"Didn't you, Second Brother, say that Cui Cui's job was arranged by the county public security bureau? That means the aunt Li Zhiqing worked for at the supply and marketing cooperative and the public security bureau chief are related."
"Ah, so that's how it is," the sixth brother finally understood.
After the old lady understood, she thought for a moment and said, "Old man, the eldest daughter didn't handle this matter well."
"Whether it's pretty or not, we don't care. But let me make this clear: you can't say a word about what you traded with that educated youth tonight. If anyone asks, just say you asked someone to buy it for you, and as for who it is, just say you don't know. Understand?"
"Yes, Dad."
"What if someone asks if I'm Cuicui? What should I say then?"
"Just say you don't know, say your mother or old man had someone switch them. I don't believe anyone will come to me with these questions."
"It's Dad"
"Also, from now on, you all need to protect these three kids in our neighborhood. Don't let anyone else bully them. These three kids are good people and good at everything they do. They'll only benefit you, understand?"
"Don't worry, Dad, we know."
"Old man, do you think we should tell them they can go up the mountain to dig for medicinal herbs?" the old woman asked after thinking for a moment.
"Tell me, you can't hide it for long."
“Father, Mother, no need. Zhenghua said that in August, the three Huang Guangs, along with Li, a educated youth, handed in over a hundred catties of medicinal herbs, and the two Chen educated youths each handed in forty or fifty catties.”
"Wow, this is incredible! Where did all these medicinal herbs come from? When did they go dig them up?"
“I told you not to slack off, but you just wouldn’t listen. Fine, now that you have nothing better to do, do the math yourselves. Let’s not even talk about Li, just look at these two Chens. How much do they earn a month just by digging for medicinal herbs? Besides, didn’t you see that they finish work early every day and head into the mountains with their baskets on their backs?”
"Yes, Dad."
As he spoke, the person sitting inside the room went out.
"Now that you know, get out of here! Go back and think it over carefully. You're not even as good as three teenagers. You're driving me crazy!"
"Alright, old man, it's not too late to realize it now, even if you didn't before."
"It's not too late. Go up the mountain next year and see how many medicinal herbs you can still dig up."
"Old man, you mean..."
"Nobody's a fool."
"What should we do then?"
"What else can we do? While we can still go up the mountain before it snows and closes off, the men should go up and chop firewood, and the women should go and gather herbs. The children should go up the mountain to find food, and you should look after the little ones at home."
Okay, I'll do as you say.
So the three of them now each have more than 20 jin of meat, but they are not willing to eat it all. Instead, as the elder brother of the Gu family said, they will make it into cured meat and save it for later.
Another thing is that it hasn't snowed yet, so we still need to hurry up and go up the mountain to collect firewood or find food.
Because the hunters who went into the mountains have all returned, and some families have their able-bodied men at home, those who go into the mountains again will venture further in, but will not venture into the deep mountains. Therefore, there are fewer places to find food in the middle of the mountain now. Although the brigade doesn't have many people, there are more than a dozen brigades nearby, and they are not far apart. So after the autumn harvest, they will all go into the mountains to cut firewood for the winter.
Chen Junjie asked, "With so many people coming into the mountains, let alone finding food, they might not even be able to chop much firewood. Trees that have already been cut can't be cut, and small trees that have been pruned can't be cut either. I really didn't expect that these people, who usually seem so lazy, would be so dedicated to chopping firewood."
"Who can argue with that?" Chen Enpeng also said.
"Don't you have enough firewood?"
"I don't know, this is our first year spending the winter here," Chen Enpeng said, unsure about preparing firewood.
"How about I take you for a walk deeper into the mountains?"
"Ah, will this work?" Chen Junjie asked.
"Yes, Mianmian, let's forget about it. Everyone says there are big monsters in the deep mountains, so let's just forget about it."
"What are you two thinking? I said I'd take you two deep into the mountains, but I didn't say how far I'd take you. What I mean is, didn't you notice that everyone was gathering firewood about three meters away from the deep mountains and the central area?"
"You mean the area within three meters?" Chen Enpeng asked.
"Yes! Within these three meters, there's always firewood, regardless of whether there's food or not. Besides, even if we go three to five meters further in, it won't be a problem. Not just our brigade, but several brigades living near the foot of the mountain, don't they all go hunting in the mountains on the same day? There won't be any big prey in the deep mountains now. They've all been moved inwards."
"That's good, that's good. I thought we were going to find food deep in the mountains."
"Even if you dared to go, you two wouldn't dare to take with you. Even if you had the ability to protect yourselves, you wouldn't do it, let alone since you don't have that ability."
"Okay," Chen Junjie said.
"Shall we move in a little further?" Chen Enpeng asked.
Let's go.
So, before the mountain was closed off, we stayed within a five- or six-meter radius of the junction between Zhongwei and Shenshan every day. We found some food, but not much, for the simple reason that we weren't the only three people venturing into that area. Other members of the commune were also traveling in groups, and they were carrying tools—machetes and large wooden sticks, both in case something fell down and to use as carrying poles. Seeing this, the three of us took one the next day. This made carrying firewood and bags much easier.
The village elders say that it snows every day around the end of October or the beginning of November, so there aren't many days left. Unlike other families in the village with larger households who can prepare firewood in two or three days, the three of us spend the rest of our time on the mountain foraging for food, wild vegetables, or herbs. We can only pick up whatever we see. Food is put in our baskets, and if the baskets are too full, we put it in bags. If we can't find food, we gather firewood, bundling it up. When we've gathered enough, the three of us carry the loads back together, going up the mountain together at least three times a day.
Our only advantage was that we usually finished work early and then went up the mountain to collect firewood. If we were like the other members of the brigade, who dawdled at work every day, let alone preparing firewood for the day, we might not even be able to prepare it before the snow blocked the mountain pass.
Chen Enpeng and Chen Junjie said privately, "Pengzi, we're so glad we didn't ignore Mianmian just because she's young. Look at the firewood and food we've prepared. It's just that we don't have the grain that the team will distribute. Otherwise, we'd say we'll make it through next year when the grain is distributed. We'll definitely have enough to eat for this winter."
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