Chapter 77: Digging a Hole Did you deliberately dig a hole and wait for him to jump into it?
It’s not that there’s anything wrong with the person introduced by Jin Baozhi’s mother, but that he is just too young.
Yan Xue herself is a petite type, but the girl in front of her is even smaller than her, not even reaching her chin.
He was thin, wearing a tattered old cotton-padded jacket. He had a small face, and only his eyes looked particularly big.
This made her subconsciously lower her voice, as if she was afraid of startling people. "How old are you this year?"
Seeing her attitude was relatively gentle, the girl was no longer as embarrassed as when she first came in, but her voice was still small, "Sixteen."
Although formal workers are required to be at least 18 years old, many children of this era do start working at the age of 16 or 17, farming in the team or doing temporary work in various places.
Yan Xue could understand that the conditions in those days were difficult, there were many children, and if they could make a living, they had to find a way to make a living, but she didn't believe that the other party really had sixteen.
"Can you show me your household registration?" Her tone was still gentle, but it made the little girl completely panic.
"I'm very capable!" the little girl hurriedly explained. "I can wash clothes, cook, fetch water, and feed the chickens. I can do it all!"
As he spoke, he turned to look at Jin Baozhi's mother, who had brought him here. "Auntie Jin, you know I'm very capable, right?"
Little did he know that his anxiety only exposed the immaturity of his voice.
Yan Xue also looked at Jin Baozhi's mother and said, "If she really is sixteen, I would take her, but I don't think she's even thirteen."
Even in her previous life, this was just the age of an elementary school student, and she was not so cruel as to employ child labor.
When the little girl heard this, her eyes started to turn red. "I'm really sixteen, but I'm a little small. Please, please keep me..."
Jin Baozhi's mother also sighed. "It's not that I want to cause you trouble, but her family really has no labor force left. If she doesn't come to you, she'll have to go to the team to earn work points. Look at her small body, can she earn enough to eat by farming in the team? She has a father and younger siblings at home."
Compared to farming, Yan Xue's work is indeed easier. At least she doesn't have to carry a hoe and turn over the hardened soil ridge by ridge to make it soft.
But what she noticed was the phrase "no labor force," "father and siblings," and "did something happen at her home?"
Jin Baozhi's mother nodded. "Last year, her father was hit by a train while trying to save a child, and both legs had to be amputated. She's the only laborer in her family. If she dies, it's like the whole world has fallen. With so many mouths to feed, what will happen if she doesn't go out to work?"
As for the family whose child was saved by her father, Jin Baozhi's mother did not mention it, but it was obvious that they could not afford to support such a large family. It would be best if they did not express their gratitude and ended up becoming enemies.
At that time, the country was poor and it was impossible to give you food and money for free. The eldest child in the family had to step forward and be arranged a long-term job in the city or work in the fields in the countryside to earn work points.
It's really hard for the child. A girl of this age can hardly go to work in the city, let alone wield a hoe to farm.
Yan Xue looked at the little girl in front of her and thought of herself back then. She even thought she was luckier than her.
But Yan Xue still shook her head, "It's too small. I really don't need such a small one..."
Before she could finish her words, the little girl burst into tears, but she lowered her head and wiped them away without saying anything else.
Perhaps ever since my father became disabled, I have seen the fickleness of human nature and know that I am causing trouble for others.
Jin Baozhi's mother wanted to say more, but even Aunt Guo felt sorry for her. "Isn't it based on work? Why not give her less?"
No one expected Yan Xue to change the subject, "But I can hire her father."
The little girl looked up in astonishment, forgetting to wipe the tears that fell on her cheeks, "Hire, hire my dad?"
Jin Baozhi's mother was also surprised, but Aunt Guo remembered something after the surprise and her eyes lit up.
Sure enough, Yan Xue's eyes softened. "I have some work here that anyone with hands can do. I just don't know if her father is willing to do it."
This made the little girl hesitate again, "Can my dad do it?" She looked very worried.
Auntie Guo thought of Guo Changan back then, "It's not up to us to say whether he can do it or not. Let him try it himself. At the beginning, I thought Changan was not capable of it."
So before the day was over, the third uncle of the Jin family came again in an ox cart, carried a man with both legs broken at the knees from the cart, and placed him on the kang in Yan Xue's house.
The man was only in his thirties, but his temples were already covered with white hair. The girl who had just come in the morning followed him closely and took care of him.
Yan Xue poured water for everyone before sitting down at the desk and asking the man, "Did Aunt Jin tell you everything when she got home?"
The man nodded, as if he was no longer used to communicating with others. His expression was numb for a long while before he said, "You said you don't want my girl, you want me."
When he first heard Mrs. Jin say this, he was very surprised. After all, in his understanding, a person without a leg would be a disabled person.
I can’t farm, I can’t do any work, and even I need others to take care of me when I poop and pee.
But Yan Xue assured him, "I do have some work here that anyone with hands can do. As for your daily life, there are also male employees willing to help you. If you have difficulty moving around, I can also help you make a means of transportation. It all depends on whether you are willing."
Sometimes it doesn’t matter if your body collapses, what’s scary is if your spirit collapses.
Even if your body collapses, as long as your will is still there, you can always find a way to stand up again; if your spirit collapses, no matter how good your body is, it will be useless.
Yan Xue can lend a hand to someone who wants to stand up, but she cannot help a soul that is only willing to lie in the mud.
She waited for the other party's answer, and for a moment, the room fell into a breathtaking silence.
Uncle Jin looked anxious, "Xiao Xu, why don't you say something? It's just work, right? If you can come and do it, I'll come and pick you up every day."
It only takes 20 minutes to walk from Dahuan Village to Jinchuan Forest Farm, and even faster to drive. "It won't take long anyway, so I'll just take it for a walk."
This made the man purse his lips, his face becoming even more entangled. Uncle Jin then looked at Yan Xue, "See? She's so stubborn, afraid of causing trouble for others, and she doesn't even consider that her daughter, Xiaoli, is only twelve, what can she do when she comes down here?"
As he spoke, he couldn't help but sigh, "He's just unlucky to have run into this. He used to earn twelve work points working in the fields, and there weren't many people in the village who were more capable than him."
This made the little girl named Xiaoli lower her head, her eyes red again. The man pursed his lips and said, "If you want it, I'll come over and do it."
This meant he had agreed. Uncle Jin breathed a sigh of relief, and Yan Xue also smiled and said, "Then I'll let Chang'an take you there."
The little girl was young after all, so she burst into tears and kept saying thank you to Yan Xue.
Yan Xue looked at it and paused, "But I also have conditions."
This startled several people. She had already looked at the man again and said, "Since you have a job, you should let your daughter go back to school."
Yan Xue lowered her voice, "When the family is in trouble, you wronged the child and asked her to go out to earn money to support the whole family at such a young age. You can't wrong the child even if you have a solution. She is so young, even if she doesn't go to school, the most she can do is take care of the family."
The man subconsciously turned to look at his daughter and found that there was still a glimmer of expectation in the little girl's eyes amidst her surprise, but when he looked at her, the light quickly dimmed.
"I won't go. I don't like going to school at all. I'll just stay at home, cook and take care of the kids." She lowered her head and said this to others and to herself.
The man sighed deeply and said, "You should go to school. It's time for those two at home to go to school. You don't need to look after them."
The matter was settled, and the next day Uncle Jin drove the people over and started helping Guo Changan to burn the boiler, check the temperature, and pick out the fungi.
Along with the car came a large bundle of firewood. "Xiao Li said she didn't have much to give, so she gave these to you to burn. Thank you for letting her father come over to work."
After the matter was settled, Yan Xue asked the man's name and learned that his name was Xu Wanchang and his daughter's name was Xu Xiaoli.
She didn't expect that the other party had sent her a bundle of firewood before she received her day's salary. She didn't know if the girl had picked it up after returning home yesterday.
Yan Xue didn't say that the forest farm didn't need this. Uncle Jin should also know that the forest farm didn't need it, but he still sent it over, obviously to let the little girl show her appreciation.
Yan Xue originally wanted to make a wheelchair for the other person, but she really didn't know how to do it, so she could only ask Master Jia to make a simple flatbed cart.
It's really simple. It's just a sturdy wooden board with two wooden wheels on each side. You have to hold the wooden block on the ground for leverage when moving.
But Xu Wanchang obviously felt that it was better than lying on the kang all day, and he quickly mastered the techniques and even learned how to put things on a flatbed cart and move them together.
In order not to trouble others, he drank as little water as possible or no water during work. He also brought lunch from home in the morning, ate just a few bites and then continued to work.
However, Yan Xue had just accepted another person with double leg amputations, and the news quickly spread throughout the forest farm. Within a few days, someone wanted to introduce her to another person.
First, a deaf-mute girl of eighteen or nineteen years old was brought in. She said that her ears were damaged by a fever when she was a child.
Seeing that the man was very neat and had calluses on his hands, it was obvious that he worked regularly, Yan Xue asked him if he could read.
I heard that the person had attended elementary school but did not finish it and could not read many words, so I gave him a dictionary and asked him to communicate in writing as much as possible, and thus kept him.
But because of her experiences in her previous life, Yan Xue is particularly willing to help those with disabilities, but that doesn't mean she is a fool who is kind-hearted.
Looking at the girl in front of her who was looking around with a silly smile, Yan Xue's smile faded. "Auntie, what did you just say? Can you say it again?"
Of course she heard it clearly, and what she said was just to give the other party a way out and let him take it back.
However, the other party obviously did not have this foresight, let alone this self-awareness.
The woman who had wanted to introduce her niece to Guo Changan was standing in her yard. "Aren't you hiring? My niece Caixia is idle at home, so why don't you find her a job?"
He spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, complaining to Yan Xue, "You didn't even say you accept anyone. If you had told me earlier, I would have sent you here."
Yan Xue was usually very good at controlling her emotions, and she almost laughed out loud when she heard that. "Then what can your niece do?"
"You're hiring someone like that, aren't you?" the woman said. "Don't worry, she's usually not a bother to anyone. Just find her a place to stay."
"Then why don't you ask the farm to find a place for her to stay? Why don't you ask the bureau to find a place for her to stay?"
Yan Xue's smile didn't reach her eyes. "Aunt, you think I'm easy to bully, right? Then I have to go to the field and ask, is this a charity?"
If the other person is just mentally retarded but can communicate and do things, even if he or she does it slowly, she would still consider it.
But the person couldn't even understand what she was saying, and she didn't even know she had wet her pants when she was a teenager. This wasn't a shelter.
Yan Xue didn't even give the other party time to react. She started to walk out. "The logging team just came down the mountain. I'll go ask Secretary Lang and Director Ning."
We can't let Yan Xue ask about that. Their forest farm has completed the logging task excellently this year, and a commendation meeting is being held at the farm headquarters.
If Yan Xue goes there and tells the story, the field leader will definitely be unhappy, and even her husband will be embarrassed.
The woman dragged her niece away and said, "Can't we just leave? If you don't want to take it, forget it!"
She was so angry that she grumbled, "I thought she was so kind, but she just saw that my family didn't send anything, and she wasn't afraid that she would give birth to a child like Caixia in the future..."
Before she could finish her words, a broom came from behind and the second old lady yelled angrily, "Shut your stinky mouth!"
The old lady was really angry. Yan Xue was still pregnant, but she actually cursed Yan Xue to give birth to a fool.
Yan Xue's face turned completely cold. Without saying anything else, she turned around and walked towards the field office.
The woman tried to stop him, but the second old lady swung a broom and hit her again. "Your mouth is full of shit, can't you speak human language?"
Yan Xue walked all the way to the small square of the field headquarters. The commendation meeting there had not yet ended, and Secretary Lang was announcing the outstanding individuals in the field this year.
As expected, although Qi Fang is no longer in the logging team, he was still awarded as an advanced individual last year in recognition of his contributions to the entire county.
Of course, he is in town now, and Liu Weiguo went up to pick up the enamel pot and towel as rewards for him.
After receiving it, Liu Weiguo found Yan Xue and quickly handed it to her, "Why did you come a little earlier? I let you go up and get it."
Yan Xue smiled and said nothing. She stood by until the commendation meeting ended. When people started to leave, she went up to find Secretary Lang.
Secretary Lang's microphone was still on at that time, so everyone could clearly hear—
"What did you say? Someone forced a fool into you and cursed the child in your belly?"
Now everyone stopped, and some of those who were good friends with Yan Xue even changed their expressions immediately.
Secretary Lang's expression wasn't much better either. He frowned and glanced down, "Which comrade surnamed Pan has a niece with intellectual disabilities?"
Pan Dagao was standing in the crowd. He had already made some bad guesses after hearing the previous sentence. Now many people around him were looking at him.
Secretary Lang didn't mention any names. "Comrade Yan Xue has a kind heart and is willing to give opportunities to people with disabilities. Do you really think she's kind and easy to bully? Furthermore, I've emphasized many times that wood ear cultivation is a very important project for our forest farm and even the bureau. Even if we can't contribute, we shouldn't cause trouble, right?"
Even without mentioning anyone by name, everyone knew who he was talking about. Pan Dagao's face turned pale and blue, and he wished he could find a hole in the ground to crawl into.
Of course, Secretary Lang didn't talk for too long. After he had given enough advice, he mentioned that the pilot project was about to start construction and asked everyone to do voluntary labor.
Yan Xue didn't expect this matter to become a big deal. She came to Secretary Lang in public just to hope that Secretary Lang could help her deal with it.
After hearing what Secretary Lang said, if anyone else wants to send someone to her, they have to consider whether she and the field are willing.
But she was not prepared to let the other party go just like that. After thanking Secretary Lang and returning, she rejected everyone who was related to Pan Dagao's wife.
Pan Dagao is one of the two brothers who were recruited to work at the forest farm. He has a younger brother and his sister-in-law also came to Yan Xue to apply for a short-term job.
Seeing that the logging team had already gone down the mountain, and there was not much forest clearing work left for the family team, they would soon come to Yan Xue to continue the work. But Yan Xue suddenly said she didn't want to do it. What could his sister-in-law do?
After further investigation, it turned out that it was Pan Dagao's wife who insisted on giving Yan Xue a fool, so his brother's wife went to fight with Pan Dagao's wife.
After the fight, she came to Yan Xue to plead for mercy, but Yan Xue refused to listen and just said that she had seen enough people this year. She was so angry that she went back and fought again.
Blocking someone's path to wealth is tantamount to killing their parents. She just lost a good job that paid more than one yuan a day. I guess she will scold Pan Dagao's wife whenever she thinks about it in the future.
And because Yan Xue made an example of someone to scare the monkeys, no one bothered her again, and the factory construction and strain inoculation went very smoothly.
Previously, the temperature in the cultivation room was uneven, and the mycelium growth progress was different, which made it convenient to inoculate the strains in batches.
The ones that grow quickly in the middle are removed first, and then the rest are moved to the middle according to the progress. Before the end of April, the inoculation of the fungus strains on Yan Xue's side has been completed.
It took a few more days to clean the cans and put them into storage. Yan Xue just had some free time when Qi Fang suddenly came back.
It was said to be sudden because the work at the town machine repair shop was done and the man didn't take anything; it was said that he came back from vacation, but that day was not the machine repair shop's holiday.
Moreover, he did not come back by a small train, but by the internal combustion engine of the bureau, which made Yan Xue wonder if something had happened.
When she asked, the man fell silent for a moment, then looked at her and said, "Someone's coming down to check and see if the hydrostatic system needs to be replaced."
When these hydrostatic systems were installed, they were praised to the skies for being easy to use and fuel-efficient. However, problems arose as soon as logging began.
Although Qi Fang installed a patch that allowed logging to continue, compared with the previous hydraulic system, the component wear and tear was still very large, and it could not be operated at maximum power.
Previously, there was nothing we could do because we were busy logging. Now that the logging teams have gone down the mountain and the machines have been put into storage, the bureau has started to consider this issue.
Apparently, several months had passed and Wu Xingde still hadn't come up with a solution, and the Forestry Bureau no longer expected him to come up with one.
Seeing the man's frown, Yan Xue reached out and pressed his eyebrows. "If these hydraulic systems are replaced, will Wu Xingde's project have to be stopped?"
"Not necessarily." Qi Fang didn't let her press the button for too long. He took her hand off and held it in his palm. "This batch may not be able to be replaced. After all, changing the system will cost a lot of money."
Sure enough, Qi Fang packed up and went to the small repair shop. The person from above came down to inspect it and asked a lot of questions, but did not say whether he wanted to replace it or not.
Before lights out at night, the man was quieter than usual and sat at the desk drawing for a long while.
Yan Xue had become noticeably sleepier since she became pregnant, and she yawned when she saw her. "Do you regret it?"
She didn't explain it clearly, but even without explaining it clearly, Qi Fang knew that what she was asking was whether to just let the research on hydrostatic pressure get into trouble.
This made Qi Fang pause, "No, the things shouldn't be taken out at this time."
But Wu Xingde's approach was Su Changqing's after all. He was denied, suspected, and even replaced as soon as he brought it out. I guess he heard a lot of unpleasant words today.
Yan Xue thought about it and simply told him about the phone call in Qu Mingli's office that day. "He seems to be quite familiar with that person from the provincial government. I guess he does have a very powerful background."
Qi Fang knew what she meant, "Let's wait and see." Seeing her yawn again, he stood up and packed his things, "I'm sorry to have disturbed your sleep."
"It's okay, I just finished my busy schedule recently, and I feel extra sleepy when I relax."
Yan Xue lay down in bed first, and soon she felt the man turn off the lights and lie down in bed, his hand also fell on her lower abdomen.
At first, he just touched it gently, then touched it again, and then touched it again. "Dr. Song, is it wrong? It's been more than three months."
What I mean is, it’s been more than three months, how come I still can’t feel it out?
Yan Xue was a little amused. "After more than three months, it's only the size of a lemon. If you can feel it, then I must have gained weight."
Qi Fang fell silent for a long while, then asked, "You also know about lemons?"
Yan Xue was almost asleep, but she was startled when she heard this.
Bananas were rare in the north these days, let alone lemons. She was just too sleepy.
But she was not panicked. "I've heard it from others before." It was a universal reason.
This time Qi Fang was silent for a while. "How old were you when you went to the Yan family?"
"Nine years old, I guess." Although Yan Xue didn't understand why he suddenly asked this, she still said, "I was almost old enough to go to school at that time, but I didn't make it."
Firstly, they had to move to a new place suddenly, and secondly, her mother encountered a famine not long after she married into Yanjiazhuang, and Yan Jigang almost died.
It was only because her stepfather got some help from someone outside that he could often bring back some fish and shrimp, so the family could barely survive.
Qi Fang thought that at the age of nine, Yan Xue should be able to remember a lot of things. Yan Xue was so smart, so her memory was definitely not much worse than his.
Could it be that this is what I heard and saw from my biological father's side when I was a child?
At least Yanjiazhuang definitely couldn't let her have so much experience...
Qi Fang pondered and was about to ask again, but Yan Xue clearly didn't want to talk about the past. "Haven't you finished modifying your bulldozer and excavator yet?"
She remembered that the man had said half a month, but it was almost a month and he still hadn't come back.
Qi Fang didn't ask any more questions. "It's almost done, but there's one person who's a bit annoying."
"You mean Chen Jizhong?"
Yan Xue understood immediately, "Is he causing you trouble again?"
"A part broke before, which delayed the production for almost a week. I suspect he was responsible."
Qi Fang spoke quite calmly, "So before I came back this time, I specifically told them to take good care of a certain accessory, otherwise all their previous efforts would be in vain."
Yan Xue was no longer sleepy when he started talking about this. She turned over and leaned on her elbow to look at him, "Did you deliberately dig a hole for him to fall into?"
Qi Fang's eyes fell on her snowy skin, and he felt that it wasn't that nothing had changed at all...
He pulled up the quilt that had slipped down, covering the person tightly from shoulders to neck, and then hummed softly.
Yan Xue didn't notice his gaze. "How are you going to catch him in the act?"
"I added a device inside. If anyone damages that accessory, they'll be sprayed in the face."
"Paint?"
"No, it's dye from the dyeing factory."
Qi Fang looked at her slowly and added, "It won't come off the skin."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
