Hong Weiguo carried a huge travel bag, climbed over the valley and pointed down: "My home is ahead."

Uncle Hong Si smiled and said, "I asked your aunt to free up the bed and eat it tonight. I will go to the market tomorrow and get back with another pound of meat. This boss..."

"Just call me Xiao Song." Song Weiyang said.

Uncle Hong Si said: "Xiao Song, you are a child in the city and the rural conditions are poor, so don't dislike it."

Song Weiyang said: "My grandma is from the countryside, and I am also half a rural person."

After Hong Weiguo brought my mother and younger brothers into the city, the house in his hometown was empty and temporarily lent it to his fourth uncle's son and daughter-in-law to live in. This is good for everyone. If the house is empty for too long, it will be abandoned in one or two years, and someone must take care of it regularly.

It was a row of brick and tile bungalows, two bedrooms, a main hall, and a kitchen with a pigsty. One of the bedrooms also had a granary.

The yard is surrounded by bamboo fences, and some chickens and ducks are raised, and they are scattered everywhere.

The fourth uncle has two sons and one daughter in total, and they have already started a family and started a business. The youngest daughter is only 18 years old and married to the next village, and the children can run away all over the floor.

The old house in Hong Wei’s country was lent to the fourth uncle’s youngest son and his family.

The boy over six years old in the courtyard is the grandson of the fourth uncle. He is so dirty that he is lying on the ground and is playing marbles alone.

"Qiangqiang, eat candy!" Hong Weiguo took out a handful of milk candy.

The boy immediately smiled happily, put the candy in his mouth and was happy. Then he took out a bamboo sword from the room to show off: "Uncle, look, this is what I made myself!"

"It's done well." Hong Weiguo praised.

There are several families on the hillside. Hong Weiguo carries travel bags to deliver gifts from house to house, all of which are candy and other things.

Uncle Hong Si called his wife to make the bed for them, went home and killed a chicken, cut off a piece of bacon from the beam, and took his grandson to the field to pick vegetables.

Song Weiyang followed them and asked, "It's time for Qiangqiang to study?"

"We can only go to elementary school at the age of seven," said Uncle Hong Si.

"Where is the kindergarten?" Song Weiyang said.

Uncle Hong Si said: "There used to be a kindergarten, but now it has been removed, and there is only one preschool class. It's boring to study preschool class, and it's a waste of money. It's the most cost-effective to go directly to elementary school."

Song Weiyang said: "The harvest at home is fine."

Uncle Hong Si said: "The harvest is good, and it has been a bumper harvest for three consecutive years. Unfortunately, the food price is falling down."

"The low grain hurts the farmers." Song Weiyang said.

"Yes, that's what it means." Uncle Hong Si smiled helplessly.

Song Weiyang asked: "I heard you have two sons?"

Uncle Hong Si smiled and said, "The eldest and the couple are working on the coast. Their children are sent to the town middle school to live in the school. The second brother is not busy at home. The land of the eldest and Weiguo is planted by the second brother. In addition, the second brother is planted by the second brother, which is the land of 10 people, and the food they planted cannot be eaten."

"Then your life is quite rich," said Song Weiyang.

"It must be much better than the old society, so you don't have to worry about food and clothing," said Uncle Hong Si. "But there is a lot of food and it's useless. It's not enough to sell it at all. Selling it to the grain station is full of white slips. The money for fertilizers and pesticide seeds is rising every year. With the money for water and payment of public grain, planting rice is actually a loss."

"Why still farm?" Song Weiyang said.

"What should I eat if I don't farm?" said Uncle Hong Si. "The current situation in our family is that there is so much grain that the warehouse is full. There is still a lot of Chen Gu left three years ago. But there is no money. When the eldest couple didn't go out to work, they had to wait to sell pigs even if they paid the tuition for the eldest grandson."

This is a very embarrassing thing. Farmers can’t eat enough food at home, they can’t sell it at a high price, and they can’t get enough money for food, and they are short of money.

To put it more bluntly, the farmers here are so poor that they only have a house of food left.

They are very rich. Even if they don’t do anything all day, they will have enough food to eat for a year or two.

They are very poor. They need money to buy oil, salt, sauce and vinegar, and clothes and quilts, and medical treatment and school. They can only be exchanged for selling agricultural and sideline products. Even electric lights are reluctant to use too bright, so they dare to use 15 watts and 25 watts incandescent lamps, and 40 watts are too power-consuming.

Song Weiyang pointed to a two-story building in the distance and smiled, "That family is quite rich, and the houses must be very generous."

Uncle Hong Si said: "It's earned by working. People are very smart. They went out to work in 1991. Now they are all team leaders in the factory. They have a monthly salary of more than 600 yuan, and they also have food and accommodation. They can save three or four thousand yuan a year."

Song Weiyang found that he couldn't figure it out. How could he save three or four thousand yuan a year if his salary was more than 600 yuan a month? Does he usually spend money?

Song Weiyang expressed his doubts.

Uncle Hong Si smiled and explained: "He is a big man, and he doesn't smoke and drink, so what else can he spend money? His wife is also a capable woman. A woman has to support her mother-in-law and take care of her children, raise chickens, ducks and feed pigs. The family's expenses are all earned by his wife. In fact, this life is pretty good. As long as he is willing to put in his efforts, a woman can support the whole family. The money earned by a man when working is enough to build a building for six or seven years."

"Is that woman busy? She grows four people's land alone, raises chickens, ducks, and feeds pigs, and takes care of her mother-in-law and children?" Song Weiyang asked.

Uncle Hong Si said: "I went out to farm at around five in the morning, came back to make breakfast at seven or eight in the morning, cooked chickens, ducks and pigs, and then went out to farm. When I came back, I could cut some grass and feed rabbits. I finished work at five or six in the afternoon, cleaned up my house, watched TV for a while in the evening, and went to bed like this. Her mother-in-law was also strong, so she was also doing laundry in the morning, fed chickens, ducks and pigs, and went to the mountains to pick up firewood in the afternoon. She could also help with the work in the fields during busy farming."

"What if I get sick if I work so hard?" Song Weiyang asked.

Uncle Hong smiled and said, "I'll seek medical treatment if I have a minor illness, but I'll wait for death if I have a serious illness."

Song Weiyang said: "If you can cure a serious illness, you won't be able to cure it?"

Uncle Hong Si said: "It depends on who gets sick. If a young man gets a serious illness, he must be able to seek medical treatment. He also needs a debt. If a young man dies, the family will collapse. There is no need for the elderly. Anyway, he can't live for a few years. If he needs to spend 20,000 or 30,000 yuan to see a doctor, it would be better to die early. Anyway, if I get sick, I will go to the doctor for a few thousand yuan, and if I get 10,000 yuan, I will drink pesticides directly."

"You can see it easily." Song Weiyang smiled.

"What can I do if I can't let it go?" said Uncle Hong Si. "It's not easy for the eldest couple to work. The money is not blown by the wind. Ten thousand yuan is enough for them to save for two or three years. The eldest grandson is about to go to high school again. There are so many places to spend money, so it's up to me, the old man?"

Song Weiyang handed over a cigarette: "How much does your family spend on consumer goods a year? In addition to daily expenses such as oil, salt, sauce and vinegar."

Uncle Hong lit a cigarette and thought: "There is nothing to spend money except oil, salt, sauce and vinegar."

"Clothes, shoes and socks cost money." Song Weiyang said.

"Oh, yes," said Uncle Hong Si, "the child has to buy at least four sets of clothes a year, and he is tall. His son and daughter-in-law also have to buy new clothes during the Chinese New Year and new shoes, otherwise he will lose face when wearing them."

"Where are you?" Song Weiyang asked.

"What clothes do I buy, an old man?" Uncle Hong Si smiled, "I have been wearing these on me for at least seven or eight years. I just don't wear shoes, and I have to wear a pair of them in two or three years."

"Where are the electrical appliances at home?" Song Weiyang asked.

"I bought the TV, there is no need for anything else," said Uncle Hong Si.

Song Weiyang asked: "Don't buy drinks, beer or something?"

Uncle Hong Si said: "You must buy it when threshing millet. You have to ask someone to help. If you don't prepare beer, you will be stabbed by someone."

Song Weiyang asked again: "How long does it take to eat meat?"

Uncle Hong Si said: "Eat meat during festivals and festivals, it depends on luck. If you are lucky, don't eat meat. If you are unlucky, eat meat every day."

"Ah?" Song Weiyang didn't understand.

"As soon as chicken plague and swine fever die, you will eat meat every day," said Uncle Hong Si.

Song Weiyang said: "Then your son and daughter-in-law went out to work and only made money but not spent. They should have saved a lot of money, right?"

Uncle Hong Si said: "The money you save cannot be moved. You must keep it for repairing a house and repairing that kind of two-story building!"

Song Weiyang was silent. He found that the greatest economic benefit of farmers was to work, and the income from working was kept for house repairs. That is to say, apart from building materials, there was no consumption demand for industrial products in the countryside, and the domestic demand in the countryside could not be increased.

Of course, the feed is also very good, especially pig feed.
Chapter completed!