Chapter 69: Inspection

Then, the three of them went to Zhang Dahai’s house, set down the wine and canned goods, and thanked Zhang Dahai, saying, “Dahai, if it weren’t for you, how could Wei Guo have had the time to look for a job back then? You must keep these things.” Zhang Dahai repeatedly refused, but seeing that he could not decline in the end, he relented.

When they returned home, Xiao Weijun was playing in the courtyard. Upon seeing his eldest brother, he hurried over and hugged Xiao Weiguo’s waist, saying, “Big brother, the eggs are so delicious.”

“If you like them, I’ll cook more for you in the future,” Xiao Weiguo replied indulgently.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Weijun immediately glanced at his grandfather and father, afraid they might scold him again.

“Heh, it’s enough if I can eat them on my birthday,” Xiao Weijun said.

Xiao Weiguo patted his little brother’s head, feeling quite gratified. Each of them was sensible. In his heart, he silently promised, “Don’t worry, your big brother will make sure you all have good days ahead.”

After chatting for a while, Xiao Pingle took Xiao Hongmei, Xiao Weijun, Xiao Lianxin, and Xiao Qigong back home. As they were leaving, he said to Xiao Weiguo, “Weiguo, now there are no outsiders at home. Why not come back and sleep?”

Grandfather scolded directly, “Why go back? Just sleep here. It’s not like there’s no bed.”

Xiao Weiguo added, “Dad, I won’t go back. Things are still a bit unsettled over there, and besides, I won’t be staying at home for many days. Oh, and someday I’ll take you all to see my place in the city.”

Hearing this, everyone’s interest was instantly piqued. Xiao Pingle said, “Alright, once the autumn harvest is over, let’s pick a day. I’ll borrow Old Master’s donkey cart, and we’ll go into the city to see Weiguo’s new house.”

He began to imagine it himself.

A bunch of younger siblings crowded around, asking about the details of the city house.

Xiao Weiguo never realized how much allure a twenty-square-meter city apartment held for them.

Continuing, he said, “Someday, I’ll take you all there to see it for yourselves. It’s hard to explain in words.”

Grandfather and grandmother listened with great interest.

It seemed he had underestimated the appeal of city jobs, city housing, and city residency to everyone.

The next day.

Xiao Weiguo slept soundly and was in no rush to go fishing. He only got up leisurely after his grandfather had already gone to work.

He headed to the dining hall for breakfast before setting out for Qin Family Commune.

Unexpectedly, breakfast was just a steamed cornbread and a very watery cornmeal porridge. They said the meals would only improve after the autumn harvest.

After eating, seeing he had time, Xiao Weiguo wandered around the brigade, taking in the scenery.

He recalled his days in the logging team.

Entering the threshing ground, Xiao Weiguo found his grandfather at Furnace Number 13. Xiao Tieniu was tossing firewood into it, somewhat absentmindedly.

“Grandpa, I see a lot of furnaces have stopped. Has the workload decreased?” Xiao Weiguo asked.

“Weiguo, why haven’t you gone yet? I don’t know, but it looks like they’ll be shutting down,” Xiao Tieniu said, tossing in another piece of wood.

“You’d better go fishing. Your first job for the commune must be done well. Don’t always think about what you can get — you’re already earning a wage,” his grandfather recalled how Xiao Weiguo had asked for benefits for the brigade yesterday, and scolded him again.

“Grandpa, I understand. I’ll accept whatever the team committee decides,” Xiao Weiguo replied.

Xiao Weiguo thought to himself that this fishing job was just a start; later, when he brought things from his own space, that would be the real time to earn money. No need to rush.

He walked to the farmland area and saw a large group of women carrying baskets, moving from all directions toward a rice paddy.

He stopped an aunt he knew and asked, “Auntie, what are you doing? Why are you carrying nearly ripe rice in your basket? Aren’t you afraid the rice will die?”

“It’s Weiguo, right? We don’t know either. The secretary told us to do it. He said to move the best rice from each field to the patch in the hollow, and to make sure the transplanted rice survives. So when we move it, we keep plenty of soil on the roots.”

Letting her get back to work, Xiao Weiguo quickly looked toward the hollow patch. He knew that area—it was one of the most fertile fields of the brigade.

As for why rice was grown around here, in these times, rice was indeed cultivated in the region. Of course northern areas could grow rice; otherwise, how would the Northeast later become one of the biggest rice-producing regions? But later, various considerations showed that it wasn’t cost-effective to grow rice here, so they gradually switched to other grains.

Given the era, Xiao Weiguo immediately understood the reason for this practice.

He shook his head and left, not intending to stop them, nor could he.

After a few steps, he saw Xiao Gonglin, Zhang Dahai, and others heading toward the hollow. He vaguely heard Xiao Gonglin say, “The day after tomorrow, we can’t afford to relax. This concerns our brigade’s performance…”

Zhang Dahai replied, “Well, it’s easy to get through this part, but later… Gonglin, you’ll have to figure something out.”

As they walked off, Xiao Weiguo could no longer catch their conversation.

He didn’t plan to greet them and turned in another direction toward home. It was time to set out for the Qin Family Brigade.