Crossing 70: Fish in the Pond Have Good News

When the men in the village came back, they saw that the women were basically gathered under a big tree at the entrance of the village chatting.

Zhuang Shouren was surprised to see Cui Xiaofen there. What big thing had happened? Even his wife came out to join in the fun.

When the aunties in the village saw their husbands coming back, they would gossip for a few words and then disperse. Then they would pull their husbands to share what they had seen and heard today. It was really eye-opening!

Who can do such a cruel thing these days! Even if I poop in my pants pocket, I have to see Xiong Lijin. Yang Xiaoling is a werewolf!

The men in the village were stunned. What? A trouser pocket full of shit? It smells like that!

People are like this, good news doesn't go out, but bad news travels a thousand miles. Yang Xiaoling made such a big fool of herself, and she was so embarrassed that she was dying. But within two days, the news spread inside the Unity Brigade. The old women talked about her even when they didn't see her, and they pointed fingers at her endlessly when they saw her.

At the Youth League Point in the Construction Brigade, Xiong Lijin thought that after this incident, he had gotten rid of the big trouble of Yang Xiaoling. The next morning when the grain was distributed in the village, he was able to talk to the villagers calmly.

The men in the village sighed at his experience. What a troublesome little devil!

"But it should be okay now. She lost such a big person in the team, she will definitely not come again." A man in the village patted Xiong Lijin on the shoulder. This man usually worked with Xiong Lijin, so he was quite familiar with him.

Xiong Lijin also breathed a sigh of relief. "I mean, I hope she can remember this lesson and not come to me again."

Xue Li and Jiang Yu followed not far away, arm in arm, discussing whether or not to exchange for more fine grains.

The first year of the educated youth going to the countryside, they received a food subsidy of 30 kilograms per month, which was basically coarse grains. Xue Li and Jiang Yu both preferred rice and flour, so they wanted to exchange for some fine grains. If their work points were not enough, they could buy them with money.

Chen Jinghan discussed with his brothers about going to the villagers to borrow a cart. Their small group must have a lot of food, and using a cart would be more convenient than carrying it by hand, even if they had to make several trips.

When we arrived at the brigade headquarters, the villagers had already surrounded several village cadres, asking how much a centimeter was worth this year and how to exchange it for grain.

Jiang Yu listened and found out that the construction team had a lot of land and a considerable grain output, so work points were quite valuable. One work point was worth 1 cents, the highest price among all the nearby villages.

A strong laborer in the village gets 10 work points a day. Due to the special geographical location of Northeast China, people can rest for more than four months a year. After exchanging their work points for food rations, they can probably get a few dozen yuan with the remaining work points. If there are many people in the family, it looks pretty good to put the money together.

When it was Jiang Yu's turn, the accountant showed her the work points book. From the time she went to the countryside until now, Jiang Yu had always earned full work points when she worked. In addition, because the village gave her rewards at the brick kiln, her total work points were not inferior to what some men in the village had accumulated after working for a year.

"Master Jiang, how do you want to exchange it? We are about to start hibernation, and you must have taken away all the food rations for the past few months. So how much grain and winter vegetables do you want to exchange for your work points? Or should we convert them directly into cash?" Zhuang Shouren pointed to the granary at the back. In addition to sorghum, corn, sweet potatoes, rice and wheat, there were no winter vegetables to choose from. Cabbages, potatoes and radishes were piled up like small mountains.

"We need 200 kilograms of cabbage and radishes, 150 kilograms of potatoes, and the rest will be replaced with fine grains." Jiang Yu and Xue Li had already discussed it, so she answered immediately when the other party asked.

The accountant immediately took out an abacus and started calculating. The people working in the granary also moved quickly and soon moved all her grain and winter vegetables out.

Jiang Yu signed his name in the account book and stepped aside to guard his food.

Xue Li continued, she exchanged in the same way as Jiang Yu, but she had fewer work points, and in the end she even spent money to buy some rice.

The male educated youth behind him did something similar.

After everyone had changed their clothes, Wu Aiqing went to Old Liu's house to borrow a cart and started transporting grain.

Jiang Yu and Fu Biao were responsible for moving the grain because they were very strong, while Chen Jinghan and Wu Aiqing were in charge of transportation, and Xue Li ran errands to prevent the grain from falling.

After returning to the educated youth site, everyone moved all their food back into the house. As for the unhusked rice and wheat, they had to go to the brigade headquarters to borrow a stone mill to process it.

After Jiang Yu put the food away, he went to Yaoer Mountain again.

Yi Chi was waiting for her at the foot of the mountain with the money.

"How much do you want to exchange?" Jiang Yu took the money and counted it. It was 120 yuan in total, 12 Great Unity banknotes.

"Exchange for 500 kilograms of rice, and the rest for wheat." Yi Chi didn't want winter vegetables. He had stockpiled a lot of them, as well as various dried vegetables and mushrooms, enough to eat for the whole winter.

"Okay." Jiang Yu nodded. "Go get your rations first, and we'll go do it separately."

Yi Chi had to go with the demoted personnel to collect the rations.

"Okay." Yi Chi continued to behave well.

It's strange to say, but as a grown man, he always behaves particularly harmless and obedient in front of Jiangyu, which is different from his dullness when facing other people in the village, and also different from his steady and independent-mindedness when facing relatives and friends such as his third uncle.

However, Jiang Yu was used to his appearance, so he waited there until they came back with the food before coming out of the woods.

Zhuang Shouren was stunned when he saw Jiang Yu, "Master Jiang, is there anything I can help you with?"

Jiang Yu looked at the granary and asked him, "Can I buy some more food? The rations in the city are limited, and I want to exchange some for my family and send them over."

“Of course.” Zhuang Shouren also turned his head to take a look. There was still a lot of food left inside. He was going to exchange it for money. This was also extra income for the villagers. It didn’t matter who bought it.

"I want 500 kilograms of rice, and the rest can be exchanged for wheat." Jiang Yu handed over the money in his hand, as well as the urea bag that Yi Chi had prepared early in the morning.

The people inside quickly packed food for her and tied her up with two hemp ropes.

Jiang Yu borrowed a shoulder pole and walked several times to transport the food back to the educated youth site, intending to deliver it to Yi Chi after everyone went home in the evening.

Over there, Yi Chi had already started tidying up his grain cabinet, putting in herbs that repel insects and prevent moisture, and then sorted the coarse grains into categories. The remaining space was for fine grains, and in a cabinet next to it were eggs, malted milk, and some dry goods, and the herbs also had to be placed there.

That night, Jiang Yu went up the mountain empty-handed.

Yi Chi looked at her with some confusion, but he didn't suspect that Jiang Yu wanted to embezzle his food. He just thought it was inconvenient so he didn't take it.

"We will go to the village to grind wheat tomorrow, and we will also remove the husks from the rice. I will pack up your grain together and give it to you." Jiang Yu said to him.

Yi Chi exclaimed, yes, he hadn't bought unprocessed food for several years and almost forgot about it, "That's too much trouble for you."

"It's all physical work, not a big deal. Okay, I just want to tell you that I'm leaving." Jiang Yu is very strong, so this little work doesn't bother him.