Rebirth in 1960, My Industrial Age

Chapter 86: A Year of Plenty, Please Help (Subscribe)

Go to the market, stroll along the river, and go up the mountain.

Zhou Fengnian took Zhou Yan to visit all the places available in Hongjia Village, some of which he also wanted to visit.

The people of Hongjia Village also knew that the third son of the Zhou family had brought back a wife from the city. She was extremely beautiful. Such a beautiful girl could not be found in the whole of Changping. Now she was the wife of the third son of the Zhou family.

As a result, people in Hongjia Village once again began to envy the Zhou family, but it was mainly the young people in Hongjia Village who envied the third son of the Zhou family.

After touring Hongjia Village, Zhou Fengnian still wanted to go up the mountain.

It’s just that it’s quite dangerous to go into the mountains. When Zhou Fugui first heard that Zhou Fengnian was going into the mountains, he was so anxious that he cursed in his dialect.

In the past two years, it was still possible to go up the mountain, as all the nearby mountains had been searched thoroughly; but this year it was not so easy, as Zhou Fugui heard in the next village that wild boars had come down the mountain.

There is less food in the mountains in spring and winter, so wild boars may indeed go down the mountain.

In the past two years, when they were extremely hungry, they specifically waited for wild boars and killed one every time it came down; but that was a defensive battle. If they were allowed to encounter wild boars in the mountains, they would still be scared.

The wild boar's bite force is very strong. It can bite off a stick as thick as a baby's arm in one bite. If a wild boar rushes towards you in the mountains, you can basically be considered injured.

But Zhou Fengnian really wanted to go up the mountain. Zhou's father felt that if he didn't take this kid up the mountain once, his son might go up the mountain secretly, so he decided to take Zhou Fengnian with him once, hoping to actively dissuade him from the idea.

So Zhou Fugui took his hunting rifle and took Zhou Fengnian and his future daughter-in-law into the mountains.

We didn't go deep into the mountains. We set up two traps on a nearby hilltop, saw the scenery of the mountains, and then came back.

Along the way, they had to rush on the road and climb mountains. After climbing over a hill, Zhou Yan was exhausted. In the end, Zhou Fengnian carried her down on his back.

Once the anticipation before entering the mountain passed, everything else was gone.

Zhou Fengnian also made a fishing rod, chiseled a hole in the frozen river, and fished for half a day.

Unfortunately, after squatting for the whole morning and shivering from the cold, I only managed to catch a few palm-sized grass carps. Not only did it take a lot of oil to cook them, but the taste was just so-so.

Zhou Fengnian just threw it back into the river.

After playing in the countryside for three consecutive days, Zhou Yan started to like this place. On the third day, Zhou's father and Zhou Fengnian went up the mountain to chop firewood and brought back two rabbits from the trap.

Originally, Zhou's father didn't have much hope. At this time, the probability of catching a rabbit was the same as picking up a big black ten in the mountains, but he didn't expect to catch it.

However, the rabbit was not eaten. Zhou's father came back and processed it, intending to let Zhou Yan take it back to her in-laws.

Both Zhou's father and mother like Zhou Yan, their future daughter-in-law, and they plan to go to the city to talk to the in-laws when the engagement is next year.

But Zhou Fengnian has not told them what the situation is with Zhou Yan's family. He plans to wait until he passes the engineering exam, then "persuade" the other Zhou family, and then let the parents of both sides sit down to discuss the marriage.

Telling it in advance would not help much and might even cause more trouble, so Zhou Fengnian planned to solve it himself.

Zhou Yan liked the atmosphere of the Zhou family more and more, and even had an urge to get married immediately and stay for the New Year.

It's not that she is heartless. In that family, except for her father who would speak up for her, the other three people bullied her. Zhou Yan would rather stay in the factory and didn't want to go home.

On the fourth day, the Zhou family had nothing to do after breakfast.

So Zhou Yan watched Zhou Fengnian chopping wood in the yard and chatted about some things in the factory.

Zhou Yan works in the Propaganda Department and also knows people in the Women's Federation. She quickly learns all the gossip in the factory.

Zhou Fengnian knew nothing about it. He stayed in the technical department or the workshop all day and didn't even know anyone from other workshops, let alone know anything else about the factory.

"Dad, Mom, we are back."

Just as Zhou Fengnian was talking to his future wife, he suddenly heard a familiar voice coming from outside the door.

Then I saw my eldest brother, second brother, eldest sister-in-law and Zhou Chunhua pushing the door open carrying large and small bags of things.

Zhou Fengnian immediately put down his hatchet, stepped forward and said with a smile: "Brother, second brother, and sister-in-law and fourth sister, you are finally back."

"You're back right after the holiday. Third brother, why did you bring your sister-in-law back with you?"

When Zhou Weitian saw Zhou Yan in the yard, he asked in surprise. They had met Zhou Yan and thought that Zhou Yan would become their sister-in-law.

But it seems like they are not married yet? Why are you at his house now?
Zhou Fengnian said, "I forgot to tell you that Zhou Yan will be at home for a few days during the New Year and will be back tomorrow."

Zhou Chunhua at the back said embarrassedly: "Third brother told me, but I forgot to tell you."

"Don't say that outside, Boss. Put the things in the kitchen and come in to warm up."

Zhou Fugui put on his coat and walked out and said.

However, he noticed the cigarettes and alcohol in Zhou Weitian's hand, and immediately stepped forward to take them from the boss's hand: "This thing can't be placed in the kitchen, it has to be placed in the cabinet."

"Dad, you have to leave some for me this time. I also paid for it."

"You have a son. You smoke in front of your son? I don't even smoke in front of my grandson."

Zhou Weitian was speechless after hearing a few words from Zhou's father. It was probably because he had nothing else to do, otherwise he would have just slapped him in the face without even explaining.

Then, several people cooperated with Zhou's mother to put away all the New Year's goods they brought back.

The kitchen was full of food, which made Zhou's mother laugh again.

Nearly a hundred kilograms of fine grains, more than ten kilograms of pork and offal, two kilograms of eggs, some pickles from the capital, and other groceries.

Zhou's mother had never been a landlord, but she felt that the landlords' families in the past were not so wealthy.

"Old Three, make some white flour pancakes for lunch and fry a pound of pork."

"One pound of pork and half a pound of pork offal, there are so many people here. Okay, mom, I'll make lunch, you go back and have a rest, take out the snacks, don't save them."

Zhou Fengnian pushed Zhou's mother out of the kitchen and continued, "The cakes will grow mold in a few days. Don't eat the good ones until they go bad."

Mother Zhou snorted coldly and said, "Okay, okay, I can't argue with you. You really don't know how to be frugal. Let Zhou Yan be the housekeeper in the future, and you only know how to waste things."

"Ok?"

Zhou Fengnian sighed inwardly. He couldn't fight against the ideas of this era. It was meaningless.

According to Zhou's mother, it's not like there's nothing to eat now, so it's normal to save the good things for last; if you eat them now, what if there's nothing to eat later?

Zhou Fengnian simply thought that since it was already in his stomach, it didn’t matter when he ate it.

All I can say is that it was because of the food shortage in the past two years, so people wanted to save whatever food they had.

Back in the main house, it was a bit crowded at this point.

The Zhou family is one of the more populous families in Hongjia Village. Not counting Zhou Yan, there are nine people in the family. If Zhou's father hadn't made a few extra stools before the New Year, several people would have to stand now.

As soon as Zhou Weitian came back, he hugged his son. He held the child even when he cried loudly and refused to let go. Finally, his sister-in-law Qu Ying slapped him twice before he let him go.

After his son was taken away from Zhou Weitian's arms, he grumbled a few times in dissatisfaction, but soon picked up the topic again and started talking about what was happening in the city.

It was his first time to work in the city and he had used his break time to visit some places with his wife. Now was a good opportunity for him to show off in front of his parents.

Zhou Fengnian and Zhou Yan were also listening with a smile, sharing some melon seeds. The family atmosphere in their Zhou family has improved a lot. It was pretty good before, except that Zhou's mother was a bit biased towards boys, but now Zhou Fengnian has reversed it.

If the original person had not done anything immoral and cut ties with his family, the Zhou family would definitely have had a better life.

The eldest brother’s children have city hukou, and after applying for milk, half of it is given to the second brother’s children.

I go there after get off work and come back at almost eleven o'clock. I can pedal Zhou Fengnian's bicycle so hard that sparks fly.

It was so harmonious that Zhou Jiaan didn't even need to bring it up.

noon.

Zhou Fengnian cooked the meal himself and prepared a table full of delicious dishes.

Even a plate of stir-fried cabbage can become crispy, tender and refreshing, with just the right amount of saltiness and freshness, under his cooking skills. This is the cooking skill of a senior cook.

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After dinner, the eldest and second sister-in-law took the children to another room, and the fourth sister took Zhou Yan back to the room to rest.

However, although they said they were resting, it was most likely that Zhou Chunhua wanted to ask something. Her curiosity was particularly strong when she was in the old city.

Maybe she thought that after Zhou Fengnian got married, she could also get married.

Zhou Chunhua worked in the machinery factory for nine months and in the electrical appliance factory for half a year, and had saved up 150 yuan.

She also has a job that will turn her into a regular employee in a year and a half. She also looks good, so she is definitely a high-quality resource in the blind date market.

Some people in the Electric Appliance Factory No. 1 have already inquired about Zhou Chunhua, but her two brothers and a sister-in-law are all there, so the young people in the factory don't dare to approach her and talk to her.

While Zhou Chunhua was away, Zhou Weitian talked a lot about his fourth sister's situation in the factory.

There were young men trying to show their affection to the fourth sister and some trying to find out about her family situation and ended up finding out about them.

"Fugui, are you home?"

Just when the Zhou family members were talking excitedly, a shout suddenly came from outside.

After Zhou Fugui heard this, he immediately recognized who was calling him: "Secretary Changshan, I'll go get him in."

After saying that, Zhou Fugui got down from the kang, put on his shoes, and went outside to bring the person in.

After everyone came in, Zhou Fengnian realized that there was more than one person coming, including the village party secretary Hong Changshan, the village director Li Anhong, the production team leader Zhang Dezheng and the militia team leader Hong Dayong.

It can be said that all the leaders of Hongjia Village came to their home.

When Zhou Fengnian saw this, he secretly sighed that this person was not coming for Zhou Fugui, but for him.

It was all because of his poverty. Zhou Fengnian originally thought that he should ask his father to talk to him after the New Year and then see what happens after a while; but he turned out to come again before the New Year, and it had only been three or four days since the last time.

"Secretary, Director, please take a seat."

Zhou Fugui asked Zhou Weitian and Zhou Jiaan to get off the kang, and arranged for Hong Changshan and others to sit down. He also gave each of them a cigarette, but when he wanted to light it, he was refused.

"Fugui, it's really wrong to come to your house before the New Year, but you know the situation in the village. The commune told us to find a solution ourselves.

But I, as a branch secretary, have no ability and cannot give benefits to the villagers during the New Year."

Hong Changshan sighed, then looked up at Zhou Fengnian and continued, "Fengnian, you are the most promising person in our Hongjia Village in the past few decades. Can you think of a solution for the village?

Even if you can get two taels of meat for the New Year, it will be fine. If you can do that, I will let Fugui be the branch secretary."

"Secretary, I don't want to be the village party secretary. What are you doing?"

Zhou Fugui quickly said, if he agreed, what would happen.

Hong Changshan said, "I know, Fugui, but we have discussed it and can't think of a solution."

"Uncle Changshan, you came to me suddenly, and I can't think of a solution. I studied mechanics. If a machine in the village breaks down, I have to fix it even if I don't take a break, but you said..."

Zhou Fengnian felt a kind of helplessness. Even if it was moral kidnapping, it wasn't that serious. It was a bit like someone grabbing something while drowning and it ended up grabbing him.

If he asked them to leave immediately, his father would feel uncomfortable with it. Besides, his father had shown kindness to him in the previous generation, so he couldn't say anything too embarrassing.

"It was a good year. We were not fair in what we did, but the production team really had no choice. After handing in the grain, each household got less than enough to buy some meat. It was only slightly better than last year."

Hong Changshan spoke about the situation in the village with an embarrassed look on his face.

Although more grain was dug out from the fields than last year, it could at most change the villagers of Hongjia Village from having little food all year round to having little food for half a year and nothing for the other half.

Forget about eating meat. If you really want to eat meat, go into the mountains and try it. Maybe you can set two traps like Zhou's father did and catch a rabbit.

But the probability of this is very small.

Zhou Fengnian was silent for a while, then quietly opened the proficiency simulation system and took a look. Then he said, "Uncle Changshan, does the commune allow us to develop a sideline business?"

"Side job? What side job?"

Hong Changshan didn't react for a moment, then suddenly thought of something and asked cautiously: "Fengnian, are you planning to become a capitalist?"

"What capitalists? It's a collective sideline business. Every household is involved."

Zhou Fengnian emphasized that he remembered that at that time there were already villages and production teams engaging in sideline businesses, but it seemed that Sanshui Commune did not have that.

I have never heard of the nearby Red Star Commune and other communes. They all farm honestly.

"Every household is involved, and every household contributes, just like working in the fields. If the production team engages in this kind of sideline business, it should be fine."

After thinking for a while, Hong Changshan nodded and said, "That should be fine. If every household participates, then the industry will belong to the production team."

Li Anhong, the village director, said: "There is no problem with this. Collective things have nothing to do with capitalism, not even the tail."

"Then let's start some collective sideline business. If we make money, the work points in the village will be more valuable."

Zhou Fengnian said, "Uncle Changshan, Uncle Anhong, I asked my father. Our village has too much slack time. Some things are totally unnecessary. It's better to squeeze out time to do other things."

The slack season is when you don’t farm, but you still have to work then.

Digging river mud to make fertilizer, repairing water conservancy projects, or helping out in the commune, no matter what you do, you have to work and earn work points.

However, this kind of work earns very few work points, which is far less than the work points earned during the busy farming season.

"Some places seem to have developed collective industries. Villagers go to the fields during the busy farming season, and squeeze in time to develop industries during the slack season. The money they earn is exchanged for work points at the end of the year.

Regardless of how wealthy we are, even if every household gets 20 yuan, it can improve our New Year’s situation.”

After hearing Zhou Fengnian's words, everyone in the room was moved.

Village director Li Anhong asked: "It's a good year, what can we do?"

(End of this chapter)