Chapter 168 Getting used to children

After selling the little rabbits, it was winter, and the first batch of five long-haired rabbits also needed to be sheared.

After this shearing, they would wait until spring to shear again.

Shearing is a technical job, and they don’t have electric clippers, so they can only use scissors.

Lin Shu can’t do this job, so they asked Fang Dihua and Lu Laodie to do it.

Unfortunately, it was their first time shearing the rabbits’ hair, and their skills were… average, and the rabbits’ hair was sheared unevenly, and the rabbits’ hair was wasted.

Tiantian, Panpan, and Xiao Houwei squatted around the rabbits, watching Grandpa and Grandma take turns to shear, watching the beautiful long-haired rabbits become… bumpy, and they immediately felt guilty.

Tiantian whispered, “Mom, will the rabbits be angry?”

This is too ugly.

Lin Shu: "It doesn't matter, anyway, in winter you cut half of the rabbit's hair first, and then cut the other half after 20 days."

Fang Dihua and Lu Laodi were also a little embarrassed, it seems that there are tricks in every trade.

They are good at work, but not necessarily good at cutting rabbits.

Lu Laodi looked at them and said, "Then do you want to continue?"

Panpan said to Lin Shu, "Mom, when will my dad come back? Otherwise, let my dad help."

Lin Shu: "...Uh."

The key point is that Lu Shaotang came back quite late, and left in the morning, so he didn't have time to cut the rabbit's hair.

Fang Dihua: "Forget about today. I'll practice cutting tomorrow and continue. I'll get used to it after cutting a few more times. Anyway, the hair will be very long in two or three months."

Fang Dihua cut half of the rabbit, and Lu Laodie cut half of the rabbit. The old couple didn't have to laugh at each other. They cut... all of them were bumpy.

The kids looked at the two rabbits and felt that they had no desire to live. They were not lively at all.

"Hey, it seems that hairstyle is still very important." Panpan remembered that when he was a child, he had lice and his grandma shaved his head bald. He was still scared.

Although he was not that young, it happened in the winter of the year before last.

Father Lu also comforted the children, "Rabbit's fur grows really fast, much faster than your hair."

After such comfort, the two children felt relieved. Before going to bed at night, they took out the small clothes that they had outgrown when they were young but were reluctant to throw away and tied them around the bald rabbit to keep it warm.

Tiantian: "I will learn how to knit a sweater from my mother later, and knit a rabbit fur sweater for the rabbit so that it won't be cold."

Lin Shu listened and nodded to cooperate with the girl. After all, a knitted sweater can be worn for a long time, but rabbit fur can be cut once every three months.

The children are really... devoted to these rabbits. Lin Shu feels that she has to adjust her strategy. These veteran rabbits should be kept for old age. They cannot be sold or eaten. They should be kept until the day when they die, so as not to hurt the children's hearts.

As for eating rabbit meat, we should classify them and raise them separately from the beginning.

Let a few families in the village raise rabbits regularly, and sell them for meat when they grow to three or four pounds. In this way, it doesn't matter if the kids can't see them.

Anyway, the kids don't have that much energy to take care of all the rabbits.

Hey, the rabbits are so cute and so delicious, and the foodies really can't help it. It's

cold in winter, so everyone chats after dinner and goes to bed early.

The three kids sometimes sleep on the aunt's kang, sometimes go to Fang Dihua's, and today it's Lin Shu's turn.

The house is warm, and the kids sleep warmly.

Tiantian slept peacefully and well-behavedly, wearing a nightgown made by Lin Shu. Because the quilt was warm, her chubby legs were sticking out. Her feet were dyed with pink henna, which was dyed by Lu Xiuxiu and Hou Ying. Her two little hands were holding the little stuffed rabbit given by Hou Ying, and the ears of the little rabbit were tied with hair flowers made by Lu Xiuxiu.

Panpan and little Hou Wei were sleeping on the other side of Tiantian.

These two children have similar sleeping postures. The eldest brother should not laugh at the second brother.

When they went to bed, the two children were head to head. At this time, Panpan had turned 180 degrees, with her feet resting on the pillow.

Little Hou Wei did not turn, but he held Panpan's feet with his two little hands and was chewing pig's trotters while dreaming.

It was already cold outside, and they had to cover themselves with a big quilt when sleeping, but they both slept as if it was summer.

Lin Shu couldn't stop laughing, but unfortunately she didn't have a camera, so she couldn't take pictures to show Lu Shaotang.

She took out a small notebook and pencil from under Tiantian's pillow, and drew the three children's sleeping postures, which she used as materials for Tianbaoer to draw little figures. Just

as she was getting ready to go to bed, she heard some noise in the yard. Soon, familiar footsteps came from outside the door, and she knew it was Lu Shaotang who came back.

He would deliberately make his footsteps heavier so that she could hear them, so as not to scare her.

Fang Dihua and Lu Laodi were used to Lu Shaotang coming back at night and leaving in the morning, and they didn't have to get up or say hello, and they could sleep separately.

Lin Shu put on her shoes and went downstairs. When she saw Lu Shaotang coming into the main room, she was about to ask him if he wanted to eat, but he stuffed a lunch box into his mouth.

Lu Shaotang: "The Provincial Revolutionary Committee cafeteria has braised pork for lunch, and I bought two servings."

Lin Shu: "Are you hungry now?"

Lu Shaotang: "Not really."

Lin Shu laughed. This guy has a really big appetite. He can eat three meals a day, and eight meals is fine.

Since he has good digestion and fast metabolism, he is not afraid of food accumulation at night, so she got up to make him something to eat.

Lu Shaotang: "Don't bother, I can eat it tomorrow morning."

Lin Shu: "It's quick."

She simply made a dumpling soup, and there was no need to heat the pot. Just boil the dumplings in water, then beat two eggs, and finally throw in a handful of chopped spinach.

Add a small spoonful of lard after it comes out of the pot, and it will be fragrant.

While Lu Shaotang was eating the dumpling soup, he listened to Lin Shu telling him about the recent family events.

This is also the tacit understanding between the couple. He doesn't like gossip and doesn't like to mix things up, but he likes to listen to her talk.

He didn't ask anything in particular, but Lin Shu knew that he cared about his parents and children, so she started with them, and couldn't help giggling when she talked about something funny.

Especially since there are many children in the family, they contribute a lot of jokes every day.

Whenever she smiled, Lu Shaotang would forget to eat and stare at her quietly, his gaze focused and deep, with a smile flowing from his eyes.

Today, Lin Shu told him about selling rabbits and cutting rabbit hair. She whispered, "She was dissatisfied with the haircuts done by her grandpa and grandma. She always ate an extra pancake and egg roll for dinner. She said she wanted to turn her anger into food. She even grumbled when she went to bed, saying that tomorrow's rabbits would be ugly."

Lu Shaotang turned his head to look.

Lin Shu smiled and said, "It's in the south room."

It was cold, and the rabbits couldn't be left outside, or they would freeze to death. But they couldn't be left in the sleeping room either, as rabbits would smell.

Lin Shu asked someone to clean up the south room and put the rabbits there.

In order to store firewood, rabbits, etc., a straw shed was built on the south side, next to the gatehouse, toilet, and pigpen.

Anyway, it was piled with thick straw, which was very warm and enough to raise rabbits.

Lu Shaotang continued to eat the dumpling soup.

Lin Shu said in a soft voice, "How about... you help cut the rabbit's hair?"

Lu Shaotang looked up at her, his eyes were a little surprised and a little aggrieved.

I came back from a long way to hug my wife, and you want me to cut the rabbit's hair?

Lin Shu climbed onto his arm and said coquettishly in a soft voice, "Okay, we don't know how to cut it, but you definitely can."

Except for the night in the quilt, she rarely acted coquettishly with him like this, and now Lu Shaotang's ears were red.

"Yeah." He agreed happily.

Lin Shu came over and kissed him on the cheek, "Thank you, darling."

Lu Shaotang's whole body instantly became hot, not only his ears, but also his cheeks.

If they were not eating, he would have to kiss him back.

After dinner, Lu Shaotang washed the bowls and pots, then lit the lantern, took the scissors and went to the south room with Lin Shu to cut rabbit hair.

Old Man Lu and Fang Dihua on the kang in the east room chuckled.

The old man fell asleep slowly at night. When he heard his son and daughter-in-law whispering downstairs, he pretended to sleep. As a result, he heard the young couple being affectionate there, and the old couple also said that they learned it.

Old Man Lu whispered: "Teacher Ma is a very nice person. He even teaches people to find a partner."

Darling?

Father Lu muttered to himself, and shuddered with numbness. He couldn't say it even if he was beaten to death. Fang

Dihua immediately became nervous, "What's wrong with you? Are you having a cramp?"

There was an old man in the village who was paralyzed on one side of his body, and he was shaking all over. The old man said it was Parkinson's disease or something.

Father Lu hurriedly said it was nothing.

The old couple whispered and fell asleep.

Lin Shu took the apron and sleeves and went into the straw shed to signal Lu Shaotang to take off his coat, otherwise his uniform would be covered with hair after cutting the rabbit hair, which would be unbearable to look at.

Lu Shaotang was tall and had long legs, and he couldn't stretch his body freely even when standing in the south room, so he sat on a tree stump and asked her to help him unbutton his clothes and put on the apron.

Lin Shu equipped him and signaled him to put on the sleeves as well.

Lu Shaotang stretched out his arms for her to help put on the sleeves, then he clasped his arms, held her in his arms and kissed her, and did not let her go until her body was limp and her eyelashes were wet.

He smiled, held her and sat her on the chair next to the kids watching the rabbits, and opened the cage, took the rabbit out and started to trim its fur.

Originally, Lin Shu thought it was troublesome to trim the rabbits, because rabbits were not obedient, and someone had to help hold it down when trimming its fur. It was very difficult for her parents-in-law to trim the rabbits before.

But once Lu Shaotang started, the rabbit...actually became obedient and did not move at all for him to trim.

This... is he treating people differently?

Lu Shaotang's movements were fast and skillful. With just a few clicks, he could trim one side of the rabbit cleanly. He was considerate enough to leave about two centimeters of hair to prevent the rabbit from getting cold.

However, he didn't know that when trimming a rabbit's hair, one side should be trimmed first and then the other side after half a month or twenty days. Naturally, he trimmed all the hair under the belly in one go, not missing any hair.

Although he was very strong, he didn't use brute force. Instead, he used his strength skillfully and didn't hurt the rabbit's abdomen.

Lin Shu thought that this guy looked better and better the more she looked at him. He could even trim a rabbit so handsomely. His smooth movements were a real pleasure to watch.

Lu Shaotang's movements were very fast. He quickly trimmed the three rabbits and also finished trimming the hair that Lu Laodi and Fang Dihua hadn't finished.

He took off the clothes that the kids had tied him to and trimmed the two rabbits. They

looked much neater.

Lin Shu smiled and said, "Now the kids are happy." Lu Shaotang

put the cut rabbit hair into the pocket beside him

. Lin Shu helped him take off the sleeves of his apron and hung them in the shed. The two went back to the house to wash up and go to bed.

The team members drove the jeep to the commune guesthouse and would pick him up to go to Jiaoxian tomorrow morning.

However, Lin Shu never asked about his work, and Lu Shaotang didn't say much.

The next morning, Lu Shaotang didn't let Lin Shu get up to cook for him. He made a bowl of fried noodles with boiling water and ate it himself, and waited to meet up with the team members before having a proper breakfast.

Lin Shu made fried noodles specially for Lu Shaotang. She fried the flour on low heat, and then fried some peanuts, walnuts, chestnuts and the like, crushed them and mixed them in, and mixed them with brown sugar. The high calorie content made it suitable for Lu Shaotang to have as a snack.

Most people would easily have acid reflux in their stomachs if they drank this in the morning, but Lu Shaotang, who had a strong stomach, only felt that it was delicious and did not feel uncomfortable, so Lin Shu let him eat it without worry.

Lu Shaotang kissed Lin Shu, then kissed the girl, but not the son, as he had already slept under Tiantian's feet.

When the child woke up in the morning, he knew that his father had come back.

When they heard Lin Shu say that Tutu had become more beautiful again, they immediately put on their clothes and ran downstairs to see.

Little Hou Wei was slow to dress, and finally ran out holding up his cotton pants and shoes, "Wait for me."

If Tiantian and Panpan looked disappointed when their hair was cut badly yesterday, at least the adults didn't think they were unhappy, after all, they were very sensible and rarely cried for anything. So now, looking at their happy faces, you can see how important it is for them that their rabbit becomes beautiful.

It feels like the tender hearts of children have just been injured and healed quickly.

Tiantian ran to report to Fang Dihua and Old Man Lu, "Grandma, the rabbits look better now. Dad has trimmed their fur."

​​Old Man Lu teased her, pretending to be sad, "That's because Grandpa is stupid. He can't even trim the rabbits' fur properly. Alas, we are getting old..."

Tiantian saw that Grandpa looked sad and shook her head vigorously, "No, no, Grandpa and grandma did a good job trimming their fur. It's just that Dad trimmed it better. The rabbits look better!"

Because grandpa looked a little sad, the little child even reflected: Did I say something bad to grandpa and grandma after they cut the rabbit's hair yesterday, which made grandpa and grandma sad?

She immediately took grandpa and grandma's hands, "I don't mean to dislike grandpa and grandma, grandpa pierced the rabbit's ears and eyes very well, and grandma built a shed for the rabbit very well."

Fang Dihua quickly picked up her granddaughter, "Your grandpa is teasing you. Your dad can cut rabbit hair, let him cut it in the future, we don't know how to cut the rabbit hair, it's a waste." Father

Lu also quickly explained to his granddaughter that he was not sad, but teasing her.

Girls grow up and become sensitive and can't stand being teased. You can't tease her casually. She is not as careless as Panpan and Hou Wei.

Tiantian was coaxed by her grandma and was fine. Then she went to find Xiuxiu and Houying and asked them to watch the rabbits together.

Lu Cuicui was so unhappy about being ignored that she hated rabbits, saying, "Raising rabbits is so stinky."

A heavy snow fell in the winter solstice month, and the weather became colder. The members of the commune completely entered a period of farm leisure.

The members of Lujiazhuang were very excited these days. They ran to the team headquarters whenever they had something to do, wanting to see if the accountant had settled the work points and income and could distribute dividends.

The autumn rations had been distributed long ago. At that time, the autumn harvest, the public rations, and the distribution of rations were done at the same time, so every household was not hungry.

But at that time, he was busy with the autumn harvest and the incense factory, so Accountant Lu had no time to do the accounts, and it was all up to the production team accountant to cooperate with Lu Ping to do the accounts.

In addition to the dividends from previous years, there is also an incense factory for this year's dividends!

The incense factory is busy shipping goods every day and can make money!

The members are looking forward to it, and they will definitely get more money this year.

The branch secretary and the team leader are also discussing with Lin Shu and Brother Lu.

The branch secretary: "This year, the money that the team got from the incense factory was used to buy water turbine pumps. Let's wait until next year to distribute the money."

The team leader also agreed. This matter was also discussed with the members in the previous meeting. In addition to the money from the incense factory, they also took out a loan from the credit union.

Lin Shu has an account here. After deducting the work points of the employees from the money from the incense factory, the profit is divided into two parts, half for the Lu family, and the other half for the production team and the team.

Originally, the half of the money was used for three purposes: production team dividends, fertilizer purchases, and brigade retention. But now it is all used to install water turbine pumps.

If it cannot be reflected in the member dividends, then the members will not be able to taste the benefits of the brigade-run factory, and will lose confidence in the future, and even spread some bad words.

Lin Shu: "Our family can lend part of the profit to the production team to distribute member dividends, and this money can be deducted from the profit sharing next year."

There is still no need for the brigade and production team to take out an extra penny.

The branch secretary pondered for a moment, "Then follow the loan interest rate of the credit union."

People are generous, and the production team can't be stingy.

He also saw that this incense factory was making a lot of money!

This was also because individuals were not allowed to do business now, so the Lu family had to cooperate with the brigade. If they did it themselves, what would the brigade have to do with it?

Lin Shu said that they could continue to expand production starting next spring. Anyway, it was more labor-saving with a water mill, and more people could make incense.

She felt that even if they couldn't get more money, they had to let the members feel that the incense factory was making money.

Although they might not get cash this year, the incense factory has contributed to the brigade's cause. The electricity supply to the countryside required money from each production team, and the purchase of fertilizers, installation of water turbine pumps, and the opening of pig farms were all collective money, which was also a reflection of the members' dividends.

She analyzed it for the brigade cadres and asked them to explain it to the members from this perspective.

The branch secretary, the brigade leader and others changed their minds.

Before, they only thought that the cash they received was a dividend, and forgot about these items.

Finally, after calculation, the work points of the brigade this year have reached 86.5 cents!

In the past, the average was about 30 cents, and 35 cents on a good day.

What is the concept of 86 cents?

Even the brigade where the commune is located and the brigade where the county town is located, it is only one yuan,

right? The reason why their work points are high is that they can do side jobs with the help of the commune and the county town, such as brick kiln factories, paper shell factories, and wood board factories. Farmers can go to the city to do odd jobs when they are free, and they can also carry loads to the city to sell vegetables every day, and they can also go to the city to pick up manure fertilizer.

Fertilizer is food production!

Their Lujiazhuang production team actually raised their work points to 86 cents by relying on a perfume factory without relying on the commune or the county town!

How can this not excite people?

When the members found out, they were all excited, and couldn't believe it, "Is it true?"

"Then this year's work points are nearly three times that of previous years. Last year, my family got 40 yuan, so this year it should be more than 100 yuan?"

Lu Changgong, the accountant of the production team, took over the task and explained to them, "The actual amount is definitely more than this, but don't forget, this year the team also installed a water turbine pump, which cost more than 700 yuan each, and opened a pig farm. We didn't have to pay a penny for the piglets and the pig farm, but we can share the subsequent benefits."

"And for electricity to go to the countryside, each production team has to collectively pay for laying wires and poles, and we don't have to pay for this money."

"Oh, and there's fertilizer!"

"This incense factory is really amazing. If it hadn't made money, we would have to pay for electricity, water pumps, and fertilizers."

After the team leader explained it this way, most members understood.

The incense factory helped the brigade make money, but this year the brigade had more places to spend money, so they spent the money again.

This money was originally supposed to be paid by the members, but now everyone doesn't have to pay a penny. The benefits of the work are visible to the naked eye. The benefits of the water pumps are visible to the naked eye. This year, the wheat on the northwest slope grows better than other places.

Next year, we will harvest wheat during the Grain in Ear Festival, and everyone will benefit from the output.

There is also a pig farm. This year, we will catch piglets, and at the end of next year, we will hand in the task pigs and sell the pigs. That money is the team's dividend!

"Captain, we all understand!"

"Yes, we understand!"

Although the team leaders said in the meeting that they would not see the money until next year, when it came time to distribute the dividends, everyone found that they still got more than last year!

According to last year's distribution of 50%, this year we can get 130 or 140. Although most of it was used to invest in the production team construction, the dividends we got were still over 60.

This... is great!

All the members were all smiling, "We can buy more New Year's goods this year."

Soon the brigade held a general meeting of all members to select advanced families and individuals.

The Lu family was naturally selected as an advanced family, and family members including Lu Ersao and Lu Ping were selected as advanced individuals.

Fortunately, the brigade's selection of advanced people is mainly an honorary reward, and no prizes are given, so it doesn't make people too jealous.

Soon the commune's year-end summary began, and the Lujiazhuang brigade and production team were both selected as outstanding groups.

At the meeting, Director Qin of the commune specially praised the water wheel pump irrigation system of the Lujiazhuang brigade, which can improve the efficiency of farmland irrigation. The originally barren land on the northwest slope is now growing better than other areas in winter wheat. According to the current growth, the yield per mu next year will definitely be higher than other areas.

He called on everyone to visit the water turbine irrigation system. If necessary, each team can install it.

He also emphasized the work points of the Lujiazhuang production team, which increased to 86.5 cents!

This is a very remarkable achievement!

The Lu family is still a five-good family in the commune. Father Lu, Lin Shu, Lu's wife and brother Lu are also advanced individuals in the commune.

This year, Lin Yue was also named an advanced tractor driver in the commune.

Although Sun Er's performance was outstanding, he was not selected as an advanced individual due to his family's burden. This made him very angry, but he had no choice.

Soon, the advanced people in the county were also selected. The county

-level advanced people are selected by the commune, and the county evaluates them based on the comprehensive performance of previous years and this year.

The county only selects advanced individuals, model workers, etc., not advanced families.

Old Man Lu is still the best barefoot doctor at the county level.

The two vice presidents of the county hospital who were originally at odds with Dr. Yan thought that Old Man Lu was an advanced doctor last year and could give way to others this year, but Dr. Yan argued that he thought that doctors were different from other advanced doctors. There were clear evaluation standards, and everyone could see how many patients they had seen and how well they were praised by patients.

Lin Shu was also selected as an advanced doctor in the county, which was affirmed by the brigade and the commune.

If her incense factory had not been unable to open, Lujiazhuang would not have invited a technical team to install a water turbine pump.

Another advanced person is Brother Lu, who is not only an accountant, but also a salesperson in the incense factory. He works diligently and conscientiously to generate income for the brigade's sideline business.

The key is that he is well-known in various units in the county, has good interpersonal relationships and a good reputation, and it seems that the selection of advanced people is a natural thing.

Sister Lu was also selected as a county-level tractor operator because of her outstanding performance in harvesting wheat, plowing land, and planting wheat.

These outstanding individuals can also go to the city to participate in the Labor Day Conference on May 1st next year.

It is worth mentioning that in addition to the Lu family, Xu Shihua and Lu Hehuan were also selected as county-level outstanding teachers this year.

Xu Shihua is well-known in the county education bureau because he has published several articles in provincial publications.

Lu Hehuan's title of "Excellent Teacher" was obtained through examinations. The county and city education bureaus would regularly organize primary and secondary school teachers to learn about great ideas and then conduct examinations. Lu Hehuan's grades were excellent every time.

In addition, Lu Hehuan won the first place in the water turbine pump article competition organized by the branch secretary. The brigade rewarded her with a pen and submitted the article to the county cultural bureau. It was finally published in the city newspaper and she won a prize of eight yuan.

Now this newspaper is posted by the branch secretary and the brigade leader in the brigade and team headquarters for people to visit.

They like to post the outstanding figures of their brigade who appear in public on the wall for people to visit. The newspapers of Lin Shu and several others who were interviewed and reported by Wei Ling are still posted there. If they can't find new ones, they want to change them every quarter.

Soon, a notice was issued from above that an end-of-year commendation meeting would be held at the county auditorium at 11 a.m. on the 15th day of the winter solstice, and representatives of advanced personnel from various units, communes, and brigades were required to attend the meeting on time.

The brigade leader and the branch secretary naturally had to go, and they arranged two moles to take all the advanced personnel from their brigades to the county.

When Panpan heard that his mother and grandfather were going to the county for a meeting, he started to think again. He wanted to go to the county to make money!

This time he would not sell tea eggs, but sugar-coated haws in winter!

Someone gave Xu Shihua a large basket of hawthorns, and Xu Xiaoyou shouted that Xu Shihua had given more than half of it to the Lu family, which was more than ten kilograms.

How could he finish eating so many hawthorns?

Panpan and Tiantian thought it would be a good idea to make candied haws and sell them. People in the city have money and are willing to spend it! When Lin Shu

heard her son say that he wanted to eat candied haws, she naturally had no objection. Making a few strings of candied haws was not a big deal. She made them casually.

But when she heard her son say that he wanted to make all the hawthorns in the basket into candied haws, Lin Shu was...shocked.

"No, do you know how much sugar is needed to make candied haws? Even a pound of hawthorns needs half a pound of sugar."

Too little sugar is not tasty and sour, too much sugar is too expensive and difficult to sell. You have to be good at dipping in sugar to get a thin and crispy sugar coating, which is both delicious and saves sugar.

Seeing that Lin Shu was in trouble, the children used the method of pestering, hugged her thighs and began to beg.

"Mom, mom, you are the most beautiful mom, please help us make Tanghulu."

"Aunt, aunt, please help my mom."

"Aunt, Aunt..."

"Grandpa, grandma, you help..."

Seeing Lin Shu in trouble, the three children flashed their big watery eyes, and in the softest and sweetest voices, they begged and persuaded their grandpa. How could

Lu Laodi and Fang Dihua stand their soft and cute little movements! Especially since they had just cut the sheep ugly last time, they felt guilty for the children. Now they asked for a Tanghulu, how could they not make it? The

old couple got excited and agreed without considering whether there was so much sugar at home.

So you say, can you refuse to give it to the children? Such a well-behaved and sensible kid, who never causes trouble for the family, how can we refuse to give him a candied haws?

Hurry up and make it for them!

I'll make the candy!

I'll wash the hawthorns!

I'll pack the sticks for the candied haws!