Guan Baiyu's popularity in the class is not bad, after all, his grades are very good.
But Yan Jiangtao didn't like him.
Guan Baiyu knew the reason.
In their school, most of the students' lives at home are similar. At most, some people are willing to spend money, and food and clothing are better. Some people are more stingy, and their food and clothing are relatively poor.
But Yan Jiangtao is different, his family is quite rich.
His dad bought a few machines to weave at home and made a lot of money. Every week, Yan Jiangtao has thirty pocket money!
You must know that other people in the class have 50 cents of pocket money every day.
Yan Jiangtao's family is rich, eats well and dresses well, so he always dislikes him and feels that his body is dirty.
Once, when Yan Jiangtao saw a louse on his head, he hated him even more and preached it in the class.
There are not a few people in the class who have had lice. The medicine for lice in the canteen has been selling very well. Most people don't care about it, but there are also a few people who coaxed Yan Jiangtao together and couldn't get along with him.
Most of the time, they said in public that he had lice, there must be bed bugs in the house, and occasionally they would suddenly push him in gym class.
It's childish and annoying.
In particular, although others sympathized with him, they at most comforted him behind their backs, and did not dare to make trouble with Yan Jiangtao and the others for him.
Even he himself did not dare to offend Yan Jiangtao.
He wanted to change the table, and he mentioned it to the teacher, but the teacher didn't agree.
Their class teacher is surnamed Chen. In this school where most of the teachers are messing around and talking casually, the young teacher Chen is still serious and responsible, but he always thinks that students should help each other.
Teacher Chen asked him to help Yan Jiangtao improve his academic performance.
Well, this is not necessarily Teacher Chen's idea, maybe Yan Jiangtao's father's idea.
In school, he had one of the best grades, and he didn't cause trouble. He was a good boy in the eyes of many people. Before... There were many people who wanted to be at the same table with him.
Yan Jiangtao has always been self-willed. Seeing that there were dead bugs in his schoolbag, he didn't eat any food, so he threw down his schoolbag and went home directly.
He didn't want to continue reading at all, and he didn't like to listen to lectures at all. He was forced to enter the fast class by his father.
Yan Jiangtao didn't come to class in the afternoon, Guan Baiyu was much more relaxed, but he frequently lost his mind.
He... suddenly had an extra cousin.
Shi Zhen returned to Guan Jianguo after a day's work, already very tired.
But he was in a good mood.
He and Shi Xinghuo went dredging together and could only earn fifteen yuan a day. The two of them worked separately, adding up to twenty a day.
Even now, their expenses are quite large, not to mention a lot of additional things, but to eat, they also need money every day.
Shi Zhen only rented a main room in Guan Jianguo and had no kitchen. Although he could buy a coal stove and a pot to cook, he needed money. He had no money for the time being, so he could only eat with a partner in Guan Jianguo.
One yuan for breakfast and two yuan in the evening. He and Shi Xinghuo gave Guan Jianguo three yuan a day, and the old lady gave them food.
Of course, it is impossible to want to eat meat, and it is not bad to eat salted duck eggs.
For Guan Jianguo, rice and vegetables are grown by themselves, so they can earn some money instead of spending money.
Not long after Shi Zhen arrived home, Guan Jianguo's mother brought two big bowls of rice, a bowl of fried cabbage, and a bowl of pickled lettuce.
Fried cabbage has no oil and water, pickled lettuce is fresh lettuce cut and sprinkled with a little salt and mixed.
The food is plentiful, but there is no meat.
However, Guan Jianguo does not eat meat at home, which is quite normal.
After Shi Zhen finished his meal, he pondered whether to start the fire himself.
After eating, Shi Zhen brought an enamel cup and walked to Guan Baiyu's house.
When he and Shi Xinghuo came out, they brought some daily necessities. For example, for warmth, they brought a thick padded jacket.
Last night, they put straw on the door and slept in thick padded jackets. They also slept in the bridge hole before. They also brought the cups, spoons and chopsticks. This enamel cup was newly bought before he came out.
When they arrived at Guan Baiyu's house, Shi Zhen knocked on the door as usual.
Guan Baiyu opened the door and saw him.
Shi Zhen laughed: "Bai Yu, I'll see you."
Guan Baiyu stepped aside and let Shi Zhen enter the door.
Guan Baiyu's house has only two rooms, one is for eating, a table of the Eight Immortals is placed in the south, and a stove is built in the north.
The other one is used as a warehouse to sleep by the way.
Shi Zhen came in twice, and both sat in the room where he was eating. At this moment, he saw that the fire on the stove was still lit, so Guan Baiyu probably hadn't cooked yet.
It's not surprising that the third-year student leaves school no later than he leaves work. When he comes home from work, he can eat Guan Jianguo's mother's cooked meal. When Guan Baiyu returns home, he has to cook by himself.
"You haven't eaten yet?" Shi Zhen asked.
"Well." Guan Baiyu whispered.
"Exactly, I brought you some food." Shi Zhen put the cup in his hand on the table and opened it.
The cardboard box that was on the table yesterday is no longer there, and now there are several books spread out on the table.
Shi Zhen opened the cup, and Guan Baiyu saw the fried tofu roasted pork inside.
Shi Zhen smiled: "You put it on the steaming rack and steam it, and eat it hot." The dishes he received at noon, he drank some soup and ate some oily tofu, and the rest is here.
"Why are you being so kind to me?" Guan Baiyu asked. Yesterday Shi Zhen gave him money, and today he gave him meat.
"You're my cousin," Shi Zhen laughed, "you can cook, and eat when you're done."
Guan Baiyu took a deep look at Shi Zhen, lifted the lid of the pot, put the cup on it to steam, and stuffed some... grass roots into the stove
"This is... a straw root?" Shi Zhen asked.
"Um."
"How do you burn this?"
Guan Baiyu said, "Not enough firewood."
Shi Zhen paused before saying, "There is not enough firewood to burn the fire, so I can only burn this? Where did you come from?"
Guan Baiyu gave Shi Zhen a puzzled look: "It was pulled from the ground."
Shi Zhen's family lives in the mountains, but he also grows some rice.
The seeds of rice are edible, and the stems and leaves below are very suitable for burning fire, but they are not resistant to burning.
Usually, in their villages, they light a handful of straw to set fire to the fire, and then put some fire-resistant branches on it.
There are mountains near their village, and there is no shortage of firewood, but there are no mountains in Anshan Town, and all the land that can be reclaimed has already been reclaimed, which means that it is not easy for people here to find firewood.
After harvesting rice every year, you can get a lot of straw. Most of them take it home and save it and slowly burn it for a year, but this straw is often not enough.
There is no doubt that Guan Baiyu did not have enough firewood to burn the fire, so after the rice was harvested, the small stalks and the connected roots left in the ground were dried and burned.
This is not easy to dig, it is very tiring, especially when digging can only be used for fire...
Shi Zhen took a deep breath and saw Guan Baiyu stop his hand that was burning the fire.
"Okay?" Shi Zhen asked.
Guan Baiyu said: "It's enough to simmer, and the rice will be simmered for a while."
Shi Zhen had long forgotten how to cook with the stove, so he chatted with Guan Baiyu: "You usually cook by yourself? How many times a day?"
Guan Baiyu didn't hide it, and Shi Zhen soon learned from him that he usually cooks once in the morning in summer and once in the evening in winter.
After doing it, eat three meals.
Now that it's cold, he cooks at night, so that he can steam some hot water to drink.
In summer, overnight meals tend to go rancid, so he only cooks in the morning.
"Do you have enough food? What kind of vegetables do you usually eat?"
Guan Baiyu said: "The food my dad gave is enough to eat. Usually... I eat whatever grows in the ground."
Guan Baiyu didn't talk much, but he was still willing to say, Shi Zhen probably knew about his current way of life.
His adoptive parents would give him food and a piece of land to grow vegetables for him, and he ate on his own.
It is enough to eat, but it is not meaty.
People in the village eat vegetables, which are basically grown in their own fields. It is not bad to buy meat once a week. Some people are reluctant to even scramble an egg.
Guan Baiyu did not raise chickens and had no money, so he could not eat meat or eggs.
He didn't even have enough firewood for the fire.
No wonder he is so thin.
When the rice was ready, Guan Baiyu filled a bowl of rice and brought the dishes to the table.
In addition to the oily tofu roast pork that Shi Zhen brought him, there was also a bowl of steamed garlic leaves.
Guan Baiyu only has a pot, and it is estimated that no matter what vegetables are, they will be steamed and eaten while cooking.
"Do you want to eat?" Guan Baiyu asked Shi Zhen while sitting at the table.
Shi Zhen said: "I have eaten."
Guan Baiyu ate it by himself. Whether it was the dish brought by Shi Zhen or the dish he steamed himself, he only ate a quarter of it.
Shi Zhen smiled and watched him eat, and suddenly realized something was wrong, got up and took a bite of rice from the pot.
"This rice is raw." Shi Zhen frowned - Guan Baiyu's rice was not cooked.
Guan Baiyu didn't take it seriously: "I don't have enough firewood."
Shi Zhen was speechless.
Guan Baiyu ate Shi Zhen's food, but he was not so defensive about Shi Zhen, and asked, "My grandfather and grandma..."
"They are all dead," Shi Zhen said. "They only have two daughters, both of whom are dead, and the only two grandchildren are us. I will take good care of you."
"I'm Guan Family now..."
"What does that matter? You're my aunt's son."
Guan Baiyu stared blankly at Shi Zhen.
Shi Zhen felt that it would probably take a few days for Guan Baiyu to completely let down his guard and leave soon.
When he got home, Shi Xinghuo hadn't slept yet, so he gave him ten dollars - his income was paid on a daily basis.
When they came out of the village, Shi Xinghuo's parents told Shi Zhen that he would share half of Shi Xinghuo's earnings, he would be responsible for Shi Xinghuo's necessities, and let him save the rest for Shi Xinghuo.
Shi Zhen took the ten yuan, took out another five yuan and put it in a bag next to him to save it for Shi Xinghuo.
When the Chinese New Year is coming, Shi Xinghuo's money will be handed over to Shi Xinghuo's parents.
I hope he can save money soon, start a small business, and make more money, otherwise... Shi Xinghuo saves 5 yuan a day, and saves less than 2,000 yuan for a year. He may not have the job of dredging every day. Do it.
What about him? He has been digging silt in the river, and he can't even let Guan Baiyu eat some meat.