A group of people arrived at the east side of the village. It was a small courtyard with two rooms and a kitchen, though the surrounding walls looked extremely worn down and dilapidated.
This place was quite close to the nearby educated youth settlement. In the past, several educated youths had taken an interest in it, but the team leader had firmly refused to allocate the house to them.
Second Brother even helped them go inside and clean up the place. The group worked until noon, and by the time they finished, the dusty courtyard had been completely refreshed.
Just as Second Brother was worrying about how they would cook their next meal, someone suddenly arrived carrying a large iron wok on their shoulder.
Gu Xiaojun carried the iron wok into the kitchen, then walked out and flashed Gu Shiye a bright, silly grin. “Third Brother, just use this wok for now. My mother also said the vegetables in our family’s private plot are growing really well. You and Third Sister-in-law can go pick them up anytime.”
Gu Shiye smiled and waved at him.
Second Brother immediately understood what was going on. Gu Xiaojun was the nephew of the team leader, and he had recently been learning to drive a tractor from Gu Shiye. If he was not mistaken, the team leader likely held a city driver recruitment quota. By letting Gu Xiaojun learn from Gu Shiye, they were preparing him for a future job opportunity in the city.
Knowing that Third Brother’s family already had their own connections, he finally felt at ease.
Before leaving, he walked up to Gu Shiye and Li Wenxiu and said, “Third Brother, Third Sister-in-law, Second Brother knows you’ve been wronged today. In fact, Mother has been holding this anger in since the time we split the family. If you ever need anything, just let me know. This courtyard wall should be rebuilt with new earth bricks. I know how to do that, I’ll come help you after I finish work tonight.”
Li Wenxiu knew Second Brother’s family was trustworthy. She reached into her pocket and took out a handful of fruit candies from her space. “Second Brother, thank you for caring about us. Take these back for Pan’er to sweeten her mouth. Also, you and Second Sister-in-law should plan for your own small family. You must stand up for yourselves when you need to.”
Gu Shinian nodded. “Thank you, Third Sister-in-law. My wife and I understand now. We just never expected Mother to be so unreasonable in her favoritism. From now on, we won’t be soft persimmons anymore.”
Gu Shiye said calmly, “Mother is confused, but Father sees things clearly. The Fourth Brother family cannot rely on them, and they also cannot rely entirely on Eldest Brother. Now that our branch has broken away, Father probably doesn’t want to lose another son.”
Second Brother nodded. “That’s why I say you and Sister-in-law have suffered.”
Gu Shiye and Li Wenxiu exchanged a look. In truth, they had chosen to move out themselves. This was simply a perfect opportunity. If they stayed in the village later and lived well on their own, the old couple would likely come to them constantly, either to demand support or scold them for being unfilial.
Now, at least, those people would no longer have the face to trouble them.
After sending everyone away, Li Wenxiu took out the prepared food from their space. Two steaming bowls of braised noodles, a plate of braised beef, and two bottles of orange soda.
The couple naturally clinked their soda bottles together.
“Honey, to our future of freedom and happiness, cheers.”
Gu Shiye looked at her and asked, “About guarding the house, should we raise a dog or two big geese?”
Li Wenxiu thought for a moment and smiled. “Let’s raise two geese.”
Geese were alert, and if they fed them spiritual spring water, they could even collect eggs every day.
Gu Shiye nodded. “Alright, we’ll go to the commune this afternoon and figure out how to get some geese.”
After eating, they went into their space for a one-hour nap.
In the afternoon, the couple set off for the commune. They gained quite a bit of sympathy from the villagers along the way. Even the old man driving the ox cart refused to take their fare out of pity.
They were lucky. At the commune’s market, someone happened to be selling white geese, and Gu Shiye immediately decided to take two.
When passing by the waste recycling station on the street, Li Wenxiu suddenly had a thought and wanted to go inside and take a look.
Maybe they could find some hidden treasure.
The recycling station was small. Once inside, everything could be seen at a glance. There was no need to dig around endlessly; the only requirement was having a good eye for value.
Li Wenxiu immediately spotted a scrapped bicycle and excitedly patted the man beside her. “Honey, look! Can you repair bicycles?”
Gu Shiye nodded. He had studied engineering in university, and like most boys, he had always enjoyed tinkering with mechanical things.
He walked over with her, inspected the bicycle carefully, and nodded again with certainty.
Li Wenxiu said immediately, “Then we’re taking it.”
While she was still excited, Gu Shiye also found an old radio among the scrap piles. After checking it, he decided to take that as well.
Next, he even picked out several usable mechanical parts from the junk.
Li Wenxiu watched in growing excitement. “Honey, you’re amazing. You could totally become the king of scrap collecting in the future.”
Hearing his wife’s admiration, Gu Shiye curled his lips slightly and lowered his voice. “Shh.”
Li Wenxiu quickly closed her mouth. She suddenly remembered that in this era, being suspected of speculation was a serious crime.
They carried the items to settle the bill.
The gatekeeper weighed everything as scrap metal and charged them based on weight. In total, it cost ten yuan and five mao.
After that, they could not continue strolling around.
On the way back, Li Wenxiu led the two geese while Gu Shiye carried over a hundred jin of scrap materials on his shoulder.
The ox cart driver said nothing when he saw them.
But when they returned to the village, the villagers at the entrance mocked them openly. Some laughed at them for being forced to pick up trash, while others ridiculed them for wasting money after being driven out to live in a broken house.
Only the knowledgeable ones came secretly at night.
“Third Brother, are you selling that bicycle after fixing it?”
“Third Brother, I saw you brought back a radio today. Can you repair it? If you can, I’ll reserve it first.”
“Gu Third Brother, do you have any watches? My son is getting married and wants one.”
In this era, the most prestigious wedding items were the “three rotations and one sound” or the “forty-eight legs.” Not everyone could afford them. Even having one of those items was enough to impress an entire family.
Gu Shiye smiled and told them that he had bicycles, watches, and radios in stock, but aside from the bicycle, the others could be sold.
Two days later, the villagers discovered that not only had the courtyard at the east end been repaired, but there was also a bicycle in the village.
Only then did those who had mocked the couple at the village entrance realize that Gu Shiye truly had real skills.