After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the weather gradually gets cooler.
The corn harvest at Lijiapo is finished, and the Qiongsu watermelons will be ripe soon. This year, the crops were planted in batches, so the watermelons will ripen in batches as well.
Zhao Sufang has been talking about it a lot at home these past few days, estimating that Bai Yufeng should be giving birth soon.
Li Lan comforted her mother, "Uncle Yulong will come over in a few days to deliver oranges. Ask him about the details."
“Yingzi is over four months pregnant now. Lanzi, pack some more goose eggs and have Xiangdong send them over later.”
After learning that Li Ying was pregnant, Zhao Sufang specially went to a fellow villager's house and bought four geese that had already laid eggs.
Li Ying saved all the eggs laid by the goose. The elders said that pregnant women could eat goose eggs to clear fetal toxins, which was good for the baby.
After settling Li Ying in, Zhao Sufang started worrying about Li Lan, "Lanzi, your aunt has introduced you to a thirty-year-old bachelor. Do you want to meet him?"
Li Lan isn't very interested in men anymore. "They're gone, so it's pointless."
She no longer needs to rely on a man to live, and she doesn't need to rush to find a meal ticket!
A few days later, Bai Yulong indeed arrived, bringing not only five tons of oranges to the food factory, but also some good news.
"Sister, Yufeng gave birth! Six pounds and three ounces! A big, healthy boy!"
Zhao Sufang couldn't stop smiling and pulled Bai Yulong aside to ask him to explain in detail.
"On the evening of the sixth day of the tenth lunar month, we had just finished dinner when Yu Feng went into labor. I rushed to find a midwife, and by the time I carried her home, my little nephew had already been born!"
Bai Yulong slapped his thigh and said, "When I saw it, wow, it was pitch black, with small eyes and a big nose. When it cried, it was very loud, like a big rat."
Zhao Sufang laughed through her tears, "Newborn babies aren't pretty, but they'll grow out of it."
Bai Yulong shook his head, "I didn't see it. That's why I rushed over to transport the oranges."
"Can you stay home and rest for a few days?"
"I can't rest anymore, sister. I still have to go to Bincheng and Yanjing with Chaochao."
"Alright, take the things to my nephew."
Zhao Sufang climbed onto the kang (a heated brick bed), opened the kangqin (a traditional heated brick bed instrument), took out a small cloth bag, opened it, and found a small silver lock and two small silver bracelets inside.
"Okay, sis! Make me something to eat, I'm starving!"
Bai Yulong and He Chaochao still had to travel tonight, so Zhao Sufang quickly made them hand-pulled noodles. Li Lan made minced meat sauce, and also gave them a plate of braised dishes, a small dish of preserved vegetables mixed with sesame oil, and a few heads of purple garlic.
The two of them kicked and shoved a pot of hand-pulled noodles, and only then did they feel alive again. These past few days they had been living a life of hardship, eating and drinking poorly.
...
Five tons of oranges were quickly made into canned oranges.
Recently, canned mandarin oranges from Lijiapo Food Factory have been selling exceptionally well. Many children like to eat a jar of canned mandarin oranges when they have a cold or fever, and they feel better after finishing it.
Just as canned yellow peaches are believed to bless every child in Northeast China, many years later, they also say that canned oranges are believed to bless every child in Zhao Province.
Li Xiangdong has been living an incredibly carefree life lately, doing nothing but eating, drinking, and counting money.
They're counting money until their hands cramp up.
After deducting costs, the fritillaria bulbs sold for 1,456 yuan, the oranges for 4,198 yuan, and the mushrooms for 7,300 yuan. Li Xiangdong, Bai Yulong, He Chaochao, and Luo Yonggang split the profits equally, with each person receiving 3,237 yuan.
Li Xiangdong wrapped all three hundred-plus ten-yuan bills in cloth, put them in a camphor wood box, and then hid them.
December 18, 1978 (Gregorian calendar)
A conference of great significance in Chinese history was held in Yanjing.
The meeting lasted for five days, rejected the "two whatevers" principle, decided to overturn wrongful convictions, and determined to shift the country's focus to economic development.
The decision made at this meeting was broadcast throughout every corner of China via the brigade's loudspeakers.
Although the farmers didn't fully understand these things, they had a special intuition that the social atmosphere was about to change.
More than a month has passed, and it will be the Spring Festival.
President Yu had three tickets for a color TV. He gave one to Li Xiangdong and said, "A 14-inch Panda brand color TV, 1699 yuan each. Do you want to buy it?"
"Buy it! We absolutely have to buy it!"
Li Xiangdong immediately took the TV ticket from President Yu's hand with a beaming smile.
Having experienced the life of mobile phones and tablets, Li Xiangdong has only been able to read books and listen to the radio in recent years, and has long yearned for electronic products.
President Yu patted him on the shoulder, "You're really rich! Get me some more wolf bone wine!"
"no problem!"
Having agreed to President Yu's request, Li Xiangdong happily took the money and went to queue up to buy a color TV.
When Li Xiangdong returned to the village, the whole village was in an uproar, and everyone crowded into Li Xiangdong's house to watch the color TV.
Televisions nowadays need antennas, so Li Xiangdong asked Li Tang to help him find a straight pine tree with a diameter of 10 centimeters and a height of 5 meters to use as a utility pole.
Li Xiangdong opened the TV packaging and then placed the TV neatly on the cabinet.
Li Jiabao and the others watched Li Xiangdong's movements with bated breath, afraid that their second brother might slip and drop the color TV on the ground.
Connect the antenna, plug in the TV, and turn on the TV switch.
"Sizzle~"
The screen suddenly lit up, flashing static.
There are no TV channels here. You need to adjust the external antenna and find the correct location to receive a signal.
Electrician Liu Yuzhou stood on the roof, slowly prodding the signal receiver with a bamboo stick, and shouted loudly to those below, "Tell me when you get a signal!"
"There's no stage!"
Move it again, "Is it there yet?"
"No, no!"
...
Finally, the television screen flickered with a few horizontal waves, and then several figures appeared.
"Someone's here! Someone's here!"
"Don't move, there's a stage now!"
"No, no, I need to move it a little more, I can't see clearly now!"
Without Li Xiangdong even having to say anything, the people inside and outside the house started talking on their own.
As darkness fell, two television stations were finally tuned in: CCTV-1 and CCTV-2.
It's 6 PM now, and CCTV-1 is broadcasting the feature film "Chicken Feather Letter." At this moment, the scene shows the Japanese soldiers trying to steal Haiwa's flock of sheep.
Although everyone had seen black and white films before, they were still very excited to see them in this small, square box.
Liu Yubin, with his hands tucked into his sleeves, squeezed to the front and asked, "Xiang Dong, isn't this supposed to be a color TV? Why is it still black and white?"
Li Xiangdong laughed, "Because the film itself is in black and white."
Everyone responded with an "oh," and although they couldn't understand what they were saying, it didn't stop them from watching TV with great interest.
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