Chapter 32 : Gossip Spreads at the Speed of the Internet

The next day, Su Mo went to work as usual.

She had agreed with Lu Changzheng yesterday that she would work one more day today, and for the next two days, she would work at the educated youth site making quilt covers.

Since Lu Changzheng had to go to the city today and there was no one to help pick peanuts, Su Mo only received 5 mu of land to tend to.

After everyone had their plots divided, Zhao Guoping walked over to Su Mo and whispered, “Sister, when you finish picking the peanuts, just bundle them up and put them on the ground. I’ll pick them.”

“No need to bother, I can handle it myself,” Su Mo waved her hand.

“Sister, don’t be polite. Brother Changzheng has already told me everything. If I don’t help, he’ll beat me,” Zhao Guoping said naively.

“Is that so? Thank you for your help. You can pick them, and I’ll help you pull them out. I’ll try not to delay your work,” Su Mo said, smiling.

“No, no,” Zhao Guoping waved his hands. “Brother Changzheng has been looking out for me since I was a kid. It’s only natural for me to help my sister with a few bundles of peanuts.”

Su Mo smiled and said no more. She’d handle it herself when the time came.

Su Mo’s pulling speed was still about the same as before. Around 10 o’clock, she stopped pulling weeds in her own five acres and went to help with Zhao Guoping’s land.

Although Zhao Guoping desperately tried to refuse and asked her to rest, Su Mo insisted on helping.

She never liked owing favors. If she could repay them immediately, why wait until later?

While absorbing energy today, Su Mo clearly felt that the absorption speed was faster than yesterday. It seemed her ability had improved a little.

Good! If she made a little progress every day, upgrading her abilities wouldn’t be a dream.

However, the land that Zhao Guoping was working on was so tough that Su Mo’s hands hurt from pulling weeds.

No wonder the members back then didn’t dare offend the production team leader, they feared being harassed. The quality of the land really had a huge impact on labor efficiency.

From this, it became clear that Zhao Guoping was an honest and diligent young man. He gave away the better land to others while taking the worst for himself.

Zhao Guoping came back after picking more weeds. Seeing Su Mo still at it, he quickly came over and said, “Sister, this land is tough. You should rest now.”

“If you can do it, I can do it too. Though I can’t work as fast as you, at least I can help share the burden,” Su Mo replied.

Zhao Guoping was suddenly moved. His brother Changzheng was truly remarkable. The wife he found wasn’t just conscientious, but also kind-hearted.

In the afternoon, Su Mo had just finished pulling the weeds on her land and was about to go to Zhao Guoping’s field when she saw a boy running toward her from a distance, shouting, “Su Zhiqing, someone from the brigade wants to see you. The brigade leader wants you to come back.”

“Okay, I understand. Thank you,” Su Mo replied.

She walked over with a smile, took out two fruit candies from her pocket, and handed them to the child.

The child was so happy to receive the candy that he ran off laughing.

Su Mo: …

Just as she was about to ask if anyone knew who was looking for her, the child had already run off.

Too hasty! She should have given the candy later.

When Su Mo arrived at the brigade headquarters, she overheard some of the aunties talking and realized that one of the voices was familiar, it was the production director of the workshop.

When the production director saw Su Mo, he walked over with a smile and said, “Su Zhiqing, your bedding is ready. I happened to be in your brigade for something, so I brought it over for you.”

“Come, I’ll take you to your educated youth point,” Director Qi said, walking toward the bicycle parked at the entrance of the brigade.

Two large bamboo baskets were tied to the back seat of the bicycle, with two thick quilts placed inside. A large part of the quilts was sticking out.

Su Mo: …

“Thank you so much! I’m afraid the whole team will know soon that I made two quilts.”

“Oh, Director Qi, the service in your workshop is really great. The director himself delivers it to our door,” one of the aunties joked.

“Of course. We serve the people and must provide good service to them,” Director Qi said with a smile.

He delivered it personally with a purpose.

By carrying the bedding around for people to see, he was showcasing its quality. Some well-off families might come to their workshop to make quilts.

Taking advantage of the fact that many people were getting married after the autumn harvest, he hoped to drum up business for the cotton shop.

“Hey, Su Zhiqing, you lead the way,” Director Qi said to Su Mo while pushing his bicycle.

“Okay, thank you, Director Qi,” Su Mo replied with an awkward but polite smile.

After Su Mo and Director Qi left, the aunties who were picking peanuts started chatting again.

“This Su Zhiqing is quite generous. She made two large quilts at once.”

“Why be so generous? If I had received a betrothal gift of 400 yuan, I would have made three beds,” an aunt said disdainfully.

“Not only that, I heard from Zhao Jiuxiang that she also bought him a Shanghai brand watch, which cost more than 120 yuan.” The speed at which gossip spread in the village was comparable to the internet in later years.

The aunts gasped.

“The secretary’s family is very wealthy. It costs more than 500 yuan to marry off his daughter-in-law.” Some people were envious.

“You heard it wrong. It was Su Zhiqing who bought a Shanghai watch for Lu Laosan, not the secretary’s family who bought it for Su Zhiqing.”

“You never speak clearly.”

“Then this Su Zhiqing’s dowry is quite decent.”

“Hey, Cuihua, what dowry did your daughter-in-law bring when she got married?” The nosy aunt stirred up trouble again.

When Li Cuihua married off her daughter-in-law, she gave a dowry of 200 yuan and her family also bought her a bicycle. When her daughter-in-law came home, she brought a new quilt and her own clothes.

But so what? Her daughter-in-law earns 28 yuan a month.

“My daughter-in-law didn’t bring anything but some money. She said we should live frugally and buy more when we need it.”

This was a subtle criticism of Su Mo’s inability to manage her life. Why would they make two quilts for the couple? Were they just burning too much money?

The aunt curled her lips and said, “Didn’t you buy your old son a watch or something?”

“My son already has a watch. It’s a waste of money. How much food can you buy with more than a hundred yuan? We can’t live so wastefully,” Li Cuihua said stubbornly.

The aunts laughed, everyone knew who was who.

“I heard that they got the marriage certificate yesterday. I wonder when the secretary’s family will host a dinner?”

“I heard from Zhao Jiuxiang that it will be on October 1st.”

“Oh, it’s only been two days. Why hasn’t the secretary’s family sent any news yet? Are they not planning to set up the banquet?”

“I heard it’s going to be a big one, and we’ll hire the whole team. Didn’t you see that Li Yue’e took the day off from work today? I guess she went to buy things.”

“Inviting the entire brigade? That would need at least 20 tables, which would cost a lot. The secretary’s family must be very wealthy…”

“I heard that the family only provided food and vegetables, and Lu Changzheng paid for the rest himself.”

“With more than 20 tables, there will be a lot of food to eat. I’m afraid it will take a month or two of food for the whole family.”

“How can you go to a banquet empty-handed? Minus the gift money, you can’t give much.”

“Lu Changzheng has been in the army for so long, he must have saved up a lot of allowances. The banquet shouldn’t be too bad. There will definitely be two meat dishes…” One aunt began drooling as she spoke. She hadn’t eaten meat in a long time.

“That’s a must, right? He’s an officer after all. I remember when Cuihua’s oldest son married, he always had three meat dishes. Cuihua, isn’t that right?”

There were indeed three meat dishes at the banquet for Li Cuihua’s eldest son’s wedding. One was old hen stewed with mushrooms and vermicelli, one was pork belly stewed with sauerkraut, and the other was fish stewed with radish. Though there were more vegetables than meat in each dish, it was still very decent.

But at that time, she only set up ten tables and invited only her close relatives.

Li Cuihua nodded. “There were three meat dishes: old hen stewed with mushroom vermicelli, pickled cabbage stewed with pork belly, and radish stewed with fish. The staple food was two-grain steamed buns.”

This was a decent thing to do, and there was nothing wrong with admitting it.

The aunts began to compare themselves with others. Considering Li Yue’e and Li Cuihua’s habit of showing off, the feast would probably not be worse than Li Cuihua’s.

They were secretly looking forward to it, but they still didn’t know whether the entire team would be invited. There was still no definite news.