Although life in the Shanglin Production Brigade was good, the villagers would not come to the cowshed and would not bully them. Since being sent down to the countryside, they had not been criticized or persecuted. It must be said that life here was indeed good. Except that it was a little harder, their work points were a little less than others, and they were given all the tiring and dirty work, but what did it matter? This was much better than the days before being sent down to the countryside when they were criticized and persecuted. Being criticized and persecuted was a physical and mental torture, and beatings and kicks were commonplace.

But even so, they are still cautious, and they will be cautious if someone approaches.

Li Shengzhong: "Who are you? What's the matter?" Compared to others, Li Shengzhong, who was an old revolutionary, was naturally not afraid. The fact that he was demoted showed that he had a very high status before being demoted. People like him would not be afraid even of death.

Xiao Yu said, "Hello, my name is Qi Ying, I'm from the next brigade. I came to the mountain to dig some bamboo shoots for the New Year to improve the food at home. I'm a little thirsty after walking for most of the day, so I came here to ask for a glass of water."

Like a soldier, and his last name is Qi? Li Shengzhong's eyes flashed with understanding. This person should be arranged by his good friend Qi Youguo. He nodded: "Come in, drink some water and leave quickly, otherwise you will be seen with us. Ordinary people like us cannot come." This was said to Xiao Yu, and also to Yang Chengguo and Zhang Xi, to explain that he and Xiao Yu did not know each other. After all, people's hearts are unpredictable, and he could not implicate Xiao Yu. Xiao Yu followed him into the house.

Xiao Yu stood in a relatively secretive corner so that Yang Chengguo and his wife, who were also sunbathing outside, could not see him inside the house.

Of course, Yang Chengguo and his wife were sunbathing at the door of their own house, and they did not go out of their way to walk to the door of Li Shengzhong's thatched cottage, so they could not see this place from where they were sunbathing.

Xiao-Woo: "Please give me a bigger bowl."

Li Shengzhong: "Okay." Then he poured water.

While Xiao Yu was speaking, he opened the sack neatly and took out two cans of milk powder and a cloth bag. Li Shengzhong's eyes flashed. He had to say that he was a wise and courageous soldier. From where Xiao Yu was standing, no one could see inside because he was blocked by the wall. So no one knew what he was doing. In the eyes of Yang Chengguo and his wife who heard the voice, he just came to ask for water.

Besides, Li Qiuhui was standing vigilantly at the door, pretending to watch, but actually covering up a few things.

Xiao Yu's sack was about half full. After he took out two cans of milk powder and a cloth bag, it can be said that half of the things in the sack were missing. In fact, if you look at the sack, it is very obvious that something is missing. However, most people would not look at the sack for no reason. After all, Xiao Yu just came to ask for a glass of water. Moreover, even if Yang Chengguo and his wife found that the weight of the sack was a little different from before, they would not think too much and might think that they had just seen it wrong.

Xiao Yu put down his things and drank a bowl of water: "Thank you, I'm leaving." Then he put on the sack, took the hoe, and strode away. After Xiao Yu left, Li Shengzhong also came out of the house.

"Oh..." Li Shengzhong sighed.

Zhang Xi: "I don't know when this day will end."

Yang Chengguo said sternly: "Shen Yan, we are relatively lucky here. When we came here, we thought we couldn't live like this, but after coming here, it is better than we imagined. As the old saying goes, poor mountains and bad waters produce unruly people, but now it seems that this cannot be said. The people in poor mountains and bad waters are still very kind." If it weren't for Pu Liang and Chun Pu, could their lives be so good?

Li Shengzhong nodded, "Old Yang is right." At this point, he paused again, "Since we have nothing to do in the afternoon, let's go dig bamboo shoots. Do you want to go?"

Yang Chengguo: "Digging bamboo shoots?"

Li Shengzhong: "Just now I saw that the sack in that young man's bag was quite heavy, there should be a lot of bamboo shoots, I also want to dig some, we can keep them as food."

Yang Chengguo: "This is a good idea. Let's go and dig some bamboo shoots. My dear, you stay here and look after the cows." Otherwise, it would be a big problem if there was no one in the cowshed.

Li Shengzhong: "Why don't you, Old Yang, look after the cows with your sister-in-law? You're not in good health and get tired easily. Qiuhui and I will go dig bamboo shoots and share some with you when we come back."

Yang Chengguo: "No, no, no, how can I do that? I can't take advantage of you." University professors like Yang Chengguo hate taking advantage of others the most.

Li Shengzhong said: "Old Yang, the four of us are dependent on each other, how can you say that you are taking advantage? This is called helping each other.

Besides, you are also making an effort by watching the cow, otherwise the cow would need us to watch it together."

Li Qiuhui: "Grandpa Yang, my grandpa is right, don't refuse. At most you can teach me more knowledge when you are free."

Yang Chengguo: "Then I won't be polite." He was already sick when he was sent down, and he really needed to recuperate. And he had to work every day before, so his health recovered very slowly.

Li Shengzhong: "Okay, let's go."

Li Qiuhui followed his grandfather carrying a backpack. They had a sickle, which they used to cut grass for cows, but they didn't use it in private.

The grandfather and grandson walked for a while and came to a more private place, then put down the backpack and took out the milk powder cans and cloth bags inside. The milk powder cans and cloth bags were placed in the backpack and covered with rags, so Yang Chengguo and his wife could not see them. Moreover, they were sitting and Li Qiuhui was standing, so even if there was no rags covering them, they could not see them.

Li Qiuhui: "Grandpa, the person Grandpa Qi commissioned is really thoughtful." He comes once a month. He used to come secretly, and when they woke up, there were new things in the room. Today he came openly, but it was so open that no one could tell there was anything wrong.

In fact, he didn't react at first. If the other party hadn't entered the house and taken out something, he wouldn't have known that this was the person commissioned by Master Qi.

Li Shengzhong: "I heard from Lao Qi that this young man is an excellent soldier. He is from the special forces and is different from ordinary soldiers."

Li Qiuhui: "Grandpa Qi still has good vision." If the other party was not trustworthy, Grandpa Qi would not entrust them to him. But judging from the way he behaves, it has to be said that he is a good person.

Li Shengzhong smiled, perhaps because he saw hope. The excellence of young people was a hope for an old man like him who was about to die. However, "This matter must be kept secret. If someone really finds out one day, we will never point it out to them."

Li Qiuhui: "Don't worry, Grandpa. I understand." He was willing to give up his good life and go down with his grandfather, so he was naturally a tough guy.

Li Shengzhong believed in his grandson, but he felt pained when he saw him suffer with him. If he had followed some people's example and published an advertisement to sever ties with him, he would not have been sent down with him. But this boy was stubborn and would not agree to anything. Li Shengzhong felt pained but also proud. This was his grandson.

Lee Seung-chung: "Okay, let's see what's in here."

Li Qiuhui: "Hey." He opened the lid of the milk powder can, "It's roasted radish, so fragrant." Then he opened the cloth bag, "This is steamed bread, made with fine flour." It was white, without any impurities. He hadn't seen it for a long time.

Li Shengzhong smiled: "It's really thoughtful. Let us have a prosperous New Year."

Li Qiuhui: "Grandpa, are you eating now?" They had lunch at noon, but they were always only three-quarters full, not even five-quarters full, and they got hungry very quickly. Fortunately, Grandpa could use dried meat and dried shrimp to nourish his body, and he also drank ginseng tea, otherwise he really didn't know how Grandpa's body could support it.

Li Shengzhong: "Eat it. This meal will be your dinner."

Li Qiuhui: "Actually, I can eat dinner, even 5 more steamed buns would be fine."

Li Shengzhong: "You have a nice idea."

Li Qiuhui laughed: "People always think of good things in adversity."

Lee Seung-chung: “That makes sense.”

By the time the grandparents had finished eating, it was already past three o'clock. They were really full. Ten of the 20 steamed buns Lin Yiyi brought were gone, and half of the canned radish barbecue was gone. If it were normal, they would only eat two steamed buns at most to fill their stomachs. They would never eat like this, but today was New Year's Eve, so they had a feast.

When Xiao Yu returned home, he didn't see his wife and son, so he put down his sack and hoe and went to look for them. He saw his wife and son playing in the big playground in front of the village committee office. His wife was sitting on one side, and his son was playing football with other kids. The little boy was chattering and looked very excited.

Seeing Xiao Yu coming, many villagers greeted him enthusiastically.

Xiao Zi also responded politely.

Lin Yiyi: “Okay?”

Xiao Yu sat down next to her: "Okay."

Lin Yiyi: "We'll cook dinner at home tonight, and ask mom and the third wife to come over to eat." The old house had already cooked dinner at noon, and the first and third wives were eating. Since that incident, the first wife and their second wife have not eaten together. Of course, Lin Yiyi was okay with the overall situation, just like when the first wife gave birth, she also sent milk powder and eggs.

Lin Yiyi stood up: "Then I'll go get ready. You watch him and don't let him take off his clothes because he's too hot, otherwise he'll catch a cold."

Xiao-Woo: "Got it."

After Lin Yiyi left, someone familiar came to Xiao Yu and started chatting with him. Although Xiao Yu was a man of few words, he was not a cold person. He just wouldn't take the initiative to chat with others. But now that someone came to chat with him, he certainly wouldn't put on a cold attitude. Who would he be doing that for?

Not long after Lin Yiyi got home, she was washing vegetables when Qin Xiangju and Grandma Xiao came. Qin Xiangju: "One by one..."

Lin Yiyi: "Mom, I'm inside."

Qin Xiangju: "Aren't you going to cook tonight? I'll help you."

Lin Yiyi: "Thank you, mother. Please help me kill the fish. I can't kill fish." The live fish jumped too much and she couldn't bring herself to kill it with the knife.

Grandma Xiao: "When killing a fish, just hit the fish head with a kitchen knife and it will be killed."

Lin Yiyi: "I always feel a little scared. I feel like the fish belly will bend if I cut it." This is not Lin Yiyi being conceited. People who have never killed a fish always feel uneasy. When I made tofu fish soup before, I asked Lin Sijun to kill the fish. I have to say that even if he is young, he is still a man after all, different from a little woman.

Grandma Xiao couldn't help laughing when she heard this. The second daughter-in-law is so coquettish sometimes.

Lin Yiyi: "Where are Grandpa and Dad? Why can't I see them?"

Qin Xiangju: "I went to the mountain to dig bamboo shoots and collect firewood."

"Mother and grandmother are here too..." Liang's voice rang out. She came over carrying a child on her back and holding another child in her arms.

Lin Yiyi was shocked when she saw it: "You can do this?"

Liang was a little proud: "What do you think, second sister-in-law? This backpack is specially woven. You see, the bottom is long. The bottom of ordinary backpacks is round, so the child can only stand when put in it, not lie down. But the bottom of mine is long, so the child can lie down. This is specially woven by the child's father." In this way, even if she has twins, she can go out for a walk while carrying one on her back and holding one in her arms.

Lin Yiyi: "...That's great, let me see the child." Liang's idea actually conquered her.

Liang: "He's asleep." She showed the child in her arms to Lin Yiyi, then took off the backpack and put it in a cool place.

Lin Yiyi: "You can't leave it like this. The ground is damp."

Liang: “Just a moment.”

Lin Yiyi handed the child to her: "I'll go get a mat." She took out the mat and spread it on the ground, then put a cotton quilt on it: "Okay, put the child here."

Both children fell asleep on the mattress, sleeping soundly. Lin Yiyi took another blanket and covered them.

Chatting while basking in the sun is the happiest thing in winter, especially when you can be an bystander.

Liang: "Oh, sister-in-law, do you want a tea leaf pillow? My parents have a lot of tea leaves, so I made a tea leaf pillow. It's very comfortable when I sleep." Liang didn't have much presence in her parents' home before, but her parents' home was actually quite good. Although she was replaced by her parents' home with food during a famine and didn't give her a dowry, at least her parents' home didn't come to ask for money, nor did they exchange her for an old man. At first, Liang had opinions about her parents' home, but as time went by, she came to her senses and reconciled with her parents' home. In addition, Xiao Bin was considered a worker, so her parents' home was also polite to her.

Grandma Xiao: "The tea leaf pillow is good. After using it, I slept more comfortably at night."

Liang was smart, much smarter than Qi Bocai. Qi Bocai was reluctant to give away good things, but Liang was willing to do so. She gave each of the four elders a tea leaf pillow from her mother's home.

Lin Yiyi: "No, no, those are all tea leaves that your family worked so hard to pick, I can't accept them."

Liang: "Those are unwanted tea leaves. They are too old to be used for tea, so they are used to make pillows. Some families use them to make sachets and put them at home to remove the smell. I will go back to my parents' home on the second day of the Chinese New Year and bring two to my second sister-in-law. Second sister-in-law, please don't be polite with me. I will only tell you if my parents' home has extra. If there is no extra, I will not tell you either."

Since Liang said so, Lin Yiyi stopped refusing. In fact, she was not really interested in the tea pillow. Maybe the taste of tea was very comfortable at first, but tea is also grass and easily gets wet, which means that this kind of tea pillow will not last long unless it is processed with modern technology. However, this is Liang's thoughtfulness.

After washing the vegetables, I started cooking dinner.

Lin Yiyi has been a "housewife" for six years, and now she can cook a table of dishes by herself. She cooks and steams, and by five o'clock, she can have dinner.

The New Year's Eve dinner was of course sumptuous, with kelp and potato soup, scallion oil fish, sweet and sour pork ribs, scallion scrambled eggs, fried dough sticks and cabbage soup, shredded pork and radish, minced meat stewed eggs, garlic greens, and dried shrimps. Nine dishes, eight adults at a table, enough. The men drank wine, and the women drank wine. Although there were no electric lights, the room was still bright enough with kerosene lamps and flashlights on. While eating, everyone started chatting, and Xiao Daqiang and Xiao Bin even did fist-fighting. It was especially interesting when men did fist-fighting, and Lin Yiyi wanted to laugh when she heard it.

Xiao Shiyi and Xiao Jixiang listened and tried to learn how to punch, but they didn't know how to do it. They could only play rock, paper, scissors, and the winner would drink a sip of wine. As a result, Xiao Shiyi always cheated when he lost. However, Xiao Jixiang had a good personality and obeyed his brother in everything.

Lin Yiyi couldn't help but say: "Jixiang is such a good brother."

Xiao Jixiang blushed, he is a good brother.

Lin Yiyi didn't keep watch. When it was almost time, she went to bed. Xiao Yu and Xiao Bin were still keeping watch. After twelve o'clock, Xiao Yu sent Xiao Bin away and returned to the room. He saw his son and daughter-in-law sleeping next to each other. He took a shower and quickly went to bed.

Xiao Shiyi was originally sleeping in his mother's arms, but when he felt someone next to him, he turned around and snuggled into his father's arms, because his father's arms were bigger than his mother's. However, it only took a moment, and he returned to his mother's arms, because his mother's arms were fragrant.

the next day

Most people spend the first day of the Chinese New Year at home, and visit relatives on the second day. The so-called visiting relatives is nothing more than a married daughter returning to her parents' home. But Lin Yiyi is not so particular. In fact, modern people are not so particular, otherwise there would be no such thing as traveling during the Chinese New Year.

In addition, Xiao Ling's family was coming over on the second day of the Chinese New Year, and Lin Zhen and Lin Dajun were also going to Captain Lin's house, so Lin Yiyi's return home was scheduled for the first day of the Chinese New Year. As a result, Lin Yiyi's third room followed suit and also decided to return to her parents' home on the first day of the Chinese New Year, and even borrowed Xiao Yu's bicycle.

On the first day of the first lunar month, almost every household wears new clothes. Little Eleven also put on new clothes, a duck suit. The pants and clothes are made of black corduroy, with two yellow ducklings on the pants, and the clothes are a sweater style, pullover, with a hood, and a big pocket in the front, with ducklings on the pockets. He also wore a military green cotton jacket over the suit, and a woolen hat, also military green, but with a five-cent coin on it. He looked a bit like a little PLA soldier, very handsome. Little Eleven is a boy who loves to look good. After putting on the new clothes, he kept running around his dad: "Dad, do they look good?" The little kid, who is only 4 years old this year, also knows that they look good.

Xiao Yu gave a positive comment: "It looks good." His wife has a good taste in clothes, so it looks good.

Xiao Yu also wore new clothes today, also corduroy trousers and a woolen jacket, but the style of the jacket was a Zhongshan suit, which was almost universal in this era. Some leaders in the factory liked to wear it. The difference was that the material of Xiao Yu's clothes was different.

Lin Yiyi wore a pair of black velvet skinny pants. The skinny pants were not tight, but they were a little more fitted than other pants. In fact, in this era, some people would tuck their pants into their socks in winter to keep warm. Lin Yiyi's top was also a cotton jacket, which was military green like Xiao Shiyi's, but hers was the kind that reached her thighs and covered her hips. After all, she was wearing skinny pants, so her kidneys were a little covered and couldn't be exposed. If it was the old corduroy straight pants or wide-leg pants, you could wear a short cotton jacket.

However, in Xiao Shiyi's eyes, his mother's cotton-padded jacket was the same as his, and he was particularly happy.

Lin Yiyi: “Let’s go.” The weather was good, so the family walked to Shanglin Production Brigade, just to warm up their bodies. It was only a half-hour walk anyway.

Xiao Shiyi walked at first, holding his father with his left hand and his mother with his right hand, but after walking for a while, he got tired and asked his father to carry him. Xiao Yu carried him on his back, and he shouted "drive" as if he was riding a horse.

Lin Yiyi patted him on the back gently: "Don't make trouble, be good."

Xiao Shiyi stuck out his tongue: "Slightly..."

Lin Yiyi thought that if there was a clamp, she might use it to clamp his tongue.

By half past eight, they arrived at the Shanglin Production Brigade.

"Dajun, Xiaozhen..."

Lin Dajun: "Hey, elder sister, you are here." Seeing the elder sister and her family of three coming, Lin Dajun hurriedly shouted inside, "Wife, elder sister is here, hurry up and make some tea."

Lin Zhen: “Hey.”

Lin Zhen's belly is very big and she feels like she is going to give birth at any moment.

Lin Zhen: "Sister, brother-in-law, have some tea." The tea was brown sugar water, specially prepared for entertaining distinguished guests.

Lin Yiyi: "Where are Sijun and Xiaowu?"

Lin Dajun: "I stayed up late last night, Sijun was still asleep, and Xiaowu took Wanda to visit other people's homes to wish them a happy new year."

Lin Yiyi: "I'll go to the Fourth Army to take a look."

Xiao Shiyi: "I'll go too."

Lin Sijun's door was open, but he was sleeping like a pig, and he didn't even know that Lin Yiyi had opened the door and walked in. Xiao Shiyi watched, rubbed his hands, then smiled evilly and put his cold little hands into the quilt.

Lin Yiyi shook her head and walked out of the room. As soon as she walked out of the room, she heard Lin Sijun's voice: "Ah... Eleven, you little bad boy."

Little Eleven giggled.

Lin Sijun bent down and carried him to the bed, then stuffed him into the quilt: "Are you cold?"

Xiaoyi: "It's not cold."

Lin Sijun: "My hands aren't that cold."

Xiao Shiyi put his hand on Lin Sijun's belly: "It's not cold anymore."

Lin Sijun: "You little rascal." Although he said this, he still covered Xiao Shiyi's hand.

Lin Yiyi looked around the room and walked back into the room: "Get up."