Chapter 43 : Entering the City Again

They stood there for a while until the car was no longer visible.

“Third’s wife, please go back,” Li Yue’e said. “If you need anything, just come to our house and tell us. We are all family, there’s no need to be polite.”

“Yeah.” Su Mo nodded and walked back with Li Yue’e.

Lu Qing’an and Lu Xingjun entered the team’s office. It was almost time to pay the public grain and settle the year-end accounts, so it was a busy time for them, the brigade cadres.

Lu Xingjun was reviewing the brigade’s accounts for the year and checking the income and expenditure in detail. This would have to be announced to the brigade members to avoid discrepancies in the accounts and suspicions of corruption.

When Lu Qing’an entered the office and saw that no one else was there, he took out a watch from his pocket and handed it to Lu Xingjun. “The watch that the third brother had before, he said it was for you.”

Lu Xingjun was a little surprised but also happy. “Give it to me? Will the second brother have any objection?”

Lu Qing’an waved his hand. “The third brother said it was for you, what could he object to? He gets his salary, he’ll buy one if he needs it.”

In the Lu family, only Lu Qing’an had a watch, a reward given to Lu Boming by the state. After Lu Boming stopped being the branch secretary, he gave it to Lu Qing’an.

The quality of watches back then was excellent. Even after so many years, they were still in good condition because they were well taken care of.

“The third brother said that it broke once during a previous mission. After it was repaired, it seems to be a little inaccurate. It needs to be calibrated at least every two days.”

“Okay, no problem.” Lu Xingjun happily put on the watch. Not to mention proofreading once every two days, proofreading once a day is no problem.

It seems the third brother is still closer to him, the eldest brother.

“Then go ahead and do your work. I’ll go check on the pig farm.” After saying this, Lu Qing’an put his hands behind his back and left.

The pigs were about to be put into pens, and except for the task pigs, all others were meant to generate income for the team, so they couldn’t be careless.

The division of labor between Lu Qing’an and team leader Lu Baoguo was very clear, one was responsible for production and the other for the economy (side business).

Lu Qing’an was in charge of sideline businesses. In recent years, the Lujia Village Production Team had successively started raising pigs, chickens, sheep, etc. Although the profits weren’t huge, it was still much better than just relying on the land, as evidenced by the increasing value of the team’s work points year by year.

The field output was good this year, and several collective side businesses were also doing well. As long as there were no problems, they could sell everything to the purchasing stations and would surely be rated as an advanced team this year.

—-

Li Yue’e looked at her third daughter-in-law, who was walking with her head down and saying nothing, and sighed helplessly.

‘I don’t know if she’s pregnant in the past two days. If she has a child, she won’t be so lonely.’

Arriving at the Lu family, Su Mo looked up and said to Li Yue’e, “Mom, I’ll go back then.”

Li Yue’e waved her hand and said, “Go ahead! If you need anything, just come to my house and tell me. I’m staying at home to grow vegetables these days and won’t be working.”

Although the work in the fields was over, there was still work to do with corn, which was worth 6 work points a day. The eldest and second sons were going to rub the corn, and the vegetables for the third son’s wedding were all grown, so she had to plant them otherwise, what would they eat during the winter?

Although it was a bit late to plant now, it was better to eat young vegetables than nothing.

After Su Mo returned home, she looked at the empty house and suddenly felt extremely lonely, even though only one person was missing.

Su Mo sat alone on the kang and started feeling down.

After brooding for a while, she started to cheer herself up.

“Su Mo, cheer up and start your new life.”

She thought about her parents who were about to go to the bullpen and then about her ambitions when she first arrived. It was time to take action now.

“Have you sold the fruits and vegetables? Have you written the manuscript? Have you found the ginseng? Have you started to make money?”

No, right?

“Are you just thinking of staying at home and spending the money you earned by shedding blood during the long march?”

—

Su Mo encouraged herself and cheered herself up again.

This is one of Su Mo’s strengths. No matter the time, she can always pick herself up quickly and face life again with a positive and optimistic attitude.

Su Mo cheered up and hurried to find the note with the phone number that Lu Changzheng had just mentioned.

Sure enough, on the table on the kang, there was a piece of paper torn from a notebook, on which was written the mailing address and contact number of Lu Changzheng’s troops. Lu Changzheng’s handwriting was just like him vigorous and powerful, with bold strokes and precise lines.

Su Mo folded the note and put it into her space.

After taking out an apple from the space and eating it, Su Mo went to the west room to collect the coarse cloth from the bamboo basket into the space, hung the basket on the back seat of her bicycle, and pushed the bike outside.

After locking the door to the house and the yard, Su Mo rode her bike to Lu’s house to tell Li Yue’e.

“Mom, I’m going to call my uncle and buy some cotton and cloth to make a quilted jacket. I didn’t bring a quilted jacket with me. Do you need anything?”

Li Yue’e waved her hand. “No, the sooner you go, the sooner you can come back.”

The old man had told her about this, so it would be better if she called earlier. The third son’s wife might have married off without informing her family.

Su Mo was touched when she saw that Li Yue’e didn’t ask anything. They all likely knew something happened in her family, but they didn’t say anything or ask questions, just pretending not to know. Wasn’t this a kind of respect for her?

Su Mo got on her bicycle and set off. She originally wanted to go to the commune supply and marketing cooperative to buy the items, but when she saw the crowded scene, Su Mo decisively gave up and continued to head to the county.

As she passed a quiet stretch of road, Su Mo looked around and saw no one, so she stopped and took out a bamboo basket of apples from her space, which was covered with rough cloth.

This bamboo basket of apples weighed about 50 kilograms. Although it was a bit heavy, after getting used to it, Su Mo was able to ride steadily with it.

After arriving at the county supply and marketing cooperative, Su Mo parked her bike against the wall, locked it, and went inside.

There were more people at the county supply and marketing cooperative than during her last two visits, but it wasn’t as overwhelming as the commune supply and marketing cooperative.