At dinner time, the Meng family was very quiet. The children, who were usually very noisy, just lowered their heads and ate quietly.
Meng Jianguo had not returned since he took Sun Fang away, so Zhao Hong and several of her sisters-in-law cooked dinner for her.
"Let's eat." Old Lady Meng picked up her chopsticks and glanced at everyone in the room. "From now on, cooking and feeding the pigs will be left to..."
"Grandma, why don't I cook later?"
Meng Yuzhen stood up. She didn't really like doing housework, but if she could get work points for doing housework at home, she would be willing to do it.
In fact, no family could raise pigs these days. The Meng family had a pig, which was allocated from the team and was the New Year pig.
The family responsible for raising pigs will be able to get some pig offal and 2,000 work points when they slaughter the pigs at the end of the year. The work points belong to the collective anyway, so she might as well just relax at home.
The old lady glanced at her and her eyes fell on Meng Qidi.
The old lady did not agree with her immediately, but looked at Meng Qidi instead. Meng Yuzhen was a little dissatisfied.
Meng Qidi said calmly, "Give it to her."
After living for two lifetimes, her cooking skills were not very good and she could barely provide enough food and clothing. She also did not have the patience to serve the Meng family.
After dinner, Meng Qidi went back to her room. Electric lights were rarely available in the countryside these days, and there was very little entertainment at night. Apart from chatting at the village entrance, most people went to bed early.
Sun Fang was taken away. Her room was a mess and smelled very strong. No one must have cleaned it. She opened the window and glanced around the room. She was not very interested and went straight into the space.
She didn't eat enough for dinner. It was the first time for Zhao Hong and her friends to cook, and they were afraid of being scolded, so they cooked the porridge very thin. When it came to the children, it was just a bowl of rice soup. They didn't even cook a few sweet potatoes, and each person only got one.
After eating and drinking to her heart's content in the space, Meng Qidi came out. She glanced at the sheets on the bed with disgust in her eyes, and pulled them up and threw them in the corner.
If she wasn't so poor these days, she would have wanted to throw these things out the door, but all she had was a patched quilt.
There were new things in the space, but she didn't want to take them out as they would attract too much attention. In fact, she preferred lying on this bed covered with straw rather than sleeping in the space.
She could truly feel that she was still alive...
Knock knock knock.
"Xiaoqi? Xiaoqi." Meng Yuzhen's voice came from outside the door.
Meng Qidi turned a deaf ear and simply turned over to face the wall.
After calling out several times, Meng Qidi didn't respond, so Meng Yuzhen could only turn around and leave. She had to go to the educated youth center to sleep, and if she went too late, the center would be closed.
When they were almost at the educated youth station, Meng Erliu stopped her and said, "Yuzhen, where are you going? Which educated youth are you looking for? Didn't your family say that they have arranged a marriage for you? Who are you reluctant to part with? Talk to your second brother."
Meng Yuzhen was startled by him and stepped back cautiously, "Brother Erliu, didn't I give you the money? Why are you still looking for me to do it?"
"Why did you ask me to come to you? I suddenly remembered that you haven't shut up those educated youth yet!"
Meng Erliu pushed her fiercely and said, "Meng Yuzhen, don't blame me for being merciless. If I hear any bad rumors about me outside, you and that educated youth surnamed Ge will stay away from me. I will let everyone in the commune know that you harmed your sister!"
"You!" Meng Yuzhen was almost pushed down by him. She looked around nervously, and when she saw that there was no one around, she breathed a sigh of relief and lowered her voice.
"What nonsense are you talking about? Don't worry, Ge Mei and I will take care of those educated youths!"
"Just remember it! Yuzhen, I forgot to tell you that I met Xiaoqi at night, and she saw me taking money from you guys."
Meng Erliu sneered. He, Meng Erliu, was not a good person. He was in trouble in the Meng family today and was threatened by that Meng Qidi. So he didn't mind making the Meng sisters turn against him.
Meng Yuzhen's expression changed slightly, and she said in a low voice, "Didn't she say anything?"
"I didn't say anything. We were far away, so I'm not sure if she heard anything. But she definitely saw me asking you for money. She didn't ask me, but I'm not sure if I'll take the initiative to tell her next time I see her..."
Meng Yuzhen gritted her teeth, "What on earth do you want to do?"
Meng Erliu spoke without any hesitation.
"Give me another ten yuan, and tell those educated youth to shut up. Otherwise, not only your sister and your family will know that you schemed against her, but the whole commune will know."
Meng Yuzhen was so angry that she vomited blood. She took a deep breath and said, "Just wait!"
When Ge Mei heard Meng Erliu coming to the door again, her face changed. "Why is he here again?"
Meng Yuzhen lowered her voice and said what Meng Erliu said, a little flustered, "Ge Mei, Xiao Qi may have guessed it, what should we do now?"
Ge Mei looked at her unhappily, "What should we do? What did we do? Do they have any evidence? They can accuse us all the time? I even said that she was the one who harmed your aunt!"
After Ge Mei said this, Meng Yuzhen also breathed a sigh of relief, "Then...what about Meng Erliu at the door?"
"Watch the door, don't let it close."
Meng Yuzhen nodded quickly.
No one knows what Ge Mei said to Meng Erliu after she went out.
Meng Yuzhen saw her come in and handled the matter, so she didn't ask any more questions.
Meng Qidi got up early to go to work at the reservoir. When she got up, she found that Meng Yuzhen, who was cooking, had not come back yet.
She went to the kitchen, took out four raw sweet potatoes and threw them into the space. Even if she didn't eat them, she would take her share.
When Meng Qidi showed up at the threshing ground, the men waiting there were a little surprised, because Old Man Meng's family was a notorious family of deadbeats.
Even though there are men in their family, no one is willing to do hard labor, such as digging rivers and building reservoirs. You can hardly see any trace of Old Man Meng's family.
Fearing that a group of grown men would bully a little girl, the captain said, "It's Xiaoqi's first time there, so Xuemei should take her."
"Old Meng, I can take care of you, but the little girl can't complain or get tired!" Liu Xuemei showed her big white teeth.
Li Xuemei is one of the few women among the people who are building the reservoir. She is tall, dark-skinned and full of brute force.
The captain turned around and smiled, "Don't worry, it's safer to follow Sister Liu among the men. Just tell her if you have any problems. She is in charge of the mud digging team."
Meng Qidi nodded without saying much and walked towards Liu Xuemei, "Sister Liu."
"Tsk, such a pretty girl, Old Meng actually wanted to let you go play in the mud with us. Did you bring a change of clothes?"
Liu Xuemei took a glance at her pants and knew that this girl probably knew nothing and came here empty-handed.
Meng Qidi paused and shook her head slightly.
"Go back and get a pair of pants you don't wear, otherwise these pants of yours..."
Meng Qidi thought of the captain's words about digging mud, and she immediately understood, and hurried back to get a pair of pants.
When she came over with the small cloth bag, everyone in the threshing floor had left and only Liu Xuemei was waiting for her.
"I'm sorry, Sister Liu." Meng Qidi said apologetically.
"It's okay, let's go. By the way, we won't be back for lunch. Have you told your family?"
Meng Qidi nodded slightly, "I brought four raw sweet potatoes."
Liu Xuemei gave her a strange look, then laughed, "Remember to bring cooked food next time. Raw food may be hard to chew."
Meng Qidi sighed. This Sister Liu probably enjoyed teasing her...
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