Chapter 370 - 240: Temporary Members

Chapter 370: Chapter 240: Temporary Members

"As long as you give us a meal to eat, don’t you worry. We’ll work as hard as anyone."

Zhao Weiguo nodded and looked at Liu Xiufen. Smiling, Liu Xiufen stepped forward and began to get to know everyone, making separate lists of the widows, widowers, and orphans. She then let the villagers who had come along see if there was anyone they wanted to take in. Seeing that things were under control, Zhao Wendong waved to Lin Zhiyin and his second sister-in-law, Jin Xiuying, and the three of them headed straight home.

The moment they got home, Little Tuanzi pounced on him.

Zhao Wendong picked her up and teased her for a moment before noticing the serious expressions on the faces of Zhao Dashan, Chen Yanmei, Lin Huaimin, and Wang Lulu, who were sitting on the raised, heated platform.

"Dads, Moms, what’s wrong?"

Wang Lulu was the first to break, letting out a chuckle at her son-in-law’s playful tone. The expressions on the other elders’ faces instantly softened, and Zhao Dashan shook his head, amused.

"Youngest son, we heard about the outsiders who came to the village. How did you handle it?"

"We’re putting them to work. No free meals."

Zhao Dashan nodded, then shook his head.

"That’s fine if there are only a few, but if more people come, I’m afraid we won’t have enough food. We can’t let our own villagers starve just to save others, can we?"

Zhao Wendong nodded in understanding. ’Even if I want to win over more people,’ he thought, ’I still have my priorities: family comes before relatives and friends, who come before fellow villagers, who come before everyone else. I can only help the next group to the best of my ability after the one before it is taken care of.’

"It’s fine. We’ll act within our means. You can only fill the bowl you have."

"Sigh, that’s right. Your old man has understood one thing his whole life: there’s no such thing as a free lunch. You can take care of them today, but you can’t take care of them tomorrow. You can’t be a bleeding heart."

Zhao Wendong laughed at Zhao Dashan’s words.

"Dad, why do you sound more and more like an old cadre these days? How about I get Uncle Weiguo removed tomorrow and you can be the production team leader!"

"Get outta here! I’m not interested. I’ve always been this sharp; I just couldn’t be bothered to say it before."

Chen Yanmei pouted. "We can’t raise cows in this family anymore."

Jin Xiuying asked with a smile, "Why not, Mom?"

"Because your dad would blow them all away!"

"HAHAHA!"

The family was doubled over with laughter.

"Alright, stop laughing and go wash up. You’ve been in the mountains for days. Look at your face, you look like you were just dug out of the ground. I’ve poured some hot water for you."

Lin Zhiyin said with a smile as she came in from the outer room.

Zhao Wendong grinned and took the towel Lin Zhiyin handed him.

"You’re the best, honey. Thanks, honey."

"What’s there to thank me for? Go on, go wash up."

Little Tuanzi’s eyes darted around. She covered her nose and said in a tiny, childish voice, "Third Brother is stinky."

"Alright, alright, Brother San is stinky. Is it okay if Brother San goes to wash up now?"

Watching Zhao Wendong sheepishly go to wash his face, the family couldn’t help but laugh again.

「In the following days」

Zhao Wendong went to the Commune to see Yang Wenxue. He said he was there to ask for a favor, but he was really asking for help in getting engines and motorized sailboats for Dragon King Pond. He also contacted Niu Yuesheng, but Niu Yuesheng was out of town and wouldn’t be back for a few days. So, not wanting to sit idle, he went into the mountains again. The haul wasn’t great; he didn’t bag any large animals, just more pheasants and rabbits.

The six of them consumed a fair amount on their trip into the mountains. But Zhao Wendong’s group had plenty of food and ate their fill even when they weren’t in the mountains, so they didn’t have to worry about their consumption outpacing their supply. Other families, who were holing up for the winter and not moving much, could get by on less food, just enough to survive.

Zhao Wenwu was quite disgruntled about this and in low spirits.

"San, why is there less and less to hunt?"

"Second Brother, game animals aren’t like crops that grow back after you harvest them. Once you hunt them all, you have to wait for them to slowly reproduce. We’ve hunted too much these past few months. We need to give the mountains a break."

"Then what are we going to eat?"

"We’ll eat from the sea."

As Zhao Wendong said this, he was watching Little Shanghai run down from the boat at the pier, his face ecstatic and his forehead smudged with grease. Sun Defu followed behind him, while Guan Yongguang and Pandi stood beside Zhao Wendong.

"Dongzi, the boat’s fixed!"

"Really?"

"Heck yeah, it’s fixed! When I say it’s fixed, it’s fixed. You don’t believe me? I replaced the cylinder gasket, aligned the drive shaft, and cleared the fuel line. I even replaced a few rotten planks on the deck while I was at it. Everything’s in perfect working order now. Go try it if you don’t believe me."

Zhao Wendong couldn’t stand still after hearing that and led the way toward the large boat.

The standard twin-sail motorized junk, three or four times larger than the boats next to it, sat quietly by the shore. It looked different from when it first arrived. The broken planks on the deck had been replaced with new ones. Although the colors didn’t quite match, it was much sturdier.

Little Shanghai climbed aboard, ducked into the engine room, and after a series of actions, the diesel engine sputtered to life with a CHUG-CHUG-CHUG. The sound wasn’t perfectly steady, but it was much better than before.

Zhao Wendong listened carefully to the engine’s sound, and his eyes lit up.

"Sounds pretty good! Is it good to go?"

"Absolutely! It’s ready. Once your fishing nets arrive, you can rig them up, hoist the sails, and head out to sea."

Zhao Wendong clapped Little Shanghai on the shoulder.

"Brother, you did a beautiful job. When we go out to sea, the very first fish from our first catch is yours to eat."

"Haha, don’t say that, it makes us sound like strangers. By the way, Dongzi, the Agro-Tech Station only gets a limited amount of diesel, gasoline, and so on each year. Even with me saving it all for you, it’s not much. If you plan on going out to sea often, you’ll have to figure something out with the county."

"No problem."

Zhao Wendong nodded. The village played the radio broadcasts every day, and Zhao Wendong had heard the news that the Daqing Oilfield was entering its development phase. He believed the oil problem would be completely resolved soon.