58.058 The Fate of Boss Xu
As summer drew to a close, the peach orchards were closed, and brown-skinned pears became the mainstay of the cannery's production. The grapes and melons from the orchard were sold directly locally, bypassing the Pingqiu Town market. Ping An and Xiao Yuan became regulars at the orchard again, often getting up around four in the morning and riding a bicycle together behind their mother to the orchard while the sky was still dark.
The orchard workers were even more enthusiastic towards Ping An and Xiao Yuan than towards Su Yu. Sure enough, as soon as they parked their bicycles under a tree, the two boys walked off to the melon patch, greeting the passing villagers with practiced ease.
"Work for a while and then rest for a while. Don't just wander around in the field with your heads down. If you get heatstroke, I can't carry you two." Su Yu followed behind and instructed them. It was a very hot day, and the two of them not only didn't wear hats but also liked to go shirtless. She was worried that the two of them couldn't resist the encouragement of others and kept picking and carrying melons in the melon field.
"I know, I know." Ping An started running.
"Know nothing! They're both tanned like black donkey testicles; their skin reflects light when the lights are on at night." Seeing them grinning like that, Su Yu wanted to punch them. What kind of brats are these, taking pleasure in provoking you?
The oranges have started to swell. Thanks to the insects that were shaken off the trees in the spring, many orange blossoms were shaken off. Now that the orange trees have fruit, there is no need to thin them out. The fruit is evenly distributed and developing normally.
The weather was too hot and it hadn't rained for a long time, so even the peach trees that had already been closed for the season started to be watered. The men carried water up the mountain, while the women used ladles to water the base of the trees. When the water supply couldn't keep up, they would pluck insects from the leaves and put them into small baskets woven from sorghum stalks to take back to feed the chickens and ducks.
"I was just about to call you, and here you are! Look at these melons, the flesh inside is always rotten, dry, yellow, and hard. Do you have any ideas?" Yu Yuan'an handed her a broken melon. The sweetest part of the melon had hard lumps in the flesh, which greatly affected the taste. But apart from the taste, there was no other harm. The melons still grew, so without cutting them open, you had no idea which ones had lumps and which ones didn't, or when they grew.
Su Yu knew about this; she had eaten melons like this when she was a child. Back then, she would peel off the pulp and seeds, wash them, and continue eating. But the melons she bought after growing up rarely had diseased pulp. She didn't know if it was due to the seeds or improper care.
"Both are true. The main problem is improper fertilization and watering during the growth process, or the stems and leaves being infected with pathogens, which makes the inside of the melons prone to spoilage." Shu Manpo said somewhat hesitantly, "The melons from this era are made from old seeds. They taste good, but the fruits aren't very big. Also, there aren't any melon varieties from other places, so it's difficult to change their genes. Moreover, the vines are messy, making it even harder to find which leaf or stem is infected. You shouldn't waste your time on this. Just be careful when watering, fertilizing, and picking the melons, and don't damage the stems and leaves. The taste of the melons will be less affected." Shu Manpo couldn't do anything about it. He didn't need medicine or seeds, so he simply stopped talking about unrelated things to avoid Su Yu wasting time on her appetite.
Su Yu squatted down and turned over the melon vines. Indeed, many of them were trampled. She relayed, "Be careful when watering, fertilizing, and picking melons. Don't step on the main stems and leaves. That might help. I rarely see books about melons or vegetables."
“That’s true. I also went to the county to look for books, but I didn’t see any information about it.” Yu Yuan’an picked up a watermelon from a bucket next to him, smashed it in half with his fist, handed one to Su Yu, and let Liu Quan take it himself.
He beckoned Xiao Yuan and Ping An to come over and eat some melon, and as he turned around, he casually told Liu Quan, "Keep an eye on the grape trellis, lest the birds peck at the ripe grapes and ruin them again."
Liu Quan paused, the melon in his mouth suddenly felt a little sour, and he squeezed out a "hmm" from his throat. He didn't want to pay attention when Ping An and Xiao Yuan came over to call him "Uncle". Seeing Su Yu and Yu Yuan'an chatting and laughing, he couldn't help but narrow his eyes.
"Is Ping An your nickname or your formal name?" Yu Yuan'an took a liking to this lively and energetic boy and struck up a conversation with him as Ping An squatted down.
"My formal name is Ning Ping'an, and my nickname is Ping'an. Call me whatever you like, I'll accept it."
"That's a good surname. 'Ning' pronounced softly sounds like 'May you be safe and sound,'" Yu Yuan'an joked. Then she asked Xiao Yuan, "And you? Ning Xiao Yuan or Ning Yuan? Or is there some other character in between?"
Xiao Yuan's teeth slipped when he heard this, and he bit into two watermelon seeds that he was about to spit out. The hard seed shells rubbed against his tongue, so he turned around and spat out the watermelon pulp in his mouth. He said, "My surname is not Ning, my surname is Xu, and my name is Xu Yuan. If you pronounce Yuan in the fourth tone, you can call me Xu Yuan, and you will respond."
He felt a little regretful that such a good melon was being wasted, and that continuing to eat it wouldn't taste as good as before.
"Xu?" He glanced at Su Yu, then at the two children, and realized that the two children did not resemble each other at all.
"How old are the two children?" he asked Su Yu.
“One is just over nine years old, and the other is a month shy of eight.” Su Yu said naturally, “My current husband’s surname is Ning, and my ex-husband’s surname is Xu. My two sons have different fathers and mothers, but they are now raised by the same parents, just like brothers.”
You wouldn't guess that these two kids get along so well. They call each other "Dad" and "Mom" so affectionately. If it weren't for this sudden question today, I would have thought they were brothers.
"That's great, they're both good kids, and it's fate that brought them together." Yu Yuan'an was a little embarrassed. They had kept it a secret all along, and now he had exposed it. He was really being nosy and asking unnecessary questions.
"We just finished eating watermelon, let's rest for a while before picking more, so we don't bend over and upset our stomachs." Su Yu called out to Xiao Yuan and Ping An, telling them to take bamboo poles to the vineyard to scare away the birds.
"I'll go with you two. Walking around for a while will help me eat more at lunchtime." Liu Quan was in a good mood and took the initiative to find work to do, not feeling that it was a waste of his talents to do the work of a factory worker.
Only Yu Yuan'an and Su Yu remained under the pergola. He pulled weeds for a while, then looked up at Su Yu to apologize and promised not to tell anyone about it.
"No, we didn't intend to hide this situation. Many people in our town know about it. There's no need to hide it or bring it up. We don't even call the two children by their surnames at home. Besides, this matter has little to do with my work, so you don't need to feel sorry."
Seeing that Su Yu truly didn't mind, Yu Yuan'an smiled and indicated that he understood. He also tactfully refrained from asking further questions about her family situation.
But Liu Quan was different. He followed his two children around trying to find out private information, especially from Ping An, who was practically asking openly if he was having a good time at home.
"Are there any younger siblings in your family? No? Just the two of you? How many years have your mom and dad been married?"
Xiao Yuan threw the bamboo pole in his hand to the ground, looked up at him, and said impatiently, "You're even more talkative than the old lady in our alley. Why are you asking so many questions? You're not acting like a man, you chatterbox."
"You, you brat!" Liu Quan was furious. Seeing that Ping An, who had just been speaking politely, was now throwing dirt at him, he swung his bamboo pole to beat them both.
"Mom, someone's going to hit us!" Ping An grabbed Xiao Yuan and ran, shouting as they ran.
"Shut up, don't shout." Liu Quan chased them for a few steps, but found that the more he chased them, the more shrill their cries became. He stopped, threw down the bamboo pole, spun around a few times, picked it up again, and walked into the vineyard, intending to avoid them.
Even at lunchtime, no matter how hard Liu Quan tried to avoid it, he still ran into Su Yu and her group. He was on tenterhooks for several hours, and he was even more frightened by the strange looks of the two little brats sticking out their tongues and pulling at his eyelids.
"Liu Quan, what's wrong with you..."
"I didn't, they're talking nonsense." He interrupted Qiu Fuli, intending to deny it to the bitter end.
"What nonsense are you talking about? Hurry up, everyone's waiting for you. You're walking like a young lady, so slow." Qiu Fuli urged. The sun was blazing, and he, a grown man, was walking slower than an old lady. It was really annoying.
"They're here." He breathed a sigh of relief and hurried over, unusually greeting Su Yu. Only when he saw her smiling and speaking did he feel at ease. He put his hands behind his back and made a shooting gesture at the two little brats to vent his anxiety. He was terrified; he was in a hurry to go on a blind date and couldn't afford to have any bad reputation spread.
"Mom," Xiao Yuan called out, but the man immediately pulled his fingers back and clenched them into a fist. He then grinned and said, "I was just saying it for fun."
"Quite mischievous," Qiu Fuli laughed.
"It's pretty infuriating," Su Yu said.
When they arrived at the canteen, Su Yu took the two boys to get their food. Su Yu always paid extra for their food coupons and money when they came to eat at the canteen. Qiu Fuli had said he didn't want it, but Su Yu insisted on giving it to him. Giving money and coupons made it easier to order food. Every time the two boys came, she would add three extra bowls of steamed eggs, so she could have an extra meal in a legitimate way.
It was hot in the afternoon, so Su Yu was in the warehouse looking at notes—Yu Yuan'an's work notes from over the years. Ping An and Xiao Yuan slept on mats on the floor. It wasn't until after four o'clock in the afternoon that the three of them went to the orchard. The two of them went to pick pears for people, their diligence making Qiu Fuli happy to see them.
"You bought so much again?" Qiu Fuli saw Su Yu's mother and her two children carrying bags to weigh them. He opened the bags and saw three watermelons, five or six cantaloupes, and an unknown number of pears. He held the bags and asked, "If you buy so much at once, I estimate we won't see any unpaid laborers for several days."
"That's exactly what we were planning." Su Yu took out the money and said, "The summer isn't even over yet, and these two are so tanned. When the lights are off at night and they take off their pants, their upper bodies just disappear, leaving only their four white legs."
They're both growing taller, and they spend their days happily working in the orchard, picking melons and climbing pear trees to pick pears. They're full of energy when they're awake, because they find it fun. But if they really have to get up early every day to work, they might actually get too tired and stop growing.
Moreover, they are stubborn and cannot stand being praised by adults. If the adults are lazy and just stand there and stuff nice words into their ears, these two simpletons will turn red-faced and stick their butts out in the field to knock on watermelons.
"Go back and rest for a few days before coming back to play. In a while, the grapes will be ripe in bunches, and they'll all be sold out if you come late." Qiu Fuli continued to encourage the two simple-minded boys. Su Yu had raised them to be energetic, talkative, mischievous but not annoying. They were stubbornly working for free with the intention of eating the grapes back home. They were quite amusing, and everyone who saw them wanted to tease them.
Ping An and Xiao Yuan stole glances at Su Yu, and seeing that she ignored them, Xiao Yuan said coquettishly, "We'll listen to our mom. We can only come if she tells us to."
"Okay, I'll remind your mom to bring you two to climb the grape trellis later." Seeing the two boys' faces light up, Qiu Fuli added, "After you finish picking the grapes, I'll give you five pounds for free."
"I'll definitely come." He immediately forgot to ask his mother's opinion.
When they left the orchard at six o'clock, it was still quite sunny. Su Yu didn't take off her hat, gloves, or scarf. She rode her bike ahead carrying melons, ignoring the occasional calls for her mother from behind. Now, whenever she heard the word "mother," she reflexively wanted to cover her ears. She couldn't hear it!
Upon arriving in town, she heard a heart-wrenching cry. Approaching, she saw a man crying in pain being pulled on an oxcart, with an old woman walking and sobbing beside it. Su Yu quickly got off the cart and pushed it aside to let it pass. Once the cart had passed, she recognized the man on it as Xu Laoda, his left hand a bloody mess.
She waved for the two children who had just caught up to go to the alley next door. Grandma Xiaoyuan glanced at her, then turned around and continued running. She didn't recognize Su Yu, who was bundled up tightly, nor did she recognize Xiaoyuan, who looked like a completely different person.
The next day, Su Yu went to the hospital to inquire about the situation. She only learned that Xu Laoda's left hand was probably unable to function properly, but she couldn't find out how it got like that.
Su Yu didn't want to argue with Xiao Yuan at this time, so she didn't go to work. She brought a watermelon, three cantaloupes, and a lot of pears, and asked Xiao Yuan and Ping An to accompany her back to her parents' home. Unexpectedly, her father knew the situation.
"Around April, I heard that someone reported him, and the quarry was going to fire him. He, his mother, and his wife sat at the factory gate crying and wailing, mourning his tragically deceased second brother. After making a scene, he went to the quarry to break stones. His salary didn't change, and it seems it even increased a little." At this point, the old man cursed, "Serves him right."
"And then you hit your hand while knocking down the stone?" Su Yu asked.
"Pretty much. He hadn't done any physical labor for three or four years. He suddenly tried to smash a stone, and he was as clumsy as a pig. He was scolded so badly that he couldn't lift his head. I always felt that something bad would happen to him. People who are willing to work hard and study diligently die under stones. How could his talent for making a fortune alone continue to be successful?" Considering that he was Xiao Yuan's biological father, he didn't say anything vicious, but now that the bastard's left hand was crippled, he was very happy.
Xiao Yu was so oppressed by his family that she was lifeless and her cries were filled with despair. If it weren't for the fact that her grandson was a good child, Su Yu would have cried herself blind and he would have dragged her back and remarried her immediately.
Serves them right! They were greedy and vicious, and now they're getting their comeuppance. The eldest son is ruined, the second son is dead, and the third son is locked up. That wicked old woman who called his daughter a jinx should also suffer the consequences.
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