Chapter 244

"Something happened," Gu Qingzhou said to Lin Zhao, slowing down his cycling speed.

Lin Zhao didn't slow down but instead accelerated, "Let's go take a look."

"Third Sister-in-law—!" Gu Qingzhou shouted helplessly, only to get a mouthful of dirt.

Hengbao urged, "Little Uncle, hurry and keep up, hurry and keep up with my mother, I also want to go watch the excitement."

Yubao kept poking his head out from the back seat, looking toward the village entrance, his tone full of urgency, "Little Uncle, there are bad people there, I want to protect my mother and younger brother and sister, hurry up and ride!"

Gu Qingzhou was urged relentlessly; he slid his foot forward, sat on, and pedaled rapidly.

"Don't rush to the front later, stay further back. Your mother, Seeing Qian Bao, and Yaobao have me," he shouted at the top of his lungs to warn the two cubs.

Yubao and Hengbao knew the weight of the situation and both agreed.

Approaching the village entrance, Lin Zhao stopped two meters away.

She called Bangbang over to push the bike and told him to take the twins further away, while she herself rushed into the crowd to watch the excitement.

"... Brigade Leader Ye, your brigade must give us an explanation. Either return our cow manure, or teach us how to grow mushrooms. If you don't agree, we aren't leaving!"

People from the two brigades stood in confrontation, holding "weapons."

The leader was a young man who looked very difficult to deal with; he loudly stated his demands.

Upon hearing this, the people from the Fengshou Brigade were unhappy.

"On what grounds? We won't give it, we won't give it, we just won't give it! You open your mouth and want to snatch someone else's rice bowl, who gave you the nerve!" Wang Chunhua said angrily.

Her family followed the Gu family to grow mushrooms, and this time they had also been allocated ten or so blocks, which they used to buy candy for Dazhuang and the others, making them incredibly happy. With candy to eat, the children became more diligent and sensible. Everything was looking up; anyone who wanted to snatch their rice bowl was an enemy!

The Brigade Leader's wife was also furious; she rushed up, her finger almost poking the face of the person speaking.

"Have some shame! We did use your brigade's cow manure for composting, but didn't we borrow it, and didn't we return the manure to you afterward? Why are you coming here now? What's the matter, heard our brigade is making money and you can't sit still anymore?"

Her words were unpleasant to hear, so Brigade Leader Ye pulled her arm, "Say less, it's chaotic enough as it is."

"I won't, why should I say less?" The Brigade Leader's wife was burning with rage.

She still wanted the brigade's mushroom-growing business to go off with a bang.

There was a huge difference between the wife of a brigade leader from a wealthy brigade and the wife of a brigade leader from a poor place.

She admitted she was vain, cared about face, and liked others to fawn over her.

Anyone who dared to ruin her business, she would scratch their face.

The woman aimed her fire at her own husband.

"Are you even a man anymore? People have already fought their way to our own doorstep, and you're still talking nicely to them. What's there to talk about? If it were me, I'd just drive them out!"

Brigade Leader Ye's face was livid.

What the hell?

If he wasn't a man, how did Dahai and the others come about?!

Did they pop out of a crack in a rock?!

This crazy woman.

He looked at his eldest son, who was holding a shovel in defense, and shouted angrily: "Dahai, pull your mother away, she's just adding to the chaos!"

Dahai hooked his mother's left arm with his left hand and supported her shoulder with his right, forcefully dragging her away.

"I'm not leaving! You brat, why are you pulling me? Let go of me, I have to help your father..." The Brigade Leader's wife was just a woman; naturally, her strength couldn't compare to her son in his prime, so she had to be dragged away.

With the most troublesome person gone, the Brigade Leader stabilized the situation.

He looked at the people from the neighboring village, smiling without warmth.

"Does your brigade leader know you've come here to stir up trouble?"

Of course, he knew.

The brigade leaders of the surrounding brigades knew full well that the Fengshou Brigade was about to take off, so how could they dare to offend them to the death.

The leader's face stiffened, and just as he was about to say something, a familiar roar came from behind him.

"Gao Jiang!"

Hearing this voice, the most robust man had a guilty look appear on his dark face, and that "tough guy" aura vanished without a trace.

He turned his head and scratched it, "Uncle, why are you here?"

The person who shouted stepped forward in two strides and raised his hand to give him a whack on the head.

"You're asking me? It's you, what did you run to the Fengshou Brigade for?"

The man honestly accepted the blow and said truthfully: "Nothing much, I came to beg Brigade Leader Ye to take us on to grow mushrooms."

The people of the Fengshou Brigade twitched their mouths.

Beg?

Was that the attitude of begging?

They almost started a fight!

Pairs of eyes stared angrily at the back of the head of the man called Gao Jiang, wishing they could pick up a clod of dirt and smash it on him.

Gao Shi'an only needed one look to know that Gao Jiang had caused trouble again.

He glared at him irritably and apologized to the people of the Fengshou Brigade.

"... My nephew is a simpleton, he speaks without thinking. If he said anything offensive, everyone please don't hold it against him."

He was familiar with Brigade Leader Ye and said without leaving a gap: "This is the simpleton I mentioned before. Simple as he is, he doesn't have bad intentions. I told you about him, you know, right?"

Brigade Leader Ye was speechless.

"He's not simple at all, he's quite like a street thug," he evaluated.

Then he complained, "What kind of simple boy is so arrogant, even bringing people to someone's door to pick a fight."

Gao Shi'an gouged Gao Jiang with his eyes.

Look at the trouble you've caused.

The tall and sturdy young man hung his head, unable to help but mutter, "I wasn't picking a fight, I came to learn how to grow mushrooms."

The next moment, he raised his head again, his not-so-bright eyes full of persistence, "It's fine if you don't teach us, but you shouldn't curse people. You can curse me, but you can't curse my father and mother."

Brigade Leader Ye was stunned, "Who cursed your father and mother?"

"Your wife!" Gao Jiang said indignantly.

"..." Brigade Leader Ye's face was ugly.

The old woman was offending people again.

Now he was the one who had to apologize.

"This... I really didn't know..." Brigade Leader Ye also knew his wife had a poisonous tongue, especially when she was angry, her words were even more unpleasant.

"She didn't mean it either."

"You all know how hard it is to have a way to make money. She thought your brigade came to snatch our livelihood, so her words were a bit sharp, but she didn't mean it."

After all, they were "neighbors," so the Brigade Leader had to give the neighboring brigade some face.

During the War of Resistance, everyone helped each other to protect their homeland; there was no reason why, now that life was better, they should be stabbing each other in the heart.

Gao Jiang reacted quickly this time and replied embarrassedly, "... I was wrong too."

"It's good that you know. Why don't you hurry back to the village? Your mother is looking for you all over the village, saying she wants to break your legs," Gao Shi'an threatened.

Gao Jiang's face changed slightly, and without verifying it, he immediately ran toward his own brigade, kicking up clouds of dust.

Hengbao was close by, watching the excitement with gusto, and got a mouthful of dust.

He spat a few times, his little face puffed up with anger, "Dirt got into my mouth, it tastes so bad, ptooey—!!"

Yubao asked Lin Zhao for the water bottle, and Lin Zhao handed it over.

"Hengbao, drink some water, gargle a few times, then spit the water out."

Hengbao took a big gulp, gargled a few times, and spat the water out; his mouth felt much cleaner.

Lin Zhao lowered her head, her beautiful, dark, shining eyes squinting at him.

"I told you to stay further away, you didn't listen, now you're unlucky, aren't you?"

Hengbao curled his lips, "Mother, I'm already unlucky enough, can you stop with the sarcastic remarks?"

Lin Zhao hugged her chest and hummed lightly, "I can't. My mouth is on me, I'll say whatever I want to say."

Yubao stood on his mother's side, looked at his younger brother, and said with some small dissatisfaction: "You aren't well-behaved. Grandpa just told us to listen to Mother, but you didn't listen. Like this, I also want to make sarcastic remarks."

"I didn't not listen," Hengbao argued.

His little mouth had a set of reasons, "If I stay too far away, I can't see anything. I'm too short, I can't squeeze past those adults."

Yubao's little face was steady, "If you're too far forward, you'll be knocked down, and there will be big feet stepping on you. Mother will be worried, only bad children do that."

Hengbao still cared a lot about his mother, so his mind turned, and he said, "Then I won't squeeze to the front in the future."

"Mm." Yubao expressed his satisfaction, quietly lifting his eyes to steal a look at Lin Zhao.

Lin Zhao's gaze was on the Brigade Leader and the others, but she also kept some attention on the twins.

Hearing the eldest cub teaching the second cub, the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.

She turned her head to look, rubbed Yubao's little head, and hugged him with her arm.

The little friend raised the corners of his mouth.

Seeing this, Hengbao scurried to Lin Zhao's other side, grabbed her hand, and placed it on his own shoulder, making a gesture of being held, then covered his mouth and laughed.

It was his first time watching the excitement with his mother and brother; it was fun.

He hoped there would be such opportunities in the future.

The center of the topic.

Brigade Leader Ye and the neighboring brigade's leader, Gao Shi'an, reached a consensus; today's misunderstanding was put behind them.

Not only that, Gao Shi'an also received excellent news.

—Next, the entire commune would carry out the promotion of mushroom-growing technology.

He widened his eyes, his mouth trembling, "Old Ye, are you serious?"

Brigade Leader Ye said: "Would I lie to you? The Secretary said that the commune plans to build us into the nation's number one mushroom base. This goal is so huge, how could we possibly do it relying on our brigade alone? Don't we have to mobilize the strength of every brigade?"

Gao Shi'an was both happy and worried.

"This... doesn't growing mushrooms require cow manure for composting? Relying on the little bit our brigade has, it won't be enough, right?"

Brigade Leader Ye: "It's fine, the Secretary said they will contact the farm, there's no need to worry about the cow manure."

The Commune Secretary had great prestige, and Gao Shi'an believed his words implicitly.

He was so happy he paced on the spot.

"When will we start growing?" Gao Shi'an asked.

He rubbed his hands, "... Mushrooms are easier to sell in winter."

"Seeing your brigade making money, not to mention the commune members, even I can't sit still anymore."

Brigade Leader Ye shook his head, "Haste makes waste, just wait."

Gao Shi'an sighed, but didn't pester him further.

He returned to the brigade and told the good news to the commune members, and the people in the village went crazy with joy.

"Brigade Leader, are you serious?"

"Is the Fengshou Brigade really willing to teach us the mushroom-growing technology?"

"Brigade Leader, when are we planting? I heard we need to build mushroom houses, are we building them?"

"Not just building mushroom houses, we also need to compost. How do we compost this manure?"

Gao Shi'an shouted at the top of his lungs, "How exactly we'll do it, wait until we've discussed it before issuing a notice, don't be in a hurry. Everyone rest assured, I've received definite news, our brigade learning to grow mushrooms is a sure thing. Follow the instructions from above, don't stir up trouble from now on, and everyone supervise each other. I'll say the ugly things first: whoever ruins the brigade's big business, don't blame me, the Brigade Leader, for not being merciful."

He used the "courtesy before force" tactic very smoothly.

The cold wind couldn't chill the hearts of the commune members.

The Brigade Leader's warning couldn't extinguish people's enthusiasm.

Over the next few days, every household was full of joy, and at night they slept and had beautiful dreams of being well-fed and warmly clothed.

Time flew by.

This day, the brigade leaders of every brigade received a notice and came to the county to hold a meeting.

It was about the matter of growing mushrooms.

Everyone had heard of this matter.

Having truly received the definite word, the brigade leaders were all very excited.

They swarmed around Brigade Leader Ye to get close to him, saying nice things, hoping that their own brigade would be named the first pilot project to learn the mushroom-growing technology sooner.

The arc of Brigade Leader Ye's mouth couldn't fall for a long time; he laughed until his cheeks were sore.

The little old man's shoulders and back were straight, his face glowing.

Old Gu was his lucky star.

After this meeting, every brigade in the entire commune became busy—those building mushroom houses were building them, those composting were composting... the mushroom-growing action was in full swing.

Gu Fu leaped to become a technician for the commune, so busy he couldn't even touch the ground.

He couldn't handle it alone, so he simply brought along Gu Yuanshan and Gu Yucheng.

At the same time, the Fengshou Brigade added an epidemic prevention station.

Dahai from Brigade Leader Ye's family got in as he wished, and the young man walked with a spring in his step.

The Brigade Leader's wife was crazy with joy and secretly stuffed thank-you gifts at the Gu family's door.

This action shocked Zhao Liuniang.

"... Third Sister-in-law, you didn't expect this either, right?" Zhao Liuniang came to the third house to visit and told Lin Zhao about this as a bit of fun, "When has Aunt Ye ever been generous? There's only her taking advantage of others; I've never seen anyone take advantage of her. I didn't expect she would actually send gifts to our house..."

Lin Zhao was also surprised and asked, "Where are the things?"

Zhao Liuniang said quite reluctantly, "Mother sent them back!"

It was a basket of eggs; she really felt it was a pity to return them.

"No merit, no reward; it's right to return them," Lin Zhao said.

Her husband was a soldier, his own conduct was upright, and his family members also had to have high awareness.

They couldn't let Gu Chenghuai fight at the front while the family members held him back at the rear.

She wouldn't allow it!

Zhao Liuniang: "Why no merit? There is merit, great merit."

She said enviously: "Ye Tie Niu's father has already entered the epidemic prevention station! I heard the epidemic prevention station's wages are paid by the commune; he's become a cadre, and it's not like he didn't borrow Father's light."

Lin Zhao: What kind of cadre is this?

"You can't say it like that. Ye Tie Niu's father participated in the assessment; he had to have good results to get in."

If he had tested poorly, even if the Brigade Leader had run around for him, he wouldn't have gotten in.

Zhao Liuniang said: "I heard Ye Tie Niu's father had been studying secretly for a long time, studying more than a month in advance. Anyone could get a good score."

She was quite unconvinced.

She felt her own husband was more suitable for that job.

Lin Zhao smiled, "Everyone has selfish motives."

Seeking a good life for one's own son wasn't an excessive thing.

She handed a handful of pumpkin seeds to her second sister-in-law, her tone slow and leisurely, "Second Brother is working with our father, his future is also bright."

A look of joy appeared on Zhao Liuniang's face.

"Third Sister-in-law, do you know something?" Her eyes shone.

Lin Zhao shook her head, "I don't know."

It was just a reasonable guess.

With the whole commune growing mushrooms, how could just one technician, Gu Fu, be enough? At the very least, there had to be three or five.

Once the eldest brother and second brother learned, there would naturally be a place for them.

Zhao Liuniang sighed, "Why does everyone like to say only half of what they mean."

Lin Zhao squinted and smiled, "Gu Gu Ersao, tell Second Brother to study the mushroom-growing guide well, it won't be bad in the future."

"He's watching it." With her husband being progressive, Zhao Liuniang had something to look forward to in life, and her smile was more relaxed than before, "He and the eldest brother are copying the mushroom-growing guide you gave Father. They learn while they copy; I've never seen... him be so persistent about one thing."

"Second Brother wants to bring you all a good life," Lin Zhao said.

Zhao Liuniang laughed.

Third Sister-in-law's words were truly pleasant to hear.

After finishing the gossip, she left with satisfaction.

Just as she reached her front door, she saw the person she never wanted to see in her life.