Stepmother Reborn: Dad, my mom hasn't hit me for three days

Zhang Xiuhua was still figuring out how to raise minks, but unexpectedly she would soon own a mink coat.

This was the first snow of 1982. In mid-November, the sky and the earth suddenly changed color. According to the weather forecast, everyone started to stay indoors, except for the children who were in school.

Jilin and Zhuzhu stopped attending classes and stayed at home warming themselves by the fire.

Zhang Xiuhua flipped through the calendar. Ergou told her before he went south that he had traded with Damao's people three times in previous years. The first time was at the end of the month when the first snow fell.

That was three days later. Zhang Xiuhua hesitated whether to go or not! The food was not much, but it was freezing outside. If she carried it there, wouldn't it freeze into ice? !

"Xiuhua? Xiuhua?" Xu Chunying knocked on the door and called her from outside.

Zhang Xiuhua opened the bolt and the snow poured into the house. Xu Chunying came over and told her that she would not deliver eggs today.

"It was snowing so heavily that I was worried that the road would be slippery and the eggs would break when I turned around." Xu Chunying sighed.

"it is good!"

“What is the current egg production?”

"Yesterday it was 6000, today it's probably less than 8028." Zhang Xiuhua has been feeding chickens for half a year, so she can guess the approximate number. The peak season is October, with the highest daily output reaching eggs. Now it's snowing outside, the chickens are cold, and they are not laying eggs as diligently.

Xu Chunying nodded, "Wait until the snow melts and transport them all at once. It's winter now, so the eggs can be kept!"

Zhang Xiuhua smiled and nodded, "Yes!"

Xu Chunying was about to leave when she suddenly remembered something, "Is Juemei still selling eggs?"

When she went to the city to deliver eggs before, she met Jue Mei selling them, and her business was pretty good. If she hadn't helped to cover it up, the tractor driver would have recognized Jue Mei.

"No more. It was snowing and she didn't have a thick cotton-padded jacket. She was afraid of freezing to death, so she didn't dare to go into the city to sell eggs."

Xu Chunying nodded, "This child is really thoughtful."

"Born in a family like that, if she wasn't sensible, she would probably just be eaten!" Zhang Xiuhua could understand Juemei.

Xu Chunying thought about it carefully and realized that what she said made sense.

After Xu Chunying left, Zhang Xiuhua decided to try her luck. The watch Ergou had traded with Damao before was of very good quality. Maybe she could get something good this time.

So at the end of the month, when the snow melted and the two children returned to school, she asked Aunt Wang to help raise chickens, and she carried the food out of the house by herself.

Although the river was not far away, only about ten minutes in the summer, it took her forty minutes to get there.

She walked to the place Ergou said, and sure enough, she saw a big Mao standing there.

I guess he was walking from the other side of the river. I don’t know how Ergou knew him!

She walked over, opened the bag, and revealed the corn inside. She explained in Chinese that Ergou couldn't come. But the other party didn't understand at all.

He took something out of his bag and handed it to Zhang Xiuhua.

Zhang Xiuhua touched the fine leather and asked, "Where did it come from? Did someone sneak into the mountains to hunt?"

The fur coat was full of fur. From her knowledge, it looked more like sable. There were indeed sables in the Northeast. Thirty years later, a sable coat would cost at least tens of thousands. I don't know how much it would cost at this time.

Is there such a stupid person in the world? To exchange such an expensive sable for a bag of corn?

As expected, she was overthinking it. The other party stretched out three fingers to her and pointed at the bag of corn, meaning that he would exchange three bags of corn for the sable.

Because it was their first transaction, unlike Ergou, they already had trust. The other party took off a gold ring from his finger. It looked like a wedding ring.

He gestured with his fingers that when all the provisions were delivered, she would return the gold ring to him, and he would give him the sable.

Because of the language barrier, the other party gestured more than ten times and said a long string of gibberish before Zhang Xiuhua understood.

Zhang Xiuhua left the corn there, took the ring from his hand, motioned for him to wait, and walked back home through the thick snow.

She went back and forth three times before she finished moving the three bags of corn. Then she returned the gold ring to him and exchanged it for the sable.

He then gestured with his finger, meaning that they would have a second transaction in half a month.

He pointed at the corn, meaning he wanted more corn. Zhang Xiuhua was worried that the other party wouldn't understand her "OK" gesture, so she nodded frantically.

She took the sable back home and the more she thought about it, the more she felt that the fur was really good. The brown fur was soft and light, and it glowed a little purple under the sunlight.

This amount of fur was not enough to make clothes, but it could be made into a scarf. But it was still too extravagant. She couldn't bear to part with it.

She put the sable fur into the space, thinking that when she raises minks herself in the future, she will gather enough fur to make a mink coat, which will look very stylish when worn.

Half a month later, Zhang Xiuhua exchanged three bags of corn for a fox. Yes, that's right, it was a fox, pure white and alive.

I don’t know if it was because it was cold or what, but they curled up in each other’s arms, looking pitiful.

Zhang Xiuhua took it and smoothed its fur, unsure whether it was wild or farmed.

She took the fox back home. In case it was a wild one, she would keep it for the time being. When the time came, Li Jianguo would get her a farmed fox. She would breed the two foxes, perhaps to improve its resistance.

She was still thinking when she walked to the back of the house and was stopped by someone.

She looked in the direction of the sound and found that it was Jue Mei squatting behind her house.

"Why are you here?!" Zhang Xiuhua looked at her in confusion.

"I'm here to say goodbye." Juemei walked to her side on the thick snow. She saw the fox in Zhang Xiuhua's arms, and without asking any questions, she spoke first.

Zhang Xiuhua was puzzled, "Where are you going in such a cold day?"

"I'm going to the south to work!" Jue Mei carried a bundle on her back, "I've got my household registration and saved enough money. I'll be fifteen next year, and they'll find me a partner. I can't wait any longer."

Speaking of this, Zhang Xiuhua had heard about it from Aunt Wang, and the third daughter of the Zhang family had also told about the man. It was said that the bride price was two hundred yuan. The man was already forty years old, more than a generation older than the third daughter.

The Zhang family went to great lengths to sell their daughter. The members of the cooperative all despised the Zhang family and were unwilling to have anything to do with them.

Zhang Xiuhua felt pity for these girls, but her power was limited, so she sighed.

Jue Mei bowed to her and said, "Thank you Aunt Zhang for helping me. I may not come back again."

Zhang Xiuhua wanted to say that you might need an ID card to work in the future, so you have to come back. But the first generation of ID cards haven't come out yet. She swallowed her words again, "Then take care of yourself and be careful outside."

"Yes!" Jue Mei turned and walked towards the river. Zhang Xiuhua stopped her, "Why are you going there? The county town is in the opposite direction."

"I can't give them hope. I can't destroy the future of other sisters either." Jue Mei turned around and smiled at her.

Zhang Xiuhua was confused. What does that mean? !

She watched Juemei walk farther and farther away, until she came to the river, put something down and left.