41. 041 Peering into the orchard
Throughout the meal, Xiao Yuan and Ping An stared at the two people opposite them with curious yet shy eyes. Compared to Su Yu's composure, Ning Jin's ears turned bright red, her eyes darted around, and she would occasionally look up to meet the four curious eyes, give them a weak glare, and then bury her head in her food again.
"Alright, alright, you can't see anything even if you stare with your eyes wide open." Su Yu tapped the table with her knuckles, signaling the two little brats to stop. "It's just kissing. When you get married, you'll be kissing every day."
"Cough..." Ning Jin choked on the blunt words, inhaling a grain of rice into his trachea. Suppressing the itching, he scolded in a low voice, "What nonsense are you talking about? Eat your food." He glanced at the people opposite him, seeing them pick up their bowls and start eating, then glared at Su Yu. How could anyone talk to children like that? Aren't they ashamed? She was so embarrassed when she saw the two kids blowing on a condom before, and now, after such a short time, she's openly talking about kissing!
"Xiao Yuan, your household registration has been transferred here. Your dad handled it for you. From now on, you'll be able to receive grain and oil every month," Su Yu said.
"Thank you, Dad." After thanking him, he continued eating. He had no shortage of food or clothing, and no one had ever teased him about it. Compared to grain and oil, he was happier to be registered in the same household as his mother.
Ning Jin has been back for three days, and he's leaving again tomorrow. Tonight he's going to clear out all his belongings so he can have room to continue accumulating public funds.
"Don't say anything about kissing in front of the child," he instructed, panting heavily.
"It's just kissing, what's wrong with that? They must be happy to see how close we are. Nobody doesn't want their parents to have a good relationship." Adults often try to keep things related to human reproduction a secret from their children, considering it a shameful, embarrassing, or even pornographic topic. But who isn't curious about these things when they're young? The physical and physiological changes that come with puberty can lead them to explore the physical aspects of male and female bodies.
"No, you can't kiss me in front of them anymore." He was too embarrassed to admit it and couldn't convince anyone, so he had no choice but to give up this great benefit.
"Can we kiss now?" She pinched his old-fashioned chin, and before he could speak, she hooked her legs around his waist and dangled them in the air, arched her back, pressed her face against his chest muscles, and rolled her tongue into an open cotton ball. The cotton fibers seemed to be blown away by the wind, leaving specks of bright color.
"Hold on tight, don't fall and smash me onto the bed. If my back gets hurt, you're doomed." Her lips didn't move, and every time they opened and closed, they touched the sweat-dampened skin. "Your heart is beating so fast, are you sick?" She deliberately provoked him, trying to distract him. His trembling made her uncomfortable, but she didn't want to admit defeat.
The man didn't speak. He was thinking that his arm still needed more training. It felt like it was about to dislocate from the weight, but the soreness and pain were even more intoxicating.
"The weather's warmer now." He lay sprawled on the bed, not feeling cold even without a blanket.
"Should we raise the wall around our yard?" He kept talking, otherwise he could have fallen asleep during this period of mental blankness, since there was still an ancestor next to him who hadn't been served yet.
There was no sound. He rolled over and lifted the woman's head; her eyes were already closed, and the stray hairs on her forehead were soaked with sweat. He brushed them away to prevent them from stinging her eyes. After the feeling of almost reaching ecstasy subsided, he got out of bed and poured water from the thermos to wipe her body. She was unhappy if she felt sticky or tight on her body in the morning; she would be so irritable that she wanted to bite someone.
"Ha, you blocked the door when you were taking a shower and wouldn't let me see, but you're so generous when you need me to serve you." He blew on the towel and was unexpectedly kicked. He became obedient and quickly dried himself off. He also wiped himself off haphazardly, threw the towel into the basin, and crawled into bed.
The next day, while cooking, the man rolled up his trouser legs to show everyone. Su Yu glanced at them and saw that both knees were bruised, with some scrapes and abrasions, the bruises showing traces of blood.
"If you miss me, just touch my knee." Su Yu smiled and winked at him.
"Then my pants will get torn."
"Oh, you have a sweet tongue."
Seeing her like this, and remembering yesterday's accident, Ning Jin subconsciously covered her mouth, looking as if she wouldn't allow herself to be violated.
"What a disgrace," Su Yu said with a laugh.
After breakfast, Ningjin took a bowl to feed Xiaohei, patted its round bottom, and instructed it: "Be a good watchdog. When I'm not home, I'm entrusting the whole family to you. Don't doze off at night. If a thief comes, bite him. I'll pay for the damages. I won't skimp on your food."
"Let's go, let's go." Su Yu pushed him. "With our family's reputation for calling the police at the drop of a hat, who would dare to force their way in?"
"Ping An, Xiao Yuan, hurry up and go to school after you've washed the dishes. Lock the door and don't let Xiao Hei out," she instructed.
"good."
The day after leaving Ningjin, Su Yu asked for leave and borrowed Wang Xiaoxia's bicycle to go to the orchard in the neighboring county. Although they were two counties, they were on the border. Su Yu arrived in half an hour by bicycle. She parked the bicycle at the foot of a hill and walked up to it. She asked the man watering the fruit trees, "Comrade, is Manager Qiu here?" Manager Qiu was in charge of all the miscellaneous matters in the orchard.
"You're looking for him? He's over there in Taoyuan. Go find him yourself." The man saw that she was neatly dressed and looked energetic, so he assumed she knew Manager Qiu and gave her directions directly.
Thank you.
Su Yu went to the peach orchard next door, where two middle-aged men were talking. Both of them had dark yellow complexions, and one of them had fingers covered in dirt and grime, including his fingernails.
"Manager Qiu?" she called out to the two people.
The other man, whose hands were clean, turned around, glanced at Su Yu, and asked in confusion, "Who are you?"
"My name is Su Yu, and I work at Maoyuan Canned Food Factory. I've come to see you today to tell you something I know. If it can help the orchard, I'd like to exchange it for some fruit," Su Yu said with a smile.
After hearing the first two sentences, Qiu Fuli thought it was someone from the cannery who had come to talk to him about something, but the latter part didn't seem like it. He frowned and looked at the woman who had suddenly appeared, asking, "What is it?"
“I passed by here last winter and saw that there was a problem with a patch of orange trees, but I wasn’t sure. This year I kept an eye on the news here, and sure enough, it was just as I guessed. So I took leave to come and take a look. If my method can help the orchard reduce its losses, then my talent in this area won’t be wasted.” Yes, talent. With a professional by her side, Su Yu didn’t dare to make up how many books she had read. Trying to show off her skills in front of an expert would be exposed as soon as she was poked.
The two men glanced at her fair hands, their brows furrowing in amusement. Whose young wife dared to act like a genius after reading a few books? "Our fruits are limited in quantity; we don't sell them privately or give them away. Don't make rash moves just to get a bite to eat," Qiu Fuli laughed. He had never seen such a confident person before, and he couldn't bear to scold her.
"The oranges on the third hill on the right are sour and astringent. They're the same variety as the oranges here, but the taste and peel are very different. I see that the hill over there is higher, and the grass is sparse. I guess there are more stones in the soil there, and they're buried deeper. The topsoil is firm, but the bottom layer is loose, so rainwater runs off quickly and doesn't seep in. The lower soil layer is dry, and the soil acidity changes. It's a bit like the saying 'oranges from the south become trifoliate oranges when grown in the north.'" Su Yu repeated what Shu Manpo said in her own words, pointing out that the hill over there was not suitable for orange trees to grow.
"Manager Qiu, and this comrade, I'm not making this up. I'm a girl from Xinhe Brigade who married out of the village. You can send someone to inquire. The winter wheat we planted last year was better than in previous years. The roots and stems were thicker, making it less prone to lodging, and the ears of wheat were fuller. I was the one who suggested intercropping the seeds." She told the man with soil on his hand about her views on inbreeding in crops.
"How old are you? Did you go to college?" the man asked.
“I’m 28 this year. I didn’t go to university, I only graduated from junior high school. But I grew up crawling on the land. I got married at nineteen and worked in the fields for twelve years. After getting married, I farmed for six more years. I’ve also read a lot of books on farming, so I know quite a bit about the habits of crops. For example, this peach tree is very attractive to insects. If we don’t spray pesticides during the flowering and fruiting period, we’ll get half the fruit.”
Su Yu knew that her educational background made it hard for people to believe her, so she started from the perspective of a hardworking farmer. After all, farmers throughout history had not received formal education on farming; they had mostly learned through trial and error.
"What books have you read?" At this point, Qiu Fuli stopped talking and handed the stage to the man next to him.
Su Yu recounted all the books she had bought and the ones she had salvaged from the recycling center, and then added, "I'm not asking for anything. My current job is in the logistics department; it's leisurely and comfortable, and it's not worth coming up with any bad ideas to disrupt my peaceful life. It's just that I've come across this kind of knowledge, and I feel restless if I don't share it. If you ask me for any good solutions, I wouldn't dare to say." Su Yu chuckled jokingly and said, "This must be the doctor for the fruit trees. I'll explain the cause of the problem, but the diagnosis and treatment will depend on him. If I'm right, could you share some of the damaged fruit with me during peak season? I have two greedy kids at home." She shrugged sheepishly.
After saying that, she waved her hand and went down the mountain. It seems she took too much of her two-day vacation. Well, who would believe the words of a layman when there are technical personnel to guide them? She should just keep working. She can be a little thick-skinned and go out more often. She can slowly wear them down. Anyway, she has the cheat code of "trees covering the slope". What she says is not nonsense.
"Mom, why are you still at home? Aren't you going to work?" Xiao Yuan asked the woman sitting in the yard, sunbathing and petting her dog, while carrying his schoolbag.
"I've taken leave. I'm off today. You should go to school now."
"Are you sick?" Xiao Yuan asked anxiously.
"No, I'm fine. I was planning to visit your grandparents tomorrow. I asked for leave to come back and make some dumplings to take to them tomorrow." Su Yu said half-jokingly, shooing the two boys out the door and telling them to come back after school to learn how to cook with her.
If she can work in the orchard in the future, it's unrealistic for her to rush back to cook lunch.
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