Besides Jiang Youtao, Li Yunying was also eager to go to the toilet. Seeing that Zhao Yonglan and Zhao Rongguang were endlessly flirting with each other, she didn't care about being embarrassed anymore and stood up and rushed out.
Jiang Youtao saw the leader and ran to the toilet as well.
Jiang Youtao could never have imagined that even as an adult she would still be at risk of wetting her pants.
After Jiang Youtao, Zhang Huihui and Wang Shanxi also ran out, and everyone was feeling very uncomfortable.
Now Zhao Yonglan and Zhao Rongguang both became the red monkey butts.
When they came out, Zhao Yonglan had already returned to the dormitory.
When Jiang Youtao came back, Gu Nianwei had already prepared the meal, and Xu Manqiu had already eaten early and went up the mountain.
While eating, she asked, "Weiwei, do you know how Yonglan and Zhao Rongguang fell in love with each other? There was no sign beforehand!"
Last time, they had drunk a little wine and was so busy joking around that she forgot to ask how the two of them fell in love. Jiang Youtao just watched the whole process. Zhao Rongguang talked to Zhao Yonglan, but he didn't make any promises to Zhao Yonglan from beginning to end.
Just saying he'll be back this weekend, what kind of promise is that?
Gu Nianwei was also at a loss: "I don't know about this."
The two looked at each other and said, "Will this child be deceived again?"
Zhao Yonglan was too naive. Su Zhengtang had deceived her into giving her a lot of favor with just an egg. Would she be deceived by Zhao Rongguang again now? At that time, she only thought that their families were well matched and didn't think about anything else.
"Then let's go back and ask them in the evening?"
That was the deal. After breakfast, the two of them went to the county town together, and then parted ways tacitly in the county town.
Jiang Youtao took out the remaining half of the Disguise Pill and ate it, then carried a sack of melon seeds to the cinema.
Zhang Dezhun was cleaning the house at the time. When she saw her, she was so excited that she threw away the broom.
"Taotao, why did you come just now? I missed you so much." Zhang Dezhen pulled Jiang Youtao and went to the office of the cinema.
After entering the office and closing the door, she breathed a sigh of relief: "Xiao Ying, you are finally here. If you didn't come, I would have been scolded to death."
Jiang Youtao was slightly stunned: "What's wrong?"
"Your melon seeds are so delicious that everyone who bought them has become a repeat customer and comes to our cinema every other day. Your melon seeds have been sold out for a long time. And if people can't buy them, aren't they going to blame me?"
The melon seeds she bought from Jiang Youtao last time were sold out in less than a week. Now half a month has passed and they still haven't been restocked. Not to mention Zhang Dezhen, even the cinema's leaders are getting anxious. Whenever they see her these days, the first thing she asks is whether she has contacted Jiang Youtao.
Jiang Youtao knew that her melon seeds were popular, but she didn't expect them to be so popular. But she thought it was normal, after all, this was a one-of-a-kind business, a limited edition. If they were sold out, it would be something that no one could buy even if they had money.
Without waiting for Jiang Youtao to speak, Zhang Dezhen immediately said, "Sister, how many melon seeds did you bring? I'll take them all. I'll raise the price for you to 6 cents per ounce."
Jiang Youtao had not come yet, and the leader suspected that Jiang Youtao felt the price was unreasonable, so he told Zhang Dezhun that if Jiang Youtao came, he would raise the price proactively, up to 6.5 cents. If it was any higher, the cinema would have no profit.
Five cents per ounce is already very high, Jiang Youtao is not so greedy: "Didn't we agree on this before? It's only five cents per ounce, and the price remains the same. I brought fifty kilograms, and the flavor has a caramel flavor than before, you can try it."
Zhang Dezhen tasted it and found that in addition to the sweetness, there was also an indescribable fragrance: "Sister, what is caramel?"
This really stumped Jiang Youtao. She pondered for a while and said, "Sister, do you make sugar color when you stew meat?"
Zhang Dezhen's family really stews the meat. Her mother is particular about cooking. Whenever she stews meat, she will definitely use rock sugar to boil some sugar color water: "Boil it." Don't stop there, the taste of the meat with and without rock sugar color water is completely different.
"That sugar-colored water is called caramel."
Zhang Dezhen understood now. She ate another melon seed and decided to ask her mother to make some sugar-colored water for her when she got home to see if it tasted like this.
"My dear sister, these fifty kilograms are really too little. They are not enough to sell. Do you have any left? Give them all to me and I will buy them all for you." Fifty kilograms of melon seeds are not a small amount. Zhang Dezhun is not picky about taste. She will have no melon seeds of any flavor left.
But when she thought about how Jiang Youtao had been disappearing from time to time during this period, she decided to buy more.
Jiang Youtao didn't plan to sell more: "That's all I have for you."
Seeing that Jiang Youtao really don't have any melon seeds to sell, Zhang Dezhen didn't say much, for fear that her attitude would cause Jiang Youtao's dissatisfaction, and she would not be able to sell melon seeds to her at that time.
After weighing the 50 kilograms, they found that both were correct. After exchanging the money and the goods, Zhang Dezhen counted out a brand new 25 yuan and gave it to Jiang Youtao.
Before leaving, she told Zhang Dezhun that he would deliver some melon seeds to the cinema every Sunday.
Zhang Dezhen affectionately escorted Jiang Youtao out of the cinema.
Jiang Youtao deliberately walked towards crowded places. After walking for more than ten minutes, she slipped into an empty alley. When she came out, she looked completely different.
She walked out confidently and passed by two young men in their twenties.
Jiang Youtao heard them talking: "Second brother, I told you to keep an eye on her, but how did you do that? Now you've lost her, how are you going to explain this to Brother Xiao when you get back?"
"Why are you taking your anger out on me? Didn't you also keep an eye on her yourself? I don't know what Brother Xiao is thinking. They're just melon seeds. Everyone has them. There are a lot of them in the countryside. They're not worth anything. Why does he take them so seriously?"
"Do you think you can arrange this for Master Xiao?"
The two of them walked away arguing, and Jiang Youtao frowned. She knew that the black market in the county was guarded by a group of people, but she never thought it had anything to do with her.
After all, she didn't have to worry about food and money, so she wouldn't go to the black market easily. She just traded sunflower seeds. Sunflower seeds were just like what the man just said. There were large pieces of them in the countryside, and they were very inconspicuous. Those people in the black market were all big people, very courageous. Why did they target her?
Is it because her melon seeds have many flavors?
Jiang Youtao couldn't think of any other reason. So were they looking for her for the shipment of dozens of kilograms of melon seeds, or for the recipe of the melon seeds' flavors?
Jiang Youtao's footsteps paused slightly.
On the way back to the place where she had agreed to meet with Gu Nianwei, Jiang Youtao decided that she would have to be more careful when selling melon seeds in the future.
Gu Nianwei had been waiting for Jiang Youtao for a long time. Next to her were two brand new 26-bar women's straight-moving bicycles, both of which were registered.
"That one is yours." Gu Nianwei pointed to the one next to her.
"Thanks, Weiwei." Jiang Youtao climbed onto the back seat of the car and turned the car around: "Let's go home."
She rode out first, Gu Nianwei smiled slightly behind her, and then pedaled to catch up.
The two of us chased each other for a while, and when they reached Liushugou, they were sweating all over.
A bicycle these days was as rare as a BMW in the future. As soon as the two women entered the village, they were surrounded by a crowd of people.
Xu Dazui has now become a leader among the women in Liushugou. She smacked her lips and said, "Youtao, Weiwei, your car is really nice. It's much better than Luo Xuemin's."
When Luo Xuemin was the team leader, he had a bicycle. Later, when he fell from power, Zhao Xiaotao sold the bicycle to build a house for her eldest son.
Now their family is very low-key in the village. From adults to children, they stay at home if possible. They don't go out when there is something going on in the village. It's as if the shrewd and mercenary woman only appeared in Jiang Youtao's fantasy and had no sense of existence at all. If Xu Dazui hadn't mentioned Luo Xuemin, Jiang Youtao would have forgotten about them.
She patted the back seat of the car and said, "Aunt, do you want to get in? I'll take you for a walk."
Xu Dazui's face turned red with excitement: "Can I really ride it? I'm heavy, I don't want to damage your new bicycle."
In her life, Xu Dazui has ridden in an ox cart and a donkey cart bus, but she has never ridden a bicycle.
"Aunt, what are you saying? Isn't this car built for people to ride in? Come on, I'll take you for a ride."
Xu Dazui stopped being shy and sat on the seat. Fourth Aunt Jiang was jealous and turned to look at Gu Nianwei eagerly.
Gu Nianwei:...
"Fourth Aunt, come here. I'll give you a ride."
Without further delay, Fourth Aunt Jiang got on the back seat of Gu Nianwei's bike. After they were seated, the two of them rode away on their bikes, with a group of children chasing after them.
The old ladies who were chatting at the entrance of the village were jealous. Some of the more stern ones looked at Aunt Zhang and said, "Suqin, I see you are usually very nice to Jiang Zhiqing, why doesn't she even bother to talk to you?"
Aunt Zhang raised her eyelids and glanced at the person who was speaking. "There is only enough space for one person to sit in the back seat of a car. Are you blind? Are you going to let me sit in the front? I still have some dignity."
"Besides, how do you know Youtao doesn't want to be with me? Just wait and see. When she brings Xu Dazui over, it'll be time for her to take me for a walk." After all, after chatting with Jiang Youtao for so long, Aunt Zhang still knows Jiang Youtao.
This girl is the type who doesn't want to offend anyone. She treats the three of them very fairly. No one can take advantage of her!
As Aunt Zhang said, Jiang Youtao brought Xu Dazui back and took her for a ride around the village. When they went back, Aunt Zhang held her head high. After all, among the old ladies in the village, who else had ridden a bicycle around the village besides the three of them?
On the way back, Xiao Shitou and Xiao Sizi ran to the roadside to wait for them. Jiang Youtao and Gu Nianwei supported themselves on the ground to let them get on the bike. While riding, the two children kept screaming with excitement.
This greatly satisfied Jiang Youtao's vanity. She felt that at this moment, she was cooler than driving a Rolls-Royce.
Not long after riding, they met Lin Weihong and the three brothers of the Lin family.
Lin Weihong turned her eyes away, pretending not to see them. The three Lin brothers looked at Jiang Youtao and their bicycles, with resentment in their eyes.
Gu Nianwei built a house in the village, bought a car, and became a teacher at the commune middle school. She lived a happy life. Lin Wenping and his brother couldn't help thinking, how nice it would be if Gu Nianwei really became their stepmother. In that case, everything she has now would be theirs.
They are the ones strolling around the streets sitting on the back of bicycles.
The two brothers felt sad.
When they arrived at the entrance of the educated youth center, Xiao Shitou and Xiao Sizi ran home hand in hand. In the evening, when Jiang Youtao and the others were preparing to eat, the two of them brought Xinghua with them, holding a big bowl with cakes and vegetables in their hands. It was a thank-you gift from Xu Dazui to them.
Jiang Youtao took an empty large bowl and poured out everything that Xu Dazui and the others had given her and put it on the table. Gu Nianwei took it and put some of the dishes on the table in the bowl for them to take back.
What they had tonight was a one-pot meal of pork ribs, beans, potatoes, corn and sweet potatoes. The soup was thick and the aroma of the sauce was rich. The three children stood by with their eyes wide open.
Jiang Youtao said, "You three can come back later and have something to eat with us."
The two of them had some guesses about each other's origins, and they cared less and less about details in life. Today's ribs were top-notch ribs, and when Gu Nianwei took them out to cook, there was still frost on them. Jiang Youtao didn't know how to complain.
They stewed a big pot and called Manqiu from next door to eat together. They also sent some to the educated youth in front. Zhao Yonglan and Zhao Rongguang were always together, and they didn't find a chance to ask the questions they had in the morning.
There was still a lot left in the pot. After sharing it with Xu Dazui and the others, it was still enough for her and Gu Nianwei to have two meals. The children couldn't eat much, so it didn't have much impact on them.
Xu Manqiu had already served the rice while Jiang Youtao was talking.
They had millet rice today. It tastes good when cooked into porridge, but it tastes like cornmeal rice when made into dry rice, which is a bit greasy in the throat. But after soaking in the pork ribs soup, this problem no longer exists. The broth wraps the millet flour together, and it tastes fragrant and rich in the mouth, so delicious that it makes people want to swallow their tongue.
The three little ones had never eaten such delicious food before. They didn't even reach for the meat. They only started eating after Jiang Youtao served it to them. They also ate a lot of the side dishes. When they finally took the dishes back, they held their stomachs while walking.
The three of them went out and did not come back for a long time. Their family members were worried and went to look for them. When they saw the three boys walking slowly with bowls in their hands, they became furious.
It was his father Liu Yaoxing who came to look for Xiao Sizi: "You bastard, why don't you come back after going out? Your family is waiting for you to have dinner."
Xiao Sizi came out with a big pot of food. The aroma went straight into people's noses. Xiao Sizi was obviously full, but he still felt greedy. They couldn't help it.
Xiao Sizi stuffed the bowl into Liu Yaoxing's arms: "Dad, this is the dish that Sister Youtao and Sister Weiwei gave us. They said it was a return gift. The meat is so fragrant. You smell it..."
"You little brat, I asked you to deliver something to your Jiang Zhiqing, but why did you bring it back? How come you can't remember anything I taught you? Just wait, your grandma will definitely beat you up when you go back..."
Liu Yaoxing said this, but he didn't bring the food back to Jiang Youtao. It was dark, and as an adult man, how could he go to the educated youth camp to look for her? As a man, he was not afraid of being framed, but Jiang Youtao was not like that!
He also took the bowl from Xinghua's hand: "Uncle, we also had dinner at Sister Youtao's place. We had millet rice and the meat soup was delicious."
Liu Yaoxing was almost worried to death after hearing this. He didn't know how to return the gift of pork ribs dish that night. The issue of his son eating other people's millet rice came up again. Even during the Chinese New Year, his family had never eaten millet rice!
He sent Xiao Sizi and Xinghua home, and then took Little Fourth Child home: "Wait, kid, I'll let your grandma teach you a lesson when we get home."
Xiao Sizi covered his buttocks and said stubbornly: "I'm not afraid, I ate meat. You all say that what you eat will replenish what you need. So much meat must have replenished my buttocks. The beating won't hurt me anymore..."
At the foot of the wall of the Lin family, Lin Wenping, who came out to carry firewood, heard almost everything they said. They went to the educated youth point, and the educated youth at the educated youth point gave them meat to eat, and the stewed meat was cooked in one pot.
Lin Wenping had never eaten it before. That night, he even dreamed about what it tasted like. In his dream, he always vaguely felt that he must have eaten a pot of it before, but he didn't like it because he felt it was not fragrant enough and there was not enough meat.
That night, Xu Dazui's family, Fourth Aunt Jiang's family, and Second Aunt Zhang's family were so happy that it seemed like Chinese New Year. The next morning, before Jiang Youtao and her friends reported to school, they sent over some cured chicken and duck that they had been reluctant to eat at home during Chinese New Year. Jiang Youtao and her friends couldn't refuse.
Today is also the day that Zhao Rongguang and his friends report to the cannery. Zhang Huihui and the other three left early in the morning. Zhao Yonglan watched Jiang Youtao and Gu Nianwei walking away, and leaned against the door and sighed.
Li Yunying came over and patted her on the shoulder: "Come, let's go to school. Opportunities are reserved for those who are prepared. We lost because we were not prepared."
Zhao Yonglan thought so too. She felt that her being a teacher was misleading her students, but to be an assembly line worker in a factory, she had to be qualified, right? Now that she had failed at the first hurdle, she was actually quite unconvinced.
What worried Zhao Yonglan the most was Zhao Rongguang. When he left this morning, he didn't say a word to her, which made Zhao Yonglan feel particularly uncomfortable.
Zaoxiang Middle School is not big, and its layout is like a northern courtyard.
Entering from the gate, the wing on the east side is the teacher's office, the main room is the classroom, the circular flower bed at the entrance of the classroom is bare, and the wing on the west side is the dormitory for the teacher on duty. There is a shed between the wall and the courtyard, which contains some sundries and a few locked bicycles.
The two locked the car and went to the principal's office. The other three teachers who were taking the exam on the same day as them also came.
There were two men and one woman, all of them were young. When they saw Jiang Youtao and the others, the two men's eyes lit up.
One of the young men with middle-parted hair came forward to shake hands with them and said, "Hello, I am an educated youth from the Sijianfang Brigade. My name is Gong Xubo, and I am from Hunan Province."
The Sijianfang Brigade and the Liushugou Brigade were in completely different directions. Li Yunying and her friends had never met with the educated youth from Sijianfang in their previous social gatherings. It was normal that the two sides did not know each other.
Jiang Youtao and Gu Nianwei frowned at the same time.
Although they come from later times, they are quite knowledgeable. Generally, when they meet for the first time in non-business situations, it is very rare for a boy to ask for a woman's handshake. They usually politely give their name and place of origin.
Looking at the frivolous look in the eyes of the male educated youth named Gong Xubo, it was clear that he wanted to take advantage. Jiang Youtao snorted, another slut like Zhou Zhenfeng.
This kind of man is generally confident, and his whole body, even a strand of hair, carries a vulgar aura: "Sorry, we are not used to shaking hands with people."
Jiang Youtao never tolerated wretched men. She had met many such men. They had no skills at all, but they tried to take advantage of women in various ways. Zhou Zhenfeng seemed to have a better mindset than him.
Jiang Youtao didn't even look at Gong Xubo, but turned to the other two people and said, "We are also educated youth, working in the production team in Liushugou. My name is Jiang Youtao."
"My name is Gu Nianwei." Gu Nianwei didn't even glance at Gong Xubo.
"My name is Shen Jiahui. I'm from Zaoxiang Commune. I just graduated from high school this June."
"She and I are classmates. My name is Zhen Geping."
At this point, the five people got to know each other. Shen Jiahui walked together with Jiang Youtao and the others. Just now, Gong Xubo saw her and wanted to shake hands with her. She was shy and shook hands with him. As a result, when they separated, Gong Xubo touched her hand.
Shen Jiahui was disgusted, and Jiang Youtao rejected Gong Xubo mercilessly, which made the Shen family feel so happy.
Principal Huang arrived very quickly, and after him, the other teachers also arrived one after another.
The newcomers introduced themselves to each other, and Principal Huang began to assign tasks to them.
"Jiang Youtao, you will be in charge of Chinese for Class 1, Grade 7. Gu Nianwei, you will be in charge of Mathematics for Class 1, Grade 7."
"Shen Jiahui, you will be in charge of Chinese for Class 2, Zhen Geping will be in charge of mathematics, and as for Gong Xubo, you will be in charge of geography for the first grade. Teacher Zhang, please assign the class schedule to them later."
Teacher Zhang is a man in his thirties wearing glasses. He teaches mathematics to the first grade of junior high school. After those teachers stepped down, they took over the first grade class.
"Okay, it's getting late, let's go to class. The first-year students have not had classes for several days." Gong Xubo felt a little indignant when he heard that Principal Huang asked several other students to teach the main courses while he would teach the elective courses.
He feel like Principal Huang is a bit contemptuous. He is a man, so what's the big deal about him teaching a secondary class? He should be the main subject teacher and the head teacher!
After coming out of the principal's office, Teacher Zhang took them to their office, gave them the class schedule and textbooks, and left in a hurry.
The first class was Jiang Youtao's. She grabbed her books and went to Class 1, Grade 7.
People were poor back then, and so were schools. The desks were made by the school itself and were very simple. There were about twenty students in the class, more than half were boys, and girls were a minority.
They sat upright and looked at Jiang Youtao on the podium with curiosity.
Jiang Youtao worked as a part-time tutor when she was in college, so she had some experience in teaching children. She was not at all stage-frightened. She grabbed the chalk on the podium and wrote her name neatly on the blackboard.
"Students, remember my name. From today on, I am your Chinese teacher. Who can tell me about your learning progress?"
The students in the class were vying to raise their hands, and the classroom atmosphere was relaxed and harmonious. When walking out of the classroom, Jiang Youtao bumped into a young woman with a gentle appearance, wearing a white shirt and a princess hairstyle.
Just as they passed each other, the melon-eating system issued a prompt.
[ Ding ~~ The melon-eating system is at your service. ]
[ The fourth female protagonist, Lin Manrou, is detected. ]
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