Adhering to the principle of asking questions when in doubt, Li Xiangyang asked the question that was on his mind.
"During the busy farming season, people expend a lot of energy and become extremely tired, so they need to eat well to replenish their strength. You can ask around in the village for meat and refined grains; some villagers will be willing to trade with you. You can also buy them at the grain station in town," Ye Chenming explained.
"Can we team up with you guys?" Yang Wei asked Ye Chenming.
Ye Chenming shook his head: "We already have too many people, so we can't."
“What if we fail to complete the mission?” Pan Gaozhi asked.
"If you don't complete the task, you'll lose work points. You'll find out when the grain and money are distributed at the end of the year." Ye Chenming was prepared to answer their questions properly today.
"We don't know where to gather firewood. Can you lead the way?" Yang Wei was troubled by the issue of gathering firewood.
“Observe things more often. Also, you need to prepare a machete and rope. You can buy the machete from the villagers for two yuan each. Make the rope yourself.” Liu Limin also joined in answering the questions.
The group fell silent. Pan Gaozhi stood up. She was going to go to the village to see which family was better off, so she could pay to join them and avoid having to cook and gather firewood.
After looking around, Yan Xiaonan's house was the best. In the countryside, a good house means a family is well-off. So she knocked on Yan Xiaonan's gate without hesitation. Bei Nan opened the door.
Bei Nan opened the door and immediately recognized the new educated youth. Somewhat impatiently, he asked, "What do you want?"
Pan Gaozhi recognized Bei Nan as soon as he saw him. This person had a good relationship with Ye Chenming and had come to the educated youth settlement to see Ye Chenming many times.
"I'm a new educated youth named Pan Gaozhi. I'd like to ask if it would be alright if I could stay at your place and eat with you?"
Bei Nan looked her up and down, then up again: "Trying to climb higher? There are no high branches for you to climb in my family. Go find someone else." With that, he slammed the door shut.
Pan Gaozhi almost hit his nose on the door. He was so angry that he kicked the gate. Just as he was about to curse, Bei Nan's voice came from inside: "If you dare to kick my door again, I'll cripple your leg."
The voice was cold, and Pan Gaozhi had no doubt about the truth of Bei Nan's words. He quickly turned around and left without daring to say another word.
When I passed by Wang Gou Dan’s house, I bumped right into Wang Er Niu, who had just come out.
Wang Erniu's chest was quite sturdy, and he bumped into Pan Gaozhi, causing her nose to bleed.
Pan Gaozhi covered his nose, his pent-up anger finally erupting: "Are you blind or heartless? Didn't you see someone at the door?!"
Wang Erniu originally wanted to go to the foot of the mountain to see if there was any wild game to feast on, just to try his luck. Ever since he fell out with Bei Nan, he had hardly eaten any meat except for the meat distributed at the end of the year in the village, and his mouth was practically tasteless.
Unexpectedly, I hit the jackpot today and met a female educated youth. I realized that I'm turning sixteen this year, and will be seventeen next year. It's time to find a wife, but my family's reputation is too bad, and no girl is willing to marry me.
Since someone has come to our door, we can't let them go: "You must be a new educated youth. Come in and wipe your nosebleed."
Pan Gaozhi really wanted to find some locals to share meals with, so after thinking about it, he decided to go in and take a look.
Wang Erniu solicitously invited Pan Gaozhi to sit down, fetched a basin of water, and even brought out the new towel that Wang Daniu had painstakingly scraped together to buy, placing it beside the basin before presenting it to Pan Gaozhi.
Seeing the clean washbasin and brand-new towel, Pan Gaozhi felt a sense of goodwill towards Wang Erniu. It seemed that this family was quite well-off, able to provide a new towel for a guest they were meeting for the first time.
Seeing Pan Gaozhi's clean face, Wang Erniu was a little disappointed. She really wasn't good-looking. Not to mention compared to Yan Xiaonan, or even Ye Chen'er, even his own daughters, Da Niu, Er Niu, and San Niu, were prettier than her.
But the country folk weren't looking for pretty girls; they wanted women with big hips and sturdy builds. Pan Gaozhi fit the bill perfectly—a sturdy little woman, a bit short, but with big hips and big breasts. She should...
"Have you eaten? Why don't you eat at my place?" Wang Erniu asked.
Speaking of food, Pan Gaozhi's stomach rumbled, and his face turned red: "Well, my name is Pan Gaozhi. I'm looking for someone to share meals with. There are too many people at the educated youth settlement, so cooking is inconvenient."
"It's good to live together!" Wang Erniu was overjoyed. "Okay, okay, you can join us. We usually eat two meals a day, and three meals a day during busy farming seasons."
Pan Gaozhi was delighted, but the price needed to be negotiated: "How much should I pay for a meal every day?"
Wang Erniu's eyes flashed: "I don't know either. Just give it to the educated youth from other villages as they would."
"I know one of my classmates lives with villagers and gets paid one yuan a month," Pan Gaozhi began to make up.
"It's only one yuan, which is a bit little, but it's just for an extra pair of chopsticks. It's fine, come on over," Wang Erniu said enthusiastically.
Pan Gaozhi immediately took out a dollar from his pocket and handed it to Wang Erniu: "It's the end of September now, I can eat until the end of October."
Wang Erniu nodded honestly: "Wait a moment, I'll go get you lunch."
A short while later, Wang Erniu brought out a bowl of steamed buns made from two kinds of flour, a bowl of thin porridge, and a jar of pickled vegetables: "People in the countryside don't have much to eat, so please make do with this for now."
Pan Gaozhi's eyes lit up when he saw that it was all fine grains. Goodness, it's even better than what he eats at home in the city. He picked up a steamed bun and stuffed it into his mouth. Mmm, delicious. He then picked up a bowl of porridge and poured it into his mouth. How can it be so delicious?
Seeing the woman's eating habits, Wang Erniu felt sorry for her. This was the family's lunch; they hadn't taken out the corn and sorghum pancakes from the pot.
After eating four steamed buns and two large bowls of porridge, Pan Gaozhi let out a satisfied burp and left, saying he would come again tomorrow morning.
Wang Gou Dan woke up from his afternoon nap, starving. He asked Wang Daniu to bring him some food, but there was still a thin layer of porridge left from the morning's cooking, and four steamed buns were missing. He couldn't help but yell.
Wang Erniu kicked him: "I let my wife eat it, what's your problem with that?"
Everyone~
Wang Gou Dan became interested. He was worried because no one wanted his son and daughter, especially his son, who was the only boy in the Wang family. How could he continue the family line if he didn't find a wife for him?
Wang Erniu recounted the whole story, and the more he talked, the brighter Wang Gou Dan's eyes became. So she was a woman with shallow eyes; that made things easier.
"Erniu's mother, go check how much money we have left?" Wang Gou Dan decided to help his son trick his wife back.
"There's still over forty yuan and some tickets at home." Erniu's mother was also very happy; now that her son had a wife, she would have a grandson.
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