RIRW – Chapter 13

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Although the matter of dividing the family wasn’t resolved, everyone seemed uncomfortable the next day.

Especially the old lady, whose face was rigid, as if someone owed her a fortune.

As she walked to the kitchen, the old woman muttered, “They’re all grown up now, their wings have hardened, and they don’t care about their old mother anymore. Are they all just waiting for me to die?”

“Mom, that’s not true. I hope you live a long life,” Zou Dacheng hurriedly said.

Unfortunately, the old lady pretended not to hear and went into the kitchen to cook.

Zou Chengcai, the third brother, tugged at him. “Hey, second brother, that’s just mom’s temperament. Once she calms down, it’ll be fine.”

He pulled Zou Dacheng outside. “We still need to go to work early today. Hurry up.” He then shouted for Zuo Dan and Li Hui to follow, but he didn’t call for Zuo Hongjun’s family.

Seeing this, Zou Hongjun’s face turned as dark as coal.

Although he knew the third brother was angry because of his wife mentioning splitting the family the night before, he still felt uncomfortable inside.

They were all brothers, so why was he so close to the second one?

Zuo Qing whispered, “Dad, Mom, let’s go too.”

“You little girl, how dare you hurry me?” Xu Fengxia, already angry, pinched her daughter’s ear when she heard her urging.

By the time she let go of her fingers, Zuo Qing’s ear was already bright red.

She didn’t say a word, covering her ear and silently shedding tears.

Turning back to look at her little sister, who was still sleeping soundly in the room, she cried even more bitterly.

“You’re really a bad omen!” Xu Fengxia spat and then grabbed the sickle and the carrying pole before leaving.

Zuo Dan didn’t care about what was happening in the big house.

Right now, the matter of dividing the family was still uncertain, but it made her even more eager to make money.

The fifty cents in her pocket was clearly not enough; she needed more money.

Zuo Dan asked Zou Chengcai, “Uncle, how do I get to the city if I want to go?”

It seemed the original owner had never been to the city in all these years.

Zou Chengcai replied, “If you want to take a car, you need to ask Uncle Shuisheng for a pass to enter the city. If you don’t take a car, you can just walk there. Start early in the morning, and no one will check. But going to the city isn’t easy. Not only do you need money, but you also need a pass. You don’t have anything yet, so don’t go. Last time, your uncle…” He remembered the experience of begging for food.

A pass?

Suddenly, Zuo Dan’s head buzzed. She had completely forgotten about that. She had been thinking about money but didn’t consider that it was an era where everything required a pass to buy things.

No wonder when she offered two pounds of coarse grain for fifty cents, Li Chenliang agreed so easily.

If she hadn’t taken a pass, she would have ended up losing money.

Fortunately, she only sold two pounds. Otherwise, she would have lost out. Zuo Dan paused.

Just as she was thinking about this, Zou Chengcai said, “Hey, after the autumn harvest, we’re supposed to deliver grain to Xiao Cong. How about I take you to see the city?”

Zuo Dan didn’t want to go with Zou Chengcai. In this family, she felt that Zou Chengcai was the smartest, and if she went with him, she’d have to be very careful. It would be easy to expose herself.

“I was just asking,” she said with a grin. In her heart, she was already planning how to take over the task of delivering food to her little brother.

In her memory, her little brother was a quiet child, but his grades were excellent. Because of this, Grandmother Zou decided to train him to study and even hoped to send him to a worker-peasant-soldier university later on.

Perhaps because they had worked all day yesterday, the young people gathered in the morning looked somewhat tired. Even the usually enthusiastic Li Hongbing didn’t look so good.

But when Li Chenliang saw her, he raised his eyebrows at her. Zuo Dan, reminded of the pass she had forgotten, felt very frustrated and rolled her eyes at him.

“Brother Yiming, I feel like this kid has something going on with that girl,” Xu Dapeng glanced sideways at Li Chenliang.

Just as Li Chenliang disliked Shen Yiming, Xu Dapeng also disliked the arrogant Li Chenliang.

They were all from the provincial capital and went to the same high school. Li Chenliang’s father was in the armed forces, and he had been fearless back in school. Xu Dapeng couldn’t stand him.

Shen Yiming glanced at Zuo Dan, who was squinting, looking quite unhappy, as if someone owed her money.

He couldn’t help but feel a bit amused, curling his lips. “Mind your own business.” He had no interest in playing tricks with Li Chenliang. It wasn’t worth it.

The murmuring below didn’t affect the passionate speech of Old Leader Zuo Shuisheng.

“Fellow villagers, our Zuo family village had a great autumn harvest this year. The grain is 10 to 20% more than last year. After the harvest, we’ll slaughter pigs and distribute the grain!”

Upon hearing the words “slaughter pigs and distribute grain,” the villagers, who had appeared tired earlier, now showed excitement on their faces. Some had greedy looks in their eyes, eager to slaughter a fat pig and take the meat home.

“Alright, get to work!” The team leader waved his hand proudly, urging everyone to quickly gather the harvest.

With the incentive of fat pigs and grain, everyone scattered like they had been injected with chicken blood, eager to gather the grain and distribute the meat and food.

Some even started discussing how to find the sacks at home to store the grain and tidy up the granary.

Both Zuo Dacheng and Li Hui were wearing excited smiles on their faces as they pulled their wife and daughter aside to talk.

“Once we divide the grain, I’ll go find some work to earn money and buy some cloth to make clothes for Dandan,” Zuo Dacheng said with a smile. He had learned carpentry from a master in the provincial capital and was quite skilled. In the nearby villages, anyone who needed furniture would think of him. After the autumn harvest, many people would be getting married, and he would also be able to take on some jobs. The money he earned from this work would mostly go to his wife, and he would keep the rest for himself.

Zou Dan hadn’t expected that Zuo Dacheng would think of her first. She felt touched and smiled. “Dad, I don’t need new clothes. Just buy something for Mom. And also for Xiao Cong.”

She wasn’t truly Zou Dan, and she couldn’t enjoy the family’s care without any guilt.

Upon hearing his daughter’s words, Zuo Dacheng glanced at Li Hui, and with a bit of embarrassment on his honest face, he cleared his throat and said, “Ahem, your mom will also get some. Xiao Cong doesn’t need new clothes. A boy just needs to study; there’s no need for new clothes.”

Li Hui blushed and lowered her head. “Alright, off to work then.” Without waiting for Zuo Dacheng, she picked up the sickle and walked off.

Zuo Dacheng hurriedly chased after her.

Watching the couple act so lovey-dovey made Zou Dan feel a bit of goosebumps. Their relationship was really quite good.

Zou Dan was curious about their relationship history.

She knew that when they got married, the political movement hadn’t yet started. Though the Li family had been affected, there were still many choices available at that time. It was surprising that they had chosen Zuo Dacheng, who was still an apprentice carpenter back then.

By the time they reached the threshing ground, the young female intellectuals had already started working slowly.

Zou Dan quickly spread out the grain she had brought over.

She thought that today everyone would be working separately, but then Su Xue suddenly ran over, holding her stomach. “Dandan, I don’t feel well. Can you help me with the work today?”

Zou Dan blinked. Su Xue looked the healthiest among them all.

She pretended not to notice that, yesterday, it was Su Xue who had the most unfinished tasks.

“Where do you feel unwell? I could talk to the team leader and you can go to the clinic. The medicine our old Chinese doctor prescribed works really well.”

“…” Su Xue glared at her, clearly not expecting Zou Dan to refuse her request.

Zou Dan smiled and looked at her. She thought Su Xue must be out of her mind. How could she think of faking illness to offload work onto her? In reality, Zou Dan still had a wound on her head from the previous day. She was the real patient here.

“Let’s get to work. If the team leader asks later, I won’t be able to explain.” Such an easy task. How many girls in the village would love to do it but can’t even get a chance?

What was there to complain about?

Seeing that Zou Dan was resolute in not helping, Su Xue gritted her teeth and went back to her position to continue working. But her movements became increasingly harsh, as if she had a grudge against the wheat.

Perhaps because of what happened last night, Zou Dan’s grandmother didn’t come to deliver food this morning. Instead, Zuo Huan was sent to bring it.

Zuo Huan, pouting, carried a basket and brought a steamed bun to Zou Dan.

“Missing a meal is no big deal,” she grumbled. She hadn’t slept well and was called out to work, which made her feel a bit upset.

Zou Dan took the bun and said while eating, “If I were lying at home, it wouldn’t matter if I missed a whole day of meals.”

Zuo Huan furrowed her brow and was about to speak when she saw two unfamiliar young men pushing a cart toward them.

One of them was tall and muscular, looking a bit rough, while the other was taller and had a gentle expression.

Zuo Huan looked around before her gaze finally settled on the man who looked more gentle.

“Shen Yiming, Xu Dapeng, what are you two doing pushing the cart?” Li Hongbing, upon seeing them, quickly stood up and ran over to help push the cart.

Xu Dapeng, wiping his sweat, pointed to Shen Yiming. “He said we’re young and strong, so we should do some hard labor.”

Shen Yiming smiled. “The older villagers have been working for so many days. We just started. We have more strength than them, so it’s fine to work a bit more.”

“Shen Yiming is right. Young people should have this kind of spirit,” Li Hongbing said, looking at him with admiration.

Seeing the way Li Hongbing looked at Shen Yiming, Xu Dapeng’s eyes flickered, then he glanced at Shen Yiming. But Shen Yiming seemed not to notice and continued unloading wheat from the cart.

“Comrade, I’ll help you,” Zuo Huan suddenly put down her basket and ran over to help.

“Comrade, you must be a new intellectual youth, right? I’m from this village. My name is Zuo Huan. If you need anything, just ask me. I know this place well.”

Watching Zuo Huan work so eagerly, Zou Dan almost got blinded by her own eye-roll.

And looking at Shen Yiming’s face, she had to admit, he was quite handsome. Especially when he put on that charming smile, it made him look like he liked everyone. It was easy for someone like Zuo Huan, a silly girl, to fall for him. The power of male attractiveness was truly strong enough to make a lazy girl work so diligently.

With someone helping, the task was completed quickly.

The team also sent someone to deliver breakfast to the intellectual youths.

Shen Yiming and Xu Dapeng sat down at the threshing ground to eat.

When Zuo Huan saw him sitting there, she decided not to leave. She sat next to him and started chatting.

Zou Dan saw this and rolled her eyes. She grabbed her basket and went to deliver food. She didn’t want her parents to be working on an empty stomach.