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BTSAMW 34
Gao Fusheng really took the matter of his niece marrying seriously. After talking to Secretary Hao’s wife, he went to look for the commune canteen’s Chef Liu. He distributed the food in the canteen, so he knew many people. He wanted to ask him to keep an eye on the families with good conditions in the county town.
Who made him promise Qingmiao’er with a well-off family? This time, the people in the town cannot satisfy his third sister, and he is also too embarrassed to refute it, so he can only look for people in the county town.
Even if it was not as good as that of the county town cadre’s family, he still had to take action. This time, he used at least two liang of white sugar.
Master Liu patted his chest and promised that he would look seriously. Now, even some townspeople were unable to eat. After all, only some people in town had jobs, and the food supply was not enough. It would be nice if the wife’s maiden family could help.
Of course, he did not tell this to Gao Fusheng.
After finishing work, Gao Fusheng waited for the news.
Many people were interested, and he wondered if their family’s conditions could interest them. He still had to make two trips to Secretary Hao’s house. Although he was reluctant to give his niece to the wolves, this marriage would allow Qingmiao’er not to worry for a lifetime if it was settled.
Secretary Hao’s wife was unaware of Gao Fusheng casting a wide net. Since she took advantage of other people, she felt it was terrible if she did not help. Although other families also gave her benefits, Gao Fusheng worked in a supply and marketing cooperative and would be able to provide more convenience. As a family member of a cadre, she usually was only allowed to buy a little. If Gao Fusheng could help her with this, it would be advantageous to their family.
When night came, she started a pillow talk with her man.
“Since they mentioned this matter, you must take it seriously and look carefully. Don’t look for girls who lack energy; look for those who are white and fat. I heard that Gao Fusheng’s niece is not bad. She grew up well, and her family condition is not bad. She won’t drag down her husband’s family in the county town. Another important thing here is that she has three brothers. She could give birth to a son in the future.”
Secretary Hao’s head ached, “They just mentioned this in passing. Why should I be so serious?”
“Naturally, you should take it seriously. This would prove that you take things to heart. Since they are cadres at the county town, they can take care of you.”
Secretary Hao thought, how did he turn into a matchmaker?
“However, the Gu family’s daughter is really useless, ah. Except for getting married to a townsperson, she wouldn’t be able to live in the future.” Right now, her condition sounds nice. But in the future, without the protection of her parents, brothers, and sisters-in-law, she would not be able to survive.
His wife did not care, “Why do you care so much? If they ask you, then you have to pay attention to whether the match will succeed or not, ah.”
When Secretary Hao thought about it, it seemed that it made sense, “Speaking of which, we need to pay attention to the relief grain issue. This way, when their leader visits, I’ll inquire and also reply regarding the matter of relief grain.”
His wife was relieved. She felt she was now worthy of the cloth Gao Fusheng sent her.
Secretary Hao was still a bit uneasy. Those people will not only inquire at their commune. Since he would be replying to this matter, he had to find the best candidate. Or else, those county people might think there were no excellent daughters in their commune.
After a few days, when Guo Changsheng came to inquire about the relief grain, Secretary Hao said, “Captain Guo, you’re just in time. I have a question about your team’s female comrade, Su Qinghe. You know her, right? The one with three brothers in the family?”
Guo Changsheng immediately felt bothered. Why was he suddenly asking about Su Qinghe, ah?! Was it because their previous matter was spread out? Was the secretary going to ask him to beat Su Qinghe? Let him take the initiative to admit his mistakes. If Guo Changsheng were ordinary, he would quickly admit his mistakes. However, Guo Changsheng was a soldier and had seen blood. He at least had courage.
He said calmly, “I know Su Qinghe. Her dad’s a martyr.” After speaking, he wanted to slap himself. He kept hearing Gao Xiulan say that all the time, so that was the first thing he thought.
When Secretary Hao heard that, he was intrigued, “Then is her family condition good? How is her personality?”
She likes to eat delicious food and be lazy… Of course, Guo Changsheng could not say that. He was now sincerely thankful to Su Qinghe. In the end, she was just a child, and she even helped the team so much. Because of special circumstances, he could only reward her from the team and not ask the higher-ups for a reward. He felt wronged for her. Now, even if Su Qinghe liked delicious food and did not like to work, he thought that she was pretty cute. “She’s a good child. Not a single person on the team does not like her. To exaggerate, even the rats like her.”
“Then, since she’s quite popular, there’s no need to talk about her character, ah.” Secretary Hao was even happier and asked about her family.
“…Harmonious. Really harmonious. She’s very filial to her elders. The elders also love her.”
“Good, good. That’s good. Comrade Changsheng, ah. Don’t worry about the matter of relief grain. I’ve been making trips to the county the past few days. They’ve been taking care of the severely affected areas, but now, they would be focused on us. I’ll go and urge them tomorrow.”
When he heard this, Guo Changsheng was overjoyed. Finally, something’s happening ah!
Guo Changsheng left the office happily. He felt things were finally going well and thought about why Secretary Hao asked about Su Qinghe. Although he could not think of a reason, he felt that every time something good happened, it was related to Su Qinghe. His good feelings toward Su Qinghe rose to another level. This child was really a blessing to them, ah.
Meanwhile, Su Qinghe was anxious about her fish soup assessment task. At first, she was not really worried. However, she failed to pass the assessment the first time, which made her uncomfortable. If she couldn’t do it, then it was fine. However, she did it and still failed.
Su Qinghe was troubled by this matter.
Therefore, she went inside the military wife’s kitchen when she got to bed that night. She pondered for a while and thought that maybe the system was correct. The condition of her home kitchen was still awful.
When she arrived at the military wife’s kitchen, she took out the ingredients peacefully and followed the recipe.
“Ding! The cooking task is finished. The reward is five catties of fish and some seasoning.”
Su Qinghe: “…” I’ll do it again tomorrow!
The next night.
“Ding! The cooking task is finished. The reward is five catties of fish and some seasoning.”
“…!!!” I don’t want to do it anymore!
“Host, success might be achieved at this last step. It’s a pity for you to take ninety-nine steps and then give up at the last step. This is a great loss for the host.”
Su Qinghe: “…”
On the third night, Su Qinghe swore she wouldn’t do it again if she failed.
Since she had already made it several times, she could cook the fish soup quickly. Having tasted several fish soups in the past, she could find out some of the problems through the taste of the soup.
Based on her accumulated experience from the previous fish soups, she was able to avoid those problems this time.
“Ding! B-level cooking assessment task——fish soup reached the best quality and passed the assessment. Rewarding one skill point, ten catties of fish, and some seasoning.”
Su Qinghe could finally sigh in relief.
“Host, the heavens always reward the hardworking. The host should motivate herself to practice more. If the host works hard, she would be as successful as she was today.”
Su Qinghe wiped her forehead and looked at the pot filled with fish soup on the stove as if she didn’t hear the system’s brainwashing words. What a pity she couldn’t take it with her outside. Everyone in the family has already eaten her fish soup. She was afraid that they would recognize it. Especially her mother.
After thinking about it, Su Qinghe kept the fish soup in her storage space. Anyway, it can be preserved there. Who knows when she will need it?
As for the ten catties of fish she got, Su Qinghe would wait to use them. She just drank fish soup a few days ago. She would take it out after a while. After the autumn harvest, she would bring it out just in time for the family to celebrate.
For Su Qinghe, the autumn harvest was just another day. However, for other people, it was a long-awaited hope. All the production team members watched eagerly as the crops in the field quickly ripened. Even if there was not much food, it was better than nothing.
Eagerly waiting.
The Huang He production team members could barely wait, but those in other production teams couldn’t wait any longer.
Initially, the situation of the Huang He production team was one of the worst among the production teams. However, their ancestors left them life-saving grain, which supported their stomachs. Other production teams were different. Their waists were about to break from tightening their belts.
Thus, they started to borrow food everywhere. They couldn’t help it. Although borrowing food was pointless at this point, they had to shamelessly go out of their houses and look for food everywhere.
“Xiuju, please help elder sister, ah. Even a catty is enough. I need to cook porridge for the children to eat. The adults in our family can still hold out, but what about the children?”
Gao Xiuhong came to the Huang He production team again and even cried louder than last time. They had no way out. The last time she came here, the family could at least hold on for a bit. This time, there was no more food. Even the children had to eat bark. How could small children eat that, ah?
“Sister, it’s not that I don’t want to help. Our family does not have the capability. As you can see, we have a large family, and my man’s in charge of matters at home. I can’t decide for our family.” Gao Xiuju felt very uncomfortable. When she was still at her maiden home, she had the best relationship with her eldest sister… The two of them recognized each other and bullied their younger sister. However, life was not good, and she could not be the master of their house.
Gao Xiuhong felt more desperate. It was useless to ask her maiden family. Her mother would scold her if she saw her and say that those were not the children of the Gao family. At most, she would be given a bite to eat at her mother’s house, and they would be mad if she gave it to her husband’s family. However, she was a mother. What was the point of living if she ate alone and left her children to die?
Gao Xiuju said, “Sister, why don’t you go and look for third sister? Her family has a lot of strong workers, and she received a lot during the division of grain. She’s also in charge of her family.”
“Wuwuwu. She’ll scold me again when she sees me. That girl is so cruel; why would she give me food?”
“This is your only hope.” Gao Xiuju advised. She couldn’t help it. There was only so much food at home. Her husband and children would blame her if she lent it to her elder sister.
Since her second sister could not be counted on, Gao Xiuhong could only leave. She thought of her family as she walked on the road. Gao Xiuhong gritted her teeth and walked towards Sujia Village.
Gao Xiulan was sitting in their yard, commanding her granddaughters. She looked at the gate and sighed.
She had never looked forward to the arrival of her brother, Gao Fusheng, up until now.
Suddenly, she noticed someone walking toward their courtyard and felt excited.
Their old Su family was at the edge of the village, and not many people usually passed by their house.
She stood up subconsciously and smiled.
“Xiulan——” Gao Xiuhong’s cry came.
“…” Gao Xiulan’s face instantly darkened as her smile froze.
“Xiulan, ah. Please help your sister once. Sister won’t eat. I’ll give it to the children. Allow them to survive.” Gao Xiuhong wiped her tears and entered the old Su family’s courtyard. The children looked curiously at her.
The younger ones did not know her, but Da Ya and Dabao knew her. They used to meet every time she went to eat with their grandmother.
Su Qinghe was inside the house, chatting with her system. She came out when she heard the noise.
As soon as she arrived outside, Gao Xiulan said, “If I allow your children to eat porridge, my children would not be able to eat. Look at us. We have five children! You’re so black-hearted. How could you be so black-hearted? Our five children are all part of the old Su family! Are all the children you’re feeding part of the old Zhang family?”
The children listened and looked at their grandmother with bewilderment. Grandmother was protecting their food to feed them. Grandmother said that they were all part of the old Su family!
Su Qinghe: “…”
Seeing Gao Xiuhong’s desperate look, Su Qinghe could conclude that Gao Xiuhong could not borrow food last time. She hurriedly pulled Gao Xiulan, “Mom, let’s go inside and talk.” She also said to Gao Xiuhong, “Aunt, please wait. My mom has already prepared for this long ago.”
She then dragged Gao Xiulan into their house.
“Qingmiao’er, you don’t have to worry about this. We’re not that close to her.” Gao Xiulan said.
“Mom, I know that you two have a bad relationship. However, aren’t you helping me look for a husband in town? What if they come back and inquire about me? If they heard that my aunt came to our house to ask for life-saving grain, and they found out that we didn’t give her some, wouldn’t they scold me? What can we do then?”
Gao Xiulan was shocked. She almost forgot about this. Townspeople were particular about this kind of thing.
“What do we do now?”
“Give her a bit of cornmeal and some bran so that it would last for a while.” Now that there was a food shortage, it would be counterintuitive for them to take out good grains.
When Gao Xiulan heard this, she hesitated. “I’m quite worried. What if we suddenly can’t be able to rely on your dad? What do we do?”
“Mom, you need to have confidence in my dad. Besides, dad is now a cadre. We have to accumulate a good fortune for him. The important thing here is to give me a good reputation. Everything will be fine once I enter town!”
“That’s right, that’s right. You can’t catch the wolf without giving up the child! [1]”
[1] you can’t catch the wolf without giving up the child – make minor sacrifices to gain more significant benefits, similar idiom to “you must enter the tiger’s den to catch his cubs”.
Gao Xiulan immediately rummaged through her big urn. She found three catties of porridge. She initially wanted to give just one catty, but Su Qinghe persuaded her, so she gritted her teeth and added two more catties. She also brought out ten catties of bran. This stuff was better than eating bark.
While carrying it out, Gao Xiulan sighed, “Eldest sister, this is our life-saving grain. You have to save it. I can’t give any more.”
Gao Xiuhong looked at her sister in disbelief.
Su Qinghe carried the items and placed them in her aunt’s backpack, “Aunt, my mom misses you in her heart. Last time, she thought you and second aunt were on good terms and could borrow from her. When my mother arrived home, she kept thinking about you and had been thinking about sending these grains. She couldn’t afford to lose face.”
Gao Xiuhong felt that she was having auditory hallucinations. She couldn’t believe it. Her black-hearted third sister… Oh no, it was her third sister who looked black-hearted, but it was her kind third sister who was so good to her!
The heavy weight on her basket that was placed behind her back told her that it was all true!
She excitedly rushed over and hugged Gao Xiulan, “I’m sorry, Xiulan. Elder sister was not good to you in the past. When you were a child, your elder sister frequently made you work and always scolded you. Sister is sorry—”
Gao Xiulan pushed her away with disgust. What was that for? Don’t try to trick her into giving them more food. Not anymore!
“Go back quickly! Why are you making noise?”
Su Qinghe immediately smoothened things out, “Auntie, my mom is asking you to go back and make some food for the children. Talk to my mom later when you have the chance.”
Gao Xiuhong was even more moved. Her sister’s sharp words had such a hidden meaning.
Gao Xiulan’s expression almost collapsed. Don’t come back. She hated it when people came to her door and ate rice for nothing!”