Chapter 56 Catching Snails
Gu Jiayue returned to the village from the county town. As soon as she arrived at the village entrance, she met the village chief who had just returned from outside.
The village chief's brows were furrowed, his face full of worry, and his steps were heavy, as if he was being weighed down by something heavy. Gu Jiayue's heart sank. Judging from his expression, the outcome of the rice seedling incident might not be good.
Gu Jiayue hurried forward and asked with concern, "Uncle Village Chief, is there any problem with buying the rice seedlings?"
Upon hearing this, the village chief's brows knitted into the shape of a "川" character. He nodded gravely, sighed, and said, "Only after going out did we realize that the hailstorm last night had devastated practically the entire county. We finally found an unaffected village, but when they heard we were going to buy rice seedlings, they refused to sell them at all. They were even wary of us stealing, grabbing hoes and preparing to hit us. If it weren't for the quick movement of the roots, we would have been beaten. We ran around all day and only bought about 100 pounds of rice seedlings. This amount of seedlings is barely enough for two families to plant."
As he spoke, the village chief shook his head helplessly, his face full of fatigue and helplessness.
Why is life so difficult?
The extent of the disaster was beyond Gu Jiayue's expectations. She frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, and asked, "Can we ask the county government for help with this?"
Upon hearing this, the village chief frantically waved his hands, his expression panicking as he repeatedly exclaimed, "No, no! This county magistrate is so ruthless these days that even innocent people who enter his territory will be skinned alive. If he doesn't come and cause us trouble, it's a blessing from our ancestors. How can we even take the initiative to provoke him?"
The village chief recalled the last time he and Huzi went to the city to handle paperwork, and how they treated him to a meal and gave him banknotes. He couldn't get any of that.
Gu Jiayue felt helpless and angry. Annan County was so poor, yet the county magistrate was still so greedy and trying to make money. It was really...
But in this situation now, she is powerless.
Do we really have to grow seedlings from scratch? But where can we find the seeds?
She gathered herself and softly comforted the village chief, "Don't worry, village chief. Tomorrow I'll have Hu Zi ride his horse to a farther place to have a look. If we find any unaffected areas, we'll try to buy some seedlings. If that doesn't work, we'll have to start all over again."
The village chief couldn't think of a better solution, so he could only smile wryly and nod, his expression worried. "This is the only way. But the seedling season is already past, and I don't know if I can still harvest. I'm afraid it will all be in vain, and the seeds will be wasted."
"We have to try." Gu Jiayue said firmly, with a hint of unyielding in her eyes.
"Yeah, can a living person be suffocated to death by urine? There's always a way out." The village chief smiled. He felt that he had lived to such an old age in vain, and was not even as good as a little girl.
The two of them walked towards the village, talking all the way.
As soon as she entered the village, Gu Jiayue saw Gu Yuhe.
He was seen sticking out his little butt, happily picking snails in the paddy field with his friends, while Gu Yuchuan followed obediently beside him, carrying a bucket of water.
"Gu Yuhe!" Gu Jiayue shouted.
He looked so miserable when I left home this morning, and he's already recovered in just a few hours?
Gu Yuhe, who was enjoying himself, shuddered at the sound of his sister's voice. Like a frightened rabbit, he quickly stood up and stammered, "Sister, you're back! I didn't go to the river!"
He secretly groaned in his heart, didn't mother say that second sister might not come back tonight?
But not only did she come back, she came back so early. Thinking about what she said when she left, Gu Yuhe felt that he was finished. She would definitely complain to grandma again.
He subconsciously touched his butt, as if he felt the pain of being beaten yesterday again.
In fact, Li Juhua was just guessing, thinking that Gu Jiayue was going to do something important and it might take several hours to finish it. However, she didn't expect that Gu Jiayue acted decisively. After she took a fancy to the shop, she handed the follow-up to Kangzi and even took the time to go shopping, otherwise she would have come back even earlier.
"Have you finished copying the book I asked you to copy? Have you finished writing the self-criticism?" Gu Jiayue walked forward and asked calmly.
When I left home this morning, this guy was still lying in bed in so much pain he couldn't get up. And just half a day later, he's already jumping around again? His recovery ability is truly remarkable.
Gu Yuhe panicked and scratched his feet unconsciously in the paddy field, mumbling: "No..."
It’s not that he doesn’t want to lie, but he knows in his heart that it’s useless to lie. If he goes back to check, won’t the truth be revealed?
"Where is Goudan?" Gu Jiayue asked again.
Gu Yuhe was furious at the mention of Goudan. Not only did the "study king" not come out to play, but he even came to his house to do his homework!
He arrived as soon as Gu Jiayue left in the morning. He heard that the teacher had something to do and could not attend the class today, but he assigned homework and asked them to write the "Thousand Character Classic" they had learned.
He started writing without saying a word, and even pulled up Gu Yuhe, who was lying on the bed pretending to be dead, to write.
There was no choice but Gu Yuhe could only accompany her.
When it was lunch time, Goudan went home.
Gu Yuhe breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that he had already finished the homework assigned by his second sister in the morning, so Goudan probably wouldn't come over in the afternoon, right?
Unexpectedly, he not only came, but also stayed there. He took a book and read it next to him.
The sun was about to set, and he had promised his friends yesterday to catch snails together!
If he didn't come out, wouldn't he be a little liar? So he sneaked out while his family wasn't paying attention.
Just as I started touching her, my second sister came back.
Gu Jiayue looked at Gu Yuhe's pouting, angry face and understood a little. Goudan must be studying again.
The two students' learning progress was worlds apart. Goudan had already completed the "Hundred Family Names," "Thousand Character Classic," and "Three Character Classic," and had also mastered addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division within ten, as well as shape recognition and simple area calculations.
Gu Yuhe was still studying the Thousand Character Classic hard, and he had to count on his fingers for a long time before he could determine the answer to addition and subtraction within ten.
Gu Jiayue thought to herself that it seemed that they could no longer study together, otherwise it would slow down Goudan's progress.
"How much have you touched?" Gu Jiayue asked in a slightly slower tone.
Yuhe is still young, in the second grade in modern times, so he can't be too strict. But he can't be too relaxed either. After all, in this era where people are considered adults and can get married at the age of fifteen, children need to grow up early.
Seeing that his second sister looked gentle and didn't seem angry, Gu Yuhe became a little bolder. He quickly took the bamboo basket from his second brother and said as if offering a treasure, "There's a bowl here."
"That's just this? There are more than a dozen people in our family. Everyone should have at least one bowl, right? You're not allowed to go home if you don't have enough." Gu Jiayue said with a smile.
Gu Yuhe instantly drooped upon hearing this. No matter how much one enjoys a hobby, once it becomes a task, it's easy to become resistant. Gu Yuhe was no exception. The thought of having to fish out over ten bowls of snails instantly extinguished his interest in the activity.
"Try hard, come on. When you've reached the required number, come home. I'll ask Aunt Cai to make you something delicious." After saying that, Gu Jiayue left. She didn't care what Gu Yuhe's expression was. He actually dared to slack off while she was away, so he should be punished.
"Gousheng, your new sister is so fierce." Gu Yuhe's friends waited until Gu Jiayue left before they dared to mutter in a low voice.
They didn't know why, but they were afraid of Gu Jiayue from the bottom of their hearts. The little bully who usually dominated the village was completely gone at this moment.
Gu Yuhe curled his lips. This is just the beginning. My second sister would slap my hands and palms and even complain.
He smacked his lips, as if he could feel the pain in his palms and buttocks again. If it weren't for the ointment she gave him that morning that worked, he wouldn't have wanted to talk to her.
"I'll give you some snacks, can you help me catch snails?" Gu Yuhe's eyes rolled and a plan came to his mind.
Since Grandma Cai came to our house, not only has the food improved, but we also have snacks every day.
He wondered if he could forgive his second sister for the sake of Grandma Cai. After all, Grandma Cai was only kind to him for the sake of his second sister.
"Okay, okay." When the friends heard this, their eyes lit up immediately.
You can eat the snails tomorrow, but the snacks may not be available tomorrow.
Ever since his new sister Gousheng came back, he has been confined to study and rarely gets to go out and play with her.
Although Gousheng always generously shared snacks and candies with them, his parents had warned them not to take advantage of him, so most of the time they didn't dare to take anything.
After all, those snacks and candies looked very expensive, and they couldn't afford it.
But this time was different, this was earned through their hard work.
Gu Yuhe thought for a moment, then opened the small pouch that Sister Hua Chao had specially sewn for him to hold candies and snacks, and counted the candies. He said, "One piece of snack and one piece of candy for a bowl of snails."
After discussing it with the other guys, they decided it was a good deal and said in unison, "Deal!"
They did it right away and the friends quickly poured the snails in their baskets to Gu Yuhe.
Gu Yuhe, who had completed half of the task in an instant, was immediately elated and commanded, "Everyone, work hard."
For a moment, the children were full of enthusiasm for the delicious snacks, and the fields were filled with the children's cheerful laughter.
The bell-like laughter made the adults who had been depressed all day relax unconsciously, and the haze in their hearts dissipated a lot.
Natural disasters can't be reversed, but life must go on. Let it be. Isn't the village chief trying to find a solution?
A capable person like the village chief will definitely solve this big problem.
Gu Jiayue returned home but didn't see Goudan. She thought he must have gone home. She only saw her uncle and second uncle fiddling with the stove outside the kitchen.
"Uncle, what are you doing?" Gu Jiayue walked forward and asked.
"There are many people in our family, so your grandma asked me to build an extra stove to make it more convenient to boil water and cook." The uncle answered with a smile while busying himself.
"Oh, okay, thank you for your hard work, uncle and second uncle." Gu Jiayue said gratefully.
"I bought some meat and will ask Madam Cai to make braised pork later." Gu Jiayue added with a smile.
When the two uncles heard this, they burst into laughter: "Haha, that's great, we're in for another treat today."
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