Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 59: Qinglan's Holiday (Additional Chapter 110 for Silver Alliance Leader Talking Elbow)

"Grandpa!" Yan Hui started shouting from dozens of meters away.

"You're back!" Grandpa's face immediately spread with a smile when he heard Yan Hui's voice. "Why did you run to the fields?"

"I'm home and full! Come and help!" Yan Hui ran to the field excitedly.

"Go home quickly! Take a rest!" Grandpa hurriedly drove Yan Hui away.

Yan Hui didn't listen and moved closer, immediately knowing what his grandfather was doing.

The sweet potatoes have been dug up, and those that need to be sold have been sold, and those that need to be stored have been stored. There are still some left in the field that have slipped through the net and need to be collected. In addition, there are some sweet potato vines in the field, which can be fed to cattle or dried and used for firewood.

The third child has been in school for a few months and has not done any farm work recently, but he seems to be quite motivated. Together with Yan Hui, he quickly cleaned up the sweet potato seedlings in the field.

During the year Yan Hui was away, he was a little taller and thinner than before, but his physical strength had really improved several times, so this farm work was really easy for him.

It was getting dark, so the third brother went straight back to his own home. Yan Hui went home with his grandfather and began to tell him about his experiences.

When he was with his grandparents, Yan Hui always reported good news but not bad news. He never said a word about the hardships he had endured in the Northeast, but only talked about how different it was there and how good the big cities were.

"How does your fourth uncle treat you?" asked Grandpa.

"It's great. Fourth Uncle has always been very good to me. I live in a separate room, which is great. There is also a table, and I can write letters."

"Yeah," Grandpa nodded.

As they spoke, Grandpa and Grandma kept their eyes on Yan Hui. They were not actually happy. No matter how much Yan Hui praised his uncle, it was clear that he had lost weight.

"Sun, are you having dinner with your uncle in Fengtian? How is the food there? Are you full?" asked the grandfather.

"My fourth uncle is very busy. He's always busy, so it's inconvenient to eat with him. My food is okay. I have big white steamed buns for every meal."

"You can't just eat steamed buns. When you grow up, you need to eat more meat."

"Eat, eat." Yan Hui said hurriedly.

When Yan Hui said this, his grandparents were immediately unhappy, but they didn't say anything.

At night, when Yan Hui was about to go to bed, his grandmother walked to his bed and gave him two eggs, asking him to eat them before he could go to sleep.

The quilt had just been dried in the sun these two days, and the sheets were also newly made. When Yan Hui lay on the bed at night, he felt ethereal.

He wanted nothing to do, nothing to think about, just to lie there.

During the year he'd been away, Yan Hui had barely touched meat, and rarely ate eggs, save for the occasional dinner. He'd usually finish his meal around six in the evening and be hungry by nine. Even after breakfast and work until ten in the morning, Yan Hui still complained of being hungry.

At this age, and with great effort, no matter how much he eats, he can digest it all. After eating two eggs, Yan Hui felt really comfortable in his stomach.

However, eggs cost more than three yuan per pound, and tea eggs in the morning market cost 6 cents each. One egg can buy three steamed buns. How could Yan Hui bear to eat it?
A raw egg costs about 40 cents. Yan Hui could afford it occasionally, but he has nowhere to cook it. Never mind, don't think too much about it, go to sleep.

After two or three days of running around, Yan Hui lay in his own bed and had the best sleep he had in a year.

He slept for 11 hours straight without a single dream, and when he woke up it was already 8:30 in the morning. He hadn't slept well on the train for the past two days, and this was just a nap, and he felt relaxed all over.

When I got up in the morning, grandma steamed four eggs, and prepared the ham, bacon, and dried fish from last night, and also cooked a large pot of thick rice porridge.

Yan Hui ate two eggs. After breakfast, his grandfather still had to go to the fields.

Southern Fujian is not a plain, and the land is divided into small pieces. After each reclamation, the village redistributes the land, so the land of most villagers is relatively scattered.

Yan Hui's grandfather has moved land several times. Now the family's more than ten pieces of land have been concentrated in three areas, which is quite convenient.

I followed my grandfather up the mountain. Today's main task is to pick the sweet potatoes in the field. This job requires patience, and as long as you have patience, you will definitely reap rewards.

Yan Hui was busy for the whole morning and picked up forty or fifty kilograms of abandoned sweet potatoes, which was more than what his grandfather picked up.

When they were about to take a break after their morning work, Yan Hui filled his bamboo basket, while Grandpa's was only half full. After the break, Grandpa noticed this and wanted to take the heavier load, but Yan Hui stopped him and took the 50-60 jin bamboo basket and walked ahead.

The grandfather followed behind, looking at his "thin" grandson. He had a lot to say, but he couldn't utter a word.

When they got home, grandma asked Yan Hui to eat the heated eggs. Yan Hui ate one and saved the rest for the evening.

Over the next few days, Yan Hui followed his grandfather up the mountain every day. By the time they had basically finished all the work in the fields, it was time to tend to the tea trees. In March, tea picking would begin; the tea harvest before Qingming Festival was the best to sell.

Before they knew it, winter vacation was about to start. Yan Hui ran to the town early to pick up Qinglan at the school gate for the vacation.

The village is very close to the town, only about four kilometers away. Yan Hui came on foot and will walk back with his sister later.

This was the junior high school Yan Hui had graduated from. It had been a year and a half since he'd graduated, so arriving at the school gate was a deeply moving experience. He wandered around the gate, greeting some familiar shop owners. Soon, the school bell rang.

There was no sound at first, but after only 30 seconds, the area suddenly became noisy, and then the noise became more and more chaotic. Looking inside from the gate, I saw a boy running in front, rushing out as if he was avoiding a disaster.

Seeing this scene, Yan Hui found it funny, because, every time they had a holiday, the five brothers were always the ones running in the front!
Behind this boy, the crowd was getting denser and denser. After dozens of people passed by the gate, it started to become congested.

There are some hand tractors at the school gate. In the village farther away, seven or eight people can sit on the bed of a tractor, and some people are riding bicycles. Everyone is looking inside.

"Qinglan!" Yan Hui saw his sister at a glance.

"Brother!" Qinglan heard the voice and ran over excitedly, "You're back!"

"Yeah, I'm back!" Yan Hui grinned. Seeing some classmates beside Qing Lan, he asked, "Are these your classmates? Did you come out together?"

"Yeah!" Qinglan quickly introduced everyone, "This is my brother!"

"Wow, this is your brother! Qinglan, you are so lucky!" Everyone envied Qinglan. Who wouldn't want a brother who could send 100 yuan every now and then?
(End of this chapter)