As the heat gradually recedes, one needs to wear a thicker coat when staying in the cave dwelling in the morning and evening.
Apple trees are planted on some of the small slopes in the village, and it's harvest season now.
Although not many trees were planted, this year's harvest was quite bountiful, and everyone was beaming with joy as they picked the apples.
The apples picked will be taken to the purchasing station to be sold, which is also a source of income for the team.
The value of a work point is calculated based on the team's total income for the previous year.
Haowan Village is considered a wealthy village. In a good year, one work point can be exchanged for 6 or 7 jiao, and even in a bad year, it can still be exchanged for 3 or 4 jiao.
Anyone who is willing to work hard, like Niu Quangen, can support six sons on their own and fill their stomachs to about 60-70% with sorghum flour and potatoes, without becoming a poor household.
After harvesting the apples, Qin Hanshu planted apple trees in her spatial dimension.
After wandering around the space for a while and enjoying the scenery, Qin Hanshu finally went out.
Outside the cave dwelling, a tiger was meowing.
Judging from her voice, she's already angry.
Qin Hanshu quickly opened the door, and the tiger darted in, circled around the cave, and then looked at Qin Hanshu.
It seems they suspect Qin Hanshu is eating something delicious all by herself inside...
Qin Hanshu patted the tiger's head and placed the apple she had brought out of her spatial storage on the ground. Upon seeing it, the tiger immediately rushed over, grabbed the apple with its two front paws, and began to gnaw on it!
"Wow! The little tiger can even gnaw on an apple!" Ma Chaoyang stood outside the door, looking in amazement at the tiger that had gnawed the apple down to the bone.
Ma Chaoyang handed Qin Hanshu a bowl containing dried small fish and dried crab.
"Erdan took me to catch these in the river, and I made them into dried fish for the little tiger."
Haowan Village is next to the river, but there are not many fish in the river, mostly small fish and shrimp.
So the team didn't care; whoever wanted to fish could fish.
During her time at the farm, Qin Hanshu asked Ma Chaoyang to feed the tigers for her for a few days, and unexpectedly, she developed feelings for them.
From then on, Ma Chaoyang often fed the tiger and played with it.
However, the tiger treated Ma Chaoyang no differently, remaining aloof and indifferent to everyone else. Upon hearing Ma Chaoyang's voice, it merely lifted its eyelids slightly, without even pausing its apple-eating.
Ma Chaoyang, however, kept exclaiming, "Our little tiger is so cute... the cutest kitten in the world..."
"Tsk tsk..." Qin Hanshu shook her head, "It ignores you."
Ma Chaoyang said nonchalantly, "It's just a little kitten, why should you pay attention to me?"
Qin Hanshu: "......"
Ma Chaoyang watched as the tiger finished eating the apple before turning to Qin Hanshu to get down to business.
"Didn't you say before that you knew someone who could mail you living supplies?"
Ma Chaoyang refers to Li Anguo, who resells tickets, as Qin Hanshu has already mentioned.
Qin Hanshu nodded and said, "Yes, what do you want?"
"How did you know I wanted something?" Ma Chaoyang chuckled. "Could he get his hands on a radio? The brand doesn't matter, but I'd like a miniature one for convenience."
Ma Chaoyang now has an extra job herding sheep. It's not tiring, but it's incredibly boring.
Whenever he could only stare blankly at the sheep grazing, he longed for a radio, even just to listen to model operas.
He had enough money to buy one, but he couldn't get a radio ticket in this area.
That's why I came to Qin Hanshu for help.
After hearing this, Qin Hanshu couldn't help but think of the miniature semiconductor device in her own space.
The one she sold earlier was something she'd scavenged from her own home; this one was brand new—she'd gone on a shopping spree before leaving, buying a radio to use up all her industrial coupons.
She had thought that the countryside would be boring and that the radio would come in handy, but after being here for so long, she found that her days were quite fulfilling and that the radio was of little use to her.
But if I were to sell it like the previous one, it would only be a secondhand sale, which I feel would be a loss.
Since Ma Chaoyang has come knocking on our door, we might as well sell that machine to him.
"I have a brand new one, I'll sell it to you at the original price, no receipt needed, do you want it?"
Ma Chaoyang was stunned for a moment before saying, "How come you have everything?"
Qin Hanshu explained, "I bought it before I was transferred to the queue, packed it in a box and carried it for over a thousand kilometers, but then I realized I didn't want to use it."
Ma Chaoyang immediately nodded and said, "Okay! I'll take it!"
This is even better; there's no need to wait, it'll be useful immediately.
Ma Chaoyang, who listened to the radio while herding sheep, quickly became known among the commune members as the "richest educated youth".
He even lived alone in a cave dwelling!
He bought a bicycle as soon as he arrived in the countryside!
I heard that he is usually very generous and cooks chicken every few days!
Although the claim of "three days or two days" is an exaggeration, Ma Chaoyang's image as a rich guy has been established in the minds of the members.
Compared to his high-profile lifestyle, Qin Hanshu, who actually lived a more luxurious life and ate meat every few days, didn't stand out as much.
***
Shortly after Qin Hanshu received Qin Feiyang's letter, the Zhou family also received a reply from Zhou Weiguang.
The letter detailed Qin Hanshu's identity.
The younger sister of Zhou Weiguang's comrade-in-arms.
Zhou Chang'an had already guessed it, so he wasn't too surprised.
In fact, Zhao Chunmiao and Zhou Ruilan knew this was probably the case, but they still couldn't help but be disappointed once again.
Zhao Chunmiao said sullenly, "Your third brother is the most easygoing one in our family. He even said that if he could marry someone like Xiao Qin, the educated youth, he wouldn't have to worry about the appearance of their children."
But now...
Zhou Ruilan disagreed with this statement, saying, "You can't say that. My third brother is quite handsome and very brave. He could even lift me up when we were little."
"Much better than my second brother, who gets panting even when he's carrying me on his bicycle..."
Zhao Chunmiao shook her head, still sticking to her own opinion, and sighed:
“He was already dark-skinned, but he got even darker after joining the army! Look at the photos he sent back, he even had to stand next to a coal pile to take the picture, I could hardly tell which was him and which was the coal pile.”
Zhou Chang'an and Zhao Chunmiao both have fair skin, and their children are also fair-skinned, except for Zhou Weiguang, whose skin is darker.
However, saying that it's indistinguishable from a coal pile is a complete exaggeration.
But Zhao Chunmiao's aesthetic preference is for fair skin; if someone isn't fair-skinned, they're definitely not considered good-looking.
"Let me think..." Zhao Chunmiao tried hard to recall, and finally said, "I guess your third brother took after your great-grandfather. When I first married into the family, your great-grandfather was still alive. My goodness, his face looked like it was covered in soy sauce. I was shocked when I first met him."
"To be honest, I used to suspect that there might have been some problem with the Zhou family's bloodline... It wasn't until your third brother was born that I gave up on that idea."
As she spoke, Zhao Chunmiao instructed her daughter, "You can't find a partner who's too dark-skinned, you know? It will affect your offspring."
Zhou Ruilan: "...I know."
Zhao Chunmiao: "Do you think we could try to matchmake Xiao Qin, the educated youth, with your third brother? But what if she doesn't like him?"
Just then, Qin Hanshu's voice rang out from outside.
"Aunt Zhao, are you home?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com