At the small square table in the Yun family, five people were squeezed together without any space in between.
The sun - dried orange sweet potato chips were spread out. Yun Motan picked up one and examined it carefully. His stern gaze swept across the faces of the four children. "Is this the so - called 'speculative goods' you've been dealing with?"
Speculation again!
Yun Que'er puffed up her cheeks in annoyance. What was wrong with doing a little business to support themselves!
"Dad, you have to trust us. We wouldn't dare to steal from the state - owned factory even if we had ten guts! The second brother has been to more than a dozen villages in the past few days just to earn this money."
Yun Fujin frowned, tightly clutching the bills in his hand.
There were light - pink one - jiao notes, light - green two - jiao notes, and even some one - fen and five - fen coins mixed in...
Yun Que'er had heard from her second brother that one jin of sweet potato chips could only be sold for five fen. Looking at this large handful of money, she could almost imagine how many miles her second brother had run.
She lowered her head and fidgeted with her little skirt, feeling guilty.
Her eldest and second brothers hadn't even bought a single piece of cloth for themselves but were thinking about her and the third sister.
"Do you know this is illegal!" Yun Motan slammed the table hard, causing the sweet potato chips on it to bounce and then fall.
The hearts of the four siblings also sank to the bottom...
Yun Fujin felt the most self - reproach. He should have stopped all this. It was greed that made him indulge his younger siblings to take risks!
"Dad, we don't steal or rob. What law are we breaking!"
Just as the second brother was about to speak, Yun Motan shot him a glare. "Shut up!"
"Dad, the second brother is right. Aren't you ashamed! The children of a teacher can't even afford to go to school. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be able to pay my tuition at all!"
When the third sister squeezed out these words through gritted teeth, her eyes turned red.
She loved studying and always ranked at the top of her class. So what? The family was so poor that they couldn't even scrape together the 2.5 - yuan tuition fee!
Yun Motan suddenly fell silent. He had been doing his best to take care of the children. He had originally planned to settle the work points during the New Year and prioritize the third daughter's tuition...
A heavy haze seemed to hang over everyone's heads. Yun Que'er wrung her hands and murmured, "Isn't the village going to conduct an investigation? I took the second brother to find things, and I also made these sweet potato chips..."
Yun Motan's eyebrows had been throbbing painfully since he entered the door, and Yun Que'er's head was also getting hot.
Before she could finish speaking, the eldest brother, the second brother, and the third sister chimed in one after another.
"It's my fault for not setting a good example for my younger siblings!"
"Eldest brother, stay out of this. I'm the mastermind!"
"Well, I was also involved. Since the tuition for next semester has been paid, count me in."
Yun Motan was slightly stunned. The four siblings had never gotten along well. Especially the third sister and Xiao Que'er seemed to have a deep - seated hatred for each other. Why were they protecting each other today?
All his anger dissipated when he saw this scene.
Yun Motan took off his glasses and wiped them randomly on his cuff. The lenses were full of scratches. He sighed and glanced at the sweet potatoes piled in the alley. "It's never too late to mend the fold after the sheep have been stolen. If the sky falls, your father will hold it up. It won't crush you!"
After saying that, Yun Motan started to put the remaining sweet potatoes into the bamboo basket. "Come with me to the commune brigade."
The eldest brother obeyed obediently, while the second brother was reluctant.
Seeing Yun Jianzhou's dissatisfied expression, Yun Motan specifically instructed, "When we get to the commune, don't say a word. If you cause any more trouble, no one can protect you!"
The commune brigade was a fairly large yard. The wooden houses were painted green. The old man wearing a hat was the village head. With a tobacco pipe in his left hand and a pen in his right, he was weighing and registering the sweet potatoes in an orderly manner.
The eldest and second brothers made three trips back and forth. There were still 220 - odd jin of sweet potatoes in total.
The village head raised his gray eyebrows and asked, "Is this all?"
"Yes."
Yun Motan replied and pulled the Yun siblings behind him.
"I heard your family bought meat to eat?" The village head's casual gaze swept over Yun Que'er several times.
"That's not true." Yun Motan forced a smile. As a teacher, he actually had to help his own naughty children lie. He felt ashamed and guilty.
Whether they ate meat or not couldn't be verified by cutting open their stomachs. The village head didn't pursue the matter further. The most headache - inducing thing was the fear that the little imp would start crying again.
This was the commune brigade. He definitely didn't want to make a fool of himself!
He tidied up the register and slapped it on the table. Then he tucked the register under his arm and was about to leave, leaving a sarcastic remark, "Your family is really good at finding things. However, it's good that you handed in what you picked up. Go back."
Yun Motan quickly took two steps to catch up. "Um, village head, my job is okay, right?"
"Don't do it again." The village head didn't look at Yun Motan anymore and silently noted the cellar in the back mountain mentioned by the Yun family.
There were more than 220 jin of sweet potatoes. Maybe that little girl wasn't lying. There might be treasures in the back mountain!
He planned to go to the back mountain. Just as he was about to go out, he was blocked by Liu Kui, the pig - raiser.
Liu Kui had a squint. He glanced at the warehouse maliciously and dragged the village head to a corner. "You just let them go like this?"
The Yun family had promised to give Yun Que'er to the Liu family but then went back on their word. He hadn't settled this score with them yet!
"Old Liu, it's not that I don't want to help you." The village head helplessly pulled his hand out of Liu Kui's arm. "There are only a few teachers in the town. If I fire him, how can I explain it to the Education Bureau?"
There were many educated youths who had been sent to the countryside back then, but most of them had returned to the cities in the past two years. Yuhe Village was a remote and poor place. Except for a few local intellectuals, who would be willing to come here to endure hardships?
Liu Kui watched the old village head walking away hunched over. There was a hint of cruelty in his eyes.
For that little girl from the Yun family, he had even refused the child sent by his relatives. If the Yun family dared to ignore him, he would make them suffer the consequences of offending him!
He didn't believe that he couldn't deal with a teacher. He would find someone to replace Yun Motan. Once the Yun family lost their backbone, they would surely cry and beg to send that little girl to his doorstep!
Yun Que'er had no idea that she was being targeted. When she walked out of the commune brigade, her features were scrunched up with worry.
Well, the newly - started business had failed again!
Doing business was like hitting a dead end every time. However, if they didn't make money, when would they be able to eat streaky pork again?
Looking at the clear sky over Yuhe Village, she could only sigh that it was hard to go from luxury to frugality!
"Little sister, you'll look ugly if you keep that long face." The second brother suddenly bent down, picked her up, and put her on his shoulder. He also casually snatched a hairpin from Yun Yi's head.
Yun Que'er forgot about her worries. Yun Jianzhou ran like a wild horse out of control.
Yun Yi saw her beloved hairpin in the second brother's hand and waved it. She chased after him vigorously. "Give it back to me! Yun Laoliu, you're itching for a beating. How dare you bully me!"
"Catch me first!"
The three siblings quickly ran far away. Yun Fujin was worried about little Que'er bouncing on the second brother's shoulder and had to quicken his pace. "Second brother, slow down!"
There were cheers and laughter on the dirt road. There was no trace of the gloom caused by the confiscation of their goods.
Yun Motan stopped and looked into the distance. His heart was filled with mixed feelings. His children could finally talk and laugh and get along well with each other...