Chapter 23: Gossip

　　Jiang Youtao was assigned the task of weeding at work today.

　　It rained for two days and the weeds in the soil grew very fast. Some of them were as long as a finger.

　　Jiang Youtao now feels disgusted when she sees these grasses.

　　She felt that she was weeding every day. Often, the grass in a field would grow again in the place where it was first weeded just after she finished weeding it.

　　Seeing the annoyance on Jiang Youtao's face, Jiang Si's aunt smiled and said, "Don't think weeding is annoying. You will miss weeding when the autumn harvest comes in ten days."

　　Autumn harvest is the most tiring time. Not only do you have to race against the weather, but you also have to race against the crops in the fields.

　　There is a lot of rain in autumn, and when it rains, nothing can be done, and the ripe crops can only rot and mold in the fields. In autumn, most of the grains are ripe, and people have to harvest the crops before the seeds fall off the fields.

　　They had to go to the fields at daybreak and eat in the fields. They could only go home after dark. Someone had to patrol the fields at night. Once the crops were ripe, those who were used to stealing could no longer hide. Every year, the production team caught thieves who stole food at night.

　　It is impossible to work leisurely like they do now and go home to have a meal and take a nap at noon.

　　Jiang Youtao had never worked in the fields, but many of her classmates came from rural areas. They would talk about the hard work of harvesting crops in the autumn, and Jiang Youtao knew a little about this.

　　Jiang Youtao pulled up a piece of bamboo grass and threw it aside, then asked Aunt Jiang Si: "After we finish harvesting, when winter comes, can we take a rest?"

　　It is said that the winter in Northeast China is very cold, and the door can be blocked when it snows heavily. Jiang Youtao couldn't think of what to do when she had to go to work in such a cold weather.

　　Fourth Aunt Jiang laughed at Jiang Youtao's naivety. She pointed to the green plants at the end of the cornfield and said to Jiang Youtao, "See? That's hemp. After the double guns, there's a big pit at the entrance of the village, right? It's the pit with water in it. Then we'll chop all the hemp and put it in the pit to ferment. When winter comes, we'll beat the hemp stalks and peel off the skins. We women will go to the big house next to the team headquarters to rub the hemp."

　　"You can get five work points a day. That's about 10 cents. Men have a harder time. In winter, they can't sit idle. They have to dig frozen manure and carry it to the fields. The wind is strong and the sand is heavy. If it blows on people's faces, it can make them bleed. They have higher work points, eight."

　　Fourth Aunt Jiang's tone was calm. This was the work they had to do every year, and they had been doing it this way for many years, so she was used to it.

　　But when Jiang Youtao heard it, she felt as if there was a huge stone blocking her heart that wouldn't go away.

　　When she was growing up, technology was relatively advanced, and the production of fertilizers, pesticides and various high-yield grains made farming easy.

　　When she was in college, she had many classmates from the north. According to them, in winter, they had stoves and heating in their houses, so they could spend a very comfortable winter.

　　It doesn't matter if it's windy, dusty, and snowy outside. Going out fully armed won't affect anything.

　　But this was the 1970s, when the whole country was struggling to get enough food and clothing. Farmers had no way out and depended on the crops for their livelihood, so even in the cold winter, with temperatures dozens of degrees below zero, they could not rest.

　　Aunt Jiang pulled out the weeds very quickly. She didn't wear gloves like Jiang Youtao. Her hands were covered with thick calluses, and the flesh on her fingertips was a series of dark brown wounds formed by cracks and healed wounds.

　　This kind of wound is the most difficult to clean. Even if you use steel wool or soap and detergent to wash it, you can't get the original color back. It's always black or yellow.

　　Jiang Youtao hasn't seen hands like this for many years.

　　She lowered her head and concentrated on pulling out the weeds.

　　She felt that her current mood could be best summed up by a phrase that became popular on the Internet in later generations, which was probably: Although her own life was not satisfactory, she still could not bear to see the sufferings of the world.

　　Jiang Youtao knows very well that her current life is actually better than that of many people.

　　Jiang Youtao couldn't imagine that if she traveled to this era without the melon-eating system, she would probably have collapsed long ago.

　　Fourth Aunt Jiang didn't notice Jiang Youtao's complicated feelings. She said with envy, "Your city is still good. You have commercial grain supplied by the state. You won't starve even if you do nothing."

　　Aunt Zhang replied, "That's right. Otherwise, why would so many people be so eager to move into the city?"

　　Jiang Youtao didn't say anything, nor did she ask them why farming was so hard without using chemical fertilizers or why they didn't eat meat porridge.

　　There are very few fertilizer factories these days, and they cannot supply the entire rural area. Liushugou is located in a remote area and is obviously not the target of fertilizer factories.

　　Because of this incident, Jiang Youtao was still a little depressed when she got off work at noon.

　　Gu Nianwei rarely saw Jiang Youtao like this, so she asked.

　　Jiang Youtao told Gu Nianwei what she had heard from Fourth Aunt Jiang. At the end, she said, "Farming is really hard work. You can't be careless at all. You're busy from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, and the income is just enough to make a living. It's really hard."

　　Gu Nianwei was silent.

　　Like Jiang Youtao, she was born and raised in a prosperous and peaceful era, and she had experienced the life that Jiang Si's aunt described last year. She had experienced that kind of hardship.

　　But she could do nothing about it.

　　She stockpiled a lot of supplies, including food, clothing, housing and transportation, but she had no fertilizer or seeds.

　　Because she had never been to the countryside, she didn't know how difficult life in the countryside was, and she had no idea what kind of life the rural people of this era were living.

　　After traveling through time for so long, she had never thought about helping the village to generate income. She knew how capable she was. She didn't have that much ability, and she couldn't shoulder that much responsibility.

　　She just wanted to live a good life in these few years, and then wait until the policy was liberalized, and then go somewhere else to earn money to buy ten or eight houses.

　　She had no shortage of food and drink, and she never cared whether others did or not.

　　Gu Nianwei thought about this and suddenly realized that she seemed to have lost her empathy in the past year. She couldn't see the hard work of others, and she didn't even have the same uncomfortable emotions as Jiang Youtao.

　　This shouldn't be and isn't reasonable.

　　Gu Nianwei pursed her lips and thought, and suddenly remembered that every time she sympathized with others, it was when the three brothers of the Lin family were present. Only at this time, her emotions seemed to be more active.

　　Gu Nianwei shuddered.

　　She recalled the dreams she had before she traveled through time, the space that had opened by coincidence, and her uncontrollable desire to take care of the three brothers of the Lin family.

　　Gu Nianwei felt as if there was an invisible hand in the dark, manipulating everything about her life.

　　"Weiwei, let's go quickly. It's your turn to cook today." Jiang Youtao's voice brought back Gu Nianwei's thoughts that had drifted away unconsciously.

　　Gu Nianwei came back to her senses, smiled at Jiang Youtao, and quickened her pace back to the educated youth point.

　　Passing by Secretary Su's house at the entrance of the village, his home has been particularly lively these two days.

　　It's the end of the month, and the village party secretary's eldest grandson is getting married.

　　They didn't stay and went back to eat. Zhao Yonglan came over with a cigarette in her mouth.

　　According to the local customs, when someone in the family gets married, pastries like Sazi must be made. The Su family's Sazi are freshly fried and are sweet and crispy.

　　Zhao Yonglan also had a few and was eating at her kang.

　　Zhao Yonglan was chewing the sazi until it made a loud crunching sound, but no one was looking at her. After she finished eating the sazi, she lay down on the kang and fell asleep in a depressed mood.

　　At noon, when they went to the field to work, Aunt Tao waved to Jiang Youtao and Gu Nianwei. The two looked at each other and walked towards Aunt Tao.

　　Aunt Tao took them to a deserted place and said quietly, "I asked your uncle at noon, and he said that the land belongs to your educated youth camp. As long as no one in your educated youth camp objects, you can build it if you want."

　　Jiang Youtao and the others were delighted when they heard this. Jiang Youtao pulled Aunt Tao aside to thank them: "Thank you, uncle, and thank you, aunt. If it weren't for your help, it would not be easy for us to build a house."

　　In the era of food shortage, the number of residential plots in the village was limited, and fights would occur every year over who would occupy a piece of private land or residential plot.

　　Although the land of the educated youth site is different from the residential land in the village, who doesn't like to hear nice words? Jiang Youtao's sincere and flattering words made Aunt Tao feel elated.

　　Aunt Tao's eyes, which were not big to begin with, were narrowed into slits as she smiled. "Xiao Jiang, what are you talking about? I didn't do anything. This is the land of your educated youth. I just said a few words."

　　Aunt Tao said this, but the smug expression on her face could not be wiped away.

　　Gu Nianwei had a lot of food, so she reached into her pocket, took out two pieces of beef jerky from the space and put them into Aunt Tao's hand.

　　"Aunt Tao, I won't say much to thank you. This is beef jerky. My cousin sent it to me. It's a food from Inner Mongolia. Take it and try it." The beef jerky that Gu Nianwei took out was very big, as big as a baby's fist. She put two pieces in Aunt Tao's hand. The brown meat was dotted with unknown powdered spices and chili seeds.

　　The aroma of meat and seasonings wafts into the air.

　　Aunt Tao immediately put the two pieces of meat into her pocket and said, "Oh, I've lived for more than 40 years and I've never tasted what beef jerky tastes like."

　　Aunt Tao decided to steam the beef jerky and shred it into strips for lunch today.

　　Starting with the benefits, Aunt Tao's promises followed.

　　"Tell me how big you want to build it. My son is going to build a house next year and has made a lot of mud bricks. If you want to live in it before autumn, I will take the initiative to move those mud bricks to you first."

　　The price of red bricks in these days was not cheap, and the quality was not as good as that of later generations. Blue bricks were a treasure that could not be bought even with money.

　　Therefore, when common people wanted to build houses, they used mud bricks made by themselves, adding grass inside to make them less likely to break and also having a certain warmth-retaining effect.

　　Aunt Tao's family plans to build the house after the autumn harvest next year, so there is still a year left. It's not impossible to give those mud bricks to Jiang Youtao and the others first. If Gu Nianwei and Jiang Youtao are not unwilling to give her money, she's sure her daughter-in-law won't mind.

　　Gu Nianwei said, "Build three small rooms, two bedrooms and a kitchen, about the size of your wing room."

　　Aunt Tao's wing room is where her little girl lives. There is a kang and a table inside, but there is no space. It is very small.

　　Aunt Tao thought for a moment and said, "Then the mud bricks I have at home will be enough. You can just find some people to come to our house and move the bricks."

　　"Thank you so much, Auntie. If you need anything in the future, just tell me. As long as we can do it, we will definitely do our best."

　　Jiang Youtao's words made Aunt Tao's face wrinkle with laughter again.

　　The two educated youth were generous and their family backgrounds seemed good, with many good things in their hands. Thinking of her nephew from her mother's family who was about to marry a city girl, Aunt Tao asked: "Do you have industrial tickets? My nephew from my mother's family is about to get married, and I want to give him a thermos as a gift."

　　Gu Nianwei and Jiang Youtao looked at each other and said, "I have it. I'll send it to you after work."

　　"Okay, okay, okay." Aunt Tao seemed to have already seen the envious and jealous looks of others when she, the aunt, put out the thermos as a gift at her nephew's wedding.

　　The team leader called all the members of each group to gather, and Jiang Youtao and Gu Nianwei went back.

　　Jiang Youtao whispered to Gu Nianwei, "How much is the industrial ticket? When we build the house, I will convert it into cash and give it to you together with the money for the bricks, tiles and wood."

　　Gu Nianwei didn't care about this little money. It didn't matter to her whether Jiang Youtao gave it to her or not. She said, "Okay, I'll listen to you."

　　Back in the group, Xu Dazui was very curious about Aunt Tao's visit to Jiang Youtao: "Youtao, why did Zhao Dalouzi look for you?"

　　Aunt Tao's surname is Zhao. Because she loves to take advantage and wants to take everything for herself, she is nicknamed Zhao Dalouzi.

　　"Weiwei and I want to build a house to live in, so we went to ask Aunt Tao about the rules." The plan to build a house could not be concealed, so Jiang Youtao said it openly.

　　When Xu Dazui heard that Jiang Youtao and Gu Nianwei wanted to build a house, she was stunned for a moment. She looked towards Group 1 and whispered, "Why are you still building a house with Comrade Gu? Isn't she going to marry Lin Jianzhong?"

　　Jiang Youtao looked at Xu Dazui with a serious expression: "Aunt Xu, this is all nonsense! Weiwei has never met that Lin Jianzhong, why would she marry him? I don't know which wicked person spread the gossip. Weiwei even had a fight with someone yesterday because of this gossip."

　　"Aunt Xu, if you hear this kind of rumor again, please help us clarify it. Our Weiwei is only 19 years old, and how old is that Lin Jianzhong? He must be at least 30 years old, right? He already has three children. Our Weiwei has no shortage of food or money. Why would she marry him? If I know who spread this rumor, I will tear that person's mouth to pieces."

　　"What the hell is this? That man named Lin Jianzhong is shameless. He still want Weiwei."

　　Xu Dazui and Fourth Aunt Jiang looked at each other in bewilderment. Fourth Aunt Jiang said, "What you said makes some sense. Lin Jianzhong just came back yesterday. How could Comrade Gu go to meet him? But the rumor that Comrade Gu was going to be Lin Jianzhong's second wife has been circulating for a long time."

　　Xu Dazui snorted, "It must have been Lin Weihong who did it. This isn't the first time she's done this. Have you forgotten how she got married to Zhao Manzhu?"

　　Aunt Jiang Si and Xu Dazui were both older than Lin Weihong. When Lin Weihong got married, they had been married to Liushugou for several years. They knew everything that happened back then.

　　Seeing Jiang Youtao's curious face, Xu Dazui told her about that old story.

　　"Zhao Manzhu used to be a worker in a brick factory. There were many young girls who wanted to marry him. But Lin Weihong was not the one he was talking to. The wife that Old Lady Lin introduced to Lin Weihong was a birch stick worker from Wangjiatun Commune. She was a little disabled and ugly, but the bride price was high."

　　"The daughter of the Lin family was already living in poverty. When Lin Weihong went on a blind date, she saw that the man was not willing to marry, and she didn't want to be sold to someone else by the old woman Lin, so she set her sights on Zhao Manzhu, a worker."

　　"Zhao Manzhu is two years younger than her. She pretended to run into Zhao Manzhu several times, and when Zhao Manzhu also had a crush on her, she pretended to accidentally fall into his arms."

　　"It couldn't be more coincidental. This incident happened to be seen by the village's trumpet sign. Not long after, rumors spread that Lin Weihong and Zhao Manzhu were rolling in the straw stack."

　　"When Mrs. Lin heard these gossips, she was amused. Zhao Manzhu was a worker who received a salary every month. In Mrs. Lin's eyes, he was a hen that laid eggs all the time. How could she let such a son-in-law go? She rushed to the Zhao family on the spot and forced Zhao Manzhu to marry Lin Weihong."

　　Xu Dazui clicked her tongue and said, "Have you seen Lin Weihong's husband? Is he good-looking? The key is that he has a good personality. If he had a bad personality, Lin Weihong wouldn't have schemed against him."

　　Jiang Youtao had met Zhao Manzhu before. Every time she saw him, he always had a smile on his face, spoke and acted slowly, giving people a particularly gentle feeling.

　　This is also very good for Lin Weihong, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to help Lin Jianzhong's family for decades.

　　Just looking at how Lin Weihong and Zhao Manzhu get along, Jiang Youtao really can't tell at all that this marriage is so disgraceful.

　　The small Willow Valley constantly refreshes Jiang Youtao's impression of it!

　　"I really can't believe that Aunt Wei Hong is such a person." Jiang Youtao sighed: "Wei Wei told me that Aunt Wei Hong had previously proposed a blind date between her and Lin Jianzhong, but she refused. She also told me not to spread the news."

　　Xu Dazui and Jiang Si's Auntie suddenly became excited: "There is such a thing? Oh, then this thing must be done by Lin Weihong. Tsk tsk tsk, I didn't expect that Lin Weihong has not improved much in all these years!"

　　Aunt Jiang Si said, "Why do she need to improve her methods? Isn't it enough if they are useful?" She looked at Jiang Youtao and promised solemnly, "Don't worry, Youtao. If I see someone talking about this in the future, I will help Comrade Gu clarify it. This is too outrageous. Isn't this harming people?"

　　"Then I thank you on behalf of Weiwei."

　　"You call us aunt, so we are a family. It's not a good idea to say thank you." Aunt Jiang asked again, "Are you short of bricks, tiles and wood to build the house? If you are short of wood, I have some. Your uncle just went up the mountain and cut it down a few days ago. If you are short of wood, I will give it to you first."

　　"I have mud bricks and tiles at home. They are leftovers from when we renovated the house last year. If you want them, I'll give them to your family." Aunt Zhang, who had been silent all the time, joined in the conversation.

　　"We need both, we need both. Thank you so much, aunties." Jiang Youtao thanked them and then said to them, "We want to move into the new house as soon as possible, so we want to find a few more people to help build the house. If you know anyone, please introduce a few to us. We will pay them according to the amount of side jobs they have."

　　Xu Dazui and the other two looked at each other. Who doesn't have a man and several grown-up sons?

　　Aunt Zhang said, "I know some people. There are many of them. Whenever you want to build a kang, just tell them and they will do it for you. Although your uncle is not a good person and is a bastard, he is good at making kangs. I will ask him to do it for you."

　　"Thank you, Aunt Zhang."

　　During the break, Jiang Youtao told Gu Nianwei the good news. Gu Nianwei smiled happily when she thought that she would be able to move out soon. "Taotao, you are awesome. I will take care of the educated youth center."

　　Jiang Youtao nodded and returned to Group Three under the gaze of the team leader.

　　Lin Weihong was working next to Gu Nianwei. When she heard that Gu Nianwei was going to build a house, she became anxious.

　　Thinking about it, she said to Gu Nianwei, "Weiwei, didn't you buy some medicine for my family last time? Your uncle Manzhu said he would like to invite you to our house for dinner tonight. The dishes are ready. You must come and show up."

　　It has been two months since she helped the Zhao family buy medicine. They wanted to thank her but they had to wait until now.

　　"Okay. It's my turn to cook today. I'll let Taotao cook for me for a day." Gu Nianwei wanted to see what the Lin family was up to!