Chapter 37

"What's this?"

"Xiaohei, how do we get the candy?"

Han Xiaohao's sidekick, Erha, sniffled and tugged at Han Xiaohao's sleeve, asking in a low voice.

Getting candy, Li Dong remembered he had said this. "Come in quickly, put the stones in the southwest corner, and Uncle will give you candy."

"Xiaojuan, quickly give candy to Xiaohei, Erha, and the others."

Good kids, now this is great. The stones for the house foundation don't need to be picked up from the river anymore. These little kids, eager for candy, have quite a bit of fighting spirit.

As for hiring child labor being illegal, in this era, especially in the countryside, it's a joke. Whose kids haven't grown up helping their parents with work?

Xiaojuan pouted, but seeing the stones already piled in the corner, she went back inside to fetch fruit candies.

"Xiaohei, here you go." The little girl distributed the candies with a bit of a bossy air, criticizing the small stones picked by Erha and Erya.

Erha and Erya didn't care about the criticism, took the candies, peeled off the wrappers, and popped them into their mouths, grinning. The candy was so sweet. Well, these two little guys were only four or five years old, so they couldn't carry a basket of big stones; they just picked a few small ones to get candy.

Xiaojuan told the leader, Han Xiaohao, that next time, Erya and Erha would only get half a candy. Han Xiaohao didn't care how much they got, as long as they didn't cry and cause trouble, or else his aunt would be angry that he didn't take good care of his younger siblings.

All the kids got their candy, and Han Xiaohao looked very pleased. His position as the leader was even more secure. Being able to find a way for his friends to get candy earned him the admiration of the older kids.

"Let's go pick more stones."

One basket of stones for one candy, these kids were full of energy. Xiaojuan, however, felt a bit cheated and thought she should have said half a candy. "Alright, we won't be stingy."

Seeing Xiaojuan pout, Li Dong smiled. "It's good, we can use the pebbles to pave the ground."

"Alright, little girl, don't frown. By the way, Dad brought you a toy yesterday, but it was too late to play with it." Li Dong didn't know what to buy, so he got a kaleidoscope and a few tin frogs for the little girl.

"Play with the toy, Dad, I'll go cook."

Xiaojuan, being a child, couldn't resist sneaking a peek at the toys. Li Dong saw this and laughed. "Look through this, it's very pretty."

"Wow."

Xiaojuan took a look at the kaleidoscope, it was so beautiful, she couldn't get enough of it.

She had never seen tin frogs before and liked them very much. When Han Xiaohao and the other kids saw Xiaojuan playing with the toys, their eyes widened. A frog that could jump on its own, who had ever seen that?

Erha and Erya ran over to Xiaojuan and squatted beside her. "Xiaojuan, what's this?"

"The kaleidoscope is very pretty." Xiaojuan asked Dada, and Dada told her. "Erya, look at this." Xiaojuan held the kaleidoscope up to the tin frog, and Erya exclaimed, "Wow, there are so many frogs inside!" The older kids, including Han Xiaohao, were all very envious.

Xiaojuan had an idea. When Li Dong finished cooking and came out, he saw the kids had put down the stones and were no longer taking candy. Instead, they were playing with the tin frogs or looking at the kaleidoscope, each taking turns with great enthusiasm.

What's going on? Li Dong was puzzled. He asked and found out that Xiaojuan had said they could play with the toys once for a basket of stones. Li Dong couldn't help but laugh at this clever child. "Little rascal."

"Alright, come inside and eat."

"Xiaohei, you guys go home and eat, school starts soon."

These kids were really energetic. The corner of the yard was now filled with more stones. It wouldn't take more than a month for Li Dong to have enough stones for the house foundation, though he would still need to get some larger stones from the mountain or buy them.

The kids brought small stones, which they couldn't carry, but they were perfect for paving the yard, especially the pebbles. "Xiaojuan, hurry up and eat. Dad has packed your lunch box with beef stew and two wild chicken eggs."

After eating, Xiaojuan and Han Xiaohao, along with a few other kids, set off. In those days, there was no habit of parents taking their children to school, and it wasn't necessary, especially since they were going with the Han family's three kids.

Li Dong tidied up and went to work. Today, the production team was organizing water-carrying. Even the strong, young women joined in, so Li Dong couldn't avoid it and had to work hard.

The drought was severe. If they didn't irrigate soon, not only would the rice have no harvest, but the beans and corn would also suffer significant losses.

Li Dong had no choice but to carry water, which was a tough job. The only happy moment for Li Dong in the morning was when he secretly ate some corn. The rest of the time was filled with hardship.

Fortunately, in the afternoon, Li Dong got a slightly better job and happily followed Han Guofu to the warehouse to get tools, under the envious gazes of the others.

"Uncle Guofu, will this ox kick?"

Li Dong was a bit nervous, leading the old ox in the sweet potato field. He still remembered the last time the mule went in circles.

"This is an old ox, just follow me and learn properly."

Li Dong thought, whatever you say, I'll do it. He put on the plow, but plowing was no easier than carrying water. Li Dong was very frustrated, no wonder Han Weijun and the others had a knowing smile when he said he would plow with Uncle Guofu.

He was being tricked, not only tired but also frustrated. Li Dong was in a tough spot. He thought the ox was playing with him. Plowing looked simple, but it was completely different when he tried it.

The ox was well-behaved under Han Guofu's control, but not under Li Dong's. Li Dong held the plow with one hand and the whip with the other, imitating Han Guof's commands. "Go, go."

"Go, go, go."

"Turn, turn, turn."

The old ox, hearing the unfamiliar voice, didn't move at all.

"Come on, move."

Li Dong had no choice but to use the whip. The ox finally moved, but it seemed to be deliberately opposing Li Dong, moving erratically and pulling the plow out of control. The ox was strong.

In the end, the ox pulled Li Dong and the plow straight towards the field ridge. Before Han Guofu could react, the plow tongue was stuck in the ridge. Han Guofu quickly ran over and grabbed the ox. "Shh."

The ox, hearing the familiar voice, stopped. The rope almost broke, and Li Dong's hands were burning from the strain.

Han Guofu sighed, "Forget it, just keep learning." For the rest of the afternoon, Li Dong struggled with the ox, while the other teams had no problems. All the issues were on Li Dong's side.

Everyone was amused by Li Dong's struggles. He was pulled up the field ridge by the ox, then the plow was empty, and then he was struggling with a deep plow. By the end of the afternoon, both the ox and Li Dong were exhausted.

"You're just messing with me."

I'll kill you and eat your meat, Li Dong thought angrily. Plowing was a killer job. By night, Li Dong was completely drained, groaning on the bed. Xiaojuan pulled the mosquito net and massaged his back. "Ouch, it's sore, right, right, a bit higher."

"I can't do it, Dad needs to take a day off tomorrow."

This job almost killed him. He wished he had stuck with carrying water. How could he have been so foolish to go learn plowing and get tricked by an old ox? Who could he complain to?

"Hey, is Li's son at home?"

"Who is it?"

Li Dong reluctantly got up and saw it was Aunt Liu. "Aunt Liu, what's up?"

"I have some dried black fungus, can you take a look?"

"Dried black fungus, sure, wait a moment."

Li Dong knew a bit about it, after all, he ran a farm. "It looks good, let me weigh it."

"One and a half pounds."

"Six mao."

"Alright, alright."

Six mao in cash, Aunt Liu was delighted. This was enough to buy salt for half a year. "I'll be going then."

"Take care, Aunt."

A few more families came over with mushrooms, black fungus, wild fruits, and sweet potato chips. By the end of the night, Li Dong had spent most of his private money. Xiaojuan, seeing Li Dong look at her, quickly hid the key to the wooden cabinet.

Sigh, how could a daughter guard her money from her father? It was heartbreaking. Sigh, I wonder if Gao Weimin will come tomorrow. If not, I might have to trick my daughter for money, but that's not right.

Sigh, how hard it is. A high-achieving student from the 21st century is worrying about a few yuan in 1978. It's really bizarre.

"Uncle."

Xiao Hao tugged at Li Dong. What's up with this kid? Didn't I give him candy? "Uncle, do you buy geese?"

"What?"

"Geese."

Xiao Hao whispered, "I set a grass trap at the reservoir and caught a big goose."

"Grass trap, what's that?"

Li Dong was a bit confused. Xiao Hao explained, and Li Dong understood that it was a trap made of grass, with a loop and a spring mechanism using branches or bamboo.

This kid had such good luck, a big goose. Li Dong wondered what it was, probably a large water bird. "Let's go see. If it's edible, I'll buy it."

Stewed goose in an iron pot, with some pancakes, just thinking about it made his mouth water.

Li Dong told Xiaojuan and followed Xiao Hao to the reservoir. It seemed the kid wanted to do a private deal. Now that they were in elementary school, the kids liked to hang around the supply cooperative after school, where there were many good things to see and eat.

Their eyes were wide with excitement, drooling over the toys and snacks.

Li Dong also bought school supplies for Xiaojuan, especially a pencil case, which made Xiao Hao envious. His parents didn't buy him such things, so he was smart and listened to his grandfather, father, and uncle discussing setting traps to catch wild chickens and rabbits to sell to Uncle Li Dong.

He tried to learn, but not very well. While others set traps in the mountains, he went to the reservoir and used two small fish as bait. By chance, he caught a big white goose.

In the morning, while picking stones, he checked the trap and found a big white goose. He was thrilled, but as he approached, a larger white goose jumped out and pecked at him.

Luckily, he ran fast and hit the goose with stones, so he wasn't pecked much. Li Dong was surprised. Was it really a goose? He hadn't heard of anyone raising big white geese.

They quickly arrived at the reservoir. "Uncle, it's in the bushes ahead."

The grass trap was well hidden. Li Dong told Xiao Hao to wait and went to check. "What is this?"

"Wow."

As he approached, a big white goose jumped out and pecked at him. Li Dong, who had brought a stick, hit the goose. "Hey, it can fly."

To his surprise, the goose flew away. Li Dong was stunned. Who's goose can fly? He slapped his forehead. "A swan?"