Siheyuan: Banggeng and I are classmates

The ice and snow gradually melted, and the team members gradually became active. Early spring is the time to repair and dig water ditches, divert water to irrigate the fields, and grow seedlings and plant rice.

Without water shoes, the cold river water would flow over your feet.

The cow and pig manure fermented in the breeding farm over a winter was also transported out, and Xiaowang Village was bustling with activity.

Perhaps it was because Dong Shuwan had also advised Zhou Ru, and afterwards her tone when speaking to Li Muhua was a little stiff.

But Li Muhua didn't care and thought it was fine this way.

The willow trees by the river began to sprout, the spring breeze swept across the earth, and tender grass grew on the hillside meadows. The grass was lush and the birds were flying, and the scene was thriving.

By June, every household has two fruit trees, with loquats, apricots, plums and peaches hanging on the branches.

The educated youth camp did not have this treatment, and even if they planted the trees now, it would be too late. They could only find Captain Ma and go to the orchard to buy two fruit trees.

Most of the fruit trees in the orchard were collected from every household. Now the regulations stipulate that each household can only plant two fruit trees. The others will either be cut down directly or transplanted into the orchard.

Captain Ma was also very generous and agreed to sell the fruit trees directly. Everyone picked out a peach tree and a loquat tree, which were not very common in the city.

"Another five dollars!" Li Muhua lamented the financial account.

Hu Lai climbed up the tree, holding a peach in each hand and chewing it, saying:

"Five dollars is worth it. Look, these two trees have at least 50 kilograms of fruit. Even if I spend money to buy the fruit, five cents a kilogram is still worth it!"

Li Muhua felt that what he said made sense, but almost every household here had fruit trees, and every brigade had an orchard, so it was difficult to sell the fruits at a good price.

What's more, Xiaowang Village has inconvenient transportation. It takes three or four hours to take a ox cart to get to the county. I guess the fruits on the trees will eventually have to be shared among the villagers, or rot and become compost!

This year is different from previous years. Last year I only spent eleven dollars to buy three ducks and two chickens, and raised them to lay eggs every day.

This year, they spent 28 yuan to buy two piglets and asked the breeder Hu Lai to take care of them. They hoped to eat pork during the Chinese New Year and sell them for a good price.

In short, they make money in whatever way the villagers can, all for the purpose of filling the deficit at the end of the year.

But even if the villagers were born here, are proficient in farming and breeding, and are good at using all kinds of wild vegetables and food to fill their stomachs, they can only eat meat a few times a year, and it is considered good if they can eat sweet potatoes all year round.

Li Muhua and the other five did not hold out much hope of making money. They could only hope that the deficit would be smaller by the end of the year so that they could ask their families for less money.

The few of them not only ate their fill under the tree, but Hu Lai also took off his coat and picked a lot of fruits to take back.

After a year, Hu Lai no longer has the fat he had last year. Instead, he is lean with a hint of muscle and looks like a good guy.

He was not shy like the people in the city. Dong Shuwan even teased Hu Lai, saying that he looked like a hairless black monkey.

Hu Lai disdained to refute, and the few of them strolled back to the yard.

But on the way he heard a piece of news that an old bachelor named Jiang from a large brigade across the river had sneaked into their team's cowshed last night.

Then with the old ox...

He had been convicted of destroying revolutionary means of production and was taken to the police station.

The news was so horrifying that even Li Muhua, who had heard of the love story between Asan and his wife, was stunned, let alone the others.

In a daze, Li Muhua looked at Hu Lai blankly.

"Hu Lai, you and——"

Before Li Muhua could finish, Hu Lai jumped up and shouted, "You, you, what do you mean by you? I'm not an old bachelor. I'm a breeder. What can I do to the cows?"

Several people were instantly more confused!

Li Muhua shouted quickly: "That's not what I meant. How could you be interested in a cow? I just want you to be more careful in the future. Don't let anyone get into the cowshed and kill you in the dark..."

Upon hearing this, Hu Lai's face turned red and black, and he jumped up and shouted, "Li Muhua, stop talking nonsense. This is a bachelor and a cow. What does it have to do with me?"

Seeing Hu Lai getting angry, Li Muhua could only shake his head and say, "It has nothing to do with you. This has absolutely nothing to do with you!"

"I just want you to be more careful next time. After all, this happened in the cowshed, and there are quite a few old bachelors in our village—"

"Like Old Man Wang or something like that." Li Muhua said, looking at Dong Shuwan and said, "You girls should be more careful and never be alone."

"Don't go to remote places, especially at night. If you need to go out for something, it's best to call us or go find Captain Ma."

"Call you?"

Dong Shuwan glanced at Zhou Ru and said, "I think you are not as reliable as Old Man Wang!"

Li Muhua glanced at Dong Shuwan with hatred, then gritted his teeth and said, "You can call Old Man Wang, but don't be alone. If something goes wrong, we won't know who to look for!"

After hearing what Li Muhua said, Dong Shuwan put her hands on her waist and shouted, "What are you talking about? You are——"

Before Dong Shuwan finished speaking, Zhou Ru shook her and said softly, "Shuwan, don't be like this. Mu Hua said this for our safety."

"Look, since we arrived at the Youth League Center, hasn't he been taking care of us in everything?"

"If there were no aunties from the village to accompany us, he wouldn't even let us do something as trivial as collecting firewood..."

With her mediation, Dong Shuwan and Li Muhua's expressions eased a little.

"Okay, okay, for Zhou Ru's sake, I'll consider you kind, okay?" Dong Shuwan said reluctantly.

Li Muhua also said coldly: "You don't need to calculate, go back, such a big thing has happened, Captain Ma must be waiting for us in the yard."

"At that time, he will also advise you these words out of 'good intentions'."

After saying that, Li Muhua turned around and walked back. Zhao Quan and Hu Lai looked at each other and followed.

He took care of them because he knew that some of the female educated youth would have a miserable ending. After all, he and Zhou Ru were old classmates, and it was fate that they met on the train.

If he had known this would happen, he might as well have found a few reliable classmates to go to the countryside with him, so that he would not have run into them and been forced to go to the countryside with them.

Seeing that Li Muhua looked unhappy, Zhou Ru pulled Dong Shuwan and said, "Don't be like this, I——"

"That's what I'm saying. You guys can do whatever you want. I won't go to light the fire at noon, so that we don't have to argue again and you guys will have to persuade me then."

Dong Shuwan continued to speak, no room for discussion.

Zhou Ru looked at Han Lu favorably, and Han Lu said, "Don't look at me, just persuade her. I'm a substitute teacher now, and I often come back later than you, so I can only eat ready-made food."

"Don't look at me!"

Dong Shuwan left Zhou Ru and caught up with Hu Lai. Hu Lai handed her the loquat and they walked side by side.

Zhou Ru said nothing more and hung at the end side by side with Han Lu.

When the six people returned to the yard, Captain Ma and his wife were already standing at the gate of the yard, waiting for them to come back.