You can't even see hares and pheasants on Guizi Mountain now. There are quite a few wild grape trees in some ditches. Jiang Xinyu picked some purple grapes that looked ripe and tasted them, and her face wrinkled up with sourness.
She picked through a large basket, which was enough for her to make several jars. However, there were not enough jars at home, so she had to go and get two more jars.
It was already dark when I got home, and many people gathered around Jiang Xinyu's yard. When they saw her coming back, they asked about her becoming a school teacher.
When Chen Yi saw this situation, he found an excuse and went home. This group of aunts and ladies gathered together to talk until tomorrow morning.
Jiang Xinyu washed away the dry mouth said by Grape and everyone, and finally did not forget to summarize the importance of going to school to them.
Chen Xiuyun was so happy today that she specially steamed two eggs for Jiang Xinyu.
The mother and daughter drank cold vegetable porridge and had a dinner of beef with sauce.
After selecting clean and washed grapes and drying them overnight, Chen Yi sent three clean jars and a bag of white sugar at noon the next day.
Jiang Xinyu used up all the white sugar at home and the sugar brought by Chen Yi, but she still felt that it was not enough. Chen Xiuyun saw that she was such a prodigal, so he naturally said a lot.
After all the grapes were crushed and the wine jars were put away, most of the day passed.
Jiang Xinyu has a lot of things to do these days. She has only been away from school for a few days. She has to report to the school with a letter of introduction and pack up all the daily necessities for her residence.
In addition to the student dormitories, the school also has a small house to the north of the classroom. There are a few trees there, and the surrounding weeds are quite lush. The school teachers' dormitories are there.
Jiang Xinyu took Xie Xiaofang's class and lived in her old dormitory. There was another female teacher in her twenties named Song Guifang in the dormitory.
Song Guifang's natal family is from the Miaoxi Brigade under the Hongqi Commune. She is already married, but her husband's family is in the Advanced Brigade.
The dormitory space is not large, and there are only two beds. Song Guifang has an old wardrobe there with her own things in it.
Chen Xiuyun put down the enamel basin, looked around the room and said, "I'll bring you a cabinet next time too."
Jiang Xinyu didn't object. The number of clothes she had was not enough for a wardrobe. It wouldn't be a problem to put them on the bed, but it was inevitable that she would have to put some personal belongings.
There are two old tables placed together in the middle of the dormitory. Jiang Xinyu placed all the lesson plans given to her by Xie Xiaofang on them, and also placed her own books and a small amount of stationery.
After leaving school, Chen Xiuyun went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some things. Walking on the street, Jiang Xinyu saw Yuan Chunhua, who had a disheveled face and sunken eyes, and Zhou Dazhuang, who had his head hanging down and his face ashen as death. Both of them were hanging with signs written on their bodies.
A sign with insulting words.
The battle in front of us was huge, and people were talking, scorning, and scorning.
Jiang Xinyu had always wanted to watch the excitement before, but now her thoughts suddenly disappeared. She couldn't describe the feeling in her heart.
Comrade Chen Xiuyun took her to the supply and marketing cooperative quickly and bought white cloth and thread that could be used for shoe soles. She originally wanted to buy sugar, but the supply and marketing cooperative ran out of stock.
When the mother and daughter returned home, they found Jiang Yuzhu back.
Jiang Yuzhu brought back a lot of things today, and she brought back most of the things Zhou Qi sent her.
A can of very attractively colored preserved fruits, snacks in iron boxes, a pack of White Rabbit toffees, yellow paper-wrapped jasmine tea, and some scattered fruit peels and other small snacks.
Chen Xiuyun asked: "Where did they all come from?"
Jiang Yuzhu said uncomfortably: "It was sent to me by someone from Capital Film Studio."
She muzzled Zhou Qi, and before Chen Xiuyun could say anything more, Jiang Yuzhu hurriedly said: "Mom, they sent me a lot of things, and I want to send some back too."
Chen Xiuyun nodded, "That's right. But the things sold in our supply and marketing cooperative are probably not rare to people in the capital, so what to give is also a problem."
Jiang Xinyu pointed to the jujube tree in the courtyard, "The jujubes are almost ripe, can you send them to me?"
"It can be sent after it is dried. Otherwise, it would take many days to post it without talking on the road, and it would be boring."
What to give as a gift in return is indeed a question. This big bag of things is not cheap. Chen Xiuyun thought of the yams grown by the Daguinu Commune brigade and the half bag of peanuts that Chen Yi had brought in at night.
Jiang Yuzhu had already paid her wages and gave Chen Xiuyun her wages and receipts.
Chen Xiuyun only received ten yuan and let her keep the rest. She was saving the ten yuan and would keep it as private money for her daughter when she got married.
In addition to what Zhou Qi sent, Jiang Yuzhu also brought back two pig trotters and meatless stick bones.
Chen Xiuyun went to cook, and Jiang Yuzhu took out a purple two-finger-wide hairband for Jiang Xinyu.
The two sisters were talking, and Jiang Yuzhu was pleasantly surprised when she learned that her younger sister would be a substitute teacher in a commune junior high school.
"I used to work as a substitute for others. I haven't had a break for more than a month. I have saved up all my vacation time. This time I can stay at home for four days. Let's find some time to go to my eldest sister's place to see her."
Jiang Xinyu will officially start school the day after tomorrow. If she wants to go to Jiang Zhenzhen's place, she can only go there tomorrow.
Chen Xiuyun also heard what the two sisters said, and she simply agreed.
Both of their daughters now have jobs and are somewhat promising. They were asked to hang out at Jiang Zhenzhen's mother-in-law's house because they wanted to remind her mother-in-law Jiang Zhenzhen not to bully others in the future.
In the evening, the members of the commune are most active. Many people carry their rice bowls and gather in front of other people's homes to eat.
Jiang Xinyu's house is now a place where people in the village like to gather. Everyone knows that Jiang Yuzhu is back, and everyone comes to inquire about her work and life in the city.
The group of people sniffed at the delicious smell of stewed pig's trotters, and felt envious in their hearts.
Look at people's lives, they are getting more and more prosperous as time goes by, and they can eat meat several times a month, unlike them, who can only catch frogs and eat to satisfy their greed. But when they think of Chen Xiuyun having no son, and being alone in old age, these people's minds are balanced.
Quite a few.
A bunch of people talked about this and that, but Yuan Chunhua was no longer a human being among everyone.
Old Man Jiang was squatting shamelessly in the courtyard of Jiang Xinyu's house, holding a rice bowl and slurping corn porridge. Jiang Xinyu was gnawing on cooked corn sticks.
Everything else in the brigade was lacking, except for corn. Every household felt like vomiting after eating stick noodles and steamed buns.
Jiang Xinyu felt that the taste of fresh corn on the cob was different from that of steamed corn cobs, so she was very excited to eat it.
Not only are corn on the cob delicious, but corn stalks are also delicious. Although it is not as watery as sugar cane juice, it still has a sweet taste. This thing is also a food for the children in the village to satisfy their cravings.
The stewed pig's trotters are bright red in color, soft and delicious, and are served with mushrooms and chilies. The smell of the stewed trotters without opening the lid will make the greedy children salivate.
Chen Xiuyun didn't want Old Man Jiang to take advantage of his family, and there were many people in the courtyard, so he simply kept it quiet and let everyone smell it.
After everyone had almost dispersed, Old Jiang reluctantly left. Chen Xiuyun brought a bowl to Widow Wang. After returning, mother and daughter began to feast.
Early the next morning, the four children of Yuan Chunhua's family cried loudly, and the commune members learned that Yuan Chunhua had committed suicide by swallowing rat poison.