The old hen soup, simmered all night, had a layer of yellow chicken fat floating on its surface.
Li Xiufen served Gu Chunmiao a large bowl of dried noodles, cooked in chicken soup, topped with a whole chicken drumstick and a chicken wing.
She herself added some leftover crispy rice from yesterday into the remaining noodle soup in the pot, making a large bowl of chicken soup with rice.
Gu Chunmiao felt bad, "Mom, I can't finish all these dried noodles, let me give you half..."
Li Xiufen picked up her bowl and walked out, "Mom doesn't like dried noodles, you eat slowly. I'm going to the neighbor's to chat with your Second Great Aunt."
Li Xiulan also picked up a bowl of sweet potato porridge. The sisters stood at the doorway, eating breakfast and telling the passing villagers about Gu Chunmiao's background—
"So pitiful! Her biological parents must have died in the earthquake, she's an 'earthquake orphan'..."
"This child is so righteous! I heard the one who came back to the Gu family later targets her everywhere, but she doesn't argue with her. She's afraid of making Commander Gu and his wife difficult, so she voluntarily applied to go to the countryside and even gave her job to the one who came back later."
..
By the end of breakfast, everyone in the production team knew that He Zhanjun's wife, the "False Young Lady" who grew up in that compound, was "persecuted" by the True Daughter and sent down to their area.
Moreover, she didn't intentionally snatch the True Daughter's wealth. When they were switched at birth, Gu Chunmiao was just a newborn infant, and her biological parents had died in that great earthquake.
I heard that after that great earthquake, many earthquake orphans were adopted by military families participating in the rescue.
Our production team even organized donations of rations to the earthquake-stricken areas.
Looking at it this way, rounding up, Gu Chunmiao is a child who grew up eating the rations from our production team.
Definitely one of our own!!!
Gu Chunmiao noticed that her mother-in-law had only taken her bowl and gone out to eat some soaked rice. When she went out again, the attitudes of all the old men and women in the entire production team towards her had suddenly become kind and amiable.
"Miaomiao, I heard your mother-in-law say you like pickled melon? My private plot still has quite a few melons growing, come and pick some later~"
"Don't listen to those gossips! The Old Gu family switched children and they still have the nerve to blame you? I say, if their family hadn't switched them back then, perhaps you would have been adopted by an even better family."
"Miaomiao, you can't be too soft-hearted. Commander Gu and his wife raised you, and you must repay their kindness. But their own daughter never raised you, so why should you always give in to her?"
"Exactly! She was switched at birth and is upset, she should take it out on her adoptive parents, or at worst, on Commander Gu and his wife. Why take it out on you? I think she's just picking on the weak!"
As they neared the village entrance, the production team leader stopped them.
"Xiufen, Miaomiao is back this time, she's staying home and not leaving, right? Take her to pick out a private plot later."
"Miaomiao works at the Agricultural Technology Station, so her rations aren't managed by the production team. She still needs to get her daily food, melons and vegetables, from our production team."
Li Xiufen didn't stand on ceremony with the production team leader. She immediately asked for a plot of land next to their wheat field, which was twice the size of their current private plot!
The captain felt a bit of heartache, but when he thought that Gu Chunmiao would be working at the Agricultural Technology Station, and they might need her connections to get some ammonia water approved in the future, his heartache vanished.
A little more is fine~ Gu Chunmiao is an "earthquake orphan" after all, and she might have even eaten the rations they donated. Rounding up, she's a child raised by their production team.
..
By the time they reached the commune, it was already past ten in the morning.
Li Xiufen thought about it and decided to accompany her daughter-in-law to report to the Agricultural Technology Station first.
The Iron Rice Bowl is the most important!
Her son is in the military anyway, he's not going anywhere.
She had thought that with the letter of introduction from the organization, her daughter-in-law reporting to the Agricultural Technology Station was a sure thing.
She didn't expect that Station Chief Zhu Dinghong would immediately become displeased upon seeing that Gu Chunmiao was a woman.
He spoke sarcastically, "A woman... Why don't you go to the broadcasting station? Or the Women's Federation or something? Do work that women should do, why come to our Agricultural Technology Station?"
Gu Chunmiao suppressed her anger and patiently explained, "This is an arrangement by the organization... and I also took elective courses in agriculture at university..."
Zhu Dinghong sneered, "Why would a woman study agriculture?"
Gu Chunmiao's face turned red. Just as she was about to argue back, she was suddenly pulled aside by a pair of warm hands.
Li Xiufen pointed at Zhu Dinghong's nose and directly lashed out:
"What's wrong with women? Weren't you raised by a woman? If you have the guts, don't drink your mother's milk!"
"Zhu Dinghong, are you blind? Don't you see me? When you were just born and couldn't poop, it was me who helped you!"
"If it weren't for me, a woman, you would have been suffocated to death by that poop!"
With a few "pfft" sounds, the entire office of the Agricultural Technology Station erupted in spitting tea and violent coughing.
Station Chief Zhu's old face turned red as he pointed at Li Xiufen, "Only women and petty people are difficult to deal with..."
Li Xiufen put her hands on her hips, "You know that! Women and children are difficult to raise. Zhu Dinghong, today I'm entrusting my daughter-in-law to you. She's a junior, like a child, and a girl, so she's even more difficult to raise."
"Take good care of her! If you mess her up, I'll tear down this Agricultural Technology Station!"
Saying that, she pushed Gu Chunmiao towards the desk, "What are you standing there for? Complete the paperwork!"
Gu Chunmiao instinctively handed the letter of introduction to Zhu Dinghong.
Zhu Dinghong took a deep breath, his hands trembling as he opened the drawer, took out the official seal, and stamped it down hard.
Fine, he wouldn't fuss with women!
He might not fuss, but Li Xiufen did~
Seeing Zhu Dinghong's impatient look towards Gu Chunmiao, Li Xiufen knew with her toes that after she left, this guy would definitely make things difficult for her daughter-in-law!
Her daughter-in-law is slow-witted and thin-skinned. When arguing, before she can even speak, her eyes turn red. If I'm not here, who knows how much she'll have to endure.
No way!
Li Xiufen looked around and grabbed Wu Di, who was sitting in the corner.
Wu Di was arranged to work at the Agricultural Technology Station through connections. Her father is the deputy secretary of the commune, and by seniority, she has to call Li Xiufen "cousin."
"Wu Di, my daughter-in-law is new here and doesn't know anyone. I'm entrusting her to you, okay~"
"Miaomiao, come here. This is Wu Di, Zhanjun's cousin. Her dad is our commune's deputy secretary, my maternal cousin's relative, from the same clan!"
In just a few sentences, she entrusted Gu Chunmiao to the strongest connection at the Agricultural Technology Station.
Wu Di was also a fan of good looks. The moment she saw Gu Chunmiao looking like a fairy descended to earth, she immediately gave up half of her desk.
"Sister-in-law, sit with me first. I'll take you to get a pass later and help you apply for a desk."
Zhu Dinghong hadn't expected that this Gu Chunmiao was even distantly related to Deputy Secretary Wu, and he became even angrier.
But anger was useless.
As she was leaving, Li Xiufen patted Zhu Dinghong on the shoulder.
"Little Zhu, I'm entrusting my Miaomiao to you. I know you're very capable, take good care of her! Come to my house for dinner with your mother later~"
The implication was, if you don't train my apprentice well, I'll have to call your parents.
After leaving her daughter-in-law at the Agricultural Technology Station, Li Xiufen rushed to the post office.
She dialed her son's military unit's phone and waited for about ten minutes before the call was finally returned.
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