Rebirth 78: Hunting for Treasure in the Mountains, Spoiling My Wife and Daughter to the Heavens

"My family has household appliances now! A flashlight, look at its condition, it's obviously brand new! That old Mrs. Chang is so kind and righteous!"

Lu Weiguo was still carrying the fish basin when he got home.

Then I heard my dad sitting on a single-wheeled handcart, showing off non-stop.

I've completely forgotten how I scolded Mrs. Chang yesterday.

Even in broad daylight, that flashlight couldn't shine more than two meters.

But it just kept driving like that, constantly blinding those guys.

Previously, Lu Weiguo's gambling addiction made Lu Dewang feel ashamed in front of his old friends.

After all, in those days, food and drink were collectively provided, and everyone's conditions were about the same. The competition was about which child was more successful.

Now Lu Weiguo has caught a "fire-breathing fox that's almost become an immortal," and he's even getting Old Mrs. Chang to treat him for free.

When Mrs. Chang heard that Lu Weiguo could go hunting in the mountains, she even gave him a flashlight.

If I don't show it off, I'll feel bad for all the grievances I've suffered this year.

"What's so great about that old bastard driving that thing? Didn't you see a car just walk by? Driving that thing is what's worth showing off!"

Niu Erliang smoked his pipe, and with Liu Dazhuang helping to feed the cattle, he finally had some free time.

"So what? My son is promising; he'll be driving a car someday!"

Lu Dewang sounded incredibly guilty, and his earlier confidence had largely vanished.

"What a load of bull! You're practically broke, yet you're still driving a car? If your family could afford a bicycle, we'd be impressed!"

The other guys kept trying to suppress him.

However, you could see in her eyes that she hoped Lu Weiguo could change things.

Lu Dewang wasn't angry when he heard this, and he saw Lu Weiguo return.

He called Lu Weiguo to his side and embellished the fox-catching story that Lu Baojia had learned the day before.

They almost portrayed Lu Weiguo as an omnipotent "Monkey King".

Lu Weiguo was incredibly shy standing to the side.

I've seen people brag, but I've never seen anyone brag like my dad.

"By the way, Weiguo, come here. Let your old man keep bragging. I want to ask you something."

After Niu Erliang finished smoking his pipe, he rolled another one up with newspaper and called Lu Weiguo to his side.

"Uncle Niu, what's up? Did Da Zhuang forget to feed those two cows?"

"Dazhuang is much more honest than you. He's piled up cow hay all over the yard. I wasn't asking about him."

"I'm asking you, have you offended anyone these past few days? Why is that young man from the supply and marketing cooperative asking about you all over the village?"

After all, he was Lu Dewang's friend for most of his life, and seeing that Lu Weiguo had improved, he still cared about his own son.

"You mean that purchasing agent, Sun Yifei?" Lu Weiguo thought for a moment and replied.

In this era, with collective work and collective living, the supply and marketing cooperative was a massive system.

In addition to selling goods, there are also purchasing stations for receiving goods.

Most villagers didn't know what the purchasing station did; they all thought it was under the supply and marketing cooperative.

"Yes! It's him. He's been asking about you all over the village. Judging from his appearance, it can't be anything good."

Lu Weiguo nodded, indicating that he understood.

However, he didn't say much. Sun Yifei went to the village to collect dried hazel mushrooms, which cost one cent per pound. Back at the purchasing station, he could sell them for eight cents per pound.

Don't be fooled by the seemingly high price; pork only costs 80 cents per pound when you have a ration coupon.

But you should know that if those hazel mushrooms are dried to the required level of dryness, it takes at least three to five pounds to dry one pound, and that's the kind that are the right size and can be sent directly to a soy sauce factory to make MSG.

If it's just ordinary hazel mushrooms, varying in size and not dry enough, nobody will buy them for even five cents.

After all, once they receive the goods, they still need to sort them separately, which consumes a lot of resources.

The reason Lu Weiguo was able to sell his goods at such a high price at the supply and marketing cooperative was...

Firstly, it allows you to build a long-term relationship with an individual.

Secondly, it was also because Lu Weiguo's hazel mushrooms were of a suitable size and very clean, with not a single one spoiled.

"You've just finished correcting yourself, so calm down and stop messing around. After all, he's an official in the county, you should know that."

Niu Erliang then offered some kind words of advice.

Only then did he go back and continue bragging to Lu Dewang.

Cutting off someone's money is like killing their parents; I just didn't expect the purchasing agent to be able to find me so early.

After thinking for a moment, Lu Weiguo had an idea in mind before he walked into the courtyard.

"Come on, son, go back to your room and rest. Just put the fish down, I'll clean it up. Don't bother with the fish."

As soon as I entered the house, Liu Yuqin came out to greet me.

In front of their parents, a child is still a child, no matter how old they are.

Shu Ruizhi followed behind the old woman, coming out to help despite being heavily pregnant.

"Okay, Mom, you pack up. I'll take the loach with me tomorrow. We'll keep the willow roots and stuff for my sister-in-law to make a fish soup."

That stuff may not have much meat, but it's all protein, which is good for your sister-in-law's baby.

"What is protein?" Shu Ruizhi asked, looking up.

"Uh... it's a kind of nutrition, my wife taught me about it."

"It's good to be educated! Please thank your sister-in-law for me! Also, could you please ask about the child's schooling when you have time?"

People in Northeast China were poor, especially the farmers, and this remained true even in later generations.

A year's worth of hard-earned crops can't even be exchanged for a single bottle of mineral water.

However, the family tradition of emphasizing children's education is deeply ingrained and has been passed down to this day.

"Don't worry, sister-in-law, if I don't handle this properly, you can punish my brother the same way you would punish me!"

"Look at you, you wretched creature. I don't mind disciplining your brother, but I'll discipline you, you ungrateful wretch."

After having lunch, I helped tidy up the house.

Lu Weiguo pulled Lu Baojia out again.

The two little mink are still small and treat Lu Weiguo's clothes as their home.

But I can't keep following Lu Weiguo forever.

The two brothers discussed it and decided to go up the mountain to cut down a pine tree.

Make a shed for the little sable.

It takes at least half a year to recover, which is more convenient, isn't it?

After cutting down a pine tree, Lu Weiguo went to Niu Dazhuang's house to check the dryness of the hazel mushrooms.

The weather has been nice and windy these past few days, so the hazel mushrooms have dried quickly, but they still haven't reached the required standard.

Fortunately, Lu Weiguo had an oxcart, so he could go whenever he wanted and wasn't in a hurry to deliver it.

However, the three little girls, Ermei, Sanjian, and Sikang, had nothing to do at home, just sitting around naked.

However, they managed to remove most of the pine nuts.

Several sacks of fresh pine nuts were shelled, and the kernels were used to fill an iron basin.

In later generations, this would cost at least a thousand or eight hundred dollars.

But in this day and age, aside from being a bit of a hassle, it's really not that expensive.

"Ermei, you're all grown up now, so be careful. Don't go out if you don't have any pants to wear. I'm going to the county town tomorrow."

I'll see if I can get you a couple of pairs of pants. They're hand-me-downs from your sister-in-law's family, so please don't mind them.

Cloth coupons are so hard to get, but at least you got to wear new clothes this year.

Looking at the young girl who had grown into a graceful young woman, but whose dirty face revealed no signs of beauty, Lu Weiguo couldn't help but offer some advice.

"Brother Weiguo, you definitely won't mind. It's good enough if you have anything to wear, but it's okay if you don't."

My house is dirty and dilapidated; who else but you would dare to come into it?

That's true, since the Liu family mostly burned cow dung.

Therefore, the cow dung needs to be dried in advance.

And this step, those who know, know: slam the cow dung against the wall to release the moisture and make it dry faster.

So the Liu family's house had long been marinated in cow dung.

Liu Ermei, wearing only her underwear, stood up without any attempt to conceal her identity.

"Hey! No, you should just sit here and keep picking pine nuts. Um, when your sister-in-law comes back, she can teach you about hygiene that girls should pay attention to."

After finishing his sentence, Lu Weiguo hurriedly left.

Life is hard these days, but life is even harder without parents.

The little boy had no parents, and he got dirty from all the crawling and tumbling around.

But what if the little girl didn't have her mother's help...?

Lu Weiguo sighed, hoping his mother-in-law could get him a hunting rifle tomorrow.

With "truth," even before winter arrives, life can be completely transformed in just a few days.