Winner in life

Seeing this sentence means that the purchase ratio is not enough.

This year, the family has money coming in, and the New Year's Eve dinner is much more abundant than in previous years. Mrs. Zhang bought two pounds of pork belly from a pig farmer in the village, and made braised pork after refining oil. She slaughtered a chicken raised by her family, and bought a duck from a family in the same village. She killed and plucked all the feathers, cooked them, and stewed them with star anise and soy sauce until they were very fragrant. She also bought ginkgo, lotus seeds, and Euryale ferox to make sweet soup, and taro and sweet potato to make double-color reflux.

In Zhang Xiaoshan's memory, the New Year's Eve dinner has never been so sumptuous. Last year, she only killed a chicken raised by her family and fried two dishes. She also caught fish in the river to make fish soup, and dug taro grown in her own plot to make sweet soup. Even so, these dishes can only be prepared with extreme efforts.

Since chicken, duck, and pork are already available, Ruihe did not buy them. He sent the two fishes to Zhang Dashan to cook "Year after Year of Abundance", and also went shopping for tofu, bean curd, spring vegetables, black sesame, peanuts, etc.

Tofu stewed with fish soup, spring vegetables fried with bean curd. As for black sesame and peanuts, they are used to make dumplings.

Locals like sweet food in festival dishes, which means they hope that life will be sweet. However, sugar requires sugar coupons, and it is impossible to use it often at ordinary times. For example, taro and sweet potato are wasteful of oil and sugar, and they are reluctant to make them at ordinary times. Ruihe brought all the sugar he had just bought at home to help make dumplings.

By the way, the dumplings here for the New Year are also sweet. Chop the peanuts and mix them with white sugar and black sesame. After rolling out the dumpling skin, wrap them and fry them. After the surface is fried golden and crispy, pick them up, let them dry for a while and take a bite. The skin is crispy and the filling inside is rich in taste. The white sugar mixed with black sesame and peanut crumbs is very fragrant after being fried. It is sweet and fragrant. Ruihe was fascinated after just one taste.

"Delicious!" He immediately took another one, and Zhang's wife urged him: "Let it air dry! Be careful of getting blisters in your mouth!" She was unhappy at first, but when she saw that her brother-in-law had a look and didn't come empty-handed, her dissatisfaction disappeared. The New Year's Eve dinner was better, and she would have face if she told others about it! Go out and see other families, how many families still fry sugar dumplings now? It's a waste of oil and sugar. She has only eaten fried sugar dumplings once in the five years since she married into the Zhang family.

"Got it."

The work started at three o'clock in the afternoon, and the New Year's Eve dinner was almost ready by six o'clock. Eight dishes, both sweet and meat, Ruihe's stomach kept rumbling at the smell. He has been here for more than half a year and has never seen such good dishes. Usually, he is really greedy and can't stand it, so he just secretly scoops half a spoonful of white sugar and soaks it in water.

"Let's have a drink!" Zhang Dashan raised his glass, "Our family has lived a better life this year, and Xiaoshan has grown up. Even if we split up, we are still a family, and we can't be estranged. Let's make a fortune together next year! Have a good life! Happy New Year!"

"Happy New Year!"

"Happy New Year!"

Ruihe took a sip, and he felt the mulberry wine was so strong that his eyebrows and eyes were squeezed together. After swallowing it, he felt a strange taste in his throat and mouth. Zhang Dashan laughed: "You have grown up, you have to learn to drink. This is mulberry wine, not a proper wine!"

"Yeah." Ruihe responded embarrassedly.

"Okay, eat, eat, everyone, pick up your chopsticks."

Ruihe tasted several meat dishes one after another, and then picked up a piece of taro, and the sweetness was sweet to his heart. Then scooped a spoonful of ginkgo sweet soup, and it was even sweeter when he drank it. Ruihe didn't feel it was too sweet at all. It was really because he didn't have much oil in his stomach, so he was satisfied with such sweet and meaty dishes.

It was already nine o'clock after eating. Ruihe rejected Zhang Dashan's suggestion to sit and watch at his house. He helped wash the dishes and then went out.

He came to the river where no one was, sat with his knees hugged and watched the moon. There were sporadic firecrackers in his ears, and children were laughing and running back and forth. Occasionally, there was a tremor on the water surface, and it was lively everywhere. After sitting for a while and feeling cold, Ruihe went back to sleep.

He was suddenly awakened by the sound of firecrackers while sleeping. He listened to the movement outside and realized that it was already past twelve o'clock.

"The new year is here."

From the third to the fifth day of the first lunar month, the production team performed a play for three days. The stage was set up in the sugarcane drying field on the mining road. The name of the play was "The Red Detachment of Women". Ruihe went to see it once and enjoyed it with relish. This play is very famous in the local area. It was compiled by the locals based on real local events during the previous war period. Although only this play was performed for three days, everyone's enthusiasm did not diminish at all.

The New Year is a rare time for villagers to relax after a year of hard work. There is not much farm work at this time, and there are lively crowds everywhere. After watching the big play in their own production brigade, they go to other production brigades to watch.

Ruihe did not go to the play after watching it once. He went to visit relatives with Zhang Dashan and his wife for several days in a row. After all the relatives had left, he rarely went out. Even when Li Dashui asked him to go out to set off firecrackers and watch movies, he did not go. When asked what he was doing at home, he only replied: "Reading." Li Dashui was very confused, but he could not pull or drag him away, so he had to go to play with others.

Reading is really not an excuse. After Ruihe had money at his disposal, he went to find books to read because he had a bigger goal: he wanted to study and go to college in the future.

The original body had studied before, but only went to the second grade of elementary school. In order to help with the farm work on the family's private plot, he dropped out of school like many children.

During the months in the factory, Ruihe had been thinking about how to be considered a "winner in life."

Rui He thought that at least he would get the wealth that he did not have in his previous life for Zhang Xiaoshan. Later he thought that staying in the factory was not a long-term solution. Zhang Xiaoshan's memory told him again that there was no future in working as a coolie in the factory. State-owned factories are now a golden job, with allocated housing and good benefits, and everyone is vying to get in. However, after the reform and opening up, many state-owned factories and enterprises will be wiped out by the wave of rapid development.

Shangmei Village Bamboo Ware Factory is just a small factory in the countryside, an outsourced factory affiliated with the Bamboo Ware Factory on South Road in Chengyang City. Therefore, after the main factory in Chengyang City closed down, this small factory in Shangmei Village disappeared with it. The sugar factory on Mining Road survived for two more years, and it will have to be restructured in seven years, with a large number of workers laid off.

Ruihe cannot wait until that time to find a new way out. He set his sights on the resumption of the college entrance examination in 1977, which was the most important way for educated youth who went to the countryside to realize their dream of returning to their hometowns. It was also a good time for people with rural registered permanent residence to move to the city. Zhang Xiaoshan's memory did not actually leave many useful things for Ruihe. He lived a closed and silent life, not paying attention to national affairs. He knew about stocks but could not trade in them. He knew that there would be mobile phones and laptops with new functions in the future, but he did not I have used it, let alone know the core technology.

Zhang Xiaoshan is hardworking and immersed in hard work. This booming economy and society seem to have nothing to do with him.

After much thought, studying and going to university is the best way out at the moment.

He planned to take the normal university entrance examination because Zhang Xiaoshan remembered a distant relative who was admitted to the normal university after the college entrance examination was resumed. After graduation, he was assigned a job package and was assigned to be a teacher in a high school in the city. The salary was high and decent. At that time, he was the envy of the villagers. Awesome.

To pass the college entrance examination, he must have a high school diploma. Time is too tight. He needs to get a primary school diploma in these five years, and then go to middle school. Middle school includes junior high school and high school for a total of four years. The tight and breathless schedule made Ruihe very nervous, so he started reading at night before the annual vacation.

The Bamboo Factory was on holiday during the New Year, and he finally had a lot of time to read. Two games of the New Year excitement were enough. Setting off firecrackers, watching a show, and strolling around the county town were not as tempting to him as reading.

The books Ruihe is reading now are textbooks from the first to fifth grade of elementary school. The original owner and Zhang Dashan used to study with the same set of textbooks, but Zhang Dashan only studied one grade more than the original owner, so the old books at home only ranged from first to third grade. Ruihe bought textbooks for the fourth and fifth grade textbooks from other people's homes in the village for less than 30 cents.

It's great to read during the day, much more comfortable than reading under an oil lamp at night. However, after he reviewed the first and second grade knowledge that the original owner had read several times, he was at a loss to deal with those problems and confusions. He asked the system for help again, but to his surprise, System 460 said: "Host, asking for help related to the progress of the task is against the rules, and I cannot provide help."

Ruihe had no choice but to give up.

When Li Dashui came to see him again, he saw Rui He with a bitter face and asked in surprise: "What's wrong with you? Are you in a bad mood?" Rui He then talked about the difficulties he encountered in study: "I used to study I didn’t take it seriously when I was a kid. I just did farm work as soon as I got home. Now I can’t remember much of what I learned back then.”

"Why do you suddenly want to study? What's the use of studying now? Just recognize a few words and write your own name." Li Dashui was puzzled. Their brothers and sisters had not gone to class since they reached the third or fourth grade. His little sister likes reading very much, but he doesn't think going to school is very important.

Ruihe had explained it many times before, but Li Dashui couldn't listen. He sincerely regarded the kind-hearted Li Dashui as a friend, and hoped that he would also have a good future. After much thought, he gritted his teeth and whispered: "If the college entrance examination resumes in the future, we can go to college. It is easy for college students to find jobs. We don’t have to spend our whole lives in the fields and in the factories.”

"College entrance examination?" Li Dashui shook his head, "Don't say whether the college entrance examination will be resumed. Even if it is resumed, I will not study. Reading is too taxing on my brain and I can't learn."

Rui He originally wanted to persuade Li Dashui to make money while squeezing in time to study like him, but after hearing Li Dashui's words, he had to stop trying to persuade him again after hearing Li Dashui's words.

Li Dashui spat out the grass roots and jumped up, "Have you received it?"

"Um."

The two walked home side by side. Li Dashui's name was written down by the manager when the factory was recruiting. It was not until the last batch of large orders were received a year ago that one of the bamboo cutting workers in the factory injured his hand and foot. At that time, the manager called Li Dashui to be the replacement. Temporary workers, who only do the work of chopping bamboo and cutting bamboo slices. They worked hard for more than half a month and received their wages together with the workers today.

Li Dashui said happily on the road: "It's eight yuan! My mother will be very happy to go back. I also asked the manager, and he said I did a good job. When the factory starts working after the year, he will let me come back. If I can work for three months, If you do well, please make me a regular employee.”

"That's great, Aunt Xiu'e must be happy." Ruihe is very happy for him. If it weren't for Li Dashui, he wouldn't be able to enter the factory. He is very sorry when Li Dashui can't come in. Now he can make money together and he is very happy, " After that year, we started working together and got off work together.”