Back to 1978: Getting rich starts with treasure hunting

"Lin Shu, I'm here!" Lin Haiyan ran into the Lin family excitedly holding a bundle of wool.

Liu Xiao'e was just cutting a bowl of melon when she came out of the kitchen. She smiled and said, "Haiyan is here. I just cut some melon. Have a piece."

"Thank you, auntie."

"Milk, I want to eat too."

"Grandma, and me."

When they heard that there was food, Zhuangzhuang and Xiaojun, who had been hiding somewhere playing, ran out and couldn't wait to take the melons from the basin.

Lin Haiyan first gave them two pieces, and finally took one piece for herself and took a bite. "Wow, auntie, the melons grown in your family are really sweet. My mother also planted more than a dozen in her private plot, but they are just beginning to bear fruit. I have to wait for a while if I want to eat the melons."

"The youngest child in my family wanted to eat melons, so I bred them early and only planted twenty trees. There are too many things to plant in the private plot, so it's already good enough to leave space for twenty trees for her." Liu Xiao'e said with a smile.

In this era of land collectivization, private plots were allocated according to population. Land was limited, so many families grew coarse grains such as sorghum, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peanuts, and soybeans in addition to vegetables.

The farmers of this era had deep feelings for the land, and they took good care of every piece of land. The hard work they put in was incomparable to the use of herbicides and chemical fertilizers in later generations.

Lin Shu came in from the side door, "Haiyan, you're here."

"Well, my mother bought me a bundle of wool, and I want your help to sort out the bundle of wool."

Lin Shu had already seen the bundle of bright red wool in her arms, "Did your mother buy this wool to knit a sweater for you?"

"Yes, last time I saw that the sweater you knitted was so beautiful, so I asked my mom to buy me some wool. I have nothing to do after the double harvest, so I will knit it slowly. I should be able to finish it by the time the weather gets colder in autumn."

In the countryside, owning a sweater is something to be proud of.

Red is very eye-catching. I think Aunt Niu should have considered that Haiyan can wear it at her wedding, otherwise why would she choose bright red for no reason.

Lin Shu took the big bundle of wool from her, untied the bundle, found the end of the wool, asked Haiyan to hold the wool with both hands, and she quickly helped to roll the wool.

Enterprises in later generations focused on appearance, and wool yarn was neatly packed in paper boxes in clumps of one or two ounces. But in this era, practicality was emphasized, and basic wool yarn was tied in bundles. If you wanted to knit a sweater, you had to roll the wool yourself.

"Lin Shu, this red sweater should be very beautiful, right?"

Lin Shu looked at the thickness of the wool and said with a smile: "If you finish knitting this sweater, you won't have to worry about the cold this winter."

This is coarse wool, and the sweater made from it is very thick. Aunt Niu really pays attention to practicality.

Lin Haiyan looked expectant: "I have never worn a sweater since I was a child. This is my first sweater in my life. I must knit it well. You must teach me when the time comes."

"OK, no problem."

"Is the one you're knitting now almost finished?"

The sweater Lin Shu is knitting now is a men's style, knitted according to Gu Jiu's size. Her mother asked her to knit it, saying that it would be a gift to Gu Jiu when they got engaged.

"It's still early. I haven't knitted to my armpits yet. The yarn isn't as thick as yours. My progress is too slow."

When Lin Haiyan talked about this, she didn’t understand and asked, “You know that fine wool is difficult to knit, so why did you buy such fine wool?”

Lin Shu's mouth twitched: "My mother bought it."

The main reason is that men’s sweaters are too thick, and when you put on more clothes on the outside, it doesn’t look good on the body.

Given Gu Jiu's vain personality, how could he like to wear a sweater that is too thick?

"You haven't even finished half of it yet. Will it be in time for the engagement? When did your partner say they would make the engagement?"

"I don't know for now. Once he has made the arrangements, he will come to inform the family." Lin Shu hasn't been to the county town for almost two months, and she has no idea what Gu Jiu is doing.

"You have a partner now, so you don't have to worry about anything. My mother knew that you had a partner recently and she always urged me to find one." Lin Haiyan looked worried.

Lin Shu smiled and said, "You can't force this kind of thing. If you just look for a partner for the sake of a partner, what if this man is not suitable in the future? Wouldn't that make you suffer for the rest of your life?"

"You're right, that's what I meant, but my mother doesn't listen."

Sometimes young people really have no influence on the ideas of the older generation.

The two of them were chatting while rolling up the yarn. When the yarn was almost finished, both of their hands were sweating a lot. In summer, just touching the yarn would make you feel hot.

"Meizi, the sun is so bright outside, why are you here?" Liu Xiao'e's voice came from outside.

Hearing this, the two girls looked towards the door and saw Lin Mei coming in with Liu Xiao'e carrying a basket.

Lin Mei saw Lin Shu and Haiyan and the wool on the table next to them, and said with a smile: "I just came back from Jiejiawan this morning and brought back a lot of fresh peanuts from their house, so I thought of sending some over for you to eat. Fresh peanuts taste good after boiling with a little salt. I will ask my aunt to cook them later, and you two can try them."

Lin Haiyan was very curious about what it was like for an engaged couple to go to their future husband's house, so she asked, "Did you go to the Jie family alone, or did your mother accompany you? Was Jie Chunlei nice to you at the Jie family?"

Lin Mei glanced at Lin Shu with a smug look on her face. "The Jie family is in the next village, so why would I need my mom to accompany me? Besides, I went to the Jie family to bond with Brother Chunlei, so naturally he would be nice to me. These peanuts were dug from Brother Chunlei's own plot of land and asked me to bring them back."

Lin Shu secretly rolled his eyes, not knowing why she was showing off.

Lin Mei raised her wrist to check her watch, then asked, "Lin Shu, your partner hasn't sent you a gift to get engaged yet? It's been two months since you left for the Dragon Boat Festival. You wouldn't be scared away after coming to the countryside once, right?"

"You look scary? Otherwise why would he run away after coming here once?" Lin Shu said lightly.

"If you and your partner don't work out, don't blame me. I didn't do anything." Lin Mei glared anxiously.

She had the guts to come and provoke him. Lin Shu snorted coldly and didn't argue with her.

Lin Haiyan noticed that Lin Mei had raised her wrist three times since she entered the door, and she knew that she was showing off her watch to others.

"Hey, Meizi, this is the engagement gift that Xie Chunlei gave you, right? This watch is so beautiful. May I ask what time it is now?"

When Lin Shu heard the question, she couldn't help but want to laugh. If she remembered correctly, Lin Mei didn't know how to check the time at this time.

It's not entirely her fault that she doesn't know how to tell time. She's only in the first grade and hasn't had time to learn how to tell time.

Lin Mei raised her wrist and glanced at her watch. "Two o'clock."

"What time is it after two?"

Lin Mei raised her wrist again, "Two forty-five."

"Pfft!"

Lin Shu glanced at his watch. It was clearly already ten past three.

Lin Mei turned to look at Lin Shu, frowning unhappily: "What are you laughing at?"

"Sorry, I couldn't help it." Lin Shu waved his hands and didn't expose her.

However, Lin Shu did not expose her. Liu Xiao'e, who was sitting on the doorstep, could not help but look at the sunlight on the ground outside the door with a suspicious look and said, "That's not right, Meizi. When the sunlight shone on that stone before, it should have been more than three o'clock. How come it's only more than two o'clock?"

Before watches were invented, old men and women in the countryside used to judge the time by looking at the shadows cast by the sunlight. Lin Mei was just trying to show off, but she didn't expect to be exposed by Liu Xiao'e.

"Aunt, maybe you remembered it wrongly. Um... I have something else to do at home, so I'll go back first."

After Lin Mei left with the empty basket, Lin Haiyan gently poked Lin Shu, "What's going on? Is Mei's watch broken or stopped working?"

Lin Shu chuckled: "I just glanced at it, it's 3:11 now, her watch hasn't stopped."

"That......"

"She doesn't know how to tell time." Lin Shu told the truth mercilessly.