His predecessor failed

Chapter 142 Busy Life

It was less than a pound of meat. If it was given to others, the butcher's knife would have to break. But this was for Su Zhiqing, Su Zhuzhu. No one present objected, not even the children were greedy. Everyone agreed wholeheartedly and urged the chef to cook the meat for Su Zhiqing first and then for everyone else.

The team leader was not there at the time, and he heard it from his wife later. However, after the meat was cooked, Su Zhuzhu never came over. It was still kept in the kitchen!

The team leader told the male educated youth to go and eat directly and told them not to worry about this matter.

After saying that, the captain walked towards the kitchen and picked out his wife from a group of busy old women.

"What are you doing? Can't you see I'm busy? I'll go eat some meat soon after I'm done. Really, if I'm late, give me some!"

Aunt Chunxiu was busy with her work and was having an interesting gossip conversation when this old man came out to do something bad again.

"Okay, don't think I don't know what you guys are talking about. There's so much gossip all day long. This is what happened. Zhuzhu and the other three female educated youth were so tired that they couldn't get up. They didn't plan to come to eat. Fortunately, Zheng Qiwen and the others came over and said something. You should quickly pack the food for them and send it to the educated youth home. The three girls should not starve. Ask them a few more questions about their health. If it doesn't work, give them a day off tomorrow to rest. Everyone is really exhausted this time."

When Aunt Chunxiu heard that it was about Zhuzhu, she immediately perked up. Without needing the captain to give her any more instructions, she picked up the lunch box and quickly went to fill it with food. Whenever someone asked about it, she would repeat what the captain had just said. Moreover, if the captain said eight points, she would add it to ten points. Any less would mean that her sincerity was not enough.

For a moment, everyone was clamoring to go and see Su Zhuzhu and the others. Those who didn't know thought they couldn't get up.

Aunt Chunxiu now realized that she had gone too far, and quickly advised everyone to go eat first and not disturb Su Zhiqing and the others to rest, as they would be fine in two days.

When everyone finally dispersed, Aunt Chunxiu breathed a sigh of relief, fortunately she was able to persuade them to stop.

I quickly packed the lunch box, pressing the rice and meat again and again, fearing that there would not be enough to eat if I put too little. Finally, I poured a spoonful of broth on it, and the lid could hardly be closed.

Aunt Chunxiu didn't even bother to eat. She just said something to the aunt she was on good terms with and walked towards the educated youth institution in small steps. Her legs moved very fast.

"Zhuzhu, Zhuzhu? Liu Zhiqing, Duan Zhiqing?" Aunt Chunxiu started shouting as soon as she stepped into the gate of the Youth League Institute. Fortunately, she had a really loud voice.

Several female comrades lived in the innermost part of the Youth League Institute. It was still early and they were all lying on the head of the bed, not asleep. They felt sore and weak all over and were exhausted.

Hearing the voice coming from outside, Su Zhuzhu was the first to react and figure out who it was. After all, she dealt with the captain's wife the most.

"Aunt Chunxiu, I'm here. The door is not closed tightly. Please come in directly!"

Su Zhuzhu barely propped up her upper body and yelled outside.

Soon, the door was pushed open with a creak, and Aunt Chunxiu walked in with a basket in her hand.

"Oh, Zhuzhu, how come you are so tired that you can't even get out of bed? What about those two girls? I guess they are in the same situation!"

Aunt Chunxiu put down the basket and walked around Su Zhuzhu twice, taking a closer look. As expected, this girl had delicate skin and tender flesh. There were quite a few blisters on her white and tender soles of feet and palms. She herself had rough hands and feet and often got blisters but didn't take it seriously, but she felt sorry for this girl.

It was the first time that Aunt Chunxiu came to Su Zhuzhu's place. Su Zhuzhu struggled to get up and pour water for Aunt Chunxiu, but was held down.

"I'm not an outsider, why are you making such a fuss? Just lie down quietly. Your feet are full of blisters and you can't even walk properly!"

Aunt Chunxiu opened the basket, took out Su Zhuzhu's lunch box first, opened it and put it on the bedside table, then went to the kitchen to get chopsticks, signaling Su Zhuzhu to eat quickly. No matter how tired she was, she would recover faster after eating a full meal.

Su Zhuzhu's eyes almost popped out of her head as she looked at the table of fried pork with peppers that was almost overflowing. This was too much. She was just about to say that it was too much and could not be finished, and asked Aunt Chunxiu to take some back for everyone. Before she could say anything, Aunt Chunxiu rushed to the next room.

Fortunately, Su Zhuzhu had space at hand, so she took out a clean lunch box, put half of the food in it, covered it, and left it for Aunt Chunxiu to take back and distribute to everyone. To be honest, one pig would not be enough for everyone, so they all fried the side dishes together.

When Aunt Chunxiu came back and wanted to pick the blisters for Su Zhuzhu, Su Zhuzhu was so scared that she quickly pulled her foot back, and this time she didn't feel any pain in her legs.

No matter what Aunt Chunxiu said, Su Zhuzhu would never agree.

"Aunt, I know you're doing this for my own good, but there's really no need. I'm a doctor myself. I'm just a little tired right now. I'll take care of it after dinner. Don't worry, this lunch box is clean. I haven't touched it. You gave me too much, so I can't finish it. I'll take it back and share it with everyone later!"

"Girl, I brought this for you to eat. There's no reason to bring it back home. The meat is the most tender piece that the butcher picked out for you. This box of meat is cooked by the chef for you. If you can't finish it, save it for dinner. Given your situation, how about I cook for you tonight?"

Su Zhuzhu repeatedly waved her hands to refuse.

"Aunt, it's very good of you to bring us food. Please go back and eat quickly, otherwise there will be no food left. You don't have to cook for us in the evening. There are so many, we can just heat them up and eat them ourselves."

"You girls are so thin-skinned. You all say the same thing. Okay, I'm leaving now. You guys have a good rest!"

Su Zhuzhu was really relieved after Aunt Chunxiu left. She really couldn't accept letting Aunt Chunxiu pick the blisters for her. It wasn't a big deal and she wasn't that squeamish. She could just wait for herself to calm down after dinner, pick the blisters herself and apply some medicine.

After Aunt Chunxiu returned, she exaggerated the situation of Su Zhuzhu and the others again, and the one-day holiday became a two-day holiday.

To be honest, the three of them were very happy to have a good rest. It was the first time for all three of them to do such heavy work. Duan Xiaoling was slightly better off, after all, she had been working in the countryside for two years. Su Zhuzhu and Liu Yuanyuan really couldn't bear it.

However, the three of them were not idle. In the past two days, they asked the male educated youth to help cook for the three of them so that they could lie down and recover. Of course, Su Zhuzhu and the others also gave them food and vegetables, as well as preserved pheasant and other things. The male educated youth had taken good care of them, and they usually ate a lot from Su Zhuzhu and Liu Yuanyuan. Now that they could improve their meals, it was even better. They even specially asked the one who was best at cooking to cook.

Two days passed like this, and Su Zhuzhu and her colleagues had already gone to work. The rainy time was getting shorter and shorter, and the sun would come out occasionally to give some sunshine, but the water was slow to recede, and the crops in the low-lying areas showed signs of root rot. Fortunately, most of the fields were saved, which was a blessing in disguise. Compared with other brigades that did not take action in advance, the team leader was very satisfied. This loss was nothing to the Red Star Brigade now. Once the water receded completely, they would organize people to replant the soaked land. The watermelon given by Zhuzhu was saved in time, so they could plant more by then.

When the rainy days were completely over, the weather suddenly became hot. The sun hung brightly in the sky every day, and the summer heat instantly covered the entire land.

Fortunately, we took advantage of the good weather some time ago to plant the watermelon seedlings. Now the seedlings have basically grown to about one meter. The watermelon seeds are good and have strong disease resistance, so all of them survived.

Later, there were many more watermelon seedlings. Some team members had vacant land at home, so they took a few back to plant. Su Zhiqing said that these were watermelon seedlings. No one had ever seen a watermelon before. Although they were skeptical about these seedlings, everyone had confidence in Su Zhiqing, so almost every household planted them. If watermelons really grew, these would be considered private plots for their own consumption, while those from public plots would mostly be sold.

The Youth League Institute also cleared two rows of land to grow watermelons. Everyone came from the city, and even if most of them had never eaten watermelon, they had seen it, so they were very enthusiastic about growing watermelons. This fruit is very expensive when sold outside, so it would be amazing if we could grow it ourselves, and we would have to eat as much as we want.

The team leader was very meticulous in his work. He asked the educated youth to copy many copies of the planting methods. During the literacy class, he also gave the team members training on watermelon planting. Not only did they receive theoretical knowledge, but he also invited experienced farmers to discuss the matter. In the end, four groups of educated youth and farmers were formed. Each group was responsible for a piece of land, and each group patrolled the land together every day to check the growth of the watermelon seedlings.

In this way, the watermelon seedlings grew very well under everyone's careful care, and they changed every day.

Whenever Su Zhuzhu passed by a watermelon field, she imagined the joy of having watermelons grow freely after the watermelons matured. This time, she had carefully selected the watermelon seeds. The watermelons had thin skin and crisp flesh, and the flesh was sweet and juicy, which was far beyond the reach of other watermelon varieties of the current era. Su Zhuzhu could even imagine how many people would come to inquire about the watermelon seeds once the Red Star Brigade's watermelons were on the market. However, Su Zhuzhu was not worried, as she had already told the team leader that the source of the seeds must be kept secret. As for the seeds of the grown watermelons, others who wanted to keep them for seeds or do research would certainly not be able to hide them, so let it be. In the first few years, the watermelons from the Red Star Brigade would occupy the market, and when other places started to plant them in large quantities, the price of watermelon would be lowered, which would benefit the people and allow everyone to afford and enjoy eating watermelon.

The weather improved and everything returned to its normal pace. Su Zhuzhu planned to take out the drawings she had been designing and modifying and show them to the captain for reference.

Ever since she went to visit He Qiaojin's relatives in the army, Su Zhuzhu has been drawing the design drawings for the reconstruction of the Red Star Battalion. Over such a long period of time, she has revised them over and over again, and each design drawing has been revised at least five times.

As soon as the captain saw the stack of drawings in Su Zhuzhu's hand, he knew it was a big deal. Without saying anything, he turned on the loudspeaker of the brigade and summoned all the members of the management team of the Red Star Brigade to the brigade office.

Because it was still an old building, the Small Opinion Office was crowded with people, but no one minded. It was like this for every meeting. The team leader said that after the brigade was renovated in the future, a spacious and bright Red Star Brigade office building would definitely be built so that everyone would no longer have to squeeze together like this for meetings and discussions.

There were quite a lot of people there, and the whole office was buzzing with the sound of people talking, as lively as a market.

The captain coughed twice, raising his voice, and the noise of conversation disappeared. Everyone stopped talking and stared at him.

Unfortunately, the captain stared at Su Zhuzhu without considering everyone's feelings at all.

Su Zhuzhu signaled the captain to explain the situation first. Only after things were settled could she introduce her design to everyone.

"I called everyone here today to seek benefits for the brigade. I said before that when our Red Star Brigade becomes wealthy, we will build brick and tile houses for everyone, so that those who look down on our Red Star Brigade can have a good look at us. Our Red Star Brigade has stood up, we have enough food to eat, warm clothes to wear, and we can afford good houses to live in!"

The captain became excited as he spoke, thinking of all the cold stares he had received in the past, which he could finally get back. Looking at the dozen or so young faces staring at him, he still forced himself to suppress his emotions.

"I organized a meeting today to formally inform everyone that our Red Star Brigade housing reconstruction project has officially begun!"

Although everyone had been prepared for this, the fact that the team leader had confirmed that they were going to start rebuilding the houses still made everyone very excited. The existing houses of each household were too old, and two of the old houses in the team collapsed during this heavy rain, so everyone was in full support of the renovation.

"Captain, do we have money to build houses? There are so many people in the team, we need to build a lot. Do we have enough money?"

The captain gave the person who spoke an appreciative look.

"That's a good question. At this point, I will report to you the income and expenditure of our medicinal material processing factory and hot sauce factory so that everyone can have a general idea."

Then, the captain took out his notebook with a worn cover and carefully turned to the pages that recorded the management of the processing plant.

Next, he proudly read out the profit situation of the medicinal material processing factory and the hot sauce factory in front of everyone's disbelieving eyes. Seeing everyone's mouths opened wide in shock, the captain was so proud that he knew you would have this expression. When he first found out, he was no better than these people. His hands were shaking with excitement. He just couldn't believe it. He had never seen so much money in his life.