Back to 1978: Getting rich starts with treasure hunting

The educated youths' residence at the Xiaohe Production Team was originally the ancestral hall of Xiaohe Village. It was built with blue bricks and black tiles. The educated youths did not have to worry about the space being too small or leaking when it rained.

There were originally eight people living here. Three of them passed the college entrance examination last year and left. Now there are five educated youth left, including Zhu Zhengliang and Wei Miao, two men and one woman.

Among the male educated youth, the tall and thin one is called Kong Handong, the shorter one is called Xi Dali, and the last female educated youth is called Qi Xiaoyun. She is the most senior among the educated youth and has been in Xiaohe Village for five years. She is twenty-three this year.

At the age of 23, you are considered an older youth, whether in the city or in the countryside.

The five educated youths at the educated youth site pooled their food and ate together, taking turns cooking every day. They also took turns fetching water, each carrying water for one day.

Today it was Zhu Zhengliang's turn to cook and Wei Miao's turn to fetch water.

After work in the evening, Wei Miao did not dare to rest for a moment. He first filled the water tank with water, otherwise it would affect everyone else's water use.

The water tank was full, and finally another load of water had to be placed next to the water tank. As soon as Wei Miao put down the bucket of water, Qi Xiaoyun came over with a handkerchief and a washbasin and stuffed them into Wei Miao's hands.

"It's getting hotter and hotter. You've worked all day and carried several loads of water. You should get some water and wash your face."

Just as Qi Xiaoyun finished speaking, a head popped out of the kitchen door and said, "Miao Miao, I've washed the vegetables. Come and help me cut the vegetables and cook."

Wei Miao was sweating profusely, and she was still catching her breath. Zhu Zhengliang in the kitchen was not considerate of others. Qi Xiaoyun couldn't bear it and said to the kitchen: "Zhu Zhiqing, do you have any shame? Every time it's your turn to cook, you always ask Miaomiao to help you. She is also very tired after doing farm work all day. Can't you be considerate of her?"

"I understand him, but who understands me?" Zhu Zhengliang was unhappy after hearing her words and retorted, "You know I can't cook. If you can eat the food I cook, I can stop Miaomiao from helping."

"You..." Qi Xiaoyun snorted coldly at his shameless words: "What I mean is, you can let Miaomiao help you when it's your turn to cook, but when it's Miaomiao's turn to fetch water, you can also help her fetch water. For example, today, you and Miaomiao happen to cook and fetch water on the same day, you can totally help Miaomiao fetch water, and Miaomiao will help you cook, isn't that the best of both worlds!"

"Oh, look how stupid I am. I wouldn't have thought of it if you hadn't told me. There is actually such a comprehensive idea. Look, Miaomiao has filled the water tank. How about I help Miaomiao fetch water next time? Now Miaomiao can help me cook?" Zhu Zhengliang slapped his forehead in annoyance and looked at Wei Miao with anticipation.

Qi Xiaoyun felt disgusted by his hypocritical behavior.

Wei Miao smiled gratefully at Qi Xiaoyun: "Sister Xiaoyun, please don't blame Zhu Zhiqing. No one is perfect. He is a man and doesn't think about things as carefully as us girls. He will pay attention next time. Now I'm back from fetching water. You wash up first. I'll go help Zhu Zhiqing cook."

Seeing Wei Miao willingly entering the kitchen without even having time to wash her face, Qi Xiaoyun's brows almost knotted.

Xi Dali approached Qi Xiaoyun and sneered, "Qi Zhiqing, I know you have a lot of experience and you always want to take care of the younger Miaomiao, but I think Miaomiao is happy to be exploited by Zhu Zhiqing, so don't worry about it."

It takes two to fight. If others worry too much, they will end up being unpopular with both sides.

"We come from all corners of the world, and it's fate that we can get together. I thought that as the eldest sister, I have to take care of you." Qi Xiaoyun sighed, hoping that Wei Miao could see through the true face of the scumbag as soon as possible and not be deceived by him.

In the kitchen, Zhu Zhengliang had already washed the rice. Wei Miao checked the water level in the pot and asked him to light the fire quickly while she started cutting vegetables.

Zhu Zhengliang sat on a small stool, glanced at Wei Miao who was cutting vegetables, and asked casually: "Qi Zhiqing is really warm-hearted. You usually talk about everything. Will you mention me?"

Wei Miao was cutting potatoes. Hearing this, she looked up and chuckled, "Sister Xiaoyun doesn't like to talk about people behind their backs."

"Oh, this is a good habit." Zhu Zhengliang felt relieved.

It was getting dark outside and the fire in the kitchen flickered.

Suddenly, Wei Miao looked up and asked, "Zhu Zhiqing, how are your reviewing for schoolwork going? Are you confident that you can get into university this year?"

"Well, my grades were not good in school. I studied hard, but I don't know if I can pass the exam. I'm not sure." Zhu Zhengliang poked the ashes with the tongs and asked, "What about you?"

"I'm not sure. If I fail the exam again this time, I don't know if I'll have the chance to leave the countryside again in this life."

Speaking of this, Wei Miao felt a little depressed.

Leaving their hometown and coming to the countryside, doing farm work is very hard. From the day they arrived here, there is no educated youth who does not look forward to returning to the city as soon as possible.

The only chance to leave is through the college entrance examination, which is hopeful but slim.

Zhu Zhengliang's eyes twinkled, and he jokingly said, "If you have to stay in the countryside for the rest of your life, I'll go with you, don't be afraid."

"Really?" Wei Miao's eyes lit up instantly.

“It couldn’t be more true. I’ll accompany you then!” Zhu Zhengliang glanced outside the door, moved closer to Wei Miao, and kissed her on the cheek when no one came in.

Wei Miao was slightly stunned, and when she reacted her cheeks turned red. She was too shy to look up at the other person, so she didn't notice Zhu Zhengliang's expression after he succeeded.

***

For dinner, the Lin family prepared two kinds of rice, which was a mixture of sorghum rice and rice. The sorghum rice was too coarse, and it was difficult for Lin Shu, who had not eaten such coarse rice in decades, to swallow.

He chewed a mouthful of rice for a long time before swallowing it, and Liu Xiao'e thought that Lin Shu had a poor appetite.

Thinking about what happened during the day, I now have time to ask.

"What exactly is going on with what Mei Zi said today? What's going on between you and that educated youth Zhu? And what do you think of the Jie family's marriage? Tell us clearly now so that we can all have a clear idea."

After hearing this, the men in the family were a little confused and didn't know what had happened during the day.

The two sisters-in-law at home had heard some rumors. While they were working in the afternoon, a sister-in-law in the village who they were on good terms with told them about it, and they had a rough idea of ​​what was going on.

"What happened today?" Father Lin, as the head of the family, spoke first.

Liu Xiao'e briefly recounted what happened during the day, and then everyone's eyes fell on Lin Shu.

Seeing that she had attracted everyone's attention, Lin Shu could no longer eat her meal in peace. She put down the bowl, swallowed the food in her mouth, and then drank a sip of water.

"Well, while everyone is here, I want to make it clear that I have no relationship with Zhu Zhiqing. At most, we are from the same village. As for the marriage proposal to the Hejie family, it was just a joke, so how can we take it seriously? I think we should not marry into their family. We are not a good match. Even if we marry into their family, people will look down on us. Why bother?"

"Little sister, the Jie family is also from the countryside, so how can they be a mismatch? I think this marriage with the Jie family is a good one." The sister-in-law couldn't help herself after hearing what she said.

A girl’s standards should not be too high. If they are, she will be picky and in the end, she will be left alone with neither the high nor the low.

Just like the old maiden in the next village.