The Era of Hard Work

After sending Brother Bing away, Lu Dong went back to the orchard to get the net, and let Hu Chunlan look at the dish again.

Hu Chunlan looked at it for a while: "There used to be a lot of vinegar dishes, but they were all smashed up later. It's not a rare thing."

Lu Dong was inevitably disappointed: "Uncle Seven said that Uncle Second sold one for 50 yuan."

Hu Chunlan thought for a moment: "If there is such a thing, the year before last was still the year before last."

Even if it was only fifty yuan, it was the most valuable thing in his hand. Lu Dong solemnly kept it and planned to take the time to visit the Shunshan Cultural Market.

It's good to sell 50.

Working as a laborer on the construction site only costs about ten yuan a day.

After taking the fishing nets and water bags, Lu Dong went back to the triangular dam to continue fishing with nets, and then tried his luck, even if there were only fish, as they could be sold for money.

Those leeches were all sunburned.

The water level dropped again, and the river was only fifteen or six meters wide.

Lu Dong cast a net, but before he could pull it up, suddenly there was the sound of singing from under the embankment, followed by the familiar smell of chicken manure.

"Today I drank wine to celebrate my achievements, and my ambitions are not rewarded, and I will never stop swearing. In the future, I will show my talents and write my spring and autumn with blood..."

Sure enough, Iron Rooster Lu Jianbin, with a radio on his wrist, climbed up the embankment, put away two bamboo poles, and came to the triangular dam.

"What a big silver carp!"

The fishing net just came out of the water, and the iron rooster stared wide-eyed: "There are others, quickly pull them up, don't run away. Dongzi, good luck!"

Lu Dong picked up the fishing net and put it on the dam: "There are a lot of fish these two days, and when the sluice is closed upstream, good luck will come to an end."

After opening the fishing net and throwing away the trash, Lu Dong first picked out a catfish, which was much larger than the one caught in the net in the morning, and it was heavy in his hand, probably almost three catties.

This is the northern soil catfish.

"Catfish are easy to feed, and they can't die easily." The iron rooster is like an expert: "I caught one last year and threw it in the chicken manure pond. It lived for more than half a year, and it weighed five catties when I took it out."

Lu Dong couldn't help but said: "Uncle Tie, can we not talk about chicken manure? Are you still telling people to eat catfish?"

The iron rooster didn't care: "What's wrong? What you eat is chicken dung, and what grows is meat! It's not poisonous! See if your Uncle Tie is fine after eating it."

I couldn't speak now, so Lu Dong took out the two-jin silver carp and stuffed it directly: "Go back and make soup for my sister."

Iron Rooster didn't understand the meaning of Lu Dong's words, he pulled a lala seedling from outside the embankment, and came back to pierce the silver carp's gills, his eyes just aimed at the pile of sandbags blocking the opening under the embankment.

"Dongzi, the water is falling." Iron Rooster felt sad: "When the water gets smaller, shall we drag the chicken coop out?"

Lu Dong was helpless: "It's useless to drag it out."

The iron rooster did not give up: "I can sell scrap iron! I will give you a fifth of the money... no, a quarter."

How many sandbags are piled on the chicken coop? Talk about tons! Lu Dong could only push: "Let's talk about it."

Looking at the hill-like sandbags down the river, Iron Rooster was full of grief, as if he was reluctant to leave, and was not in a hurry to leave. He threw the silver carp into a grass nest under the shade of a tree, and sat on the triangular dam without speaking.

I don't know whether he is watching fishing or saying goodbye to the chicken coop.

Lu Dong cast two more nets one after another. One net contained a few crucian carp and white stripes, and the other net contained two catfish, one big and one small, and the big one was nearly three catties.

There are fewer leeches, so continue to throw them in the sun to dry.

The sun was very poisonous, and Lu Dong was sweating profusely.

The sound of motorbikes came from the north, and the noise was very loud. In addition, the river embankment was somewhat undulating, and only the sound could be heard, but no one could be seen.

"Who is this?" Iron Rooster stood up and looked north: "I don't even repair the muffler, and I can hear it from three miles away."

Lu Dong looked to the north and saw the dust flying. When he cast another net and brought up the empty net, he saw the motorcycle with the trailer attached.

The cyclists are very courageous, driving along the river bank, the sandy soil road is not easy to walk.

It was an orange Jialing CJ50, which was common in rural areas, and it was attached to a self-welding trailer, which could run, pull, and be aggressive.

The rider was a middle-aged woman, like most rural women, with a dark complexion, and there was a girl about ten years old in the back seat, her little face was flushed with sunburn.

The middle-aged woman stopped the car when she saw the fishing net in Lu Dong's hand.

The iron rooster plugged his ears: "Big sister, it's time for this car to be repaired!"

"Getting ready for a new car!" The middle-aged woman turned off the engine and smiled brightly: "It won't be needed after a while."

Lu Dong glanced at the drag bucket, there was a large water tank inside, and there were fish swimming.

The middle-aged woman got out of the car, took the little girl down again, and asked Lu Dong, "Big brother, did you catch any fish?"

Lu Dong motioned for the rope to tie the water bag: "There are some."

Iron Rooster, who works at the farm, immediately asked, "Do you collect fish?"

The middle-aged woman said: "Only catfish and snakehead, nothing else."

"Why?" Iron Rooster didn't understand.

"It's too hot, other fish are easy to die, and it's worthless if they die." The middle-aged woman said the truth: "These two are easy to feed, and they won't die easily."

Lu Dong needs money: "There are catfish."

"Big girl, don't be skinny!" The middle-aged woman scolded the child first, and then said to Lu Dong: "Big brother, can you tell me to take a look first?"

Lu Dong pulled on the water bag, untied the rope, and brought it up to the woman: "It's all here."

There were three catfish in total, two big and one small, the woman turned her hands up and asked, "How do you sell them?"

Before Lu Dong could speak, Iron Rooster reminded: "Ji Shang can sell for three yuan per catty."

Catfish is very popular in the Quannan area, even in the era when employees in good units in the provincial capital were paid 700 to 800 yuan, and when the retail price was high during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the retail price could reach five or six yuan per catty.

Later, due to various reasons, catfish fell to the altar.

The middle-aged woman glanced at the iron rooster: "That's a set price."

Lu Dong asked the woman: "The fish is here, you bid, if it's not suitable, I'll put it back."

"The big one is five yuan, and the small one is three yuan." The middle-aged woman seemed very happy: "I don't want to lie, all the fish on the car are collected at this price, and the price of the fish in the reservoir has dropped. I will make a profit when I come out in hot weather. .”

Lu Dong didn't understand the market, so he turned to look at Uncle Tie, saw him nodding, and said, "The fish is yours now."

The middle-aged woman caught the fish and put it into the bucket, and picked out three five-yuan ones. Lu Dong shook his head: "I can't find them."

His pockets are cleaner than his face, and his personal savings—zero!

The woman rummaged through her pockets, found three red one-yuan cards, and gave them to Lu Dong together with two five-yuan cards.

After receiving the money, for some reason, Lu Dong felt heavy.

The next moment, Lu Dong understood, excluding the head money, this was the first money he had earned through labor since he was eighteen!

The woman got on the motorcycle and said, "Brother, I want more."

Iron Rooster was worried that Lu Dong would suffer from his inexperience, so he asked, "Which village are you from?"

"Diaojiazhuang." The middle-aged woman said.

Lu Dong knew: "Where is the University City?"

The middle-aged woman responded: "There are a lot of fish, you can send it to Diaojiazhuang, it's only ten miles away, ask someone to ask Diaojuan, the price can be higher for you."

Lu Dong threw the water bag back into the river: "Got it."

Diao Juan kicked the Jialing motorcycle, and the unpleasant sound made Lu Dong cover his ears. He thought of one thing, and quickly removed the sun-exposed leeches, reminding: "There is a lower road ahead, go down and pass through the village, and then you will go to the gate. make life difficult for."

"Thanks." The middle-aged woman stepped up and left.

Iron Rooster picked up the silver carp, waved to Lu Dong, and left.

After Lu Dong collected the money, he pressed it hard in his pocket, for fear that it would fall out of his pants pocket.

This is the first fund to start a new life after returning, as high as 13 yuan!

I have the money to go to the city to see the specific situation.

Of course, it is also possible to go to Quannan City by bicycle, but after more than 20 years of earth-shaking changes, Lu Dong needs to get familiar with the road first.

Because of the university town, the area from Qingzhao County to Quannan City has changed a lot from the old to the new.

Lu Jianren walked slowly, carrying the fishing net and dragging the soles of his shoes.

"Just here?" Lu Dong was surprised, Uncle Qi has always been an active member of fishing.

"Your uncle is looking for me." Lu Jianren held the net and water bag in one hand, and scratched his freshly cut hair with the other, worrying deeply: "Call me to the construction site in University City in a few days..."

Lu Dong said: "It's not a problem to hang out at home."

Lu Jianren glared at Lu Dong: "You don't even have full hair, you know nothing. Can I get a dozen or twenty dollars for my craft?"

"Yes! Yes..." Lu Dong didn't bother to refute. Seventh Uncle is very skillful. The fishing nets, fishing forks, etc. are all made by himself.

They are good at large-scale engineering work, electric welding work, and steel bar work. In 2019, it is not uncommon to earn hundreds of dollars a day.

But dexterity does not equal willingness to work.

Seeing Uncle Seven's haircut, Lu Dong thought of the middle part on his head: "I'll go first."

Lu Jianren came over: "What's the matter? Don't want to see your seventh uncle? I come and you go?"

Lu Dong pointed to his head: "Cut your hair."

"pretty."

"Too stupid, like Liu Kuisheng!"

Lu Dong pulled up the water bag, took off the sun-dried leeches in his pockets, and walked towards the orchard.

After returning to the orchard, he put away the fish and fishing nets, and found a convenient bag to pack the leeches. Lu Dong rolled out his Erba Dagang and went to Jijie to cut his hair.

The weather is hot, the road dries quickly, and the bicycle can basically run.

To save trouble, Lu Dong asked the shaved man to cut his hair short.

The thirteen yuan I just got, I spent one yuan and five.

This also saved fifty cents, and I asked a young daughter-in-law in the village to cut it and asked for two yuan.

When Lu Dong left the store, he was caught by the third grandfather, Lu Zhenlin, and asked to help in the brigade's office.

Lu Zhenlin also gave him a message: "Mayor Yang intends to hand over your materials to sort out your affairs. There was a flood in the county, and nothing happened. There should be a commendation meeting later, and we will try to get an advanced individual."

This is good news, but I don't know if there are material rewards for advanced individuals.

The question was too vulgar, and it was difficult for Lu Dong to ask another person.

The flood has receded, and there are a lot of follow-up things.

Gravel and food, the free support of the villages should be solemnly thanked.

There is also Lu Jianguo, who has to coordinate with the three construction companies in the town and county, and Yang Liewen has already taken the job.

Lu Dong secretly sighed, the new mayor is very interesting, the person in charge of the third construction company is from Lu's village, and he and the third grandfather are cousins, and he still has to call the fifth grandfather.

Is this the easiest thing to pick out of a lot of problems?

In the office of the brigade, several high school students and technical secondary school students who were on vacation were called by Lu Zhenlin to reconcile accounts with the accountant and women's director of the brigade and count the remaining supplies.

The job assigned to Lu Dong was to cut out the red paper, and the second grandfather wrote a thank you letter with a brush, and sent it to the villages or units that came to help.

The accountant of the brigade will order a pennant, and when the pennant is ready, he will formally come to thank you.

While he was busy, Li Wenyue said suddenly: "Third Grandfather, the bill Cheng Lifeng sent is wrong, all kinds of meat are generally 50 cents more expensive than usual."

His family is neighbors with Cheng Lifeng, so he knows a lot about the price.

Lu Zhenlin thought for a while: "Based on the price he quoted."

For this kind of thing, the price was not negotiated beforehand, and no one thought of negotiating the price at that time. Everyone was rushing to save the situation.

The women's director said: "It's too cheap for him!

Lu Zhenlin's bushy sword eyebrows moved: "It's love to send food at the critical moment, and it's his duty to pay. He also counts his efforts, so we can't be too fussy. Mayor Yang promised that the cost this time will be reduced from Coordinating a part of Tiliuri."

When one party was in trouble, all sides supported, there were many people and supplies coming to help, and there were many follow-up matters. Lu Dong also ate dinner in the brigade, and he was busy until ten o'clock in the evening.

After leaving the brigade, Lu Dong sent Li Wenyue off on a two-eighth pole, went to the orchard and told his mother that he would go to the city tomorrow, and returned to the old house with a white porcelain plate and a black convenience bag containing leeches.

After washing up, Lu Dong took out eleven yuan and fifty cents and placed them on the table one by one. This was all his funds!

Come on, work hard, boy!