Chapter 53 : Inquiring about the Situation

After a short rest, Su Mo didn’t plan to cook. Instead, she grabbed two cabbage and pork buns to satisfy her hunger. Then, she went to the well to clean the hazel mushrooms she had collected. As for the mushrooms stored in her space, she decided to leave them there since fresh ones tasted better than dried ones.

Once the cleaning was done, she took two bamboo sieves, spread the hazel mushrooms on them, and placed them under the eaves where they could dry in the sunlight.

Su Mo felt quite grateful to Li Yue’e for preparing everything she needed for daily life. According to Lu Changzheng, the house had lacked many essentials before, and his mother had thoughtfully bought them after the wedding was decided.

After finishing her chores, Su Mo planned to take a nap on the wooden bench in the living room. But not long after she lay down, she heard Lu Fengqin’s voice outside the door.

Getting up to check, Su Mo saw that Fengqin was back with a basket on her back, accompanied by her sister, Lu Aiqin, and the second brother’s eldest son, Lu Guodong.

Seeing Su Mo come out, the three children looked at her with sparkling eyes.

“Aunt, my second sister and eldest brother are coming with us to harvest crops,” said Lu Fengqin.

Su Mo: …

It seemed that, no matter the era, candy was an irresistible draw for children, even enough to distract them from collecting pig grass.

“Alright, wait a moment. I’ll grab my backpack,” Su Mo said.

She took her backpack, locked the door, and set off with the three children. Knowing their true motive, Su Mo handed each of them a piece of maltose candy before they left.

As soon as they got the candy, their eyes sparkled even brighter. Lu Guodong asked excitedly, “Aunt San, what kind of candy is this?”

“Maltose,” Su Mo replied with a smile.

“This is maltose!” the children exclaimed in unison, quickly tearing open the wrappers and popping the candy into their mouths.

When Su Mo had visited the Lu family previously, she had given maltose to Lu Guoliang and Lu Guoqiang. However, the two boys had eaten it all themselves and then bragged to their siblings about how delicious it was, leaving the others longing for a taste.

Now, finally tasting the coveted maltose, the three children closed their eyes in pure bliss.

“This is so delicious! It’s as good as the White Rabbit milk candy Aunt San gave me last time,” one of them said.

Buoyed by the candy, the three children were lively and talkative during the walk. They eagerly shared all kinds of gossip about the brigade, leaving Su Mo chuckling the whole way.

Thanks to their chatter, Su Mo gained a deeper understanding of the Lujia Village Production Brigade.

She learned that the brigade’s pig farm had raised 40 pigs this year. Lu Qing’an, who oversaw the farm, was so dedicated he visited the pigs at least three times a day and cherished them more than his eldest grandson.

She also heard about the brigade’s chicken farm. Once, a lazy brigade member was caught stealing eggs, locked up for several days, and then publicly criticized and educated.

Another story involved an old man in charge of the sheep pen who loved to drink. One time, he got so drunk that he fell asleep among the sheep. The shepherd the next morning was terrified, thinking the old man had died in the pen.

It seemed that her “cheap uncle” Geng Changqing was doing a commendable job as the commune secretary. During this unique era, unless leaders above authorized it, production teams wouldn’t dare engage in such side businesses.

After all, many places still implemented the Chairman’s policy of “taking grain as the key link and pursuing comprehensive development” in a uniform manner, focusing solely on grain production while ignoring the “comprehensive development” aspect. There was a fear that those engaging in side jobs might become wealthy while grain farmers remained poor, potentially leading to economic polarization.

“Does our brigade have a cowshed?” Su Mo asked casually.

“Yes, our brigade not only has a cowshed but also a donkey shed. We have five cows and ten donkeys, more than any other brigade,” Lu Guodong said proudly.

“How do you know so much?” Su Mo asked with a smile.

“My classmate told me,” Lu Guodong replied.

The primary school in the Lujia Village brigade also enrolled children from nearby production teams without their own schools. Information like this was often a point of pride and competition among the children, so Lu Guodong was well-informed.

“Do you ever go to the cowshed or the donkey shed to play?” Su Mo asked.

“You can’t go there. Bad people live there. Aunt San, you shouldn’t go there either, it’s dirty and messy,” Lu Guodong warned.

“How do you know they’re bad people?”

“Everyone says so. They say those people did something wrong and were punished by being made to live in the cowshed,” Lu Guodong added.

Su Mo’s eyes flickered with thought, but she didn’t pursue the subject further. Instead, she asked, “Guodong, which production teams do your classmates come from?”

“There are a lot Longjia Village, Beiling, Lijiaao, Qingshui…” Lu Guodong tried to recall.

“So many? Have you ever been to Lijiaao?” Su Mo knew from the book that the original owner’s parents had been sent down to Lijiaao.

“Yes, I’ve been there. I go there with Grandma every year to visit the graves,” Lu Guodong said. Lijiaao was Li Yue’e’s hometown.

Su Mo didn’t expect such a coincidence, so she asked, “Is it far?”

“It’s not far. You just follow Bukai Mountain, and you’ll get there quickly,” Lu Guodong said, though his young age left him with little sense of time.

“Grandma says it takes about half an hour to walk there,” added Lu Fengqin.

The children first took Su Mo to look for chestnuts. However, chestnuts were clearly popular, and several places had already been thoroughly picked. Only in one spot, on a very old tree, were there still some chestnuts hanging.

The three children gazed up at the chestnuts with green, spiny shells, looking somewhat regretful.

“The shells are still so green, they won’t ripen for a while. We’ll have to come back later, but who knows if they’ll still be here by then,” they lamented.

Chestnuts were a favorite treat for the children because they were so delicious. Unfortunately, they could only gather a few each year, as most were quickly harvested by others.