1983 Small Island, Starting From a Large Farmer

Chapter 9 Mimeograph Machine

 After returning home from the dock.

Li Duoyu took a shower, changed into clean clothes, and rode a 28-inch pole to the gate of Dandan Island Primary School.

As the school bell rang, the primary school students swarmed out as usual.

Little chubby Li Haoran was so surprised that he couldn't close his mouth when he saw Li Duoyu:

“Uncle, when did you cut your hair? I still think you look more handsome with an afro.”

Li Duoyu smiled harmlessly:

“I’m going to the county town tomorrow. Do you want me to make a special trip to the bookstore for you?”

 “Uncle, I was wrong.”

 Hearing the word "bookstore", Xiaopangdun disappeared instantly.

 In the past, Zhou Xiaoying would come out after the students were almost gone, but this time Li Duoyu waited for half an hour, but Zhou Xiaoying was not there yet.

 This made him a little anxious.

By chance, a female teacher who was relatively close to Zhou Xiaoying came out of class and saw Li Duoyu still waiting, so she said:

“Xiaoying is printing the test papers today, and it probably won’t be that fast. Do you want to go in and find her?”

 “Wherever she seals, I will go find her.”

Lin Shanshan pointed to a small room next to the teaching building: "That room is where we print test papers."

 “Thank you, Teacher Lin.”

Looking at Li Duoyu's hurried look, Lin Shanshan couldn't help but sigh. Why hadn't she noticed before that Li Duoyu looked very clear and loved his wife so much.

It’s not like the one in her family who doesn’t care about making any money, but still thinks of herself as a boss all day long, and all the money for smoking and drinking every day is paid by her.

What a fate!

As soon as Li Duoyu approached the hut, he smelled the pungent smell of ink, while Zhou Xiaoying was sitting in the hut, holding a stylus and carving the test paper template on the wax paper.

When Li Duoyu opened the door and came in, she was startled. Without paying attention, the stylus poked a big hole in the wax paper.

This made her very upset, because once the wax paper was punctured, it would have to be re-engraved with the original version.

"It's all your fault, I have to carve it out again."

Li Duoyu chuckled: "I waited at the door for half an hour and didn't see you, so I couldn't help but come in to look for you. Weren't you very fast at doing this before? Why are you so slow today?"

Zhou Xiaoying looked helpless:

“Before, there was only Chinese as a subject, and now there is also mathematics.”

Li Duoyu then remembered that his wife had taken two classes concurrently and had to print two copies of the test paper.

“Let me engrave one for you.” Li Duoyu said.

 “Do you know how to carve wax paper?”

“I am a junior high school graduate after all. I can definitely add, subtract, multiply and divide within a hundred.”

Zhou Xiaoying is a technical secondary school student. In this era, she is already considered a top student. Originally, after graduation, she could be assigned to work in a unit in the city.

I don’t know why, but in the end I chose to stay on the island to teach.

“Hurry up and give me the other test paper, and I will engrave it for you.”

 After Li Duoyu took the test paper, he found that his wife’s pen calligraphy was just like hers, very neat and beautiful.

 In this era, mimeograph machines are generally used to print examination papers, which is very time-consuming and labor-intensive.

 You need to engrave words on wax paper first. After engraving, place it on the mesh and roll it twice on the wax paper with a brush or ink roller. A test paper will be engraved.

Of all the processes, engraving on wax paper is the most tedious. The wax paper must be placed on a hard board to engrave. If you make a mistake or break the wax paper, you have to tear it down and start over again.

“Be careful, don’t damage my original version.” Zhou Xiaoying was afraid that Li Duoyu wouldn’t be able to do the job, so she gave him a relatively simple math test paper with a relatively short number of words.

She thought he would stagger around and give up within a few seconds, but what she didn't expect was.

After Li Duoyu sat down, his expression became very quiet and focused, without any carelessness, and he was meticulous in doing things.

When carving, her strokes were unambiguous, no worse than her, a teacher who had been carving test papers for several years.

These days, Zhou Xiaoying can't understand why Li Duoyu in his family suddenly became so outstanding.

 Halfway through class today, she suddenly started laughing in a daze and made the students in the class laugh.

Thinking of this, Zhou Xiaoying couldn't help but blush.

However, what Zhou Xiaoying didn't know was that the reason why Li Duoyu worked so meticulously was because he was forced out and beaten.

 In his last life, he arrived at the island country.

The first job I did was assembling electronic components in a black factory. I often sat on the assembly line for more than ten hours.

 Suffering accompanies growth, and it was during those difficult years that Li Duoyu became more orderly when doing things.

 With the help of Li Duoyu, it took the two of them one and a half hours to complete the printing of more than 100 test papers.

 When they walked out of the school gate.

The sun has set in the west.

The setting sun illuminates the sea surface red.

On the beach, there were only one or two naughty children playing.

 When there is no one around. Zhou Xiaoying leaned closer to Li Duoyu and took the initiative to hold his hand.

This made Li Duoyu tremble. Unfortunately, the atmosphere could only go so far, and he couldn't take the next step. Otherwise, he would have to ask Zhou Xiaoying to create a football team for him.

 After the two returned home.

 Lao Li was sitting on the stone strips in the courtyard smoking a cigarette. When he saw that the two of them came back late, he said:

 “Why did you come back when it was so dark?”

 “The school exam will be the day after tomorrow, and the test papers will be printed at school today.” Zhou Xiaoying replied.

 “You have a big belly now, so be careful to know whether it is.”

 “I got it, Dad.”

After Zhou Xiaoying finished speaking, as usual, she went to the kitchen when she got home, but Lao Li said directly:

“At this time, we are cooking. At what time can we eat? There is no need to do it. My mother-in-law has already prepared it and will eat it with us tonight.”

 Zhou Xiaoying just wanted to refuse.

 Lao Li went on to say: "Today, many fish went to the small sea to catch fish, and I got a lot of small seafood for you. Your mother has already cooked it."

 “You went to beg Xiaohai?” Zhou Xiaoying looked surprised.

 If I remember correctly, this person in her family did not like playing in the mud since he was a child, and he was not interested in those small seafood.

“Well, I went to discuss the sea with my mother today.”

 “Didn’t you hate going to the tidal flats in the past?”

 “Everyone can change for the better.”

 “No, you have become too much.”

"Isn't this going in a good direction? Why are you talking so much? Hurry up and sit down and eat. I'm almost starving to death."

 Zhou Xiaoying: “.”

 Since the division of the family.

Although we all live in the same courtyard, because of the ticking time bomb of the second sister-in-law, we rarely get together to eat together.

  Recently, because Li Duoyu has changed his temperament and there are a lot of small seafood, the two elders want to have a meal together.

After the two of them sat down, they found that the table was full of delicious dishes, including fried sea melon seeds, fried dried sea oysters with green garlic, pan-fried Balang fish, a plate of boiled spicy snails, and old wine stewed to watch the tide.

Perhaps it had been too long since we had eaten together and the meal tonight was too rich. Zhou Xiaoying seemed a little cautious. She kept holding Li Duoyu's thigh with her right hand and asked softly: "Is there anything big going on at home?"

And Chen Huiying looked at her belly, the more she looked at it, the happier she became, and she kept saying:

 “It seems to be much bigger.”

 “It looks like we will have another precious grandson next year.”

Chen Huiying just gave her daughter-in-law a Balang fish. Before she started eating, she put another Balang fish into her daughter-in-law's bowl:

“Eat more, there are many fish caught specially for you and stewed with old wine. You are so tired from class, so you have to replenish your body.”

 “Mom, I really can’t eat that much.”

“I only eat so much, how can I get enough? In a few days, I will stew a hen for you to make up for it.”

While they were eating, the second sister-in-law's family came back from outside and heard that her mother was about to stew Zhou Xiaoying's hens to replenish her health.

 The whole face instantly pulled down.

Haunted loudly in the courtyard: "Yaoguo, I bought a pig's trotter today. I will braise the pig's trotters for you to eat in the evening, and I will also let you take a good supplement."

 The little chubby guy who was following her had his eyes shining.

 “Okay, we have pig’s trotters to eat tonight.”

 But the group of people eating in the kitchen ignored her at all, which made her very unhappy.

Li Yaoguo, who was wearing glasses, frowned. In the past two months, his wife had spent all his salary on imported cloth to make clothes. How could he still have money to buy pig trotters?

As a result, a neighbor’s lady who was pouring bath water shouted:

“Xiuhua, no one has killed pigs on the island these two days, where did you buy the pig’s trotters?”

Zhu Xiuhua suddenly choked on her words and was so embarrassed that she slammed the door.

 At meal time, Li Yaoguo and his son looked at the wrinkled steamed buns made with sweet potato powder on the table, their faces full of bitterness.

Little chubby Li Haoran scratched his head and asked luckily:

 “Where are the pig’s trotters?”

Zhu Xiuhua looked at Li Yaoguo with great displeasure: "If you want to eat pig's trotters, go and eat your father's."

On this day, Li Haoran’s young heart was hurt again.

While his mother was taking a bath, Li Haoran sneaked to his grandparents' house next door, and Chen Huiying, who had already known the situation, left a lot of food for him.

Little Fatty was stunned.

“Eat slowly, no one will fight with you, don’t choke.” Chen Huiying looked at her fat grandson with distress.

Li Duoyu, on the other hand, believes that Li Haoran grew so fat as a child and could not get a girlfriend, and the two elders must bear some responsibility.

Pursuing reading and pursuing reading effectively is really important.

 (End of this chapter)