Chapter 68 Ideal Cheng Xin held her forehead and sat up from the bed...
Cheng Xin held her forehead and sat up from the bed. The quilt slipped off, revealing the rose-red lace round-neck bra underneath.
Geng Yunye pushed the door open carrying an enamel pot, "Are you awake?" He glanced at her messy hair with a smile on his lips.
Cheng Xin stared at the cup in a daze, her fingers picking at the bed sheet unconsciously: "Did I make a fool of myself when I was drunk?" She remembered that she had a good alcohol tolerance, and when she woke up, she had forgotten everything she did when she was drunk. She was so embarrassed that she didn't dare to look Geng Yunye in the eye.
Geng Yunye sat down on the edge of the bed and put the water close to her lips. "No, I just held on to you and refused to let go." He deliberately dragged out the last word, and when she looked up suddenly, he immediately softened his tone. "The alcohol content of the homemade wine is high. I feel dizzy after drinking it. Drink some honey water to calm you down."
Cheng Xin finally felt relieved and drank the warm honey water in small sips. Just as she put the enamel pot on the bedside table, she heard Hu Wa's loud voice coming from outside the door.
"Uncle, aunt! We are here to wish you a happy new year!"
Cheng Xin hurriedly put on her cotton jacket and ran to open the door without buttoning it. Several children were crowded under the eaves. Hu Wa was holding a sugar cake wrapped in oil paper. The pompom on his cotton hat swayed with his movements. His face was chapped from the cold: "Aunt, my mother said that the sugar cake should be eaten while it is hot!"
"Are you frozen? Come inside and warm yourself by the fire!" Cheng Xin took the cake with a smile, the oil paper still retaining some warmth.
The little ones sat in a circle around the stove, with their red, frozen hands close to the stove.
Cheng Xin took out a tin box from the chest of drawers, stretched her head to look at it, her ears were red from the cold under her short hair: "Aunt, do you have peach cakes?" Her bright eyes were like two black grapes.
"Yes." Cheng Xin shared the sesame candies with them.
When Hu Wa was taking the candy, his hand slipped and the candy fell on the blue brick. He immediately squatted down to pick it up and blew it towards the sunlight: "It's not clean, but you won't get sick if you eat it!" After that, he couldn't wait to stuff it into his mouth, his cheeks puffed up like a little hamster.
She opened another bag of peach cakes and shared them with them, watching the children's faces covered with crumbs, with crumbs sticking to the corners of their mouths and cotton-padded jackets. Cheng Xin took out a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped their faces one by one: "Eat slowly, don't choke." When his fingertips touched Ban Bench's cold cheek, he shrank his neck in itchiness, causing Tiger Boy to laugh.
When the red envelopes were distributed, Tiger Boy held up a dime note and jumped and shouted, "I wish my uncle and aunt a good harvest every year!"
Ban Bench couldn't wait to shout, his voice breaking: "I wish my uncle and aunt to have braised pork every meal and peach cakes every day!"
Yaya hid behind a bench and poked her head out timidly: "I wish my uncle and aunt good health and hope they give birth to a little brother soon." After saying that, she quickly retracted her head, and the red hairband on her braid swayed.
After handing out the red envelopes, Cheng Xin patted everyone's head and pinched their faces, smiling as she watched them run away, watching their crooked footprints on the snow. Most of the bills in the coin box were gone, and when she turned around, she saw Geng Yunye stuffing a red envelope into her hand, wrapped neatly in oil paper: "This is for you."
Cheng Xin opened her red envelope, which contained 20 yuan. She remembered that she only gave Geng Yunye 5 yuan, and her ears burned. She was about to explain, but he interrupted her with a smile: "Men will become bad when they have money. Five yuan is just enough for them to spend."
After lunch, Geng Yunye moved the TV to the yard.
The villagers came over with rattan chairs to watch the replay of the Spring Festival Gala. The brothers Geng Aiguo and Geng Jiankang lit two fires in the yard and were adding branches to the fires.
"Uncle, put it here for safety!" Geng Jiankang patted the square stool. The two brothers' hands were red from the cold, with ash still stuck in the cracks of their fingernails, but they insisted on standing by the brazier and stirring the charcoal fire.
The TV program started the crosstalk program. Geng Mancang took a puff of his cigarette, holding the cigarette butt between his fingers: "The underwear factory alone cannot solve the employment problem for everyone. After the underwear factory distributed dividends, many people came to me to talk. Everyone wants to have a job. We have to find some light work for the middle-aged and elderly people."
"There are many wild mulberry trees in the back mountain. We can plant them there." Geng Yunye moved closer to Cheng Xin to block the cold wind for her. "The people at the Agricultural Technology Station said that if we cut off the old branches and keep the new ones, we can graft the lake mulberry seedlings in the spring. They also suggested raising silkworms. Both the elderly and children can do it."
Cheng Xin helped add: "I see there are many wild mulberry trees on the mountain of the brigade, we can use them."
Aunt Zhang sat by the brazier, holding a handful of melon seeds in her hand. She spat out the shells and nodded: "Raising silkworms is good, just sit inside."
Wu Kai, who was sitting diagonally opposite, pushed his glasses. His patched blue cotton jacket was washed pale: "I heard on the radio in the commune that the cocoon purchasing station was expanded last year. If we raise some, we won't have to worry about sales." He was used to looking the other person in the eye when he spoke. This was a professional habit he developed when he was a teacher. At this moment, there was an unnatural eagerness hidden behind his glasses.
Huang Cai peeled the orange in her hand, separated the segments and handed them to Cheng Xin. Her nails were trimmed short and neatly, and there were frostbite scabs on her knuckles.
"Raising silkworms requires temperature control, which is actually not difficult. It's just like hatching chicks. Someone in my mother's family has raised them before." She deliberately ignored Wu Kai's shining eyes, and her voice carried a bit of the reserve unique to city dwellers.
Cheng Xin took a bite of the orange, and the sweet and sour juice burst in her mouth: "Last year I fed two baskets of silkworms. When there were not enough mulberry leaves, I used lettuce leaves instead, and the silkworms were willing to eat them. Unfortunately, I didn't sell them for a good price."
Geng Mancang exhaled a puff of cigarette and said, "Huang Zhiqing, you educated people know a lot, why don't you two take the lead and lead everyone to do this?"
Huang Cai wiped her hands, smiled and shook her head: "How can I know? I just heard about it on the commune radio."
Wu Kai took over the conversation: "Uncle Mancang, if we want to do it, we have to clean up the silkworm room first." He spoke a little faster than usual, "It has to be warm and ventilated, and it has to be able to make a fire."
Huang Cai's smile froze as she saw her husband's eyes behind his glasses. It was a suppressed, fiery look, very similar to the look they had when they saw the vast fields on the train six years ago when they were in high school and went to the countryside. At that time, she always said that labor was the most glorious, but now, in the cracks in the warehouse's leaky walls, her sharpness has slowly worn off.
Wu Kai didn't look at Huang Cai. He straightened his back towards Geng Mancang, like a bamboo that was bent by the wind and snow but stood up stubbornly. "Raising silkworms requires skills. I attended three radio lectures in the commune and took notes." He paused. "I have measured the cracks in the warehouse wall. Mixing straw with lime can make it tight. The earthen stove can be built in the west corner, so it won't take up space for raising silkworms."
Huang Cai dug her nails deep into her palms. The cracks in the warehouse wall leaked air, and at night you could hear mice running on the beams. Last night, every household was celebrating the New Year, and the wind blew in through the cracks in the wall, so the windows couldn't be closed when the stove was lit. She and Wu Kai squeezed into two worn-out quilts to keep warm. At this moment, his tone was as decisive as a sacrifice, which made her chest feel stuffy, but a hint of secret pride rose in her heart.
"But you still want to live here..." Aunt Zhao was interrupted by Huang Cai halfway through her words.
She raised her head and smiled brightly: "Aunt, raising silkworms is a big deal. We can have a safe place to live in the brigade thanks to everyone. Wu Kai has long wanted to clean up the warehouse and make it into a technical room, right?" She turned to look at her husband, with warning and helplessness in her eyes.
Wu Kai knew what Huang Cai was thinking. She was still hoping that her parents in the city would give in and keep the train ticket back to the city. But he knew better that his brothers scolded him for being a country boy and not wanting to take up space. Huang Cai's parents wrote in a letter that unless he could settle down, they would have no way out.
"Yes." He heard his voice trembling, and said cruelly, "When the silkworms are raised, half of the warehouse will be used for raising silkworms, and the other half will be used as a classroom. I will teach everyone." He held Huang Cai's hand, and it felt like touching a piece of frozen rough cloth. The chilblains on her hands were no less than his calluses. "Cai'er, can you teach the aunts how to raise silkworms?"
The two rough hands were clasped together, and Huang Cai pulled her hand back. She saw Cheng Xin being protected in Geng Yunye's arms, and every move was cared for. Last week, Cheng Xin gave her a bottle of clam oil, but her own hands full of chilblains were not enough. Once upon a time, she was also an envied intellectual in the alley, but now she has to rely on teaching the country people to raise silkworms in exchange for a house that is not leaky.
"Okay." She heard her own voice as soft as a snowflake.
Geng Mancang patted Wu Kai on the shoulder and said, "It's settled! I feel relieved that Wu Zhiqing is taking the lead."
Wu Kai grabbed Geng Mancang's wrist, like grabbing a piece of driftwood: "Uncle Mancang, if it succeeds, can you give us a room that is not leaky?"
He didn't mention settling down or getting a permanent job, but his chest heaving violently betrayed all his desires. That was the humblest cry for belonging from a young man who was rejected by the city.
Huang Cai stood up. She wanted to scold Wu Kai for being spineless and turned back to the warehouse to pack her luggage and return to Shanghai.
Cheng Xin stuffed a piece of sesame candy into her hand, and she suddenly calmed down.
"Raising silkworms requires getting up early and working late. It's not as simple as everyone thinks." She bit the candy, her voice stuck in her throat, not knowing whether she was talking to Cheng Xin, or to herself who still had illusions about the city.
"Uncle Mancang, I'll go to the commune tomorrow morning to get the application form for silkworm seeds." Wu Kai pushed up his glasses that had slipped to the tip of his nose. The heat from the brazier fogged up the lenses. "By the way, can you please run some wires to the warehouse and install a light bulb?"
Huang Cai looked at her husband's back. The back of his cotton-padded jacket was worn to reveal the cotton wool inside, but his back was still straight. On the first day of going to the countryside that year, he drew a five-pointed star on the brigade's blackboard. At that time, he said that there was a lot to be done in the vast world, and his tone was full of the frivolity of a city boy who didn't know worry. Now the five-pointed star has long been eroded by wind and rain, but his figure squatting in front of the brazier made her feel at ease more than ever.
Geng Mancang put out his cigarette butt and crushed it with his foot: "The commune also has to celebrate the New Year. We will start repairing the warehouse after the New Year. Wu Kai, you take the lead, and I will let Aiguo help with the supply and marketing."
Wu Kai tightened his clasped hands and nodded vigorously.
Cheng Xin quietly leaned towards Geng Yunye, her shoulder touching his arm.
"Cold?" he whispered.
Cheng Xin shook her head and watched Hu Wa and Banden chasing and playing in the crowd.
Before Geng Mancang left, he decided: "We will hold a member meeting after the New Year. Anyone who is interested in raising silkworms can sign up!"
Hu Wa squatted in front of the TV without knowing when, and reached out to touch the crosstalk actor on the screen, but was dragged away by Geng Aiguo by the collar: "Naughty monkey, be careful of electric shock!"
As dusk deepened, Cheng Xin was picking up scattered candy wrappers, while Huang Cai and Wu Kai were discussing raising silkworms in the spring. Geng Yunye brought out his military coat from the house and threw it over her shoulders: "Put it on, don't catch a cold."
Cheng Xin pushed the coat back: "You wear it, I'm not cold."
Geng Yunye stubbornly draped it over her, and warmth instantly spread throughout her body: "You sit and warm yourself by the fire, I'll clean up later, I'm going to discuss something with Wu Kai."
Huang Cai looked at their backs and said to Cheng Xin, "We will be colleagues after school starts. If you have any questions, just ask me."
Seeing the chilblains on her hands, Cheng Xin pulled her over to warm themselves by the fire: "Once the silkworms are raised, you can apply for a plot of land to build a homestead." She wrapped herself in a military coat, squatted beside the brazier and threw two sweet potatoes into it.
Geng Yunye and Wu Kai stood at the door. Huang Cai sat beside her, occasionally looking up at her husband's back, with complaints and heartache in her eyes, and a hint of expectation for the future that she herself was unwilling to admit.
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