Chapter 49

This directly affects the grain distribution of the brigade next year.

Last year, our Huaiqing Brigade was among the bottom few. Although we weren’t the worst, we weren’t much better either.

Plus, there were more educated youths coming, so when I distributed the advance grain, I had to save and save again before I could spare some.

This year’s wheat harvest was okay, but the situation in other brigades was similar, so we didn’t have an advantage.

I was worried about what to do this year, and then Song Shishi came.

For Zhou Jianguo, this was undoubtedly a timely help.

He gritted his teeth, “Okay, I’ll arrange for people to start building the sheds. But during this period, Song Zhiqing will have to work hard to teach everyone about greenhouse planting.”

Zhou Jianguo agreed to her suggestion so quickly. Song Shishi was surprised but also delighted.

“No problem.”

Actually, it’s almost impossible to achieve a significant increase in output simply by using greenhouse planting.

From seed selection and cultivation to soil, environment, and greenhouse temperature, there are all kinds of considerations.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have come to officially propose this to Zhou Jianguo until now.

Seeing her so happy, Zhou Xingxue rolled her eyes and muttered, “What’s so great about that?”

After that, Zhou Xingxue turned and went into the house.

After a while, Song Shishi saw Old Mrs. Zhou coming out of the house. When she saw her, she picked up the shoulder pole by the wall and rushed over, ready to hit her.

Zhou Jianguo was quick-witted and turned around to grab the shoulder pole that was swinging towards her, angrily saying, “Mom, what are you doing?”

“What am I doing? You useless thing. This little vixen beat up Little Xue last time, and that little girl from the Xu family was also instigated by her, so she beat Little Xue’s face like that.

You two parents don’t stand up for Little Xue, I’ll do it myself.”

Old Mrs. Zhou was old, but she had grown up working in the fields, so she was quite strong.

With one forceful move, she pulled the shoulder pole away from Zhou Jianguo.

“Get this little vixen out of here, or you can get out too!”

Seeing that Zhou Jianguo was still standing in front of Song Shishi and didn’t mean to retreat, Old Mrs. Zhou was furious.

Telling her son to get out was just an angry remark.

Old Mrs. Zhou slammed the shoulder pole heavily on the ground, turned around angrily, and went into the house.

Zhou Jianguo turned to Song Shishi and said helplessly, “I forgot to tell you, the police have a result concerning Xu Guiying. She’s likely to be sentenced. Chen Fu is also divorcing her. Do you have any demands?”

“This is Xu Li’s family matter after all. I can’t interfere. We’ll talk about it when she comes back.”

If it were up to her, she would prefer to have Xu Guiying locked up for a few more years, not only that, but she should also be made to pay compensation.

Shi Tou’s injury and Xu Li’s grievances couldn’t be in vain.

But she wasn’t the one involved.

Even if she and Xu Li were close, she couldn’t make decisions for her in this matter.

On the other hand, she heard that Meng Xunzhou and Xu Qiang had subdued the two strong men who had injured Shi Tou and sent them to the police station overnight.

But there was no result yet, so she asked, “I want to know if there’s any result regarding the two strong men who injured Shi Tou?”

“Yes, both of them are in. But I heard that they were only supposed to be locked up for three years, but someone went to talk to the people above, and they were directly sentenced to five years in prison.”

Song Shishi nodded. Meng Xunzhou must have had a hand in this.

He was the type of person who would repay any grudge.

When someone bullied her as a child, Meng Xunzhou would find their family and beat them up as soon as he knew about it.

This led to the boys in the courtyard being afraid of Meng Xunzhou and not daring to get too close to her.

In her previous life, she was disgusted by Meng Xunzhou’s protection.

But thinking back now, it seemed a bit funny.

…

Leaving Zhou Jianguo’s house, Song Shishi walked along the wheat field. From a distance, she saw Shen Hongying standing in the courtyard collecting clothes.

She quickened her pace. When she met Shen Hongying’s gaze, she waved to her.

“Why are you here?”

Before Song Shishi could respond, Shen Hongying pointed to the main room, “Let’s talk inside.”

This house was Chen Shanhe’s.

It was the new house that Chen’s family had given Chen Shanhe to marry a wife.

Since the incident in the threshing ground last time, Shen Hongying had been living here.

Even though people in the village were gossiping about her now, she didn’t care.

Wei Xiaoxuan had never come back since she went to the town hospital.

It was said that Zhou Jianguo had sent people to look for her, but no one knew where Wei Xiaoxuan had gone.

If she left without permission and was discovered, she would be forced to return to her assigned location.

And her personal file would also have a record, and she might not be able to return to the city for work or further education in the future.

Without Wei Xiaoxuan, Chen Shanhe had no hope. Under Shen Hongying’s strong will, he could only submit.

It was said that Shen Hongying and Chen Shanhe would get married at the end of this month.

This was considered a happy event, but there was no joy on Shen Hongying’s face.

Shen Hongying poured a glass of water for Song Shishi and sat down, saying, “There’s no one else at home now. Just tell me what you want to say.”

“I came to ask for your help.”

She had been observing Shen Hongying’s expression.

Speaking of which, Shen Hongying was also quite pitiful. If Shen Hongying wasn’t willing to help her, she would have to find other ways.

Shen Hongying looked her up and down, “Tell me what it is first.”

Song Shishi leaned close to Shen Hongying’s ear and whispered something.

Shen Hongying looked at her in surprise, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

Song Shishi nodded firmly, “Yes.”

“I can help with this, but what will I get in return?”

Although Song Shishi had helped to call Chen Shanhe to the threshing ground last time, allowing her to see Chen Shanhe’s true intentions more clearly, it wasn’t enough for her to agree to Song Shishi’s request.

She now had nothing. She also understood that Song Shishi had some skills, so she wanted to take this opportunity to gain something for herself.

“Do you want to return to the city?” Song Shishi didn’t say much and directly asked Shen Hongying what she wanted.

Shen Hongying raised her eyebrows, “Of course. If I didn’t think returning to the city was hopeless, why would I have to marry a man whose heart isn’t with me?”

“I can’t guarantee it 100%, but I can assure you that if I have the opportunity to return to the city in the future, I’ll give it to you without reservation. All you need to do is not get pregnant in the next few years, at least before 1977.”

At this moment, Shen Hongying’s eyes changed when she looked at Song Shishi. She had a gloomy expression and said coldly, “Heh… Song Zhiqing, what you said is like a joke. I thought you had great abilities, but it turns out you’re just like everyone else, just bragging.

Who among the educated youths in our courtyard doesn’t want to return to the city?

If you really get the chance to return to the city, would you be willing to give it to me easily?

Do you think I’ll believe you?”

The reason Song Shishi said this was because she knew that in two years, her mother, Zheng Peilan, would help her get a chance to go to the Workers’, Peasants’, and Soldiers’ University.

In her previous life, she gave this opportunity to An Jinsheng, but this time she definitely wouldn’t do that again.

Her ambitions didn’t lie in the Workers’, Peasants’, and Soldiers’ University. Rather than wasting this quota, it would be good to use it as a bargaining chip and give it to Shen Hongying.

But she couldn’t say anything about something that hadn’t happened yet.

Even if something unexpected happened and she didn’t get the quota for the Workers’, Peasants’, and Soldiers’ University, at least when the college entrance exam resumed in 1977, Shen Hongying could achieve her dream of returning to the city through the exam.

She could help Shen Hongying during this process, so it wouldn’t be a broken promise.

Moreover, there was no concept of getting a marriage certificate in the countryside now. Even if Shen Hongying left Huaiqing in the future, Chen Shanhe wouldn’t be able to say anything.

“I know it’s hard to believe, but I can tell you clearly that I’m now doing greenhouse farming.

Today, Captain Zhou also adopted my suggestion, and the village will soon start this work.

Once this farming method is expanded, all the villages will benefit.

And as the initiator, it’s not impossible for me to get the chance to return to the city.

Moreover, I’ve found a job in town. If I perform well in the next two years, I’ll also have the opportunity to get a quota to return to the city.”

To convince Shen Hongying, she directly revealed her bargaining chips.

Of course, these were not empty words. She was working towards this goal now.

“I have many opportunities, but you may not have such opportunities. You can only choose to believe me now.”