Chapter 225: Letter

It is early April, the time when every family takes off their cotton-padded jackets and puts on cotton-padded shoes. However, there is still no definite news as to whether the Zhongping Light Industry Processing Factory can participate in the Canton Fair.

Not only did no news come, but the Zhongping team felt that they had lost out by sending Han Hongzhen away.

Since Han Hongzhen was reported and publicized, she has become a bit like a female model worker in Bingyang County. She no longer has time to stay in the factory every day. She is either going out with the Bingyang Women’s Federation to exchange and study, or being pulled by the Yaoshan Women’s Federation to give reports.

“At this time, how can you feel so calm?” When Zhang Cheng found Xie Hushan on his bicycle, the boy was squatting beside his homestead, watching his second uncle organizing people to help him clean up the newly built house, and chatting with the bricklayers who were busy mixing mud to help him build the flower wall in the yard:

“What kind of landlords and rich people are built with flower walls? In the past, the real landlords and rich people had flower halls in their homes. In storytelling, it is often said that when guests came, they would serve tea in the flower hall. When I heard that there were flower halls at home, at least three-story courtyards, and flower walls, those were people who didn’t have much money. They only had a slightly larger courtyard, and after building the east and west wing rooms and the front and back houses, the courtyard still looked empty. So they said, okay, let’s build two flower walls and a moon gate to make it look better. Do you know what the moon gate is used for? It was used when there were rich girls in the family in the past…”

“Alright, alright, you’ve been poor peasants for eight generations, so stop teaching the bricklayers what a flower hall and a moon gate are. You talk as if you’ve seen them before and heard them from storytelling…” Zhang Cheng saw that the two bricklayers were so angry at Xie Hushan for doing nothing that they could hardly do their work. He was ready to concentrate on listening to Xie Hushan’s nonsense, so he interrupted them.

Xie Hushan stood up with a smile, took out a cigarette and handed it to Zhang Cheng: “Master, how come you have time to come here? It’s still early for dinner, and there’s no need to come so early to ask for money.”

“I don’t have the mood to eat with you. Secretary Yin is a little worried. It’s already early April, and there’s no news. Secretary Yin has asked around for you, but there’s no news. He’s thinking that you should ask Jiao Peng, and ask Minister Jiao Peng to find out from the Overseas Chinese Federation to see if there’s any hope. If not, then think of other ideas. We can’t just sit there and wait for death. Since we’re going to do it, we should try to get it done,” Zhang Cheng said as he took the cigarette.

Xie Hushan took out a lighter and helped Zhang Cheng light it, saying:

“If this trick doesn’t work, the other ideas will have no chance. Tell Secretary Yin to stop asking and just wait patiently.”

“Master, sit down and rest for a while, and eat a radish. This radish is so sweet, and it’s made from sand.” Taozi was helping everyone with chores in the yard. When she saw Zhang Cheng appear at the door, she immediately came out with a plate of sliced ​​green radish, a teapot and a stool, and greeted Zhang Cheng as Xie Hushan usually called him.

The Xie family hired someone to help build a house. Not only did they have to ensure two meals a day, but they also had to provide tea, cigarettes, fruits, and other treats during breaks from work. Unfortunately, there was a shortage of fruit in spring, so they could only use crispy and sweet radishes.

Zhang Cheng took the bench and sat down. He took a radish and took a bite. He smiled at Taozi:
“Your aunt praised you for choosing a good date for your wedding. You will hold the wedding banquet after the wheat harvest and before the autumn harvest. According to the date, the baby will be born in the spring of next year, when it will be neither too cold nor too hot, so you won’t have to suffer during the confinement period. She specifically asked me to tell you that you should let her know when you have finished the house so she can come and get acquainted with it. She is clumsy and cannot embroider bedding or the kang. However, she can weave mats. She told me a long time ago that she didn’t know the size of the kang in the new house. Let her come and have a look so that she can weave two bamboo mats for you according to the size. It will be more cooling than the straw mats sold at the market.”

Taozi quickly poured a cup of tea for Zhang Cheng and agreed with a smile: “I’m thinking about it, Master. I’ll go see Auntie when I’m done. You and Third Brother can eat and talk while I go inside to help water the ground.”

“Go ahead, go ahead, be busy, don’t worry about me.” After the peaches, carrots and tea were placed in front of him, Zhang Cheng nodded with satisfaction:
“This disciple’s wife is so nice. Look, I’m coming. Carrots, tea, and benches will be ready soon. I’ve been your master for several years, but I’ve never enjoyed such treatment. So, I can’t even count on male disciples. If you want to take in another disciple, I think you should choose a female militia comrade. Female disciples know how to care for their elders.”

“I don’t mind. If you can withstand the beating from the master’s wife, I don’t mind how many junior sisters you want to accept for me.” Xie Hushan said with a sly smile:

“Anyway, if Junior Sister is close to you, then I can only be close to Master’s wife and report your movements truthfully. Besides, I’m telling you, Master, Taozi’s true colors have been exposed. I found that since Second Wife Meng helped to set the date for the wedding and notified the relatives of both sides, Taozi’s temper has risen. She didn’t dare to speak loudly to me before, but now she beats up Dahei in front of me at every turn to show her power to me.”

He and Taozi had set their wedding date in July, which was right between the wheat harvest and the autumn harvest. As for the marriage certificate between him and Qiao Yanni, it was not a big deal for Xie Hushan. After the Canton Fair, when no one would remember it in June or July, he would ask her to come back and do the divorce procedures in a low-key manner, and then get the marriage certificate with Taozi. Although he and Qiao Yanni had nothing to say to each other, Taozi seemed to have a good relationship with her. Before Qiao Yanni went to Hong Kong Island, Taozi had specially gone to see her off. It was unknown how these two women with very different personalities could have peed in the same pot.

Given the relationship between Taozi and Qiao Yanni, it is impossible for Qiao Yanni to cause trouble for others by getting a divorce.

To take a step back, even if they didn’t get the certificate, no one in Zhongping would say it was fake. After all, Taozi’s household registration was already in the Xie family. More than a year ago, the men and women in Zhongping knew that Taozi was the Xie family’s unmarried daughter-in-law.

“You’ve only just started. When I set the wedding date, your mistress dared to hit me. Taozi is just now beating the dog to scare you. It shows that she is still soft-hearted.” Zhang Cheng finished eating the radish, looked at Dahei who was watching him eagerly, and threw the radish skin that could be eaten with the skin to Dahei. Dahei opened his mouth and held it, chewing it:

“Besides, if Taozi really beat him up, Dahei isn’t stupid, so how dare he hang around here all day? He would have run back to Old Han’s house long ago.”

Xie Hushan stroked the dog’s head and said with a smile, “You are useless. Next time I beat you, lie down and pretend to be dead, foaming at the mouth, and cry. I will show my strength to beat you up and scare Taozi to tears. She will never dare to pull your ears and scold you again in this life. Do you hear me?”

“Why don’t you ask Minister Jiao Peng? Maybe the people at the Provincial Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese are well-informed.” Zhang Cheng watched his apprentice playing with the dog while continuing to repeat the instructions conveyed by Secretary Yin.

Xie Hushan stroked Dahei’s ears and said, “We can’t ask about this. It’s useless to ask. I estimate that there is a 90% chance that it’s true. The fourth girl is still running around outside. The higher-ups haven’t said to control her, which means they still hope to see her, a rural female comrade who responds to openness, make achievements. If we lose our patience and ask around, it will make us look weak and easily provoke others to come down to investigate in advance, leaking the real news, and then everything will go wrong.”

“Minister Zhang, would you like to stay for dinner with us tonight?” Second uncle Xie Qifeng had just finished his work and came over with a smile to take a breath and greet Zhang Cheng.

Zhang Cheng smiled and said, “No, I have to go home tonight. It’s a lean season. A relative came to borrow food. Not only does he have to borrow food, he also has to give him a meal.”

“That’s right. It’s the season now, and my wife’s family can’t bear it anymore. I sent them some sweet potato flour and corn flour the day before yesterday.” Xie Qifeng said with understanding when he heard Zhang Cheng say that he would go home for dinner with relatives in the evening and would borrow food from them.

There was no way. Not all of my relatives lived in a bumper harvest team like Zhongping. Usually by April and May, the production team with poor harvests could no longer hold on, because the wild vegetable porridge had been almost eaten up, and the team could no longer pay out advance rations. Every family had to use the dividend money to buy the state-allocated return grain at a low price, but they were reluctant to spend the money they had saved with great difficulty.

So we should find ways to borrow as much money as possible from wealthy relatives to get through the remaining one or two months.

In a wealthy brigade like Zhongping, it would be abnormal if no relatives came to ask for food in the spring.

As the three were chatting, the commune driver drove the long-lost Changjiang sidecar, emitting black smoke, and came from afar. Seeing Zhang Cheng and Xie Hushan chatting, he shouted:

“Minister Zhang, Captain Xie, Secretary Yin wants you to go to the commune as soon as possible! We received a letter from above! It says that before April 17, four employees of our factory should bring their products to the office of Zhili Foreign Trade Corporation at the Guangzhou Fair! If you are late, you will bear the consequences at your own risk!”

(End of this chapter)