Chapter 39

Take a look, even our village has bicycles, Li Dong didn't know that Gao Weimin's bicycle was borrowed. In this era, getting a bicycle is quite difficult, especially in the countryside, it's almost impossible.

"Quick, come in and sit down, Weimin, don't mind the mess at home."

"Where, where."

Gao Weimin parked the bicycle in the yard and locked it. This thing was quite valuable at the time, and if it was lost, there was no place to buy a replacement.

Entering the house, Gao Weimin took a quick look around. The entire room, apart from a bed, only had a low table and two old cabinets; there was really nothing else.

"Quick, sit down."

Li Dong pulled out a small stool and handed it to Gao Weimin, smiling. "Have some tea, I brought some from the city last time, try it."

This tea was given by Tian Liang, and Li Dong eventually brought a box. The iron box looked quite high-end, and the tea was good. After all, Tian Liang wouldn't buy poor-quality tea to give away.

"Good tea."

Gao Weimin didn't know much about tea, but it smelled great. He thought to himself that one shouldn't underestimate things; even the tea was better than what he had at home.

Glancing at the bed, he saw new sheets. "What's this?" Li Dong noticed Gao Weimin looking at the beautiful mosquito net and smiled. "There are a lot of mosquitoes these days. I brought this mosquito net from the city. With it, you don't have to worry about mosquitoes."

Li Dong then cut a piece of mooncake, mango-flavored. This kind of mooncake was rare in the mainland at the time. Many people hadn't even heard of mango, let alone eaten it.

"Mooncakes from the south, mango-flavored, try them."

"You're too polite."

Gao Weimin felt a bit embarrassed. He had come in a hurry and didn't bring anything good, just two packs of candy and a bag of pastries. Compared to the mooncakes, they were nothing. He had never heard of mango mooncakes, but they tasted great. Indeed, they were good things brought from outside.

Seeing the bare room, he had initially looked down on it a bit, but when Li Dong casually took out something he had never seen before, he was impressed. "Have a smoke."

The lighter caught Gao Weimin's eye. He thought if he had such a beautiful lighter for his wedding, it would be quite impressive.

"Brother, about my matter?"

"You really came."

Li Dong took out a beautiful box. In this era, packaging wasn't as important as it was in the 21st century, but it was still quite elegant. Gao Weimin stood up and took the box, carefully opening it.

A brand new Shanghai brand ladies' watch, with a calendar. This was a high-end watch. "Great, great, thank you so much."

"There's another one. It was originally given to me by a relative. I don't have a clock in the countryside, and I don't use it much. Since you're getting married, I'll give it to you." Li Dong's words left Gao Weimin at a loss for how to thank him.

Li Dong took out another box, a men's one. Gao Weimin swallowed hard. "Brother, how can I accept this?"

"Why are you being so formal? Take a look, do you like it?"

"Of course, I like it."

Gao Weimin excitedly opened the box. It was indeed beautiful, a high-end watch with a calendar. For a moment, he didn't dare to speak, fearing the price might be too high for him to afford.

"Brother, about the money?"

"One hundred and twenty yuan at the department store, you can give me one hundred and twenty yuan."

Li Dong thought about it. This thing was rare and hard to get. On the black market, it would cost one hundred and fifty, or even one hundred and eighty to two hundred yuan if you were in a hurry.

"That won't do."

Gao Weimin was delighted but knew he owed a big favor.

"Then, how about adding some food coupons or pastry coupons? Just a token of appreciation, don't be so formal."

Li Dong knew that whether it was Gao Weimin or Gao Min, maintaining a good relationship with them would be beneficial. One was a salesperson at the supply and marketing cooperative, the other was the militia captain, and Gao Weimin's father was the deputy secretary.

His family might need their help with things like cement and bricks, which were hard to get without connections.

Hearing about the food and pastry coupons, Gao Weimin knew Li Dong was really helping. These things were common but useful. "Brother, thank you. If you need anything in the future, don't hesitate to ask."

Gao Weimin had brought two hundred and forty yuan, and more. In his family's situation, a few hundred yuan wasn't much.

All in large denominations, Li Dong counted twenty-four bills.

"Food coupons, I'll bring them over this afternoon."

"No rush, bring them when you have time."

Just as they were talking, the work bell rang from the high slope of the village. Gao Weimin stood up. "Brother, I won't keep you from work. I'll go back first and bring the food coupons over. Thank you, brother."

Li Dong watched Gao Weimin leave, excitedly riding his bicycle. He was thrilled, two hundred and forty yuan. In this era, this amount of money could do a lot. He planned to get more food coupons, pastry coupons, and daily necessities.

Hehe, just a little show, and the villagers would work hard to gather mountain goods, wild fruits, and even game. Gao Weimin's visit was timely. With two hundred and forty yuan, Li Dong felt very wealthy and excited.

Putting the money away, he tidied up and closed the door. Li Dong went to the high slope, where everyone had gathered.

"Here."

"Here."

The villagers greeted Li Dong, knowing that he had relatives in the city who bought mountain goods, and everyone wanted to gather some to sell.

"Li Dong, you'll work with Guo Bing."

The division of labor had been decided the day before. Han Guofu wasn't happy to see Li Dong. The plowing the day before had really angered Han Guofu, who wished he could whip Li Dong.

"Okay, Uncle Guofu."

Han Guobing's group's task for the day was to transport soil fertilizer to the sorghum field. Part of the sorghum had already been harvested, and the rest would be harvested later. They would transport the soil fertilizer to the harvested field and bring back the sorghum stalks.

They used a wheelbarrow. Han Guobing was skilled at pushing wheelbarrows, and Li Dong followed to learn. Li Dong found the wheelbarrow quite interesting, but once he tried it, he realized it was difficult. The straps were around his neck and shoulders, feeling like iron weights.

The wheelbarrow wobbled on the field ridge, and Li Dong almost fell into the field. It was much harder than he thought, especially going uphill and downhill. He pushed the wheelbarrow into the ground several times.

"Adjust the straps, and use your back and stomach muscles, not just your hands."

Han Guobing gave him a lesson, and Li Dong practiced. Eventually, he got the hang of it, but he was exhausted. He finally managed to push the wheelbarrow to the destination and collapsed on the ground to rest, feeling very tired.

Han Guobing and others saw Li Dong lying on the ground and laughed. "Pushing a wheelbarrow isn't as easy as you thought, is it? Get up, there are bugs and snakes on the ground. You don't want them in your pants."

Li Dong quickly got up, thinking it would be terrible if a snake got into his pants. In those days, lice and fleas were common, and there were many bugs.

"Uncle Guobing, can we eat these stalks?"

Li Dong noticed the sorghum stalks looked a bit like sugarcane and had the urge to try them.

"Work first, don't just think about eating."

Han Guobing cut a stalk, and it was quite sweet. Li Dong thought it was a trick but tried one and found it was indeed sweet. The soil fertilizer made it taste good. He ate two stalks before starting to work.

The soil fertilizer was unloaded, and the cut sorghum stalks were bundled and placed on the wheelbarrow. Li Dong didn't push too fast, fearing it would tip over. He watched the others pushing the wheelbarrows down the slope and pressed the handle tightly, as the front of the wheelbarrow could hit the ground.

Li Dong didn't want to tip over. The fields around were dry, and the clumps of soil were like small stones. "Haha, what a slow wheelbarrow, slower than a snail."

The women carrying baskets and sickles, preparing to harvest the sorghum, saw Li Dong pushing the wheelbarrow slowly and carefully and laughed.

Li Dong felt embarrassed but quickly adjusted his mindset and pushed the wheelbarrow back to the threshing floor.

After a short rest, he loaded two baskets of soil fertilizer. This time, he adjusted the straps and found a trick, making it less tiring. However, when he reached the mountain, he noticed something was wrong.

"What's wrong?"

Li Dong had just put down the soil fertilizer when he heard a commotion in the sorghum field. "Uncle Guobing, what's going on?"

"Black smut."

"Trouble."

What was black smut? Li Dong was confused but saw the serious faces of the others and knew it wasn't good.

Li Dong ran to the sorghum field. The late sorghum was extensive, and the women who had been smiling earlier now had sad faces. What was black smut?

Li Dong approached and saw black, pen-like objects in their hands, about two to three inches long. "What's this?"

"Black smut."

"Cut off the affected parts."

The drought had already reduced the yield, and now the black smut made it even worse. Li Dong finally understood what it was. "Black smut?"

He had heard of it. Black smut was a fungal infection in sorghum, black and unappealing. However, in the future, it was a valuable item, costing over a hundred yuan per pound.

"Sister, what do we do with the black smut?"

"Feed it to the pigs."

Li Dong thought it was for cooking, but he was mistaken. No one would eat it when there was enough food. It was only eaten in times of scarcity.

"Can I buy it?"

Li Dong regretted his words. There was a lot of it, and he didn't know what to do with it. "Why do you want to buy it?"

Zhang Qiuju was puzzled. It didn't taste good. Li Dong couldn't say that in the future, people would miss black smut when they had a better life.

"My second uncle mentioned black smut the other day, saying he hadn't had it in a long time."

Li Dong used his second uncle as an excuse. His second uncle could eat anything.

Zhang Qiuju thought it was strange. Why would city people want to eat such things? "Okay, I'll have everyone collect it for you."

"Two fen per pound, is that okay?"

Two fen was not much, but for pig feed, it was reasonable. Zhang Qiuju looked at Li Dong as if he were a fool. "Is that too cheap?"

"No, no, I'll have it delivered to your home."

Li Dong felt everyone was looking at him strangely, as if he were a child with a mental disability. "Did I offer too much?"

"What, the sorghum has black smut?" On the other side, the news reached Han Guofu, who shuddered. This was a disaster.

"What can we do? We already removed the leaves."

Han Guohong was also worried. They usually removed the leaves to prevent black smut.

"We removed the leaves, but it still happened."

"What can we do? We won't have enough food today."

"We need to find a solution."

Both looked grim. The drought was getting worse, and the rice harvest was already poor. Now, the sorghum was also affected.

"Uncle Guofu, and..."

"And what? Speak quickly."

"Li Dong said he wants to buy the black smut, two fen per pound."

"What? Buy black smut, two fen per pound? Did he fall into the field while pushing the wheelbarrow?" Han Guofu and Han Guohong looked at the messenger, puzzled by Li Dong's actions.

"Let's go find him and ask."