People who eat melon are in 70 - Chapter 35

Clearly, Jiang Yutao’s directness left the postman momentarily confused, but he quickly recovered, rubbed his head, and said, “My name is Fu Shaohua. I’m a sent-down youth from the capital, and I just arrived this year. Before this, I was assigned to the Yongding Farm.”

The Yongding Farm isn’t far from the county town, but the youths assigned there earn a salary, which is much better than the situation for those sent to the countryside.

“Oh, I see! I’m Jiang Yutao, also a sent-down youth this year, from Shencheng.” Jiang Yutao followed Fu Shaohua’s lead and made a brief self-introduction.

Fu Shaohua nodded, “Well, let’s communicate more when we have the chance. I have to go now; I still have several letters to deliver.”

Jiang Yutao walked him to the courtyard entrance. “Come visit when you have time!”

The handsome young man hopped on his bicycle, waved casually with one hand, and then disappeared from sight.

Jiang Yutao watched his receding figure and reached up to brush away the strands of hair blown into her face by the wind.

Gu Nianwei appeared by her side at some point, placed her hand on Jiang Yutao’s shoulder, and looked down the now-empty dirt path in the countryside, raising an eyebrow, “What’s wrong? Have you taken a liking to him?”

Jiang Yutao exclaimed, “Not that I’ve taken a liking to him; I just think this guy is quite good-looking. I wanted to look at him a few more times.”

Gu Nianwei had been in the yard earlier and had seen the postman’s appearance. He was indeed handsome, but while good-looking, he wasn’t her type. She preferred the kind of man who looked muscular and fit, the type that radiates strong masculine energy. To put it simply, she liked the rugged tough-guy style.

“Alright, alright, stop staring! If you keep staring at the road like that, he won’t be able to come back! Let’s go, go back and continue drying the mushrooms. We’ll stir-fry them for dinner tonight.”

As soon as she mentioned stir-frying mushrooms, the handsome young man who had just made Jiang Yutao’s heart race was instantly forgotten. “Let’s go, let’s pick some chili peppers from the garden to stir-fry with them. That’ll be delicious!”

Jiang Yutao always thought mushrooms and chili peppers made the perfect pair.

“Okay, okay, I’ll listen to you!”

That evening, the two cooked a mixed grain rice. Gu Nianwei stir-fried the mushrooms, adding plenty of oil and garlic slices, making the mushrooms fragrant. Mixed with green peppers, the flavor was so good it made them want to swallow their tongues.

After dinner, they returned to their respective rooms, and Jiang Yutao nestled on the soft kang to read the letter she received today.

The letter was written by Ying Zhaorong. It began with the common greetings of the time, followed by an apology for not having written to Jiang Yutao for so long.

Then it mentioned the health of Hao Juxiang, followed by Ying Dexing’s health, and finally discussed the situation of Jiang Anguo’s family.

On the morning they sent Jiang Yutao off, the three of them went to the canned food factory. Jiang Anguo had not been released because, after a night of interrogation, they had not uncovered the affair between him and Li Xiuqin. Instead, they had discovered the corruption and bribery he had engaged in during his years as the workshop director.

His embezzlement methods were quite sophisticated and were all handled through Li Xiuqin. The couple had a clear division of labor; anyone wanting to use Jiang Anguo’s connections had to first send money or goods to Li Xiuqin through various discreet methods. Li Xiuqin would then pass it on to Jiang Anguo. After he reviewed the items, he would decide whether to meet with the person delivering the gifts.

Once they met, he would then determine whether to help with their requests.

Jiang Anguo received bribes that were not a small sum; he didn’t dare to keep the money at home, so he rented an attic in a very busy alley to store the embezzled goods.

During their time off work, the couple’s favorite activity was to go to that attic to count the money and plan for the future.

Neither of them told their son how much money they had at home, maintaining a tacit understanding.

The security team from the Revolutionary Committee and the factory found a lot of items in the attic during their search, with cash alone amounting to over nine thousand.

The scale of the embezzlement caused a significant stir not only in the factory but throughout the entire Shencheng. The couple was detained, and the handling of their case had not yet been resolved.

After their parents were arrested, Jiang Jiabao was frightened and ran away. He was eventually found in an underpass. He had already signed up to go to the countryside, but he hadn’t gone to the village as scheduled and had escaped for several days before being caught. The street office had established a precedent against him, and he was sent to the most arduous frontier farm.

At the end of the letter, Ying Chaorong mentioned that Hao Juxiang had heard it was cold in the north and had made her a quilt and a cotton-padded jacket. The reason for the delay in writing was that it was difficult to exchange for cotton cloth tickets, which held things up until now.

After discussing this matter, Ying Chaorong added that due to Jiang Anguo’s identity as a corrupt official, it had affected her political background, so he decided to take charge and used his connections to move her household registration to his family. The money she had saved was all spent.

Jiang Yutao held the letter in her hands for a long time without putting it down.

At that time, she had sent Jiang Anguo to the Revolutionary Committee purely to let him experience what it felt like to be locked in a small dark room by the committee. She truly hadn’t expected Jiang Anguo to have such audacity to engage in embezzlement in this era, especially since the original owner’s memories did not include any incidents of Jiang Anguo and Li Xiuqin being involved in corruption.

Receiving so much in bribes, over nine thousand in cash alone! In this era, rice was only a little more than ten cents per pound—how much could nine thousand buy?

Wasn’t that like a death star hanging himself?

Jiang Yutao couldn’t make sense of it. With so much money, they wouldn’t even be able to spend it, so what was the point of being greedy?

Then, as she read about her household registration being moved to the Ying family, Jiang Yutao felt a mix of emotions, like a jar of spices had been overturned in her heart.

Jiang Anguo had committed such a serious offense; he could have faced a death penalty. For Ying Chaorong to move her household registration must have taken a lot of effort on his part, making that eight hundred dollars spent not feel unjustified.

That was her original mother’s pension, and Jiang Yutao didn’t intend to use it. She wanted to leave that money for the Ying family to help improve their economic situation.

Now, however, this money had gone round and round, ultimately being spent on her.

While Jiang Yutao felt touched, she also felt at a loss.

After a moment of daze, she opened the system shop, bought the wheelchair she had previously saved, and then opened the search engine to purchase some mushrooms and other mountain goods, as well as a ginseng root.

In that moment, Jiang Yutao, who usually paid great attention to her watermelon coins, spent money without even looking at the prices, opting only for the best.

After buying the items, she had very little watermelon coin left.

Jiang Yutao felt no reluctance at all.

Calculating the date written on the letter, Jiang Yutao estimated that the cotton quilt and cotton jacket sent by Hao Juxiang would arrive soon, so she planned to go to the commune to ask about it in a couple of days.

Just two days after receiving the letter, it was time for the autumn harvest.

The farmers had worked hard in the fields for a whole year, all for the moment of the autumn harvest.

At four o’clock, just as dawn was breaking, the sound of the village gong rang out, echoing from one end of the village to the other. Jiang Yutao and the others got up to cook a day’s worth of meals and hurried to gather at the square before five o’clock.

The team leader of the village and the village secretary both had incidents, so the commune sent two people to temporarily take over their positions. They were unfamiliar with the village and acted more like mascots, not handling any matters, while the power remained in the hands of the group leaders.

The group leaders were all responsible individuals, and they allocated tasks according to last year’s practices. With the final sound of the gong, everyone sprang into action.

Entering deep autumn, the mornings were especially cold. Everyone wore jackets over their shirts, but by noon, it became very hot. The autumn sun was like a furnace, roasting the people on the ground, and Jiang Yutao felt as if she was about to be baked dry.

The autumn harvest is the hardest; it requires seizing good weather and ripe grains in the fields.

The tasks assigned to the educated youth were just as numerous as those of the village’s young children. Even so, Zhao Yonglan and Zhang Huihui ended up crying from exhaustion several times.

Jiang Yutao was also pushing through; she had never done such strenuous work before.

She finally understood the meaning behind the lines in that poem “Sympathy for Farmers”:

“Hoeing the rice at noon, sweat drips into the soil; Who knows the worth of the food on the plate? Every grain is hard-earned.”

Indeed, every grain is hard-earned, but it is far too exhausting.

It was so exhausting that Jiang Yutao’s body was covered in various marks left from labor, so exhausting that she collapsed into bed as soon as her head touched the pillow each day. The intense physical labor made it hard for her to eat properly.

After delivering the last bag of corn to the granary, she felt like crying out to the heavens.

So tired, so tired—how many times had she felt like she was going to be worked to death?

When they returned to the educated youth station and closed the gate, Zhao Yonglan immediately collapsed onto Zhang Huihui and began to cry.

With her delicate temperament, she hadn’t touched a hoe since the autumn harvest began.

Li Yunying poured her a glass of water and said, “Wang Shanxi brought meat back from the commune, so let’s have a good meal tonight, then sleep well and take a good rest.”

Because they were too busy, Gu Nianwei and Jiang Yutao came back to have a meal together.

Jiang Yutao and Gu Nianwei had already discussed how to celebrate after the autumn harvest. Gu Nianwei said, “I went to the commune too. I bought a chicken there, and we can make chicken soup tonight using the mushrooms we picked last time we went up the mountain.”

“Then I won’t be polite with you. Whatever the chicken costs, we’ll settle up later. Don’t refuse; this isn’t just for us; we have those male educated youths to feed too, and they have big appetites,” Li Yunying said with a smile.

“Alright then,” Jiang Yutao agreed. She didn’t mind treating others to a meal, but if Zhou Zhenfeng was among them, Jiang Yutao felt reluctant.

Such a scumbag deserved to starve or wear himself out.

Seeing that Jiang Yutao had agreed, Gu Nianwei didn’t say anything. It was only when they were alone that she privately asked Jiang Yutao what she thought.

Jiang Yutao’s gaze fell on Zhou Zhenfeng, who was showing off with a book in front of the window. She said, “I just don’t want to treat him.”

Gu Nianwei followed Jiang Yutao’s gaze and instantly felt full: “We just finished the autumn harvest at noon, and everyone is exhausted like dead dogs. Why is he lying there reading a book instead of resting? Is he sick?”

Jiang Yutao reached into her pocket, took out some sunflower seeds, and shared a little with her, glancing toward the firewood shed: “Just trying to attract attention, I guess.”

Zhao Yonglan was inside the firewood shed organizing the firewood.

She still didn’t want to collect firewood, but she had money. Every day, she paid a dime to the village kids who earned little by working in the fields, asking them to bring her ten bundles of firewood. The kids had never known that collecting firewood could earn them so much money, and they all eagerly agreed.

This money spent was less than five yuan, and the firewood shed was already more than half full.

With this firewood, Zhao Yonglan stood tall at the youth station; no one complained that she didn’t cook or tended to her private plot anymore.

After all, firewood is a lifesaver during the cold winter in the North.

Jiang Yutao also planned to learn from her: “Tomorrow, we’ll do the same. Let’s give some money to save our energy. It’s been too exhausting lately; if I have to go up the mountain to collect firewood again, I feel like I might not survive.”

Gu Nianwei was happy to take it easy: “Let’s do it that way.”

The two of them walked toward Zhao Yonglan. When Zhao Yonglan heard their intention, she waved her hand: “It’s no big deal. I’ll just tell Daba in a bit. He’ll be happy to earn some extra money.”

The kid who collected firewood for Zhao Yonglan was named Daba, and he was twelve years old.

Before Jiang Yutao could say anything, Zhou Zhenfeng began reciting poetry, his voice filled with emotion, tears in his eyes. His exaggerated performance gave everyone goosebumps.

After he finished reciting, he looked at Zhao Yonglan earnestly: “Comrade Zhao Yonglan, what do you think of my poem? Can you accompany me with some music?”

Gu Nianwei and Jiang Yutao exchanged glances and started to snack on sunflower seeds.

This kind of thing had already happened several times during this period.

Zhao Yonglan’s face was as dark as a pot bottom; she really couldn’t understand why Zhou Zhenfeng could still write poetry when everyone was so exhausted. Not only was he writing, but he also wanted her to accompany him—what a big face he had!

Zhao Yonglan really wanted to go to his grave and accompany him there; if that was Zhou Zhenfeng’s request, she would definitely agree.

Not getting a response from Zhao Yonglan, Zhou Zhenfeng asked again.

Zhao Yonglan endured and endured, but finally, she couldn’t take it anymore: “Get the hell out of here!”