Chapter 6
They provided their own food, and Zhao Mei helped them cook, including using firewood and water, and was paid 1 cent a day for their hard work.
Add another five cents worth of dishes, and it will be fifteen cents. Whoever’s turn comes to pay.
The vegetables are grown by Zhao Mei's family themselves. They grow spinach, loofah, eggplant and pumpkin in the small yard.
The method is to stir-fry it, and adding meat and eggs is charged separately.
Zhao Mei agreed without stuttering, her face lit with joy.
Yu Wanxia felt a little guilty: "Thank you for your hard work, sister-in-law."
Zhao Mei waved her hands repeatedly, fearing they would regret it, and repeatedly emphasized, "It's not hard, it's not hard. Why is cooking hard at all?"
After discussing the meal, Zhou Jiani glanced at the shed. She and Sun Ping decided that since they were staying in someone else's home, it would be inappropriate not to greet the male host. She briefly inquired about Zhang Kaishan's situation, and after getting their consent, she went inside to greet him and exchange a few words before returning to their room to pack up.
Sun Ping placed the sheets used to wrap the bedding in the basin and discussed with Zhou Jiani and the others, "I see there's only half a tub of water left. Should the three of us wash the sheets together?"
I’m afraid it won’t be enough if I wash them separately.
Zhou Jiani had an idea and went out to find Zhao Mei: "Sister-in-law, is there a small river around the village where we can wash clothes? We want to wash our sheets. It's more convenient to wash such large items in the river than at home."
She knew there was a small river to the south of the village, where the villagers washed their clothes. But knowing that was one thing, but she still had to find a way to cross it.
Sun Ping and Yu Wanxia, who followed out, had their eyes light up. Yes, why didn’t they think of that?
Zhao Mei didn't expect Zhou Jiani to know this particular aspect of the countryside. She quickly said, "Yes, yes, yes. I'm just worried you might not be used to it..."
Zhou Jiani smiled brightly and said, "Even if we're not used to it, we have to learn to get used to it. Let's get used to it first."
She looked at Sun Ping and Yu Wanxia, both of whom looked eager to try, and she felt a little relieved in her heart.
Although the hard work fee given to Zhao Mei includes water, it would be embarrassing to use too much. It would be very convenient to be able to wash clothes in the river.
The three of them took soap or laundry detergent and put the sheets in the basin. Zhang Huihui led the way for them and helped them carry the washboard, and they went to the small river outside the village together.
On the way, Yu Wanxia said excitedly: "I have never washed clothes in the river."
Sun Ping smiled and said, "Me neither." She then asked Zhou Jiani, "Jiani, have you washed it?"
This was her first experience in her life, so Zhou Jiani shook her head.
Soon after, Liu Yuezhen went to Zhao Mei's house with a serious face.
But when he entered the door, he didn't see the three educated youth. Instead, he walked towards Zhao Mei who was going to work.
Zhao Mei quickly greeted: "Sister-in-law is here."
Liu Yuezhen quickly glanced around and frowned.
There are three more people in the house. Even if there is no shadow, there should be noise. But now it is so quiet as if those three people are not there. Liu Yuezhen's heart skipped a beat. Is she a step too late? After those three people knew that there was a sick person in the house, they had already gone to the team to find him?
Some educated youth just have many problems.
Liu Yuezhen's tone was a little bad: "Where are the three educated youth?"
Zhao Mei saw her serious expression and became nervous. She said, "Hui Hui took her to the river to wash the sheets. What's wrong, sister-in-law?"
Liu Yuezhen was stunned. "Going to the river to wash the sheets? So, do they have any objections to this arrangement? No one is causing trouble, right?"
The new educated youth adapted much faster than she had expected, and she was actually having trouble keeping up.
Zhao Mei shook her head and said, "I don't have any objections. The three city girls are very nice and haven't caused any trouble. Why are you asking this, sister-in-law?"
Liu Yuezhen felt a little confused and said blankly: "It's nothing, it's nothing, as long as there is no fuss."
As she spoke, she walked into the room and took a look around. The bedding was already spread out on the kang, the cabinets and closets were locked, and there were thermoses and other things placed next to them. It looked like a scene of daily life.
After coming out of the main house, he went to the shed next door and said a few words to Zhang Kaishan.
After coming out, he walked out with Zhao Mei and asked quietly, "Do they know about the situation of the mountain opening?"
When Zhao Mei mentioned her husband's illness, her expression darkened. She said, "I know. I even went into the house and spoke to Kaishan."
After knowing Zhang Kaishan's situation and being able to stay, Liu Yuezhen felt relieved and nodded, saying, "Okay, as long as there's no trouble, that's good. If anyone does, report it to the team immediately."
The educated youth settled down one after another.
Qiu Zeming and the other two threw their luggage away and went out for a stroll to familiarize themselves with their future living environment.
Bai Haoyang lowered his voice and said, "It would be better to come now to catch the wheat harvest. After the wheat harvest, the villagers will distribute fine grains, which will be easier for us to exchange. After the autumn harvest, they will distribute coarse grains."
Qiu Zeming remained calm and said, "It's not too long until summer. I guess every household has some fine grains stored. They're reluctant to eat them except during festivals, so it should be easy to exchange them. If you can't exchange them for fine grains, coarse grains will do."
"Actually, this season is quite good." Qiu Zeming pointed outside the village and said, "We're near the mountains. The pheasants and rabbits in the mountains are probably fat by now. After the autumn harvest is over, I'll ask the captain about the situation in the mountains. We can find someone to take us for a walk."
Wang Qianjin rubbed his hands with anticipation, as if he had already seen the fragrant and plump pheasants and rabbits.
Bai Haoyang said, "I wonder if there are any fish in the river south of the village. It would be nice if we could catch some fish to eat. But we still need to get some food first. The food we have is definitely not enough..."
Qiu Zeming heard some noise and raised his hand to signal, and the three of them stopped talking.
After turning a few steps, I saw three female educated youth standing next to the well in front. They were carrying a shoulder pole and a bucket, and were drawing water from the well.
Liu Ailing stood at the edge of the well, holding the rope in her hand, bending down to fiddle with the bucket at the bottom of the well. Zhou Hongbing pulled her from behind with a nervous look on his face.
Meng Jiandi leaned forward to look down and said, "This water is so hard to draw. Why can't the bucket be dumped out of the water?"
Liu Ailing's arms were sore from shaking, but she still didn't lower the bucket to the bottom of the well. She straightened up, wiped the sweat off her face, and said seriously, "This little difficulty is nothing. I don't believe I can't get some water!"
Zhou Hongbing suggested: "Ailing, why don't we find a fellow villager to help us?"
Liu Ailing disagreed, "Comrade Hongbing, how can you retreat when you encounter difficulties? We must first learn to overcome them on our own and cannot rely on our fellow villagers for everything."
Zhou Hongbing opened his mouth, feeling a little regretful that he had agreed to come with Liu Ailing to fetch water.
Just now when I arrived at my fellow villager's house, I found that Liu Yuezhen's family and Song Jiefang's family are neighbors, separated by just a wall. Zhou Hongbing was very happy. Knowing that Liu Ailing and the others live next door, it was somewhat comforting to him.
After putting my things away, I excitedly went next door to find them.
Liu Ailing was just suggesting filling up the water vats at the villager's house. Seeing her approach, she quickly invited her to join them, saying, "Let's team up and fill our own vats first, then carry two loads for Aunt Liu's. We can't just cause trouble for the villagers; we have to do something for them, right?"
Liu Yuezhen happened to be following them to see how their arrangements were going. After hearing this, she felt relieved and said repeatedly, "Hey kid, if all the educated youth who come here are like you, we'll have a lot less worries and a lot of money."
Song Jiefang's family was left with only his mother. The old lady looked at Liu Ailing's cheerful face lovingly and said with a smile, "There's enough water at home. When the people working on the slope come back, we can ask them to fetch more water. You guys can take a rest."
Liu Ailing refused righteously, and without saying anything, she clumsily picked up the shoulder pole, asked for the location of the well, and took Zhou Hongbing and Meng Jiandi out to fetch water.
After leaving the Song family's house, she lowered her voice and said, "Don't blame me for dragging you to work. I just checked and the water in the vat is enough for eating and washing, but I thought we need to wash sheets and clothes and so on, and I'm afraid the villagers will have opinions if we use too much. That's why I suggested taking you two out to fetch water. If we put in a little effort, no one will say anything if we use more water. Don't you think so?"
Meng Jiandi and Zhou Hongbing were so moved that they hugged Liu Ailing's arms, one on each side: "Ailing, you are so thoughtful. We have no more worries and are so happy to be with you."
"I didn't expect that. Thanks to you, Comrade Ai Ling."
Liu Ailing smiled and said, "We are all educated youth, so we should help each other."
But no one expected that none of the three of them had ever drawn water from a well, nor did they think it would be that difficult. They all thought that the biggest difficulty would be carrying the water back, but who could have imagined that the biggest difficulty would be drawing water from the bottom of the well.
Meng Jiandi was a little discouraged at this time. She didn't quite understand Liu Ailing's idea and said, "Ailing, this is not a question of whether to retreat or not. This definitely requires skills. Let's ask our fellow villagers for advice and let them teach us. It's not shameful."
Liu Ailing looked a little embarrassed. She didn't say anything and went back to fiddling with the rope in her hand with a stubborn look on her face.
Meng Jiandi and Zhou Hongbing looked at each other.
Zhou Hongbing wrinkled her nose unhappily, then her eyes lit up, and she raised her hand and waved, saying, "Hey, comrade, Comrade Wang Qianjin..."
When they gathered at the commune, everyone introduced themselves to each other, but Zhou Hongbing only remembered the more memorable one, Wang Qianjin. He forgot the other two and could only wave awkwardly and greet them haltingly.
Wang Qianjin raised his eyebrows proudly at his two companions.
He also noticed that the girl seemed to only remember his name and had forgotten Qiu Zeming and Bai Haoyang.
It's so rare. It's understandable that she didn't remember Bai Haoyang, but it's really rare that a girl can remember herself when Qiu Zeming is around.
Wang Qianjin was a little drunk. He took out a cigarette and matches in a self-assured and cool manner, lit one and put it in his mouth, and strode towards the three female comrades.
Bai Haoyang grinned from behind, "Comrade Wang Qianjin, you can't let these female comrades remember your name for nothing. Perform well!"
Wang Qianjin walked over, cigarette in hand, and said in a Beijing accent, "Fetching water? Okay, leave it to me."
Liu Ailing turned to face Qiu Zeming and the others, her cheeks slightly flushed. Her gaze fell on Qiu Zeming's face in the back, and she greeted him with a smile: "Have you made your arrangements?"
Bai Haoyang was not surprised by this situation. His brother Ming was good-looking and was quite popular with female comrades. However, Ming was also a slow-witted person. He could not open his mouth to girls. No matter which female comrade spoke to him, he would turn his head away uncomfortably. This time was no exception. He took the initiative to take over with a smile: "It's arranged. You guys go ahead and get busy. Comrade Wang Qianjin will be left to you for the time being. Let's go for a walk outside the village."
The two of them left immediately.
Zhou Hongbing asked Wang Qianjin for advice on how to draw water from the well. Wang Qianjin was very enthusiastic and taught him some techniques. Zhou Hongbing took the rope and tried it. He swung it back and forth rhythmically several times, and suddenly swung the rope hard. The bucket at the bottom of the well was successfully knocked over, and the mouth of the bucket was inserted obliquely into the water surface. At this step, it was basically done.
She was pleasantly surprised and said, "It really works. Thank you, Comrade Wang."
Wang Qianjin waved his hand casually and said, "You're welcome."
Liu Ailing withdrew her gaze from Qiu Zeming's back, turned around and said to Wang Qianjin with a smile, "Thank you, Comrade Wang. By the way, you should also carry a few loads back. Washing clothes and sheets uses a lot of water, and it's not appropriate to let the villagers do all the work themselves."
She knew that many people would not be so thoughtful. The two female comrades around her had not thought of this, and the male comrades were careless and would not consider these details.
Everyone had just arrived, and she could quickly get closer to these comrades by taking the initiative.
Liu Ailing finished speaking, smiling expectantly, but she didn't hear the expected words of thanks. Instead, she saw Wang Qianjin pause in his smoking, then pointed in a certain direction and said, "Just wash the sheets in the creek outside the village. Why bother with all this?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
