Chapter 150: Idea
Su Qingshan, who spotted something off at a glance, couldn’t help but twitch his face: He wasn’t senile enough to that extent, was he?
Which household smashes their own hand and arm with a stone instead of their foot when lifting it?
But after all, there are close and distant relations. Cough, who told him to want to be a biased fool who helps family regardless of right or wrong today.
“Yuan Zhiqing started trouble first and intended to hurt someone later, so punish her to write a self-criticism after she wakes up and recovers, and carry night soil for three days!”
As for compensation, medical expenses?
For this mess she caused herself, it was already good enough not to make her compensate Ning Ning for emotional distress.
Determined to play the bad guy to the end, Su Qingshan directly ignored this matter and stared straight at the educated youths who were gossiping in a huddle.
“Yao Zhiqing, you’re the Team Leader at the Educated Youth Point. You figure out how to handle things after this.”
Yao Zhiqin looked at the unconscious person on the ground with a headache, unable to stop shouting in his heart a thousand times: Which tendon was wrong with him back then to volunteer to be this damn Team Leader?
What Educated Youth Point Team Leader? It’s more like the Team Leader who’s always named whenever any educated youth gets in trouble!
Every day it’s either being named by the Brigade Leader or on the way to being named.
“Xu Zhiqing, Long Zhiqing, you two share a room with Yuan Zhiqing, so why don’t you take her to the county health clinic?”
Both female comrades looked unwilling, but they couldn’t openly refuse in front of so many people and leave an impression of being unfriendly comrades.
“Alright, alright, that’s settled. Dahua, you drive the ox cart to take them to the county. Everyone else, disperse! If you still want work points, get lost now!”
With a wave of his big hand, Su Qingshan darkened his face as he watched the crowd of onlookers scatter like birds and beasts.
The educated youths from the Educated Youth Point also helped carry the person away. With only him and Su Ning left at the scene, he finally turned around. “What exactly happened?”
“Everything up front was correct. As for later, Yan Bei rushed over and saw her about to smash me, so in the heat of the moment he swung the shovel.”
He knew it.
That injury didn’t look like it was caused by a stone.
“Next time, stay away from the brigade’s educated youths to avoid accidental injuries again.”
These young people, except for a few exceptions, don’t work properly. They spend all day stirring up trouble: the males are smooth-talking and only eye the better-off girls in the brigade, while the females just scheme how to slack off.
“Pfft~ I know, old man.”
The protective Su Qingshan still had a stern face but was actually quite cute. Amused, Su Ning couldn’t help but raise the corners of her mouth and chuckle softly.
Yuan Qing would probably faint twice more when she wakes up in the hospital and hears this.
As they walked back one behind the other, she seemed to suddenly think of something and asked, gazing at the figure ahead, “By the way, old man, doesn’t our team have a Barefoot Doctor at the health clinic?”
“Not just our Team One—even neighboring Team Two and Team Three don’t have one. If we did, that would be great; we wouldn’t have to endure minor aches and pains.”
Ever since the policy came down from above, he had considered sending one or two to a professional training institution to study and get certified.
The problem was none of the kids in the team were willing. Just hearing about studying and training made their heads shake like rattlers!
He had heard before that Team Two finally sent someone who wanted to learn and succeeded, but after the Mid-Autumn Festival, the person was gone.
“Old man, what do you think about me coming back to be a Barefoot Doctor?”
“I’d wake up laughing in my sleep… No, Ning Ning, are you serious?”
Turning to see the seriousness in her eyes, his joking words halted. Su Qingshan stopped in his tracks, his eyes full of confusion and astonishment.
“You’re quitting your job at the textile factory?”
That was a worker job—something they field-dwellers couldn’t even dream of. She just quits like that?
A good purchaser job, a cadre sitting in an office, and she ditches it to run back to the village as a Barefoot Doctor? What’s the point?
Rationally, as Brigade Leader, he should be happy for the team’s villagers. Emotionally, as an elder, he didn’t want his junior to do something foolish like throwing away a watermelon for a sesame seed.
“Ning Ning, don’t joke about your own future. The textile factory is such a great job!”
“Old man, I’m not joking.”
On the contrary, she had seriously and carefully thought about this matter just now.
Back when she came to Xiangnan, she chose to be a purchaser because the job could broaden her horizons, increase her knowledge, and train her ability to handle situations.
In the end, it was because she didn’t lack money and ration coupons or supplies, so her top priority was her own wishes.
Since she decided to study drug manufacturing, and Traditional Chinese Medicine would become dross amid the chaos in the cities later, returning to the village as a Barefoot Doctor was the best choice.
Moreover, a Brigade Leader’s say in the team was not insignificant. With the old man protecting her from above and the Barefoot Doctor umbrella below, it would at least be safe and secure here no matter how chaotic the future got.
Finally, here she could take care of Yan Bei nearby, as well as the soon-to-arrive Grandpa Yan and Grandma Yan—and most importantly, Grandpa Fu.
It was simply killing several birds with one stone.
“No rush, no rush. Ning Ning, listen to the old man and think it over carefully. We’ll consider it more!”
“Okay, but if I really finish the training and get certified, old man, you have to protect me well from then on~”
“Heh heh heh, protect you? I’d enshrine you if I could.”
“Hahaha~”
……
Back home, Su Ning first set down the things, changed into cleaning tools, and went to the dilapidated house.
She had heard that this house was originally built by a village hunter, who chose the location at the foot of the back mountain for convenience in hunting.
To prevent beasts coming down the mountain, instead of building the common wooden-tiled houses in the village, he used a mix of rocks and bricks.
The hunter’s craftsmanship was decent. Even after so many years of wind and rain with no one around, the house hadn’t completely collapsed—only two of the three rooms had.
After cleaning inside and out, Su Ning hugged her arms and looked at the two collapsed rooms.
Rebuilding from scratch was obviously not feasible. Though the place was remote and secluded, people from above would come down from time to time.
To be safe, it would be good to build a simple shed like some households in the village.
Use the intact room as the bedroom for the two Yan elders, the shed for Yan Bei to sleep in, and the remaining room could be turned into a small kitchen.
No sooner said than done—Su Ning turned and went to the village.
After two trips, she was familiar with the way and smoothly found the carpenter’s house.
“Uncle Dacheng?”
“Yo, it’s Ning Wa! Come in quick!”
Aunt Dacheng had just finished kitchen chores and was preparing to go to work when she saw the ‘God of Fortune’ at the door again. Her face instantly broke into a blooming smile.
“Your uncle went to work after eating. He’s not home now. Ning Wa, do you need help with something? Tell your auntie—same as telling him!”
“Auntie, I want to buy some furniture and custom-make more. Can Uncle Dacheng handle it?”
“Of course he can—what can’t he? We have wood scraps ready. Tonight I’ll get our sons to help. Rest assured!”
Though her sons’ skills weren’t as good as their father’s, they weren’t far off.
So Aunt Dacheng’s smile didn’t falter as she readily agreed.
Su Ning handed her the paper listing the needed things, paid the deposit, and left first to find the old man for help finding where to get a plastic shed.
……
When sunset turned to near-dark, Yan Bei dragged his weary body back to the residence and found the dilapidated house completely transformed.
Though it looked only upgraded from rundown to shabby from the outside, it was much better—at least it could shelter from wind and rain, counting as a real home.
After searching around without seeing that familiar figure, he immediately turned to the Su Family ancestral home.
Passing the wall behind the ancestral home, Yan Bei couldn’t help raising an eyebrow: How much had Su Ning accomplished today?
He reached out and pushed the new small door in front of him—it was indeed ajar, unlocked.
Crossing the backyard to the front yard, white steam and cooking smoke slowly drifted out from the kitchen’s open window. Gazing at the person busy at the stove, Yan Bei’s heart could no longer hold back countless scorching waves surging one after another, nearly drowning him.
“Su Ning.”
“Back? Wash your hands first—last dish is almost done!”
A thousand words were blocked in his throat by her backward glance and smile. It took a long time before he managed a “good.”
How fortunate to meet such a her. If he could be lucky enough to have her, Yan Bei thought even trading it for countless future storms and hardships would be sweet as honey.
“Don’t just stand there!”
“Good.”
Yan Bei obediently washed his hands, not caring that the wet clothes clung uncomfortably to his body, and thoroughly scrubbed everywhere that might have gotten dirty.
