Master Lu paused here and glanced at Jiang Shiyue. "Although your brother is innocent, he was dating someone at the time. When that girl was transferred here, he automatically applied to come here."
Jiang Shiyue bit the tip of her tongue lightly, her long eyelashes drooping and then rising again, her voice slightly cold, "Did that girl return to the city?"
Master Lu was surprised, "How did you know?"
Jiang Shiyue curled her lips coldly and didn't answer.
Master Lu hesitated before asking further questions, then continued, "We're unlucky. We just got settled in here, and then the world changed! We don't have to go to the countryside anymore. That means there won't be any more educated youth coming to the countryside except for us. We're really short-staffed, so we transferred some locals from nearby, but we can't keep them. Anyone with connections has been transferred away. The less manpower we have here, the harder it is to complete the work, and the harder it is to complete the work, and the worse the treatment.
Later, the higher-ups announced that the educated youth who had gone to the countryside could return to the city. We were in an uproar, and everyone wanted to go back. But think about it! We were already short-staffed, so who would do the work if everyone left? So even though the higher-ups gave us quotas, our team leader refused to let anyone go.
When Master Lu said this, he turned his head and looked in the direction of the captain's office, although he couldn't see anything.
"The educated youth complained bitterly, but there was nothing they could do. They stayed. Even though their hearts had left, they were even more perfunctory at work. Every time, the team leader was scolded by the higher-ups, and then their quotas for returning to the city were withheld. This continued until some of the educated youth's family members were reinstated. They smoothed the way with relationships from top to bottom, and the team leader was forced to let them go. That's how the first group of people returned to the city."
If there is a first one, there will be a second one.
Most of the educated youth who went to the countryside due to their backgrounds had family members with some abilities.
Gradually, these affected second-generation people returned to the city, and the rest could no longer hold back.
Those who have money at home spend it, and those who have connections use them.
"Last year alone, half of our employees left." Master Lu pursed his lips and shook his head.
Jiang Shiyue didn't say anything. She knew that a record in history books often represented the entire life of many people.
"Come to think of it, your brother did have a chance to leave."
It was Jiang Shiyue's turn to be surprised.
"One time, the captain was returning from a meeting. When he was almost at the farm, he encountered a tiger that shouldn't have appeared at that time. He was almost mauled to death. Fortunately, your brother, who was patrolling nearby, saved him. Your brother seems fine now, but you can see he limps when it rains or is cloudy. The captain had no conscience at the time. To repay your brother for saving his life, he gritted his teeth and approved a permit to let him return to the city."
Jiang Shiyue could guess the rest without even hearing what was said. Her brother must have given the spot to the girl he was dating.
Master Lu gave Jiang Shiyue a thumbs-up. "You guessed right. Your brother missed that opportunity and never had another. The captain now is not the same as before! Even for those of us on the farm, it's hard to even see him!"
***
Jiang Shiyue came out of the cafeteria and went straight to the captain's office.
As Master Lu said, the team leader is rarely on the farm now. He has saved a lot of money from the educated youth who returned to their hometowns and is trying to smooth things over with his connections in order to be transferred to other places.
He goes out early and comes back late, or even never comes back, and doesn't care much about the farm's production tasks.
However, he is really indispensable in approving the quota to return to the city.
Jiang Shiyue could only return to the wooden house in disappointment. After thinking for a while, he took out another ten dollars and went back to find Master Lu to ask him to buy some ingredients.
Lu Shifei was very straightforward and generously gave the ingredients to Jiang Shiyue.
"Let me make it clear first, this is my personal belongings. If anyone asks you about it, just say you brought it in from outside, and don't say I sold it to you."
Jiang Shiyue returned to the wooden house carrying a piece of pork, two pounds of ribs, a pheasant, and some vegetables and fruits.
There is a mud stove in front of the dormitory.
Jiang Sinian said that was because the workers often had no food to eat when they came home late from overtime, so they set up a stove and cooked something for themselves.
Usually they eat it secretly.
What was available depended on what prey the workers could hunt.
Sometimes it was hares or pheasants, sometimes it was snakes or mice, but people would eat whatever could fill their stomachs.
The dormitory area consists of a long row of wooden houses, most of which are occupied by only one or two people, and there are even a few empty houses.
Jiang Shiyue took out the pots and pans from the room next to the stove that served as the kitchen.
I don’t know if it’s because people don’t take care of public property or because the workers haven’t cooked for a long time, but all the kitchen utensils are very dirty.
Jiang Shiyue took the bucket and fetched water from the cafeteria's water pipe and brought it back to wash all the pots and pans.
I also washed the vegetables and blanched the ribs and chicken.
The chicken was a pheasant, no doubt it was shot in the woods, but Jiang Shiyue was a little curious where the ribs came from.
Now, in addition to a ticket, you also need proof to buy spare ribs.
For example, a fracture certificate issued by a hospital can prove that the patient needs this kind of food to supplement nutrition.
But if you think about it carefully, the answer seems not difficult to guess. It is likely that the worker who was injured on duty needs to eat some tonic. The superiors approved the ingredients, but Master Lu deducted the money from his own pocket.
Jiang Shiyue, who hadn't cooked for a long time, soon broke into a sweat.
I couldn't help but think of the time when Ganghun traveled through time.
We were as poor then as we are now.
The difference is that back then, we were heavily in debt and really had no money, but now it’s like rich people experiencing the life of the poor. I can’t say that I enjoy it, but it’s somewhat fresh.
In summer, even in Northeast China, it is extremely hot.
I was sweating all over while sitting by the stove.
It’s just a few dishes, and by the time they’re done, it’s almost time for the workers to get off work.
There is no way these dishes are all a waste of effort.
Cucumber salad is the simplest dish.
There were also old chef peanuts. Chef Lu was particularly generous and gave all his snacks to Jiang Shiyue for the sake of money.
Jiang Shiyue reheated the peanuts and made them into old chef peanuts.
Then came the sweet and sour pork ribs.
After blanching the ribs, cook them again and drain the water to make sweet and sour ribs.
Condiments such as sugar and vinegar are priced separately.
Finally, it was stewed chicken. Jiang Shiyue added enough seasoning and cooked it over high heat.
Anyway, the thing that is most in short supply here is firewood.
While the chicken soup was simmering on low heat, Jiang Shiyue went to the captain's office.
Their farm has team leaders, squadron leaders and platoon leaders.
The person Jiang Sinian borrowed money from was their squadron leader.
The squadron leader had met Jiang Shiyue at noon, but was very surprised why she came to see him.
"Come and pay back the debt for my brother." Jiang Shiyue took out five dollars and handed it to the squadron leader.
The squadron leader gave Jiang Shiyue the IOU written by Jiang Sinian and the three yuan in change.
Jiang Shiyue only took the IOU and tore it up casually. "The rest is to thank the captain for taking care of my brother."
"How can I feel embarrassed?" The squadron leader said he was embarrassed, but he put the money into the drawer quickly.
"And I have another unwelcome request."
"You tell me." The squadron leader smiled, but he didn't agree in his heart. What could you do with just three dollars?!
You can't just let Jiang Sinian return to the city? !
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