The Red Era: Starting from a Truck Driver

Chapter 79 Bringing Parents to the City
Zhou Lingying returned home from the female educated youth, and her sister-in-law Li Xianglan also came back.

Zhao Yuxia went to the production team to find Li Xianglan. She learned that her brother-in-law Jiang Cheng was going to take her father to the city for medical treatment. They would have to stay in the city for a long time, and her mother would also go with them, so she had to pack up and take her things to the city. She immediately asked for leave to come back and help pack up.

Actually, there is not much to pack, mainly some clothes to change and some daily necessities. Some things can be left out, but the big wooden tub at home must be brought.

Although Jiang Cheng bought a large wooden tub for bathing in the city, he would not let Zhou Lingying and Jiang Changhe take turns using the tub.

When it's cold in the countryside, many people in the family may only have one large wooden basin and take turns using it to boil water for bathing.

Jiang Chengneng and Zhou Lingying could take a bath in a large wooden tub together, and he would feel uncomfortable if someone else used it, even if they washed themselves clean afterwards.

I have almost finished packing, but I didn't bring any clothes or quilts for the cold weather, so I'm just waiting for Jiang Cheng to come back.

Jiang Cheng came back not long after, with some eels and loaches, and some birds, pheasants and rabbits in his sack.

Everyone was surprised that Jiang Cheng could bring back so many things in just one and a half hours. Jiang Cheng could only explain that he was lucky because there were many pheasants and birds in the mountains.

Everyone had to believe Jiang Cheng's explanation and say that he was very capable. Apart from that, there was no other way to explain how he managed to get so many prey.

After packing up, Jiang Cheng looked at the time and saw that it was already past four o'clock, so he had to leave quickly. He told everyone to go directly to the commune road and take a bus to the city.

Jiang Cheng originally planned to carry his father on his back, but he underestimated the strength of women in this era. Although his mother Zhao Yuxia looked very thin, she was able to earn work points in the fields before, let alone Jiang Changhe, who is not very strong now. Even if it was 100 or 200 kilograms of firewood, she could carry it on her shoulders and walk for several miles.

My sister-in-law Li Xianglan also helped to carry a lot of things, and was going to send my parents to the car before coming back. Zhou Lingying also took a lot of things, saying that Jiang Cheng was tired from driving, so she asked him to take less.

In the end, Jiang Cheng took two wooden basins, the least among the group. Jiang Cheng asked his mother several times to let him carry his father, but his mother refused, not wanting her son to get tired.

But Jiang Cheng recalled the original owner's memory, it seemed that before he went to the army, his family treated him normally. Now that his elder brother is gone and he has become a driver, even his family's attitude towards him has changed.

Soon Jiang Cheng and his group arrived at the parking lot on the main road of the commune, and there were people from the commune waiting for him. Jiang Cheng had also seen this person before, the one who was next to Secretary Wang last time, and he should be a clerk of the commune.

Fortunately, Jiang Cheng was not asked to wait again this time. Instead, after he drove back, Secretary Wang knew that he was back and asked someone to prepare some agricultural products, mountain products and two hens for him, mainly some garlic and some fungus.

The last time something was given to Jiang Cheng, Secretary Wang meant for him to run around to do favors. Whether or not the matter at the agricultural machinery factory was done, it would be considered as a reward for his appearance.

Secretary Wang did not expect to receive a call from the agricultural machinery factory the next afternoon, saying that the diesel engine factory called and asked them to go and get the engine.

Then Jinhe Commune approved a walking tractor, which was of great significance to the commune. It was too easy for Secretary Wang to arrange Jiang Cheng's sister Jiang Yan to be a scorekeeper.

A commune has many scorers, and basically each production team has one scorer. A village is basically a production team, unless it is a very remote village with a small population, in which case two or more villages may be combined into one production team.

Although scorekeepers may be popular in the village, they only earn eight work points a day, which is an easy job, and it is not a paid position. So this time, we sent two hens, some garlic and black fungus. Although the things are not much, it is also a token of our appreciation. Just like when the grain is harvested every year, the county or city will send projectionists to show movies downstairs, so it takes so many things to entertain a projectionist.

What Jiang Cheng didn't know was that he was watching a movie in Huangtugang Commune that day, but in fact many other places had sent projectionists to the countryside to show movies. As for the movie that was shown the night before in Jinhe Commune, the projectionist couldn't just go to the countryside whenever he wanted, he had to receive a projection assignment.

Jiang Cheng politely accepted the gift from Secretary Wang and asked the clerk waiting there to express his gratitude. Then he put the gift in the car, started the car and drove away.

Along the way, Jiang Changhe was smiling all the time. Regardless of whether the disease could be cured or not, at least there was hope.

It was not until after 5:30 that Jiang Cheng returned to his residence in the city. Jiang Cheng placed his parents in the side room, although there were already many things placed in the side room, such as rice, oil, wood for furniture, bamboo beds and so on.

But it doesn’t matter if it’s a little messy. For Jiang Cheng’s parents, they are here to get treatment, not to enjoy themselves.

After a simple tidying up, Zhou Lingying and Zhao Yuxia started to get busy.

Jiang Cheng moved the bamboo bed out and placed it against the wall in the corridor, then helped his father sit on the bed. This way he could sit outside and chat with people and watch Master Li and his team make furniture.

Back home, Jiang Changhe stayed indoors because he was bored. It was not like in this yard, where there were neighbors all day long.

Jiang Cheng was not idle either. He had no intention of eating the two hens that Secretary Wang had given him. He could not finish eating all the pheasants and wild birds in the space, so he planned to raise them for laying eggs.

Now I can only tie it up with ropes and put it in the corner outside the kitchen. I will get some branches to build a chicken coop tomorrow. Rural people use branches to build chicken coops, and some tough branches are interwoven like weaving baskets.

Some people in the countryside who have some skills can make a bamboo cage with bamboo strips.

After tying up the chicken, Jiang Cheng went to help deal with the loaches. Loaches are not as durable as eels, so they were all put in wooden barrels on the way here. But some loaches died, but almost all eels were alive.

Jiang Cheng planned to eat loach tonight, frying it first and then stir-frying it. Secretary Wang happened to give him a lot of garlic. He decided to stir-fry loach with garlic, but this dish was very oily. For people of this era, wasted oil is much more precious than loach.

As for the eels, Jiang Cheng planned to keep two big ones for himself and let Zhu Lan deal with the rest.

Yellow eel can replenish qi and blood, but ordinary people don't know how to cook it and it doesn't taste good. Some older leaders like to eat it and know how to cook it well. Therefore, the price of yellow eel in the city is about the same as fish, but it is not as easy to sell as fish. You have to find someone who can sell it. In addition, it is also suitable for women with qi deficiency after childbirth.

Like loach, eel is better fried in oil. But the city dwellers have only a limited amount of oil per month, and frying a dish like this will use up half a month's oil ration for a person, so few people are willing to spend that much.

The internal organs of the loach were cleaned out and used to feed the chickens. Then one person processed the pheasants and birds and prepared to pickle them. Even if Jiang Cheng went on a long journey, at least there would be meat to eat at home.

(End of this chapter)