Through these meals, Chen Shuning discovered that He Chaoyang seemed to really like sweets, so Chen Shuning thought of making some sugar-roasted chestnuts.
Fire was readily available; in October, the daytime temperature in Heilongjiang Province was only around four or five degrees Celsius, and at night it dropped below zero.
So, for the past two days, Chen Shuning's house has been kept under fire during the day, though not much.
I took out the basket of chestnuts that Wang Chunni and Xu Laidi had found and brought back to her last night, and I'm going to make sugar-roasted chestnuts.
It turned out that yesterday, when they learned that Chen Shuning might have gotten into trouble, the other educated youths obediently went down the mountain. However, Wang Chunni and Xu Laidi were worried about Chen Shuning, so after the soldiers left, they secretly followed them into the mountains to look for him, thinking that the more people there were, the faster they would be able to find him.
However, the two did not find anyone, and only saw the bamboo basket and chestnuts that Chen Shuning had left by the roadside.
Just then, the two were spotted by the police who were tracking enemy agents ahead. Ordered to go down the mountain immediately, the two picked up Chen Shuning's basket of chestnuts and carried it down the mountain. That evening, when they went to the front yard to meet Chen Shuning, they brought the chestnuts with them.
Since Chen Shuning had nothing to do at the moment, he thought of making some roasted chestnuts and bringing some to the two of them when it was done.
A friend who risks danger to go to her is someone worth having.
Chen Shuning was busy at home preparing delicious food, while the educated youths were still lining up to collect their grain from the brigade headquarters.
According to the brigade's usual practice, the villagers' grain was distributed first each year, and then the educated youth's grain was distributed.
This wasn't because the brigade leader was bullying the educated youth; rather, the new educated youth received a portion of their grain as a government subsidy every year.
In addition, the newly arrived educated youth generally did not have enough food, so they would buy some food from the production team to varying degrees.
Therefore, the distribution of grain among educated youth was relatively more complicated than that among villagers, which is why the distribution of grain among educated youth was always last in the annual process.
After the villagers had all happily carried their share of grain home, the brigade headquarters gradually quieted down.
Next, the educated youth distributed the grain.
Chen Shuning and his fellow new educated youth arrived late and didn't have many work points. For example, Chen Shuning only received sixty jin of coarse grains and twenty jin of mixed grain flour.
Even with the government subsidy of fifty jin of cornmeal, it's only about a hundred jin of grain.
Therefore, almost all the newly sent educated youth spent extra money to buy grain from the team.
He Chaoyang did not buy grain for Chen Shuning, not because he was unwilling to spend money, but because the brigade did not have any fine grains.
Therefore, He Chaoyang plans to go to town to buy some fine grains for Chen Shuning when he has time.
Today, only grain was distributed. As for money, it will be distributed to the team members after the brigade leaders go to the commune for a meeting at the end of the year and receive their money.
Seeing that He Chaoyang did not buy extra food for Chen Shuning, Yang Wanqiu suddenly felt much more at ease.
Look at her, what's the use of being good-looking? She's still being treated like dirt by a stingy man who won't even give Chen Shuning a penny to buy food.
Then think of Shen Wenge. Although he's not good-looking, he's someone who's willing to spend money on her.
Thinking of this, Yang Wanqiu proudly touched the brand-new clothes she was wearing. She was happy that after so long, there was finally something that could outdo Chen Shuning.
But this joy didn't last long, because she wasn't the only one who cared about Chen Shuning.
The brigade leader also noticed that He Chaoyang hadn't bought any grain for Chen Shuning, and hurriedly stepped forward to persuade her: "Comrade He, although women have small appetites, there's still not enough grain for Chen Shuning. Why don't you leave the grain here and I'll keep an eye on it for you, and you can go back and ask Chen Shuning if she wants to buy some more grain?"
Seeing the team leader's furrowed brows, He Chaoyang knew that he had misunderstood that he was reluctant to spend money, so he quickly explained with a smile: "Uncle Shen, I know that these snacks are not enough for Shuning, but I saw that there are no fine grains for sale in the village. You know that Shuning is weak and it is not good for her to eat coarse grains all the time. I was thinking of going to town to buy her some fine grains later, so I didn't buy them from the village."
Upon hearing this, Shen Baogen stopped trying to persuade him and happily agreed.
Yang Wanqiu's face darkened instantly, staring intently at He Chaoyang, who was supposedly injured but could still lift Chen Shuning's more than 100 jin of grain with one hand and leave.
When she turned her head again and saw her boyfriend swaying back and forth carrying only fifty pounds of cornmeal, Yang Wanqiu felt heartbroken.
He angrily picked up the twenty-odd pounds of mixed grain flour and ten pounds of mixed grains, and followed Shen Wenge back.
Because he did not participate in the autumn harvest, Yang Wanqiu had even less grain at the end of the autumn equinox.
Moreover, she didn't buy any grain from the village because she was used to eating rice and wheat flour in her previous life after her rebirth. So, she really found it hard to adapt to the coarse grains that made her throat feel dry after only a short time back.
It's important to know that back then, coarse grains weren't ground as finely as they are today, especially flour. Much of it still contained some husks or other grain bran, which naturally made it less palatable.
Therefore, even Yang Wanqiu, who had eaten this kind of food for many years, could not adapt to it.
Thinking that Chen Shuning, whom she had once manipulated, was now better than her in every way, Yang Wanqiu felt increasingly frustrated.
Looking at the two men walking ahead, one was tall and carried several bags of grain, yet still walked steadily, while the other was thin and hunched over, carrying only fifty pounds of cornmeal, yet staggering along.
Thinking about their behavior again, when Shen Wenge heard that Yang Wanqiu had only received such a small amount of grain, his first words were that his family had not received much grain this year either, and he was afraid they would not be able to help her.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
