On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, the educated youth got up early and went from house to house to wish their fellow villagers a happy new year.
The villagers are usually very frugal. Today, they took out the things they usually wouldn't eat to treat the educated youth. They brought out their own fried peanuts, soybeans, sunflower seeds, dried sweet potatoes, and homemade rice candy.
The educated youth were not stingy either. They took out White Rabbit milk candies, shrimp candies, cream plum candies, preserved fruits, etc., which they usually didn't want to eat, to give back to the villagers.
When they arrived at Secretary Du's house, the old secretary refused to let the educated youth leave no matter what. He also called several cadres from the brigade over and warmly entertained the educated youth. The old secretary also took out his homemade fruit wine, which was sour and sweet. Even the female educated youth who didn't drink had a few drinks.
After the New Year, the days passed quickly and in the blink of an eye it was the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. There is a custom here that people have to walk on stilts and dance the yangge on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
The yangko and stilt-walking teams from each production team would compete against each other. None of the educated youth knew how to walk on stilts, so they could only watch from the sidelines.
Chu Jingqiu and the other three stood by, eating melon seeds and watching the competition among the production teams. When it was Qingshan Team's turn, they even cheered them on.
Du Erleng was also in the crowd watching the fun. He was bragging to a buddy next to him, "Sangazi, I'm not bragging, my legs haven't recovered yet. In the past, your brother walked on stilts, and those brigades never beat me.
Look at how cowardly they are this year. If I don't play, our team will definitely lose this year."
The loud speaker rolled his eyes at Du Erleng and said, "Just keep blowing your own trumpet. Who fell off the stilts last year? If you hadn't fallen, our team would have won first place last year."
Du Erleng curled his lips and said, "Hey, Daba, don't disbelieve me. Last year, it was Dashanzi from the Shannan Brigade who deliberately pushed me down. I didn't fall down by myself. I even had a fight with Dashanzi because of this!"
Chunni's mother smiled and said, "Erleng, why did Dashanzi fight with you? It wasn't for riding stilts.
I heard from your mother that you rode Daqiang's bicycle to Shannan Brigade to drink. When you came back, you were drunk. Your mother asked you if you returned the bicycle to Daqiang, and you said you did.
As a result, the next day Daqiang came to settle the score with you, and you rode back on stilts and leaned against the wall of Daqiang's house.
You forced Daqiang to ride his bicycle back to Shannan Brigade by himself. Your stilts belong to Dashanzi, and you broke them. I heard from others that you kicked the stilts several times and still complained that they didn't turn.
Those stilts are Dashanzi's treasure. You rode them back as if they were a bicycle. Doesn't he have to fight with you?
"If you ask me, you should just behave yourself! Stop bragging all the time. You're already married, so it's time to settle down."
Du Erleng glanced at Shi Aihong and found that Shi Aihong was also listening to them. He said to Chun Ni Niang angrily: "Auntie, when did I get a wife? Don't talk nonsense. I'm still naked and waiting for you to find a wife for me!"
Chun Ni's mother rolled her eyes at him and said, "I don't have the ability to arrange a marriage for you. Besides, that big-butt, plump woman in your family is also very good. You should quickly get a marriage certificate with her and live a good life!"
Da Loudspeaker also interrupted, "That's right, Erleng, you broke the chair that day, and your mother made you a new one in the village. Everyone knows about this, so why are you hiding it from us? Don't you want everyone to come to your house for the wedding banquet?"
Du Erleng said anxiously, "Don't talk nonsense. That girl is the daughter of one of my uncles, not my wife. The girl I like is Shi Zhiqing. If you let her misunderstand, I will never forgive you."
Shi Aihong was listening with great interest when she suddenly heard Du Erleng say this. She was so angry that she yelled, "Du Erleng, you shameless bastard, don't drag me into this with you. Why don't you take a piss and look at yourself? If you keep talking nonsense, I'll tear your mouth apart."
Du Erleng looked at Shi Aihong with lustful eyes, "Shi Zhiqing, I haven't seen you for several months. You are becoming more and more beautiful. I like you and I should pursue you boldly. I am not married and you are not married either. How can I be shameless?
Didn’t Yu Qingmin and Du Yueming both marry the educated youths from your educated youth camp? Why can’t I pursue you?
If you marry me, I will definitely love you as much as I can and treat you like a treasure."
Chu Jingqiu looked at Du Erleng with disdain, "Du Erleng, you are nothing but a pile of stinky dog shit. Any woman who marries a scoundrel like you will be cursed for eight lifetimes.
You are still shamelessly pestering Aihong. I wonder if you are getting too excited.
Everyone has witnessed you having an affair with a widow at home, and now you're trying to get your hands on the educated youth. Be careful, or we'll go to the commune and sue you for hooliganism and for disrupting the educated youth's movement to the countryside."
Du Erleng sneered and said, "Who said there is a young widow in my family? You can go to my house and see that she is just my cousin. She passed away a long time ago. You are slandering me.
You can like someone, but I can’t! What kind of logic is this? You educated youth are all educated people, and educated people should also be reasonable, right? "
Zhou Weidong was learning to ride stilts not far away. Seeing Du Erleng harassing Shi Aihong, he ran over angrily and hugged Shi Aihong, "Du Erleng, I'm warning you, Shi Aihong is my fiancée, you can't just covet her.
You are such a gangster that even a widow doesn't want to marry you. You are a fucking toad wanting to eat swan meat, and you even want to pursue us educated youth. You are really overestimating yourself.
If you continue to bother her, I will not tolerate your fists."
Du Erleng saw the two of them hugging each other intimately, and his face turned blue with anger as he said, "Zhou Weidong, a fiancée is not a wife. As long as you two are not married, I have a chance to marry her. Don't scare me, Du Erleng, you are not someone who can be scared."
Zhou Weidong slowly approached Du Erleng and said in a cold tone, "Du Erleng, I'm not trying to scare you. I'm telling the truth. If you dare to touch Aihong, I'll fucking castrate you. Do you believe it?"
Du Erleng stepped forward and punched Zhou Weidong. "I've been disgusted with you for a long time and have wanted to beat you up. You're just an outsider, what's so arrogant about you?"
Zhou Weidong dodged quickly and kicked Du Erleng without saying a word, knocking him over. Du Erleng got up from the ground, picked up a stick nearby and hit Zhou Weidong.
Chu Jingqiu had secretly picked up a stone in her hand. She threw it hard at Du Erleng's knee. Du Erleng's legs went soft and he knelt in front of Zhou Weidong. The stick in his hand rolled to the side.
Zhou Weidong was visibly stunned, then burst into laughter and said, "Du Erleng, you know you're wrong, right? You're too polite! You don't have to be so polite!"
Everyone burst into laughter. The loud speaker said with a smile, "Erleng, I never saw you kowtow to your elders during the New Year, so why are you bowing so deeply to Zhou Zhiqing? Haha..."
Du Erleng got up from the ground and went to hug Zhou Weidong, but Zhou Weidong pushed him to the ground and started beating him up.
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