“Okay,” Yi Bao took the durian and sniffed it hard, still smelling the funkiness.

But since Mom said this strange thing tasted good, he decided to give it a try.

So, he closed his eyes, took a bite, and then his eyes lit up. “Mom, it’s delicious,” he exclaimed.

It was similar to the cake he had eaten before (chocolate cake roll), but also a bit different.

Er Bao was originally quite wary. He didn’t dare to eat something so stinky, but since his brother said it was delicious, he decided to give it a try.

He took a small bite and then spat it out… Er Bao spat into his palm, “Mom, it’s not good, I don’t want to eat it.”

Comrade Lin Er Bao, who loved eating so much, surprisingly didn’t like it.

Ning Shu also knew that some people just didn’t like durian, no matter what.

“Well, then you go throw it away,” Ning Shu said as she broke off a small piece to feed San Bao. “San Bao, do you want some?”

San Bao covered his nose, “Stinky… stinky…” He shook his head and then ran outside.

Following in the footsteps of Lin Er Bao, San Bao’s little shoes also “fell” off.

Ning Shu… was exceptionally happy. With two fewer rivals for food, how could she not be happy? She popped the piece she was about to feed San Bao into her own mouth.

Then she cut off another small piece, saying, “Er Bao, you go ask your dad if he wants some.”

She then divided the remaining half into three pieces. “Yi Bao, you’re lucky. We each get a piece.”

“Okay,” Yi Bao happily took his piece.

Er Bao took the small piece his mother cut and went to find his dad.

He shouted loudly, “Dad, Mom wants you to try it. If it’s not good, spit it out. If it’s good, Mom will give you a big piece.”

Lin Guodong was chopping firewood and his hands were a bit dirty.

Seeing this, Er Bao directly handed it to his dad.

Then he asked earnestly and anxiously, “Dad, is it delicious?”

Lin Guodong said, “It’s delicious.”

Actually, he didn’t think it was that great, but food was precious.

Anything edible was considered good.

“What?” Er Bao couldn’t believe it. How could his dad think something so gross and smelly was delicious? Although he didn’t understand, he still obediently shouted towards the kitchen, “Mom, Dad says it’s delicious too.”

So, Ning Shu came out with a piece of durian mille crepe, saying, “Here.”

Lin Guodong said, “My hands are dirty, I won’t eat it. You finish it.”

Ning Shu said, “Just eat like this, I’ll feed you.” With that, she brought the durian mille crepe to his lips.

Lin Guodong was taken aback, looking up at her.

He saw her holding another piece of durian mille crepe in her other hand, eating it bit by bit.

She looked especially content.

Although he didn’t particularly like this cake, seeing Ning Shu like this made him want to eat it again.

Yi Bao sat under the eaves watching his parents eat, nibbling on his own piece bit by bit.

Er Bao looked at them, then glanced at San Bao, who was keeping his distance.

He walked over to San Bao and said with a smile, “San Bao, you can’t smell anything here. Put your hand down.”

San Bao still held his little nose, breathing through his mouth.

“Stinky,” he said in a childish voice.

After speaking, he immediately took a breath because you couldn’t breathe while talking.

Er Bao couldn’t help but laugh. “I know it smells bad, I don’t like it either, but look at me, I’m not holding my nose because you can’t smell the stink here. Come, have a sniff.”

San Bao stared blankly at Er Bao for a while, then slowly lowered his hand.

After sniffing quickly and not smelling any stink, he finally let go of his hand completely and sat under the eaves, swinging his short legs.

Er Bao sat down beside him and swung his legs along with him.

However, he was much bigger than San Bao, so his feet touched the ground, and it wasn’t easy to swing.

The family of five sat in their respective spots, eating quietly.

Lin Guodong ate quickly.

He finished the third of his half-piece in three bites.

After he finished, Ning Shu had also eaten almost all of hers. She asked, “Do you want more?”

She was prepared to finish the remaining half since she felt uncomfortable not finishing it all.

“I don’t want anymore, you finish it,” Lin Guodong said. He added, “I’m not a big fan of sweet treats.”

“Alright,” Ning Shu saw that Yi Bao had also eaten half of his.

He ate slowly, nibbling like a squirrel eating nuts. “Yi Bao, if you want more after you finish, come inside and get it.”

“Okay,” Yi Bao responded.

Ning Shu divided the remaining half in the kitchen into two and gave one half to Yi Bao.

However, she overestimated Yi Bao’s appetite.

After he finished the third, he could only eat a small piece.

So Ning Shu finished the rest.

After enjoying the durian mille crepe, Ning Shu went to prepare dinner.

In the cold winter, after having a good dinner, everyone wiped themselves clean and went to bed.

The next day, when Lin’s mother and Lin Xiaojing arrived, Ning Shu was at home basking in the sun while drawing designs for next spring.

She had an agreement with a clothing factory to provide them with four sets of clothing designs every year, one for each season.

However, she couldn’t just use modern clothing styles.

So Ning Shu was thinking of blending in with this era while still incorporating fashionable and conservative elements into her designs.

“Daughter-in-law busy?” Lin’s mother looked around and noticed a few kids weren’t at home.

“Third sister-in-law” Lin Xiaojing chimed in as well.

Ning Shu replied, “Not busy. Why did you both come?”

Lin’s mother didn’t beat around the bush. She said directly, “It’s about Xiaojing renting a house in the county after the New Year. You mentioned it to us before, do you have any plans?”

Right, Ning Shu almost forgot about this matter.

“Well, our family still has two small houses with yards in the county that haven’t been rented out, right? The slightly smaller one has two bedrooms, a kitchen with a small yard. One bedroom can be rented to Xiaojing for 3 yuan a month, and she can use the kitchen as she likes. What do you think?” Ning Shu asked.

“But the other room will be occupied by someone else in the future, probably also rented to a female comrade. Of course, if Xiaojing’s colleagues from the factory need a place to rent, that would be even better. They can commute together, keep each other company, and it’ll be much livelier,” Ning Shu added.

Upon hearing this, Lin Xiaojing exclaimed happily, “No need to rent to colleagues from the factory. I can rent it to my good friend Xiao Mian. Xiao Mian also wants to find a job in the county. If she finds a job and her unit doesn’t provide accommodation, she’ll definitely have to rent outside.”

“Xiao Mian, huh? She’s a nice girl. I’ll be relieved if you live with her,” Lin’s mother said naturally.

She knew Yu Xiaomian, not only from today when they moved luggage but also from before.

Lin Xiaojing and Yu Xiaomian are good friends.

Lin Xiaojing has been to Yu’s house, and Yu Xiaomian has also visited Lin’s home.

Ning Shu said, “That’s natural. But if your colleagues want to rent, they can also rent. As for Xiaomian, when she finds a job and decides to rent, you can share a room to split the rent. If you prefer to have separate rooms, you can rent the other courtyard.”

Having the flexibility to switch rooms anytime is great.

“Okay,” Lin Xiaojing was very satisfied with this arrangement.

With the housing matter settled, Lin Xiaojing’s worries were also eased, and she could relax and wait to start work after the New Year.

In the blink of an eye, the New Year was approaching.

As the end of the year approached, there were many things happening in the brigade, mainly three:

Firstly, fishing in the river.

Because the river belongs to both the village and the neighboring village, fishing starts simultaneously for both villages.

They drain the river and the men from both villages go fishing, but they can’t cross the middle line.

Men mainly do this because even when the water is drained, the riverbed is cold, and some women can’t bear it.

However, if women are willing to go, the cadres won’t refuse.

There are rewards for catching fish.

Secondly, selling pigs. Not only do individual households sell their pigs, but the brigade’s pigs also need to be sold.

Along with the sale of pigs, there is something even more joyful: distributing pork.

In Qinglin Bay Brigade, pork distribution is based on population, and it can be offset with work points.

For households like Ning Shu’s that don’t have work points, they naturally have to pay.

After the villagers have received their share, there is still leftover pork, which can be purchased with money.

Thirdly, the annual main event: distributing grain.

These three events are connected, so these three days are especially lively, as if everyone was celebrating the New Year in advance.

Today is the day for fishing. After a hearty lunch, Yi Bao and Er Bao picked up their small baskets.

The river was drained, and some kids were picking things by the shore while adults were in the river. So, it was safe for kids to be by the shore.

Ning Shu also carried a basket while holding San Bao.

Compared to them, Lin Guodong directly carried two baskets. He was the main force today.

Ning Shu said, “Comrade Lin Guodong, you have to work hard. How many fish we can catch today depends on you.”

Lin Guodong replied, “I can’t promise to be the first, but I won’t let the second place slip away. If you like, you can buy some fish.”

Ning Shu said, “We’ll make fermented fish later. It’s especially delicious.”

Lin Guodong nodded, “I’ll listen to you.”

Er Bao followed suit, saying, “Dad, you have to work hard. How many fish we can eat today depends on you.”

Lin Guodong thought about giving this little rascal a kick.

Yi Bao chuckled and then said, “Dad, I’ll cheer for you.”

Lin Guodong nodded, “Okay, Dad will work hard too.”

San Bao held his mother’s hand and said, “Let’s go… let’s go,” wanting to rush out.

At this moment, many people had already passed by Ning Shu’s doorstep, either carrying baskets or carrying baskets.

Although the scene of the whole village mobilizing wasn’t new, it was never this lively during work hours.

Working spread people out in different places, but fishing brought everyone together in one place.

Ning Shu walked along with San Bao and said, “Let’s go, let’s go. Our San Bao is particularly active today. You also have to work hard to catch fish later.”

San Bao replied firmly, “Okay.”

Initially, Yi Bao and Er Bao walked with their mother, but when they saw their father walking ahead and others passing them hurriedly, they couldn’t help but speed up.

“Mum, I’m going with Dad,” Er Bao ran to catch up with his father.

“Mum, I’m going too,” Yi Bao followed.

San Bao also wanted to run up, but he wasn’t as fast as his brothers, so he could only pant and pull his mother behind to chase.

Ahead, Er Bao and Yi Bao caught up with their dad, and when they saw familiar friends ahead, they abandoned their dad again and chased after them.

“Yi Bao, Er Bao,” Lin Xiaoshan and Lin Xiaoshi were ahead and happily shouted when they saw the two.

“Xiaoshan, Xiaoshi,” Yi Bao and Er Bao called back.

“Yi Bao, Er Bao, are you going to pick things with us by the shore later?” Lin Xiaoshan asked.

During fishing, children pick things by the shore.

If they pick up big fish, they hand them over and get rewarded.

If they pick up small fish or other shells, they can keep them.

So many children enjoy it.

“Sure,” Yi Bao replied.

In the past, when Yi Bao and Er Bao were younger, they had to stay back with their younger brother and couldn’t go pick things.

But this year, they could go down and pick, and with so many people around, they were thrilled.

Lin Xiaoshan was also happy.

Since Yi Bao and Er Bao were young, he could keep an eye on them if they were together.

“On the other side,” Lin Haiwen and others also came carrying baskets.

Seeing Yi Bao and Er Bao, Lin Haiwen, being the elder brother, said, “Yi Bao, Er Bao, will you pick things by the shore with us later?”

“We’re going with Xiaoshan and Xiaoshi,” Er Bao said.

“Haiwen, Xiaoshan already asked us, and we agreed,” Yi Bao added.

“No problem, then we’ll go with you,” Lin Haiwen said.

“Sure, the more, the merrier,” Lin Xiaoshan agreed.

“Yibao , Erbao …!!” Hai Cai also came to Yi Bao and Er Bao’s side carrying a small basket.

Recently, because his siblings were all on winter vacation and there were people at home, Hai Cai had been with his siblings for several days and hadn’t seen Yi Bao and Er Bao.

He missed them.

“Hai Cai!” Yi Bao and Er Bao were also happy to see him.

The three children stood shoulder to shoulder, holding hands and jumping around.

The small baskets swung on their wrists, seemingly cheering for today’s big harvest.

After about ten minutes, the group arrived at the river.

The river, surrounded by wooden fences, appeared in front of everyone.

It looked a bit different from before, with the wooden fences making it seem more picturesque.

Moreover, while originally only half of the river was fenced off, now the other half was also fenced off. It turned out that the villagers from the neighboring village, after hearing about this from the brigade leader, thought it was a good idea to protect the children’s safety, so they followed suit.

“Look, that half of the river is fenced off too.”

“They learned from us.”

“But it’s even safer when the whole river is fenced off.”

“Yeah, this is quite good.”

“The people from the neighboring village have already arrived, waiting for the water to be released.”

“It will take some time to release the water. Let’s wait for a while.”

The villagers who arrived one after another sat on the ground.

They were wearing their most worn-out clothes today, but they didn’t mind sitting on the ground.

Lin Guodong turned the basket upside down and placed it on the ground.

When Ning Shu came over, he said, “You sit here.”

He had already taken off his coat and laid it on the overturned basket, making it much cleaner.

Because of Lin Guodong’s actions, everyone looked over. Someone joked, “Guodong really dotes on his wife.”

“Yeah, in our village, there’s no one else like Guodong who dotes on his wife.”

“Guodong is the most promising person in our village. Even he dotes on his wife. You should all learn from him,” a woman said.

“That’s right, following the most promising person can’t be wrong,” other women agreed one after another.

“Speaking of which, Guodong inherited this trait from his father, right? He also dotes on his wife. In all these years, I’ve never seen Guodong’s father and mother quarrel.”

Lin Guodong breathed a sigh of relief. Although he wasn’t thin-skinned, he really didn’t want to become the gossip of these people.

At this moment, someone asked the kids playing on the side, “Er Bao, do you know if your dad usually dotes on your mom?”

This man was known in the village for liking to tell dirty jokes and constantly making lewd remarks!