Crossing 70: Fish in the Pond Have Good News

Zhuang Dashan came out and opened the door for Jiang Yu and the others. "It's late at night and the road is hard to see. You two must be careful when you go out. Watch out for the threshold."

After leading the person into the main room, Zhuang Dashan went to help his wife wash the dishes.

An oil lamp was lit in the main room, and a few little kids were lying on the kang table doing their homework. Zhuang Shouren and Cui Xiaofen were sitting behind the oil lamp, one of them was smoking a cigarette, and the other was sewing a pillowcase for her daughter with needle and thread. The small box next to her for the needle and thread was shining with gold.

"Master Jiang and educated youth Xue are here, come and sit down. Daya, take your brothers and sisters back to their room to do their homework." Cui Xiaofen put down her needlework, got off the kang, poured water and brought fried peanuts to Jiang Yu and Xue Li.

The little kids greeted the two guests politely, then left with their homework books.

The door of the main room closed, and Jiang Yu handed over the small basket in his hand, "A wedding gift for Cai'er."

Zhuang Shouren took it, lifted the striped cloth and saw eight freshly fired pottery inside. "Oh! This, this thing, why did Master Jiang send it to you? Isn't it just right for you to use it yourself?"

"How many bowls can I use? Okay, this is a gift for Cai'er, you just accept it." Jiang Yu knew that Zhuang Shouren wanted to buy it later when he cooked.

But the temperature is getting lower day by day, and the most important thing for the village is to make tiles. I don’t know when we will have time to make bowls and plates.

When Zhuang Shouren buys it and sends it to his daughter's house, the meaning will be different.

Cui Xiaofen patted her husband, took the basket and put it aside, "Thank you for your kindness, Master Jiang. I'm sorry that you spent a lot of money, it's really..."

Xue Li quickly stopped her from saying those sentimental words, "We have all settled down in the Construction Brigade, we are all fellow villagers, what's the point of spending money, you still don't know where this thing came from? It's just a token of your appreciation, just give us more wedding candy when the time comes."

Cui Xiaofen immediately agreed with a smile, "I will definitely give you lots of wedding candies then, enough for you to eat for the whole winter!" Wedding candies are worth only a few dollars, and these bowls and plates may bring honor to my daughter!

"Please don't do that. If your teeth get hurt, I'll come looking for you." Xue Li glared at her, then pulled her to look at the pillowcase.

Jiang Yu was not interested in these things, so he talked to Zhuang Shouren about the kiln firing. As they talked, they talked about Yichi, because they all lived on Yaoer Mountain.

Zhuang Shouren carefully observed Jiang Yu's expression, and after making sure that she was not disgusted with Yi Chi, he tentatively spoke, "The Yi family is not easy either. His old house was demolished, and all the good wood inside was moved away. Now there is only an empty foundation. A lot of individual households were divided in the village, and there are no extra houses. They can only give him the wooden house halfway up the mountain to live in. It's pitiful."

He did not mention who took the wood, but only said that he could not arrange it. After all, everyone knew who should be given priority between the poor peasants and the five black categories.

"I think the house will shake when the wind is strong. Is it suitable for living?" Jiang Yu frowned.

Zhuang Shouren spread his hands helplessly, "There's nothing we can do. Who would be willing to find someone to repair his house? Chi's background is not good. Although the villagers feel sorry for him, no one is willing to contact him. You can't say they are ungrateful. Everyone is busy with their own affairs and has no energy to repay the kindness of the previous generations."

Jiang Yu felt that the villagers were more cold-blooded than he had imagined in dealing with Yi Chi.

Although one can say that he is too busy to take care of himself, to those who are concerned, this is just an excuse.

The kindness of previous generations has probably been forgotten long ago.

When she heard the villagers talking about Chi, she thought there were many people who cared about him. But now it seems that most of them were just watching the fun.

"Master Jiang, please don't think that we are heartless. At least we don't abuse him like people in other villages do. He doesn't have to do the hardest and most tiring work. He can enjoy the same work point calculation method as other villagers. We don't make it difficult for him to ask for leave to visit his grandfather. There is only so much we can do..." Seeing Jiang Yu's expression, Zhuang Shouren thought she was pitying Yi Chi's situation and quickly explained for the villagers.

This is the fact. No matter whether they are transferred personnel or the five black categories, their lives in the construction brigade are pretty good. No one will go out of their way to make things difficult for them. They can work and support themselves. It is rare to live a poor and simple life in those days.

Jiang Yu had never seen how other descendants of landlords lived, so it was normal for him to have some thoughts. But since Zhuang Shouren's attitude was so frank, perhaps this was the actual situation.

Since that was the case, she couldn't continue to worry about it. However, since she had already agreed to help Yi Chi repair the house, she might as well do what she could.

After chatting with Zhuang Shouren and his wife for a while, Jiang Yu and Xue Li went home together, taking the pine nuts that they had just fried in the afternoon.

Chen Jinghan and Fu Biao were gesticulating outside the educated youth center. When they saw them coming back, they immediately stopped and came over to greet them, "You're back."

Hearing this tone, Jiang Yu, Fu Biao and Xiong Lijin all smiled like aunties.

Xue Li accepted it well and answered him with a smile, "Why don't you practice in the yard?"

Fu Biao answered quickly, "He insisted on coming out to see when you would come back, because he was worried!"

Xue Li's cheeks flushed slightly under the dim light, and she glanced at Chen Jinghan shyly, "Jiang Yu and I are going out together, there's nothing to worry about."

"To be honest! Jiang Yu can defeat all three of us by himself, but he just can't sit still and has to drag us out to get some fresh air." Xiong Lijin also acted mischievously and made fun of his good brother.

Chen Jinghan kicked forward, but Xiong Lijin dodged it nimbly.

Xue Li looked over and smiled at Chen Jinghan.

Several people returned to the backyard, washed up and prepared to go to bed.

The next morning, as soon as it was light, Jiang Yu got up and went up the mountain.

Yi Chi was scooping water to prepare breakfast. He lived next to a small reservoir and had convenient access to water.

Jiang Yu walked out of the woods, carrying his toolbox, which contained nails, hammers and other things.

"Is the board ready?" Jiang Yu looked at him and asked.

Yi Chi calmly took the water and nodded, "Okay, you...you came here so early, have you had breakfast?" He asked in a low voice, still a little nervous.

"I've eaten it." She had stockpiled a lot of steamed buns, which she could just steam when eating. It was very convenient.

Yi Chi stood up, led the way for her, and tentatively said, "I'm going to make egg drop porridge. Why don't you drink a bowl with me? The weather is cold, and it's comfortable to drink something hot."

He bought a lot of food from outside, preparing to take good care of his body this winter.

"Thank you, but you'd better cook it outside. When I dismantle the house later, dust will definitely fall on it, and your porridge will be ruined." Jiang Yu did not refuse. If he wanted to repay her in this way, it would be fine.

She pointed to his roof, where the hay was all sparse and would have to be laid again after the house was repaired.

"Okay." Yi Chi left everything outside and went into the house to bring out a coal stove.

Jiang Yu was a little surprised that he could afford to use the stove, but the next moment he thought that he might have some money hidden in his hands. After all, he was the child of a former landlord and must be not stupid.

The stove that burns honeycomb coal is not cheap. There may be other reasons behind Yi Chi's seemingly difficult life. However, the stove looks very new, and it was bought not long ago. Why did he spend money on it only now? This is what Jiang Yu can't understand.

But it’s enough as long as he is willing to live a good life. Otherwise, even if Jiang Yu helped him repair the house, it would be useless. According to his previous living conditions, every winter would be very painful.

Yi Chi lit the stove on the flat ground next to him and quietly began to cook breakfast.