I Got Rich in Period Fiction

Chapter 77: Chapter 77 The Inspection Team Visits Xiaxi Commune Chapter 77: Chapter 77 The Inspection Team Visits Xiaxi Commune He Xiuyu also hurriedly lowered his head to look at his niece, and both of their gazes landed on He Xuerong’s small hand.

They stared unwaveringly for quite some time.

Just when both were feeling very disappointed, He Xuerong finally began to slowly loosen her grip.

But she still stood beside Qiao Qingyu.

The gazes of He Xiuyu and Qiao Qingyu intersected.

He Xiuyu knew that although He Xuerong had her own world, she wasn’t completely unresponsive to the outside world.

But even when she did respond, she wouldn’t make the corresponding actions.

About three minutes had passed.

It was impossible to confirm whether it was a coincidence.

He Xiuyu hesitated no longer; as long as she let go, that would be good enough. He swiftly bent down to scoop He Xuerong into his arms, then picked up the packed bag next to him and whispered to Qiao Qingyu, “I’ll come back the day after tomorrow, and we’ll move together. Thank you for all your hard work these past days.”

Qiao Qingyu shook her head and watched He Xuerong, who was held in He Xiuyu’s arms. She always felt the child’s body was tense as if resisting something, but then gradually she seemed to relax, perhaps comforted by the familiarity of He Xiuyu’s embrace.

He Xiuyu left with He Xuerong.

There weren’t many belongings in the house, which made packing easier.

During the last trip to transport the thousand silk hemp seeds to the wasteland, Qiao Qingyu hadn’t used those large glass bottles; she had placed the seeds into cloth bags for direct transport to the wasteland for planting, and, as it turned out, this hadn’t adversely affected them.

So, inside the large box, she placed eighty big bottles for any future needs. Currently, the bottles were empty and just sitting in the box, so moving them wouldn’t be too troublesome.

Then there was the western room of He Xiuyu, filled with books and documents, a portion of which He Xiuyu had already taken away in two batches. Now, only a small part remained in that room.

But He Xiuyu had basically sorted them out already, just waiting for a large truck to take them all away the day after tomorrow.

The western room remained locked.

He Xiuyu’s explanation to her was that some books were out of print—some stored in his office, some at home.

These books were very precious, so they had to be locked up.

It was his habit, even in his Beijing home, to keep the study door locked.

Although He Xiuyu considered this behavior quite normal and had never thought to explain it to Qiao Qingyu before, he now felt, for some reason, that it was necessary to clarify.

Qiao Qingyu didn’t care about these details at all. Besides, it was better that the doors were locked. If anything went missing, she wouldn’t be able to explain it.

Qiao Qingyu worked quickly; everything that could be packed was boxed up. Leftover scraps from last time were sewn into two large bags, perfect for packing things in. Once they moved into the new house, she needed to visit the Xichuan Textile Factory.

Those scraps of cloth were quite useful because, during her last visit, she found that the textile factory’s warehouse was filled to the brim with them.

The kitchen didn’t have many items either—a large pot and then a bowl cabinet. The dried goods Uncle had brought were almost all eaten, and what He Xiuyu had brought back was just a little bit left. Having fewer items also made packing easier.

There weren’t too many provisions like rice or flour, just a few dozen kilos each month.

So this home was indeed very easy to move.

The bags of black soil in the yard, once they arrived at the new house, would be used to cultivate a special vegetable garden, and then she planned to plant a ring of sea buckthorn around the areas where vegetables couldn’t be grown.

The sea buckthorn from the laboratory, compared to the sea buckthorn of this world, doubled in nutritional, ecological, and economic value.

Furthermore, the most important aspect was that the sea buckthorn fruit from the laboratory space did not have specific precipitation requirements.

Thus, Qingyu discovered that the seeds in the laboratory seemed to be improved versions of certain real-world seeds, with their advantages amplified and their shortcomings compensated.

Once planted, the sea buckthorn in the laboratory needed only two years to begin bearing fruit, entering its prolific fruiting period in the fourth year. This could be maintained for five to six years, and after several years, new shoots would sprout, rejuvenating the sea buckthorn, which would welcome another fruitful period.

However, sea buckthorn currently had no market presence.

To put it plainly, nobody was yet taking sea buckthorn seriously.

It was now 1980, and for farmers, the most urgent matter was to grow enough food to avoid hunger.

In some poverty-stricken areas, established perceptions still didn’t know how to change.

State-owned enterprises were still operating with great vigor, while individual private businesses were still looked down upon as occupations.

So regarding sea buckthorn, which was even more suitable for Xiaxi Commune’s vast wastelands than thousand silk hemp, barley grass, or willow wood, Qingyu did not consider it an option. After all, thousand silk hemp could see results and yield benefits within the shortest time to change people’s lives, and the same was true for barley grass, while willow wood was merely for experimental planting.

But the growth cycle of sea buckthorn was too long, yet it was definitely a good thing.

Because in a few more years, some people would start paying attention to the sea buckthorn industry.

As Qingyu thought about this, she continued to work. After spending more than an hour, she had everything neatly packed away.

The four boxes placed at the end of the kang were lush with vegetables and would be directly moved to the base when the time came.

Qingyu fetched water to wash her hands, and after washing them, she took out the face cream that He Xiuyu had bought for her and applied it to the back and palms of her hands.

The cream was rich in fats and was truly effective whether applied to the face or hands.

However, just then, she heard the sound of a tractor approaching from afar.

Why did it sound so much like it was from Xiaxi Commune?

Qingyu hurriedly opened the door and, to her surprise, saw Mr. Qian sitting atop the tractor.

Mr. Qian did not get off, his expression was how to put it excited, joyous, and incredulous. Had something good happened?

Seeing Qingyu standing at the doorway, Mr. Qian directly called out, “Qingyu, hurry up and get ready, come with me to the Commune. An inspection team from M country has arrived, and they will be visiting Yushu County, then this afternoon, they will take a detour to Xiaxi Commune.”

An inspection team from M country?

Qingyu stood calmly at the entrance, puzzled, she asked, “Vice Director Qian, I’m not from the Commune, and even if an inspection team arrives, it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to go, right?”

“What do you mean, not appropriate? The county leaders specifically mentioned that they want to come and visit our thousand silk hemp fields.”

Qingyu did not feel pleased; on the contrary, her brows slightly furrowed.

Actually, she didn’t like receiving too much attention at this time.

Too much attention meant that unexpected problems might arise.

But that patch of land was just there, even if she didn’t go, Mr. Qian couldn’t stop the county leaders from coming to see for themselves.

She had considered this when she first planted the fields.

“So, shouldn’t I go then?” Qingyu tentatively gauged Mr. Qian’s attitude.

“It’s fine, they don’t know what you do. When your presence is needed, I will introduce you; if not needed, you can just stay with Xiao Mei.”

The arrangement was not bad. Qingyu got ready, locked the door, and followed Mr. Qian to Xiaxi Commune.