Chapter 5 Chapter 5 "Changzong, where did this ginseng come from?"...
Jiang Hongguo wanted to buy some cheap pork offal, and everyone was scrambling for it. But when she saw Gu Changzong's disdainful look for pork offal, and he only looked at the fat and lean pork belly, Jiang Hongguo gritted her teeth and bought two pounds of pork belly.
Aunt Wang gave Jiang Hongguo a big bone. There was no meat on it, but she chopped it up and made bone soup with white radish. It was very fragrant, and the bone marrow was delicious too. Jiang Hongguo received it like a treasure and thanked her several times.
It was still early, and Changzong wanted to go to the county town to buy lotus roots, saying that he wanted to make braised lotus roots with sweet pork. He borrowed the village chief's bicycle, and just in time, several families asked Changzong to bring something back.
Jiang Hongguo had a good memory and knew the price, so he said that his family had no money to advance and calculated the price before collecting the money. Mrs. Wang rolled her eyes and said, "Don't ask me to bring it. People like me are just taking advantage of others. If I really help to bring it, it will take a long time to get such a small amount of money, so it's better not to bring it."
Jiang Hongguo asked him to bring back some candied dates, as they would be delicious if stewed together.
Because he helped to carry and slaughter pigs, his clothes were dirty. Jiang Hongguo took out a set of new clothes that she had made when they separated. Seeing that Changzong didn't think much about it, she was very happy and asked him to change into them before going to the county town. He should wear something decent when going out.
Gu Changzong didn't ask her to wash the clothes, saying that she could wash them when he came back. This was his way of being nice to her, so Jiang Hongguo also had to be nice to him and not just enjoy herself without giving anything in return.
Before washing clothes, you have to search your pockets first, and there really is something there, a rolled-up piece of paper. When you take it out, it falls apart, and you can naturally see the words on it clearly. It is an appointment with Gu Changzong to meet at the small bamboo forest at the back slope at two o'clock in the middle of the night, and the signature is "Dai".
Jiang Hongguo was so angry that she wanted to strike a match and burn the note on the spot.
No matter what Meng Qingdai's reasons were, she couldn't implicate Changzong. Two young married men and women ran to the bamboo forest in the middle of the night. Is this something a good person could think of?
Jiang Hongguo lit the match, hesitated, thought for a moment, took a breath and blew it out. Changzong should not know about the note, otherwise she would not have found it. What if Changzong saw the note? What would he do?
Jiang Hongguo put the note back into his pocket, put his clothes back, and returned to his room in a depressed mood.
Dinner consisted of stewed soft and sweet lotus root meat with candied dates. It was really delicious, but Jiang Hongguo had no appetite. She knew that the note had nothing to do with Changzong, but she just couldn't be happy.
After Jiang Hongguo tried hard to eat the sweet meat, sweet lotus root and candied dates that Chang Zong put into her bowl, she shook her head and refused.
"Chang Zong, I'm full."
Gu Changzong ate a few more pieces himself and was sure that the taste was better than what was served at the banquet. So why didn’t he eat anymore?
"I'll boil some water for you to take a bath."
Jiang Hongguo nodded, her nose felt sore and she couldn't help wanting to cry. She hurriedly said, "Changzong, hug me."
Gu Changzong hurried over and gently held Jiang Hongguo in his arms. Did anything happen to make her sad during the afternoon when he was away?
Jiang Hongguo hugged Changzong's waist tightly. He was a good person and he would be happy no matter which girl he changed to. But if she changed to another girl, would she be as happy as she is now?
Hongguo felt that no one would ever treat her as well as Changzong.
Jiang Hongguo had a nightmare at night. She dreamed that Gu Zhiqing, with whom she was about to separate, came back. Not only did they continue to separate, but he also went to find Meng Qingdai. Hongguo choked up in her dream, and in reality she was also crying in her sleep.
Gu Changzong was very scared: "Guoguo, wake up." After waking up, he stopped having nightmares.
In a daze, Jiang Hongguo asked: "Changzong, what time is it?"
"Two o'clock." In the night, Gu Changzong glanced at the clock that was half an hour slow, and moved it forward half an hour.
Jiang Hongguo didn't want to open her eyes, and she stretched out her arms involuntarily, filling the space between her and Gu Changzong, holding on to his waist tightly, and fell into a deep sleep again.
Gu Changzong also hugged Hongguo tightly. He really wanted to know what happened at home during the time he was away.
Early in the morning, Gu Changzong saw that Hongguo was still sleeping soundly. He got up quietly to make breakfast and rubbed the clothes he had changed yesterday. Hongguo didn't eat well last night and didn't sleep well. Gu Changzong didn't want to do anything else and just wanted to accompany her.
He searched his trouser pocket and took out a piece of paper. After reading the words on the paper, he pursed his lips. It turned out that Guoguo lost her appetite and shed tears on his shoulder after seeing the note.
With a cold expression, he handed the note to the stove, but then took it back.
…
Jiang Hongguo had pumpkin porridge in the morning. The pumpkin was melted in rice milk. It was sweet and fragrant. She ate a big bowl of it. She saw Chang Zong washing clothes, and she lowered her head and said nothing. No matter how Chang Zong dealt with the note, she pretended not to know.
"Hongguo, I'm going to the county town to find some odd jobs today."
Doing odd jobs always earns more than farming at home, but it is hard to find a job, otherwise all the hardworking people in the village would go there. Jiang Hongguo doesn't know how Gu Changzong can always find a job.
"Hongguo, find some time today to return this note to Auntie Wang's daughter-in-law and tell her that I have read it and it is inconvenient to return it. If you return it, she will not bother us anymore."
Gu Changzong handed the piece of paper to Jiang Hongguo and said that he saw it when he was washing clothes in the morning. He also said that even if he saw it yesterday, he would not have gone out last night.
Jiang Hongguo's face flushed with shame. She had no appetite last night and cried all night. Chang Zong must know that she had seen it.
Jiang Hongguo couldn't raise her head anymore. She was suddenly afraid that she had delayed other people's important matters. Meng Qingdai liked Kong Laosan. Could it be that she had some serious business with Changzong?
She raised her head suddenly: "Changzong, Sister Qingdai is looking for you, is it something important? Otherwise, you should go and take a look, I will go with you."
Gu Changzong smiled: "Even if she has a big problem, what does it have to do with me? I won't go to see her."
Jiang Hongguo felt happy, and she would not doubt Changzong easily from then on.
In the morning, she went to Aunt Wang's house with Aunt Liu and found an opportunity to secretly return the note to Meng Qingdai, saying that it was Gu Changzong who asked her to return it.
"I advised Changzong, but he said that no matter how big your problem is, it's not appropriate to ask him for help. If you have any problems, you should discuss it with your family."
Meng Qingdai sighed: "Hongguo, it's not what you think."
What is that like? She didn't say anything, and Hongguo couldn't do anything about it. Anyway, Changzong said he didn't care, so there must be a reason for Changzong.
In the evening, Changzong came back and said that he had earned more than one yuan today, but he didn't buy any meat and saved it for Jiang Hongguo.
Later, Gu Changzong went to the county town to find work on weekends. At the end of a month, he gave Hongguo more than ten yuan, which was a lot of money. Workers in the city only earned thirty or forty yuan a month. She and Changdong lived in the countryside, and the crops and vegetables they grew did not cost money, so they could save more than ten yuan, which was a lot.
So when Aunt Liu came to Hongguo to discuss borrowing money from Aunt Wang's family, Hongguo felt confident, but Aunt Liu was in a dilemma.
"We are from the same village. Aunt Wang asked me to borrow five yuan. It is reasonable to lend it to me, but I really don't have any. Hongguo, if you have some, please help me to get it first. I will give it to you after the autumn grain is sold."
Aunt Wang was in the hospital and needed emergency medical care. Aunt Liu was embarrassed to say that she had no money at home, fearing that Aunt Wang would not believe her and thus hurting the relationship between neighbors, so she asked Jiang Hongguo to borrow some.
He came to ask for it because he saw Gu Changzong doing odd jobs and guessed that she had the money.
Jiang Hongguo went back to the house and took out five yuan. Aunt Liu opened her mouth and said that if there was money at home, they would definitely lend it to her. However, she didn't understand. Last month, Aunt Wang's family found a wild boar and sold it for more than 70 yuan. Now they have no money?
"What did Auntie Wang do to make her spend money so quickly?"
Aunt Liu whispered in Jiang Hongguo's ear, "Buying a job for Kong Lao San not only costs the money from selling the wild boar, but also the family's savings accumulated over the years. The two daughters-in-law are quarreling, so I guess we're really going to split up the family this time."
How can a job be bought so easily? There are a lot of young people in the city waiting to take over their parents' jobs. I heard that some of the educated youth who returned to the city a few years ago still haven't found a job. How can farmers without a hukou in the countryside buy a job in the city? It's obviously a scam.
After Aunt Wang was discharged from the hospital, her two daughters-in-law instigated her and her eldest and second sons to split up the family property. Aunt Wang and his wife lived with their youngest son and his wife. They gave the three blue brick houses to the eldest and second sons, and together with the youngest son and his wife, they repaired the original firewood house and lived in it. They looked quite pitiful.
But after the separation, Meng Qingdai had good luck. She would receive little surprises every few days. She picked up pheasant eggs and dug up wild Gastrodia elata and exchanged them for some money. When her two sisters-in-law were envious, Meng Qingdai actually dug up a wild ginseng and sold it for more than 100 yuan!
This matter cannot be kept secret. As long as one person knows it, many people will know it. Aunt Wang came to return the money to Aunt Liu and brought a pound of meat as a thank-you gift. She chatted with Aunt Liu for a long time at her house.
"You say I am so lucky to marry a daughter-in-law like Qingdai who is so prosperous. The eldest and second son's wives wanted to share the money from selling ginseng. When they wanted to divide the family property, they didn't show such flattering faces as they do now. I scolded them back. From now on, I will live with the third son and his wife."
Aunt Liu was envious of the luck of the young daughter-in-law of Aunt Wang. At noon, she cooked all the pound of meat sent by Aunt Wang and gave a small bowl to Jiang Hongguo. She was envious and jealous. In the afternoon, she asked Jiang Hongguo to go to Aunt Wang's house to inquire about the situation in detail.
A few people were sewing shoe soles and chatting in the front yard. Aunt Wang was looking forward to building three tiled houses if her daughter-in-law could dig a few more ginseng roots.
Jiang Hongguo didn't agree with this at all, especially when she saw Aunt Wang saying this and her expression showed that she really thought so, she couldn't listen any more. How could she put getting rich on Qingdai's luck?
For at least a dozen years, no one in the village has heard of digging wild ginseng in the mountains. Qingdai was lucky enough to dig up one, but how could she dream of building a house by digging ginseng.
She found an excuse to go home first, and when she reached the back slope, she heard Kong Lao San begging Meng Qingdai:
"Wife, you are my sweetheart. For you, I have to get that job in the city so that you can live on commercial grain. You are so lucky. Let's go to the mountains to find some ginseng, and then we will have everything."
Jiang Hongguo heard Meng Qingdai was in a difficult situation and said that she was afraid she wouldn't have such good luck. Kong Laosan hugged her, kissed her and begged her, which was unbearable to hear. People who passed by and heard it blushed. Jiang Hongguo didn't dare to listen any more and ran home in a hurry.
At home, Gu Changzong was scooping water to wash a whole wild ginseng that was thicker than his thumb, which scared Jiang Hongguo.
"Changzong, where did this ginseng come from?"
Gu Changzong shook off the remaining water after washing the ginseng as casually as if he was pulling a radish from the vegetable garden.
"Guoguo, I heard that this thing can be sold for money, so I went to the mountains to find one. We'd better not tell anyone and sell it secretly."
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