Phi-Fic Chapter 76 60 The Youngest Daughter of a Farming Family (9)
Chapter 76 60 The Youngest Daughter of a Farming Family (9)
Thinking of this, Xia Mingwei raised her head and looked at the expressions of her parents.
As she had expected, Xia's parents also looked rather unwell. It seemed that after this ordeal, they hadn't completely calmed down. They were probably speechless with shock at the news that the "speculator" was to be executed.
To bring them back to their senses, Xia Mingwei could only tug at her mother's hand: "Mom, I want to go home! I'm so scared here, let's go home!"
Hearing Xia Mingwei's words, Xia's mother seemed to wake from a dream. She echoed Xia Mingwei's words, saying, "Yes, yes, we're not here anymore, we're going home!"
After saying this to herself, she took Xia Mingwei's hand with one hand and grabbed Xia's father's sleeve with the other, "Honey! Weiwei is right, let's go home quickly!"
Seeing Xia's mother like this, Xia's father naturally understood her current state. So he obediently nodded: "Okay, let's go home!"
Walking home, the group remained silent, the atmosphere much more subdued than when they arrived at the market that morning. They walked for what seemed like an eternity, until they were all utterly exhausted, before finally spotting any signs of life in the village.
Finally arriving home, Xia's mother collapsed to the ground. Thinking of the scene at the market, she said to Xia's father in a trembling voice, "Husband, it was execution! Luckily we ran fast today, otherwise we would have been the ones paraded through the streets with placards hanging around our necks!"
After saying this to Xia's father, Xia's mother bowed again to the Bodhisattva statue enshrined in the house.
"Thank you for your protection, Bodhisattva! After the autumn harvest this year, I will definitely go to the temple to fulfill my vow!" Mother Xia bowed to the statue, muttering to herself.
Mr. Xia did not object to Mrs. Xia's promise, indicating that he agreed with her statement. If it weren't for various obstacles preventing their return today, it's questionable whether the whole family could have returned safely!
Mr. Xia squatted on the doorstep, puffing on his pipe. He smacked his lips, exhaling rings of smoke. After a long while, he finally said to Mrs. Xia, "Honey, let's not go to that place again! It's not worth risking ourselves for such a small thing!"
Even if Xia's father hadn't said anything, Xia's mother had already made up her mind never to go to that harmful place again. After this incident, even the strongest heart couldn't bear it!
Back home, Xia Mingwei began to rethink her options. Doing business through the black market was definitely not an option. Unless she possessed an incredibly powerful cheat-like ability, there was no point in even thinking about pursuing the "black market" route in this era!
Since doing business is no longer a viable path, how can one legally become wealthy without being criticized? Ideally, one should also earn respect and a certain social standing.
This matter had been troubling her. Until she lay in bed that night, she saw the ceiling of her room.
In those days of scarcity, ordinary people were extremely frugal, making every penny count. To some extent, they maximized the use of resources. Waste and extravagance were simply nonexistent!
The ceiling in Xia Mingwei's room wasn't a bare wall; it was covered with a layer of tattered newspaper. Newspapers shouldn't be found in their home, but they were.
It turns out that this newspaper was distributed to every household when the village organized the dissemination of the Party's policies.
Xia's parents were lifelong farmers who had never even touched a book. Xia Mingwei's two older brothers were fortunate enough to have their father afford to send them to school, but they simply didn't enjoy it. After a short time, they chose to drop out. So, apart from Xia Mingwei and her sister-in-law, who were sent to the countryside during the Cultural Revolution, everyone else in the Xia family was practically illiterate.
However, aside from attending school, Xia Mingwei didn't need to learn these profound principles in her daily life. Therefore, in order to make the most of these newspapers and maximize their value, Xia's mother chose to paste them on the wall.
This not only covers the exposed wall tiles but also adds to the aesthetics, making the home look much tidier.
Xia Mingwei looked thoughtfully at the newspapers pasted all over the ceiling. Soon, she came up with an excellent way to make money.
This method is not only reliable, but also absolutely legitimate, leaving no room for criticism. It involves submitting articles to magazines.
With that in mind, Xia Mingwei decided to get right to it. She took out paper and pen from her bag, lay down on the table, and began to write.
"Host, what kind of manuscript are you going to write?" Xiao Ba asked curiously as he watched Xia Mingwei writing furiously.
Upon hearing Xiao Ba's question, Xia Mingwei answered without even looking up, "At this time, of course we should praise the Party's policies and guidelines! In this special era, is there any better choice?"
"Oh, so it's this type of manuscript!" After listening to Xia Mingwei's explanation, Xiao Ba nodded thoughtfully.
However, it looked at Xia Mingwei, who wrote without any hesitation, and was somewhat puzzled. "Host, you write so fast, don't you even think before you put pen to paper?"
Hearing this, Xia Mingwei put down her pen. She looked at Xiao Ba and sighed deeply.
"Xiao Ba, do you know what I studied in my three years of high school?"
"I know! It's humanities!"
After receiving this answer, Xia Mingwei smiled slightly, then turned around and delivered a critical hit to Xiao Ba.
"You know that already? Why are you asking me? Do you think I've been studying politics for nothing all these years? I've finally found a use for what I've learned over the years, and you interrupt my train of thought!"
The sudden roar startled Xiao Ba. Faced with Xia Mingwei's rage, it could only shrink into a ball, crouching in a corner, and dare not make another sound.
Without Xiao Ba's interference, Xia Mingwei quickly finished a manuscript. Although the entire piece was easy to understand, it was concise and to the point, without a single superfluous word. She was confident that this manuscript, which summarized the experiences of future generations, would surely be approved by the editor.
Even so, she was now in a dilemma. She had finished writing the manuscript, but how did she find out how to submit it to an editor?
She thought for a moment, then patted her head. Wasn't this thing both far away and right in front of her? She'd really been confused; the editor's contact information and address were all pasted on the wall, weren't they?
So she started searching through the dense text. Before long, she found the information she was looking for.