Chapter 216: Prosperity 216: Speaking of the craziest, besides Chu Yuan...
Xiao Xiao bit into a sweet and sour tomato, and after listening to her, he said with emotion: "It sounds like your production team is quite wealthy."
It overturned her impression of the rural areas in the central region.
Previously, she felt that life in rural areas of coastal cities was better than in other areas, as they lived by the sea, and the government also allowed production teams to go out to sea to fish, and the proceeds from the fish were shared collectively.
Production teams near the southern military region can not only set up stalls in nearby markets, but can also supply fish directly to the troops, all at market prices.
"It has only developed slowly in the past two years. A few years ago, a few educated youth went to the countryside to help the team grow cash crops." Gu Qingqing opened her mouth and took a bite of the dates she handed over, saying, "Now the team has built a brick kiln and planted fruit trees. It has also contacted the brick factory to supply them with red bricks. The year-end work points of the capable young men in the team are no worse than those of the workers in the state-owned factories in the city."
Xiao Xiao knew that Gu Qingqing would not lie or exaggerate, but he still couldn't believe it: "A first-class worker in a state-owned factory should make about 25 or 26 yuan."
"Yes, all the strong and hardworking guys in our production team can earn this much. My cousin Gu Xiong made an average of thirty-seven or thirty-eight a month last year, but he has to do a lot of work every day. The other brothers can only make twenty-seven or twenty-eight at most."
"......!" Xiao Xiao really couldn't believe it. He used to think that the Gu family's conditions were at most better than those in other rural areas. He didn't expect that the average living standard of their production team was quite good.
"We mainly rely on cash crops. All our income comes from here." Gu Qingqing rubbed salt on the fish and said to the stunned girl, "Help me carry it. I need to put it in the kitchen to marinate for three or four days."
"Okay." Xiao Xiao came back to his senses, put the bowl of red tomatoes on the ground beside him, and lifted the basin with her.
After they finished, the dining table was cleaned by Gu Canyang and Gu Qinglie. Gu Canyang swept the floor and Gu Qinglie washed the dishes. Old Qin and Chu Yuan practiced calligraphy in the study and prepared for a nap.
"Do you want to take a nap?" Gu Qingqing said shyly, "Why don't you go to Uncle Qin's study and ask him to look for the photo album before he takes his nap? Otherwise, it would be inappropriate to go to his study and disturb him at any time."
Qin Zhou now lives in the study. Chu Dai and Chu Zhao moved a large wooden bed from somewhere. Fortunately, the study is big enough, with good lighting, and it is comfortable to live in.
"Okay, let's go look for it." Xiao Xiao readily agreed.
Knock on the door first, and a voice comes from inside, "Come in."
Gu Qingqing pushed the door open and saw Old Qin practicing calligraphy. She stared at him for a moment.
His handwriting is smooth and free-flowing, with a sense of casualness and unconventionality.
There is also a piece of calligraphy next to it, which is so powerful that it can be seen through the back of the paper and is very elegant.
If I hadn't seen the one written by Mr. Qin, I would have thought the other one was his.
Qin Zhou smiled and said, "Do you think this calligraphy should belong to your father?"
Gu Qingqing nodded and said embarrassedly: "You usually look like a very self-disciplined person, I didn't expect your handwriting to be so frivolous."
"It's sloppy." Chu Yuan, who was standing next to him, corrected him with his hands behind his back.
"When this old man was young, he was even crazier than me. Don't be fooled by his fake gentle appearance now, he is actually very proud."
Old Qin smiled elegantly and put down his brush: "Don't believe what your father said. If we talk about the craziest, there is no one else except Chu Yuan."
Gu Qingqing deeply agreed with this. Her father's life experience was legendary and he was also extremely affectionate.
Chu Zhao said that he would sit in front of his mother's grave for a day every year on the Chinese Valentine's Day. Since Chu Dai was a child, people have always wanted to be his matchmaker. At that time, he was a military commander.
Not to mention raising one son, even if you raise four or five sons, there will be plenty of good girls rushing to marry you.
He refused straightforwardly, saying that he would never marry again in his life and that he would only have Chu Dai as his son.
Chu Dai looked down on other aspects of his father, such as his temper and personality, but he had no fault with this aspect.
Xiao Xiao also leaned over to take a look: "Uncle Qin, have you and Uncle Chu ever fought before?"
She had never heard her family mention this.
Her father Xiao Hui first met Chu Yuan in the military district. At that time, one was a brigade commander and the other was a corps commander.
Now there is a chief of staff, a commander.
I also knew Mr. Qin in the military district. He had worked there for a few years eighteen years ago and was later transferred away.
He often came back to visit in recent years. Due to his special status, it was not difficult for him to enter and leave the military area.
Xiao Hui and Qin Lao did not have a close relationship, and it was difficult to know about their past.
When Chu Dai was a child, he often ate at the homes of his uncles and aunts who were on good terms with Chu Yuan. He heard all about Chu Yuan's heroic deeds and embarrassing stories, and he also knew about the grievances between him and Qin Zhou.
Therefore, when Old Qin heard the little girl's question, he looked at Chu Yuan, and they both shook their heads and laughed.
Gu Qingqing, who knew the whole story, also smiled secretly.
"We fought," said Old Qin frankly, "I lost, and then we joined forces."
Before the battle, I never thought that a general could be so poor that there was not even a grain of food in his troops.
Chu Yuan said to him at the time: "If you hadn't come to rob me, I would have led my troops up the mountain to rob your food."
Later, the two poor ghosts joined forces to attack the enemy's command headquarters, snatched food and weapons, and accidentally smashed the enemy's siege plan, leaving them without any ability to fight back.
Later, he joined the revolution and served the country.
Recalling the past, the two old men were very calm.
The sun shone in from the window. Gu Qingqing thought for a moment and said, "Uncle Qin, Father, can I ask you two to write a calligraphy piece for Tuantuan every year? I want to hang it in their room."
"Of course." Old Qin nodded with a smile, and Chu Yuan also agreed.
Not to mention just one painting, as long as his grandson likes it, he can hang all the paintings in the room.
Seeing that they agreed, Gu Qingqing carefully made another request, "Dad, A-Dai said that he had a lot of photos when he was a child, and he didn't know where they were put. Maybe they are in the study. Can I look for them?"
Mr. Qin obviously had an impression of it, and said to Chu Yuan beside him: "I also took a few photos with him, when he was four years old. I think I still have a negative."
Chu Yuan was silent for a while. He didn't ask her why she wanted to find photos of Chu Dai when he was a child. He just said, "Come with me."
Gu Qingqing and Xiao Xiao looked at each other and followed.
Old Qin also walked out slowly.
Chu Yuan returned to his bedroom. The window was open and the strong sunlight outside cast into the room, making it bright.
He walked to the bed, bent down, opened the drawer of the bedside cabinet, and found a photo album in his hand.
Without flipping through the pages, he handed them to Gu Qingqing who followed him in: "There aren't many photos, and there are a lot of empty spaces. The rest are up to you to fill in."
Gu Qingqing took it in a daze, the heavy photo album pressed against her palm, and she slowly opened it with her right hand.
What comes into view is a handsome young man and a gentle young woman.
She recognized it immediately; this was her father when he was young.
Chu Yuan had clear features and was wearing a neat military uniform, looking very imposing.
The gentle woman, wearing a buttoned cheongsam, sat on a chair, with her hands folded on her legs, looking at the camera with a smile, her eyes and eyebrows filled with a pool of spring water.
The man stood behind her, his right hand domineeringly placed on her shoulder, full of possessiveness, and his other bony hand casually resting on the back of the chair.
That kind of rebellious energy can be seen through the photo.
Looking at the photos, she finally understood why Chu Dai was so handsome, and why his mother, a rich and famous lady, was willing to marry a military leader.
Xiao Xiao was also struck by this old photo. Although there was not a single bright color, one could feel the surging emotions between the two people.
It took a long time for him to move his eyes away, and Gu Qingqing slowly turned her head back.
The second photo shows Chu Yuan leading a horse while the woman in cheongsam sits sideways on the horse, talking to him with her head lowered.
It was obvious that she was carried up there temporarily, with a man's military jacket covering her legs.
The woman gave all the tenderness in her eyes to the man in front of her.
The third photo is the first photo of the father and son.
Chu Daihun, who was only two years old, had resistance written all over his body. Next to him was a man with a cold face. The father and son had very similar cold faces.
This is probably the photo that shows Chu Dai's uncles and aunts, with the father and son being picked out for a separate photo.
The fourth photo was a group photo. Gu Qingqing found Qin Lao and Chu Zhan. Xiao Xiao looked at them for a long time and wondered, "This seems to be the Southern Military Region. Why can't I see my father?"
Chu Yuan took a look and said calmly: "At that time, your father was only qualified to take photos."
Old Qin also smiled gently: "Your father is not as smart as you. It took him a long time to figure out how to use a camera."
Xiao Xiao grinned: "Then I have to go back and ask him if he still remembers this."
Chu Yuan hardly appeared afterwards. There were many photos of Chu Dai, all of which were taken by his uncles and aunts. Many of them have now been transferred out of the Southern Military Region.
Gu Qingqing had met many of them, and those who didn't come to her wedding with Chu Dai really couldn't come.
Just as Chu Yuan said, the back of the album was filled with blank pages. After reading it, Gu Qingqing was filled with emotion and returned the album to Chu Yuan.
The man frowned at her.
"Father," she said after thinking for a moment, "You are the head of the family, so I'll leave this album to you."
Chu Yuan looked at her for a long while, with a look of relief in his eyes, and nodded.
Holding the photo album, as if it were a treasure.
Gu Qingqing felt a little sad. The first two photos should be her father's only thoughts. The photo paper was yellowed and slightly curled, and the edges were frayed, which showed that they were often flipped through, but also carefully cared for.
She suppressed the sadness in her eyes and said, "Dad, let's go take a family photo in a couple of days."
“Okay.” Chu Yuan placed his hand on the hard cover of the album, his heart filled with emotions.
If you were still alive, you would have a large family by now.
Gu Qingqing said hello to her father and Old Qin, then took Xiao Xiao out of the bedroom.
She took two bottles of canned fruit from the living room cabinet and handed one to Xiao Xiao.
Xiao Xiao twisted it open and handed it back to her naturally. Gu Qingqing took it and put another bottle in her hand.
They went to the kitchen to get a spoon, one leaned on the stove and the other leaned on the door, looking at each other in silence.
Finally, it was Xiao Xiao who spoke first: "I used to think that Uncle Chu was too cruel to A-Dai. His attitude was the same as that towards his enemy." Now it seems that this is not the case at all. Uncle Chu has been suppressing the complicated emotions in his heart.
Gu Qingqing scooped up a spoonful of yellow peach chunks, brought them to her mouth, and nodded: "Dad loves him very much."
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