Black Market Boss: His Beloved Wife's Lazy Life

He surrounded the little girl between himself and the tree, looked into her eyes, and asked earnestly.

"What's your relationship with Lu Youyou? Why did you invite him to dinner? He seems so concerned about you, and you even call him 'Brother Lu.' (He's not even that affectionate with me.)"

Of course, she spoke the last few sentences very quietly.

"Are you jealous?" the young girl asked the man teasingly.

"No, don't change the subject, answer honestly."

Men have no idea what 'jealousy' is.

"That Lu Youyou is my brother's comrade-in-arms. I invited him to dinner because he helped me build a house and didn't ask for my wages."

Calling her Brother Lu is just a respectful term, simply a way of showing him respect.

Shang Yanfang explained.

"Then don't call me by my full name anymore, and don't call me Brother Lu either. I don't like it."

Shang Yanfang: "So what should I call you?"

"Think for yourself," Gao Jianguo said, rolling his eyes.

"What should I call you? Jianguo, Guoguo, or Brother Guo?" Shang Yanfang called out many names.

"These are all fine." A slight smile appeared on the man's face.

It's clear the man is genuinely happy.

The little girl crouched down and quietly ran away.

"Remember to help build the house tomorrow," the young girl reminded the man.

Gao Jianguo turned his head and saw the little girl's pretty back of her head.

The next day.

The educated youth settlement was bustling with activity early in the morning.

The villagers built houses in the backyard of the educated youth settlement very early on.

"Good morning, comrades. Would you like some pastries? I have mung bean cakes here."

After washing up, the young girl went to the backyard and asked some villagers.

"No need, no need, Shang Zhiqing."

"I'll put it over there, you can take it and eat it yourselves." After saying that, the little girl placed the mung bean cake on the table to the side.

She knew that if she were there, the villagers wouldn't eat it.

"Come on, eat up, I'll share with you." Gao Jianguo picked up the mung bean cakes on the table and started distributing them to the group.

"Here, here, Uncle Li, take this home for your grandson. Uncle Wang, here, take this back for Aunt Wang to try..."

Gao Jianguo distributed a bag of pastries to several people.

"Gao Jianguo, why didn't you share some with me?" Lu Youyou asked, taking a piece of pastry from Gao Jianguo's hand.

“Aren’t you holding it in your hand?” Gao Jianguo said.

"I took it myself, you didn't give it to me," Lu Youyou said matter-of-factly.

"That's all, I've finished the rest," Gao Jianguo said, picking up the pastry wrapper as he spoke.

The two started arguing childishly.

Shang Yanfang, on the other hand, leisurely went to collect her food.

They arrived at the start of the autumn harvest, and only a few days ago did they finish harvesting all the grain and deliver it to the commune to hand over the public grain.

Today, all commune members are not going to work; instead, they are distributing grain at the grain depot.

The distribution started from the households with more centimeters.

She knew she had the fewest work points, so she simply got up late and came in late.

When she arrived at the threshing ground, it was sparsely populated. She was the only one of the educated youth who hadn't yet arrived.

After all, everyone in the village is a family, and their work points are all earned together. They are just individuals.

You definitely need to be less aggressive with others.

"Yanfang, I haven't earned many work points. I probably don't even have enough to cover the grain loan from the brigade," He Lingling said with a bitter face.

"It's okay, don't worry, I'm here for you. I have fewer centimeters than you." Shang Yanfang comforted He Lingling with her own words.

"Okay, then ask the captain what to do later."

"Okay, I'll ask later."

After the older educated youth finished receiving their grain, they carried it away in twos and threes.

Only a few of the newly arrived educated youth remained.

"Uncle Captain, I heard that our village is going to wait until next spring to plant grain?"

"Yes, the winters in Northeast China are so cold they can freeze you to the bone. We spend the winters on the heated brick bed (kang).

"Hey, you girls need to make sure you gather firewood these next few days. Otherwise, how will you manage to sleep alone in the winter?"

The captain spoke earnestly and patiently.

"Okay, thank you, Captain."

"But we'd like to ask, you see, we've only been here a few days, and the work points we've earned are so few. After deducting the work points for the grain you gave us on credit, do you think those few work points will be enough to get us through the winter?"

The five new educated youths looked expectantly at the brigade leader. "If it's not enough, you can buy grain from the brigade, or you can borrow it first and pay it back after you earn work points."

"Okay, that's good. We can rest assured then."

In the past, the production brigade did not allow people to exchange money for grain; they could only exchange it for work points.

Later, when the educated youth went to the countryside, they couldn't earn enough work points and borrowed from the production brigade but were unable to repay them.

After that, it was allowed to buy it with money.

The brigade could buy grain with money without needing ration coupons, and at the same price as the supply and marketing cooperative.

"Captain, I'll buy it with money. I'll buy ten catties of wheat flour, one hundred catties of sorghum, fifty catties of corn, and eighty catties of sweet potatoes," Shang Yanfang asked tentatively.

"Sure, you can borrow more if you're still hungry after you finish eating." The rations were only distributed once a year, and they were meant to last a whole year. They really had to carefully plan how to cook.

"Shall we push you all back together on a cart in a bit?"

"Okay. Thank you, Captain Uncle," the little girl said sweetly.

"But you'll have to wait a little while, there are quite a few people using the carts." The captain scratched his head and said apologetically.

"It's alright, it's alright," the group said, waving their hands hurriedly.

The others, except for Li Zhaodi, all exchanged their points for money, while she exchanged hers for work points.

Without asking any further questions, the group picked up the smaller, more manageable items and tried to take them back first.

Then I saw the man pushing the cart slowly walking towards me.

Before they could even greet each other, the captain's voice came through before they could even speak.

"Jianguo, come and collect your food."

"Yes, Captain." The man said as he walked toward the captain.

I glanced at the little girl as I passed by, and then she stopped me.

"Brother Lu, can I borrow your cart?"

Since the young girl had spoken, how could he refuse?

He readily agreed, saying, "Sure."

They helped the group load all the grain onto the cart.

After telling the captain, I prepared to push it back.

Just as the man was about to push the cart away, the little girl stopped him.

"Wait a minute, we'll push it ourselves."

The little girl walked up to the man, pushed him aside, and said, "I'll push him first."

The man's expression wasn't good; he didn't want the young girl to push him away.

"Honey, this is food for several of us. It hurts me to see you pushing it all by yourself."

The little girl whispered something in the man's ear like a thief.

The man felt the girl's breath on his ear, and his ear immediately became hot.

The man nervously released his grip on the cart and made way for him.

My mood improved.

Seeing that she had appeased the man, Shang Yanfang breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"Weren't you just building houses at the educated youth settlement?"

“I just came here to collect my grain. I’m the only one in my family who works, and my grandfather gets a per capita grain ration.”

"Based on past experience, our family is usually among the last to receive grain." The man said with a smile.