NOVPUB
Chapter 733: Chapter 723 Can I Work at the Farm?
As for the farm workers, there had been more opportunities to eat eggs in the past half year, but the chances to eat pork were still rare. Although the situation was somewhat better than the 70s, and buying meat no longer required ration tickets, supplies were still tight with not enough live pigs being sent to market. So even if you had money, you couldn’t always buy fresh pork.
There was a vegetable market in the city, which also had a pork stall, but there was only half a pig’s worth of meat available there each day. If citizens were late, they wouldn’t be able to buy any meat. Such scarcity of meat made it clear why the farm’s canteen would only serve it every few days.
After the military district took away ten pigs, the farm also began slaughtering pigs to sell meat.
There really were people on the farm skilled in processing pig offal, so Shen Yunfang had them work overtime to clean all forty sets of pig offal. She reserved twenty sets for the workers’ extra meals. She found an excuse to take away the remaining half.
That day, the Li Family’s dinner table was full; there were slips of fatty intestines, stir-fried pork stomach with green onions, and the leftovers were boiled and eaten dipped in garlic paste. There was also pork lung soup.
"Mom, this is delicious." Pangpang held a piece of pork liver, dipping it into the garlic sauce bowl; he still couldn’t handle spicy food. But even so, he ate until sweat beaded on his nose.
"If you like it, then eat more," Shen Yunfang said with a smile as she picked up another chopstickful for her own child. Of course, she couldn’t favor one over the other, so she quickly added a chopstickful of fatty intestines for Goudan next to him. "Goudan, you should eat more too. You can’t get such good food outside. Come home for meals whenever you have free time."
Goudan worked stoking boilers for others and there was a communal dormitory at his workplace, so for more than a month, he had been living there, only returning home on Sundays to stay for a day and improve his diet.
"Hmm, Second Auntie, you don’t need to pick for me, I can do it myself," Goudan said stiffly.
From the moment he returned today, his face seemed to broadcast a message of worry, which Li Hongjun and his spouse definitely noticed, but they didn’t pierce the veil, waiting for the boy to eventually spill the beans himself.
"Is everything alright at your unit?" Every time Goudan came back, Shen Yunfang would ask him a couple of questions. After all, once he was at home, she didn’t hold back on treating him like family.
"Hmm," was the sullen reply.
"You need to get along well with your colleagues. We aren’t formal workers, nor are we city people, so when interacting with colleagues, we should avoid trouble but not be afraid of it. If someone really dares to bully you, you must come and tell your Second Uncle, understand?" Shen Yunfang was worried about Goudan facing discrimination there.
"Hmm," came his somber response again.
"Also, from now on don’t buy things for your little brother and sister when you come back. They aren’t lacking anything; there’s no need for you to keep bringing them gifts. Besides, the money you earn doesn’t come easy. Just starting, as a temporary worker, you won’t be making much, so save your money for a rainy day," Shen Yunfang told him, not caring that Goudan always brought things home, but she was indeed pleased with the boy’s thoughtful attitude.
"Sec-, Second Auntie," Goudan weakly called out, glancing up at his Second Uncle before quickly turning back to Shen Yunfang.
"What is it?" Shen Yunfang knew the boy couldn’t hold it in any longer.
"I..." Goudan fumbled with his words, simply too embarrassed to speak.
"Speak up, such a big lad and still mumbling," Li Hongjun criticized with severity.
Shen Yunfang shot him an annoyed look. This man, always putting on a show in front of others. With him scolding like that, the child would be even less likely to speak.
"Goudan, if there’s something you want to say, just say it. Your Second Uncle and I are not strangers."
With Shen Yunfang showing her kind and gentle face, Goudan finally mustered the courage to speak his mind, "Second Auntie, I want to say I don’t want to keep working there anymore, is that okay?" His little eyes were pleading as he looked at his Second Auntie.
Shen Yunfang had not yet said anything when Li Hongjun slapped his chopsticks down on the table with a smack.
Goudan, startled like a quail, glanced at his uncle’s stern face and quickly lowered his head to count the grains of rice on his plate.
"What are you doing? You’ve scared the child," Yunfang complained.
At the dinner table, only Goudan looked terrified, while Pangpang and Manman watched with curiosity as their father and brother interacted.
Having spoken about the men of her family and regained control of the situation, Yunfang then turned to Goudan and asked, "Goudan, what are you thinking, why do you suddenly not want to continue? Did someone bully you?"
"No one bullied me, but I just can’t stand the way they look at me, as if I’m bacteria, It’s fine when I’m stoking the furnace, but at the canteen and dormitory, they all avoid me, whispering behind my back—I know all about it," Goudan said in a subdued tone.
Yunfang measured her words carefully before offering advice, "Goudan, you need to understand that we are from the countryside, and that is a fact. And currently, city folk looking down on country people is the reality. If you want to make it out there, you need to be prepared for this kind of mindset. Even if you quit this job, if you switch to another place, the same thing will happen. What will you do then? Are you going to quit every time this happens?"
Goudan kept his head down and said nothing.
Yunfang looked over at Li Hongjun. As an aunt, she could give advice, but it wasn’t her place to make decisions for him. In the end, it was up to Li Hongjun, his own uncle, to step in.
"What exactly do you plan to do, speak up," Li Hongjun didn’t beat around the bush.
"I, I feel like I might not be suited to finding work in the city. I can’t stand the way they look at me, but I also don’t want to go back to my hometown," Goudan said haltingly.
Li Hongjun almost laughed in annoyance, "According to what you’re saying, do you want to just do nothing at home, idly waiting for death?" If he dared to say that, he’d break his legs.
"No, no, I didn’t mean I’d do nothing," Goudan quickly shook his head and looked over at his aunt, "Auntie, I see you’re short of hands for work, could I give it a try? I know how to do all the farm work, I’m sure I can do a good job." He hurried to assure her, fearing she wouldn’t allow it.
Yunfang was taken aback, not expecting the boy to have this idea in mind.
"Isn’t that right? Didn’t you come out because you didn’t want to farm, and now you want to go to the farm to work the fields?"
"That’s different," Goudan offered just that one sentence. How could he say that his auntie’s farm seemed so much more upscale, and he instinctively felt it had much more potential than stoking furnaces.
Watching his nephew with his head hung low, Li Hongjun couldn’t help feeling exasperated. But as a child and a family member, when problems arose, he had to take responsibility for the aftermath.
He glanced at his wife, also seeking her opinion. He knew she didn’t like the idea of their rural relatives working at the farm, fearing it would spoil the farm’s atmosphere.
Yunfang had no objection to Goudan’s desire to work on the farm; the boy had decent character, was young, and had great potential. Having him work at the farm for a few years could indeed be good. 𝚗ovp𝚞b.𝚌om
Seeing his wife’s agreement, Li Hongjun then turned back to Goudan and said, "Have you thought it through? Going to your aunt’s to work the fields?"
"I’ve thought it through. Uncle, Auntie, I’ll definitely do a good job," Goudan also knew how to read the room and could tell from his uncle’s tone that there was a chance.
"Alright then, I’ll give you one last chance. Go try working at your auntie’s place. If it works out, nothing more needs to be said. But if it doesn’t, if you think you can slack off or play tricks because she’s your aunt, then you better get out of here as soon as possible."
