Chapter 13 – Sixteen Yuan and Seventy Cents

At this moment, in the golden fields—

Rays of sunlight pierced through the clouds, casting their warm glow upon the earth. The busy team members swung the sickles in their hands, skillfully harvesting the maizi.

Children in their early teens quickly bundled up the harvested maizi, then carried them to the carts.

The slightly older uncles then transported the loads to the drying yard.

At the drying yard, the elderly grandpas and grandmas, accompanied by a group of toddlers, flipped the grains under the sun while keeping watch to make sure no birds stole the maizi.

By noon, every household brought out the lunches they had prepared early in the morning. They sat right in the fields, swallowed a few bites in gulps, and then continued working under the scorching sun to frantically harvest the crops.

They had to quicken the pace and finish harvesting everything from the fields because the grains still had to be sun-dried, winnowed, and cleaned of debris.

Once all the grains were thoroughly processed, they had to be sorted into three quality grades: upper, middle, and lower…

The best—Grade A—would be handed over to the state. Grade B went to the collective, and only the lowest—Grade C—was kept for the brigade members themselves.

If the harvest was good, then everyone could get some decent grain. But if the yield was poor, once the public grain was handed over, there’d be little left, and they would have to tighten their belts again.

When handing in the public grain, it had to be made sure that the grain was intact, dry, and clean.

If it didn’t pass the grain station’s inspection—if it wasn’t dry enough, it had to be re-dried; if it was dirty, they wouldn’t accept it; and if your attitude wasn’t good, they still wouldn’t accept it…

At this moment, Lei Dahai was in the drying yard, giving instructions to the elders of the brigade.

“Third Uncle, I’ll have to trouble you to watch the kids. Make sure everything is dried thoroughly.”

“Don’t worry. After doing this for so many years, do you think I still don’t know what to do? You just come check when it’s time, you won’t find any problems.”

“Alright, I’ll leave it to you, Third Uncle. I’ll go take a look in the fields now.”

The brigade leader made sure everyone carried out each task properly. He wanted the public grain handover to be completed in one go.

He didn’t want all their hard work over these past few days to end up with them being scolded at the grain station.

After a full week of effort, everyone finally got the grain stored in the granary.

The brigade leader was finally able to breathe a little easier—though only halfway. The rest of his worry would only be gone after the public grain was successfully delivered.

There were still some corn and soybeans left in the field. Today, the brigade leader made the same arrangements as usual—he gathered everyone to finish harvesting all of it.

They couldn’t risk losing good crops if it happened to rain.

Once everyone had collected the last of the grain, they also brought back the corn stalks and wheat stalks.

The wheat stalks could still be used as livestock feed—nothing could go to waste.

After harvesting the brigade’s crops, the team members rested for two days. Then, they went to harvest vegetables grown in their personal plots, which were used for pickling.

There were no fresh vegetables in the winter, so they had to rely on pickled vegetables and dried greens to get by.

———

Ding-ling… ding-ling…

The sound of bicycle bells rang through Shanhe Brigade. The postman, who often came to the Lei household, asked around and, upon hearing that Si Yueyue was the Lei family’s daughter-in-law, went straight there.

“Si Yueyue! You’ve got a letter, Si Yueyue…”

Zhao Cuilan wiped her hands on her apron and walked out of the courtyard. “Comrade, I’m Si Yueyue’s mother-in-law. Can I receive the letter on her behalf?”

“She’s not home?”

“She is. My daughter-in-law’s still in postpartum confinement—it’s inconvenient for her to come out.”

“Alright, but next time, have her come out and collect it herself, okay?”

“Sure, sure, she’ll be out of confinement by then and can get it herself.”

“Alright. Just sign your name here, and I’ll hand over the letter…”

“Huh? You came all the way to the house and I still gotta sign?”

“Of course! That’s part of the official process. What if someone pretends to be the recipient and takes the letter?”

Zhao Cuilan nodded. She figured the comrade made a good point. Without a signature, if someone else claimed the letter, no one would know who to look for.

After glancing at the signed name, the postman asked: “Are you Zhao Cuilan?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, here’s your letter. I’m off—I’ve still got more deliveries.”

“Ah, alright then. Thank you, comrade.”

Zhao Cuilan watched the postman leave before turning around and bringing the letter inside to Si Yueyue.

At that moment, Si Yueyue was lying in bed, feeling miserable.

Why miserable?

Because of the postpartum confinement—she was suffering because the family wouldn’t let her bathe.

She’d already wanted a bath after just a few days, but both her mother-in-law and sister-in-law refused to let her. With no choice, she could only accept her fate.

But now it had almost been a month—she felt like she was starting to stink. Last week, she had pleaded with her mother-in-law for ages before finally being allowed to wipe herself down—but even then, she still wasn’t permitted to wash her hair.

At this point, she felt like there might be an entire colony of lice thriving on her scalp.

Si Yueyue had considered sneaking into the space to take a proper bath, but once she came out all clean, everyone would notice. Then how would she explain it? She hadn’t even stepped out the door—what would she say, that she used magic?

All she could do was keep reminding herself over and over: just a little longer, just a little longer. Only two more days and she’d be free.

“Yueyue, Mom’s coming in.”

“Alright, Mom, come on in.”

Zhao Cuilan stepped into the room and handed the letter to Si Yueyue. “Here, the postman just delivered this.”

Si Yueyue took the letter, glanced at the return address, and felt the thickness with her fingers—her heart fluttered with excitement.

There were two reply letters in total. One was from People’s Publication Office, and the other from Heihe Publication Office.

She first opened the thinner one—from Heihe Publication Office. Inside was a polite thank-you note for choosing them, but the article didn’t match the tone of their publication…

A long-winded explanation, but in short: her submission had been rejected.

Sitting on the heated brick bed, Zhao Cuilan watched the two children nearby, her eyes occasionally glancing at her daughter-in-law.

Si Yueyue put away the Heihe letter and then opened the one from the People’s Publication Office.

This one also began with words of thanks—but this time, her submission had been accepted. Enclosed with the letter was her royalties.

Si Yueyue carefully counted the money. It was sixteen yuan and seventy cents in total, along with a national grain coupon.

“Hahaha… I did it!”

Zhao Cuilan looked at her daughter-in-law in confusion. “Yueyue, what’s going on?”

“Mom, do you remember the article I had my sister send out? It got accepted! This is the royalty payment from the People’s Publication Office—sixteen yuan and seventy cents, plus a grain coupon!”

Si Yueyue held up the money and the coupon excitedly for her mother-in-law to see.

“Sixteen yuan and seventy cents?” Zhao Cuilan was so shocked that her voice nearly cracked.

Oh my heavens! That was nearly half a month’s salary for Zhenzhen. Her daughter-in-law was seriously impressive!

“That’s a lot! It’s almost as much as your sister earns in half a month at the factory. No wonder everyone says getting an education is worth it!”

“Exactly. In books, there are houses of gold, in books, beauties as fair as jade. Either way, studying is always better than not studying.”

Zhao Cuilan got so excited she slapped her thigh. “Ain’t that the truth? This here is practically gold—sixteen yuan and seventy cents!”

“Hehe… Mom, you take the money.”

“No need, you keep it for yourself. I’ve still got quite a bit saved up—don’t need your money.”

“You and Dad should save your money for emergencies. Use this to buy food and meat for everyone to enjoy.”

“Everyone in the family has been working hard every day. The three of us have just been lying around, eating for free all this time—I really can’t justify it.”

Zhao Cuilan thought for a moment and nodded.

“Still, you don’t need to give that much. I’ve been saving private money for your Big Brother and your sister-in-law too. You should keep some for yourself.”

“Alright then, I’ll keep five yuan. Mom, you take the rest.”

“Okay. I’ll hold on to it for now. If you need any, just ask Mom.”

“Alright…”

“Waa… waa…”

“Oh my, what’s this? Why’s he crying now?” Zhao Cuilan looked at An An, who had suddenly burst into tears.

“He just finished feeding. Probably wet himself.” Si Yueyue spoke as she picked up her eldest son and gave his little bottom a pat.

Her hand immediately felt damp—it really was wet.

She prepared to get off the bed to fetch a diaper, but Zhao Cuilan quickly stood up.

“I got it. You sit.”

Saying that, she turned deftly to grab the diaper and changed An An efficiently. Once dry, the little guy looked comfortable again, opening his toothless mouth and babbling “ah, ah.”

“Ah, little An An feels good now, huh…”

“Waa… waah…”

Grandma Zhao heard Lele cry and quickly reached out to feel his little butt. “Oh dear, Lele’s wet too? Hang on, Grandma will get you changed right away.”

“Mom, let me do it.”

“What for? You just sit tight.”

“Mom…”

“What? I can’t even change my own grandson’s diaper now?”

“Mom, I didn’t mean it like that. You’ve been handling everything in the house. Now that you finally have a chance to rest, you’re still running around after me. I’m the one just lying around, and I feel guilty.”

“Changing a diaper isn’t hard at all. Mom wants to change my two grandsons’ diapers.”

As she spoke, Grandma Zhao efficiently changed Lele’s diaper too—swift and smooth, done in a flash.

“Feel better now, Lele? Do you like it when Grandma changes your diaper?”

“Ah-wooo…”