Chapter 54 Song Zhi's Brother and Sister (1)
Taotao's first impression of Liu Xuexu was that this girl had a beauty that was as independent as a pine or cypress, aloof from the world. She was tall but too thin, and her whole body exuded an unhealthy, pale and sickly beauty. She is also very kind and likes beautiful things, but she also has an exaggerated personality that is not suitable for this world.
In other words, Liu Xuexu is somewhat out of tune with today's society.
——Most people in this society are down-to-earth and unpretentious, with a kind of honest and friendly feeling; however, willow catkins have an unrealistic romance, like a kite floating in the sky.
He is very much like the cultivator with a strong personality in Xuan Ye Ancient Continent.
Taotao has a good impression of Liu Xuexu.
On the contrary, Xingxing, who had been standing aside and observing Liu Xuexu, showed an understanding expression - this Liu Xuexu was probably an artist with a confused mind.
Taotao and Liu Xuexu have started chatting.
Tao Tao asked: "Xue Xu, are you from another place?"
Liu Xuexu smiled and replied, "Well, I come from far away."
Tao Tao asked again, "Then what are you doing here?"
Liu Xuexu reached out and straightened Taotao's clothes. "I don't have a fixed destination. This time I came with a friend. She came to look for her relatives, and I came... to look for beauty."
As she was talking, Liu Xuexu saw a very unique hairband tied on the end of Taotao's braid, and couldn't help but want to pick it up and take a look...
Suddenly someone rushed over -
The girls were all shocked!
After I came to my senses, I realized that it was Song Zhi who rushed over, snatched Taotao and ran away? ? ?
Taotao: ...
Song Zhi carried her and she ran, running twenty or thirty steps in one breath, and then he put her down and held her firmly behind him?
"Song Zhi, what are you doing?" Taotao asked curiously.
However, Song Zhi looked at Liu Xuexu with gritted teeth and did not answer Taotao. Instead, he hugged Taotao with his backhand, holding her tightly in a posture of absolute possession and protection.
Liu Xuexu was also startled, but after looking carefully, she smiled. She shouted "Brother" to Song Zhi and walked over quickly.
Xingxing, Caixia, Hongdou, Huangdou and others who ran over without knowing what was going on were also stunned by Liu Xuexu's call of "Brother".
——Is it such a coincidence? Liu Xuexu is Song Zhi’s sister?
Taotao was also shocked.
She knew that Song Zhi had a godsister named Guan Haishan, who was the daughter of his adoptive parents.
But I haven’t heard that Song Zhi has a younger sister!
Song Zhi panted and questioned Liu Xuexu rudely, "What do you want? What did you want to do to Taotao just now? What are you doing here!"
Taotao had never seen Song Zhi behave so out of control.
Liu Xuexu looked at Song Zhi, then at Bai Taotao who curiously poked her head out from behind Song Zhi. Her eyes lit up and she asked, "Brother Song Zhi, do you and Taotao... know each other?"
Song Zhi did not answer.
Liu Xuexu, "Are you guys... dating?"
Song Zhi and Tao Tao answered at the same time:
"yes!"
"No!"
Song Zhi turned around and looked at Taotao with a frown.
Taotao showed an innocent expression.
Liu Xuexu sneered, ran over, held Taotao's hand, and led her to her side, then said to Song Zhi: "I heard that they are not dating you anymore!"
Song Zhi slapped him without hesitation -
Liu Xuexu quickly retracted her hand and narrowly escaped the disaster.
Song Zhi snatched Taotao back again and still hid her behind him.
Peach@
: What on earth happened?
At this moment, Tang Liren suddenly rushed over, grabbed Taotao's hand and ran away -
This time, Song Zhi did not stop her and let Tang Liren take Taotao away.
Taotao, "Mom! Mom...what are you doing?"
Tang Liren, "I'm telling you, Taotao, we have to hurry! Someone is selling shoes... Those shoes are so beautiful! Hurry up, or they'll be snatched away! Xingzi, Caixia, you should also bring red beans and yellow beans!"
Xingxing and Caixia finally came to their senses. One of them took Hongdou and the other took Huangdou, and they hurriedly followed Tang Liren.
However, everyone turned their heads to look at Song Zhi and Liu Xuexu.
——Wow, I saw two of them standing face to face, the man was handsome and the woman was pretty, they were really a perfect match!
Taotao was dragged by her mother to try on shoes.
These are handmade cloth shoes.
I have to say, this woman selling shoes has really skillful hands.
She imitated the women's leather shoes sold in the supply and marketing cooperatives, combined them with the lacing method of Liberation shoes, and with her excellent needlework skills, they actually looked like they were sewn by a machine...
If you don't look at the soles of the shoes.
The reason why she couldn't sell it was because the asking price was too high.
A pair of leather shoes, at the cheapest in the supply and marketing cooperative, costs at least seven or eight yuan, and usually costs twelve or thirteen yuan a pair; Jiefang rubber shoes cost two yuan and fifty yuan a pair.
As for the shoes made by farmers themselves, traditional cloth shoes cost about one dollar a pair.
But this woman's shoes were very uniquely made. She priced them at three yuan a pair, which was more expensive than the durable and long-lasting Jiefang rubber shoes. Therefore, although there are many people watching, few are willing to pay for it.
Taotao picked out a pair, tried them on, and found them quite comfortable.
Tang Liren said to Taotao, "Go back to the stall now and let your sister-in-law try on the shoes... I will buy a pair for my daughter and my wife!"
Taotao had finished trying on shoes, and Xingxing was trying on shoes. Tang Liren suddenly saw that Caixia also showed an envious look, so she said to Taotao: "Go and call your second aunt over, you stay at the stall, and I'll ask your second aunt to buy a pair of shoes for Caixia as well!"
Tao Tao nodded and ran to her stall to guard it. She called Tan Fenghui and Aunt Bai to find Tang Liren, and then asked Zhou Xiaoni, "Do you want to buy shoes?"
Zhou Xiaoni blushed, "No, no money..."
God knows how much she wants a pair of cloth shoes!
The weather is about to turn cold, and she is still wearing straw sandals. I really dread to think about what I will do in winter.
Tao Tao pointed at the things on the bag in front of Zhou Xiaoni and asked curiously, "You have so many things here, aren't they enough to buy a pair of shoes?"
Zhou Xiaoni shook her head and said silently: "I just exchanged it for a bottle of oil, and then... I closed it."
Tao Tao stared at the things on her stall, her second aunt's stall, and Zhou Xiaoni's stall for a while, then thought for a moment. She called out to Zhou Xiaoni, "Xiaoni, how many tung leaves do you have left?"
Zhou Xiaoni presented them all.
She brought over thirty or forty large tung leaves.
Tao Tao first spread the tung leaves one by one on the bag, then mixed the things from the three families together, piled a little on each leaf, and then said loudly -
"Aunts, uncles, and sisters-in-law! You don't know what to cook every day at home, it's really annoying! Come to my stall and have a look! A meal only costs eight cents! A family of more than a dozen people can have enough to eat!"
Wow!
A meal only costs eight cents and can feed a family of more than ten people?
What a magical meal this is!
The farmers were immediately attracted by this gimmick and gathered together with a "boom".
Tao Tao continued to hawk, "Aunts and sisters-in-law, come and buy! Look——"
Taotao pointed to a large tung leaf on which were placed various dry ingredients that she had just prepared. "For lunch, let's have some dried peppers fried with dried mushrooms. It goes really well with rice! Uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters work hard, so they should at least have some meat so that they can have energy to work in the afternoon. Then we can have some fried pig blood and tofu with fermented black beans... Oh, there are so many people in my family, so two dishes may not be enough. Let's have a handful of fresh buckwheat heads, and pick some green peppers from the vegetable garden. Roast them over the stove, and crush them together with the cleaned buckwheat heads. Even a three-year-old kid would want to eat it..."
The dried chili peppers and dried mushrooms are from Zhou Xiaoni, the pig blood tofu and Chinese cabbage are from Second Aunt’s, and the fermented black beans are from Taotao’s. Together they make up a portion, which is actually not that much, but with a little bit of everything in it, it looks like there’s more, and there’s a mix of both meat and vegetables!
The most important thing is that the dish is already prepared, so you don’t have to think about it at all!
Someone immediately said they wanted to buy it.
Tao Tao said to the man, "Okay! Auntie, can you buy two servings? I'll charge you 15 cents! Here, I'll give you a different combination for the other serving. Look, it's dried yam, salted duck eggs, dried mushrooms and dried vegetables! I'll also give you a handful of fermented black beans... Let me teach you, it's too wasteful to have one salted duck egg per person, but take out three and beat the eggs, and cook them with the dried yam. If you have melons or vegetables at home, don't feel bad, just chop them up and throw them into the pot... Then you'll have a big pot of soup, which will be filling and delicious! You can use the dried mushrooms to stir-fry with fermented black beans! The salted egg soup will fill you up, and the fermented black beans and dried mushrooms will go well with rice! If it doesn't taste good, come and settle with me. I'm from Ruyi Village..."
The fellow villagers who were watching were instantly excited, and many of them came over to ask -
"Little sister, is each dish on a tung leaf eight cents per serving?"
“Is there any discount if I buy more?”
"Little sister, I want this, but can you give me some more dried chili?"
"Little sister, please give me a few more copies!"
People have this herd mentality.
If one person buys it, everyone else will just watch and have fun.
If two people come to buy it, you think it might be a best-seller?
If three or four people come to buy, they will start to worry: Is it really worth it?
Five or six people are coming to buy? Then we must take advantage of this!
A dozen people fighting over it? Oh, I would be at a loss if I didn’t buy it!
then--
Zhou Xiaoni watched in amazement as Taotao sold out everything on the stall within half an hour!
By the time Tang Liren led everyone back to the stall with a few pairs of new shoes, Taotao and Zhou Xiaoni were already ready to close the stall.
Tang Liren opened her eyes wide, "Where are the things? Have you changed them all? What did you change?"
Taotao handed over a handful of dimes, "Mom, please count them!"
Tang Liren asked Tan Fenghui to count, and the total amount was more than seven yuan and sixty cents!
"How did you sell it?" Tang Liren asked curiously, "We've been shouting here for a long time but no one came to take a look. Is it because you're pretty that people bought it?"
Zhou Xiaoni said this excitedly.
Everyone then suddenly realized.
——That’s right, when people go to the market, most of them barter. But in fact, it is most comfortable to circulate money. Add to that the dry goods that Taotao comes with, and you can get a little bit of everything with just a little money, which is more convenient than bartering.
Tang Liren thought about it and said to Aunt Bai and Zhou Xiaoni, "Since the three of us sold it together, then... we should split it equally?"
Aunt Bai and Zhou Xiaoni both shook their heads.
Second Aunt Bai, "First, divide it into three parts. One part will be given to Xiao Ni'er, and the rest will be divided among the people... Sister-in-law, it's because I have the least stuff. If we divide it equally, you will suffer a great loss. I can't do this."
Zhou Xiaoni disagreed, "If I rely on myself, how can I sell these things? Even if I buy them all out, they can't be worth so much money! So how can I take so much? They are obviously things that can't be sold..."
Taotao was impatient to listen to them dividing the money and ran away quietly.
Song Zhi and Liu Xuexu were no longer there.
Taotao looked left and right...
Finally, Song Zhi was found.
He was leaning against a tree, his eyes blank. Suddenly seeing Taotao, he was startled and stood up straight, but there was an inexplicable panic in his eyes, "Have you... finished trying on shoes?"
"Where is Liu Xuexu?" Taotao asked.
Song Zhi, "Let's go."
Taotao opened her eyes wide, "She's gone?"
Song Zhi hummed, his expression very unnatural.
"I thought you only had one sister from the Guan family." Tao Tao said, "Is Liu Xuexu also your sister?"
She felt a little uncomfortable.
——Why does he have so many sisters?
Song Zhi was speechless for a long time.
Taotao was a little unhappy, "Don't you want to say something to me?"
Song Zhi just stared at her in a daze.
He was not stupid and he could tell that Taotao was unhappy.
But……
Song Zhi took a deep breath and said with a swollen belly: "You...are not dating me, why should I tell you these private matters?"
Taotao widened her eyes in surprise.
"Song Zhi!"
Taotao was angry. She wanted to scold him, but after holding it in for a while, she found that she seemed to have... nothing to say?
She really doesn't want to get married.
So, she shouldn't ask about Song Zhi's private affairs?
A strange feeling came over me.
But Taotao didn't quite understand what this sour and uncomfortable feeling meant.
She racked her brains and thought about it, then said, "But Liu Xuexu is my friend!"
Song Zhi carefully observed her expression, "Liu Xuexu is your friend? Do you know her? Do you know her family situation? You... don't even know how old she is or whether she is a boy or a girl!"
Taotao: "She..."
Suddenly he realized, "She... Liu Xuexu? Is she a boy or a girl?"
Song Zhi was somewhat helpless, "Liu Xuexu is not my sister, she... is my brother."
Tao Tao was stunned, "But he... is so handsome!"
Song Zhi smiled bitterly, "His mother likes girls, so she dressed him up as a little girl since he was young, and he has always been like this..."
Tao Tao, "What if he goes to the toilet?"
Song Zhi, "He never goes to the toilet outside, and always sleeps alone."
After a pause, he could not help but say, "From now on, you are not allowed to shake hands with him, get too close to him, or even call him sister!"
Peach@
:……
Humph, she wanted revenge. "Even if Liu Xuexu is a man, why can't I shake hands with Liu Xuexu or get too close to him? I'm not dating you! Humph!"
If you don't take revenge, you are not Taotao!
This time it was Song Zhi who was stunned.
Taotao raised her chin and ran away.
Song Zhi stared at her background with a thoughtful look.
——Is the little girl jealous?
He smiled.
But then I thought of Liu Xuexu's words——
"Brother Song Zhi, I came here with Hai Shan this time. Brother Hai Long gave us your address, but when we were on the train, the envelope was stolen. Hai Shan and I couldn't remember your exact address, so we had to wander around Song County, looking for you everywhere... This time Hai Shan and I are acting separately. I will go to the city to meet up with her, and then go to Ruyi Village to find you! We have been looking for you for more than a month..."
Song Zhi couldn't laugh anymore.
It's very annoying.
But no one understood Song Zhi's unhappiness.
Everybody was quite happy - when they came to the market today, everyone was mentally prepared to barter, even if they couldn't get what they wanted. No one thought that Taotao actually sold everything and made a lot of money!
Zhou Xiaoni had the most stuff and got two dollars and thirty cents.
She immediately spent one dollar to buy a pair of cloth shoes. She was so happy that she cried and held the shoes in her arms and was reluctant to wear them. Under the guidance of Tang Liren, she spent one dollar to buy several pieces of cloth of different sizes. Go home and piece them together by yourself and you will eventually be able to put together a new set of clothes and pants!
Zhou Xiaoni spent the remaining thirty cents on buying five cents worth of bulk white sugar, and another five cents worth of two pounds of roasted melon seeds and peanuts for everyone. She saved the remaining twenty cents carefully.
From today on, she is also a person with savings!
Taotao was a little unhappy...
But later, she watched Song Zhi expose the vendor who sold Empress Dowager Cixi's gem grapes and watches.
Song Zhi scolded the vendor, "Your gem grapes are actually wax balls, right? They haven't even been squeezed into a round shape, and there are several fingerprints on them. They are too fake! Besides, Empress Dowager Cixi has been dead for many years. How could something she ate fall into your hands? Aren't you afraid of being poisoned?"
"And the jeweled watch that Empress Dowager Cixi wore... In my opinion, how come it looks the same as the Chunlei watch? And yours is just a watch case! There is no movement inside at all! Then explain again, Empress Dowager Cixi died in 1908, and the Chunlei Watch Factory was established in 1955. How did Cixi wear a watch that was produced fifty years later?"
"Don't cheat people here anymore! If you do something else... barter, or set up a stall in the black market to do some small business, I won't say anything to you. If I see you cheating people here again, I will definitely report you to the police! Go away!"
The peddler fled in panic after being scolded by him.
Taotao's mood improved.
She ran over with a smile on her face, grabbed a handful of melon seeds and peanuts and gave them to Song Zhi, "Eat this, Xiaoni's treat!"
Song Zhi sighed, took out a handful of White Rabbit milk candies from his pocket and stuffed them into Taotao's hand.
Taotao stared at the White Rabbit milk candy for a while, then put all the melon seeds, peanuts and candies into her purse, took out a White Rabbit candy, unwrapped it and ate it.
As soon as she put the candy into her mouth, her eyes widened and she smiled, "Ah! This... is delicious! It's a hot, chewable popsicle!"
Song Zhi was infected by her smile and smiled too. He couldn't help but reach out and touch her head.
The group bought a bowl of noodle soup at the market and then rode back in Uncle Tan's ox cart. This time everyone had less luggage, and even Song Zhi had a seat.
Tao Tao looked around and asked curiously, "Where's Yan Naqian?"
Everyone looked at each other.
——Yes, why is Yan Naqian not here?
Tao Tao, "Looking at her attitude, I always felt that she was going to do something... I was nervous at first, but who knew that she disappeared without a sound."
Tang Liren, "Maybe he will disappear without a trace again, just like the last time he followed us into the city, and then make a big scene in a few days!"
Song Zhi said nothing.
——Although the child who came to report the news was most likely the one called by Yan Naqian, Taotao was fine in the end, so he didn't want to create any more trouble. After all, Yan Naqian is a very annoying woman, and the farther away from her, the safer you are.
So everyone returned to Ruyi Village.
At dinner that night, Song Zhi hesitated again and again, and said to Bai Zhenggan and Tang Liren: "Uncle, aunt... I, I want to move to the Youth Station."
The whole family was stunned.
To be honest, no one wanted him to move away.
After all, Dongsheng and Nansheng are not at home now, so all the heavy work at home is done by Song Zhi. If he moves away too...
Bai Zhenggan and Tang Liren looked at each other, then looked at Taotao.
——Did Song Zhi and Taotao have a fight? So you're moving away?
Little did she know that Taotao was also looking at Song Zhi with puzzled eyes.
Song Zhi told the truth, "My younger brother and sister are also coming to live here for a while, and I think it might not be that convenient to live at home. So I thought, let's go to the Youth Educated Station!"
Bai Zhenggan and Tang Liren breathed a sigh of relief for some unknown reason.
Bai Zhenggan, "Isn't your room big enough? It's about the same size as the east room. Your eldest brother Dongsheng's family of five can live there. Is there still room for you and your brothers and sisters?"
Tang Liren, "How many brothers and sisters are coming this time?"
Song Zhi hesitated for a moment, "A younger brother and a younger sister."
Tang Liren said angrily, "Oh! I thought there would be more than a dozen of them! Then come and stay at my house! The food and accommodation are better than staying at the Youth Educator Station!"
Song Zhi: "This is not good..."
Tang Liren, "How long will they stay?"
Song Zhi, "They are not my brothers and sisters. They all have their own parents and elders. They must go back to Kyoto for the New Year."
"Just stay at our house!" Bai Zhenggan made the decision. "It's almost the 15th day of the ninth lunar month. In two months at most, they will leave. Why do you have to move to the Youth Educator Station? Besides, doesn't Yan Naqian still live at the Youth Educator Station? If you live anywhere else, you'll be walking into the tiger's mouth."
Song Zhi: ...
Taotao laughed out loud.
The next day, Song Zhi's younger brother and sister arrived.
One is Liu Xuexu, who is wearing a military green skirt and long hair, and the other is Guan Haishan, who has a shaved head, ankle-length pants, and straw sandals, and has a beautiful face.
The two of them were excited, carrying their light luggage, and asked people along the way until they found Bai Zhenggan's house.
The whole family was at home at the time.
Song Zhi looked at his "brother" and "sister" with a complicated expression.
Taotao already knew the "secret". She looked at Liu Xuexu, then at Guan Hai, and couldn't help but chuckle with her hands covering her mouth.
——Have these two changed their genders? One of the men, with long hair and a skirt, looks like a perfect little beauty; the other woman, with a shaved head, looks very heroic, and does look a bit like a boy.
Guan Haishan's eyes were fixed on Taotao.
Liu Xuexu nudged Guan Haishan with her elbow and whispered, "See, I told you... Bai Taotao is the prettiest in the world!"
Guan Haishan nodded desperately.
Taotao chuckled.
——Only now did she realize that Liu Xuexu’s voice was relatively deep and indeed sounded a bit like a man’s voice.
Song Zhi said helplessly to his brothers and sisters: "Why don't you call the elders when you see them?"
Guan Haishan and Liu Xuexu called Bai Zhenggan "uncle", called Tang Liren "aunt", and called Tan Fenghui "sister-in-law"... In short, their etiquette was correct, and the two of them even took out a gift - a piece of pork belly weighing about four or five pounds.
Tang Liren was so happy that she took Liu Xuexu's hand, looked her up and down, and said to Song Zhi: "Xiao Song, your sister is so pretty! Her little mouth is so sweet..."
Song Zhi spoke with difficulty, "Aunt, he is my brother, Liu Xuexu."
Tang Liren:? ? ?
On the other side, Bai Zhenggan was also looking at the bald Guan Haishan. He wanted to praise her but didn't know how to start - nowadays, only prisoners would shave their heads. Decent people with hair would want to be bald! And this boy’s pants clearly look new, so why are they cut so short, revealing a small part of his calf? It’s almost the beginning of winter, isn’t it cold?
After thinking for a long time, Bai Zhenggan finally found something to praise, "Xiao Song, your little brother is white and chubby, and looks really energetic!"
Song Zhi swallowed his saliva, "Uncle, she is my sister... Guan Haishan."
Bai Zhenggan:! ! !
The whole family was stunned.
Liu Xuexu and Guan Haishan had already run towards Taotao.
This one said, "Taotao Taotao, can you be my model?"
The one who said, "Taotao, can I draw you?"
As she spoke, Liu Xuexu moved a small stool and placed it in the courtyard. Guan Haishan pulled Taotao over and asked Taotao to sit on the stool. Then the two of them hurriedly took out sketchbooks and pencils from their backpacks and started to draw while squatting.
Tao Tao was still a little confused and asked, "You guys... have already started painting?"
“Well, I’ve already started painting!”
"here we go!"
Taotao: "Then what pose should I take?"
"As long as you are comfortable!"
"You can do whatever you want!"
Taotao thought for a moment, "Will I be unable to move for a long time?"
"Half an hour! Okay? Please!"
"Twenty minutes is fine."
Taotao adjusted herself to a more comfortable position and asked, "Why are you two drawing with pencils?"
“This is called character sketching!”
"We don't want to tire you out today. Can you be our oil painting model in a few days?"
Taotao had never seen an oil painting before, and wondered how oil could be used for painting? If a drop of oil falls on paper, will it soak and spread?
She was about to ask——
Guan Haishan suddenly stared at Taotao and stopped writing, "No! No! The beauty Bai Tao should not be sketched, and sketching is not suitable for her... Oil painting is not suitable for her either, she is only suitable for detailed painting!"
Liu Xuexu paused while writing. She looked at Taotao and said seriously, "Haishan, you are right!"
He looked at Taotao carefully and said, "Taotao's temperament... is too much like a fairy. Not only must she be painted with meticulous brushwork, but she must also be painted in great detail... God, I already have a picture in my mind, a flying fairy with Wu Dai Dang Feng and Cao Yi Chu Shui, with a graceful posture, lowering her eyes, looking back, picking up flowers and smiling softly, plump and graceful, charming and varied, yet holy and inviolable..."
Guan Haishan also looked at Taotao obsessively, "She is so beautiful... Don't smile while picking flowers, it's vulgar! Let her hold a plate of fairy peaches..."
Taotao's heart skipped a beat: Have they discovered my identity?
On the other side, Song Zhi also explained the situation of Liu Xuexu and Guan Haishan to the Bai family with great difficulty.
The Bai family members' eyes were collectively blank.
Song Zhi added, "Because of Guan Haishan's figure, anyone with a discerning eye can tell that she is a girl, so there is no need to hide it. The main thing is that my brother Liu Xuexu...his situation is more troublesome."
Bai Zhenggan could understand.
A man, dressed like a woman, with long hair, wearing a skirt, and speaking in a delicate tone... maybe he hangs out with women all day long. If people found out that he was actually a man, they would probably think he was being a hooligan!
That's a serious crime!
But now, seeing Liu Xuexu's attitude towards Taotao, and listening to Song Zhi's explanation...
Only then did I realize that Liu Xuexu actually meant no harm.
He's just a boy who thinks he's a girl.
Song Zhi said, "Uncle, aunt, please... don't make Liu Xuexu's situation public for now. I will control him, and I will let him control himself... Try not to show up outside, and never allow him to hang out with other female comrades. He can stay here for a month at most. Once winter comes, I will send them away immediately!"
After a while, Bai Zhenggan nodded.
Tang Liren said anxiously: "Song Zhi, then you have to take care of him..."
At this moment, someone outside suddenly shouted, "Uncle Zhenggan! Hurry up and go to the village committee! People from above are coming to collect the grain!"
Bai Zhenggan was stunned - is there anyone coming to collect grain today?
Why does something seem a little wrong? In previous years, when harvesting grain, someone from above would come down to arrange the time, deciding which village would be harvested first and which would be harvested later. This required mobilizing large trucks to weigh the grain and load it onto the trucks at the same time.
There is no news about this year yet, so why are we going to harvest the grain right away?
However, thinking that it was time to pay the grain tax, Bai Zhenggan said nothing, took his cane and hurried out the door.
Tang Liren was still a little worried about her husband's health and wanted to go with him, so she told Tan Fenghui, "Huier, please take care of Xiaosong's brothers and sisters!" Then she went out, and Hongdou and Huangdou jumped and followed him to watch the fun.
Tan Fenghui agreed.
The girls of the Bai family lived in the back house, which had four rooms in total. Originally, the three sisters lived in one room each, and there was another room for sundries.
The Bai family's original arrangement was for the younger brother to live with Song Zhi and the younger sister to live in the utility room.
But who would have known that Song Zhi’s younger brother... was actually a pretty lady! It is not appropriate to live in one house. So Tan Fenghui arranged for Liu Xuexu to live in the utility room, and Guan Haishan temporarily lived in Lili's room.
At that moment, Tan Fenghui ordered Xingxing to boil water and wash the faces of her younger brothers and sisters. She also called Taotao to clean up Lili's room and put away some important personal belongings...
Before they were done, Hongdou and Huangdou suddenly came back to report, "Mom! Fourth Aunt... Aunt Yan Naqian is here to collect the grain! And she started arguing with Grandpa!"
Everyone in the family was stunned.
——Originally, after seeing Song Zhi’s brothers and sisters, the Bai family felt that their psychological endurance was very strong. But I was still shocked by this sentence: How come Yan Naqian became a grain collector after just one day's absence?
For a moment, everyone in the family couldn't sit still.
Tan Fenghui instructed Xingxing, "Xiao Xingzi, stay at home with Xuexu and Haishan. Your fourth sister and I will go check on them and will be back soon..."
Xingxing was also very anxious and wanted to go and take a look. But then I thought, there are guests at home, and these two are newcomers, so it's really not a good idea to let them stay at home alone.
So I had no choice but to admit it.
Tan Fenghui and Taotao hurried to the village committee.
The village committee was surrounded by villagers in three layers, and everyone had an indignant expression on their faces. Some women had already burst into tears.
"How can this be justified? They are going to collect 30% more grain from us without any warning this year? Wouldn't our life be worse than famine?"
"What that person said is totally unreasonable. Why should only our Ruyi Village be required to pay 30% more grain? Don't other villages need to pay that?"
"I thought I could have a good year this year, woooo..."
"We in Ruyi Village are not wealthy! Why do you treat us like this?"
"If they want to increase the tax, then the entire township or county should do it together. There is no reason to target only our Ruyi Village!"
Gradually, the villagers became angry.
Taotao and Tan Fenghui squeezed to the innermost part of the crowd.
Bai Zhenggan and the village cadres sat on one side with grim faces, and on the other side... were Yan Naqian and a thin man who looked to be in his thirties.
The man was holding a document in his hand and said with a smile, "Secretary Bai, please sign it quickly!"
Bai Zhenggan, "Sorry, I can't sign a document like this!"
"So, you want to go against the country?" The man's smile turned cold.
Bai Zhenggan said, "I'll talk about this after I meet Section Chief Hao. I want to ask him in person who issued this order!"
Bai Zhenggan stared at the man closely. "I recognize you. You are Zhao Zhiyong, the driver of the town's grain bureau. I also know that Section Chief Hao should have arrived in our town by now... Then why didn't Section Chief Hao come to tell us in person, but you, the driver, delivered such a document? Zhao Zhiyong, are you forging documents? Or are you falsely conveying orders?"
Ever since Bai Zhenggan injured his waist and could no longer do physical work, he tried every means to do more work as a village cadre.
Now there is a new person, Song Zhi, in the family. Song Zhi is also very sensitive to current affairs, which has infected Bai Zhenggan. So every night, Bai Zhenggan and Song Zhi would listen to the half-hour news broadcast on the radio together.
The harvest in the south this year was generally not very good, and in some places there was even no harvest due to floods and insect pests. In order to appease the people, the country even opened its granaries and used stored grain to provide disaster relief.
Ruyi Village did have a good harvest this year, but because it is located in a disaster area, it is still within the scope of the country's grain tax exemption area...how is it possible to collect grain?
At this time, cold sweat broke out on Zhao Zhiyong's forehead.
Seeing Zhao Zhiyong's panic, Bai Zhenggan sneered, "Zhao Zhiyong, if you dare to forge state documents, you will go to jail!"
Zhao Zhiyong became increasingly uneasy.
He stood up and pretended to be angry, "Anyway, I'm here and I've brought you the documents... It was you who didn't want to sign! If Section Chief Hao gets angry and wants to blame me... it has nothing to do with me!"
Bai Zhenggan grabbed the document that Zhao Zhiyong was holding.
Zhao Zhiyong was so anxious that he cried out "Oh" and reached out to grab it back.
Several other village cadres were afraid that Zhao Zhiyong would hurt Bai Zhenggan. After all, Bai Zhenggan's back injury had not healed yet, so they used their bodies to block Zhao Zhiyong.
Bai Zhenggan carefully read the document and said with more certainty: "Zhao Zhiyong, the document you asked me to sign is a donation document! It says 'Ruyi Village voluntarily donates 30% of the grain harvested in the autumn of 1967 to the national treasury'... So, how can this mean that the country is forcibly collecting grain from us? Is this what you mean?"
Zhao Zhiyong: …
Before Zhao Zhiyong could speak, Bai Zhenggan said, "I'll keep this document. I'll ask Section Chief Hao if he asked you to do this."
Zhao Zhiyong became anxious.
——He wrote this document himself, and he secretly stamped several official seals on it on the letterhead of the Grain Administration Bureau when the accountant of the unit who kept the official seals was not paying attention.
He had originally been thinking about starting an introduction when he wanted to go out of town, and then last night he took in Yan Naqian, and promised her that he would come to Ruyi Village today to pack her luggage and take revenge on Bai Zhenggan's family.
Zhao Zhiyong then came up with an idea and forged a donation document and asked Bai Zhenggan to sign it.
——If Bai Zhenggan signs, Ruyi Village will have to donate 30% of its grain this year. The original bumper harvest will be worse than a famine year. The villagers will hate Bai Zhenggan to death, and his political career will be over.
Unexpectedly, Bai Zhenggan saw through it?
Zhao Zhiyong was very panicked.
Yan Naqian, who was sitting next to Zhao Zhiyong, looked at him with hatred.
Until last night, she knew...
She may have made the wrong choice at a turning point in her life.
——Being arrested by the Grain Administration as a thief and taken to the police station might be better than marrying Zhao Zhiyong.
Look at her injuries...
Oh no, it's covered by clothes and outsiders can't see it at all.
But Yan Naqian thought about it and felt that since she had taken the wrong step, why didn't she
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