The wolf head was handed to the accountant next to him. The village chief took out the handkerchief containing the wolf fangs and said, "Sister, please give it to your wife. The fangs of the six wolves are all inside."
"Okay, thank you for taking the trouble to come here." Wang Daya's expression softened, and she smiled softly. "Would you like to come in and sit down?"
Knowing that they were not here to disturb Comrade Zhong, Wang Daya's expression brightened.
The village chief knew that he couldn't just agree to the offer. "No, since you don't want the wolf head, we'll take it back and give it to someone with more children."
"It's up to you." Wang Daya answered casually.
"Big sister, this is a thank-you gift from several of our families. Please accept it as well." The village chief took the eggs from the three people's arms, put them in a cloth bag, and stuffed it into Wang Daya's pocket without saying anything. Without giving her a chance to refuse, the three village cadres looked at each other, said goodbye and left quickly.
Wang Daya was stunned, staring at their receding backs, then looked down at the handkerchief and cloth bag holding the wolf tooth.
When I opened the cloth bag, I saw that there were quite a few eggs, at least twenty or so.
When she looked up again, the three people had already entered the village. They were really running at that speed. It was unrealistic to catch up with them now, and she might not even be able to catch up. Wang Daya gave up, took her things and ran straight to the backyard, walked into the third courtyard. Finding Zhong Yuxiu in the room with the children, she stepped in.
"Comrade Wang, you're here. Is there something going on? Or are you here to express your gratitude after the village officials divided up the meat?"
"You're really smart. You guessed it right." Wang Daya opened the cloth bag and handkerchief and showed them to her. "They came to give wolf teeth and gifts of gratitude. These are the gifts that the three village cadres collected from their own families."
Zhong Yuxiu took one look and chuckled, shaking her head. "They're so thoughtful. We do buy eggs here. There are some imported eggs on the market now, but they taste so much worse than local eggs. The eggs laid by their own chickens are much tastier than those imported eggs."
"You're right, these grown men are quite considerate. They knew we might be short of eggs after moving here, so they sent them here."
Zhong Yuxiu didn't object. She had a guess as to why. If she was right, the farmers didn't have much to offer, so giving them the gift was a waste. Her family had enough money to buy chickens. For farmers, every chicken was an income, but not for her. They were afraid she wouldn't appreciate it, but also worried she wouldn't accept it, so they compromised by giving them eggs. They wouldn't feel bad about it, and if they could just give them the eggs, they wouldn't push back over a few eggs.
She guessed what these people were thinking almost exactly.
I got her several pounds of meat for free, and gave her some eggs as a thank you gift.
"Keep them. When grandpa and the others come back, have Comrade Gu drive to the city to buy some snacks, cakes, cigarettes, and alcohol. Send some to several cadres in the village. People give and take, so we have to maintain this relationship." Even if you don't live here all the time, you still have to build good relationships.
Their family doesn't need this little money, so they don't feel bad about it.
"Okay, you keep the wolf fangs, and I'll take the eggs to the kitchen. It just so happens that the three children consume a lot of eggs every day, and the eggs we bought the day before yesterday are almost gone today. These eggs are just the right amount to fill the gap."
Zhong Yuxiu smiled and nodded, letting her go.
Wang Daya put down the handkerchief holding the wolf's teeth, picked up the cloth bag and left. She went to the kitchen, pulled out the egg basket from under the cupboard, counted out the four eggs that were left and put them aside. She put the eggs in the cloth bag into the basket in a proper manner, and the basket was full of eggs again.
"Comrade Wang, where did you get the eggs? So many? Have Mr. Yan and the others come back?" Fang Guozhong was kneading the dough, and while kneading he did not forget to check on Wang Daya's movements.
When Fang Guozhong asked, Gu Lingguo, Feng Zheng and Gong Zhaodi all looked at Wang Daya.
Wang Daya shook her head. "Old Yan and Mr. Yan haven't returned yet. These eggs were sent by village cadres. They said they were thanking our wife for the meat she sent them. They left without even waiting for me to refuse. I didn't think there were many eggs, so I didn't chase them down to return them. It wouldn't be appropriate to chase them down to return them. If I did, they would think we looked down on them."
"We can't do that." Gu Lingguo nodded in agreement.
There is a limit to interpersonal relationships. Only by grasping this limit can one be considered to be interacting with others in a kind way; otherwise, no matter how much goodwill one has, it will be misunderstood.
"Just give them a gift in return next time." Gu Lingguo thought a lot. His brain worked faster than Fang Guozhong's. After following Comrade Zhong for so long, he had to pick up the social etiquette that he had neglected before.
Fang Guozhong was more direct. He said, "We gave them so much meat, and they only received a few eggs. Why should we return the favor? Isn't meat more valuable than eggs? Many people in the countryside don't eat meat once in six months."
"Whether or not they get to eat it is their business. The wolf meat was originally used to build connections, so it can't be counted like that."
After Gu Lingguo finished speaking, Wang Daya and Gong Zhaodi nodded in agreement, "Yes, gifts should be returned. It's a give-and-take thing."
3:1.
Fang Guozhong was completely defeated.
Since they all said so, Fang Guozhong shut up. He was indeed lacking in social skills; he had a wife to support him in his hometown, and he didn't need so much knowledge with his comrades in the army. As long as he did things with a clear conscience, he could basically get along well.
Over time, he ignored these things.
Like Gu Lingguo, they would naturally ignore or even not pay attention to things they didn’t need before; after following Zhong Yuxiu, they found that social etiquette was not something that could not be used in the army, and they could not throw it away.
"We can discuss what to bring back after Mr. Yan and the others come back. If it's too expensive, we dare to give it to them, but they won't accept it. If it's too bad, it will affect the status of Mr. Yan and Comrade Zhong. We have to think about it carefully." Fang Guozhong thought more realistically.
Gu Lingguo is obviously better than Fang Guozhong in this regard. "Just buy some snacks and candies and send them to their home. Snacks and candies are not expensive things nowadays; but they are still presentable as gifts." It doesn't lose face and touches people's hearts.
Who doesn’t have a few children and elderly people at home? Snacks and candies are perfect for children and the elderly.
"Comrade Gu is right." Wang Daya nodded in agreement. "I think fabric will be fine too. It doesn't need to be too fine, cotton will be enough. Most people in the countryside make their own clothes, so we can give the fabric to them and let them spend as they please."
In the early 1980s, people in rural areas considered candy, snacks, and cloth precious. They used to be inaccessible even without money, but now they can, despite years of low incomes, and were reluctant to spend on clothes and fabric. Therefore, patched clothing was common in rural areas, and those without patches were often considered well-off by the head of the household.
By the 1990s, when the economic situation was better, some people realized that society was changing and everyone was changing; they would take the lead in making changes and becoming wealthy, thereby driving more people to change their mindsets.
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