Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Chapter 204

After leaving Zhao Tingming's house, Zhao Da'e began to think about how to go and check on those shredders.

Although she was focused on haggling, she was actually quite interested in the price, which was barely worth the scrap metal. Second-hand machines are fine, especially since this one used to be government property—the quality was excellent.

It has countless advantages; its quality and other aspects are undoubtedly exceptionally durable. The only downside might be its high power consumption. Aside from that, it probably has no other drawbacks.

Zhao Da'e is thoughtful, but the road isn't short, and it's quite cold. He can't very well walk the ten-plus miles back and forth by himself.

Zhao Da'e shook his head, thinking it would be better to find someone to take him there.

What if I get kidnapped by human traffickers...?

So Zhao Da'e pondered for a while, then went to the Wu family's house in the backyard to see if Wu Er was home.

As they approached the Wu family's door, they saw Ni helping them feed the dog...

Zhao Da'e felt a pang of guilt: "Hiss... It's my dog ​​after all. No wonder it often runs away. I've only fed it a very limited number of times."

Sometimes Zhao Da'e is lazy, sometimes he's greedy, and sometimes he's in a bad mood. And sometimes, he pretends to be busy and actually forgets to feed the dog.

Seeing Ni feeding the dog, Zhao Da'e felt a little guilty towards the dog. She thought to herself that she must bring some food for Xiao Bao and Da Bao tomorrow.

The dog didn't bite Ni, probably because it wasn't the first time Ni had fed the dog, and they must have recognized it.

Most dogs are like that; they know everyone in the neighborhood, so they won't bite. They're just more sensitive to strangers, people with a strong smell of blood, or people who frequently eat meat.

Ni fed them some leftovers, and after feeding them, she groped her way back.

Zhao Da'e ran over and helped Ni Shi walk slowly.

"Second Aunt, I... Big Goose."

“Hey goose, what brings you here? Where are you going?” Ni asked.

"Just taking a stroll," Zhao Da'e chuckled.

“You’re always smiling, that’s great.” Mrs. Ni smiled too.

"By the way, Second Aunt, is my second brother home?" Zhao Da'e asked.

"She just went out for a bit, and should be back soon. She went to the east side, I don't know what she was doing. But it's a holiday now, so she'll probably be back in a little while," Ni said.

Zhao Da'e nodded, then helped Ni Shi to her doorstep.

Ni said, "Want to come inside for a while? Yesterday, your second brother brought home a pretty big pomelo from the supply and marketing cooperative. He said it was a fruit from the south, and I was reluctant to eat it myself. I only ate a small piece, and there's still more than half left. I was thinking of saving it for you."

Ni wasn't lying. The eldest and second sons of the Wu family were already quite grown up, and their daughter was in her mid-twenties, currently studying at a nursing school. So Ni genuinely treated Zhao Da'e like a child.

Zhao Da'e understood this as well.

In his previous life, Zhao Da'e knew that the Wu family had noble character.

Zhao Da'e rarely uses formal language to describe others, but she still used the phrase "of noble character" to describe the Wu family. The Wu family has an exceptionally good family tradition, and its members are all remarkably honest.

How to describe it?

Anyway, Zhao Da'e felt that if he had tens of thousands of yuan to give to the Wu family, he could ask for it back in ten or twenty years and the money would not be less than a penny.

In contrast, look at your own grandparents...

Ugh... Forget it, let's not talk about Wang Guixiang and her husband. Zhao Da'e feels uncomfortable just thinking about it.

Calling them "old codgers" is a bit disrespectful, but those two old men and women are just senile!

"Why would you save it for me..." Zhao Da'e said somewhat embarrassedly.

It makes it seem like all I do all day is eat and drink for free.

Although Zhao Da'e sometimes enjoys eating and drinking, it's only at his aunt's house; he doesn't really do it outside.

“You’re still young, so I’ll leave it for you to eat. I’ve already had some anyway. Besides, that stuff is quite expensive and not suitable for me. You’re at the age where you’re growing, so eating more good food will help you grow taller,” said Madam Ni.

"Alright," Zhao Da'e said, no longer refusing.

Zhao Da'e then helped Ni Shi into the courtyard, but suddenly remembered, "No, Second Aunt. I'm going out later today, so I can't eat. I came to find my Second Brother, to take me to town."

Ni said, "Then let's eat some first. The rest won't spoil."

The Wu family's courtyard is quite large, and in the summer, they plant various flowers and plants inside. It looks particularly beautiful and is a rare courtyard in this area.

Zhao Da'e also likes flowers and plants; having a few pots of flowers makes him feel comfortable.

But she couldn't support it...

This is particularly worrying.

Zhao Da'e used to grow pothos, but he overwatered it and it died. Then he grew cacti, which died from drought. Later, he grew succulents… which also died from drought.

Later, Zhao Da'e realized that he might have a grudge against plants. So he started raising a cat.

Two dogs.

There were also a few scorpions.

Of course, the scorpion was actually alive and well in the yard. Other people catch scorpions to sell for money. Zhao Da'e caught a few scorpions and then threw them in the yard.

For many years afterward, scorpions lived in groups in the yard.

Because of his own miserable life, Zhao Da'e never kills any living creature. Although he does eat meat, he eats very little.

After her rebirth, she ate quite a bit of meat, but only pork and mutton. She really didn't eat anything else.

After crossing the courtyard, we entered the house.

The door is made of aluminum-plastic composite, which is quite fashionable. At least in this era, it's a novelty. Ordinary people still have wooden doors, but the Wu family has already installed this aluminum-plastic one.

Although this thing was unreliable, it was indeed a rare item in that era. Unlike later generations, when people returned to solid wood.

The house wasn't big; Zhao Da'e had been here in his previous life. It wasn't very spacious, and the lighting wasn't great. Although the Wu family's house was still new, when it was built, the main goal was to make it large, so what should have been three rooms was stretched into five. This significantly reduced the width. After all, in this era, nobody was a super-rich tycoon with that much money. So, with limited funds, lengthening the house affected its width.

But after all, it was five rooms, which was quite enviable at the time.

At that time, there was no concept of the Wu family having two sons working in the city. Wu Shanhe probably thought that his two sons, along with himself and Ni, would be enough. He didn't consider the issue of his sons dividing the family property later.

Zhao Da'e remembered this incident. Later, Wu Da actually moved to the city and even bought an apartment. Only Wu Er remained in the family. Wu Er didn't build a house either, and decades later, the house looked dilapidated.

But it looks alright now.

The room was a bit cramped, but it was still big enough.

The floor was paved with bricks. That's normal. In this day and age, having a brick-paved floor meant you were quite well-off. After all, Zhao Da'e's house had a dirt floor.

It's all thanks to sprinkling water every now and then that we avoid getting dusty. Otherwise, every step we take is covered in dirt.

"Big goose, come sit on the kang (heated brick bed)," Ni said warmly.

After all, this was the first time Zhao Dage had visited the Ni family. Moreover, Zhao Dage had indirectly introduced Zou Xiaohua to the Wu family. Although nothing had come of it yet, if things had gone well, Zhao Dage would have been a benefactor to the Wu family.

The key point is that Mr. Ni is a very good person. He knows how to manage money, is frugal, and has a simple and hardworking spirit.

There wasn't any other fruit or melon seeds at home. After searching for a while, Ni only found a pack of cigarettes… This Zhao Da'e probably doesn't smoke…

Finally, Mr. Ni found some of the gummy candies he had bought for the Chinese New Year and took them out.

Zhao Da'e picked up a few pieces of food and put them in his pocket. Then he ate one and said, "Second Aunt, why are you so enthusiastic? You're making me feel embarrassed."

Ni said, "You don't come here often, so eat more."

Zhao the Goose: Looks like if I keep coming back to pack candy, it'll be all gone...

Then Mrs. Ni went to look for the pomelo. She searched for a long time before finally finding it. It was a not-too-big pomelo.

Ni handed a pomelo to Zhao Da'e, who tasted a slice.

He then frowned deeply.

This pomelo isn't ripe at all!!!

There was nothing that could be done about it; logistics were particularly poor in that era. Unlike later generations, where goods could arrive in a day regardless of location, being able to eat southern fruits was already a remarkable feat in this time.

The fruits that can be transported from the south to the north and are not easily spoiled are bananas, oranges, and pomelos. Oh, and dried persimmons too.

However, there's a big problem with dried persimmons, especially regarding their place of origin. Dried persimmons should be a fruit from the Central Plains, or more specifically, the Yellow River basin. But for Zhao Da'e, in her understanding, "south" refers to the area south of the Daling River... and "north" refers to the area north of her home. She never considers herself a Northeasterner.

Zhao Da'e will only be a Northeasterner when the four northeastern provinces are unified.

However, some problems arose due to the division.

The Zhao Dage region has been specially designated as an autonomous region for ethnic minorities. You might say it's in Northeast China, but it's incredibly fast-moving across provinces; to the east lies Northeast China, to the west Hebei, to the north the vast grasslands, and to the south the capital.

It has a high degree of autonomy, but it seems like nobody wants it anymore.

Zhao Da'e has always felt that Hebei is part of the South. As for Henan, he considers it the far South.

Dried persimmons are considered to be from the south.

I'd eaten pomelos twice in my past life; they must have been quite expensive. Seeing them now, they didn't seem unfamiliar. However, this pomelo clearly tasted off; it was unripe.

But it's good enough to have something to eat.

Zhao Da'e ate a few bites with difficulty, then made an excuse that he wasn't too hungry and didn't eat any more.

"How is your mother?" Ni asked.

"I don't know, I haven't seen her for several days. Whatever, it's better if she doesn't go home. Let the old Zhao family have a few zombies come back to life," Zhao Da'e said with a laugh.

It would be best if he never came back. Every spring when the Zhao family plants their crops, it causes a huge uproar.

Wang Guixiang and Zhao Tingxu felt that nothing serious was happening, so they weren't in a hurry.

That's because they weren't hungry yet.

When no one is farming and there's no harvest, Zhao Da'e estimates that the two of them will finally accept reality.

Zhao Tingxu is not a good person, but he cannot be simply categorized as a bad person either. Wang Guixiang is a bad person, but she cannot always be called a bad person; she is just often bad.

The majority of the reason is ideological, and a small part is because Wang Guixiang came from a landlord family and had an unhealthy mentality.

"Your sister is doing well, isn't she?" Ni asked again.

"It's alright, but it's dark-skinned." Zhao Da'e thought of the girl and said with a smile, "Ugly."

They're dark-skinned and ugly. They're definitely not as pretty as me, Zhao the Goose.

Zhao Da'e is indeed quite fair-skinned.

It is indeed very beautiful.

“That’s because the child is small. Once they grow up, they should be fair and chubby.” Madam Ni smiled. “When you were little, right after you were born, you were also dark-skinned.”

well.

Zhao Da'e felt that Ni should say a few more words: "I was good-looking when I was a child. And I'm still very young now."

Zhao the goose is indeed very small. It's just that he's been eating better food lately, and he's gained some weight. He's not as skinny as he used to be.

Of course, gaining weight doesn't mean she's fat. It just means she's become more like a normal person's weight. It has to be said, Zhao Da'e now feels better looking every time she looks in the mirror, and this has made her more confident.

So when Ms. Ni said that she was dark-skinned as a child, Mr. Zhao felt a little uncomfortable.

Ni smiled but remained silent.

Zhao Da'e opened the wrapper of another piece of gummy candy and ate it.

Soft and chewy, it tastes good. Zhao Da'e had a very difficult life in his previous life, and now that he thinks about it, even eating a piece of candy was a luxury, so he couldn't help but eat another one.

Sometimes, Zhao Da'e would imagine himself like his third uncle, Zhao Tiegang; that's what happiness felt like. Drink until you're drunk, eat until you're drunk, eat and then sleep, and life would pass by in a flash—a pathetic existence, but at least without much suffering. Of course, Zhao Da'e couldn't live like that.

After all, his third uncle didn't suffer, but his younger brother Zhao Yongbo did. Because his parents hadn't saved any money and were still in debt, their reputation was bad. Later, when they found a wife, she was from out of town and couldn't do anything. The family relied on him, so he had to do the work of several people.

So basically, if you don't want to suffer, you only have two options: either your parents suffer, or you leave the suffering to your children.

In later generations, many people who didn't want to suffer themselves and whose families were also struggling financially chose to give up.

Zhao Da'e and Ni chatted for a while longer, catching up on everyday things.

After a while, Wu Er returned. He went into the house and saw Zhao Da'e there. He said, "Da'e is here."

"Hmm, second brother, I'm thinking of going to town. It's cold, can you take me by bicycle? Otherwise, it'll take me more than an hour to walk here, and it's quite a long round trip."

Tiredness was one thing, but Zhao Da'e also wanted someone by her side for peace of mind. Who knew if there were bad people out there? Although she was confident she wouldn't be kidnapped, the security situation in this era wasn't great.

"Okay, shall we go now or wait a bit?" Wu Er asked.

"Let's go now." Zhao Da'e got up and followed Wu Er out.

Because Wu Er had to go to work at the supply and marketing cooperative in town every day, his family bought a Phoenix brand bicycle. Although there were many cars in big cities at that time, owning a bicycle was still a luxury in the countryside.

In this day and age, if a family in the village owns a motorcycle, they're considered nouveau riche.

Of course, this doesn't include people like Xiangzi who bought an old-fashioned bread shop; Xiangzi earned money by driving a rickshaw.

Buying a motorcycle is just a means of transportation, which is indeed too extravagant in this day and age. Those who can afford a bicycle are living a good life.