Hu Mingyue voted for Yu Shujie, and Qin Yilan followed Hu Mingyue and also voted for Yu Shujie. Maybe she felt that she used to rely on Yu Fugui in the village, and now she wants to rely on the Yu family to gain a foothold in the village.
When the final vote count came out, the two votes were basically the same, but Yu Shujie received more than 20 votes. Yu Shujie was elected as the new captain of the Qingshan Brigade.
At lunchtime at the educated youth center, Chu Jingqiu looked at the food and was speechless. It was truly hard to swallow.
Ever since the day when the girls started cooking for themselves, Hu Mingyue and Qin Yilan seemed to be angry with them. Whenever it was their turn to cook, they would deliberately cook very poorly.
The sweet potato porridge was so thin that you could see your reflection in it, and the stir-fried dishes were black and had a burnt smell.
A few people felt that there was no need to eat together anymore, so they planned to cook separately.
There was an empty room in the girls' backyard. The original design was to have a kitchen and a woodshed in the front and back yards respectively.
Because there were not many educated youth, the village only built a stove in the front yard and installed a large iron pot, the old-fashioned kind with a bellows.
Chu Jingqiu and the other three decided to pool their money and hire someone to build a stove in the girls' backyard kitchen so they could cook their own meals.
Zhang Pingping drew a blueprint based on a modern rural earthen stove. It can hold two pots, one for cooking and a smaller one for stir-frying. It doesn't require a bellows, so it's clean and easy to use.
The villagers usually went to Du Yueming's father, Du Jianjun, to build the kang or stove. Zhang Pingping was too embarrassed to go to Du Yueming's house, so Chu Jingqiu, Shi Aihong, and Lin Zishan went to Du Yueming's house to find someone to build the stove.
Du Jianjun and branch secretary Du Jianguo are brothers. Their families are neighbors, separated by a wall. Both families have brick and tile houses, and are considered the most important in the village.
When Du Jianjun heard that several girls came to him to help build a stove, he readily agreed and agreed to come to the educated youth site the day after tomorrow to help build a stove.
When Du Yueming's sister-in-law saw that it was the educated youth who came to ask her father-in-law to build a stove, she rolled her eyes and asked Lin Zishan with a smile: "Lin Zhiqing, why didn't Pingping come? How many people are using this stove?"
Lin Zishan didn't doubt it and answered directly: "Pingping had something urgent to do, so the three of us came here. We built this stove for the four of us to use together."
Du Yueming's sister-in-law smiled and said to her father-in-law, "Dad, Pingping also wants to use this stove, so you can give it to the educated youth at a lower price. After all, Pingping will be a member of our family in the future."
When Du Jianjun heard that Pingping also needed it, and since he was free anyway, he thought of helping a few educated youth build a stove without asking for any wages. He felt a little embarrassed when his eldest daughter-in-law said that.
Chu Jingqiu glanced at Mrs. Du and said with a smile, "How can this be so embarrassing? We can ask Uncle Du to help build the stove and pay him the normal price in the village."
Then he pointed to the pile of red bricks outside the yard and said, "I see there are still quite a few red bricks outside your yard. They must be leftovers from building your house. If you don't need them, we can buy some and pay them together with the wages."
Mrs. Du was very happy to hear this and agreed immediately. When the few people were about to leave, she smiled and saw them out.
On the way back, Shi Aihong whispered, "It seems that Du Yueming's sister-in-law is not an easy person to deal with. If Pingping gets married, she will have to be careful with her."
Lin Zishan nodded in agreement and said, "She is indeed a very shrewd person. At worst, they can just separate and live on their own after getting married. There's no need to fight with her all the time. Who doesn't have a few annoying relatives?"
Early the next morning, several girls carried a full basket of mountain products on their backs, saying they were going to buy pots, and took a ox cart to the town.
When they arrived in the town, several people first went to the supply and marketing cooperative. Chu Jingqiu went to find Qian Yunyun first. Qian Yunyun was not busy at the counter. When she saw Chu Jingqiu coming, she asked the salesperson next to her to help her keep an eye on the goods and walked over happily.
The two of them arrived at the dormitory. Chu Jingqiu saw that Yunyun was in good condition and seemed to have matured a lot, so he said with concern: "Yunyun, are you doing well recently? Uncle is doing well too!"
"My father's hair has turned a lot whiter, and he just started working these past two days, but I can tell he still misses my mother. He rarely smiles or talks all day, and when he gets home he just stares at my mother's statue in a daze.
My brother and sister-in-law also come home for dinner every day, and when everyone is here, my father is happier than usual."
Chu Jingqiu took out two small iron boxes from her bag and handed them to Qian Yunyun, saying, "These are the Ganoderma lucidum and ginseng I picked in the mountains. I prepared them simply and cut them into slices. You can take them back and give them to your uncle. You can add some to the soup. It will be good for his health."
Qian Yunyun quickly declined, "This is too expensive, I can't take it, you can save it for your family!"
Chu Jingqiu pretended to be angry and said, "You treat me as an outsider, right? I have no relatives here. You are my family. Uncle even gave me a bicycle last time. These herbs are nothing."
Qian Yunyun thanked him and took it. The two of them tacitly agreed not to mention Qian Xiaobao. Chu Jingqiu felt that given the kindness of the Qian family, they would not treat Qian Xiaobao unfairly.
Hearing that Chu Jingqiu brought a few educated youth to sell mountain products, Qian Yunyun brought the girls to the purchasing department. Now Wang Qianjin has become the section chief. When he saw the girls coming, he enthusiastically called his subordinates to weigh them.
Lin Zishan made the most money from selling nuts, earning 25 yuan, and also sold wild Ganoderma lucidum for 30 yuan; Zhang Pingping and Shi Aihong earned 18 yuan each, while Chu Jingqiu hardly picked any and only earned 8 yuan.
But everyone was very happy, especially Lin Zishan, because the money she earned was equivalent to an ordinary worker's monthly salary.
Moreover, they still have stock, and they will come back to sell a few more times in a few days. There are still a lot in the mountains. After returning, they must pick more and try to sell as much as possible before the snow falls.
Chu Jingqiu took out an industrial voucher, and several people pooled 10 yuan to buy a smaller iron pot.
Because they also needed Chu Jingqiu's small iron pot, the three people refused to let Chu Jingqiu pay for it, but Chu Jingqiu insisted on paying one yuan.
The girls bought some daily necessities. Lin Zishan was eager to make money and kept asking to go home quickly so that she could go to the mountains to pick some nuts in the afternoon.
When I returned to the educated youth site, I saw Qin Yilan sitting under a big tree in the yard crying, and Hu Mingyue was trying to persuade her. Her eyes were red and swollen, and she must have been crying for a while.
Seeing them coming in, Qin Yilan's eyes were like poison, staring at Chu Jingqiu fiercely.
Chu Jingqiu was a little confused. She seemed to have not annoyed her in the past two days, so what was this little upset about?
"The postman is here to deliver the mail today. There are your letters and a parcel list. Please wait a moment, I will bring them to you." After Hu Mingyue said this, she went to her room to get them.
There was a letter from Chu Jingqiu and a parcel slip; there was also a letter from Shi Aihong and a remittance slip.
Chu Jingqiu took a look and found that the letter was written by her grandfather, but the handwriting on the parcel list was unfamiliar. She felt that it should be a parcel sent to Grandpa Wu in the cowshed.
Chu Jingqiu opened the letter and took a quick look at it, then he understood why Qin Yilan was crying.
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