Chapter 11 IOU When Xu Cailing came to deliver the IOU, Fang Wei was having breakfast at home. The girl was wearing sweatpants and a slightly yellowed short-sleeved shirt, and a big straw hat on her head. The brim of the hat lightly pressed her cute short ponytail, and she looked like she was going out to work. The yellowed short-sleeved shirt was an old piece of clothing that her sister left for her because it no longer fit her. Of course, she was not so poor that she had to wear her sister's discarded hand-me-down clothes, but because she had to go to work, it was more convenient to wear these old clothes. Under the big straw hat, Xu Cailing's pretty face had a relaxed expression. Before Fang Wei could say anything, she walked into the room on her own. Then, like a heroine in a TV drama, she held a piece of paper with her little hand and slapped it on the table in front of Fang Wei. “IOU:” "I am Xu Cailing, dated August 2000, 8, and I owe you 'one week of laundry'" "I've been busy lately and can't fulfill my promise. I'm writing this as an IOU and will pay you back another day!" "Signed: Xu Cailing (a fingerprint smeared with pot ash)" Fang Wei drank his porridge while muttering the words she wrote on the IOU. "I have to say it, Cailing, your handwriting is too ugly."
"What do you care about me? Anyway, I've given you an IOU. You are not allowed to mention this matter again in the future. Do you understand?" "You're just kidding me. You said it was an IOU, but why don't you write down when you're going to pay it back?" "I am a man of my words. I am not unwilling to return it. Why are you so anxious? Humph." "Okay, okay..." Of course, Fang Wei was just teasing her and didn't really want her to help him wash clothes. But he didn't expect this girl to be so serious and even learned to write an IOU. It didn't matter whether she paid it back or not. Fang Wei was keenly aware that this IOU would definitely become a dark part of her history, so it would be best to keep it well. You’re dumbfounded! If your dark history is held by your friends, you will suffer in the future! Young people, you are still too short-sighted! Fang Wei was in a good mood and picked up the bowl and took a sip of porridge. He looked up at the girl who was also happy because she had gotten over something, and asked: "Are you going to help dry the fish?" Even though her family conditions were better than those of other residents on the island, Xu Cailing still had to help with the work. It was just that she was young, like other country kids, so her work was lighter. Xu Cailing's family runs a small seafood processing workshop, which includes killing fish, cleaning, pickling or steaming, shelling, cutting and other processing methods. Of course, drying is generally necessary in the end. The job she needs to help with is the final step of drying, arranging the processed seafood and placing them on the racks to dry. It is relatively relaxing, but the smell in the fish drying yard is a bit unbearable. I am afraid that outsiders will not be able to stand it after staying in there for a few minutes. Of course, Xu Cailing, who grew up by the sea, has long been accustomed to that smell. Even after finishing work, she always has this unpleasant smell of salted fish on her body, which takes a long time to wash off. Just like the smell of salted fish on my parents, it seems that it can never be washed away. "Yeah, you think I'm as free as you." "I'm not idle either. I have to feed the chickens and cook for myself at noon. When I have some free time later, I want to tidy up the land behind the house and plant some rapeseed." “Isn’t this just idleness?” "Well……"
Fang Wei began to reflect. "Hey, Fang Wei, when do you want to sign up?" "We agreed to go together today, so when will you finish drying the fish? Ah Sheng should come with us, too." "That's great. I've already dried the fish this morning. After we eat and take a nap, when it's not so hot, we can go cycling together!" "I don't have a car." "I'll give you a ride!" "..." "That's a deal then, let's go!" After delivering the IOU, Xu Cailing left in a hurry again. Sitting astride the bicycle parked in front of his house, the girl swung her slender left leg back, kicked the bicycle kicker in a chic manner, and then pushed hard with both legs, and the bicycle quickly moved forward along the country road. Fortunately, the girl riding the bicycle was very handsome until she left Fang Wei's sight. After she was out of his sight, the wind caused by her speed blew the straw hat off her head. The girl had to turn around and go to pick up the hat in dejected manner. Putting the straw hat back on her head, she carefully tied the red string of the hat to her delicate chin so that the wind would not blow her hat off. Along with the bumps of the bicycle, the lively short ponytail trembled and gradually disappeared at the end of the path... …… Compared with many children of the same age on the island, Fang Wei does not have to do much work, which is determined by the different production methods of each family. One of the benefits of waking up early is that you will have more disposable time. By the time I finished running, had breakfast, cleaned up the dishes, took a cold shower, and did some laundry, it was only about seven o'clock. There wasn't much industrial or farm work that required his help. On weekdays, his main task was housework, followed by studying. After all, I’m old enough and I’m not allowed to do anything earth-shattering. My most important task at the moment is to learn and grow. Although he is still young, Fang Wei has already read more books than he did in his previous life combined. Reading is the cheapest but most effective way to learn. At the beginning, Fang Wei also thought that if he read so many books and even tried to think and learn from the author's perspective, would he become less and less like himself if he continued like this for a long time? But later he figured it out. People are like trees. They need sunlight to grow. But you have to know that even if trees grow under the sunlight, they grow in the way of trees, not in the way of sunlight. Any influence and learning from books, people, or things will only make him become more and more like himself, not anything else. This is a process of self-exploration. And all the books he has read and the life he has experienced will be integrated into his bones and become his irreplaceable temperament. Normally, the coarsest rice is used to feed chickens. When my mother makes breakfast, she will use another stove to cook the rice into porridge. Now it has cooled down, so Fang Wei scooped one third of the porridge into a bowl, then mixed it with rice bran and peanut meal and stirred it, and then breakfast for the chickens was ready. Fang Wei carried the basin, walked to the yard, opened the fence, and eight chickens clucked and swarmed to his feet. "Hiss! Who pecked me? You dared to peck my feet today, will you dare to peck my eyes tomorrow? Just wait, I will eat you tomorrow!" “Giggle?!” Among the eight chickens, there are two large castrated roosters and six pullets. After the roosters have their eggs castrated, they can grow very big and will not have to ride on the pullets all day long. Castrating roosters is also a skill. Most of the roosters on the island are castrated by Grandpa Liu, which is truly a unique skill.
Students who lack love can feed more chickens and pigs. When they are surrounded by these chicks and pigs, they will feel so needed. As soon as Fang Wei put the basin down, he was pushed aside by the flock of chickens. The chicks scrambled for food frantically like starving ghosts. This seems to be a group effect. In fact, if you raise a group of chickens, they will definitely grow faster than raising just one chicken, because they will compete for food. If there is only one chicken, even if you provide it with delicious food and drink, it will probably ignore it. When Fang Wei was about to leave, his eyes fell on the pile of hay in the corner of the chicken coop, and his eyes suddenly lit up - An egg! Wow, this group of hens have been raised since the beginning of spring, and it has been more than half a year, but they have never laid an egg. Finally, today, Fang Wei picked up the first egg. The boy happily walked over, bent down and picked it up. The fresh egg was still warm in his hand. Eggs laid by home-raised free-range chickens like this are so delicious. Compared with eggs from ordinary feed, the yolks of free-range eggs are darker and the egg whites are thicker. As for their nutritional value, I won’t go into details, but they just taste better. The moment he picked up the egg, Fang Wei had even thought of how to eat it—— I'll go to the beach next time and pick up some oysters, and fry them with these home-raised local eggs. I'll make a bowl of the famous delicacy with a crispy outer skin and tender inner flesh - fried oysters. Of course one egg is not enough, but with the first egg, there will soon be a second and a third. After all, there are a total of six little hens! A mother is honored by her children, and the status of the six little hens in Fang Wei's heart immediately rose a lot. Just then he saw two large capons not only fighting for food but also pecking at a few hens. Fang Wei could not help but rush over. "You only eat, love to fight, and don't lay eggs! You'll be the first one to be eaten!" "Giggle!" Seeing this, the cat who was lazily basking in the sun by the wall yawned with glee. Although it can't lay eggs, it can catch mice, otherwise it would be in trouble... (End of this chapter)
