Chapter 50: The name of the game is well chosen.
No one expected that Yan Xue would ask Guo Changan to help her with the work, including Guo Changan himself.
Suddenly, everyone's faces showed surprise. Aunt Guo wanted to say something, but she opened her mouth and hesitated and couldn't say anything.
What can she say?
They said their chief Chang'an had difficulty walking and it was good enough that he didn't cause trouble to others, but in front of Chang'an?
No one knows Chang'an's stubborn personality better than her as a mother. Isn't it like tearing out the child's heart to say this?
"Don't worry, the work is not hard and won't tire Chang'an." Yan Xue seemed to have no idea what she was hesitating about and comforted her.
"I'm not worried about that." Aunt Guo said subconsciously, but she couldn't explain why.
Yan Xue simply looked at Guo Changan himself. "It's just some work like packaging mushroom spawn and nailing bark caps. It can be done while sitting down. My spawn will be ready for use in a couple of days, so I'm going to plant them quickly. I'm worried I won't have enough manpower, so I'm thinking of taking advantage of this. Are you interested in trying it?"
This made Aunt Guo unable to help but look at Guo Changan, Guo Changping and Jin Baozhi as well.
Guo Changan was silent for a while, then looked up at Yan Xue. "Are you sure you want me to help you?"
"Of course." Yan Xue gave him a positive reply with a smile. "You did a great job cultivating the original strain last time, and this time you helped me preserve the strain in time. I think you're a quick learner and a very attentive person. It's definitely reassuring to ask you for help."
Completely sincere praise and a genuine smile were something Guo Changan had not heard or seen in a long time.
Although he was lying at home, he was not blind or deaf. Sometimes when people passed by and mentioned him, they would always say it was a pity.
Sometimes they would add, "You're so young and you're already like this. What are you going to do in the future? I'm sorry, Mrs. Guo."
There were those who sympathized with him, those who pitied him, but no one was like Yan Xue, who thought he was a quick learner, that he was attentive, that...
He can still be useful.
He looked at Yan Xue steadily and said, "I'll go."
He looked at the rest of the Guo family and repeated firmly, "I'll go."
Aunt Guo didn't dare to say anything more, for fear that saying too much would hurt his feelings.
After Yan Xue returned to the cabin, she went over to support her son, seeming to want to say something but stopping herself.
"Mom, I want to try." Guo Changan spoke before her. "Didn't she say the work wasn't hard? If it doesn't work, I'll come back."
Aunt Guo was still hesitant, but Jin Baozhi, who usually kept her mouth shut, said, "Let Chang'an give it a try. If Xiao Yan says he's capable, then he must be capable."
She and Yan Xue worked in the same family member team and knew that Yan Xue was not the kind of person who would act without purpose.
Although Guo Changping didn't understand Yan Xue, he agreed that his brother should go out more often. He couldn't stay at home all the time and get sick. "If Chang'an wants to go, let him go. He's going to help others with work, not to work for others. Isn't it too much or too little?"
Aunt Guo had nothing more to say. "Okay, I'll ask Xiao Yan what time it is and I'll take you there then."
"You want to help him?"
On the other side, Qi Fang never interrupted and only asked in a low voice after the two returned to the inner room.
"Not entirely," Yan Xue said. "Guo Changan's cultivation of the original seed is indeed excellent. Not a single bottle was wasted. He's very attentive."
The day the water was flowing was so chaotic, not everyone could have thought of putting the bacteria in a high place, and not everyone could have thought that the temperature would not be high enough during these two nights.
"Since he has the ability and is interested in cultivating bacterial strains, it's better to find something for him to do than to stay bored at home."
Yan Xue's father had been caught in the rain before, so when she sees others getting caught in the rain, she will always offer an umbrella if she can.
In her previous life, when her father had his leg amputated, it was after a wave of layoffs, and a large number of state-owned enterprises went bankrupt, including two welfare factories in their area that were specially opened for the disabled.
Her father couldn't find a job anywhere, so he finally went to the squatting market. At first, the father and daughter were so poor that they could only eat what they couldn't sell every day.
Later, she realized that she was cute and that as long as she spoke sweetly, she could always attract people to see their things. The situation gradually improved, and her father slowly figured out some business tricks.
Yan Xue still remembers the time when the products couldn't be sold and her father's sad and restrained expression. His sweet talk has become an instinct ingrained in her.
Although Guo Changan's situation was different from her father's, the forest farm should have arranged a leisurely job for him, but leisurely work also meant no future. In addition to work, he also needed the respect and recognition of others.
Yan Xue picked out a can that was obviously infested with bacteria, and when she turned around, she found the man staring at her quietly.
"What's wrong?" she asked confusedly.
"Nothing." The man took the can from her hand. "Do these need to be emptied?"
"Well, those that have germs can't be used."
Qi Fang poured out the contents and piled them together with the mud and glass shards he had cleared from the house. He put the cans aside to be cleaned later.
Yan Xue was already busy with other things, but he suddenly said, "Qi Fang is a good name."
Why does he have nothing better to do than to brag about his own name?
Yan Xue muttered to herself, thinking that this man didn't seem to be such a narcissistic person, and then she became confused, "Are you talking about yourself or others?"
Qi Fang didn't answer. After cleaning up and washing his hands, he slowly pinched her cheek with his long fingers.
On the third day after the disaster, the small railway track was finally reopened to traffic, and the town used internal combustion engines to deliver a large amount of supplies needed by the forest farm, especially grain and vegetables.
The second old lady squeezed for a long time and only managed to grab a few eggplants. "There were too many people waiting there. The things were all taken away as soon as they were brought out."
This flood destroyed everyone's vegetable gardens. It would be strange if all their crops were not looted.
Yan Xue came over and took the basket from the old lady. "You should take a rest. Let Qi Fang do it next time. He's tall and strong."
"Is that the use of being tall?" the old lady said slowly and angrily, sitting down to rest her feet. "What a pity for those vegetables. They all need to be replanted, as well as the crops in the fields."
Vegetables have a short maturity cycle and can be replanted, but this is not the case with grains. The income of the agricultural team will be affected this year.
Seeing the young couple spreading the quicklime that had just been distributed to each household by the forest farm inside and outside the house, the old lady remembered something else. "I just ran into Mrs. Zhao from the street ahead. She also asked me how many bricks you used to build this house."
Since several houses nearby had collapsed and cracked, Yan Xue's family, unscathed, had become a benchmark. Nine out of ten people who needed to rebuild their houses would come here to ask for advice.
It is expensive and troublesome, but it is also solid. It is better than being left with nothing after a flood.
So in the next few days, the forest farm's internal combustion engine not only had to deliver supplies here, but also had to follow it with several carriages, all of which were filled with bricks bought by households in town.
Everyone was busy building houses and helping others build houses, so even the second round of young forest cultivation was suspended. Yan Xue also had enough time to transfer the mature fungus strains into logs for cultivation.
The tree species suitable for growing wood ear mushrooms are mainly broad-leaved trees with a diameter between 6 and 10 cm and a length between 1 and 1.2 meters.
Qi Fang borrowed a hand drill and drilled holes in the log with a diameter of 1.3 to 1.6 cm, 1.5 to 2 cm deep into the subcutaneous wood. He drilled one hole every 8 to 10 cm, and made four rows in a staggered pattern.
After beating, put the sawdust block covered with fungus into the hole until it is full, then cover it with a bark cap that is 2 mm larger than the wood hole in diameter, and knock it firmly with a small hammer.
Some places that produce corn also use corn kernels and wax seals, which can better eliminate the interference of miscellaneous bacteria, but they do not have the conditions for that at the moment.
Guo Changan was assigned the job of knocking the bark cover. Even if one hand was inconvenient, it didn't matter. He just had to put the bark cover in place and knock it on time.
In order to get him out, Aunt Guo even gave him a haircut at home, trying to make him look as energetic as possible when he appeared in front of people.
Even so, when Guo Changping helped to send the person over, it still caused a lot of discussion. Even if no one said it to his face, people's eyes would still fall on his obviously abnormal right hand and right leg behind his back.
Guo Changan pursed his lips, clenched his hands tightly together, and stood straight, ignoring the sympathetic or strange looks.
It wasn't until he entered Yan Xue's house and saw the busy scene in the yard and Yan Xue's natural attitude when she greeted him that he relaxed completely. "What do you need me for?"
"Just help us knock off the bark cap." Yan Xue pressed the cut bark into the drilled hole, hammered it in a few times, and looked at him. "It's not difficult, right?"
It is indeed not difficult. As long as the bark cap is placed accurately and your hands are steady enough, you can even knock it in with one hand.
Moreover, although Guo Changan's right hand was not flexible, it was not completely unable to move. He just couldn't exert any strength. He could still press some light objects.
Seeing him nod, Yan Xue handed him the hammer and moved a stool for him to sit down.
The location was very convenient, right next to the wall of the house. Guo Changan could try to stand up or sit down by supporting the wall with his left hand.
Auntie Guo was still a little worried and wanted to go over to help, but Guo Changping pulled her back and said, "Then we'll go back first and pick him up at noon."
"Come pick it up in the evening," Yan Xue said, "We can still afford lunch."
Guo Changan insisted, "I'll go home for lunch. I came here to help, and I still owe you a favor."
As he spoke, he picked up a bark cap and covered it, pressed it with his right hand, and tried to knock it with his left hand.
Unfortunately, he was not skilled enough at the beginning and did not coordinate well. The bark hat broke under the hammer and flew out, and the right hand that was pressing on it was also hit by him.
He frowned, not caring whether it hurt or not, and was about to reach out to pick it up when a small hand picked it up faster than him.
Yan Jigang pressed the bark hat against the clenched hole, winked at him, and silently signaled him that he could smash it.
The young boy had clear eyes and was a little shy. Although he didn't say a word, he was more reassuring than the talkative one.
Guo Changan lowered his eyes and knocked a few times carefully avoiding the other person's hand. Seeing that he had knocked it firmly, the other person immediately picked up the next one.
One of them pressed and the other knocked, and gradually they developed a tacit understanding in their cooperation. Their speed became faster and faster, and soon a row of holes was drilled and knocked.
Yan Xue turned the log over and continued to put the fungus seeds into it. The two followed behind and covered and sealed it until the entire log was inoculated. Qi Fang came over and moved the log into the shed.
These logs should be placed in pairs, with the upper and lower layers at 90 degrees vertically, in a well shape, and stacked to one meter high. When the ear buds grow, they can be separated and scattered.
When Lang Yue'e came over, there were already several piles of inoculated logs in the shed, and Guo Changan was becoming more and more skilled.
Seeing him helping out at Yan Xue's house, Lang Yue'e was a little surprised, but she didn't show it. She greeted him with her usual smile, "Chang'an is here too."
Guo Changan stopped what he was doing, and quickly continued as usual, "Sister Yue'e." It was obvious that he knew Lang Yue'e.
Lang Yue'e had no intention of disturbing him. She said, "You're busy," and went straight to Yan Xue. "The town called back on your Xiaoqi's training."
"The town has beaten them back?" Yan Xue couldn't hide her surprise. She simply put down her things and went to the other side with Lang Yue'e to find Qi Fang.
Qi Fang frowned after hearing this, "What did the town say?"
"They said you weren't even 18 a few months before you started working, so your service shouldn't be counted. So, your service is less than three years, so you can't participate in the training."
Lang Yue'e was obviously asked by Secretary Lang to come. "There were people like you who had young birthdays before and weren't old enough to graduate, but they all started working early, so the restrictions weren't so strict. Besides, you've been working for several years now, so who would still be so stingy? My dad asked me to ask if you've offended anyone."
Generally, the town forestry bureau will not care about the list submitted by the forest farm. They don’t know the people in the forest farm, so if they find fault with them, they are not picking on individuals, but on the forest farm.
But this time the other party really picked her. Yan Xue couldn't help but think of Qi Fang being transferred from the town machine repair factory to the forest farm. Look at the man.
Qi Fang must have thought of this as well. He put down the hand drill and looked at me with a deep look in his eyes. "Has the list been announced yet?"
"Not yet," Lang Yue'e said, "They just asked our forest farm to select another person. My dad means that while there's still some time, you should find someone if you can. This year, we already recruited three chainsaw operators right away. Next time there's a vacancy, we might have to wait for someone to retire."
We recruited more people this year because the number of tractors in the forest farm has increased from two to four, the transportation capacity has increased, and the scale of logging will definitely be expanded.
Once these people are sufficient to complete the task, the forest farm will not need new chainsaw operators if too much wood is cut and cannot be transported out.
Secretary Lang and Lang Yue'e were clearly well-intentioned, having come to tell them secretly. Lang Yue'e also reminded them, "The sooner the better. This news may not be kept secret."
The two nodded and walked her to the gate. "Thank you, Sister Yue'e. Please also thank Secretary Lang for us."
After sending the person back, Yan Xue couldn't help but look at the man.
"We'll find time to talk about it later." Qi Fang looked relatively calm as he picked up the hand drill and continued drilling.
Unexpectedly, the news leaked out faster than Lang Yue'e worried. After finishing work that afternoon, several people were washing their hands and preparing to eat in the main room when Yu Yongzhi arrived.
He didn't come empty-handed. He came in with his bare arms and a bottle of wine in his hand. He leaned against the door frame of the main room and asked, "Are you ready to eat?"
Qi Fang wanted to frown when he saw his naked upper body. Although it was common for men to do that in the forest farm during the summer, he still moved in front of Yan Xue without leaving any trace and asked, "What's the matter?"
"Look at you, you're such a boring person. What do you mean by 'something's going on? If nothing happens, I can't come to your house."
Yu Yongzhi obviously hadn't drunk anything before coming here, so his tongue wasn't big and his words weren't rude, but he was still not very popular.
Besides, he and Qi Fang are not that close, and it must be no good if he suddenly shows up.
Sure enough, when Yu Yongzhi saw Qi Fang still had that cold expression, he clicked his tongue and said, "Look at you, you only know how to put on a deadpan face. If you don't offend anyone like this, who will? I don't bother with you because I'm generous, but not everyone is like me. Didn't the town take away your training spot?"
They are really well-informed. If the two families had not yet reached the point where they had to use their connections in the town or even the county, Yan Xue would have suspected that this was done by their family.
Yu Yongzhi still had a look of sympathy on his face. "Those people in the town forestry bureau are sick. They meddle in everything. It's none of their business who our forest farm wants to train!"
It turned out that when he heard that Qi Fang had also been taken down, he thought of himself and felt that he had someone to keep him company.
Even his face was clearly filled with anticipation, and he couldn't suppress it. Yu Yongzhi raised the bottle of wine and said, "Come, I'll have a drink with you. Those people in town are just idiots. Don't bother with them. What's wrong with not being a chainsaw operator? If you can't do that, then learn from me and switch to the security department."
Yan Xue had long said that Director Yu's family could not control their son. Sure enough, when she and Qi Fang returned from their hometown in Guanli, they heard that the other party had been transferred to the Security Department.
Now he brought it up in front of Qi Fang, clearly with a bit of arrogance. After all, Qi Fang didn't have a father who was a site manager, and an uncle who worked at the County Forestry Bureau, so even if he ruined his chances, he could still go to the Security Department whenever he wanted.
Qi Fang also knew this, but he didn't show any displeasure and agreed immediately, "Okay."
Yu Yongzhi was obviously a little surprised, but he still came in with the bottle of wine, "Why didn't you do this earlier?"
Before he had taken two steps, he heard Qi Fang say calmly, "It's boring with so few people. Call your second brother-in-law over as well."
Yu Yongzhi paused immediately, frowning, "What do you want him to do?"
Although Liang Qimao has taken the person back now, Yu Yongzhi has not forgotten what he did. He feels unhappy when he sees his brother-in-law.
"If you don't want to call me Brother Liang, that's fine. I'll have a couple of drinks with you guys."
Yan Xue still walked out from behind Qi Fang, smiling and going to look for the dishes at home, "But I have to cook another dish."
He looked at Yu Yongzhi's wine bottle again and said, "This bottle of wine is not enough. I have to buy two more pounds." As he said that, he was about to go into the house to get the money.
When Yu Yongzhi heard that she wanted to drink with him, his face turned a little green. When he heard that she wanted to buy two more kilograms, his face turned even greener, and there was a hint of stomach pain in the green.
Damn, is this woman drinking wine like water? Last time, she drank six or seven taels in one breath, and nothing happened.
He looked at Qi Fang with a toothache, "We're just men drinking, and you're asking a woman to come over?"
Qi Fang said seriously, "My wife loves me and doesn't want me to drink. You'll know when you get married."
It was the first time that Yu Yongzhi heard someone say this with such a cold face. At first he thought he had misheard, but when he realized what was going on, his teeth ached even more. "Forget it, forget it. If you want to drink with her, drink with her yourself." He gave up watching the half-finished show and hurried out.
Yan Xue was just pretending, and after everyone left, she came out again to serve food.
The second old lady didn't know much about these people's affairs, so of course she didn't say much, but she still grasped the key point, "What quota did Xiao Qi have taken away?"
"We went to the town for training," Yan Xue said. "We found out about this this afternoon. It's not a big deal."
But if it really wasn't a big deal, who would have nothing better to do than gloat over it?
The second old lady knew that it was not as simple as Yan Xue said, but she did not understand these things and she could not help, so she simply said nothing to avoid upsetting the two children.
After a busy day, after dinner, Yan Jigang learned two pages of characters and did a page of math problems under the guidance of his brother-in-law, a college student. He was so sleepy that his eyelids were drooping.
Yan Xue helped him put down the bedding. He washed up and got in. He fell asleep in a short while. However, Yan Xue was obviously not very sleepy yet.
Qi Fang obviously didn't have any, so he put away his pen and looked at her, "Can't sleep?"
"I was worried you couldn't sleep." Yan Xue lowered her voice. "You had a heavy period a few days ago, and you didn't continue taking the medicine. Do you think your sleep is better?"
"Not bad." Qi Fang's answers were always concise and to the point.
But then he glanced at Yan Jigang who was sleeping soundly on the kang, and then at Yan Xue, "Let's talk outside."
It goes without saying that Yan Xue was indeed a little afraid of waking up Yan Jigang, so she simply put on her shoes and tiptoed to the yard with Qi Fang.
There are no cicadas chirping in the summer nights outside the Great Wall, but crickets become the best accompaniment. As soon as you go out, you will be greeted by the cool night breeze.
Yan Xue took a deep breath and felt that the biggest advantage of not having a mobile phone and the Internet was probably the fresh air and the beautiful starry sky.
Just as she was thinking, her hand was held by someone. Qi Fang followed her gaze and looked at the night sky. "I have counted every star in it."
"When you can't sleep?"
"Well, it can make people feel calmer. You can try it."
"Then I might as well go back and count the money. It not only makes people calm, but also makes people happy."
Yan Xue's words made the man turn around and look at her, "You said you wanted money before, was it for Grandma and Jigang?"
"Not entirely," Yan Xue said. "I feel like having money in hand helps me feel less anxious. No matter what happens, I have more ability to take risks. For example, during this flood, several houses collapsed. Those who were better off were certainly saddened, but not seriously injured. They even had to borrow money."
Li Shuwu's family was borrowing money everywhere. Although the couple could earn money, they could also spend it. They had no savings at all. The collapse of their house was like the sky falling.
"Then you are indeed very capable of resisting risks." Qi Fang said.
No matter how many things she has experienced, I have never seen her depressed or confused. It seems like she was born to be an optimistic little sun.
He clenched his small hands together and said, "When I first joined the Chengshui Machine Repair Factory, I was assigned a technical position."
"Because you are a college student, do you have relevant skills and experience?"
In those days, ordinary workers had to start as apprentices and work for a full year before being promoted to regular employees. After all, they had never been exposed to this before and had to learn from scratch.
Sure enough, the man said "hmm", "They do those things, I did them when I was in college and followed my teacher to the workshop."
Yan Xue immediately thought, "Did you block someone's way, or were you envied by someone?"
"Almost." Qi Fang wasn't surprised by her sharpness. "There was another person who wanted to switch to a technical position at the time. I only found out about that later."
Needless to say, Yan Xue could guess about 70% of what happened next. It was simply a matter of time, some people had grown bolder, and seeing the opportunity, they pushed him down to the forest farm. And because of his teacher's situation, he didn't want to attract too much attention, so he just stayed there and did nothing.
But he didn't expect that this guy would remember something for several years. When Qi Fang signed up for chainsaw operator training, he didn't want Qi Fang to get what he wanted and had to fire Qi Fang.
"Do we still need to find someone for this?" Yan Xue was thinking about all the connections she could use.
Secretary Lang must have someone in the town forestry bureau, and Zhou Wenhui's uncle-in-law is also in the logistics department of the town forestry bureau, but I don't know whether this matter is easy to handle.
Just as I was thinking about it, I heard the man next to me say calmly: "Don't look for it."
Yan Xue was stunned for a moment, then he remembered that he didn't really want to go to this training, but he signed up because Liu Daniu and Hu Changjiang both recommended him.
However, he had been in the forest farm for more than two years, but Wu Xingde still came looking for him. It was unknown how long this notebook could keep him quiet.
Knowing the subsequent development of the original book, Yan Xue was not very reassured. She had no idea what to do for a moment and her brows couldn't help but frown.
Just as she frowned, a long finger pressed down and tried to smooth her face.
The man held her in one hand, his tone and expression were calm, but his peach blossom eyes were shining.
He said, "I'm not going to be a chainsaw operator anymore. I'm going to a small repair shop."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
