The first batch of off-season vegetables had already sold out, and everyone had received their first dividends. Some earned just one or two yuan, while others pocketed over ten yuan.
This delighted the villagers, and their enthusiasm for the off-season vegetable greenhouses soared.
Before spring arrived, they could plant another batch of fast-growing vegetables, keeping everyone busily engaged.
Meanwhile, those who hadn’t invested initially were now filled with regret.
When Song Wei and Lin Zhen returned to the village, the noise of the tractor made their arrival impossible to miss.
“Lin Zhen is back! Song Zhiqing is back! And they’re driving a tractor!”
Word of their return spread quickly throughout the village, and a crowd soon gathered.
“How’s the south? Is everyone there really rich?”
“What’s all this stuff you brought back? What are these things?”
Two half-grown wolf pups jumped off the tractor. After a month, the wolves had grown significantly, raised to be strong and healthy by Song Wei and Lin Zhen. Their imposing presence startled the onlookers.
“Goodness, aren’t these the pups Song Zhiqing was raising? They’ve grown so big in just a month! They look fierce!”
Song Wei patted the wolf pups on their heads, a bit wistful. They had lost the harmless look of their younger days. From now on, they’d need to wear muzzles when taken out to avoid scaring people.
Dogs were usually seen as loyal and non-threatening, but wolves were another matter entirely. Even wolf hybrids appeared more intimidating than ordinary dogs, let alone these purebred wolves.
In northeastern China, the villagers were bold and hearty. They only commented briefly on the wolves before turning their attention back to Lin Zhen and Song Wei, peppering them with questions.
After finally dealing with the curious villagers, Lin Zhen and Song Wei returned home, finding the house a bit desolate after a month of being unoccupied. However, someone had been taking care of it, as it was still clean.
The deer pen was also well-maintained.
The little fawn had grown, and tender antler buds were now sprouting from its head. It hesitated when it saw Song Wei and the others, reluctant to approach. The wolves’ presence added to its wariness, a natural fear stemming from bloodline instincts.
Lin Zhen was busy talking with the team leader, while Song Wei bustled about unpacking their belongings.
She neatly arranged the food items in the kitchen, including various candies, biscuits, and snacks, setting some aside for entertaining guests.
Although the journey had been tiring, Song Wei felt an invigorating excitement.
Heidan, especially, ran around gleefully, clutching photographs and flashing his pristine white teeth at everyone.
“Auntie, look at this photo! That’s me!”
“This one’s of our whole family, with Wolf One and Wolf Two!”
“And this one’s me training with other kids as a young militia member!”
“This is Sister Song and my brother on the sea, with a big Orca!”
Photographs were a rare novelty, and the women who had been idly munching on sunflower seeds perked up immediately.
After wiping their hands clean on their clothes, they carefully took the photos, handling them as if they were treasures.
“Look at Heidan, so full of spirit! And the pups too!”
“These photos are amazing!”
“Is this the sea? Oh my heavens, it’s so vast you can’t even see the other side!”
“Good gracious, look at the size of that fish! Its mouth could swallow a person whole! The fish in the sea look nothing like the ones in our river.”
“How can fish grow so big? Song Zhiqing, you even touched it? Aren’t you scared?”
The women chattered away, their eyes glued to the photos as if trying to crawl inside them.
Having never seen the ocean, they were deeply captivated by the images of the vast sea and the massive fish.
Though the photos were black and white, the scenes of the ocean, the people, and the fish were captured with striking clarity.
The women handled the photos delicately, marveling at them over and over as if they could never get enough.
Seeing this, Song Wei let them enjoy the photos and even answered their curious questions.
“You weren’t scared of fish that big?”
“No, they don’t eat people,” Song Wei replied with a smile.
“My heavens, there are so many fish in the sea. How many did you catch?”
They were pointing at a photo of a sardine catch.
“Not too many, just about a hundred jin,” Song Wei said casually.
It was actually more, but she chose to downplay it.
“A hundred jin! And you call that ‘not much’?”
In the river, the biggest fish they caught weighed two or three jin, and most were palm-sized.
A hundred jin of fish would last them ages.
“Did you sell the fish for money?”
“We sold some to cover travel costs and made the rest into dried fish,” Song Wei explained.
Given the weather, sun-drying was impossible, so they had resorted to smoking and roasting the fish, which was more labor-intensive.
The dried fish wasn’t just salted. Some small yellow fish were fried and then roasted to make them crisp and flavorful. These had become Heidan’s favorite snack.
The sardines were also prepared in various ways to create different flavors. During that time, their house had reeked of fish, and they had to burn fragrant wood to rid the place of the smell before leaving.
Song Wei brought out some fish jerky for everyone to taste.
The women found it delicious, praising Lin Zhen’s culinary skills.
After satisfying their curiosity and admiring the photos, the women noticed it was getting late. Little Heidan, too, had worn himself out, clutching a few photos as he dozed off in Song Wei’s arms.
Not wanting to overstay their welcome, the women prepared to leave.
“Song Zhiqing, we’ll come by tomorrow. So much has happened while you two were away!”
This hinted at some juicy gossip.
“Definitely come tomorrow!” Song Wei replied enthusiastically.
After seeing them off, Song Wei tucked Heidan into bed and told Lin Zhen she needed to return to the educated youth dormitory.
When she arrived, the team leader was so excited he was practically jumping up and down.
“Are you serious? That tractor could really belong to our village?”
He paced back and forth, smoking furiously to calm himself, his eyes glowing with anticipation.
Lin Zhen nodded.
“I brought the tractor back on this trip. Whether it stays depends on your decision. If you want it, it’ll belong to the team. I’ll send the payment to the agricultural machinery station. If not, I’ll return it tomorrow.”
“Want it? Of course, we want it!” The team leader’s face turned red with excitement, his dark complexion making the flush appear even deeper.
He rubbed his hands together.
“Tomorrow, I’ll call a meeting to discuss it with everyone. This is a huge opportunity for our team!”
The team couldn’t afford to pass up such a chance. Even before growing off-season vegetables, they would have scraped together money to buy the tractor. Now, with the added income from vegetable sales, the villagers had more money to spare.
Brimming with excitement, the team leader happily puffed on his cigarette as he went to inspect the tractor. From now on, it will be the tractor of their Ping’an Brigade.
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