"Auntie Sun, Uncle Ding, you two are busy, I'm heading back," Chen Lishu said with a smile before turning to go home.
After dinner, Chen Lishu tidied up the kitchen, and the sisters-in-law sat down together to study.
Gu Xingping explained the day's lessons to Chen Lishu, which not only helped Chen Lishu but also consolidated her own knowledge.
For the next few days, Gu Xingping went to school, and Chen Lishu took the opportunity to sell the 'false collars' she had on hand, then took out the yarn she had bought and started knitting sweaters.
Time flew by, and it was the weekend. Gu Xingping studied at home, while Chen Lishu went to the Ding family's house.
Sun Shuzhen had somehow gotten hold of a small blackboard, and even prepared an English textbook for Chen Lishu.
The two of them started with the most basic twenty-six English letters. To Sun Shuzhen's surprise, Chen Lishu was incredibly talented in this area, remembering almost everything after being taught just once.
After the lesson, Sun Shuzhen was very satisfied with her student.
"English really requires a lot of practice and listening. If you have the opportunity, you can buy a radio. Sometimes they have special English lectures, so you can expose yourself to them more."
"Thank you, Auntie Sun," Chen Lishu said, then gathered her books and notes and headed home.
Not long after, just as she was thinking about how to get a radio, a bolt from the blue struck across China's 9.6 million square kilometers of land: a great leader had passed away.
When the devastating news arrived, everyone was immersed in grief over the leader's death. Gu Xingping's school even suspended classes for three days because of it.
In October, the four scourges that had plagued the country for ten years were swept away, and at the same time, Chairman Hua was appointed. The announcement of these two major pieces of news set off a wave of joy across the nation.
Chen Lishu knew that the tide, unique to this era, was about to arrive.
Over the past month, Chen Lishu had used all her fabric coupons to buy materials to make 'false collars'. After deducting the share given to Li Xiulan and Zhang Qin, she had earned less than four hundred yuan, and now had over two thousand five hundred yuan in hand.
She had also used the industrial coupons mailed back by Gu Xingdong to buy a Hongdeng brand radio, which cost nearly seventy yuan.
The radio had a dedicated English program every afternoon, and Chen Lishu listened to it every day, coupled with Sun Shuzhen's tutoring, her English improved greatly.
...
"Comrade, do you need hair clips? One dime each."
The non-staple food store was having a promotion today. Potatoes and cabbage were available without coupons, priced at five cents per jin. Hearing the news, citizens flocked to the store to queue. Gu Xingmin had wandered around town for a long time without finding a suitable opportunity. Seeing the crowd now, he thought it was the perfect place to sell hair clips.
"Let me see the styles," the woman being asked said.
"I have many styles," Gu Xingmin said, opening the bag he was holding and revealing a pile of hair clips in various colors.
"The supply and marketing cooperative also sells them for one dime. With so many people around now, aren't you afraid of being reported?" a companion behind the woman reached out and tapped her back.
The woman looked up and indeed saw a few eyes glancing over. She immediately withdrew her hand and smiled apologetically at Gu Xingmin, "Sorry, I won't look anymore."
Gu Xingmin suppressed the anger in his chest, tightened the mouth of the bag, and went to ask someone else. However, there were many people in line, and no one seemed to want to buy.
"Hey, you at the front, what are you doing?" Just as Gu Xingmin was about to ask the next person, a red armband appeared at the street corner opposite him. Gu Xingmin was so startled that his hand trembled, and he almost dropped the bag in his hand.
Without thinking, he put the bag around his neck and ran away.
Gu Xingmin, accustomed to farm labor, naturally had good stamina. He ran for three blocks and, seeing that the red armband was out of sight, stopped. However, he was already panting like a牛.
Although it was still early, Gu Xingmin decided not to continue and packed up his bag and went home.
Liu Yuemin saw him at home when she returned from work and immediately pulled him aside to ask, "How is it? Did you sell them all?"
Gu Xingmin replied impatiently, "Pah! I ran into a red armband and it chased me for two blocks like a mad dog. My shoes almost flew off. I'm not doing this kind of work anymore. The supply and marketing cooperative sells them for one dime, and you want me to sell them for one dime too. Who would buy them? If you want, you go next time, I'm not going."
After Gu Xingmin had complained, he saw that Liu Yuemin was not speaking. He thought for a moment and said, "Why don't you go and beg your third sister-in-law? She has many ideas. If that doesn't work, we'll sell them to her for eight fen. It's better than keeping them and not being able to eat or drink them."
Although Liu Yuemin was reluctant, she nodded in agreement.
...
In mid-October, Gu Xingping started her autumn harvest leave, and Chen Lishu returned home with Gu Xingping. The annual rush harvest in the team also began in full swing.
This year's harvest was good, and the grain yield was visibly higher than last year. Although Chen Lishu and Gu Xingping did not go to the team to work, their family members were at the most physically demanding time. Besides taking care of the household, Chen Lishu also did her best to help her family replenish their strength.
With limited meat coupons, Chen Lishu thought of going to the river to fish to improve the family's diet. She found the fishing rod that Gu Xingdong had made on his last visit and took a bucket from home, then set off for the river.
At this time, everyone was busy with the grain harvest. Apart from the elderly and toddlers, there was hardly anyone to be seen in the village, let alone by the river. It was so quiet that only the rustling of reeds in the occasional wind and the chirping of unknown insects could be heard.
Chen Lishu sat by the river for an entire day. By the time she packed up her things to go home, she had already caught six or seven fish. The largest weighed over three jin, and the smallest was nearly one jin.
Carrying the bucket home, Chen Lishu first poured some water into the bucket to keep the fish in a cool place, and then started washing rice to cook.
For dinner, she planned to make braised assorted fish. She first took out the three largest fish from the bucket and cleaned them. Chen Lishu heated the pot, added oil, stir-fried the aromatics like ginger, garlic, and then added soybean paste and stir-fried again. Then, she put the fish into the pot and added enough water to cover them. She put on the lid, and soon the aroma of fish filled the kitchen.
"Third sister-in-law, what are you cooking? I could smell it as soon as I entered the yard, and my mouth is watering."
Gu Xingye's voice sounded from the doorway. Chen Lishu turned her head and saw him enter, her face showing surprise: "Fourth brother, you're back?"
"The person who was covering for me has recovered, so I'm back," Gu Xingye said with a smile.
Chen Lishu nodded, her gaze falling on the luggage at his feet, and said, "I'm stewing fish for dinner. Hurry and go put your things in your room. Dad and Mom should be back soon. Go rest for a bit, and we'll eat when they get back."
Gu Xingye responded, went out, and after putting away his things and washing up, Li Xiulan and Gu Shoufou entered the courtyard. Seeing Gu Xingye back, the old couple couldn't have been happier.