"The wall plaster from the old house is the best fertilizer for planting," Li Xiufen said, handing her son two hoes. "Since you're home, why don't you break ground on your wife's private plot and plant vegetables. This winter, our family won't have to worry about melons and vegetables."
He Zhanjun didn't understand. "Mom, I'm in the military all year round. It's just you and Miaomiao at home. You can't possibly eat that many melons and vegetables, can you?"
Li Xiufen glared at him and lowered her voice. "What do you know! Who said it's always just the two of us? What if Miaomiao... is pregnant this time?"
"If she really is pregnant, won't we need to raise a few more chickens at home? I'm also planning to raise two geese. I heard goose eggs are good for pregnant women. These chickens and geese will need to eat vegetables, won't they?"
Still not satisfied, she reached out with her two-finger poke and pinched her son hard.
"I, Li Xiufen, have been strong my whole life. How could I have given birth to such a blockhead as you?"
"I'll let you off the hook for not paying attention to your wife normally. You finally come home, and instead of helping your wife with some work, you just keep rambling! Are you going to talk non-stop? If you keep talking, I'll beat the shit out of you!"
Saying this, she went to grab the ancestral "truth."
Seeing his mother about to grab the feather duster again, He Zhanjun picked up his hoe and pulled his wife outside.
Li Xiufen, holding the feather duster, chased after them and yelled, "Remember to break ground for your wife on that... experimental field!"
"Don't let your wife do heavy work! I planted some broad beans next to that plot. Just have Miaomiao shell beans nearby, don't let her go into the field!"
What a sin~ He Zhanjun, that little blockhead! Poke him once, and he moves.
He's exactly like his father, that old block of wood, with no common sense at all!
Fortunately, Miaomiao doesn't dislike him.
Li Xiufen decided that from now on, she must treat Gu Chunmiao even better. Such a good daughter-in-law couldn't be driven away by He Zhanjun, that little blockhead.
On the ridge, listening to her husband grumble about how fierce his mother was, Gu Chunmiao's beautiful eyes curved. She reached out and touched the two large pockets on the outside of her work smock.
The smock was made for her overnight by her mother-in-law using her own labor cloth, along with matching sleevelets and a headscarf. Wearing them while working would prevent her clothes from getting dirty.
One large pocket held a few "Evergreen" biscuits and two walnut cookies. The other held several sorghum candies and two White Rabbit candies... These were leftovers from that wedding banquet. Her mother-in-law hadn't eaten them, and like coaxing a child, she'd given Gu Chunmiao a little bit each day.
Gu Chunmiao's eyes felt warm.
Ever since she learned she was the false young lady of the Gu family, she hadn't felt such warm motherly love for a very, very long time.
If she and Gu Sisi hadn't been switched at birth... would she have been able to grow up by her own mother's side?
Never mind, she wouldn't think about it. Anyway, she had a mother now.
Gu Chunmiao suddenly felt a bit fortunate that she had married a soldier.
He Zhanjun was stationed in the military year-round and rarely came home.
When He Zhanjun wasn't home, her mother-in-law was her own mother...
The private plot the production team had assigned to Gu Chunmiao was an uncultivated wasteland, covered in crabgrass and a weed called "foxtail grass." The soil was very hard.
"Miaomiao, sit on the ridge over there. I'll cut some broad beans for you. Mom is killing a chick tonight, and broad beans with chick are the most delicious."
Saying this, she cut down a few bean stalks, threw them on the ridge, and ran off to reclaim wasteland herself.
Seeing the green caterpillars crawling out of the bean stalks, Gu Chunmiao expressionlessly picked up the stalks and smashed them hard on the ridge, shaking out all the hidden caterpillars. Only then did she find a spot on the ridge covered in crabgrass and sit down to start shelling beans.
Fortunately, she had often done farm work in her space before. Otherwise, if she had really been a young lady from a military compound in the city, she would have been scared to death by these wriggling green caterpillars.
Mother-in-law was right, that guy He Zhanjun really had no common sense at all.
She had originally planned to share some of the biscuits and candy her mother-in-law gave her with He Zhanjun.
Now?
Heh heh~ That was her mother-in-law's secret treat for her. Why should she give it to that blockhead He Zhanjun?
..
In the He family's courtyard, looking at the old house that had been demolished into an open space, Li Xiufen paused and suddenly thought of something.
"Baoguo, wait a moment. Don't draw the lines yet. I'll go get something for you to see."
Li Xiufen hurried to the neighbor's house, unlocked her dowry camphor wood chest with a key, and took out a thick picture book.
Tucked inside this picture book were shoe patterns from home. Li Xiufen flipped to a page and pointed to it for He Baoguo.
"Baoguo, look at this house. Can we build it in the countryside? I see people in the city use this... bathroom. You can squat in it and take a bath. I'm afraid my Miaomiao won't be used to our country outhouse. Can you see if you can make one for me?"
He Baoguo took it and looked. He scratched his head. "Sister-in-law, the squat toilet is easy enough. We can connect a pipe and dig a latrine in the backyard to lead to it. But you want to take a bath inside... I've never seen anyone take a bath in a latrine."
Li Xiufen didn't believe him. "Then how can people in the city do it? You must not have learned your craft well! Why don't you go find your master and ask him for me?"
"Mom, I can do this. I'll draw a blueprint for Uncle Baoguo, and he'll understand once he sees it."
Gu Chunmiao, carrying a bag of shelled broad beans, handed the beans to Li Xiufen, went back into the house to get paper and pen, and in a few swift strokes, produced two drawings for He Baoguo on the spot.
One was a cross-section of the bathroom squat toilet, and the other was a design draft for a wet and dry partitioned shower room.
"Uncle Baoguo, at the entrance here, please help me run a water pipe in. Build a cement platform here. One side of the pool can hold a washbasin, and the other side can be made of cement into a washboard. Also, leave a platform next to it where washed clothes can be placed when washing."
"Against the washbasin side, build a thin wall, connect the water pipe to it, and build a cement platform on top. Later, we can put the pre-mixed warm water into a large plastic bucket, attach a showerhead, and stand underneath to rinse and bathe."
"Oh, and install two iron hooks below. In winter, we can hang a plastic sheet down. It will be warm inside, and the elderly and children can take a bath without getting cold."
"At the very back, please separate it into two rooms, male and female, according to the drawing I've made. Install two squat toilets. Later, open a door on each side, with men and women using separate entrances. It will be convenient and clean."
"The water pipe should also be connected inside. After using the toilet, use a small wooden bucket to fetch some water and flush it down. It will be clean and odor-free."
He Baoguo looked at the blueprints for a while and exclaimed in amazement, "This design is great! It will require building several more walls and installing a few more curtains. Just this bathing and squat toilet area alone will cost an extra thirty to forty."
Gu Chunmiao took out five "Da Tuan Jie" bills from her pocket and put them into He Baoguo's hand.
"Uncle Baoguo, this bathroom is something Mother-in-law specifically made for me to use, so the money should be paid by me."
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