Chapter 25 Li Dequan
Zhao Dahai and Li Daju couldn't understand why a person's personality could change so much in such a short period of time.
In the past, Zhao Yi didn’t care about the little ones in everything, but at least if there was something delicious, such as a pheasant egg he found in the mountains, he would bring it back for the family to eat together.
I used to care about my younger brothers and sisters’ studies and whether they could understand what they were saying. But now I don’t care and even treat them like a stranger.
The two people who couldn't figure it out stopped thinking about it.
Li Daju said that Zhao Yi often brought fish back to Zhang Jing's mother's home. Zhao Dahai, who had never tasted the fish soup here, now believed it. Zhao Yi can indeed make it now.
After breakfast, everyone started to work.
Zhao Yi was assigned to weed and fertilize the fields together with Zhao Dahai and Li Daju. Zhang Jing was naturally also a member of this team. They used to be a family and were often assigned to work in the same area.
After a busy morning, Zhao Yi spoke to them no more than five sentences.
Zhao Yi also wanted to see if those three ungrateful people could go to school so easily without him, their slave, or if their families would not be able to survive without him, their slave.
After a day's work, Zhao Yi felt particularly relaxed. Four people in one area could not catch up with the busy farming season, and the tasks in the area that one person was responsible for were heavy.
In the evening, Zhao Yi put away the fish basket, picked out a smaller fish, walked around the village entrance and then walked towards the old house.
"Dad, Mom, I brought you some fish."
Zhao Yi spoke very loudly as he entered the door. There were neighbors nearby, so he had to put on a full show. He was a very filial person.
After placing the fish in the wooden basin, Zhao Yi turned around and left, pretending not to hear Li Daju's attempts to persuade him to stay.
From now on, give a fish as a gift every time you distribute food rations. Fish is free anyway, and it also helps you gain a good reputation for free.
As for other things, they have nothing to do with Zhao Yi.
When Zhao Yi returned home, Zhang Jing had already prepared dinner.
"Su Zhiqing, have some with you. This is the wild boar meat my parents sent. It tastes pretty good."
Zhang Jing greeted with a smile.
On the table there was a plate of steamed shrimps, which were caught in the fields to feed the pigs. Zhao Yi picked out the larger ones and asked Zhang Jing to steam them. There was also a plate of stir-fried bamboo shoots with meat. There were still bamboo shoots in the mountains nowadays, but they were relatively rare, and they would not taste good without oil when stir-fried with meat.
There was also a bowl of sauerkraut fish soup, and in the vegetable basket on the dining table were freshly steamed multi-grain steamed bread.
Looking at these dishes makes people hungry.
"The food in your house is not as good as anywhere else in the city."
Su Hong sat down generously and occasionally gave cakes and candies to Zhang Jing, who had never had a proper meal at Zhao Yi's house.
At this time, Zhao Yi also came back, saw Su Hong and nodded, then sat down and invited Su Hong to eat.
"I can smell the aroma of meat before I even enter the door. You are living a good life."
Li Dequan's laughing voice came from the yard, and as soon as he finished speaking, he walked into the main room.
Zhang Jing quickly stood up, took a bamboo cup, and filled Li Dequan's cup with the remaining liquor.
"Captain, let's eat together."
Zhao Yi quickly handed a pair of chopsticks to Li Dequan with a smile.
"It would be a shame not to try such delicious food. Comrade Su is here too, so we can go together to beat Zhao Yi."
Li Dequan took the chopsticks and smiled.
Li Dequan knew what Zhao Yi had done during this period, but Zhao Yi respected him very much and knew the ways of the world, so Li Dequan didn't bother to care.
"I saw that the food was good, so I decided to have a meal here."
Su Hong nodded.
"The coal mine has been finalized. Our village has been allocated 15 places. The monthly salary is 26 yuan. All the benefits are available to workers, but it is not considered a formal job. I came here to ask you if you want to sign up?"
Li Dequan took a sip of wine and looked at Zhao Yi.
Li Dequan knew that Zhao Yi bought fish for Su Hong. Su Hong often carried fish to the cowshed and came to Zhao Yi's house when she had nothing to do. Although it was not known how much money Zhao Yi earned from each fish from Su Hong, he definitely earned some income.
So Li Dequan did not take the initiative to report Zhao Yi's name to the coal mine.
"Captain, I won't go. What will happen to my father if I go? There are three children at home waiting to go to school, and there are so many things that need to spend money."
Zhao Yi quickly shook his head.
Coal mines are extremely dangerous. Today's mining conditions and facilities are not as safe as those in later generations. I might have been lucky to have escaped a disaster in my previous life, but seven or eight people died in that accident.
Zhao Yi has his own plans for work, and there is no need to do such a dangerous job.
It just so happened that the villagers also knew about his father's situation. Zhao Yi had already separated from the family, so he would not compete with his father for this place. The three children were waiting to go to junior high school, and each semester would cost at least dozens of yuan.
Every month, we have to prepare a lot of food to bring to school. If the family has no money and we have to rely on working, it will be difficult for us to go to school, let alone get on the kang.
Fifteen places sounds like a lot, but in reality there are not many.
There are five teams in Wangou Brigade, and each team has only three vacancies out of the fifteen. One of them is occupied by the son of Li Dequan from Wangou Village, so there are only two vacancies in the village.
In his previous life, Zhao Yi didn’t know why this quota fell to the Zhao family, but this time it made sense. Zhao Yi often gave gifts and invited Li Dequan to dinner.
In the previous life, Li Daju must have given the old hen from her family to Wu Lan, otherwise the Zhao family would not have gotten this opportunity. It would not only be the Zhao family that was waiting to make money.
"Okay, I won't force you to go if you don't want to. You have your own mind."
Li Dequan laughed.
After three rounds of wine and five kinds of dishes, Li Dequan was full and walked back to his home leisurely.
"Where did you get these shrimps? They taste really good. They're so delicious without anything added to them."
Su Hong asked after Zhao Yi sent Li Dequan out of the courtyard and returned.
"In the fields, it's just a bit troublesome. There are more small ones, and fewer big ones like this. If you have time, you can still make several plates of shrimps this big in an afternoon."
Zhao Yi smiled.
"How?"
Su Hong was particularly curious.
"You go to the fields and look for the ditches, then put this thing down, wait for ten minutes, then pick it up, pick out the big ones, and pour out the small ones, and repeat this cycle over and over again."
Zhao Yi pointed at the dustpan on the ground and said.
Su Hong nodded and decided to try it tomorrow so that her grandparents would have another meat dish.
"If you have a lot of fat, loaches have much more meat than shrimps, and they are easier to catch. You can make a big plate in just ten minutes. I'll make some tomorrow for you to try and learn from."
Zhao Yi said with a smile.
Loach tastes especially good whether fried or braised, and the meat is indeed much larger than that of shrimp.
"OK."
Su Hong nodded.
Li De's family.
Li Dequan leaned leisurely in the rocking chair, listening to his son's determination to hand over a certain amount of money to the family every month and to work hard in the coal mine.
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