Throughout the year, Uncle Bai had a smile on his face, and Bai Xiaoyue knew that this year would be blessed with good weather and a bumper harvest.
Thinking that food prices are stable now, she can buy more and stock up.
To avoid gossip, she took Xiaobai with her to husk corn and earn work points during the autumn harvest.
The work points for husking corn are few, so it is usually done by the elderly, the weak, women and children.
Xiao Bai is one and a half years old, a time when he is curious about everything. Bai Xiaoyue is afraid that he will run to the water and drown.
He carries it with him all day long. If you give him a corncob, he can spend half a day peeling it.
Xiao Bai and Yan Ci look very alike, as if they were carved from the same mold. They are also well-fed and chubby, making them very cute, especially loved by the older women.
When Xiao Bai went there, this auntie would give him a candy, that auntie would give him a peanut, and Bai Xiaoyue didn't have to pay any attention to him.
She only needs to earn three work points a day, and she can also listen to some gossip along the way.
This Aunt Li is a gossip columnist; there's nothing she doesn't know.
That day, she held Bai Xiaoyue's hand and whispered:
"Xiaoyue, Yan Yugang has come out."
Bai Xiaoyue asked, "Aunt Li, who came out?"
"That's the guy who stole from your house. How can you have such a bad memory?"
"Oh, I remember now, he's Yan Xiaosong's brother."
Bai Xiaoyue had really forgotten about this; three years had passed already.
When she got back, she asked Yan Ci:
"Aci, Aunt Li said today that Brother Yan, the thief, has returned!"
Yan Ci was afraid his wife would worry:
"Don't worry, my wife, I'll protect you. He won't dare to come."
The next day, Yan Ci found Yan Xiaosong:
"Xiaosong, I heard your older brother is back. Be careful, don't let him cause any trouble, otherwise..."
Yan Xiaosong suddenly felt a chill all over his body and quickly assured them:
"Brother, don't worry, I will definitely keep an eye on him."
He knew in his heart that if his elder brother dared to make a move against the Bai family, he would definitely suffer the consequences.
When I got home that evening, I discussed it with Aunt Yan:
"Mother, you still need to keep an eye on my eldest brother. If he dares to have any bad intentions, Yan Ci will not let him off the hook."
Aunt Yan also sighed repeatedly, feeling helpless about her eldest son.
He had no choice but to discipline his eldest son every few days:
“Yu Gang, now that you’re out, work hard and live a good life. Don’t hold a grudge against the Bai family. You made a mistake.”
Yan Yugang lowered his head and said, "Mother, I know I was wrong. I promise I won't do it again."
The autumn harvest is complete, and as expected, this year's harvest is bountiful. In addition to receiving grain, every household also receives money.
Families with more able-bodied men received varying amounts; some received tens of yuan, while others received only a few yuan.
Bai Xiaoyue didn't work in the fields to earn work points that year; only Yan Ci did, so she only received twelve yuan.
Bai Xiaoyue was still very happy. She added 28 yuan and bought 400 jin of wheat.
There are two children in the family now, and they need to eat refined grains at every meal. We also need to steam some white flour buns from time to time and send them to their parents.
The elderly couple always couldn't bear to eat refined grains, and every meal consisted of sorghum or corn porridge. There was no other way, so Bai Xiaoyue had to cook it and send it to them.
This year, Wen Tong and her daughter did not come out; it was Bai Wen'an who came to carry the grain rations back home.
The mother and daughter did not work in the fields to earn work points, and Bai Wen'an even gave the production team an extra thirty yuan.
Bai's parents worked in the fields to earn work points and received a considerable amount of grain, so they didn't let Bai Wen'an buy any more grain.
After the grain was distributed, Bai Xiaoyue and Yan Ci discussed:
"Aci, this year's harvest is bountiful and grain prices are stable. Let's buy some more rice! I love rice."
Yan Ci smiled and said, "Okay, I also like to eat rice. I'll go buy some after I've prepared the firewood."
Bai Xiaoyue added, "We still have some money at home, and I'd like to exchange it for gold. Please keep an eye on things."
Yan Ci was puzzled: "Wife, didn't we deposit the money last time? We still have money at home?"
Bai Xiaoyue blinked, holding Yan Ci, unsure how to begin.
Yan Ci ruffled his wife's hair:
"What's so hard to say?"
Bai Xiaoyue touched her nose:
"Isn't this the money we saved from selling grain before you came?"
Yan Ci asked his wife with a smile:
"How much money have you saved? Why do you want to buy gold? Don't you already have gold bars at home?"
Bai Xiaoyue held up one finger: "One thousand yuan."
Yan Ci opened his eyes wide and said with a smile:
"Honey, you're amazing. I've hooked up with a rich guy!"
Bai Xiaoyue pinched Yan Ci's waist:
"Aci, stop being silly. I just want to save some money for a rainy day. These days are tough! Besides, who would complain about having too much gold!"
As for why I switched to gold, I'm a liberal arts student and don't have any other skills to make money.
All I had in my head was some information: I had written articles about gold prices before.
I checked historical gold prices at the time and thought I'd buy some when I had the money and sell it when prices were high.
"Honey, when will the price of gold go up?"
"After the reform and opening up."
"There's still a long way to go, no rush."
"But I was thinking that wealth needs to be accumulated slowly!"
"Okay, honey, I understand."
Yan Ci lifted his wife onto the kang (a heated brick bed), pressed her down, and said:
"Those things are still a long way off, don't worry about them. You should worry about your man's needs first."
...
Yan Ci busied himself preparing firewood before heading into the mountains with Bai Wenyi and Yan Xiaosong to hunt.
Before it got too cold, the group went several times. Of course, they went secretly, without letting Chang Le know.
However, the prey they caught were just ordinary animals, like roe deer and wild boar.
Yan Ci exchanged 200 jin of rice, two boxes of 50 jin of apples, and gave Bai Xiaoyue 300 yuan.
Bai Xiaoyue prepared three portions, each containing 10 jin of rice and 5 jin of apples.
One copy is for Bai's parents, one copy is for Ye's parents, and one copy is for Wen'an and Wen Tong.
He also secretly gave his eldest cousin's wife 5 jin of apples without letting his aunt know.
Li Mingyue said she had apples, so Bai Xiaoyue sent her two pheasants.
According to tradition, the family reunion during the Lunar New Year takes place at the Bai family home.
Perhaps because their son had started working, the Bai parents felt a huge weight lifted from their shoulders, and they were especially happy.
They prepared six dishes in a very extravagant way, each dish was served on a large plate, with generous portions.
Braised pork belly, sweet and sour pork, pheasant stew with mushrooms, dry-fried rabbit, stir-fried cabbage with vinegar, and a fish weighing over 3 pounds.
Bai Xiaoyue's eyes widened when she saw her parents being so willing to part with her money.
When it was time to eat, Bai's father also took out two bottles of wine, one bottle of baijiu (Chinese liquor) and the other of hawthorn wine.
Upon seeing the hawthorn wine, Bai Xiaoyue blushed slightly and secretly glanced at Yan Ci, who smiled and raised an eyebrow.
Bai's father, Bai Wen'an, and Yan Ci drink baijiu (Chinese liquor), while Bai's mother, Wen Xiya, Bai Xiaoyue, and Wen Tong drink hawthorn wine.
Chang Le insisted on drinking, so Bai Xiaoyue poured her a small sip of hawthorn wine.
Not to be outdone, Xiao Bai also wanted to drink, so Yan Ci dipped a little bit of liquor in his chopsticks and put it in his mouth.
Xiao Bai squinted and stuck out her tongue from the spiciness, like a little puppy, waving her hands and saying no more, it was too spicy.
He no longer wondered about the adults' cups and only drank his own honey water.
Mr. Bai first summarized this year's harvest and then looked forward to a better year ahead.
He spoke with great enthusiasm, drinking one glass of wine after another.
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