Back to 1979: Sending the Educated Youth’s Wife Back to the City

Chapter 108 Hard Work
Uncle Xia said, "I'll be on guard. No one around here dares to steal. I'll bring my musket when the time comes."

He had come to meet his host, and after saying hello, he quickly returned home to do his farm work. When he was ready to eat dinner, he brought his bedding roll over.

After the branch secretary left, Lin Yan and Zhu Dahai, Liu Qingfeng, and the others who came in for a drink of water said, "We really need to find someone local to find someone who's suitable. Although he's not a veteran, he really needs this job. Since the branch secretary promised it, they must be good people."

She also sympathized with the Xia family's misfortune, but in this situation, they were indeed much more at ease.

Uncle Xia needs to be able to live here, and he'll definitely be very attentive to the night watch. And it seems like he's a well-regarded person in the village. And hiring him is also a gesture of respect to the Party Secretary. If anything comes up in the future, he can be approached.

Lin Yan and Fang Mingche were quite confident in the position of branch secretary. To be elected, one must first be a Party member and be highly respected in the village. Villagers directly participated in the election.

Liu Qingfeng said: "This job is tailor-made for Uncle Xia."

It was half past ten in the morning, and the sun was already quite bright. Lin Yan looked at Yan Yan, who was digging an ant hole in the corner, and then she looked out. "Zhu Dahai, bring them in. It's getting hot outside."

I've already been working for two hours. The commute takes another 50 minutes. So, earning money is hard!
Thinking about that big bowl tea stall, I'm really reluctant to give it up. But there's nothing I can do about it; the cooperative won't give them any more stalls. I hope this scrap business can be as profitable.

Everyone moved inside and began removing cobwebs, sweeping the floor, wiping and cleaning windows. Although the house had been damaged by fire, it was actually quite structurally sound and made of good materials.

While the others continued to work, Lin Yan started to make lunch.

Geng Shan checked the roof and estimated how many tiles were missing. He was already patching the stove with cement and mud. Fang Mingche had asked Boss Cui to buy the cement on the black market. It should be ready in two days. Geng Shan was also capable of repairing loose windows and other tasks; he had brought some simple tools.

He borrowed a ladder and bought eggs and vegetables from the fields. Lin Yan prepared to make egg soup.

Everyone worked very hard. For lunch, they prepared four dishes, one soup, and two meat dishes. The dishes were generously portioned. She also made two and a half kilograms of rice. It was two and a half kilograms of rice, so it would rise even more after it was cooked.

She steamed the rice over a honeycomb coal stove and cooked the vegetables on a stovetop made of several large stones. Cooking for people who do manual labor, she used plenty of oil. She also used more meat in the stir-fry, much more generous than Boss Cui!

Everyone was very satisfied with their lunch. I think the boss lady is very generous. We finished the rice made from two and a half kilograms of rice right away!

After the meal, several people helped clean up. Then Lin Yan and her daughter stayed in one room, and the others stayed in another room. They spread out mats in the room that had been cleaned in the morning and slept.

Yanyan said, "Mom, the ground is hard."

"Then you sleep on mom. I even brought some thick cardboard to put underneath you."

Naturally, only they, mother and daughter, had this thick cardboard. Everyone else simply spread the mats they brought on the ground.

Lin Yan didn't find sleeping on the floor uncomfortable. Before she became a teacher, she worked on the production team's harvest rush. At night, they had to take turns on duty, so they slept on a mat. And they were bitten by mosquitoes.

Back then, mosquito coils weren't available, so they used smoked grass to kill mosquitoes. The effect wasn't as long-lasting as mosquito coils. At this point, she had three mosquito coils lit. She also gave a few to Zhu Dahai and the others. Almost a whole box of mosquito coils was used up in one day.

There's no way around it. This house has been uninhabited for so long, there must be mosquitoes, insects, rats, and ants. I'll have Uncle Xia use more mugwort and other fumigants these days.

But as for the little girl, Mingche was right. There was no need to force herself to endure hardship. So, let Yanyan sleep on her.

But Yanyan said, "No, it will put pressure on Mom."

"Then let's sleep in each other's arms." The seven people next to them were obviously tired and soon began to snore after lying down.

Fang Mingche had actually been observing these people for quite a while, and they all had excellent character. Otherwise, he wouldn't have dared to let Lin Yan and her daughter come with them to open up the wasteland and clean up.

Fang Mingche closed his stall at 5 p.m., put his things at home, and rode his tricycle back here. He saw a stall selling braised food on the way and bought two pounds to go with his meal.

With the current encouragement of individual business, everyone is showing off their skills. Those with a bit of a knack are starting to think of ways to raise money. Previously, they were sneaky, but now everyone is becoming more open. Lao Cui is a prime example.

It was six o'clock when he arrived, and the sun was almost setting.

After waking up from our afternoon nap, everyone started cleaning. They went out to weed again after 4:30. The first courtyard was mostly cleaned by the morning. The second courtyard was also halfway weeded by now. But the interior cleaning was mostly done. After all, there were so many people!

Fang Mingche went to the kitchen and saw Lin Yan stirring eggs. She'd made egg soup for lunch and scrambled eggs for dinner. She used five eggs for each, and it wasn't easy to mix them evenly.

Fang Mingche took the porcelain bowl and stirred it. "Did you buy it in the village?"

Lin Yan nodded and turned to cut the meat. Although she bought braised meat, she still had to stir-fry the meat. There was nothing left from the lunch.

"Mingche, every household in the village now has at least three chickens. But there are only three bicycles in the entire village, and they were all bought by workers who came to the factory. The buses are often late, and they have to walk ten kilometers to the city to sell eggs. Can we...?"

During that decade, farmers were forbidden from raising chickens and ducks. Later, the policy was relaxed, allowing families to keep three. Now, with even more leniency, some are secretly raising more. More chickens naturally mean more eggs.

Smart housewives usually keep more pigs secretly. When village officials come to check, they hide them in the cellar and tie their mouths to prevent them from barking. They will talk about it when they are caught. If they are not caught, they can still make up for it.

"Of course, of course. As long as you can make sure the eggs don't break, even a penny or two of profit per egg is worth it. All businesses, unless they're manufacturers, are essentially speculators."

When Lin Yan heard about speculation, her eyelids twitched.

"Is everything going to be okay?"

"No one will report or deal with a price difference of one or two cents. Nowadays, as long as it doesn't cause public outrage, it's fine. The key is to find buyers, and keep them."

Mou Qizhong was later reported and arrested because of the sheer volume and the staggering amount of money he amassed. He apparently made a million in just one year.

Fang Mingche looked at Lin Yan. Okay, you already have a certain business acumen. But it's only 1979, not the time to let go completely. You still have to hold back a little.

Lin Yan said, "Let me think about it."

Dinner starts at 6:30. Five dishes, one soup, and three meat dishes.

Fang Mingche said, "Thank you all for your hard work today. We can only show our appreciation by serving you some food."

Liu Qingfeng smiled and said, "Two dollars a day, and that includes two juicy meals. No problem, no matter how hard we work, we're willing to do it."

(End of this chapter)