Don't I feel sorry for Qi Fang?"
Qi Fang remained noncommittal upon hearing this, "Just use me less as a pretext in the future."
It was obviously referring to the incident in which Liu Weiguo was rumored to be jealous in order to get close to Zhou Wenhui.
Liu Weiguo laughed and said, "You make it sound like you don't want to go at all. If you really don't want to go, can I still pull you?"
After all, they were friends, and some things could be talked about, apologized for, and moved on. Zhou Wenhui, on the other hand, still felt guilty, feeling she had something to do with the incident, and repeatedly apologized to several people.
This girl obviously has a strong sense of morality. Even if you say it's okay, she still can't get over it.
Suddenly Qi Fang asked Zhou Wenhui, "Does anyone in your family work in the Forestry Bureau's logistics department?"
Zhou Wenhui hadn't expected him to talk to her at all. She was stunned for a moment. "Yes, my uncle-in-law works in logistics, responsible for delivering goods to the stores in various forest farms. How did you know?"
"I've seen the delivery person bring something to you." Qi Fang said, but his eyes were looking at Yan Xue.
Yan Xue didn't react at first, but then she realized that the Forestry Bureau has its own system, and the stores in each forest farm are all supplied by logistics, so the logistics department must have channels for external procurement.
Ask Agar directly?
I'm afraid it's a bit difficult.
Yan Xue's mind raced, and she quickly found a way in. She asked Zhou Wenhui, "Does your uncle know where the kelp sold in stores comes from?"
"That's what I know," Zhou Wenhui said. "The county local product company brought it in from out of town."
There is no iodine in edible salt these days. If you want to avoid goiter, you must eat kelp. Every year, local product companies import large quantities of kelp from other places.
Zhou Wenhui asked Yan Xue: "Do you want to buy more kelp, or do you want to buy it at a lower price?"
"Neither, I want to buy something else."
Yan Xue wanted to ask a few more questions, but Zhou Wenhui unexpectedly said, "Then let me ask my uncle for you. He has connections in the county's local products and wholesale departments. He can ask them to bring it to you when they go out to buy."
This was a pleasant surprise. Yan Xue had thought it would take some effort.
"That's great. Wait a minute, I'll write it down for you."
She was just about to go to the desk to get paper and pen when Qi Fang, who had been standing by the desk, opened the drawer and handed her something.
Yan Xue took it and wrote "Agar-agar" and "Gracilaria" on it. After thinking about it, she added another one, "If the first two can't be obtained, seaweed will also work."
"What are you doing?" Liu Weiguo came over to take a look curiously.
Yan Xue naturally wanted to make agar-agar herself, but since the product was still nowhere to be found, she kept it a secret and said, "Guess."
"I won't guess." Liu Weiguo turned to ask Qi Fang: "What does your wife want to do?"
As a result, Qi Fang also threw two words at him - "Guess".
Liu Weiguo was speechless.
After receiving the paper, Zhou Wenhui said goodbye. She felt much better after receiving such a favor.
Liu Weiguo didn't follow them. Instead, he sat down on the kang and apologized to Qi Fang again. "These male educated youth probably came after me because I was close to Zhou Wenhui."
"Well, you still have some brains." Qi Fang's voice was light and sarcastic.
Liu Weiguo didn't care. "I caused the trouble, so go ahead and take the blame. Luckily you're capable, otherwise we'd be the ones being hurt today, and we might even have to pay for it."
The other party said it nicely and it was just a joke, but could such a joke be so embarrassing?
If Qi Fang really couldn't repair it today, being laughed at would be the least of his worries. Someone might even blame them for damaging the watch, and he would be in big trouble even if he had to pay compensation.
Moreover, he was the one who caused the trouble, but he also dragged Qi Fang into it. How will they get along in the future?
"These educated youth from the city never work and only do bad things. Two years ago, they even stole chickens from several families and roasted them in the mountains."
Liu Weiguo got angry when he mentioned it, but Yan Xue smiled and said, "Zhou Wenhui seems to be an educated youth from the city as well."
One sentence stopped him, "That's different, she didn't do those things."
Judging from what happened today, Zhou Wenhui is indeed a good girl. She is impartial and can distinguish right from wrong.
Yan Xue smiled and glanced at Liu Weiguo, "You have good taste."
"That's right." Liu Weiguo immediately became proud, thinking about how he had once had a crush on Yan Xue, and quickly looked at Qi Fang, "Qi Fang, you didn't grow up taking these things apart, did you? How do you know at a glance that the parts have been replaced?"
"No, I have a good memory." Qi Fang answered concisely. It was not known whether he remembered what happened at the beginning or simply did not want to talk about it.
However, it is really rare to have such a good memory. Yan Xue also felt a little sorry that he didn't have the good opportunity to go to college.
Liu Weiguo also felt it was a pity. "It would be great if you could go to a small repair shop. Your skills are wasted in a small repair shop. At least you should go to the town machine repair shop and be an engineer or something."
Only Qi Fang didn't react much to this, and put away the tools he had just used to repair the watch.
After sitting for a while, Liu Weiguo was about to leave when someone outside asked, "Does Qi Fang live here?"
Yan Xue didn't recognize him, but Liu Weiguo just craned his head to take a look. "Dawei?"
"You're here too?" the visitor laughed. "That's perfect. Is anyone home during the day? I'm going to bring you some firewood today."
"Yes," Yan Xue nodded, "all day long."
"Then I'll go back and tell them to load the truck. It should be here in an hour."
Liu Weiguo was no longer in a hurry to leave, waiting to help Yan Xue and the others get firewood. He hadn't expected that two trucks would arrive at once, and one and a half of them were full of tree stumps.
At first, it was impossible to see, after all, the carriage was blocked by walls on both sides. Once the carriage was parked outside the door, the driver removed the girth from the horse pulling the shaft, lifted the shaft, and gently urged the horse forward. Only then did the contents of the carriage, along with the firewood, fall to the ground, revealing the contents to everyone.
"So many?" The Guo family's gate was usually only half open. When Aunt Guo heard that firewood was being unloaded, she came to open the other side and was shocked by the scene outside the door.
Liu Weiguo couldn't help but sigh and asked Qi Fang, "Are all the stumps of trees we felled this year here with you?"
"Yan Xue did it." Qi Fang said only one sentence, put on cotton gloves for work and started moving.
Liu Weiguo laughed when he heard this. "Who asked you who did it? What's the matter? Are you afraid that others don't know your wife is capable?"
Qi Fang ignored him. He also put on gloves, moved a few pieces and followed behind. "Didn't you ask the yard to approve the wood for building the house? Why are you getting so many tree stumps?"
This time Qi Fang paid attention to him and replied with two words - "Guess".
Liu Weiguo suddenly felt a toothache. "Why are you two so good at keeping things secret?"
In fact, Qi Fang didn't know what Yan Xue was going to do, but he could guess a little bit based on the fact that she still needed agar.
But this is Yan Xue's own business. Yan Xue didn't tell him, so he naturally wouldn't mention it to others.
It took Yan Xue and her three companions, plus Guo Changping and his wife from next door, most of the day to move two large carts of firewood into the yard.
It will probably take a few days to stack and chop what needs to be stacked and chopped, but that is Yan Xue and Qi Fang's own business.
Yan Xue originally wanted to keep Liu Weiguo for dinner, but Liu Weiguo ran away faster than anything else. "I still have to go to the educated youth camp and talk to Zhou Wenhui. Tell her not to blame herself."
It turns out that the reason I didn't go with them before was not because I didn't want to, but because I felt it would be inconvenient since there were other people around Zhou Wenhui.
Yan Xue looked at his back as he ran away and shook her head, "This is the sour smell of love."
"What stinks?" Qi Fang came in from outside with his gloves off. He only heard the second half of the sentence and couldn't help but frown and smell it.
Yan Xue couldn't say that your friend stinks, so she just pushed him to the basin to wash his hands, "Are you done?"
She didn't use much force, but Qi Fang was still pushed over. "Yeah." She then asked while washing her hands, "Are these enough? If not, we can spare some from the house."
Yan Xue understood that he was talking about the tree tops. "That's enough. I've never done this before. I don't know if I can use all of this up."
Normally, wood ear mushroom cultivation should have started by now. However, she didn't have any ready-made fungus, so she had to cultivate it herself. She didn't know how many she could cultivate this year.
But since we were talking about building a house, she asked casually, "Have the materials been approved? When do you plan to build it?"
"The farm has approved it. We'll start building it once the weather gets warmer and we're done with the afforestation."
Afforestation usually takes place in early May, which is also the time for planting crops in this area. After the work, the weather has indeed become warmer, and the forest farm has another short holiday.
Yan Xue thought the choice was perfect. "What about the location? Where should we build it?"
"There's a little vacant land to the northwest of here. It used to be a vegetable field for the forest farm, but later people built houses and there wasn't enough space, so they moved it away."
Yan Xue thought for a moment and figured out which piece he was talking about. "I thought you would choose the one behind this room."
The house behind this one is very close to the Liu and Guo families, making it convenient for frequent visits. The land to the northwest is a bit far away, although the entire forest farm is not very big.
Qi Fang was wiping his hands with a towel and didn't look up when he heard this. "There's a lot of space over there."
Yan Xue's original intention was to find a bigger place to store the wood logs she used to grow wood ear mushrooms, but she didn't expect that this man had also thought of this.
She raised an eyebrow, looking at his expression, "Why do you need such a big place? Are you useful?"
Qi Fang paused for a moment, looked at her with his peach blossom eyes, and actually gave a reason, "Well, when the time comes, I'll go to Weiguo to pick up a puppy."
One of the Liu family's three dogs was a female, quite majestic. Even before the breeding started this year, many people had already come to the forest farm to reserve puppies. They had built their own house, with its own entrance and yard, so they really needed a dog to guard the house.
Before Yan Xue could say anything else, he changed the subject, "I'm going up the mountain in a couple of days. Do you want to go and dig up some Gastrodia elata?"
The best time to dig Gastrodia elata is actually May, when it's mature enough but still hasn't sprouted, resulting in the best quality. However, afforestation begins in early May, and by then, regular workers like Qi Fang, temporary workers like her, and even elementary and middle school students will all be participating in the afforestation, creating a bustling scene.
Yan Xue had been wanting to find time to go there these days, and since Qi Fang was also going, it would be a good idea for them to go together.
The two spent some time sorting through the tree stumps, keeping those that were long and thick enough and piling them separately. Some of the remaining ones could be used for building shelves, but the ones that were truly useless were mixed in with the other branches as firewood.
After finishing everything, the couple each carried a backpack and went up the mountain along the small railway track.
This time there were no cars to hitchhike, and the two walked for almost two hours before they saw the abandoned campsite at the end of the driveway.
Most of the buildings had been demolished, and the underground cellars hidden beneath the snow were completely exposed. Without their roofs, only neatly arranged hollows remained. At first glance, like the surrounding cleared forests, a sense of sighing and desolation washed over them.
Yan Xue's face had no expression. She stood there for a long time before walking towards the area where she had discovered the Gastrodia elata.
Qi Fang also didn't say anything. He walked nearly a hundred meters and raised his hand to point in a direction. "This way."
His ability to remember the way was much better than Yan Xue's, and the marks Yan Xue made were not difficult to find, so they soon found it on a tree stump.
Yan Xue took eleven steps in the direction indicated by the mark and nodded, "It should be around here."
As soon as he finished speaking, Qi Fang squatted down and started digging with a branch.
The forest was filled with black soil rich in humus, soft and moist, making it relatively easy to dig even though it had only just begun to thaw. Before long, the two men, tentatively digging several shallow pits, unearthed a tuber of rhizome the size of a spindle potato.
This is Gastrodia elata. It seems that Yan Xue and Qi Fang were not wrong at the time. No one has discovered it during this period.
The two dug down along that one and were lucky enough to dig out quite a few of them. They were probably what was left after the giant Gastrodia elata melted.
After digging, Yan Xue weighed it and said, "It's about six or seven pounds. It's not in vain."
Six or seven pounds of dried Gastrodia elata can weigh about half a pound, and can be sold for more than five yuan at the purchasing station, which is enough for Yan Xue to work as a temporary worker for three days.
The rest was just a matter of luck. Yan Xue put the things into the backpack and asked the man, "Have you ever been here before logging?"
Gastrodia elata thrives in the presence of its companion fungus, Armillaria mellea, also known locally as hazel mushrooms. While not as valuable as frozen mushrooms, they're still quite tasty, and their young shoots glow at night.
People who often go hiking know where there are hazel mushrooms. They can use a shovel to dig some nearby and if they are lucky, they can find a lot.
Unfortunately, Qi Fang wasn't very interested in hiking. He had been at the forest farm for several years, but he had never been there once. He had no idea if there were any honey fungi here. However, he left for a while, and when he returned, he found a lot of Gastrodia elata in his basket. "I found them late in the harvest."
I guess he went up the mountain just for this, no wonder he asked her if she wanted to come and dig Gastrodia elata.
Yan Xue weighed it and found that it weighed about five or six pounds. Together with what the two of them found underground nearby with shovels, they finally dug out more than twenty pounds in total.
That's more than 20 yuan. Yan Xue sat down on a big rock in the woods and said, "I'll give you half when we get back."
"No, you take it."
Qi Fang was a man of his word. When he returned from the county, he gave the more than 800 yuan to Yan Xue. Later, when the unit paid salaries, it was also given to Yan Xue to manage.
Seeing that Yan Xue only sat on half of the table, and the other half was obviously reserved for him, he also sat down, lowered his eyelids and looked down at the hillside. "How long do you think we can cut down trees here?"
It was the same question that Yan Xue had asked Liu Weiguo before, but this time it was obvious that Yan Xue would not misunderstand.
She turned to look at the man beside her, "Why do you think of asking this?"
Qi Fang didn't even look at her. He raised his hand and pointed into the distance. "That was last year's felling area." He then pointed down at his feet. "This is this year's." Then came the endless mountains. "It will be our turn soon."
His tone was flat, as if he was just stating facts, but what he said was heavy.
Yan Xue guessed that he must have noticed the pause she made as she climbed the mountain. His gaze was also cast into the distance, at the devastated land beneath his feet. "It won't last long."
Noticing the man's expression, she didn't wait for him to ask what she meant by "not long" before she said, "Just because a mother's family is poor and she can't support herself and her child, and she chooses to sell blood, doesn't mean she'll be stuck selling blood forever. As long as she has the chance, she will definitely cherish everything she and her child need to survive."
The destruction of the Changbai Mountain area and the Greater and Lesser Khingan Mountains is a pain in the hearts of a generation. Even if logging was later completely transformed into afforestation, the damaged ecology is difficult to restore.
But at this moment, there was really no other choice. Yan Xue sighed, "Selling blood is bad for your health, but at least it keeps you alive. We have to stay alive first, right?"
Live and overcome the difficulties, and wait until the day when, thanks to the efforts of generations, we can speak to the world with our fists and technology.
Qi Fang didn't say anything. It was unclear whether he agreed with her or remained silent, but he was too lazy to argue with her.
Yan Xue simply held up her chin and looked at him, "Were you ever beaten when you were a child?"
Qi Fang looked puzzled.
"You were the one who started the conversation, and then they answered seriously, but you didn't react at all. Were you really never beaten as a child?"
He is so big and tall now that she feels like fighting with him.
But this made Qi Fang look at her more. After all, she was not like this at the beginning. She was very polite and didn't ask any questions.
The man stretched out his long legs and casually placed his hands on his knees. "I'm just wondering how long this blood will have to be sold. Ten, twenty, or fifty years? Can this mother hold on until the day she no longer has to sell her blood?"
Yan Xue had no way to answer this. She saw the future first and then said this, but he could only see the present which had no end in sight.
Knowing the deadline at least gives him hope. If he doesn't even know the deadline, don't blame him for having such doubts.
At this moment, a voice came from far behind, "Hey! Comrades over there, is the Xiaojinchuan Forest Farm going this way?"
Yan Xue really didn't know this. She turned around and nudged Qi Fang beside her.
Qi Fang felt ticklish when the little hand poked him. He dodged for a moment without leaving a trace before saying, "You've gone too far. This is already the Jinchuan Forest Farm."
The man was obviously confused and stopped in his tracks. "Then how should I get back?"
It was obvious that they were lost, and quite far away. Yan Xue discussed with Qi Fang, "This side is too far, and we don't know the way. How about you come with us to Jinchuan Forest Farm and walk back along the railway track?"
The man hesitated for a moment, then quickly walked over. "That's fine, thank you both comrades..."
As he looked up, the embarrassed expression on his honest face turned into surprise, "It's you?"
Yan Xue was also a little surprised, "Why are you coming this way?"
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