From this day on, Su Taohua lived at the chicken farm. With Su Taohua present, Wang Xianghua felt much more at ease.
She planned to go home and live that night.
The chicken farm didn't smell very good, but fortunately, Su Taohua wasn't a picky person, so living in such a place didn't bother her.
There were two rooms for people to live in at the chicken farm, where the night shift workers stayed.
The conditions here weren't great, but for girls and young wives of similar ages, it was quite lively.
In the evening, she watched several girls reading books together and couldn't help but sigh.
"You girls, looking so serious, anyone would think you were going to take the imperial examinations."
Su Xiaomei hugged Su Taohua's arm coquettishly and said, "Mom, shall we all become top scholars? Maybe we can even marry princesses!"
Su Xiaomei had said it casually, but Su Taohua suddenly realized something and quickly said, "You girls, read your books, but don't think wild thoughts, and especially don't say things carelessly."
Although the atmosphere felt a bit better this year, after so many years, Su Taohua was still afraid that a careless word might bring disaster.
Su Xiaomei knew she had spoken out of turn and quickly added, "We don't talk nonsense. We only read books related to farming. Xiaotian says raising chickens is also a great art."
"Xiaotian is right. Look how well our Hongxin Brigade's chickens are raised. Several brigades failed at raising chickens before!" Su Taohua said with emotion.
For some reason, she felt that the success of raising chickens in the Hongxin Brigade was all thanks to Xiaotian.
Although the team leader said it was Professor Du in the cowshed, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was not quite right.
Also, in the past two years, the crops in the brigade had grown better than in other brigades, and she believed Xiaotian must have contributed to that as well.
"Mom, I heard yesterday that Xiaotian was encouraging Xiaogang to read, saying that being illiterate is not good."
Speaking of her younger son, Su Taohua was quite melancholic. This child just didn't like to study and even said that studying was useless.
He even heard some vulgar saying somewhere, "Loyalty often comes from the butcher's son, while betrayal comes from the scholar."
Listen to that, listen to that, is this something a child should say?
"Xiaogang, that child probably won't listen," Su Taohua said speechlessly.
Su Xiaomei smiled and said, "Mom, you know Xiaogang best. He says he's a man of integrity and has strength, and he can eat without studying."
"There's nothing wrong with that. In our countryside, as long as you're willing to work hard, you won't go hungry," a young wife chimed in.
This was a newly married wife, Zhu Xiuhong, who had only been married for a little over a month before she took over her sister-in-law's work at the chicken farm.
Su Taohua didn't like this Zhu Xiuhong, but she didn't intend to conflict with her.
"Yes, if you can work, you can eat. It's just that Xiaogang is still young, and I always want him to study first and then work when he's older!" Su Taohua said with a smile while threading a needle.
Su Taohua's personality was not like this in her early years; it was the hardships of life over the years that had smoothed her edges.
"Xiaogang is already in his teens, he's not that young anymore, is he? In our brigade, children his age are already working in the fields!" Zhu Xiuhong clearly couldn't accept Su Taohua's statement.
Were the people in this Hongxin Brigade all foolish? Everyone was busy reading.
What was so good about reading? Even if you could read and write, wouldn't you still have to come to the countryside to work in the end?
How long had those educated youths been in the countryside? They all longed to return to the city but couldn't.
These people in the Hongxin Brigade were truly amusing, even raising chickens they had to learn from books.
Who didn't raise a few chickens these days?
Wasn't it as simple as throwing them some feed? Was it worth all this trouble?
She hadn't studied, but wasn't she still working at the chicken farm?
"Such a young child can't do much work," Su Taohua's smile faded slightly.
"Let him learn first, and he'll know when he's older. My brother and I started working in the fields with our father when we were eleven or twelve, and now we're quite skilled," she said proudly.
The girls at the chicken farm looked at Zhu Xiuhong strangely as she spoke with such an attitude.
Before, when her sister-in-law worked here, everyone chatted and laughed happily.
Since she came, for some reason, after discussing with her in-laws, she replaced her sister-in-law at the chicken farm.
If she was going to work, why would she slack off?
So, after only a few days, everyone disliked her intensely.
But they were all young girls with thin skin, so even if she slacked off, they could only tolerate it.
If she didn't clean the chicken coop properly, they would clean it again. If she mixed the chicken feed incorrectly, they would help mix it.
Xiaocao didn't want to listen to this young wife continue talking, so she found another topic.
"I heard that people in the city are now wearing sweaters, knitted with yarn of various colors. They're so beautiful."
No teenage girl dislikes beauty.
"Didn't Manxiu wear a sweater last time she came? I heard that yarn is very expensive, costing over twenty yuan a jin, and you need coupons too!" Su Taohua followed Xiaocao's lead and said.
"My dad said that at the end of the year, he'll discuss with the chicken farm manager about getting some coupons for our brigade, maybe we'll have yarn coupons then," Su Xiaocao said with a smile.
She also wanted a sweater of her own, beautiful and warm.
Zhu Xiuhong snorted. What was she showing off? Didn't everyone know her father was the team leader?
However, this team leader was also incompetent; otherwise, why couldn't he even get the pig farm project done?
"Auntie Taohua, I heard that the plan for our Hongxin Brigade to build a pig farm was blocked by the commune. Do you know why?" Zhu Xiuhong said, glancing meaningfully at Su Xiaocao.
Su Xiaocao could see the implied meaning in Zhu Xiuhong's words.
But she couldn't just argue with someone like this!
Su Taohua gently rubbed her scalp with her needle and looked at Zhu Xiuhong.
This one also had a restless personality. She really didn't know if it was good or bad to have someone like this working at the chicken farm.
"How would I, a housewife, know? These matters are for the team leader and the others to worry about; we don't need to bother."
While saying this, Su Taohua wasn't in a very good mood.
The team leader had said that if the pig farm was built, someone would be needed to manage it, and he had already decided on her.
But after waiting for more than a month, it was finally blocked by the commune. Anyone in this situation would feel uncomfortable.
Forget it, what is destined to be will be, and what is not destined to be cannot be forced!
Life at home wasn't unbearable, so there was no need to insist on managing the pig farm.
Zhu Xiuhong let out a cold scoff. Who didn't know that the person in charge of the pig farm had already been decided as Su Taohua?
Su Taohua, this woman, was truly shameless. She had sent her own husband to prison and still had the nerve to be here.
"Auntie Taohua, you're right. Women should stay at home, raise their children, and live peacefully! If a woman is truly good, her man wouldn't have other thoughts, don't you think?" As soon as Zhu Xiuhong finished speaking, she heard a knock on the door from outside.
She turned and stood up, "My husband is here to pick me up, so I'll be going back. Auntie Taohua, men make mistakes, it's inevitable."
These words made Su Taohua's face immediately look bad, even darkening.
If Su Taohua didn't understand what Zhu Xiuhong meant by these words, it would be strange.
This is how things are in the world; it's clearly the man who made the mistake, but many people will blame the woman.
She thought of herself many years ago, and a bitter smile flickered across her lips.
Su Taohua's thoughts couldn't help but drift back more than ten years.
At that time, Su Taohua was a famous "iron girl" in the Hongxin Brigade.
Oh, at that time, the Hongxin Brigade wasn't called Hongxin Brigade yet; it was called Sujiawan.
People from ten miles around knew that Sujiawan had a good girl, beautiful, nimble, with two brisk braids swinging with vitality.
Back then, young men from ten miles around wanted to propose to her. Some bold ones would wait for her on the road, and those who were timid and saw her by chance would be shy.
Su Taohua had also thought that she would find a good man, get married, have children, and live a happy life forever.
But in the end, because she had no sons, she took in a live-in son-in-law, Li Changming.
Although she had taken in a son-in-law, Su Taohua believed she would be very happy.
Li Changming was a good-looking young man, and he could read. He spoke gently.
If it weren't for his family's poor conditions, with Li Changming's looks, he wouldn't have had trouble finding a wife and wouldn't have been willing to be a live-in son-in-law.
Back then, she, like the young wife in front of her, had smiles in her eyes.
The Su Taohua of that time never thought that her life would turn out like this.
When did life start to change?
Was it after her father passed away and Li Changming took over as accountant? Or even later?
Not long after getting married, she actually discovered that Li Changming was a chauvinist at heart.
He cared about his reputation and felt that being a live-in son-in-law had wronged him.
Because of this, he always felt that Su Taohua had wronged him, making him suffer in the Hongxin Brigade.
Li Changming had said more than once that it would have been better if Su Taohua had agreed to marry him instead of him being a live-in son-in-law.
He had also said after her father passed away that the children in the family should change their surname.
However, Su Taohua disagreed. Her father had her take in a son-in-law precisely to have someone to carry on the family line.
Perhaps it was from then on that the contradictions between the couple began to increase.
"Mom, what are you thinking about?" Su Xiaomei asked when she didn't hear Su Taohua's reply.
Distracted by her daughter, her thoughts were pulled back.
"It's nothing, just thinking that it's actually not bad for you to work at the chicken farm."
Zhu Xiuhong had already left, and the young girls were chattering happily. Their tone became much more cheerful when they spoke, even with dreams for the future.
Listening, Su Taohua felt her mood lighten considerably. Talking more with these young girls indeed made her feel younger.
The fieldwork wasn't very busy during this period. Su Changjiu was busy repairing the river channel and didn't have much time to supervise the members working in the fields. So, he decided to implement a contracted responsibility system.
Su Taohua worked quickly. By going to the fields a little earlier each day, she had ample time to cook for the work group.
Life was peaceful and harmonious. Su Taohua, thinking about the money she could earn, was full of energy every day, going back and forth between home and the fields, not feeling tired at all.
************
The Old Su Family.
Su Xiaotian was diligently studying every day, as if she were starving.
She also strictly supervised her brothers at home, not allowing them to slack off in their studies, and even assigned them reading tasks every day.
Besides hoping her brothers would go to college in the future, she had received a system task.
This system task was an upgraded version released by the system.
Previously, she could get rewards for reading, and with those rewards, the Su family's life had improved a lot.
But the Su family had nearly twenty people. Although she earned quite a bit, when divided among everyone, it wasn't much per person.
Lately, the coupons felt a bit insufficient.
But now, the system had released a new task, and there would be rewards for the brothers' study time and efficiency.
Although the rewards were less than hers, Su Xiaotian was a meticulous planner.
Based on the principle that even a mosquito's leg is still meat, she diligently supervised her brothers' studies every day, all for those coupons and money.
But clearly, the wild boys were in great pain to sit quietly and read for a whole morning.
Su Xiao Wu was the first to break down. He rubbed his sore shoulders and complained, "Xiaotian, I've been reading for three hours today. Wouldn't it be better to go play in the mountains? I heard there are many mushrooms on the mountain recently!"
Xiao Wu really couldn't stand it anymore; he didn't want to study!
He didn't know what his sister was thinking, why she always urged her brothers to study?
What was the use of studying anyway?
"Brother, are you really unwilling to study?" Su Xiaotian didn't waste words, just put on a tearful expression.
Su Xiao Wu hadn't expected that just saying a word would almost make his sister cry.
Looking at the reproachful eyes of his other brothers and cousins, Su Xiao Wu felt like crying without tears.
Xiaotian was his own sister, how could he not dote on her?
What were these looks they were giving him? Did they think he was bullying Xiaotian?
Heaven knows, he just didn't want to study, that's all.
"I didn't..." Su Xiao Wu said weakly.
"Xiao Wu, if you don't study properly, don't blame my fists!" Xiao Si looked at Su Xiao Wu sinisterly.
The two cousins were of similar age and had been fighting since childhood.
At this moment, Su Xiao Si's hands were itching, and he also didn't really want to read.
To be honest, reading was quite tiring. If only they could have a fight and stretch their muscles!
Originally, there was no reason, but who knew that when he was sleepy, he met a pillow? Su Xiao Wu actually gave him such an opportunity.
Su Xiaotian looked at these two brothers, speechless. What were they planning to do?
"You all study with peace of mind. If you can't remember this content, don't blame me for crying!" Su Xiaotian had to use her killer move!
Su Xiao Wu felt so wronged, but looking at Su Xiaotian...
Forget it, forget it, it's just reading, it's not like dying, let's read!