The Bai family received two more cans of food, something they might not even get to eat during the New Year.
However, Bai Shiqing had already taken them home, and if they weren't taken, it would be like slapping someone in the face. The two cans were like hot potatoes, and Deng Min put them in the cupboard, with no intention of eating them for the time being.
Now, Bai Shiqing feels embarrassed whenever she sees Li Shuxian at work.
"Hey, Bai Shiqing!"
Bai Shiqing was sorting potatoes in the field. The potatoes were first dug up by the male laborers, and then someone else would be hired to collect them.
This job has quotas; a certain number of potatoes must be picked from each acre to prevent anyone from stealing them and taking them home. Moreover, the potatoes picked must be cleaned of all mud, and it is forbidden to weigh them with mud on them.
This was no easy task. The rest of the team had already gone home, but Bai Shiqing had just finished.
Bai Shiqing's hands were numb all day. She had been lying on the ground all day and had very little strength left. Looking at the pile of potatoes at the edge of the field, she was worried about how to transport them back to the brigade warehouse.
"Li Shuxian, what are you doing here?"
Zheng Xu instructed Li Shuxian to go to the two neighboring villages to fetch green stalks to feed the pigs. He had just unloaded the goods in the pigsty and was now driving the oxcart to the brigade.
“I’ve brought back pig feed for the brigade leader. Here, put the potatoes on the truck bed. I’m going to return the truck to the brigade now.”
Bai Shiqing thought she would have to make several trips pushing her small wheelbarrow, but she never expected to encounter an oxcart.
Bai Shiqing certainly wouldn't refuse such a good offer: "That's wonderful, Comrade Li Shuxian, you're a real lifesaver!"
Li Shuxian grinned, jumped off the oxcart, and helped Bai Shiqing load the potatoes onto the cart, while also lifting the wheelbarrow from the edge of the field onto the cart bed.
"You go first, I'll walk there."
Bai Shiqing stood to one side of the oxcart, not intending to get on.
"Hey, come on up, let's be open and honest with each other."
Bai Shiqing wanted to avoid suspicion, but Li Shuxian insisted that she get in the car.
The potato planting site was at the foot of the mountain, far from where people lived in the village. Bai Shiqing thought about it and realized that the two of them were indeed doing the right thing and were not afraid of what others would say.
After Bai Shiqing sat down on the side of the oxcart, Li Shuxian gave the old ox in front of him a slap.
Will you still be here tomorrow?
Li Shuxian glanced at Bai Shiqing out of the corner of his eye.
"Yes, not many potatoes are grown in our village. There are only two groups of us working here, and it will take us two or three days."
Bai Shiqing felt apprehensive just thinking about it.
"Don't rush, take your time. I'll come help you push it later."
There aren't many people on the road right now; most are eating or gathering under trees to chat about everyday things.
"I can't accept that. I'll go back and talk to my older brother today, and he can come over after work tomorrow to help me push it!"
Bai Shiqing knew that Li Shiqing's family was nice, but she didn't expect them to be this nice, too nice, which made her feel a little uncomfortable.
Li Shuxian listened but didn't say much.
After delivering Bai Shiqing to the brigade, he had to unload the cart and drive the cattle back to the cowshed, so the two of them didn't go the same way.
"Shiqing, why are you walking with him?"
Chong Baishiqing, who was guarding the warehouse, squinted and gave him a mocking look.
"I ran into him on the street, and he felt sorry for me. Don't go around telling everyone!"
Bai Shiqing glanced at Li Shuxian's departing figure as he drove the cattle away, then looked away. After the cattle were weighed, she went home.
As a result, Bai Shihai figured out that Bai Shiqing hadn't gone home so late because she hadn't finished her work and had gone out to look for her.
Bai Shiqing went home and found Bai Shihai hadn't come home. Deng Min said, "Your brother was worried you wouldn't finish your work. You didn't even say anything when you came back at noon. Now the sky is full of stars."
“I was doing pretty well this morning, but I just couldn’t keep going. Luckily, Li Shuxian gave me a ride today. If I had to push it myself, I wouldn’t have been able to make it in one trip, and even if I did, it would have been exhausting to go back and forth in two trips.”
"Li Shuxian?"
Deng Min's eyes darted around; she was currently worrying about Bai Shiqing's marriage with Bai Shihai.
Bai Zhiman was quite open-minded, saying that Bai Shiqing's bad temper made it difficult for her to find a husband, and that she should just stay at home and remain an old maid.
Deng Min knew that Bai Zhiman was just saying it out of anger. Bai Shiqing was getting on in years and needed to settle down quickly, otherwise it would be harder and harder to find someone. After she turned twenty-five, she might only be able to find someone secondhand and become someone's stepmother.
Deng Min had heard Bai Shiqing talk about Li Shuxian many times in the past two days, and wondered if this was fate between the two of them.
Bai Shiqing added, "Yes, his family is really nice. He even said he'd come to help me tomorrow. I felt bad about it, so I told him that my older brother would definitely come over when he found out, and he didn't say anything more."
Based on Bai Shiqing's description, Deng Min felt that Li Shuxian might be interested in Bai Shiqing, but her second sister might not be interested.
Deng Min plans to discuss this matter with Bai Shihai when he returns.
Shen Heng has fallen in love with stir-fried clams. Now he goes to buy them as soon as he gets off work, buying three to five pounds at a time, and he can never get enough of them.
Bai Jiaojiao stopped him from buying any more: "Go to the supply and marketing cooperative tomorrow and buy some pork belly. We'll make braised pork."
Bai Jiaojiao made it for Shen Heng last Dragon Boat Festival, and Shen Heng liked it quite a bit. He likes things that are well-seasoned with oil, salt, soy sauce, and sugar. As soon as Bai Jiaojiao mentioned it, he immediately agreed.
"I'll buy some more noodles. Give me some food coupons back."
At first, Shen Heng promised Bai Jiaojiao that as long as she followed him, she could eat fine food every day.
But Bai Jiaojiao wouldn't eat alone. When she steamed buns or something, she would put some cornmeal in and eat with Shen Heng.
Shen Heng's appetite is enormous; he can eat a whole pound of steamed bun in one sitting and it's not even a dish to his liking.
Fortunately, everyone in the village knew that Shen Heng had a secret business, and no one dared to gossip about him when he went to the supply and marketing cooperative every few days.
Bai Jiaojiao pulled Shen Heng and compared the doorway to his: "Brother Heng, have you grown taller?"
Shen Heng ruffled Bai Jiaojiao's hair: "Where am I supposed to grow up? Do you think I'm a seventeen or eighteen-year-old young man?"
Bai Jiaojiao felt that her neck was even more sore now that she was looking up at Shen Heng.
Shen Heng loved how his little wife could handle things so easily. He kissed the top of her head and said, "Go and clean this clam quickly."
"Go fetch the water yourself first, I still have potatoes stewing in the pot."
Bai Jiaojiao likes to eat potatoes, but Shen Heng grimaces.
This bland and tasteless stuff is for unmarried men. He's enjoying himself now, so he doesn't need to eat this stuff.
"You should eat less too, or your face will turn yellow."
Bai Jiaojiao found it amusing: "Where did you hear that from?"
"That's what everyone says," Shen Heng said, drawing water from the well, his confidence boosted by Bai Jiaojiao's absence. "If you weren't pretty, I wouldn't want you. If you changed, I'd send you back to your parents' house immediately. Hiss..."
Shen Heng was pinched on the waist. He wanted to glare at Bai Jiaojiao, but he found that his unbelievably beautiful wife was looking up at him, just like a vixen.
Immediately: "I was wrong."
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