Chapter 61

On a winter afternoon, perfect for soaking up the sun, the leader of the brigade sat drinking tea from his enamel cup, basking in the sunlight after lunch.

Suddenly, Lin Guodong arrived. The leader stood up with a smile, “Guodong, how come you’re here? Have you had lunch?”

Others in the yard greeted Lin Guodong too.

“Guodong’s back.”

“Guodong, it’s been years, hardly recognized you.”

The leader’s wife, beaming, said, “Guodong, sit down. Let me pour you some tea.”

“Uncle, I’ve already had lunch. Auntie, it’s okay, just had my meal, not thirsty.”

Lin Guodong walked into the yard, straight to the point, “I came today to discuss something with Uncle Hongfa.”

As soon as the leader heard Guodong wanted to discuss something, he took it seriously.

After all, Guodong was the most promising member of the Lin family, and he was still an officer. “Guodong, let’s talk inside.”

“Sure.” Lin Guodong followed the leader inside.

In the yard, eyes followed Lin Guodong until he disappeared inside.

Qin Ya pulled Lin Zhenxing’s clothes, “Is that Lin Guodong? Ning Shu’s husband?”

“Yes, he’s our cousin Guodong.” Lin Zhenxing’s tone was full of envy and respect.

“Cousin Goudong is impressive. He’s not just an officer now; he used to be the smartest student around, one of the few college graduates here.”

“There aren’t many college grads from our town. It’s truly impressive.” Qin Ya couldn’t help but envy Ning Shu.

Having her own house, plus three sons, judging from her spirits, Guodong probably sends her a hefty sum every month.

She’s so fortunate.

Looking at the people around her, robust and kind to her, but without owning a separate house, with her mother-in-law in charge and earning just enough from daily labor.

If she hadn’t gone to the countryside and stopped receiving money from home, she wouldn’t have bothered with him.

Qin Ya didn’t think Lin Zhenxing was bad, but she felt they were from different backgrounds – she from the city, he from the countryside.

They just didn’t seem compatible.

Sigh… It’s really a case of different fates for similar people.

Inside the house, Lin Guodong didn’t beat around the bush either. “Uncle Hongfa, I’m here this time to talk about the river and stream in our village. In our countryside, kids are usually left to roam around freely, and because of that, accidents like drowning in the river or stream can happen.”

Lin Hongfa nodded. “Indeed, but everyone has to work, so who has time to watch over the kids? It’s the same in every village.” So they relied on the older kids to look after the younger ones.

“We might not be able to watch the kids closely, but we can take preventive measures,” Lin Guodong continued. “Moreover, I’ve heard that some places are already tightening prevention measures on this issue. If our village team can also take early preventive measures, by the time the county government has to step up its efforts, we might benefit from it as well.”

He wasn’t just talking idly. He planned to visit the county town later and discuss this matter with Meng Jie.

Meng Jie worked in the county government, and they take community issues seriously.

If Meng Jie brings it up to the county government, and then the county government mentions it to the communes, they’ll surely take action.

And this wouldn’t incur any losses for the county government or the communes. It’s just the villagers spending a day or two putting up fences along the riverbanks with planks or bamboo.

This is a good thing, Lin Guodong believed the county government wouldn’t ignore it.

Of course, even if Meng Jie brings it up and the county government doesn’t take it seriously, as long as their village team takes preventive measures, the ones who benefit are the villagers, protecting the safety of the kids in the village.

At least in words, this would also be a commendable service for the villagers by the brigade leader.

Lin Hongfa’s heart skipped a beat upon hearing this. It was already December, and the villagers would have some free time.

If they could spare a couple of days to improve preventive measures along the riverbanks and streams, it wouldn’t take much effort.

And if the county government did promote this initiative, and they had already taken action, they might even be recognized as an advanced and civilized brigade.

“Alright, I’ll discuss this matter with the other village committee members. We’ll handle it in the next couple of days. Since most of us will be on holiday soon, we’ll get it done before then.” Lin Hongfa agreed without hesitation.

Of course, his quick agreement was also related to the person raising the issue – Lin Guodong deserved that respect.

Plus, considering there was no harm in doing this, his decision was straightforward.

With the matter settled, the two came out.

The leader’s wife saw them and asked with a smile, “Is everything sorted out? How long will Guodong stay this time?”

Guodong replied, “I’ll stay until the fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year.”

“So long? Is the holiday that long?” The leader’s wife was somewhat surprised.

Guodong explained, “Officers without active duties and eligible for accompanying family members are entitled to 40 days of family leave each year. Since it’s the end of 1970 now, plus the holiday for 1971, I can stay until the fifteenth day. But there won’t be any holiday next year.”

He specifically arranged his leave to have more time.

He returned at the end of November, spent a few days on the road, then December, January, He could stay until around February 10th.

However, it wasn’t easy for officers to get leave approved.

It depended on whether they had active duties, and even if they were on leave, they could be called for duty at any time.

This visit home was more about seeing the kids and accompanying family members than celebrating the New Year.

…… County Town

Ning Shu arrived in the county town and went straight to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to find Li Fei.

Upon seeing Ning Shu, Li Fei felt a bit embarrassed. It had been over a month, and Ning Shu’s house was still unsettled.

It’s not that she couldn’t find one, but some of the available houses were vacated by certain families, and Li Fei felt they weren’t safe.

She was worried about potential troubles down the line, so she didn’t consider those options and didn’t inform Ning Shu.

“Ning, you’re here. By the way, the defective cloth that the garment factory left here was all taken back. Did your plan work?” Li Fei asked curiously as soon as she saw Ning Shu.

Ning Shu replied, “Whether it succeeds or not remains to be seen after a month.” She didn’t make any promises because nothing was guaranteed.

If she made it sound too certain, it might backfire and leave a bad impression.

Also, she needed to be cautious in case things didn’t go as planned.

“Sis, do you have any stoves for sale here? I want to buy one,” Ning Shu asked.

Though Li Fei didn’t have the results yet, she had a good idea. “Yes, we have stoves. Do you need pots too? They have to be bought separately, and both require industrial vouchers.”

This would require quite a few industrial vouchers.

Ning Shu wasn’t sure if she had enough.

If she had known she’d need industrial vouchers, she wouldn’t have traded sweet potatoes earlier.

“How many industrial vouchers for the stove?” As for pots, she could consider clay pots or earthen pots if iron pots weren’t an option.

Li Fei replied, “It’s ten industrial vouchers for the stove. If you don’t want an iron pot, you can buy a clay pot. Clay pots don’t require vouchers.”

Ning Shu was pleasantly surprised, “Clay pots? That’s what I want. Are there different sizes available?” She took out seven industrial vouchers from her purse, five of which were leftover, two were sent by Lin Guodong in October and November.

But she was still three vouchers short. She searched through her bag again, remembering that Lin Guodong had given her a bunch of vouchers and money when she left.

Unfortunately, after checking every voucher, she found meat vouchers, grain vouchers, and sugar vouchers, but no industrial vouchers.

Ning Shu felt a bit frustrated, “Li Jie, I’m three industrial vouchers short. Can I exchange them here? I have meat vouchers, grain vouchers, and sugar vouchers.”

Li Fei said, “Wait a moment, let me ask.” She inquired with the other counter attendants and managed to gather the three vouchers, but she didn’t have them on her.

However, it wasn’t a problem; she could sell the stove to Ning Shu today and Ning Shu could make up for the vouchers tomorrow.

Then, she went to fetch the clay pots for Ning Shu.

“There’s only one size available. This size is suitable for cooking on the stove or for stewing soup.”

After purchasing the stove and three clay pots, Ning Shu also bought some White Rabbit milk candies.

The milk at home had run out, and without milk powder vouchers, she bought White Rabbit candies to supplement the milk for her three children.

Exiting the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, on her way back to the village, Ning Shu found a deserted spot at the foot of a hill.

She took out the two boxes of tofu, five pounds of bananas, and three large yellow croakers she had bought through the app today.

She left behind the tomatoes and sauce duck. Bringing out too much would be hard to explain.

She had no plans to reveal the secret of the app to anyone; she didn’t want to test human nature.

At the village entrance, a group of children surrounded Ning Shu’s three children and Haicai.

They looked at the clothes worn by the four with envy—not because of the new clothes but because they were all wearing similar ones.

“Yibao, you all wear the same clothes. It looks so nice,” said Lin Guangzong, a child from a cousin’s family several houses away.

“These were made by my mom,” Yibao said with a smile.

“What’s so great about that? My mom makes new clothes for me too,” retorted Zhuang Xiaopang sourly, his eyes fixed on the camouflage outfit.

Erbao replied, “Then do you have a camouflage outfit? Can your mom make camouflage outfits?”

“That outfit doesn’t look good. I don’t want it,” Zhuang Xiaopang said.

“It looks good,” Haicai interjected.

“It looks good,” Sanbao chimed in beside Erbao.

Alone against the four Lin brothers, Zhuang Xiaopang turned to the other kids around him and said, “If you say their clothes aren’t good, I’ll give you fruit candy.”

With that, he pulled out two fruit candies from his pocket.

One child couldn’t resist the temptation and asked uncertainly, “Zhuang Xiaopang, are you serious?”

Zhuang Xiaopang was nicknamed “Little Fatty” because of his chubby appearance, which in this era was considered fortunate.

So his family liked it when others called him Little Fatty, indicating that they had raised their child well.

“Of course, I’m serious,” Zhuang Xiaopang said, unwrapping the candy. “Now, say it, and I’ll let you have it.”

The boy who spoke up immediately said, “Yibao, Erbao, your clothes are really ugly.” Then, he looked towards Zhuang Xiaopang.

Zhuang Xiaopang handed the candy to him, saying, “You can have it.”

The boy took and eat the candy and exclaimed, “Wow, it’s so sweet, delicious!”

Zhuang Xiaopang grinned triumphantly. “Now you all believe, right? Everyone can have a fruit candy.”

With the temptation of candy, the other kids who were playing with Zhuang Xiaopang started speaking up.

“Yibao, your clothes are really ugly.”

“Erbao, your clothes are so ugly.”

“Sanbao, your clothes are the ugliest.”

Several kids took turns saying these things while taking turns licking Zhuang Xiaopang’s candy.

Erbao’s temper flared up. “If you all say our clothes are the best, I’ll let you all lick an apple. Have you ever had an apple? It’s even better than candy.”

“Erbao, are you really going to let us lick an apple?”

“Yeah, unless you show us the apple first.”

“Zhuang Xiaopang showed us the candy. Erbao, where’s your apple?”

Yibao didn’t have any apples in his pocket, but he remained confident. “Just wait here, I’ll go home and get them.”

Erbao ran home and found nobody there, but the door was open.

After a moment’s thought, he grabbed two apples from the kitchen: one for the kids to and one for himself to eat.

…

Ning Shu returned on her bicycle and saw two groups of kids at the village entrance, one led by Zhuang Xiaopang and the other by Yibao.

Seeing this scene, Ning Shu had no doubt—they were arguing.

Ning Shu pressed the bicycle bell.

Ding-a-ling…

The bicycle bell rang, and the two groups of arguing kids stopped.

“Mom…”

“Mom…”

” Third Auntie…”

“Mom…”

Seeing Ning Shu’s arrival, the three children and Haicai ran a few steps towards her, but just a few steps as her bicycle reached them.

Ning Shu tiptoed and got off the bicycle. “What are you doing here?”

“Zhuang Xiaopang and them said our clothes aren’t nice, so we’re arguing with them. Our clothes are the best,” Yibao complained angrily.

Ning Shu couldn’t help but chuckle. But then she noticed something: Yibao and Erbao were only wearing tops, while Sanbao and Haicai were wearing pants, which made them look quite tidy.

Wait, Haicai’s pants… she thought, they might belong to Yibao or Erbao.

But she didn’t dwell on it.

“What’s the point of arguing? As long as you think your clothes are nice, that’s all that matters. Let’s go home. I bought some White Rabbit milk candies for you.” Ning Shu said, taking out the candies from her basket.

“Do you want some?”

“Yes, please.” Yibao, who had never tasted White Rabbit milk candies, was a bit curious. “Mom, are White Rabbit milk candies tasty?”

“Just as tasty as milk. Do you like milk?” Ning Shu asked in return.

“Yes!” Before Yibao could answer, Sanbao eagerly responded. He loved drinking milk the most.

Since Sanbao was still a little child, he loved milk, but unfortunately, there was no milk left.

“Then White Rabbit milk candies are just as tasty as milk. If you want some, come home with me.” Until the issue with the river was resolved, Ning Shu didn’t want the three children and Haicai to play with Zhuang Xiaopang and his friends.

“Let’s go home and eat the White Rabbit milk candies,” Erbao said, peeking into the basket. “Mom, what else did you buy?”

“I bought bananas, tofu, and fish,” Ning Shu replied.

She walked ahead, pushing the bicycle, with the children following behind.

“Mom, what are bananas?” Yibao, who had never seen bananas before, asked curiously.

Ning Shu wasn’t sure how to describe bananas. “You’ll find out when we get home. They’re as tasty as apples.”

The children who were still at the village entrance looked enviously at their backs. Compared to the White Rabbit milk candies mentioned by Ning Shu, Zhuang Xiaopang’s fruit candies didn’t seem as appealing.

Some of the children who had tasted the candy even asked, “If we speak up for Yibao and them, will they give us White Rabbit milk candies to lick?”

This suggestion sparked interest among the other children, and one of them said, “Let’s go ask.”

“Yeah, let’s go ask.”

“I’m coming too.”

“Count me in.”

In no time, only one child was left standing next to Zhuang Xiaopang. He smiled and asked, “Hey, Xiaopang, they’ve all left. Can I have your candy? I promise to listen to you in the future.”

“Sure.” Zhuang Xiaopang grumpily handed the candy he had been licked to the child and then secretly followed the others.

He didn’t believe that Yibao and them would give everyone White Rabbit milk candies to lick.