Encouraged by Gu Changan, Su Qinghe felt that she should also work hard.
Compared to Changan, her life was too comfortable. Wasn't she just doing sanitation? Anyway, she would be able to level up five times!
She immediately cheered up, put away the cleaning tools, and hurried to work.
Mother Gu felt soft watching her leave in a rush.
Qing Miao’er was too filial. She worked during the day, studied at night, and even found time to come home to help with cleaning and reduce her mother-in-law's burden.
Why was there such a good child?
Mother Gu thought this and wiped her tears with emotion.
She decided that if she and Lao Gu were gone in the future, they must leave more things to Qing Miao’er. Qing Miao’er was a girl who was easily bullied. No matter what, Changan was a boy. How could a boy be bullied? They still had to pay more attention to Qing Miao’er. Let Changan treat Qing Miao’er well. It was a blessing for Changan to find such a wife.
Su Qinghe went to the restaurant, taught Qiao Da how to make Kung Pao Chicken, and read a book again. The upgrade had not succeeded yet, and she couldn’t just wait. She should read more books and not fall behind.
Qiao Da was learning new dishes on the side. Anyway, it didn’t matter whether it succeeded or not. As long as he cooked something, someone would buy it once it was launched, and there was no need to worry about waste.
Because he wanted to learn cooking, Qiao Da didn’t like bragging anymore. He stayed at his post and worked hard all day.
Since Qiao Da didn’t leave, Aunt Li didn’t leave either. She stood nearby, trying to eat... meat. Comrade Li Laixi, the temporary worker, also didn’t leave and helped the three seniors serve tea and water.
The work style of the entire state-run restaurant had undergone a qualitative change.
Su Qinghe read books the whole afternoon. By the time the night class started, her eyelids began to droop again.
She had to admit, the night class really tested one’s endurance. But her endurance was the worst. Also, cleaning during the day was physically exhausting, so she got sleepy at this time. She thought that Gu Changan was also studying hard, so she tried her best to keep her eyes wide open and listen to the lecture. But the more she listened, the sleepier she got...
She rubbed her eyes to stay awake, but didn’t listen to the class at all. She just read her book. Anyway, she memorized the textbook knowledge on her own. When it came to practice, she would just look carefully at how the teacher did it.
Liu Lingling and Li Zhaofu saw her like this and both relaxed. They were destined to be at the bottom.
In the evening, Su Qinghe left school and returned with her older brother Gu Changzheng. Mother Gu came out with food and sat on the side watching the two eat.
Su Qinghe ate some and said, “Mom, I’m going home tomorrow to take a look.” It was necessary to go back every week during the holidays.
Mother Gu said, “It’s time to go back. I’ll prepare something for you later.”
Deputy County Magistrate Gu was reading a file. When he heard this, he said, “Why don’t you take my car tomorrow? I’m going to the Yellow River production team to have a look.”
Su Qinghe said, “Dad, you’re going to our place too?”
“Yes, the Linhe Commune called me and said the rice seedlings at the Yellow River production team are doing well. I’m going to check the experimental results,” Deputy County Magistrate Gu said with a bit of joy on his face.
Su Qinghe was also happy when she heard this. She planned to check whether the farmyard manure was effective on this trip back.
“Dad, I won’t go with you. I’ll go by bike. It’s more convenient.”
Deputy County Magistrate Gu nodded and didn’t say anything more.
The next day, Su Qinghe got up early and rode out with the things Mother Gu packed for her. When she arrived in town, she first gave Gao Fusheng some cooked dishes.
Before Gao Fusheng could shed tears, Su Qinghe said, “Uncle, don’t give me anything anymore. I don’t need anything. I earn my own salary now, and my household registration has been transferred to the city. I have everything I need. You should save these things for my grandma and my aunt.”
Gao Fusheng wiped his eyes and said with a nasal voice, “Okay, uncle knows, I know.” Anyway, his mother wanted to leave things to Qing Miao’er. It was the same.
Hearing Gao Fusheng agree, Su Qinghe felt relieved and rode her bike back to the production team.
Gao Fusheng watched her leave.
The young salesperson next to him said, “Uncle Gao, is that your niece who married into the County Magistrate Gu’s family? I heard she was the one who figured out the fertilizer they used in the production team.”
“That’s right, my niece is very capable!”
Gao Fusheng looked proud.
…
As soon as Su Qinghe arrived at the production team, she felt the team members’ enthusiasm. They saw her from afar and shouted, “Oh, Qinghe is back.”
“Qinghe, you’re back. You should have told us earlier.”
Su Qinghe: “...” What’s the use of saying it in advance? There’s no phone in the team either.
“Qinghe, come chat with us. Tell us how you figured out the fertilizer. Look at our seedlings—they’re growing fast. The seedlings in the neighboring team haven’t even turned green yet, but ours are already a finger long.”
“That’s right. I think we’ll definitely have a good harvest this year. The seedlings are growing well, and the millet will definitely grow better.”
“Qinghe, I think your name is lucky. That’s why our seedlings are growing so well.”
Su Qinghe was dizzy from being surrounded. What was going on? She’d only been gone a week, and the village folk had changed so much. She quickly made an excuse and rode her bike home.
When she arrived at her yard, Su Qinghe understood what was happening. Looking through the crack in the door, the yard was full of people. Her mother, Comrade Gao Xiulan, was standing on a chair, animatedly telling a story.
“As soon as we heard that the situation wasn’t good, we couldn’t sleep all day and night. We only thought about one thing—we must come up with a solution! Guess what she did?”
Everyone looked at her expectantly.
She stood with her hands on her hips, full of pride. “Of course, we looked for answers in books. Our Qing Miao’er graduated from elementary school. How many people in our team graduated from elementary school?”
“Patriotic Mom, many. Ergouzi, Fuwa, they all graduated from elementary school,” an aunt said.
Gao Xiulan’s face stiffened, then she shouted, “...That’s different! Our Qing Miao’er reads better than them! Otherwise, why didn’t they find a way, but our Qing Miao’er did? That’s skill! Our Qing Miao’er reads elementary school better than others!”
Everyone thought about it and felt that it made sense. If she didn’t read well, how could she have figured it out?
“Our Qing Miao’er read through so many books and finally found the fertilizer recipe. That’s why our team’s rice seedlings are growing so well. Otherwise, we’d be worrying now,” Gao Xiulan said proudly.
Everyone clapped warmly.
Su Qinghe: “...”
She really couldn’t take it anymore. Su Qinghe bit the bullet and pushed open the courtyard door.
The people in the yard turned and saw her. They all stood up in excitement. Gao Xiulan almost fell off the chair from joy.
Fortunately, her legs were nimble. She jumped down directly. Everyone automatically made way for the mother.
Gao Xiulan ran all the way to her daughter. “Qing Miao’er, I thought you wouldn’t come back. After all, you’re a chef now, cooking braised pork all day...”
Su Qinghe felt her saliva get stuck...
She laughed awkwardly, keeping a calm face. “Mom, I came back because it’s the holidays. What are you all doing?”
“It’s because the seedlings in our team are doing so well. When everyone heard it was thanks to you, they came to ask me what was going on. I couldn’t hide it, so I told them everything.”
Others said, “Yes, Qinghe, you’re so capable.”
“That’s right. Last time you caught a big mouse, and now you’ve found such a good thing.”
Gao Xiulan said proudly, “That’s right, and it’s all thanks to our Qing Miao’er’s name.”
When Su Qinghe heard that, she remembered hearing the same thing earlier. She predicted that in the coming years, newborns in the team would likely be named Qinghe... Tian Qinghe, Sun Qinghe, Su Qinghe...
She quickly shook her head, not daring to think about it anymore. She smiled and said to everyone, “Aunts and sisters, I just came back. I’ll go clean up first. You all chat, you all chat.” Then she slipped into the house.
Seeing her daughter return, Gao Xiulan no longer wanted to brag and waved her hand. “That’s enough, I’ve told you everything. Let’s all leave. Our Qing Miao’er is tired and needs rest. Don’t disturb her.”
Hearing this, everyone quickly left. They shouldn’t bother Qinghe. Reading so many books was tiring. She needed rest.
Fortunately, although the Su family’s yard wasn’t lively anymore, the team was lively again.
Cadres from the commune and the Deputy County Magistrate came to inspect the rice seedlings at the Yellow River production team.
The Yellow River production team hadn’t been this lively in a long time. People of all ages swarmed to the rice fields.
At this time, Guo Changsheng led Deputy County Magistrate Gu and the commune cadres to inspect the rice fields.
The rice paddies hadn’t been fully used yet. Only some fields dedicated to seedlings were in use. They were covered with straw, but not too thick. Looking closely, you could see the green seedlings among the straw.
Deputy County Magistrate Gu took off his shoes and went over barefoot. He lifted some straw and looked. Seeing the condition, his eyes turned red.
He had been worried that the seed quality wasn’t good and the seedlings wouldn’t grow. Now, seeing how well they had grown was like a dream.
“Good seedlings, good seedlings!” Deputy County Magistrate Gu exclaimed with excitement.
Secretary Hao’s face flushed with excitement.
Last year, the seedlings had grown sparsely. They weren’t nearly as dense and full of life as they were now.
“Deputy Magistrate Gu, I think the new fertilizer really works.”
Deputy County Magistrate Gu nodded again and again. “Yes, it works. I must return to the county immediately. This fertilizer must be promoted right away so that all farmland in the county can use it. We can’t delay.”
After washing his feet, Deputy County Magistrate Gu was about to leave. But thinking that his family was here too, it would be bad not to visit. So he said, “I’ll first go to Comrade Su Qinghe’s house to thank her. This fertilizer is her contribution. We must thank her.”