Moreover, the fruits of this bayberry tree ripen early. It was at that time that Wen Jiajia knocked Wen Xuan down.

The child fell and covered his forehead with her hands, crying loudly. The sound of her crying could be heard all the way down the mountain. People at the foot of the mountain thought that it was some naughty child who had run into trouble while playing in the mountains, and they almost ran to look for help.

If Wen Jiajia hadn’t waved down the mountain to indicate that she was there, the logistics department would have had to make another trip to her home.

But it was not worth it for Wen Xuan to fall. The fruit was so sour that it made her teeth ache. It was obviously a little red, but one bite would make you feel sour for the whole day. Wen Jiajia grimaced after eating it and quickly threw a piece of rock candy into her mouth to calm down.

She finally understood why she could still see the fruit of the bayberry tree because no one cared about it.

Even those who are the most resourceful in the staff compound, who would pick up the manure from their own chickens outside and take it home to use as fertilizer, are not interested in it.

So when she heard that the bayberries in the nearby village were ripe, Wen Jiajia began to urge Wei Dai, “Are you free recently?”

I don’t know why, but Wei Dai has started reading books recently.

At first, Wen Jiajia thought he wouldn’t be able to hold on for much longer, but who would have thought that today is the third day and he is still holding the book and reading.

What book was he reading? “Barefoot Doctor’s Handbook.”

Wen Jiajia: …

This was really something she had never expected.

Wei Dai was so absorbed in reading that he didn’t hear what Wen Jiajia asked. Wen Jiajia said “tsk” and pushed him, “I’m asking you a question.”

“What?” Wei Dai came back to his senses.

Wen Jiajia was confused, “Can you be so absorbed in reading this book?” Then you will definitely be a bookworm in the future.

She asked again, and Wei Dai closed the book. “Why don’t we go today?”

Wen Jiajia was surprised, “Will there be any to pick if we just go there?”

Wei Dai replied, “By the time we go there next week, the bayberries will have been picked completely, and the quality won’t be the same as it is now.”

Wen Jiajia stood up and said, “Let’s go!”

Of course, I would rather eat good food than bad food.

The couple each carried a backpack and rode their bicycles out of the army.

Bayberries belong to the collective, so if you want to pick them, you have to go to the village collective first.

Wei Dai stuffed a ticket into the captain’s hand, and the captain waved his hand and let them pick it.

“You can only pick two baskets,” said the captain.

Wei Dai nodded. He didn’t want to pick more.

After leaving the village office, Wei Dai took Wen Jiajia and walked into the mountains.

Wen Jiajia looked behind her and saw that no one was following them. She asked curiously in a low voice, “Hey, do you think he cheated on the ticket or put it into his account?”

Wei Dai laughed, “He can’t fool you.”

“Hmm? How do you say that?”

“When you went up the mountain just now, didn’t you see someone in the field staring at the entrance to the mountain? They can remember clearly how many people from other villages came to pick bayberries.”

Wen Jiajia suddenly realized, “You are trying to do two things at once.”

As they were talking, the two arrived at the bayberry forest.

It can be seen that the people in the village usually take good care of this bayberry forest. Otherwise, it would not produce so much fruit.

The bayberry forest is very large, at least more than ten acres.

Wei Dai selected for a while and finally chose to pick the bayberry trees in the middle section.

This location receives the most sunlight, so it should be sweeter than other places.

He led Wen Jiajia up the slope and first picked a bayberry growing low for Wen Jiajia to eat.

“Hmm——” Wen Jiajia narrowed her eyes.

Wei Dai, “How is it?”

Wen Jiajia chewed and chewed, her eyes curved into crescents, “It is sweet, about eight parts sweet and two parts sour.”

Is this some kind of sweetness rating system?

Wei Dai felt relieved when he knew they were sweet, and climbed up the tree, “You just stand below and eat, and I’ll pick them.”

He was very flexible, like a monkey, and in no time he climbed to a position close to the top.

Wen Jiajia was so scared that she quickly shouted, “Slow down, be careful not to fall, or the branches might break.”

Wei Dai lowered his head and smiled at her, “Don’t worry, I’m better at climbing trees than you.”

“…”

Wen Jiajia rolled her eyes, climbed up a low branch of another tree, sat there, and leisurely ate bayberries.

There’s nothing to worry about.

The bayberries that Wei Dai picked were all big and black. He was not polite and picked and ate them at the same time. When he had eaten most of them, he had picked most of them as well.

He has some talent for construction. The things in his backpack are like a pyramid, standing very high but not falling down.

Wei Dai felt quite regretful: “Actually, we can wrap it a few more times with branches or vines, so we can hold at least an extra pound or two.”

Wen Jiajia pulled him and said, “Forget it, I’m full… There are so many mosquitoes, let’s go.”

The two of them left under the gaze of the villagers.

Because the bayberries were covered with leaves and the distance was far, the villagers only knew that the couple were honest enough not to use their clothes to carry away a handful of bayberries.

Well, that’s very good. If they want to pick them, I’ll let them pick them.

But Jiajia felt guilty and didn’t feel relieved until the bike drove out of the village.

When they got home, they ate one basket immediately and soaked the other basket in wine.

The two bottles of wine before were definitely not enough for brewing, but luckily Wei Dai got another barrel from somewhere a few days ago, so now there was no need to use the two bottles of wine.

Bayberry wine is really simple to make.

The jars are boiled in water and then placed in the sun to dry.

After processing the jars and the bayberries, Wei Dai was going to wash them directly in water. Wen Jiajia couldn’t stand it, so she took over the job and taught him: “You have to use salt water, which can kill insects.” Isn’t he stupid? How can he wash them clean like this?

The washed bayberries also need to be dried. Wen Jiajia asked Wei Dai to bring out a few round winnowing baskets and pour the bayberries into the baskets to dry.

As time passed, with the help of the sun, the two wine jars dried up, and the bayberries also dried up.

Wen Jiajia put the bayberries into the wine jar one by one, with a layer of bayberries and a layer of rock sugar.

When it was six-tenths full, Wen Jiajia instructed Wei Dai, “Pour the wine in.”

Wei Dai had some doubts, but he suppressed them. At that moment, he lifted the wine barrel and poured it into the wine jar.

The wine is a light-fragrance liquor, and as the lid is opened, the aroma wafts into the air.

Wen Jiajia couldn’t help but taste a drop, her face wrinkling, and her eyebrows twisting into wavy lines.

Wei Dai laughed out loud, “You can’t drink it.”

Wen Jiajia asked him, “How much can you drink?”

Wei Dai put down the wine barrel, covered it again, and made the number two with his hand.

“Two bowls?”

“…Not that many.”

Wen Jiajia’s mouth twitched, “Two taels?”

Wei Dai nodded. He couldn’t drink much.

Wen Jiajia said, “We are both at the same level. After the bayberry wine is ready, we can only drink half a bowl.”

Otherwise, both of them would get drunk, and Wen Jiajia was not sure if she would ever get drunk and crazy in her life.

They sealed the wine jar and placed it in a cool place in the room.

The remaining bayberries were soaked in salt water and placed in the house to dry. The couple couldn’t eat any more, so they were soaked for Wen Chun and Wen Xuan. Children have weak spleens and stomachs, so they have to be soaked in salt water before they can eat.

The next day.

Wen Jiajia specially brought a bag of bayberries to the pharmaceutical factory for Sha Yue, and Sha Yue was indeed very happy.

“This is a big bayberry! You can’t buy this big bayberry at the supply and marketing cooperative,” she said excitedly, “I haven’t eaten it for two years.”

Wen Jiajia whispered, “I picked them in the village. In fact, it’s more cost-effective to pick them in the village than to buy them at the supply and marketing cooperative.”

Sha Yue sighed, “You live nearby, so you can go pick them. If we go to the village, we will be driven out by the militia without a permit.”

Wen Jiajia thought about it carefully and it seemed to be the case.

How should I put it? Rural areas are more xenophobic^[1]is an adjective used to describe a person, attitude, or behavior that exhibits an irrational fear, dislike, or hatred of people from other countries or cultures.. Especially in this era when everyone is on high alert, if you suddenly approach a village without giving a reason, you will be taken to the militia.

Even if you say you work for a pharmaceutical factory in the city and want to pick bayberries, and bring your ID to prove your identity, the villagers will probably not agree to let you go.

Because you don’t live nearby, they think you are too risky. If you tell others, you can just walk away, but they can’t.

After all, who knows whether the ID you gave me at that time is real or fake? Even if the factory buyers go to the countryside to purchase, they have to ask the factory to issue a certificate and stamp it with the official seal before the villagers will believe it.

Sha Yue couldn’t wait to stuff a bayberry into her mouth, and the red juice almost overflowed: “It’s not too sweet. By the way, Jiajia, are you free this afternoon?”

Wen Jiajia thought about it and said, “I’m free before four o’clock.”

I have to go to the information room to look for information after four o’clock. I made an appointment with the people in the information room the day before yesterday.

Sha Yue said, “Then can you accompany me to the Menkou Restaurant at two o’clock?”

Wen Jiajia was surprised, “You want to go on a blind date?”

Sha Yue covered her mouth, her ears red as blood dripping: “Hey, keep your voice down!”

She looked around and asked quietly, “How did you know?”

Wen Jiajia said, “He’s got someone to accompany him, and he’s in a hotel, so it must be a blind date.”

She was quite puzzled, “We are going to the state-owned restaurant, why don’t we have lunch together?”

Sha Yue was even more puzzled, “Eat? What if you feel that the two of you are not suitable after eating?”

“Then why don’t we meet at a hotel?”

“There are seats in the restaurant. The park is too far from here. It takes more than half an hour to walk there.”

That’s right. Wen Jiajia nodded and said with a smile, “Okay, I’ll go with you then.” It was her first time accompanying someone on a blind date.

The morning is still busy.

Wen Jiajia now has a desk calendar and writes down what she needs to do every day.

What should I do this morning? I need to write a work report.

Wen Jiajia hates writing this stuff the most. She can’t even write 200 words after trying for a long time.

I originally thought that writing eight hundred or one thousand would be enough, but who knew that other people also wrote two thousand at least.

Wen Jiajia was so angry that she almost vomited blood. She had to spend the entire morning on this work report.

After many setbacks, she finally saw the light before lunch.

Eighteen hundred words. Almost done.

At this time, she was particularly envious of Qiao He. This man was indeed extremely talented in languages, and he finished writing the report in less than an hour.

When Wen Jiajia asked how many words there were, he flipped through the papers, about five or six pages.

Wen Jiajia instantly understood: about three thousand.

She was silent for a moment, then lowered her head to work. She was determined to reclaim the dignity that belonged to a liberal arts student.