I Became Rich by Eating Melons in the Era of Literature (1970s)

　　Obviously Jiang Youtao's directness confused the courier for a moment, but he quickly reacted, rubbed his head with his hand, and said, "My name is Fu Shaohua, I am an educated youth from the capital. I just came here this year and was previously assigned to Yongding Farm."

　　Yongding Farm was not far from the county town, but the educated youth assigned there all received wages, which was much better than those of them who were assigned to the countryside.

　　"Oh, my name is Jiang Youtao. I'm also an educated youth who went to the countryside this year. I'm from Shanghai." Jiang Youtao gave a brief self-introduction following Fu Shaohua's format.

　　Fu Shaohua nodded: "Let's talk more when we have time. I'm leaving first. I still have several letters to deliver."

　　Jiang Youtao sent him outside the yard: "Come over and play when you have time."

　　The handsome boy got on his bicycle, raised his hands and waved them casually, then disappeared.

　　Jiang Youtao looked at his departing back and reached out to brush away the hair that was blown in front of her eyes by the wind.

　　Gu Nianwei appeared beside her without knowing when, and put her hand on Jiang Youtao's shoulder. She looked at the deserted rural dirt road and raised her eyebrows: "What, you like it?"

　　Jiang Youtao chuckled, "I'm not attracted to him, but I think he's pretty good-looking. I want to take a few more glances at him, a few more glances."

　　Gu Nianwei was in the yard just now. She also saw the appearance of the postman. He was really good-looking, but he was handsome, not her type. She liked the type that looked muscular and thin when undressed, and had overflowing male hormones. In layman's terms, he was a tough guy.

　　"Alright, alright, stop looking, stop looking. If you keep staring at the road and make a hole, people won't be able to get back. Let's go back and continue drying the mushrooms. We'll stir-fry some mushrooms tonight."

　　Speaking of stir-fried mushrooms, the handsome boy who had just made Jiang Youtao's heart flutter was instantly forgotten by her: "Come on, let's pick some peppers from the vegetable garden and stir-fry them. It smells delicious."

　　Jiang Youtao has always felt that mushrooms and peppers are the perfect combination.

　　"Okay, okay, okay. I'll listen to you. I'll listen to you."

　　In the evening, the two of them cooked mixed grain rice. Gu Nianwei fried the mushrooms. She put a lot of oil and garlic slices. The mushrooms were fried fragrantly and mixed with green peppers. The taste was so delicious that people wanted to swallow their tongue.

　　After dinner, they returned to their respective rooms. Jiang Youtao curled up on the soft kang to read the letter she had received that day.

　　The letter was written by Ying Chaorong. It began with the common greetings used in letters of that era, and then went on to apologize for not having written to Jiang Youtao for so long.

　　Then he talked about Hao Juxiang's health, Ying Dexing's health, and then the fate of Jiang Anguo's family.

　　On the morning of the day when Jiang Youtao was sent away, the three of them went to the cannery. Jiang Anguo was not released because after a night of interrogation, they did not find out about his affair with Li Xiuqin, but they did find out about his corruption and bribery during the years when he was promoted to workshop director.

　　His methods of corruption were very sophisticated, and they were all handled by Li Xiuqin. The couple had a clear division of labor. Anyone who wanted to use Jiang Anguo's connections to get things done would first send money or things to Li Xiuqin in a way that would not be easily noticed. Li Xiuqin would then pass it to Jiang Anguo. After Jiang Anguo looked at the things, he would decide whether to meet the person who gave the gift.

　　After meeting, decide whether to help or not.

　　The bribes Jiang Anguo received were not a small amount. He did not dare to keep the money at home. Instead, he rented a loft in an extremely busy alley and put all the embezzled money there.

　　When they are not working, the couple's favorite thing to do is to go to the attic to count money and plan for the future.

　　As for how much money the family had, the couple tacitly did not tell Jiang Jiabao.

　　This time, the Revolutionary Committee and the factory's security team searched the attic and found a lot of things, including more than 9,000 yuan in cash.

　　The amount of corruption and bribery was so huge that it caused a great shock not only in the factory but also in the whole city of Shanghai. The couple was detained, and the result of their punishment has not been announced yet.

　　Jiang Jiabao ran away in fear after his parents were arrested. He was finally found in a bridge hole. He had signed up to go to the countryside, but did not go there at the stipulated time. He escaped for several days before being caught. He was made an example by the street office and was sent to the most difficult farm on the frontier.

　　At the end of the letter, Ying Chaorong said that Hao Juxiang heard that it was cold in the north, so she made her a quilt and a cotton jacket. The reason why he took so long to write to her was because it was difficult to exchange cotton cloth coupons, so he delayed it until now.

　　After talking about this, Ying Chaorong said that because Jiang Anguo's identity of corruption and bribery had an impact on his political background, she let him make the decision and used his connections to transfer her household registration to his home, and all the money she left behind was used up.

　　Jiang Youtao didn't put down the letter in her hand for a long time.

　　She sent Jiang Anguo to the Revolutionary Committee purely because she wanted Jiang Anguo to have a taste of being locked up in a small dark room by the Revolutionary Committee. She really didn't expect Jiang Anguo to be so bold that he dared to commit corruption in this era. After all, the original owner's memory never had any incidents of Jiang Anguo and Li Xiuqin taking bribes.

　　He also took so many bribes, the cash alone was more than 9,000 yuan. In this era, rice is only a little over 10 cents per pound. How much can 9,000 yuan buy?

　　Isn't this just the birthday boy hanging himself to commit suicide?

　　Jiang Youtao couldn't understand why they were so greedy when they had so much money that they couldn't spend it.

　　When Jiang Youtao saw that Ying Chaorong later moved her household registration to the Ying family, she felt as if a jar of seasoning had been overturned, with mixed feelings.

　　Jiang Anguo had committed such a serious crime, it was enough for her to be implicated. It must have taken Ying Chaorong a lot of effort to move her household registration, so the 800 yuan was well spent.

　　That was the pension from the original owner's mother. Jiang Youtao had no intention of using it. She left the money to the Ying family in order to improve their financial conditions.

　　Now, look what happens, the money has gone around and been spent on her again.

　　Jiang Youtao was moved but at a loss as to what to do.

　　She was in a daze for a while, opened the system mall, bought the wheelchair she had collected before, opened the search engine, bought some mountain products such as mushrooms, and also bought a ginseng.

　　Jiang Youtao, who attached great importance to melon coins, spent money without even looking at the price at this moment, and only picked the best ones.

　　After shopping, she didn't have much melon coins left.

　　Jiang Youtao didn't feel reluctant at all.

　　Calculating the date written on the letter, Jiang Youtao estimated that the quilt and cotton jacket sent by Hao Juxiang would soon arrive, so she planned to go to the commune to ask in a few days.

　　Just two days after she received the letter, it was autumn harvest season.

　　Farmers work hard in the fields for a year just for this moment of autumn harvest.

　　At four o'clock in the morning, just after daybreak, the sound of gongs in the village rang out, echoing from the head to the end of the village. Jiang Youtao and the others got up, cooked a day's worth of food, and carried it on their backs, rushing to gather at Changba before five o'clock.

　　The captain and the village party secretary of Liushugou both had accidents, so the commune had no choice but to send two people to temporarily replace the captain and the village party secretary. They didn't know much about Liushugou, and they were like mascots, not caring about anything, and all the power was in the hands of the team leaders.

　　The team leaders are all serious and responsible people. They assigned tasks according to last year's example, and when the final gong was struck, everyone started moving.

　　It was already late autumn, and the mornings were exceptionally cold. Everyone had already put on coats over their shirts, but it was exceptionally hot at noon. The hot sun during the heat of autumn was like a furnace roasting people on the ground. Jiang Youtao had the illusion that she was going to be dried out by the sun.

　　Autumn harvest is the most difficult time, as they have to seize good weather and the ripe crops in the fields.

　　The educated youth were assigned the same number of tasks as the half-grown children in the village. Even so, Zhao Yonglan and Zhang Huihui were still so exhausted that they cried several times.

　　Jiang Youtao also kept holding on. She had never done such hard work before.

　　She finally understood the meaning of the content written in the poem "Ming Niu".

　　It is noon and I am hoeing the field. Sweat drips to the ground. Who knows that every grain of rice on the table is the result of hard work?

　　Yes, every grain of rice is hard-earned, but it is too hard.

　　Jiang Youtao worked so hard that her body was covered with various traces of work. She was so tired that she fell asleep as soon as she touched the pillow every day. The high-intensity physical labor made her unable to eat well.

　　By the time she delivered the last bag of corn to the granary, she wanted to cry to the sky.

　　It was so tiring, so tiring. Jiang Youtao had the illusion many times that she was going to die of exhaustion.

　　After returning to the educated youth point, as soon as the yard door was closed, Zhao Yonglan lay down on Zhang Huihui and started crying.

　　She is a delicate girl with a bad temper and has never touched the carrying pole since the autumn harvest.

　　Li Yunying poured her a glass of water and said, "Wang Shanxi went to the commune to buy some meat. Let's have a good meal tonight, then have a good sleep and rest."

　　Because they were too busy, Gu Nianwei and Jiang Youtao came back to eat.

　　Jiang Youtao and Gu Nianwei had already discussed how to celebrate after the autumn harvest. Gu Nianwei said, "I'm going to the commune, too. I bought a chicken there. We'll make chicken soup tonight using the mushrooms we picked up last time we went up the mountain."

　　"Then I won't be polite with you. Just tell us the price of the chicken when the time comes, we will pay. Don't refuse. We are not going to eat it ourselves, but also for those male educated youth. They have big appetites." Li Yunying said with a smile.

　　"That's fine." Jiang Youtao agreed. She had no objection to inviting others to dinner, but she was not happy when Zhou Zhenfeng was among the guests.

　　This kind of scum should be starved to death or exhausted to death.

　　Seeing that Jiang Youtao agreed, Gu Nianwei didn't say anything. She only asked her what she thought in private when they were alone.

　　Jiang Youtao's eyes fell on Zhou Zhenfeng, who was holding a book and pretending to be stupid in front of the window, and said, "I just don't want to treat him to a meal."

　　Gu Nianwei followed Jiang Youtao's gaze and immediately felt full: "We just finished the autumn harvest at noon today. Everyone is exhausted. Why are you reading books instead of lying down during your break? Are you sick?"

　　Jiang Youtao reached into her pocket and took out some melon seeds to share with her, then looked towards the firewood shed and said, "It's to attract bees and butterflies."

　　Zhao Yonglan was sorting firewood in the firewood shed.

　　She was still reluctant to collect firewood, but she had money, so she gave 10 cents a day to the children in the village who worked in the fields and earned little money, and asked them to collect ten bundles of firewood for her. Those children had never known that they could make so much money by collecting firewood, and they all rushed to agree.

　　Less than five yuan was spent, and the firewood shed was already half full.

　　With these firewoods, Zhao Yonglan kept her back straight at the educated youth center, and no one said anything about her not being able to cook or take care of her private plot.

　　After all, firewood can save lives in the cold northern winter.

　　Jiang Youtao also planned to learn from her: "Let's learn from her tomorrow, just give them some money and save some energy. I've been so tired recently. If I go up the mountain to collect firewood again, I think I'll die."

　　Gu Nianwei was also relieved: "Let's do it."

　　The two walked towards Zhao Yonglan. After hearing their purpose, Zhao Yonglan waved her hand and said, "It's no big deal. I'll tell Dabao later. He's eager to make more money."

　　The boy who collected firewood for Zhao Yonglan was called Dabao, and he was twelve years old.

　　Before Jiang Youtao could say anything, Zhou Zhenfeng started reciting a poem. His voice was full of emotion and there were tears in his eyes. His performance was so exaggerated that it gave people goose bumps.

　　After he finished reciting, he looked at Zhao Yonglan and asked, "Comrade Zhao Yonglan, what do you think of my poem? Can you accompany me?"

　　Gu Nianwei and Jiang Youtao started to crack melon seeds in tacit understanding.

　　Things like this have happened several times during this period.

　　Zhao Yonglan's face was as dark as the bottom of a pot. She really couldn't understand why Zhou Zhenfeng could still write poetry even though he was so exhausted. Not only did he write, but he also asked her to accompany him. How shameless of him?

　　Zhao Yonglan really wanted to go to his grave to play accompaniment. If this was Zhou Zhenfeng's request, she would definitely agree.

　　Zhou Zhenfeng asked again without waiting for Zhao Yonglan's answer.

　　Zhao Yonglan endured it again and again, but she couldn't stand it anymore: "Get your mother out of here."