Time Travel Article: My parents divorced at the beginning

A group of children chatted and laughed as they ran towards the wild chrysanthemum field at the foot of the mountain.

"Don't pick the fully opened ones. Try to pick the half-open ones. Be careful not to pick the ones with poor quality, otherwise no one will want them!" Gu Qingyu reminded his friends before mining.

"Okay, Qingyu!"

"Qingyu, we will do whatever you say!" The friends responded one after another.

"Then let's start today. The old rules are, whoever picks a full basket first will get an extra piece of candy with the money from selling the flowers!" After Qingyu finished speaking, she waved her little hand, and all the little friends rushed into the flowers.

In the early autumn morning, although the sun had risen, the fog had not dissipated. The children were like little bees scattered among the flowers, picking the wild chrysanthemums still covered with dew and putting them into their backpacks.

However, the children were of varying ages, and their work speeds varied. Erqiang saw that everyone else had already picked half a basket's worth of chrysanthemums, while he had only picked the bottom of a small basket. He got a little anxious and started putting all the wild chrysanthemums into his basket, not caring whether they were half-open or not. The storyteller next to him saw this.

"Gu Erqiang! I told you, you can't accept this kind of thing!"

"Stone, leave it to me, just go away and I'll pick it!"

"No! Qingyu said it! This kind of thing won't work!" Shitou was a bit stubborn. He grabbed Gu Erqiang's backpack and picked out the substandard wild chrysanthemums from it.

Erqiang's progress was not up to par with everyone else and he picked less than others. Now, after picking and choosing the stones, only a few were left at the bottom of the basket. His eyes turned red and he started crying in anxiety.

"Wow……"

Shitou was a little at a loss when he saw his little friend crying. He was originally going to go forward to wipe Gu Erqiang's tears, but he didn't pay attention and kicked over the backpack at his feet. The flowers he picked fell to the ground and he fell down.

"Wow..." Little Shitou was overwhelmed with self-blame, sadness and heartache, and couldn't help but burst into tears.

Gu Qingyu heard crying sounds coming from behind not far away. When she went over, she saw two little people crying loudly and wild chrysanthemums scattered on the ground.

Seeing the village chief's grandson, Gu Yousheng, standing nearby, she walked over, poked him, and asked, "What's going on?"

After Gu Yousheng explained, Gu Qingyu knew what was going on.

"Everyone, pick up the wild chrysanthemums on the ground first." Gu Qingyu asked the children to pick up the chrysanthemums first, and she came to the two crying children.

"Come on, stop crying. How can a man shed tears?"

"Erqiang, you're smaller than the rest of us. It doesn't matter if you pick slowly. As long as you can pick a lot, that's great. But you can't just rush and pick them quickly, okay?"

"I understand, Qingyu!" Erqiang replied weakly.

"Shitou, don't blame yourself. The wild chrysanthemums have all picked them up for you."

Sure enough, Shitou smiled again when he saw the wild chrysanthemums that everyone had picked up. He said to his friends with gratitude, "Thank you everyone! And Erqiang, I'm sorry, I'll help you pick them later."

"Well, I... I'll pick them carefully and not mess around." Gu Erqiang said embarrassedly.

After mediating the little incident, Gu Qingyu returned to picking flowers.

People who were collecting firewood at the foot of the mountain not far away saw the group of children busying themselves together again, and they laughed and teased Zhang Zaohua, "Zaohua, how come your niece is so amazing? She knows how to make money at such a young age!"

"Oh... their parents are both capable people, and this child is just like her parents. Otherwise, how could she come up with the idea of ​​taking the children in the village to collect Chinese herbs to make money." Zhang Zaohua answered with a smile, puffing out her chest.

In fact, it is not just the children. Now, men, women, young and old in Gujia Village all pick herbs and sell them for money during the slack season.

"Besides, my Qingyu is only three years old, but she can recognize quite a few words with her brothers," Zhang Zaohua continued.

"Wow! Your family is going to have a female college student from now on!"

Since the land reforms of 50, the people of Gujia Village haven't seen much improvement in their lives. Agricultural standards at the time were low, and grain yields per mu were low. After paying agricultural taxes, every household could barely make ends meet. Therefore, after Gu Qingyu became independent, she found it incredibly difficult to earn money with her current abilities.

Fortunately, every few months she would go with Li Dahua to the county post office to pick up the living expenses her parents sent her. She found that this was the time when she could freely trade.

Gu Qingyu thought of the rich Chinese herbal medicine resources at the foot of Mangshan Mountain. He thought of picking these Chinese herbs, drying them, and selling them to Chinese medicine shops in the county town as a way to make money.

Village Chief Gu was also inspired by Gu Qingyu's approach, so he asked Li Jianguo, who worked in the county town, to find a senior Chinese medicine doctor at the county hospital and invite him back to teach the villagers how to identify herbs. Otherwise, they would not be able to make money with just the two or three herbs they knew.

Therefore, everyone in Gujia Village tacitly agreed that Gu Qingyu was a smart and promising girl.

The weather has been sunny recently, and the wild chrysanthemums picked by Gu Qingyu and his friends have been completely dried out after two days of drying in the sun.

At lunch that day, Gu Qingyu asked her grandmother, "Grandma, when are we going to the county this month?"

"What are you doing? Just these two days!" Li Dahua looked up at Gu Qingyu who was sitting on a stool with his legs crossed and eating by himself and asked.

"Oh, nothing. I just dried the chrysanthemums and planned to take them to the county to sell them." Gu Qingyu answered her grandmother while eating with a spoon.

"There's not much work to do at home recently, so let's go tomorrow morning. But you have to go to bed early tonight, otherwise I won't wait for you if you can't get up." The old lady said a little arrogantly.

"I understand, grandma!" Gu Qingyu said obediently.

The next morning, before dawn, Li Dahua was already up. Without disturbing the others, she went to the kitchen and lit a fire. In the dim light, she grabbed some cornmeal from the cupboard and prepared to bake some pancakes for the journey.

When the rooster crowed, Gu Qingyu rubbed her eyes and climbed out of bed. Seeing her grandmother's quilt folded, she knew that the old lady had gotten up to work again. So Gu Qingyu got up, put on her clothes, and went to find Li Dahua.

"Milk?" As expected, when Gu Qingyu entered the kitchen, she saw the old lady sitting at the stove and making a fire. The sweet potato and multi-grain porridge in the pot was steaming.

"Get up and wash your face! Hurry up and drink the porridge later, then we'll set off." Li Dahua urged Gu Qingyu to wash her face quickly while taking out the firewood from the stove. There was no need to add firewood after the porridge was cooked, so it was just right to keep it warm.

When the grandfather and grandson arrived at the village entrance, they saw Gu Lei already waiting at the intersection with a donkey cart, and Village Chief Gu was also sitting on the donkey cart.

Gu Qingyu and her friends were able to ride the donkey cart today because Village Chief Gu was going to town for the autumn harvest meeting and had hitched a ride. Normally, the grandparents and grandchildren would walk to town and then take a bus to the county.

"Qingyu, are you going to the county to sell flowers again?"

"Yes, great-grandfather!" Gu Qingyu replied with a smile.

"Sister-in-law, have you heard from Anzi recently? I heard that the war is over now. What did Anzi say?" Village Chief Gu thought of the news he had heard recently, so he asked Li Dahua about Gu Ping's situation.

Gu Qingyu listened attentively to the question raised by Village Chief Gu. In the past three years, apart from the occasional child support payments from Gu Ping and Duan Xuezhi, she had received no other news from them.

"No, so I'm going to the county to find Jianguo to ask for some news." Li Dahua was also worried about her son's situation, but she had been receiving money sent back, which meant that he was safe. She couldn't find anyone else to inquire about anything else.

It was still a bit chilly in the morning in September. Li Dahua took out the thin blanket she had brought with her and wrapped Gu Qingyu in it to prevent her from catching a cold. Gu Qingyu fell asleep again amid the swaying and clattering of the donkey cart. When she woke up, the donkey cart had already arrived in town. The sun was fully out, and the town was filled with the cries of vendors carrying baskets on their shoulders.

After sending them to the bus station, Village Chief Gu went to the town government for a meeting. Soon, the sound of car horns honked, and people waiting for the bus rushed to the door.

"Don't push! Line up and buy your tickets!" The conductor, a rather stout woman, stood alone at the door. Gu Qingyu and Li Dahua spent fifty cents on their tickets and boarded the bus, carrying their backpacks.

The carriage was soon packed, and when the conductor saw that no one else was getting on, he told the driver to drive off. More than two hours later, the bus finally arrived at the county town, and Li Dahua got off the bus, holding Gu Qingyu's hand.

"Qingyu, how about we go to the Chinese medicine shop first and then to the post office?" Li Dahua asked Gu Qingyu.

"Okay! Grandma, let's hurry up. We still have to go see my aunt later. I'm afraid we won't have enough time."

The Zhao Family Pharmacy in the county town was the largest in the area. Its owner, Dr. Zhao, was a skilled doctor, known for his acupuncture skills, and was often sought out by those seeking treatment. The residents of Gujia Village and the surrounding area preferred the Zhao Family Pharmacy for their medicinal herbs.

The shopkeeper was deeply impressed by the child Gu Qingyu. As soon as he saw her, he asked, "Gu's daughter, what medicinal herbs are you selling this time?"

"Uncle, this time they are wild chrysanthemums, will you pick any?"

"I'll take it, but I want to see its quality. Pour it out and let me see it."

The shopkeeper saw that Gu Qingyu's wild chrysanthemums were in good condition and said with a smile, "Yes, they are all in good condition. The price is 4 cents per pound. Let the clerk weigh it and calculate the price for you."

"Yeah, thank you uncle." Gu Qingyu was satisfied with the price. She calculated that she would earn more than one yuan this time.

Sure enough, the waiter weighed out a total of three pounds and four ounces, which was one dollar and thirty-six cents. After taking the money from the shopkeeper, Gu Qingyu carefully put the money in the small bag that Li Dahua made for her, and then put the bag in the inner pocket of her clothes.

"Grandma! Let's go! Let's go to the post office!"