Zheng Xu returned with three male piglets and one female piglet, and happily pulled them back to the pigpen in an oxcart.
Unexpectedly, the usually quiet pigsty was surprisingly lively.
What are you doing here?
Zheng Xu saw Li Xiulian holding her bedding at the door, crying to her mother, and couldn't help but ask her about it.
Zhou Hongxia immediately spoke up for Li Xiulian, saying, "Last time, Bai Shiqing was hit by that kid Shen Hui, right? Today, he said that Li Xiulian was the one who instigated it. At first, she didn't want to admit it, but she was exposed, and the village chief sent her to the pigsty for reformation so that she wouldn't be able to come out and harm people."
Li Xiulian was too ashamed to argue. Her mother sighed deeply after hearing Zhou Hongxia's words, feeling embarrassed as well, and let go of Li Xiulian's hand: "There are still some things to do at home. Take care of yourself."
"Mother!"
Li Xiulian tried to chase after him, but Zhou Hongxia stopped her: "Where are you going? The village chief told me to bring you here. Don't make me regret it!"
Zheng Xu's good mood was completely gone.
What kind of situation is this? In the past year, he hasn't been able to attend any of the major events in Shili Village. Whenever something happens, he's either in a meeting or dealing with pigs. He's usually happy, but when he returns to the village, everything has changed drastically, straight up and down, without any buffer.
Zheng Xu glanced at Li Xiulian. Since the village chief had already imposed the punishment, he couldn't care less. He just told Lao Xu to keep a close eye on the piglets.
Once the matter was settled, no one cared except for Li Xiulian.
The pigsty in Shili Village is not big. Because several piglets have been added, the only place for Li Xiulian to live is the area next to the pigsty where feed is piled up.
Seeing her look disgusted, Old Xu sneered, "You should be grateful that I didn't make you live in a pigsty with the pigs. A few years ago, when we were sent down to the countryside for reform, we lived in pigsties and ate and slept with the pigs!"
Old Xu had a cold and ruthless appearance, and all the young women and wives in the village were afraid of him. Hearing him say that, Li Xiulian shuddered in fear.
"Don't think of this as a place to recuperate. There are too many pigs now, so you have to lend a hand, or there won't be any food for you."
Old Xu snorted coldly and gave Li Xiulian a few words of reprimand.
Li Xiulian was terrified. Although Yu Wenli had cleaned up the pigsty much better than before, and the smell would be lighter in winter, it was still a pigsty. Inside the feed room, the smell of feed mixed with the smell of pig manure made Li Xiulian feel unclean all over.
Yu Wenli heard the commotion outside, but he just listened for a moment and realized that it was another person who had been harmed by Bai Jiaojiao!
.
Bai Shihai felt that now that Bai Shibao had decided to stay in the village to work, he should hurry up and find him a wife. After the New Year, they could get married at a good time, and then Bai Shihai's task for the family would be completed.
“In just a few days, our family has saved up nearly a thousand yuan. No matter what kind of wife Shi Bo has, this amount of money will be enough.”
Deng Min took out all the money and showed it to Bai Shihai so that he could have a plan in mind.
Bai Shibao started earning money with Bai Jiaojiao in the fall. In the past three months, although he earned little at the beginning, he could not sell ten catties of pastries a day.
But ever since Deng Min took over this business, the processing fees have also gone into their pockets. They have money to buy their own ingredients, so they make more every day. They don't have to worry about selling these pastries at all. In this small town, everyone who comes to the black market is looking for these novelties in Bai Shibao's hands.
If we wait another month, this thing will sell like hotcakes by the end of the year.
Bai Shihai told Deng Min to quickly put the money away: "You'll have to take care of this for him. Find someone to help you inquire. Our family doesn't have any other requirements, as long as the person is of good character. Don't bring any bad people into the house, Bozi can't handle them."
Deng Min laughed and said, "You're really funny. Shouldn't you ask Bozi what kind of wife you're looking for? It's not like you're the one looking for a wife."
"Can he be as lucky as me?" Bai Shihai moved closer to Deng Min, but Deng Min pushed him away.
He leaned closer again: "But if you're looking for a matchmaker, don't go for that one from Xiangyang Village. Last time, he even tried to help the Zhu family trick our Shiqing into marrying into the family. His heart is rotten."
"She probably didn't know what was going on at the time. But I'm not contacting her anymore; I do feel uncomfortable about it."
"Um."
The two discussed it and decided to ask Bai Shibao for his opinion tomorrow.
Bai Shibao had to wake up at three o'clock every day, go to Bai Jiaojiao's house to borrow a bicycle, and then take some snacks to town.
In the dead of winter, it's difficult to get out of bed in the middle of the night, but Bai Shibao is the most hardworking. He thinks that if he sells the pastries every day, his family can earn an extra ten yuan or so. Bai Shibao wishes that there were only mornings.
Bai Shibao rode his bicycle with a large basket tied to each side of the seat behind him, each containing a total of thirty jin (approximately 15 kg) of glutinous rice strips. It would take some skill to carry that weight.
He could sell out almost everything in one go.
Bai Shibao methodically sold Jiangmi Tiao (a type of rice noodle) on the black market. Although it was still some time before the Lunar New Year, many people were getting married at this time of year, as it was a once-in-a-lifetime event, and everyone was willing to spend money to buy a few kilograms to celebrate.
Bai Shibao was about to pack up his stall. He gathered the drawer cloth into his carrying basket and had just tied it onto his cart when he heard someone call out to him, "Isn't this Bai Shibao?"
Hearing your name on the black market is not a good sign.
Although we all live in the same town, when we bump into a familiar face, we just exchange glances and pretend nothing happened.
Bai Shibao turned his head to see who was being so unruly.
"Master?"
Bai Shibao looked at Yan Xingmin's face, feeling a mix of emotions.
Because of the cold winter weather, Yan Xingmin's voice sounded somewhat unnatural, and Bai Shibao didn't recognize it immediately.
"I can't afford that. No wonder you left so easily. You came here to make your fortune."
Yan Xingmin had heard that someone was selling a snack called Jiangmi Tiao on the black market, and he wanted to buy some to give as a gift. After entering the black market, he felt that the figure selling the snack looked familiar, but it was almost pitch black in winter and the sun was setting. Yan Xingmin was not sure if it was Bai Shibao, so he stood there for a long time before daring to call out to him when the stall was closing up.
"You don't need to say that. Everyone knows what happened when I left."
Bai Shibao's heart was pounding. Yan Xingmin harbored resentment towards him and might expose him.
He packed his things quickly, jumped into the car, and sped away like the wind.
He got home at about 6:30, just as dawn was breaking. Deng Min had already prepared breakfast, and the whole family was waiting for him to come home and eat.
"Father, it's all over!"
Bai Shibao was very uneasy the whole way, and almost rode his bicycle into the ditch by the roadside.
"What happened?" Bai Zhiman's heart skipped a beat when he saw Bai Shibao's expression. "Did someone see the deal?"
The only thing that could make Bai Shibao make that expression now must be a business deal.
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