Gu Qingqing was walking on the winding path carrying a bamboo basket, while Da Mi was following behind her with his tail wagging. Under the moonlight, the gravel road was shining silver.
You can see the road ahead clearly without the need for a kerosene lamp.
"My dear."
It was half past seven, and Xue Jianshan, leading Da Huang, began to patrol the village. He saw the cheerful figure coming towards him from twenty or thirty meters away.
"Uncle Shan!" Gu Qingqing saw who was coming, quickened her pace, and took out a crispy mooncake from the bamboo basket: "This is made by my uncle himself, please try it."
Xue Jianshan didn't say anything more. He took a bite and dropped crumbs all over the floor. He quickly reached out and scooped them up: "Delicious. Where are you going? Are you delivering mooncakes to your grandfather's house?"
"No, some people at the youth education center are suffering from acclimatization problems. My family made some tofu today and sent two pieces over."
"Okay, then you can go quickly." Xue Jianshan waved his hand while biting the cake: "Go back early."
"I know, Uncle Shan."
When Gu Qingqing arrived at the end of the village, Ye Zi and the others were preparing to cook. When Sun Yuanyuan saw that she really came with something in her arms, she was touched and also found it a little funny.
"Qingqing, what's that on your mouth? Wipe it off quickly."
Gu Qingqing raised her hand and wiped it, and there were mooncake crumbs on the back of her hand. She smiled and nonchalantly stuffed the basket into Sun Yuanyuan's hand: "I brought a few mooncakes for you. I was so bored on the road that I couldn't help but eat one. Sister Yuanyuan, you won't blame me, right?"
"Look at what you said." Sun Yuanyuan gave the tofu to Ye Zi, just in time to cook it for dinner, "It's your own food, so you should eat it."
"Sit down for a while. I'll pour you a bowl of water to moisten your throat."
"Oh, okay." Gu Qingqing really felt her throat was a little dry.
Sun Yuanyuan and Ye Zi went to the kitchen. Gu Qingqing sat in the yard looking at the renovated shed. When she saw the bamboo frame, there was some curiosity in her eyes.
"Come, have some water." Sun Yuanyuan came out with a pot and poured her a bowl of water. She followed her gaze and explained, "This is the rack that Meng Nan and his friends built. They said they want to plant some grapes so we can eat them next year."
"Can Brother Meng Nan also grow fruit trees?" Something flashed through Gu Qingqing's mind, but it was too fast for her to catch it.
"Yes, he studied agriculture in college. We didn't adapt well when we first went to the countryside." Sun Yuanyuan looked embarrassed. "He was quite happy, saying that the countryside is better than the city and is in line with his major."
"That's not what I said." Meng Nan had just come from his backyard plot, put down his hoe, poured himself a bowl of water, raised his head and drank it, sighing: "There is always a big gap between ideals and reality."
Gu Qingqing didn't understand what he meant by that. She also took a sip of water from the bowl. After half a bowl was down, she smacked her lips and asked uncertainly, "Is there mint in the water?"
"Yes, it was picked up by the river. It has grown quite a lot. Meng Nan said that drinking more mint water in the summer can clear away heat and detoxify."
As soon as Sun Yuanyuan finished speaking, she heard Ye Zi's shout from the kitchen -
"Yuanyuan, come and get me some water to wash the vegetables!"
"Hey, I'm coming." Sun Yuanyuan said shyly, "Qingqing, you can chat with Meng Nan for a while. I'll go help first. They haven't eaten yet. Yu Chengfeng and Zhang Qing are still planting vegetables in the backyard. They must be very hungry."
They have been very busy recently. After finishing their work on the production team, they come back to tidy up the yard. After the vegetable garden is ready, they have to mix some mud to compact the thatch on the roof. It has been a long time since anyone lived there, so it is often cold and drafty in the middle of the night.
"Okay, go ahead and get busy." Gu Qingqing was originally planning to leave, but when she thought of Sun Yuanyuan's words, she retracted her steps.
"Brother Meng Nan, how did you come up with the idea of making mint tea?" Gu Qingqing looked for a topic to talk about: "Mint grows like crazy by the river in the summer, but few people pick it and boil it in water."
Meng Nan stood beside the pump, washing the dirt off his feet. "My mother used to go to the pharmacy in the city to buy mint leaves. Comrade Gu Qingqing..."
After calling him that for a while, he felt that it was awkward, so he smiled and changed it: "Qingqing, can I call you that?"
"Of course you can, Brother Meng Nan." Gu Qingqing's eyes were sparkling, especially dazzling under the moonlight.
"Okay," Meng Nan pulled a handkerchief from a bamboo pole nearby, wet it and wiped his face. "I roughly know what you want to ask, and we have also guessed a little about Captain Gu's thoughts."
There have been major changes in the production team recently. In the past, no matter how many seedlings he pulled, he would be given a maximum of ten points. Yesterday, he pulled seedlings from six mu of land and was given twenty points, Zhang Qing pulled seedlings from three mu of land and was given ten points, and Yu Chengfeng was quick and was given twenty-five points.
Ye Zi and Sun Yuanyuan, two girls, together pulled out an acre of land and each scored more than ten points.
From the maximum daily salary of ten points to pay based on work, Meng Nan could see the determination of the brigade's production cadres to develop the production team.
In addition, Captain Gu and Secretary Qin took a measuring tape to measure the land these two days. He looked at the location and thought that the wasteland near the canal would be used to dig ponds for raising fish, and the wasteland behind Dagouzi Village and Datunzi Village would probably be used to grow medicinal herbs.
"That's right." Thinking of the Gu family's honesty and Gu Qingqing's closeness to them, Meng Nan no longer hesitated: "I looked at the soil in the village. It is very suitable for growing mint and medicinal herbs. In addition to drying the mint and selling it to the pharmacy, we can also build a large earthen stove to boil mint oil."
"As for fish farming, generally you need to build two ponds and three pools..." Meng Nan spoke slowly and his words sounded refreshing.
Gu Qingqing, however, had no intention of appreciating his bookish air. She rubbed her hands shyly and smiled: "Brother Meng Nan, can you lend me some paper and pen?"
Meng Nan raised his eyebrows slightly, stuck out his tongue, pointed at his head, and said pitifully, "There are too many to remember."
Meng Nan laughed dumbly.
Yu Chengfeng, who had returned at some point, took out a notebook and pen from his room and handed them to her, then sat down next to the two of them. "Raising fish can increase the meat supply for the members, but it requires a lot of manpower in the early stages. I heard from the instructor that we will have to repair the riverbank in a month or two, so I'm afraid we won't have time to do this."
"There's no rush for that." Gu Qingqing took the paper and pen and thanked him, writing down everything Meng Nan said: "Brother Meng Nan, Brother Cheng Feng, you both studied agriculture in college, do you know anything about medicinal herb planting?"
"This," Yu Chengfeng took out a mooncake from the bamboo basket on the table and said with a smile, "You have to ask Zhang Qing. Although he didn't study agriculture, his ancestors were barefoot doctors."
"What do you mean by barefoot doctor? It's a doctor, okay?" Zhang Qing sighed, "My ancestors have all been Chinese medicine practitioners, and now it's my generation that has to go to the village to farm."
Yu Chengfeng mocked him: "You are just an idiot. The descendants of traditional Chinese medicine are still not used to the local climate. Who will believe you if you tell others about it?"
"I only know how to identify the properties of medicinal materials, but I can't make my own medicine." Zhang Qing excused himself.
After hearing what they said, Gu Qingqing looked at Zhang Qing as if he had seen a rare treasure, and said eagerly: "Brother Chengfeng, Brother Mengnan, Brother Zhang Qing, you are now residents of Datunzi Village, you must help our village!"
Meng Nan touched his nose and said, "How about this, if you have any questions, you can always come and ask us..."
"No," Gu Qingqing said worriedly, "I have to go to my grandfather's house to pick green plums tomorrow, and then I will go directly to the Construction Corps when I come back."
"What are you doing in the Corps?" Sun Yuanyuan came out carrying tofu with green onions, looking a little puzzled.
"...Go and deliver something to my brother." Gu Qingqing stammered, and her ears turned red instantly. Fortunately, the moonlight covered them up.
Meng Nan seemed to be thinking about something, and took out a pen and paper and started writing something.
"Oh oh." Sun Yuanyuan knew that her two brothers were in the army, so she didn't suspect anything. "It's not easy to go to the army, so you have to stay there for at least ten days or half a month before you can come back. But it's okay. There's not much food there, and you can't stay there for too long."
"Ah?" Gu Qingqing was really stunned this time. Her brother didn't say that in the letter.
The little face fell immediately, and he muttered in a low voice: "They are so pitiful, they can't even eat vegetables. Although there is nothing good to eat in the village now, but radishes and vegetables are still enough."
Sun Yuanyuan patted her shoulder to comfort her.
"The Construction Corps borders the desert, and the soil is not very pure. Intermittent sandstorms have formed sandy soil." Meng Nan tore off Gu Qingqing's notes and some vegetable planting information he had written and gave them to her: "These are some vegetables suitable for growing in sandy soil. You can try them when you go there. I can't say whether they can grow well."
He had never tried this kind of thing and couldn't guarantee it. Although he had read about it in books at school, the teachers rarely talked about it because they were in a hinterland city, not close to the border, and they only learned ordinary agricultural planting.
"Let's discuss this with Captain Gu while you're away." Meng Nan scratched his hair and said with a smile, "I never thought we would become educated young people who come to help rural development."
Of course, there is no shortage of labor reform.
"Okay, then I'll go back first. You guys should hurry up and eat. I'll bring you some green plums when I come back from grandpa's house." Gu Qingqing carefully folded the paper and put it in her pocket.
"Okay, be careful on the road." Sun Yuanyuan returned the bamboo basket to her.
When Gu Qingqing returned home, Gu Jin also came back. She briefly told him about her conversation with Meng Nan and the others, and slapped a piece of paper into Gu Jin's hand, "Dad, take your time to read it. I'm going to go wash up first."
Da Mi was looking for leftover duck bones in the yard. Gu Jin glanced at the lady's back and then looked at the wild and sloppy handwriting on his hands. He shook his head and went back to his room with his hands behind his back.
Gu Qingqing lay on the bed, looking at the man in the photo and smiling foolishly in the moonlight outside the window, her fingers gently stroking his eyebrows.
It was not until the early morning that she fell into a drowsy sleep.
Shi Rushuang, Han Lianxin, Zhang Yuqing and other sisters-in-law got up early as they were thinking about going back to their parents' home. After preparing breakfast, they packed up the things to take back to their parents' home.
"My dear."
After calling out to the girl several times but failing to wake her up, Shi Rushuang lifted the blue floral quilt and picked her up: "Little brat, what were you doing last night? If you're any later you won't be able to catch lunch."
"Get up, get up." Gu Qingqing quickly stuffed the photo under the pillow, yawning with sleepy eyes: "Mother, go out first, I'll be right up."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com