Chapter 23 Chapter 23 (Xiao Xiu) Cheng Xinjian...
Seeing her aunt looking worried, Cheng Xin offered to buy two baskets of mushrooms that her family had picked.
Wang Xiuping swung a rag to shoo away the flies: "Move away quickly, it's disgusting to see."
Cheng Xin squatted down to pick up the mushrooms, put the intact umbrella caps on the left, and threw the blackened umbrella folds into the bamboo dustpan in the corner.
"Aunt, I'll teach you how to turn mushrooms into treasures."
Wang Xiuping was skeptical: "The supply and marketing cooperative doesn't accept mushrooms. Don't waste your time on them. Even if you accept them, no one will dare to buy them."
Cheng Xin smiled confidently: "We don't sell fresh mushrooms. Comrade Geng taught me how to make mushrooms into dried goods, and the price can be increased several times."
Wang Xiuping quickly moved closer: "What do you mean?"
Cheng Xin picked up a mushroom and demonstrated how to slice it. Wang Xiuping stared at the movement of her fingers and blinked. The slices of mushrooms were uneven in thickness and placed in the basket.
Seeing that her aunt seemed confused, she asked her aunt to learn with her.
Wang Xiuping got the hang of it quickly, and Cheng Xin suddenly had an idea: "Is it possible that other people's mushrooms can't be sold?"
Wang Xiuping clapped her legs and stood up: "That's right, on the way back, Lao Liu said he wanted to feed the mushrooms to the pigs." She said enthusiastically: "I'll ask for you, how much do you want?"
Cheng Xin couldn't make up her mind, she didn't know how much the team had picked.
She finally decided to give it a try. At worst, she could sell at a lower price. She could still make more money than buying fresh mushrooms. "I only have 30 yuan, no more."
Wang Xiuping patted her chest and said, "Ten yuan is enough. If the supply and marketing cooperative doesn't accept the things, dogs won't eat them. If you give them 20 cents, they will thank you!"
After saying that, she suddenly covered her mouth and said, "Oh, why did I scold myself?"
Wang Xiuping hurried away to help collect mushrooms. Cheng Xin helped her solve the mushroom problem, and she finally didn't have to go home and feel guilty about her two sons.
She had sent a letter to her sons after the brigade meeting. She thought she could make money, but she didn't make a penny because of the delay. The eldest and second sons returned to the city, and she didn't dare to tell them. Fortunately, there was a way to remedy the situation, so her sons didn't make a wasted trip.
Wang Xiuping is very popular. Many people thought that the mushrooms could only be kept for themselves or fed to pigs after returning home, but they got good news.
Cheng Xin is willing to buy mushrooms at the price of 50 cents per 10 kilograms. Although the price is cheap, at least they can be sold, and not every family likes to eat mushrooms.
All the mushrooms picked by the pioneering team were bought by Cheng Xin. Everyone couldn't help but sigh that the eldest daughter of the Cheng family has grown up just by dating and has the ability to stand on her own.
Cheng Xin and her aunt processed mushrooms at home for two days, and explained how to process different types of mushrooms. The more expensive the mushrooms, the more troublesome it is to process. Xu Fengxia followed along to learn in her free time.
The first batch of mushrooms she dried were samples, and even my aunt had to praise that the mushrooms she dried were of better quality than the dried goods sold in the supply and marketing cooperative.
While Cheng Xin was busy, Chen Ying sneaked around with Wang Jiangang and the others. Wang Jiangang had become a well-known rich man in the brigade. Since he sold the wild boar meat, he walked around in a flowered shirt and put hairspray on his hair. He looked so proud.
In the corner of the drying yard, Wang Jiangang and Zhang Mazi were smoking together, while Chen Ying was sitting on a wooden stake nearby. They were discussing going into the mountains to hunt wild boars again. The control was strict recently, and no one was allowed to go into the deep mountains. Their hunting rifles were taken away. They didn't have weapons in their hands, so they didn't dare to act rashly. They were all thinking of a solution.
Chen Ying heard that the brigade couldn't sell mushrooms, so she was glad that she was lucky. She wanted to go into the mountains with Wang Jiangang, as wild boar meat was more valuable than she thought.
Wang Jiangang and his team brought back 580 yuan from selling wild boars, and each family got 3 yuan. The hunting team caught five pheasants and two hares yesterday, which further stimulated everyone's fighting spirit, and they set out to hunt before dawn.
Unfortunately, this carnival did not last long. Wang Fugui heard from the accountant of the grain station that Gengjiawan Brigade had already harvested the millet, dried it and stored it in the warehouse, and the commune would issue a rush harvest notice tomorrow.
He asked his acquaintances for details and learned that it was a decision made by the commune and that their commune would announce it soon.
Wang Fugui urgently convened a meeting of the brigade cadres, and the heavy rain warning notice sent by the commune was spread out on the eight-immortals table.
In the evening, in the threshing yard, after the accountant distributed two yuan and ninety cents to each family, Wang Fugui immediately rang the gong in his hand.
He coughed twice and said loudly: "The commune requires early harvest!"
Old man Zhang squatted on the millstone with the money he had just received, and expressed his dissatisfaction: "Why change the date? It was always a fixed time in previous years. I have been farming for 30 years and I have never heard of harvesting grain in August!"
A woman had just finished counting the money with saliva on her face, and rolled up the money she was given and stuffed it into her trouser waistband: "Just when we saw the shadow of the money, it's delayed again. The team has finally earned some money, and harvesting the grain early has delayed the time to earn money. Are we going to starve if we don't make any money?"
Zhang Mazi threw off his straw hat and stood up: "Harvest the grain early and you'll earn eight dollars and a half less! I don't agree."
Wang Fugui waited until they finished making noise before stopping them: "Quiet, everyone, be quiet."
He shook the commune notice and said, "It is written in black and white that it is a voluntary principle." He emphasized the word "voluntary" and said, "We have all seen how Jiangang can help us make money. So let's vote. Those who want to delay making money, raise your hands!"
Wang Fugui praised his son in every word and reminded everyone not to forget who helped them make money.
The drying yard was so quiet that you could hear the rubbing of banknotes.
Cheng Xin raised her hand on behalf of her family, and Cheng's uncle also raised his hand without knowing why.
Cheng Xin moistened her throat and said loudly, "Captain, my father is not in good health, so we are going to harvest the grain in advance so that we won't be the last to come."
Cheng Gaoyuan stammered, "Let's help the second brother's family and collect our own crops at the same time, so as to avoid having to borrow the thresher back and forth."
Wang Fugui understood the situation of the Cheng family. The Cheng family was not selected into the hunting team, and Cheng Laoer had become a sickly person, so it would be better to let them harvest early.
"Okay, just your two families, is there no one else?"
Wang Fugui felt that he had conveyed the instructions of the commune, and the members voted not to harvest the millet in advance. He had never heard of the heavy rain warning, and the millet was harvested in September in previous years. The members disagreed, so he couldn't put a knife to their necks and force them.
Cheng Xin did not inform Geng Yunye about the early harvest of grain at home. She felt embarrassed to always trouble him.
Harvesting the millet ahead of time relieved the pressure on the family. There was no need to rush, and with the help of her uncle's family, Cheng Xin's burden was greatly reduced.
The next morning, the Cheng family went to the fields as soon as the sky got light.
Geng Yunye appeared at the door of Cheng's house on a 28-bar bike with a net bag of watermelons hanging on the handlebars.
"Cheng Lei!" Geng Yunye shouted while supporting himself on one leg. The car bell jingled and Cheng Lei came out with sleepy eyes.
"My sister went to the fields."
"I know, put the watermelon in the well to suppress it." Geng Yunye saw it on his way here.
Cheng Lei's sleepiness disappeared instantly, and he excitedly walked into the yard holding a watermelon.
He didn't expect the Cheng family to have such strong execution. The Gengjiawan Brigade had just dried and stored the millet yesterday. This morning, he went to the port and saw a cloud of fog in the distance. A typhoon and heavy rain were inevitable in a week.
Geng Yunye told Cheng Lei to deliver the watermelons to the field in an hour, and he went to the rice field alone with a sickle.
There were few people along the way, and even fewer in the fields.
Uncle Cheng bent over and swung the sickle, and the crisp sound of cutting the rice stalks continued.
Cheng Xin stepped on the thresher. Every time she pressed the pedal, the roller would roll in a bundle of rice ears, and the grains would hit the iron baffle with a crackling sound.
Xu Fengxia was carrying the freshly cut rice ears back and forth, and she didn't even bother to hold the towel that had slipped down to her neck.
The shadows of the three people became shorter and shorter in the rice field, and three small hills of grains were piled up next to the thresher.
Cheng Xin wiped her sweat, took the rice ears handed to her by her mother and continued to work.
After a busy morning, Cheng Xin straightened up for a break. Her cheeks were burning from the sun and her hands were aching.
Geng Yunye strode over from the opposite ridge with a sickle. He rolled up his trouser legs to his knees and stepped into the rice field in his muddy Liberation shoes.
Cheng Xin stared at him with surprise in her eyes.
"How did you..." She obviously didn't tell him.
"Comrade Cheng." Geng Yunye nodded and greeted him without further ado, then turned around and began to cut the rice. The sound of the sickle cutting through the rice stalks was fast and steady, and the rice ears fell into his arms in unison.
Geng Yunye's joining made things much easier, and soon only one third of the area was left.
Xu Fengxia finally had a break. She came over with a cup of cold water. The paint on the edge of the teacup had faded to rust. "Comrade Geng, would you like to take a break?"
Geng Yunye wiped away the sweat that blocked his eyes and said, "Auntie, I'm not tired."
Xu Fengxia walked over to her daughter, looked at her back working in the field, and said to her in a low voice: "People who served in the army are smart and strong. Come and help us when you finish your own work."
Cheng Xin wiped the sweat from her forehead and saw that the skin on the back of Geng Yunye's neck was sunburned.
For once she wasn't shy, "He's really a nice guy."
Geng Yunye was very efficient, and it would take until the evening for his uncle and the others to deliver the grain to the drying yard.
Cheng Lei came to the field holding a big watermelon: "Sister, I'm here to deliver the watermelon."
The first thing Xu Fengxia thought of was Geng Yunye: "Why is this kid helping to harvest the grain and bringing things with him?"
Geng Yunye had a folding knife with him. He cut open the watermelon and said, "Auntie, you have been exposed to the sun in the field for so long. Eat something cool to cool down."
He gave the remaining half of the watermelon to Cheng Lei: "Take this half back and share it with Uncle Cheng."
Cheng Lei looked at his mother for help, and Xu Fengxia said helplessly: "Go quickly, don't let the watermelons get damaged by the sun, and remember to call your grandparents and aunt."
Geng Yunye ate two pieces of watermelon and went back to the field, with only one small piece left.
Cheng Xin was sitting on the edge of the field eating a watermelon, her eyes fixed on Geng Yunye.
Geng Yunye was wearing a white vest, revealing his strong wheat-colored arms and chest. His army green rubber shoes were stuck in the mud, and his body was covered in sweat, looking like a real farmer.
Even the farmer was very conspicuous, and she couldn't even find any flaws in him. Thinking of her own ending in the book, Cheng Xin finally couldn't help asking,
"Comrade Geng, the current policy encourages self-employment. Don't you want to start a business outside?"
Geng Yunye straightened up and stopped cutting rice: "I thought about it before, but now I feel that wherever my home is, that's where I will be. I will not be separated from my family."
The setting sun cast a golden halo on him, which reminded Cheng Xin of his high-spirited look when he signed a million-dollar contract in her dream. She seemed to have no reason to refuse such an excellent man.
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