Rebirth 1979: Marrying a poor girl at the beginning

Lin Zhengjun smiled and said, "Let's go out and take a look!"

Tang Xiaofu had dug wild vegetables before and seemed very experienced. She quickly found a bamboo basket and three small shovels.

Then, the three of them went out together and walked towards the boundless fields.

At this time, the ice and snow have melted, the earth has returned to spring, and the breeze in the air has a hint of warmth, not as cold and sharp as before.

Everywhere you look, under the brown soil and gray withered grass, there is a little bit of green, which is the newly grown green buds.

Unknown birds chirped as they flew through the woods.

Yes, spring is here.

The tender shepherd's purse waved its green hands in the breeze, as if greeting and welcoming the three people.

Lin Zhengjun and his companions also felt a sense of joy and excitement, with a comfortable laziness and casualness in their spirits.

On the river bank, there were already many young girls, wives and children digging shepherd's purse.

They soon found a large patch of shepherd's purse, which was fat and big. The three of them began to dig slowly.

Lin Zhengjun laughed and said, "When I was a kid, I was really hungry! Not to mention shepherd's purse, I could eat the rose branches that had just sprouted and had not yet formed buds, as long as I peeled the skin off. I would put the honey that had just been cut into my mouth, including the honeycomb. Not to mention green corn cobs, green dates, and green peas... At that time, I was very hungry. Sometimes I would go to the collective field to steal things and be hung up and beaten by Wei Shanhu!"

Lin Hongying said: "Brother, haven't you noticed? This year, there are fewer people digging shepherd's purse than before, and it is easier to dig!"

Lin Zhengjun glanced around and nodded, "Yes, this is because everyone's life has improved. They can afford to buy food, meat and vegetables. In previous years, they couldn't even eat cabbage and radishes, so they had to eat shepherd's purse as their staple food."

This was indeed the case in previous years. After a winter in which there was no food to find and people felt even hungrier, spring returned to the earth and all things came back to life.

Various wild vegetables growing in the fields, such as Artemisia snow, purslane, gray grass, wild onion... are all sought after by the members. They put these wild vegetables in corn paste, add some salt, or make them into wild vegetable dumplings or steamed buns to satisfy their hunger.

The three of them worked together and soon dug up a bamboo basket of about three or four pounds of shepherd's purse.

Lin Zhengjun said: "That's enough to make two meals of dumplings."

Tang Xiaofu stopped, but Lin Hongying didn't stop yet. She kept muttering, "It was extremely difficult to find a piece of shepherd's purse in previous years!"

"I remember last year during the Lantern Festival, I went to pick shepherd's purse. There were so many people picking it that all the shepherd's purse was picked up. I was so anxious!"

"In the evening, I carried an empty basket and cried when I thought about how I would not be able to report to my parents when I got home!"

"At that time, I was thinking, how nice it would be if there was a large patch of shepherd's purse for me to dig up at will? Isn't there one today?"

Seeing Lin Hongying's happy expression, Lin Zhengjun felt a little sad. Thinking of those miserable and depressing days, his eyes became slightly red.

Tang Xiaofu sensed his sadness, stretched out her jade-white hand, gently held his hand, and said, "Don't be sad, aren't things getting better and better?"

Lin Zhengjun nodded and smiled at his beloved wife.

The two of them walked on the river bank, enjoying the warm sunshine and breeze of spring, allowing Lin Hongying to satisfy his obsession with digging shepherd's purse.

"Director Kobayashi!"

The two men walked to the end of the road and when they were walking back, they happened to meet Chen Ergou walking towards them carrying a basket.

"Ergou, are you ready to go to school?" Lin Zhengjun asked with a smile.

"went."

Chen Ergou said, "I'm in the fifth grade of elementary school. I haven't been to school for half a year. The teacher gave me a set of papers, and I got 100 points in both Chinese and math!"

"Very good! Keep it up!" Lin Zhengjun touched his head and encouraged him.

Chen Ergou nodded heavily and said, "I will study hard, get into college, and become a useful person to society!"

Although this was a cliché, Lin Zhengjun felt it was very sincere.

Lin Zhengjun said: "I believe you!"

Chen Ergou asked, "Are you also digging shepherd's purse?"

"That's right, let's make shepherd's purse dumplings for lunch!" Lin Zhengjun said with a smile.

Chen Ergou handed the bamboo basket forward and said, "Director Xiaolin, what do you think of the shepherd's purse I dug? They are all young shoots. I didn't want any with flowers. They are all very juicy!"

"Not bad!" Lin Zhengjun said with a smile.

"If you think it's good, I'll take it to your home!" Chen Ergou immediately ran away with the basket.

"Hey, Ergou, don't do that. I've dug up a lot at home. Take it home and eat it yourself!" Lin Zhengjun shouted loudly.

"I'll give it to you to eat!" Chen Ergou insisted and ran away without looking back.

Lin Zhengjun wanted to say something, but Tang Xiaofu said, "Forget it, just take it!"

"Why? We obviously have food to eat!"

"How dare you claim to be well-versed in human relations!"

Tang Xiaofu smiled and said, "Sometimes, allowing people to express their kindness without hindrance is itself a kind of kindness!"

"Ma'am, please be gentle!"

Tang Xiaofu was suspicious and rolled her eyes at him, saying, "Find his father a job as a security guard so he can go to school."

"He's grateful to you in his heart, but he has no other way to express his gratitude. He can't buy you cigarettes or alcohol, so he can just give you some shepherd's purse!"

"This kind of person has a lot on his mind. If you don't let him express it, he will keep it hidden deep in his heart, which will be a big burden for him!"

Seeing that there was no one around, Lin Zhengjun kissed Tang Xiaofu's jade-white cheek and praised her: "My wife is so insightful and kind-hearted! What else could I ask for in a wife like this!"

"You are asking for death. If someone sees you, they will report you." Tang Xiaofu said coquettishly, and was actually a little frightened.

"We are a legal couple, we are right, what are we afraid of!"

Lin Zhengjun laughed and said, "Besides, in Huaibian County, whoever dares to provoke me, will be punished for his work style!"

Over there, Lin Hongying also dug a lot of shepherd's purse. Finally, her long-cherished wish was fulfilled, and the three of them went home together.

"You dug so much? Ergou also sent some over. We can't finish it all, at all." Zhang Shuqin shook her head helplessly.

Lin Zhengjun said: "Besides making dumplings, there is another way to use it up!"

"How to eat?" Tang Xiaofu asked with a smile.

“Shabu-shabu!”

"Oh, you mean the old Yanjing shabu-shabu?"

Lin Zhengjun said, "Let's cook it the way they do it in Yunnan and Guizhou! Use lard to fry the chili peppers, seasonings and fermented black beans, add hot water, and blanch the vegetables. Then make a dipping sauce!"

"Interesting? You haven't been to your province, so how do you know this way of eating?" Lin Hongying found it very interesting.

"I read it in a book..." Lin Zhengjun said casually, and then started to make Yunnan-Guizhou style hot pot and dipping sauce.

There are actually many flavors of dipping sauces in Guizhou Province, such as chili, black bean sauce, roasted green pepper, sour soup fish, etc.

Lin Zhengjun made a chili dip using whatever he had available. He first roasted the dried chilies in an iron pan into a paste, then crushed the garlic in a mortar, added some chopped green onions, coriander and garlic, and poured a little hot pot soup on it. Done!

Tang Xiaofu and Lin Hongying enjoyed a Guizhou-style hotpot to their heart's content and were full of praise for it.

After eating hot pot, Lin Zhengjun ate half a bowl of shepherd's purse dumplings, and then went to the brigade headquarters with Tang Xiaofu to get the test papers.

Then he turned on the radio and shouted twice into a loud speaker, asking those who were taking the examination for appointment as private primary school teachers to come to the primary school!