After dinner, Li Rui washed the bowls and chopsticks. Then, they switched beds. Li Rui slept on the Kang in the west room, while Ling Shuyao slept on the wire bed in the central room.
After they fell asleep, Ling Shuyao was not used to sleeping on the wire bed. She tossed and turned, making the wire bed creak. Li Rui was a light sleeper, so he could hear the noise outside clearly. He could not help but say, "If you really can't, then switch back." Ling Shuyao thought of the big scorpion she saw just now. Her butt hurt like needles. She did not dare to sleep on the Kang. She hurriedly said, "No, no, you sleep. I won't move anymore."
After that, Ling Shuyao didn't move again. She tried her best to maintain the same posture, but she felt uncomfortable after lying in the same posture for a long time. She wanted to change her posture, but she was afraid that Li Rui would question her, so she could only continue to bear it. In the end, she couldn't stand it anymore and got up to relieve herself.
These days, before going to bed, Ling Shuyao did not dare to go to the outhouse. She was afraid that she would be stung by the scorpion again. As the saying goes, once bitten, twice shy. Originally, she wanted to prepare a urinal in the room, but she was afraid that Li Rui would hear the sound and embarrass him. Therefore, she could only settle for the next best thing. She went to the open space next to the pigsty in the courtyard to relieve herself.
It was the same this time. She quietly opened the old wooden door and tiptoed out. When she reached the open space beside the pigsty, she took off her long johns and peed. After she was done, she looked up and saw the sky full of stars. She was immediately mesmerized. Previously in Qingyang City, she often could not see the stars. At night, there was a layer of fog above her head. Even the moon could not be easily seen. How could she see so many bright stars? She stared blankly for a while. Sleepiness came and she yawned. Then, she walked to the north room.
She felt her way into the room and turned around to close the door. She did not know why, perhaps because she was sleepy, but her mind was a little fuzzy. She actually forgot that she had swapped places with Li Rui. She walked into the west room and came to the kang bed. She sat on the head of the kang bed and put her legs on it. She lifted the quilt and crawled under it. The next moment, she was already lying beside Li Rui.
However, she soon realized that something was wrong because the position of the pillow was not right. She reached out and touched the sides of her head. When she felt the side of the pillow, she leaned her head over and moved her body in that direction. Finally, she touched Li Rui's half-naked body.
"Huh? Who is this?" She was still a little confused.
Li Rui hadn't fallen asleep yet. When Ling Shuyao got into bed, he also noticed it, but he didn't understand what was going on. He didn't know why she came over. Did she take the initiative to serve him, or did she get the position wrong? When her head bumped into his, he finally couldn't help but ask, "You …"
Ling Shuyao was shocked. She suddenly sat up from the bed and cried out, "You …" Li Rui said, "What about you? Did you forget that we've already swapped beds? " Ling Shuyao was so embarrassed that her face flushed red. She climbed up and jumped off the kang bed, fleeing back to the outer room with her tail between her legs. Lying on the steel wire bed, her heart was still beating wildly. She thought to herself that she was really embarrassed tonight. If word of this spread out that she, Ling Shuyao, crawled into his bed at night, how could she still have the face to see others?
The next morning, Ling Shuyao wanted to tell Li Rui not to talk about last night's embarrassing incident, but he acted as if nothing had happened. He didn't mention a word about last night's incident, so she didn't say anything more.
That day, Li Rui and the village officials held a general meeting to mobilize the villagers for poverty alleviation. They planned to gather all the villagers to listen to the meeting. They wanted to take the opportunity to explain the significance of this poverty alleviation pilot program to the villagers. They wanted to let the villagers have a preliminary understanding of poverty alleviation and lay a solid foundation for the overall promotion of poverty alleviation. However, there were very few people who participated in the meeting.
Li Rui had been in the village for a few days. He already knew that there was a big market every Tuesday and Friday. This kind of market was similar to a temporary trade market. From daily necessities to all kinds of fruits and vegetables, everything was sold. It was similar to a small temple fair. Every time there was a big market, almost all the villagers would go out and shop around the market. This was their main leisure and shopping activity. What made him very depressed was that the number of people who participated in the meeting this time was less than one-tenth of the people who went to the market.
There was no point in holding the meeting if there were too few people who participated.
However, Li Rui did not cancel the meeting so easily. Instead, he took the opportunity to rehearse. He gave a long speech to the villagers who participated in the meeting. In the end, his mouth and tongue were dry. Before the meeting ended, he told the villagers that the meeting would continue the next day. He called on them to go back and call their neighbors over. There would be small gifts for the meeting tomorrow.
He thought of the problem of the Chinese people being greedy for small things. He planned to use small gifts to attract the attention of the villagers for this meeting.
After the meeting ended, a thirty-six year old man found Li Rui and asked, "Are you really here to help the poor?" Li Rui smiled and said, "Are there people who are hypocritical?"
The village secretary, Wang Tiekui, asked with a cold face, "Hu Liquan, what are you doing here?" The man named Hu Liquan said, "What's wrong? The city leaders came to the village to help the poor and held a general meeting to mobilize the poor. Can't I come to listen? " Wang Tiekui said, "But the meeting is already over. Hurry up and leave. Don't cause trouble for the city leaders." He waved his hand to chase him away. Hu Liquan said, "I'm asking the city leaders about poverty. What does it have to do with you? You can't control me. "Wang Tiekui snorted," I can't control you? Go out and ask, who's the boss in the village? I can't control you? You're really going against the heavens. "
Hu Liquan ignored him and asked Li Rui, "Great leader, I want to ask you about poverty. Are you free?" Li Rui smiled and said, "I'm free. Ask away." Hu Liquan said, "Then come to my house and sit. I'll make tea for you. We can have a good chat."
Wang Tiekui shouted, "Hu Liquan, what are you trying to do? Are you going to kidnap the city leaders?" Hu Liquan stared at him and said, "As a village secretary, you're too controlling. I'm asking the city leaders a question, what does it have to do with you?" You don't care about what you should care about, but you don't care about what you shouldn't care about. "Wang Tiekui was mocked in front of Li Rui, so he couldn't hold it in anymore. He asked," What are you saying? What do you mean by not caring about what you should care about and not caring about what you shouldn't care about? Why don't you explain it to me? " Hu Liquan snorted and said, "You know very well what you've done in the village. I'm too lazy to say it." Wang Tiekui was so angry that his face turned red and said, "Hu Liquan, you have to tell me clearly what I've done in the village. If you don't tell me clearly, I'll find a place to make you tell me clearly."
Li Rui coughed and said, "Branch Secretary Wang, I don't think Brother Hu has any other intentions. You don't have to worry about this matter. I'll go to his house. I can see that Brother Hu is a person with ideas. Our poverty alleviation program is to find someone like Brother Hu who has ideas. We'll set an example first. When he becomes rich, he can lead the villagers to become rich as well. "Wang Tiekui curled his lips and said," Him? If his Hu Liquan's family can become rich, I'll write my surname backwards. "
Hu Liquan said, "Your surname is Wang. Even if you write it backwards, it's still Wang. Hmph." Wang Tiekui glared at him and said, "Fine, if you can become rich, I'll write my name backwards." Hu Liquan snorted and said, "You said it yourself. The city leaders can be witnesses. Let's see if I'll write your name backwards when I become rich." Wang Tiekui said, "Stop talking nonsense. I'm telling you, the city leaders are busy. Don't waste their time." Hu Liquan did not give in at all and said, "You're the one who's wasting the city leaders' precious time by stopping me from talking to them."
Li Rui smiled and interrupted, "Alright, Brother Hu, let's go to your house to talk."
Hu Liquan led the way in front. Li Rui and Ling Shuyao walked together towards his house.
Wang Tiekui looked at the three of them walking away with a heavy expression on his face.
When they arrived at Hu Liquan's house, he invited the two of them to take a seat and instructed his wife to prepare tea.
Hu Liquan's family was a typical village farmer. His house was on the hillside to the west of the village. Other than an old adobe house, there wasn't even a fence around the yard. They used tree branches to make four simple fences. The walls were covered with luffa and gourd seedlings. At this time of the year, the luffa and gourd seedlings had already fallen. The leaves had already withered and turned yellow. Countless old luffa and gourd seedlings were hanging on the fences and on the ground. When one walked into the yard, they could feel a very fresh farmhouse smell.
As for the old adobe house, it was even more shabby. When one entered the house, one could see that the roof beams and rafters were charred black by the smoke from the stove. There were spider webs hanging in the corners of the roof. The webs were filled with soot. On the right side of the house was a brick bed. An old woman was lying on the bed. She was Hu Liquan's old mother. There was an old-fashioned cupboard placed against the wall opposite the door. Most of the paint on the cupboard had peeled off and there were countless wormholes. Even if such a cupboard was thrown into the garbage, no one would want it. Other than the cupboard, there was a large round table and a few simple wooden stools in the central room. Other than that, there wasn't a single decent piece of furniture. There was another house on the west side. It was probably where Hu Liquan and his wife stayed. There was a dirty curtain hanging on the door. There were no tiles on the floor of the house. It wasn't even paved with cement. It was just paved with crushed stones.
Sitting on the wooden bench, Li Rui looked at the dilapidated environment of the house that could no longer be described as simple. He thought that he had returned to the old society and was shocked. He really didn't expect that there would be people living in such a house in the 21st century. To put it bluntly, even if it was a dog in the city, its kennel would be better than this house.
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