Chapter 60 Strolling

San Ya looked at Xia Zhizhi and thought that this educated youth was really fair. The little girl was a little shy and asked her in a low voice: "Xia Zhiqing, where shall we go first?"

She glanced around. The sun was getting brighter. This area was quite flat, with no place to hide from the shade. She asked, "Where do you usually collect pig grass?"

"Go everywhere, but the closest one is on the hillside over there. The weather is hot right now, and it will be cooler there because there are some trees and shade." San Ya pointed with her finger.

"Then let's go over there and have a look." Sure enough, the old employees knew where it was better to slack off.

San Ya was a little shy at first, but later she felt that she was quite approachable and began to chat with her about some things.

Of course, there was nothing serious about it. The girls were just arguing about where there was more pigweed, or which girl always wore new clothes.

Xia Zhizhi followed behind her with her hands behind her back, wearing a straw hat, and listened. She would occasionally respond, and she would speak even more excitedly.

When she arrived at the place where pigs were being cut, she found Jiang Xiurong and Wang Lizhen there too. The three of them looked at each other and couldn't help laughing.

She found a cool place to sit down. Jiang Xiurong followed her with a small basket of pig grass. She asked curiously, "Why are you here to collect pig grass? The team leader said yesterday that the place was full."

The two of them were really slow at work, not only were they slow, but they also delayed the rest of the team, so they were disliked by the other team members. There was really no other way, and both of them were willing to pay double the money to buy work points, so they were finally given the task of cutting pig grass.

The work points in the Zhongxing Brigade are calculated based on six points per person and four points for labor.

What does it mean?

For example, after the production team paid the public rations this year, they had 100,000 kilograms of food left over, of which 60,000 kilograms were distributed according to the age of all personnel, with the older ones eating more and the younger ones eating less.

The other 40,000 kilograms were distributed among the laborers according to their work points, with those with more work points getting more points and those with less work points getting fewer points.

If the total work points of the whole village are 50,000, then it is 40,000/50,000, and each work point can get 0.8 kilograms of grain.

If there are other products in the production team, they will be distributed in this way.

So at the end of the year, when grain was distributed, it was per capita grain + work-based grain.

If the educated youth did not work one by one and just waited for their rations, not only would the team leader be unhappy, but other villagers would also have opinions.

If there were old, weak, sick or disabled people in the village who couldn't work, they would be taken care of. But the educated youth were outsiders after all. If they didn't work and just ate for free, what else would they be dreaming about?

But some educated youth really couldn't do the work, and we couldn't whip them from behind.

The team also announced that adult male comrades who did not get 8 work points and female comrades who did not get 6 work points would have to pay twice the price when they bought work points at the end of the year.

Normal male comrades in the village can earn 10 work points a day, and female comrades can earn 8. Some capable female comrades can also get 10 work points.

The educated youth were all young and strong, and as long as they didn't slack off, they could basically get it.

Therefore, the captain considered himself to be relatively tolerant towards the educated youth.

It's okay to be lazy, but you should consider your wallet carefully.

After all, it was not just for the educated youth. There were also other people in the brigade who were doing temporary work in the city, but their food rations were not transferred there, and they also had to pay money to the brigade every year to supplement their work points.

After all, they didn't work all year, and at the end of the year they had to distribute grain, which the villagers couldn't agree to.

Several educated youth, especially the female comrades, were unable to achieve qualified work points at the beginning, but now, after two years of training, they can barely pass.

Xia Zhizhi said proudly: "I'm not here to pick pig grass, I'm here to understand people's livelihood."

After listening to her explanation, Jiang Xiurong didn't know what to think in his heart, and sighed: "You are really something."

She was jealous, but there was nothing she could do. She was not cut out for this job and had to just focus on collecting pig grass. Han Youran hadn't even gotten the job and was still collecting weeds in the fields.

Seeing Jiang Xiurong was going to cut the grass again, Xia Zhizhi was speechless.

Such an honest girl went to the black market to do bulk transactions and was able to come out safely. It turns out that she is protected by a halo.

She pointed to two little girls who were playing cattail rope nearby, having gathered a lot of pig grass but not wanting to go back to hand it in.

"These little girls go out to pick pig grass every day just to earn some work points to exchange for a few pieces of candy."

Jiang Xiurong's eyes lit up, but she hesitated for a moment: "They are still children. Wouldn't it be a bad idea for me to trick them into working by using candy?"

"What do you mean by cheating? Isn't this something we both agree on?" Xia Zhizhi was very upset. What was going on in the heroine's head?

Jiang Xiurong turned away and said, "I'm a little embarrassed to speak up. It would be so embarrassing if the parents came to see me."

…

Xia Zhizhi pointed at two little girls who were closest to her and were cutting grass for pigs.

"You, come here." She waved.

Two little girls came over not knowing what was going on.

She rummaged through Jiang Xiurong's pockets, took out two hard candies, and kicked Jiang Xiurong's empty basket: "Pour your pig grass in here, and I'll trade it with you for candies."

The two little girls' eyes lit up, and they ran over quickly, poured the pig grass in their backpacks into the basket, and then looked at Xia Zhizhi with bright eyes.

She shared the candy between the two people, and then pointed at Jiang Xiurong: "She exchanges candy for two baskets of pig grass every day, first come first served."

They still had to take two more shots today, so the two girls said, "Let's come back tomorrow!"

Jiang Xiurong looked at the basket full of pig grass, was stunned for a moment, and threw the sickle away: "Oh, if I had known it was so simple, why would I have gone through so much trouble?"

Jiang Xiurong originally thought that he had done a good job, but he never expected that there is always someone stronger than you.

Jiang Xiurong showed her his hand pitifully: "Look at my hands. I have two blisters from cutting pig grass these past two days."

Poor her, she is so delicate.

…

Xia Zhizhi was helpless and a little distressed. This kind of heroine with the characteristics of a darling wife would have to wait until Tang Mingli woke up, and she didn't know how much suffering she would have to endure.

Asked: "Don't you know how to get a pair of labor protection gloves?"

Wang Lizhen poked her head from behind her: "What gloves?"

She took out a pair of white-line labor protection gloves from her bag: "The supply and marketing cooperative sells them for 45 cents a pair. What did you buy when you went to the supply and marketing cooperative before?"

"I bought some food." Wang Lizhen took the pair of gloves from her hand. She had never been out of the field before, so who would have known that she would need to prepare such things? "Sell this pair to me, and I'll pay you when we get back."

Xia Zhizhi took out another pair of shoes from her bag and gave them to Jiang Xiurong.

After getting the gloves, Wang Lizhen was not in a hurry to cut pig grass. She followed their example and exchanged sugar directly with the children.

A few people spent the whole morning fishing comfortably under the shade of the trees.

Most of the girls picking pig grass in this area had candies in their mouths, but San Ya didn't have any, which was quite pitiful. She reached into the pocket of Jiang Xiurong who was squatting next to her, took one out and handed it to San Ya.

Jiang Xiurong said angrily: "Just tell me what you want."

Xia Zhizhi chuckled and said she would do the same next time.

Seeing that it was almost time for dinner, she told San Ya that they should go out for a walk tomorrow and she would go back in the afternoon to think about it.

Mainly because it was too sunny in the afternoon and I didn’t want to go out.

When she was getting ready to go back to the educated youth center, she stood under the tree, rubbing her hands together and getting ready to climb up.

Jiang Xiurong was startled and quickly stopped her: "Don't be naughty, it will be terrible if you fall down!"

He was already in poor health, if he fell again, would he still be alive?

"It's okay, it's okay. I'll take a picture and then come down." Xia Zhizhi certainly didn't want to listen to the advice. While she was talking, her head rose to a meter high.

"No, stop it!" Jiang Xiurong held her trouser legs and refused to let go.

Wang Lizhen came over and pulled her other leg: "Just take a picture like this, we will support you from below."

Xia Zhizhi...

This is the only way. I can't take off my pants and climb to the top of the tree naked.

He muttered, "Women really do affect my speed in climbing trees."

I held up my camera and took a picture of everyone working in the field, then I looked at the two people holding their legs and took another picture.

She thought that if someone becomes successful in the future, she would use the photos to blackmail them, or else she would make the photos public and let everyone laugh at them!

In the afternoon, she took a nap at the educated youth center under the pretext of writing an article.

In the evening, Han Youran came back and made Wowotou for them again.

He had to eat mixed grains every other day, and his head turned yellow from eating so much.

Xia Zhizhi went back to the house and took out a small bag of refined flour: "Sister Youran, let's make a white flour dish."

Han Youran's eyes lit up when he saw Baimian.

Don’t say that Xia Zhizhi doesn’t like to eat Wowotou, she doesn’t like to eat it either.

But there was only a little bit of food in the granary, so it was either used to make mixed-grain nests or to cook corn paste. The few sweet potatoes and potatoes were all eaten to cook rice.

Han Youran had money in her pocket, but she didn't have much time to improve her diet. After all, everyone ate together, and sometimes when she was hungry, she could only eat some biscuits and drink some milk in the house.

Han Youran took the bag and looked at it. It was high-quality Fuqiang flour, about three or four pounds, so he asked for everyone's opinion: "I went to the village yesterday to exchange some eggs. Can we make dumplings with shredded gourd and egg filling?"

Why not? It's simply too good to be true.

Tang Mingli is strong, so he goes to knead the dough.

Han Youran makes dumpling fillings.

After everything was done, two men were responsible for rolling the dough, and three women were responsible for wrapping it.

Xia Zhizhi came over to Jiang Xiurong and asked, "Sister Xiurong, why do you need to squeeze this dumpling?"

After a while, he came to Han Youran's side and asked: "Sister Youran, why are your dumplings in this shape?"

I also want to mock Wang Lizhen: "Look at what you made. It's obvious that you didn't eat enough. The belly is flat and the skin is broken..."

Wang Lizhen was so angry that she dropped the dumpling and left the kitchen.

Han Youran and Jiang Xiurong were annoyed. Seeing that she couldn't calm down for a moment, they pushed her out of the kitchen and coaxed her, "The stove is burning, it's too hot. Go outside and be quiet. Be good!"

Even without her and Wang Lizhen's help, the four of them worked together and finished wrapping the dumplings quickly.

As soon as the water boiled, Han leisurely put a lid of dumplings into the pot.

Wang Lizhen saw her waiting with the bowl in her hand, so she went back to the room and took out her own bowl. Like her, she stood by the stove, tilting her neck and waiting.

Wang Lizhen's relationship with the heroines is average. After all, she is not hardworking and her mouth is not sweet, but fortunately she does not take advantage of others. Except that she is a little worse at doing things and has a stronger possessiveness towards Cui Zijin, she has no other shortcomings.

Jiang Xiurong's eyes were full of Tang Mingli, and she didn't even notice whether Cui Zijin was round or flat.

Xia Zhizhi finds ways to sow discord between Cui Zijin and Han Youran every day.

Wang Lizhen was quite confident in these two people, so the only one she was on guard against was Han Youran.

But Han Youran is a magnanimous female protagonist. She thinks that these things are all due to Cui Zijin's poor performance and is unwilling to make things difficult for the supporting female character, so everyone can get away with it.

After ordering water three times, Han Youran scooped a full lunch box for her.

Without chili oil or light soy sauce, she simply poured some vinegar on the dumplings, mixed them evenly, and started eating.

The five of them divided the rest equally and ate it first, then continued.

Although the dumplings are vegetarian, they are filled with sesame oil and shrimp skin contributed by Jiang Xiurong, which makes them particularly fragrant.

Xia Zhizhi has to go to the space for extra meals every day. The cooking skills of the two heroines cannot compare to Ah Ju’s, but it is really fun to scramble to eat the big pot of rice.

Several people had a delicious meal.

After all, it is fine grain. If you don't add too much salt, it will taste bad no matter how you cook it.

The next day, several educated youth went to work. She took advantage of the cool morning to wander around the village, taking a photo or two of places with a good working atmosphere.

This time there is no burden, so she can climb as high as she wants.

The weather was too hot in the afternoon, so I just stayed at home and wrote some articles.

Anyway, she was writing the article under the emperor's order, and no one could say anything to her.

She wrote several articles one after another about the experiences of the educated youth.

I wrote it while riding on the train, first praising the speed of the train, then writing some interesting things on the train, and finally expressing my admiration for the prosperity of the country.

Anyway, wherever I go, I first write about what I have seen and heard in the local area, interspersed with various central ideas expressing my feelings about the country's prosperity and strength, and the political direction is very clear.

It's just a matter of changing the soup but not the medicine.

Then I selected a number of newspapers and sent them over.

There are those from Yangcheng, Shanghai, Capital City, Mudan City, and Harbin.

Anyway, if it is returned, it means they have no taste and can just change the envelope and send it to another newspaper.

Because each of her submissions would include an appropriate picture, and thanks to her increasingly sophisticated photography skills and correct political orientation, rejection of her submissions was relatively rare.

For some of her manuscripts that were accepted, she would shamelessly write letters to ask if they could be submitted to other newspapers.

If the newspaper disagreed, he would give up. If the newspaper agreed, she would immediately ask Ah Ju to copy several points and mail them to other newspapers. Using a few cents of stamps to win a few dollars in royalties was just like buying lottery tickets. Just thinking about it made her feel like she was making money.

The term "kicking the nose and taking the blame" was probably invented for her.

San Ya took her on a long tour around the village and then left.

The hottest weather in Mudanjiang City only lasts for a month or so. These two days are the hottest time. It is better in the morning and evening, but the sun is very strong at noon, and there are many kinds of small insects outside, so it is not suitable for leisurely strolling.

She told the captain that she would go back and think carefully about the article and make sure she wrote a particularly brilliant article to live up to the captain's expectations of her.

The captain's only hope for her is that she doesn't die, and he is quite satisfied to see her alive and well.

He also advised her: "I heard that using your brain is bad for your health. You should write less every day and don't stay up late. We are not in a hurry!"

After all, her original words were: "I'm going to go back and stay up all night to write this article!"

So it was natural for her to stay in her little room all day and not go out.

The weather is hot, and there is no fan or air conditioning. You will sweat profusely if you move a little. I don’t know how those who work in the fields survive.

Of course she won’t have to endure this hardship, she has space!

I am not afraid of being alone. I wait for others to go to work every day. I eat cold watermelon and ice cream in the space and listen to Ah Ju's exclusive radio drama. It's so comfortable.

Ah Ju has been taught so considerately by her during this period. She follows her around like a little wife every day, worrying about her master's three meals a day. As soon as the master comes home, she massages his shoulders and legs, serves him various snacks, and is also responsible for making him laugh and cheer him up.

She lives a happy life every day.

Whenever someone came to see her, she would lie down on the kang, saying that her chest felt stuffy and she couldn't breathe.

The other educated youth saw that she never went out of the house and looked half dead, so they didn't say anything. After all, unless she was really sick, no normal person could lie on the kang all day long without moving. After all, they didn't know she had space.

Even if we take a step back and say that work points will not fall from the sky if she does not work, she provides for her own food and drink, and others cannot interfere with her except for gossiping behind her back.