Zhenzhen was very sensitive to the changes in society, but she didn't know if it was because Beicha was too remote, but apart from the fact that she spent more time singing red songs and reciting quotations at school, there weren't many other changes.
As spring came and flowers bloomed, Li Muwu took down all the newspapers pasted outside the windows and opened the windows that had been closed for four or five months. The house that had been dark for a whole winter finally had sunlight shining in again. Taking advantage of the good weather, Wang Sufen took apart all the quilts and mattresses at home, washed them, dried them in the sun, and sewed them again.
Doubao was only a few months old and was still breastfeeding, but Wang Sufen still didn't let Guihua touch cold water. She only let her do odd jobs. Even if she wanted to wash something, she had her boil a pot of hot water first, for fear that she would catch a cold and get sick, and both the adults and children would suffer. The family worked hard for more than half a month, and the front and back rooms were all cleaned up and bright, and all kinds of fresh vegetables were planted in the yard.
Ever since Zhenzhen used her special powers to help the family grow food, the rice and flour jars in the Li family were always full. Zhenzhen also loved to eat all kinds of fresh vegetables, so Mrs. Li no longer planted corn in the front and back yards, but planted all kinds of fruits and vegetables. Anyway, as long as there are seeds, even if there are roots, they can take root and sprout in the Li family's vegetable garden, so Mrs. Li and Li Muwu often brought them home.
Mingbei was busy reviewing his lessons from morning till night after school started, and had no time to go to the mountains to pick wild vegetables. Wang Sufen was too busy with household affairs to take care of the pigs. Zhenzhen simply let the front and back of the pigpen be filled with vegetables suitable for domestic pigs. When making pig food, they could just pick them whenever they wanted. When one patch was picked, the next patch would start to grow.
Guihua lived in the back room. She couldn't help with the other chores with her children, so she took over the job of cooking pig food every day. She used sweet potato leaves and sweet potato flour and some wild vegetables from the pig pen. She just chopped them up, cooked them, and poured them into the pig trough. When one piece of land was dug up, the next piece started to grow again. Guihua was so happy that she said that the land at home was fertile, otherwise everything would grow well.
Under the lifelong education of Old Lady Li, Li Muwu is a tough and clean person. He cleans the pigsty every now and then. Even though the Li family has raised pigs for several years, the pigsty is always clean and there is no smell at all.
When the first batch of pakchoi grew in the Li family's field, the cherry tree that had been planted for three years finally bore fruit. The saplings were brought back by Mingdong from the Ice City. During his school years, Mingdong had to work on the school farm every few months, doing everything from sowing and fertilizing to harvesting wheat and pulling radishes. There were several villages near the farm. One family had a cherry tree that had grown for seven or eight years. Every May and June, the tree was full of red cherries, which made people salivate. Seeing that the family had a few small cherry saplings, Mingdong took advantage of the holiday to secretly exchange two of them with food coupons and took the train home.
Mingdong planted the sapling in the open space east of the house. Old Lady Li was afraid that Zhenzhen would grow into a towering tree in a minute, so she could only tell Zhenzhen secretly day and night that she had to wait until the cherry tree grew up in three years before it could bear fruit. Zhenzhen was not a real child. In the past, she controlled the plants to grow freely when there was no one in the mountains. But there were neighbors living in front of and behind her house, and she didn't want to make a big noise and make her home the topic of others' after-dinner conversation.
After waiting for three years, Zhenzhen has been looking at the cherry blossoms in the yard every day since they bloomed this year. Old Mrs. Li couldn't help but sweat again and told her to be patient and wait until the month. So Zhenzhen could only check the consciousness of the cherry tree from time to time, water it and prune it in time, and wait to eat the big, red cherries.
Now Zhenzhen finally saw the first naturally ripe cherry, so she boldly ripened some of them. When Mrs. Li saw the tree full of red cherries and counted the days, she breathed a sigh of relief and shouted at the top of her voice: "Zhenzhen, come and pick the cherries quickly."
Zhenzhen found a dishwashing basin in the kitchen, stood on a stool and picked ripe cherries. Old Lady Li looked at them under the tree. Some cherries were small and green, but the moment Zhenzhen touched them, they became big and red. The bright red color was so tempting. Old Lady Li turned around and saw that Guihua didn't come out of the house. She was relieved and pulled Zhenzhen's clothes and whispered, "Be careful, don't let your sister-in-law see you."
Zhen Zhen turned around and nodded, and whispered, "I know."
After picking only half a basin of cherries, Zhenzhen felt a little bored. She looked around consciously and saw Guihua was in the house taking apart Roubao's childhood clothes. It seemed that she would not be able to come out for a while, so she smiled and raised the basin higher. In an instant, cherries rained down from the tree. The big, red cherries fell into the basin that Zhen was holding, and in the blink of an eye, the basin was full.
Old Lady Li quickly took the basin full of cherries from Zhenzhen's hand. The heavy weight almost hurt her waist. She smacked her lips and looked at Zhenzhen in surprise: "How can you be so strong? This basin of cherries must weigh at least ten pounds."
Zhenzhen jumped down from the stool nimbly and took the basin from Old Lady Li with a smile: "I don't know why I'm so strong. It seems like I get a little stronger every year, but not much stronger. I can't even lift the big rock in our yard where we pickle sauerkraut."
Old Lady Li looked at the huge rock drying in the yard and said with a smile, "That rock must weigh at least several dozen kilograms. It's hard for your father to move it, and your uncle has to help him lift it. If you can lift that rock, your father will be scared to death."
Zhenzhen separated out a small pot of cherries and said without raising her head, "My father won't be scared to death. He's used to it." When Old Mrs. Li thought about it, it made sense. She wasn't scared to death even when she watched crops grow from seeds in an instant all over the ground, so why would she be surprised when she moved a stone
The cherries grown at home were not sprayed with pesticides. They were ready to eat after being rinsed twice with water from a water tank. Zhenzhen picked up the largest cherry and put it into Mrs. Li's mouth. Mrs. Li took a bite and her mouth was full of sweet cherry juice. She spit out the pit and Mrs. Li nodded repeatedly: "This cherry tastes good, sweet and juicy."
Zhen Zhen chuckled and said, "The saplings my brother brought back are good."
She sent a basin of washed cherries to Wang Sufen, and another basin to Guihua in the backyard. Roubao was sitting on the kang playing with a piece of cloth. When he saw Zhenzhen coming over with a basin of red fruits, he immediately climbed over from the kang, staring at the juicy cherries and drooling: "Aunt, I want to eat some too."
Zhenzhen reached out and carried him to the kang and helped him put on his shoes: "Go to the yard with your aunt to eat. I picked a pot of it."
This was the first time that Roubao had seen cherries in his life. Zhenzhen pushed him down on a small stool and told him, "This cherry has a pit inside. You must spit it out when you eat it. If you swallow it, a tree will grow in your stomach." As Zhenzhen spoke, she stretched out her fingers and gently scratched Roubao's belly.
Roubao held his belly and laughed out loud. When he was done laughing, Zhenzhen handed him a cherry: "You must sit on the stool and eat it honestly. If you run away with the cherry in your mouth, your aunt won't give you any."
Roubao nodded repeatedly, and couldn't wait to put the cherries into his mouth. As soon as he took a bite, a happy smile appeared on his face. After eating a few, Roubao seemed to feel that eating one by one was not enough, so he opened his little hand and grabbed a handful of cherries from the basin and stuffed them into his mouth, bulging his cheeks, and cherry juice flowed out from his mouth as he bit.
Zhenzhen sat beside him, savoring the cherries carefully. Most of the cherries she ate in the later life were purple-red cherries. Although they were large, they had thick skins. They were sweet but also a little sour. If you eat too much, you will feel sour. The cherry tree in Lao Li's house is a local variety. It has a thin skin, is small and juicy, and tastes sweet when you bite it.
Old Lady Li, Zhenzhen, and Roubao were sitting in the yard, basking in the sun while eating cherries. The braised chicken also stretched its head to watch. Zhenzhen took out a cherry and shook it in front of it: "Do you want to eat it?"
Huangdou, who was eating the braised chicken, rolled his eyes and circled around Zhenzhen in a flattering manner: "Let me have a taste."
"Your recipes are getting more and more diverse." Zhenzhen smiled and threw one to it. It pecked at the braised chicken nugget with its mouth and looked at it curiously: "Can you taste what it tastes like?"
The braised chicken looked up at Zhenzhen, then lowered its head and pecked at it twice, but its mouth was too big and tight, so it quickly poked the small cherry into pieces. The braised chicken cried out twice in anger, and swallowed the cherry with the skin and pit.
Zhenzhen burst into laughter upon seeing this. The braised chicken flapped its wings and looked at her angrily: "I just don't know how to spit out the pits. What's so funny? Besides, we chickens even eat stones, so what's a cherry pit? If you have time to laugh, you might as well look at your tree. I see a lot of birds pecking at your cherries."
Zhen Zhen didn't even raise her eyelids when she heard this: "Eat it, it doesn't matter if there are a few, as long as they don't cause any trouble."
When birds eat cherries, they peck here and there. The ones they have bitten turn black and are uneatable. Zhenzhen naturally doesn't care about those cherries. If there are not enough to eat, she can just grow more. But she can't tolerate people wasting money, let alone birds.
A leading bird sensed Zhenzhen's consciousness, chirped and gave instructions to the group of birds, and took the lead to lead the group of birds to honestly pick up cherries and fly to the ground to eat. After eating, it flew up again to peck at another one. The braised chicken nuggets looked jealous and snorted proudly: "It's so hard to eat a fruit, no wonder it's so small."
Zhenzhen looked at it with amusement: "If it's as fat as you, there's no need to fly, just throw it in the pot and stew it."
The braised chicken is no longer afraid to talk about being stewed. It proudly flapped its wings and said, "Grandma said, don't stew me. I'm an old rooster and my meat is not tasty."
"You're quite self-aware." Zhenzhen looked at it and laughed. While the two birds were fighting, they kept stuffing cherries into their mouths. Before they knew it, the whole basin of cherries had been eaten by several people. Zhenzhen then realized that her stomach was bulging.
After burping, Zhenzhen took the enamel pot handed to her by Old Lady Li and sat on a small stool in the yard. While drinking boiled water, she couldn't help but sigh: "What a good day, I don't know what to do."
Although Mrs. Li was over 60, her hearing and eyesight were not blurry. When she heard Zhenzhen talking about making a fuss, she quickly asked, "Who made a fuss?"
Zhenzhen was stunned for a moment, then quickly added a sentence, pointing forward casually: "It's Zhang Defu's house that lives over there. They're the only ones who quarrel all day long, and I don't know what they're quarreling about."
Old Lady Li sneered at this and said, "There has never been a good person in his family, from the old to the young. They have been calculating all day long to get a little from the east and west. During the famine, they almost starved to death but refused to go to the mountains to open up wasteland. They just count on getting benefits from other people's families all day long. They were real scoundrels in the past."
Guihua finished making clothes and came out to stretch her arms. She happened to hear what Old Lady Li said and immediately said, "That's right. That family is too shameless. I really admire Zhang Defu. Every time we slaughtered a pig, he pretended not to hear it. But when the pig was slaughtered and the pork slices were stewed, he had the nerve to come to our house to eat. And that time when Hongzhong brought back a deer, he smelled the aroma of our barbecue, knocked on the door and asked mom to give him a deer leg. His face was licked by a dog."
Zhenzhen was so happy after hearing this: "The point is that his family never gets any advantage. As soon as he shows up, he's scolded away by grandma. How can he become more courageous after all these setbacks?"
"His family is so shameless. Haven't you seen that no one in our street likes to associate with his family? His eldest son is the same age as Dongzi, and he still hasn't found a wife. When families with daughters in Beicha find out about his family's character, they don't want to marry into his family. I heard that his family wants to go to the mountains to find a wife."
Old Lady Li and Guihua were talking about family matters, and Zhenzhen wanted to go see Mingdong. After saying hello to Old Lady Li, Zhenzhen went out and ran straight to the mountain, found a towering tree, and moved to a thick branch. With the cover of the branches and leaves, Zhenzhen carefully hid her body, and then her consciousness left her body and came to Anbei.
Mingdong had no problem getting used to Anbei. One reason was that it was close to home, and the eating and drinking habits were no different from those in Beicha. Four and a half years of college life also made him accustomed to college life. Now that the farming season was in full swing, Mingdong took the students to the farm to plant crops, partly for the school's self-sufficiency, and partly to combine the content of the books with practice. Agriculture is something that can never be just a theory.
Looking at Mingdong wearing a straw hat and squatting on the ground holding a handful of soil, enthusiastically explaining the composition of the land to the students, the students around him had all studied for more than ten years and were admitted. At this time, they still had the idea of respecting teachers and valuing education in their hearts. Seeing that Mingdong was only a few years older than them but could explain the knowledge in the textbooks clearly, they all admired Mingdong very much.
Seeing that it was noon, Mingdong threw the dirt in his hands on the ground and prepared to go to the cafeteria to eat. At this time, there were two large pots of food on each window of the cafeteria, one was stewed potatoes with beans, the other was braised eggplant with sauce, next to it was a large bucket of corn porridge and a basket of large pancakes.
Mingdong went back to the dormitory, washed his hands, and changed his clothes that were covered in dirt. Then he took two rice bowls to the canteen to get food. One bowl was a big spoonful of two kinds of vegetables, with seven or eight big pancakes on top, and the other bowl was filled with corn porridge.
Mingdong took a big bite of a pancake, and stuffed a mouthful of food into his mouth. He looked around in confusion while chewing. A tall and thin man who looked a few years older than Mingdong sat down opposite Mingdong with a rice bowl. As soon as he sat down, he asked Mingdong: "Why are you looking at something instead of eating?"
"Nothing." Mingdong turned his head immediately: "I just want to see if all the students in our class are here?"
Zhenzhen breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Mingdong was not stupid and said everything when he was with his colleagues. It would never go wrong to be cautious at this time. Little did she know that when the Cultural Revolution started, many of the people who reported it would be their colleagues and relatives and friends. Seeing that everything seemed calm in Anbei, Zhenzhen was temporarily relieved.
*****
Mingbei worked hard for a year and finally made it to the day of the high school entrance exam. After finishing the last exam, Mingbei ran home with his schoolbag on his back. Wang Sufen was cooking in the kitchen. Mingbei came in happily and before Wang Sufen could ask him anything, he filled the kitchen with books. Wang Sufen quickly pulled out two books, and the others were engulfed in flames. Wang Sufen was so angry that she chased Mingbei with a broom and started beating him.
Old Mrs. Li heard the noise and came out of the east room. She saw Wang Sufen chasing Mingbei out of the house. Mingbei didn't feel that he was going to be beaten at all. He ran a few steps and looked back, laughing, fearing that Wang Sufen would not catch up with him.
"What's the matter?" Old Lady Li walked with her bound feet: "Why did you get beaten up right after you came back? Didn't you do well in the exam?" Without waiting for Wang Sufen to answer, Old Lady Li spoke up for Mingbei: "If he really isn't good at studying, forget it. Didn't Musen come yesterday and say that the hydrolysis plant will be hiring in August? Let him go and take the exam with Mingnan."
"No, mother." Wang Sufen pinched her waist and panted heavily, "This prodigal child burned all his textbooks when he got home. He bought them with money. Don't you think it would be great if he kept them for Zhenzhen to use in the future?"
Mingbei stuck his head out from behind the cherry tree. "Come on, my sister is only in the second grade. By the time she's in the third grade, my books will be so yellow that I won't be able to read the words clearly."
Old Lady Li also nodded: "What Mingbei said makes sense. Don't get angry, Dongzi's mother. His book is so filthy that Zhenzhen would definitely not even touch it. Even if he keeps it, no one would want it."
"You can use a table or chair as a cushion, or throw it there to light a fire. I don't know what he was thinking." After listening to Mrs. Li's advice, Wang Sufen was not so angry anymore. She pointed at Mingbei with a broom and said, "I'll let you go this time. I'll see what happens next time."
"There will definitely not be a next time." Mingbei said with a playful smile: "I have read those books countless times in preparation for the exam this year. I feel like vomiting when I look at those books. I just want to burn all the books and make myself feel better."
Thinking of Mingbei's thin face from getting up early and staying up late to read books, Wang Sufen began to feel sorry for Mingbei again, and her tone softened: "Alright, alright, you don't look like a good student, so just let it burn. Go and see if your sister is out of school. I'll make you some scrambled eggs for lunch."
Mingbei then came out from behind the tree, and went to meet Zhenzhen with Hongzhong and Tianhu. Tianhu had been with Hongzhong for half a year, and gradually he also recognized the name Tianhu. Although he was a little slow to react, he knew to call him. Li Musen saw that Tianhu had made great progress, so he simply left him at Li Muwu's house. Anyway, no one cared about him when he was at work and the children were in school, and he had a companion with Hongzhong.
Zhenzhen's school also had an exam today. As usual, Zhenzhen handed in her test paper in ten minutes and went out to hang out. Mingbei took Hongzhong to school and leaned over to look through the classroom window. Seeing that Zhenzhen's seat was empty, he understood what was going on and told Hongzhong, "Go up the mountain and see where your sister is."
Zhenzhen was circling the tree on the mountain at this time. The Cultural Revolution had begun, and many of the calligraphy and paintings, antiques, and treasures were damaged during this time. Zhenzhen's teleportation distance was now enough to leave the province, and she had tried continuous teleportation, which did not have much impact on her body and mind. She decided to take advantage of this period to collect more treasures and bury them in the mountains. After the reform and opening up, she could take them out and donate them to the country or leave them to future generations, which would be a huge fortune.
But this thing can't be buried directly in the ground, it has to be put in a box, Zhenzhen is thinking about how to turn the tree into a box. She can use her supernatural power to knock the tree down, or split it into pieces of equal thickness and size, but no matter how thick the tree is, the planks it can split won't be too big, so Zhenzhen has no idea how to put the planks together to make a box.
After finding a tree and splitting a few wooden boards to piece together the whole morning, Zhenzhen still had no clue. Just as she was about to try again, two birds suddenly flew over, landed on Zhenzhen's shoulders, and chirped to them, "Hongzhong is looking for you at the foot of the mountain."
These two birds were discovered by Zhenzhen when she went to Lao Li's house to eat cherries. Among the seventy or eighty birds, only these two could communicate with Zhenzhen, so Zhenzhen kept them by her side so that they could serve as spies when something happened.
After shaking off the sawdust on her body, Zhenzhen stood up and chose a position not too far from Mingbei and moved over. Hongzhong immediately smelled Zhenzhen's scent sensitively, called out twice, and went up happily.
Mingbei followed behind Zhenzhen. When he saw that Zhenzhen's face was covered with dirt, he couldn't help laughing at her: "Did you skip school and go up the mountain to dig a rabbit hole?"
"No, I went treasure hunting." Zhen Zhen replied in a half-truthful tone, then turned around and asked him, "Have you finished the exam? How did you do?"
"Anyway, I've done what I should do. I've worked hard for a year. It doesn't matter if it works or not. I won't waste my energy on it anymore." Mingbei scratched his head and was a little worried: "If I don't get into high school, do you think I can get into the hydrolysis plant with only a junior high school diploma?"
Think about it, the Cultural Revolution has begun now, and academic qualifications are becoming less and less valued. Although Mingbei is not a child of the hydrolysis factory, his chances are still relatively high due to his family background and Li Muwu's identity as a worker in the grain warehouse.
Zhenzhen nodded vaguely: "She should be able to pass the exam, but from what I heard from sister Wanqiu, her family plans to let her finish high school before going to work."
It is much easier for children of employees in the hydrolysis plant to get a job there than for people from outside. Wanqiu is the eldest child in the family, so as long as she is willing, she can go to work in the factory at any time.
Thinking of late autumn, Mingbei's face was a little worried and a little happy, which made Zhenzhen dumbfounded. She was a single dog for 24 years in her previous life, and she traveled through time before she could understand. Zhenzhen said that she really understood this kind of stupid secret love.
The author has something to say: I saw that some fairies were worried about Mingdong during the □□ period. Anyway, in real life, my uncle said that although he was subjected to labor reform during the □□ period, he did not suffer much, so everyone can rest assured about the following plot.
This chapter is about cherries. It reminds me of when I was a kid at my grandpa's house. I pushed open the window from the kang and saw a small enclosed courtyard with two sturdy cherry trees. The cherries on the trees were so sweet and juicy that you could only use a pot to pick them up. They were so delicious~~~
I’m going to send out the red envelopes for the 14th and 15th of the first lunar month right away. The moon is full on the 16th and today is Saturday, so shouldn’t we celebrate as well? Still 50 red envelopes, x-mas!
Thank you to the little angels who voted for Overlord this week
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