Chapter Fifteen: Welcome Ceremony
After lunch, Gu Zuozuo and the other two took gifts and went to the village chief's house.
"Hello, Auntie, we are new educated youth. Is Village Chief Ma home?"
While washing her granddaughter's hair, Aunt Wu heard this unfamiliar sweet voice and subconsciously looked up, only to see three pretty girls standing at her door.
"Oh no! Grandma! You've gotten water up my ear!"
The little girl was doused with a large ladle of water by her grandmother. With her eyes closed, she couldn't see anything and could only scream in anger.
Aunt Wu then turned around, quickly washed her granddaughter clean, and then called to the three girls at the door.
"I'm home, come in quickly."
As she spoke, she shoved the towel with several holes over her granddaughter's head, then turned and shouted as she went.
"Old man! Don't just lie there on the kang (heated brick bed), some educated youth are looking for you!"
Gu Zuozuo, with her sharp ears, heard the sounds of people frantically hiding things and coughing as if nothing had happened inside the room, and she curled the corners of her mouth into a smile.
"They're here! They're here!"
Ma Jianshe walked out with a pipe in his hand, looking calm and composed. If Gu Zuozuo hadn't been so close that she could smell the faint scent of alcohol on him, she would have thought that the person who had been flustered just now wasn't him.
"Are you new here? What do you want from me? I don't handle production. If you want an easier job, you should go to your team leader."
Gu Zuozuo placed the gift she was carrying directly on the table, and discreetly added a bottle of baijiu (Chinese liquor).
“Uncle Village Chief, we’re not here for production matters. We want you to help us find a few people to build a fire wall, modify the fire channel, and build a stove.”
Upon hearing their purpose and request, Ma Jianshe suddenly realized that they were planning to eat separately from the old educated youth and start their own meals.
"That's difficult. It's the busy harvest season right now, and all the able-bodied men are busy harvesting in the fields. We can't find anyone to help you."
Gu Zuozuo smiled. They had already thought of this and had a solution.
"Village Chief, we don't want to make things difficult for you. How about this? There are still two months until winter, so we're not in a rush. After the harvest season, could you help us find a few people?"
"Yes, Village Chief, we know that the harvest is the most important thing. After the busy farming season is over, you can arrange for people. Don't worry, we will pay you. We won't let you work for free."
Ma Jianshe tapped the tobacco pouch in his hand, hesitated for a while, and was about to agree when he was slapped hard on the back, the pain contorting his face for a moment.
"You old fool! What are you trying to prove! This young lady has come all this way, it's not easy for her, just agree already!"
Ma Jianshe's thick eyebrows drooped instantly, and his once dignified square face turned into a bitter face.
"Why are you in such a hurry? I didn't say I wouldn't agree!"
Why does this old woman hit him harder as she gets older? It hurts him terribly.
"How about this, after the autumn harvest, I'll find a few people to work for you. They'll be paid three cents a day, and the job will be done in two days. You don't need to provide meals, okay?"
Gu Zuozuo and the other two exchanged glances and nodded. Okay, why not?
"Okay, it's settled then. You guys go ahead and do your thing, we'll be going now."
Without waiting for the elderly couple to stop them, the three of them got up and left, leaving Ma Jianshe's outstretched hand, which was meant for them to take the things, frozen in mid-air.
"Sigh~ Why do young people these days speak so easily, without even letting this old man finish speaking..."
Before he could finish speaking, he saw his granddaughter pull out a bottle of wine from the pile of gifts. His eyes widened instantly, and he snatched it and put it in his arms. Before his granddaughter could speak, he put a piece of rock candy in her mouth.
"Here, have a candy to sweeten your mouth."
It's best to forget you ever saw this bottle of wine.
Aunt Ma brought the three people back, but didn't see her old man. She looked around in confusion before turning back to put away the gifts on the table.
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