"Village head, RMB is the people's currency. Xu Laidi actually dared to throw our people's currency on the ground. This is too disrespectful to the people, the motherland, and the party. She is not a spy, otherwise who would throw RMB on the ground?"
Xu Laidi was so scared that he turned around quickly, bent down and picked up the RMB one by one. After straightening them out, he handed them to Cheng Qiao respectfully. Cheng Qiao took them and counted them one by one.
"The total here is one hundred and one dollars and twenty-six cents. You still owe me eighteen dollars and seventy-four cents."
"Isn't it one hundred and ten dollars and forty-six cents? How come it's one hundred and one dollars and twenty-six cents?"
Xu Laidi screamed in shock. The difference was not one or two cents, but thirteen yuan and twenty cents. If he bought sorghum flour at three cents a pound, he could buy more than four hundred pounds.
"How should I know? You scattered the money, picked it up, and put it in my hand. I counted it for your sake. No, I counted it for the sake of the elders and the village chief. How about you count it again?"
Cheng Qiao handed the money to Xu Laidie, who quickly took it and counted it one by one. Cheng Qiao sneered in her heart, as she had already seen a ten-dollar black note still under Aunt Wang's feet.
The other three one-yuan bills were quickly picked up by the three children. While she was counting the money, the children all ran away. Aunt Wang pretended to play with her shoes and hid the money in her trouser pockets.
Xu Laidi counted three times to make sure what Cheng Qiao said was true. He regretted it so much that he wanted to slap himself twice. He first stuffed the money into Cheng Qiao's hand, and then started searching on the ground.
"Here's a dime."
An aunt was sharp-eyed and saw the dime blown to the edge of a stone by the wind, so she quickly picked it up. Xu Laidie rushed over quickly and snatched the dime from her hand.
“Here’s a dime, too.”
A little girl held a dime in her hand, but she covered her mouth with her hand in regret, secretly hating herself for making such a noise, otherwise the money would be hers.
Xu Laidi rushed over again and held the money in his hand, but he looked at every villager sharply, as if they had picked up his money.
"Village chief, are you going to distribute the food? We are still waiting for the rice to be cooked at home."
Aunt Wang was a little afraid to look at Xu Laidi, and she started shouting at the top of her voice. When she took the lead, the villagers nodded one after another. Eating was the most important thing, and who cared about the bad things of the educated youth.
"Xu Zhiqing, you still owe my wife 18.74 yuan. Remember to pay it back, or I will come to your Zhiqing camp to get something."
Li Huan looked at Xu Laidi coldly with a very bad tone, which scared Xu Laidi so much that he stepped back several steps. Suddenly he remembered that he only had two cents on his body, so how was he going to live in the future
"Village chief, I only have these two cents. Do you want me to starve to death?"
"If you borrow money from others, of course you have to pay it back. What do you mean by starving you to death? You should be careful with your words."
Chen Weidang was unhappy. What was wrong with this female educated youth? How could she casually put a accusation on herself
"Xu Zhiqing, after we have all received our food, if there is any extra you can borrow some from the village. If you want to pay it back quickly, we will repair the river in a week. It will be twelve centimeters a day, and three meals will be provided. You should sign up."
Although Cuihua also hated Xu Laidie, she certainly disagreed when Xu Laidie wanted to put accusations on her man. She immediately thought of the job of repairing the river.
This job is very hard and tiring. Historically, women in the village would not participate if there was a stutterer in their family. Those who could participate would be given the title of "Iron Lady".
"If I don't go to repair the river channel, I will be frozen to death and exhausted."
Xu Laidi refused outright. During the winter when farming is idle in rural areas, water conservancy projects would be built and the village would ask people to sign up voluntarily. In order to have enough food to eat and earn more money, the young and strong laborers would usually rush to sign up.
"It's better to die of cold than of hunger. You can do whatever you want. You are lazy and greedy, and you don't know how to appreciate kindness."
Cuihua's face turned cold and she turned away. The villagers no longer paid any attention to Xu Laidi and quickly began to distribute the grain. Li's mother and Li Legong got exactly the same amount, all of which they exchanged for coarse grains and asked Li Huan to take them back home.
"Starting this afternoon, my family will build a house. Anyone who is free can come and help. I will provide two meals a day and pay you fifty cents. If you have adobe or wood at home, please bring them here. I can exchange them for food."
Li Huan held food in his hands and shouted at the top of his voice. Aunt Wang was the first to raise her hand. She could help Li's mother cook. Usually, there was no salary for cooking, but there was food to eat.
Cuihua also raised her hand. The boy at home has grown up. Those who can earn money should go out and earn money. Otherwise, how can we get the money to marry a wife
In less than three minutes, Li Huan had more than a dozen young men sign up. Even Jiang Guangrong from the educated youth point signed up, which made Chen Dazhui, who was waiting behind him, envious. If he had money, he wouldn't have to work so hard.
"Cheng Qiao, let us help you cook. We don't want money, just give us a meal, okay?"
Zhang Yuefang also came over holding Han Chunmei's hand. Cheng Qiao has always been generous, and she will definitely not treat the people who helped her build the house unfairly.
Cheng Qiao pursed her lips and smiled. As long as the building materials were in place, the rural adobe house could be tidied up inside and out in just a week.
And now that there are so many people helping, it looks like it can be completed in three or four days. During these days, she can also take out food from the space with a clear conscience.
Zhang Yuefang was so happy to see Cheng Qiao nod, she took Han Chunmei's hand and returned to the team. They were already discussing what gift to give to Cheng Qiao, as she was getting married.
Chen Weidang smiled comfortably. After those young and middle-aged men helped Li Huan build the house, they just happened to participate in the work of constructing the river channel, which did not hinder them from making money at all.
Chen Weimin was very conflicted. He also wanted to help the second-rate guy build a house. At fifty cents a day, he would only have two dollars in four days, which was enough for him to buy a few packs of cigarettes.
But he couldn't bring himself to say goodbye. It was all his own daughter's fault. Why was he pushing Cheng Zhiqing away for no reason? But then again, if it wasn't his own daughter, how could the second-rate guy marry Cheng Qiao
"The money hasn't been distributed yet. The fellow villagers are waiting."
Chen Weidang glanced at his younger brother and shook his head. His younger brother has been like this since he was a child. He cares too much about personal gains and losses, so he gains less and loses more.
"Village chief, can you come and help on the day of the beam raising? You are the leader of our village, so you have to be there."
Li Huan walked up to Chen Weidang, gave him a thumbs up, and sincerely invited him to take the lead in building his new house.
Chen Weidang smiled and nodded. Raising the beam was a big deal. As a village chief, of course he had to take the lead. The look in his eyes when he looked at Li Huan also became much better. This guy still had good sense.