With no choice, Song Wenjing could only wrap up "Pictures of Ladies" layer by layer again, and finally even cut off a piece of the oilcloth used to cover the grain at home, wrapped it up, and placed it in the corner next to his bed.
At this time, the ground in my home was covered with yellow mud. Rats often came to visit me and never left. In the middle of the night, I often heard the sound of chirping.
Moreover, there was really no place to hide things at home, so they could only put them where he could see them. At the same time, Song Wenjing repeatedly warned his younger brother Song Wenming not to touch such things.
If you dare to touch it blindly, just fry the shredded pork with bamboo sticks and make his butt explode.
For Song Wenjing, his eldest brother, Song Wenming was quite obedient. Especially since it was so solemn today, he was even more afraid to touch it.
Song Wenjing wanted this kind of effect. If the whole family pampered this kid, there would be no hope that he would change his ways in the future. Someone must be a bad person, and he was the only one in the family who was the most suitable.
In August, the sun sets relatively late. When every household smokes from their cooking stoves, it finally becomes late.
Dinner was also very simple, with the same corn porridge and pickled salted radish. But there was a rare addition of fish soup, and seven small crucian carps filled a large pot.
"Your second uncle went to catch them in the ditch early this morning. He caught more than a dozen fish and gave half of them over." Song Jianguo said happily, smiling.
The conditions of the second uncle's family are average, with two children, a boy and a girl. The eldest daughter, Song Wenxia, will enter the third grade of junior high school in the second half of this year and will graduate next year. The younger son, Song Wenyu, is still in primary school in the village. He is about the same age as Song Wenming and is in the same class.
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My second aunt has never been in good health. Mainly because she injured her back while doing heavy work last year. Since then, she has not received proper medical treatment and has been dragging on like this.
To put it bluntly, the problem is caused by lack of money. If you had money now and went to a big hospital in the city for good treatment, you would basically not have such problems.
But in the countryside, apart from farming and raising pigs, there is basically no other way to make a living. Even though the second uncle has the skills of a mason, there are really not many jobs that can be done in the countryside. When it is not necessary, not many people can do it.
If you get too much money, you can build a house or something like that. At most, you can just make repairs.
The two underage children have to go to school, the family's fields have to be cultivated, and taxes of one kind or another have to be paid every year. All of this is placed on the second uncle, who can only support him alone.
In the rural areas of the 1980s, this was actually the case for most families, not just my second uncle’s family.
This is why Song Wenjing is unwilling to live like them even if he goes to collect rags.
Is it painful to collect rags? That's a matter of course. Every day, you drag hundreds of kilograms of rags through the streets, and the scorching sun shines in your head. Even if you wear a straw hat and long sleeves, after two days, your neck is already covered with rags.
A layer of skin was shed.
Not to mention, even with gloves on, there were still a few blisters on my hands, which I had to pick out with a needle. Whenever I touched something, I felt a burning pain.
But no matter how hard and tiring it was, Song Wenjing had to endure it. His family situation was like this. If he didn't think about changing it, he wouldn't be able to make a big difference in the future.
In his previous life, due to his own leg, the burden on his family suddenly increased a lot.
His younger sister Song Wenfang could have been admitted to college, but because of him, she chose to help at home after graduating from high school.
The younger brother even embarked on a path of no return because he had no one to discipline him.
Although his parents have always been in good health, even when he was involved in a car accident in his previous life, he was still in good health. But only they knew the hardships they endured in those years.
Song Wenjing needs to make changes in these things. He doesn't want what happened in the past to happen again.
"Dad, if you have the chance, you still have to persuade your second uncle to take your second aunt to a big hospital for treatment. It's not an option to put it off like this." Song Wenjing said to his father.
Before Song Jianguo could speak, Zhou Lijuan intervened, "It's because your second uncle didn't want to send him to the hospital. It's because your second aunt couldn't bear the money. I heard that I had gone to see him before, and the hospital said that an operation would cost several hundred yuan.
And this is still during the period of hospitalization, and then I will have to recuperate at home for several months. Calculating this, it will cost at least 500 yuan."
500 yuan, which can be considered a huge sum of money for a rural family whose annual income is less than 300 yuan.
In today's rural areas, taking Songjia Village as an example, the families who can afford 200 yuan can probably be counted with two hands. Just like Song Wenjing's own family, the total cash in the family does not exceed 60 yuan.
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The situation of Song Wenjing's family is also a microcosm of the vast number of rural families at this time.
The tide of reform and opening up has just begun, and in the superstructure, the two trends of thought are still in fierce collision. But in rural areas, most people still don’t know that the world will undergo great changes.
For rural people, as long as they are not hungry, everything is fine.
But Song Wenjing knew what the world would be like in the future. He had to experience it personally and face it positively.
"Mom, I'm thinking that I should be able to make some money this year. If possible, I'll help my second uncle's family and send my second aunt to the hospital for treatment. If this continues, it will only get worse."
This time, before Zhou Lijuan could speak, Song Jianguo rushed to say: "Yes, yes, I will talk to my second brother later. Wen Jing is now older and can help the family. Our family is not as embarrassed as before.
, we still need to help those who should be helped.”
Zhou Lijuan rolled her eyes at her husband and said, "What are you trying to do to rob me? It's as if I don't want to. If my family is really rich, wouldn't I be willing to take it out?"
Song Jianguo smiled awkwardly. All the money and power in the family was in the hands of his wife, and she was the one who made the final decision on all matters big and small. It was considered good if she could hide a few cents to buy cigarettes.
Normally he is a dull person, but when it comes to his biological brother, he still has to express his stance when it comes to what needs to be said.
"Wen Jing, just save your own money and wait until next year to look at it. If you really have extra money, we will definitely help as much as we should. I will also talk to your second aunt later and let her think about it. If the treatment
Now, the family can have more workers, and we don’t have to rely on Jianping alone like now.”
Zhou Lijuan gave the final word, which can be regarded as finalizing the matter.
Song Wenjing nodded. He had his own plan. In his opinion, according to the current pace, it shouldn't be a problem to earn sixty or seventy yuan a month. If the opportunity is good, even more.
In this way, by the beginning of next year, the family will be able to save at least four hundred yuan. If I keep one hundred yuan as the capital of the business, and the rest, plus the second uncle to think of some solutions on his own, the problem should be solved.
Thinking of money, Song Wenjing suddenly remembered that he seemed to be running out of cash, with less than five yuan left.
In the past two days, hundreds of kilograms of scrap newspapers, old books, scrap metal, etc. have been recovered one after another. He has already emptied his little capital.
"Dad, are you free tomorrow? The two of us will go to the city tomorrow morning. First, we will go to the paper mill to sell the old newspapers and books collected. I did the math and found that there are three to four hundred kilograms. I will do it alone.
Don’t move. There are too few scrap iron, copper and aluminum, so I’ll leave them at home for now.”
After hearing what his son said, Song Jianguo agreed immediately.
He himself had nothing to do tomorrow, so being able to help his son was something he wished for.
"Wen Jing, how much money can you make from selling several hundred kilograms of waste paper to a paper mill?" Zhou Lijuan asked curiously.
Zhou Lijuan didn't understand anything about these businesses, but she couldn't help but want to know.
Of course, Song Wenjing would not hide anything, and said truthfully: "The price I got back was 6 cents per catty. The purchasing station in the city usually charges 7 cents per catty. And if you sell it to a paper mill, it will be slightly more expensive.
.As for how much more expensive it is, it’s hard to say.”
Zhou Lijuan pinched her fingers and calculated. If the paper factory was even five cents more expensive, nearly four hundred kilograms, she would still be able to earn five or six yuan.
It only took two days of work. Calculated this way, it was much better than the work points they earned in the village.
Thinking of this, Zhou Lijuan couldn't help but feel happy. Earning two or three yuan a day would have an income of nearly a thousand yuan a year. This is undoubtedly a huge sum of money for their family. She even plans to follow her son.