My 1978 Hotel

Chapter 7: Following Dad, Going Hungry for Five Meals in Three Days

"Dad, I think this kid can endure hardships."

At the home of Captain Han Fuguo, Han Anmin slurped a mouthful of cornmeal porridge and nibbled a piece of mixed noodle steamed bun and said, "Why don't you just give him a place to stay? I think he's not bad."

Han Guofu took a few puffs of his pipe and thought for a moment. He always felt that this boy was not one who could endure hardships, but today he didn't even complain of being tired while carrying manure. Although it was a dirty and tiring job, he even saw that Li Feng's shoulders were all worn out, but he gritted his teeth and persevered.

It was strange. His other abilities aside, he had a pretty good eye for people. Could he have really made a mistake? "Let's see what happens tomorrow. If it works out, I'll go to the commune meeting the next morning and get him his household registration."

"That's okay."

Han Anmin gnawed a piece of steamed bread, wiped his mouth, picked up the bowl, and finished the whole bowl of cornmeal porridge in three or five mouthfuls. These days people don't have much food in their stomachs, most of them have big bellies, especially those who do manual labor, who still can't feel full even if they eat two or three kilograms of food a day.

"When you go next time, bring some pickles to An Jun."

Shi Chunhua said as she cleared Han Fuguo's dishes. "This kid hasn't come home in a few days. Ask him about it. He's got so much going on at the commune that he doesn't even come home."

"Mom, An Jun is now a commune official. How can he still act like a child?"

Han Anmin's second brother, Han Anbing, wiped his mouth and put down his bowl and chopsticks and said, "I heard that Deputy Secretary Wu of the commune has been very fond of the third brother recently. I'm afraid that our family will have a commune cadre in the near future."

"Where did you hear that?"

Shi Chunhua took this matter very seriously. The third child had always been the pride of the family and was a technical secondary school graduate. It had to be said that Han Anjun caught a gap in the tide of humanity. He was admitted to a technical secondary school that year and was assigned to a small clerk in the commune after graduation.

Don't underestimate the young clerk. His internship salary was 38.5 yuan, and now he's officially a regular employee, it's over 40 yuan. His salary is almost as much as the entire family's. If the family has a promising future, the parents will definitely pay more attention to him, especially since the child is not married yet.

"I also heard it from Yinghong." Han Anbing muttered. His wife had told him about this a few days ago. Now that his wife had gone back to her parents' home, he couldn't find anyone to ask about it for the time being.

"Go to the commune and ask around." Shi Chunhua patted Han Fuguo, who was puffing on his pipe. "I see. I'll ask the third brother during the meeting."

"Then you must keep it in mind and don't forget it."

"Can't forget."

"Okay, clean up and go to bed quickly. We have work to do tomorrow morning."

In the countryside, people usually go to bed after eating, cleaning up, but Li Feng was a little uncomfortable with this. Normally, no one goes to bed at seven or eight o'clock. He would play with his mobile phone or go fishing, and would not go to bed until at least ten o'clock.

"Ouch."

Besides, Li Feng couldn't sleep at all. Not only did his shoulders hurt, but his whole body was also sore. He had never done such heavy work in his life. If it weren't for the mission, he would have given up long ago.

It's been a tiring day. When I was carrying the manure before, I was supported by a sense of faith and didn't feel it was that uncomfortable.

The body reacted immediately, and it was terrible. Daya and Erya had been pressing for more than an hour, and the two children fell asleep due to exhaustion. Li Feng couldn't bring himself to wake them up again. "It's really terrible."

"No, I won't do this anymore after I finish my task of carrying manure and have money."

Damn that challenge experience! No wonder they use rewards as a lure. It’s so painful and uncomfortable. Li Feng’s body is sore, painful and tired. He cried out “ouch, ouch” for two or three hours before he fell into a deep sleep.

"Oh, no, no."

Early in the morning, Li Feng felt like his entire body was falling apart, like he was dying. He'd never experienced this kind of exhaustion and soreness in his life, but this was a first for him. "These damn keyboard warriors, all the time, keep saying how great the 1960s and 1970s were. But this isn't a life for human beings."

Thinking about the days in the 21st century, it was simply a paradise on earth. Li Feng had never suffered such hardships. He had good grades since he was a child, and the adults in his family never let him do any work.

"Dad, let me rub it for you."

"Tap, tap, tap."

Li Feng grimaced. It was so painful, as if his body had been run over by a car.

"Ouch, be gentle."

Erya was shocked. She had seen her sister massaging Li Feng and had followed her example, but she had no idea Li Feng would react so strongly. "Erya, go light the fire. I'll give Dad a massage."

"Oh."

Erya felt a little disappointed.

"What do you have for breakfast?"

"Hush vegetable dumplings."

Li Feng lost all his energy upon hearing this. He ate worse than a pig, woke up earlier than a chicken, and worked harder than a dog. This wasn't a life for a human being. "No, I have to finish the mission quickly, get the reward, and buy some meat. Yes, I have to buy some meat."

This was the first time that Li Feng was so eager to eat meat. Before, pork was nothing to Li Feng. He would eat it whenever he wanted, but he was not willing to eat it at all. Now, if you give him a piece of raw pork, he will take a few bites, not for anything else but just for the oil.

After a long time, Li Feng recovered and the pain subsided. He then supported himself with his aching hands and sat up. "Daya, stop pressing. Take a break."

"I'm not tired."

Daya's hands were shaking so much, but she wasn't tired. Li Feng wasn't stupid. "Okay, I'm hungry. Let's get something to eat."

"I'll serve you some food."

Daya stood up quickly when she heard it, but the little girl had been kneeling for too long, her legs went numb and she fell onto the edge of the bed. Li Feng quickly hugged her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Slower."

"Ah."

Daya gritted her teeth and went to the kitchen to eat some rice. "Second sister, take it to dad. I'll cool it down." "Oh."

Erya didn't know. Daya lifted up her clothes and saw a purple bruise where she fell. "Daya, bring me my shoes."

"Here I come, Dad."

He pulled down his clothes and ran two steps with gritted teeth.

Li Feng put on his shoes and took the bowl. He was really hungry, so he ate a bowl of porridge in just a few minutes. "Anything else?"

"Have."

In fact, there was only one bowl in the pot. After Li Feng finished the second bowl, he remembered the hook he had put on the plate. "I'll go pick up the hook, you guys can eat now."

"Sister, I'm hungry."

When Li Feng was around, Erya didn't dare to say she was hungry for fear of Daya scolding her. "There's still some soup base in the pot, I'll serve you some rice." There was still a small half bowl of porridge at the bottom of the pot, and Erya happily took it and ate it. After a few bites, she remembered, "Sister, you eat."

"I'm not hungry."

Daya smiled and patted Erya's head. "When dad comes back and asks, just tell him we ate it all."

"Oh."

Li Feng came to the stream in front of the door and pulled up a locust tree branch with dogtail grass tied on it. The dogtail grass had hooks made of locust tree thorns. Not to mention, he actually caught more than ten ditch creepers, which were quite fat. They weighed at least two taels.

"Let's keep them for two days first, then catch more. The reward has come soon, so I can buy some fat to make oil and fry them to eat." At this moment, the pain in my body was relieved a little when I thought about eating fried fish.

Li Fengyu picked the fish first, then happily returned to the yard holding it in leaves.

"Da Ya, Er Ya, come and see."

"fish?"

Daya was delighted to see so many small fish, and Erya's eyes lit up even more because small fish were delicious. Her mother had made grilled small fish for them before. Although it was without oil and salt, it was still meat. No matter how small a mosquito leg was, it still had the fishy smell of meat.

"Find a wooden basin and keep them there first. Catch more and I'll fry them for you later." Li Feng said happily.

"Fried it?"

Daya was shocked when she heard this. To fry fish, you need oil. Where could she borrow oil from her father? White flour was very rare, let alone oil. Daya felt a lump in her throat and almost cried.

"Don't be happy yet, you have to buy a piece of fat meat first, otherwise you won't be able to eat it without oil."

Li Feng became happier and happier as he spoke. Erya next to him almost jumped for joy. Only Daya became more and more panicked as she listened. There was also the news of buying fatty meat. This was simply terrifying. Daya's tears fell down.

"Don't cry, don't cry anymore."

Li Feng touched Daya, and he saw how hard she'd worked these past few days. "Just wait, in a few days we'll be able to eat meat and steamed buns, hahahaha."

"Dad, I don't want to eat."

Daya became even more panicked. The more she thought about it, the more panicked she became. She was a little afraid that her father would do something terrible.

"Dong dong dong."

"Go and hide the little fish."

This is public property caught from the creek. If someone saw it, it would be fine if they didn't say anything. But if someone made a big deal out of it, they would probably be criticized, which is not a good thing.

As he spoke, Li Feng handed Xiaoyu to Daya and asked her to open the door herself.

"Captain, please come in and sit down."

"No need to sit here. It's getting late. It's time to go to work."

"Look, I forgot about it."

Although Li Feng was feeling unwell, he still had to complete the tasks issued by the system in order to eat meat and white steamed buns. "Wait for me, I'll pack up and go with you."

"to make."

After telling Da Ya and Er Ya a few words, the two little girls would soon follow the elderly to the fields to pull weeds. This was the work the brigade had found for the two children. Da Ya would get six work points a day, and Er Ya four, which was considered the brigade's way of taking care of the two children.

After packing up, Li Feng followed Han Anmin to the dam entrance. On the way, Li Feng had already asked for details. Today, he was still carrying manure, which was good. Otherwise, he would not be able to complete the task. "Is your shoulder okay?"

"Nothing, just a bruise and some broken skin. It's nothing serious. I'm just doing my job. I can just bear with the pain and it will pass."

"Oh, this is not a small piece."

Han Anmin saw Li Feng pull open his vest and saw a purple bruise on it. The broken skin was red and swollen. "Please pick less and take your time."

"How can this be possible? This isn't special treatment."

Li Feng was willing in his heart, just kidding, this was specially done for Han Anmin and others to see. How dare you let a wounded soldier carry a whole bucket of manure? Of course, you still have to do the superficial work.

Li Feng insisted again and again, and Han Anmin felt more and more that he had been too subjective before. There were also good things about the educated youth. Look at how honest Li Feng was. Why didn't he fill the bucket? Others spoke up one after another.

"Alright then, I'll make a few more trips when I'm better. I can't let anyone suffer any loss."

Han Guofu nodded after hearing this, fearing that he had really made the mistake. This was an honest man, and he would arrange for the settlement early in the morning. In this way, the educated youth would settle down in Daya and Erya's homes, which would be a good thing.

(End of this chapter)