In 1983, a small island started from a large farmer

Time quickly came to the Lantern Festival.

early morning.

Li Duoyu still likes to squat on the stone slab in front of the courtyard, brushing his teeth while looking into the distance.

Xiao Tutu also likes to learn from him.

The father and son squatted there while brushing their teeth. Zhou Xiaoying, who was making breakfast behind them, shook her head, looking speechless.

These two really look more and more alike; even their gargling sounds are exactly the same.

Little Tutu tilted his head back and gulped down the food, but accidentally swallowed all the toothpaste water and even burped.

Li Duoyu touched his head and said with a smile: "You kid."

Little Tutu grinned.

Li Duoyu stretched lazily. Ever since Dandan Island started cultivating kelp, he always felt that the sea surface looked a little darker and not as blue as before.

When the sea breeze blows, there is a smell of seaweed, but recently fishermen said that there seem to be more marine fish near the coast.

Especially around the kelp farming areas, you can always catch sea fish such as sea bass, sea bream, and even water monkeys.

What the fishermen call water monkeys are actually sea otters, which have many names here.

There are water monkeys, water ghosts, and sea wolves. In short, there are a lot of them. I remember that they could only be seen in the mangroves before.

Kelp farming is not necessarily all bad and environmentally damaging. On the contrary, kelp farming can attract many small fish.

They like to hide in kelp fields to avoid being chased by natural enemies, which is why there are so many bass near kelp fields.

Because these bass come here to hunt, and the same goes for these sea otters, because kelp is food for many snails.

Especially for abalone, not all kelp can be hung firmly on the stem rope, and some may fall and sink to the bottom of the sea.

It also attracts a large number of snails, and sea otters particularly like to eat various conchs, so they naturally regard kelp fields as their home.

Under normal circumstances, fishermen will not drive away these sea otters, as some of them catch some bad fish.

They will also throw them directly to the sea otters to eat. Compared with dolphins, sea otters are the real crying monsters.

Some sea otters are so bold that they even climb onto fishermen's boats and steal fish and crabs from their nets.

Zhao Dahai has been cursing these sea otters these days: "It's fine if you're given food, but you even bring your children along to eat."

If he wasn't too busy, Li Duoyu would also like to try it out. After all, this kind of thing could only be seen in aquariums in his previous life.

After brushing his teeth, Li Duoyu had a simple breakfast. Today's breakfast was seafood noodles.

They seldom drink porridge for breakfast here, because it is not filling enough and it is difficult to work hard.

They get hungry in less than two hours and urinate a lot. Some fishermen who have to do physical work usually eat dry rice with some salted fish and rice soup for breakfast.

There is a boiled egg in Li Duoyu’s seafood noodles.

Three years ago, this would have been an absolute luxury. In the past, everyone would raise chickens, usually two or three hens.

After the hens start laying eggs, they can lay about one egg a day. Except for birthdays, people generally don’t want to eat the eggs. They usually collect thirty or forty eggs and sell them together with dried seafood and other goods at the market.

Li Duoyu used to steal eggs to eat and was often scolded by his mother. But now, the living conditions in the village have improved, and it seems that there are not enough eggs for the villagers to eat. Even his sister's grocery store has started selling eggs.

However, things like fresh goat milk have become in short supply and are not available without advance reservation.

This is also the situation that Li Duoyu wants to see the most. Instead of telling them to eat less pickled foods, it is bad for the body.

It would be better to let them make money directly. When people have money in their pockets, they will naturally understand what is good and what is bad.

If you are still struggling to make ends meet, who would care whether the food is good or not? It is good enough to fill your stomach.

In addition to the huge improvements in diet, the lives of the villagers in Xiasha Village have also become richer.

This year, the village committee held a lantern riddle guessing activity, and the host was Teacher Zhou Xiaoying. Minlong Company, as the main sponsor, sponsored a color TV and a twin-tub washing machine.

As the special prize and the first prize, Lao Lu, as the big boss, also sponsored a Minjiang brand sewing machine while cursing.

Most of the prizes for the lantern riddles were sponsored by villagers, and all the prizes added up to more than thirty.

On this day, the village radio was broadcasting non-stop, and Uncle Mao seemed particularly happy when reading the broadcast.

[Happy Lantern Festival to all villagers. This year our village is holding a Lantern Festival riddle guessing activity. The special prize is a Furi brand color TV, the first prize is a Narcissus brand double-drum washing machine, and there are also sewing machines and Yanwu recorders.
The prizes are very rich, and the lantern riddle activity will officially start at 7 pm. Please participate on time. 】

The broadcast was repeated many times in succession, and many villagers became excited. It had been many years since the village had held a lantern riddle guessing activity.

The last time we held this kind of activity was during the period when everyone was eating from the same pot. The older generation still remembers that the gifts given away seemed to be Liberation shoes and water cups.

Now, they actually gave away color TVs and washing machines directly, and everyone couldn’t help but thank Li Duoyu.

Some villagers were very anxious to get the riddles, but they found that they had no idea how to improve their knowledge of riddles.

An old man wearing reading glasses took out a yellowed "Collection of Lantern Riddles" and began to read it carefully.

There was a victorious smile on his face, as if the grand prize was already in his pocket.

On this day, mobile vendors came over following the smell, but this time the vendors selling braised food and tofu pudding did not come.

There were quite a few people selling balloons, lanterns, popcorn and glutinous rice cakes, and they were also quite interested in the lantern riddle activities in Xiasha Village.

A vendor selling balloons couldn't help but sigh: "Your village is so nice. I really want to move to your village."

Li Duoyu, who was buying balloons, said with a smile: "You can move. There will be a new district on Dandan Island next year. As long as you submit an application to the village committee of Xiasha Village, you will have the opportunity to move in."

"Is this true? After moving in, can I work at Minlong Company?"

Li Duoyu frowned slightly: "It's hard to say. Anyway, as long as you are talented, the probability of passing is still relatively high."

"Then there is definitely no hope for me."

"Hahaha." Li Duoyu laughed and bought a few balloons for Xiao Tutu to play with.

Before evening, many villagers had gathered in the village square, some to guess lantern riddles, and some to just join in the fun.

As soon as it got dark, people started setting off fireworks, and around seven o'clock, Zhou Xiaoying stood on the podium wearing relatively formal attire.

His partner was the village party secretary Chen Jianghe. The two introduced the activity and the rules of guessing riddles.

Chen Jianghe joked, "Madam, may I ask if today's riddles are difficult?"

"Don't call me the boss lady, just call me Teacher Zhou."

"Half of the prizes here are sponsored by your husband. It feels a bit unreasonable not to call you the boss lady. What do you think?"

"That's right, Teacher Zhou is our boss lady."

"The boss lady."

Zhou Xiaoying blushed slightly, and did not continue the conversation. She continued, "Riddles are about fate. It doesn't mean that if you read a lot of books, you will be able to guess riddles accurately. Some of our riddles are very down-to-earth. Maybe fishermen and farmers like us have an advantage."

“Also, even those who can’t read can still participate. You can just come and ask the staff, and they will tell you in the local dialect.”

Little Tutu sat on Li Duoyu's shoulder and looked at Zhou Xiaoying on the stage and couldn't help saying, "Mother, it's so good today."

Li Duoyu frowned and said, "If you want to pee later, you must tell me in advance."

"Got it, Dad."

After the event started, both sides of the square were filled with tables, and riddles were all written in black on red paper and placed on the tables.

Each riddle has a number on it. The rules of the activity are: solving a riddle counts as one point. The person with the highest score in this activity can get the special prize, and the second place winner will get the first prize.

Anyone who can solve the puzzle can go up to the stage and speak out the answer according to the number above.

If the answer is correct, you can get one point and collect the corresponding numbered riddle. After the event started, Li Yaoguo, who was still watching TV at home, was driven to the square by Zhu Xiuhua.

Li Yaoguo said reluctantly: "We have a color TV and a washing machine now, so we don't have to fight with others for them."

Zhu Xiuhua snorted, "It's not like there's too much stuff. If you really win, we can sell the TV to someone else."

Li Yaoguo was a little speechless. He thought she would give the TV to her parents, but he didn't expect that she actually wanted to sell it for money.

Li Haoran, who was home for the holiday, was frowning at a riddle numbered 25.

[A horse has four legs, no tail and no mouth. It won't move when people ride it, and it won't eat or drink water.]

Just as he guessed what it was, a student named Zhang Siyu on the stage took the microphone and replied: "Teacher Zhou, the answer to puzzle number 25 is, I think, a stool."

After Zhang Siyu gave the answer, everyone suddenly realized that these riddles were not particularly difficult, and many of them were very close to life.

Zhou Xiaoying smiled and said, "Congratulations, Siyu, you got it right. The answer is indeed a stool. You get one point."

Li Haoran frowned. He had just thought of the answer, but unexpectedly, someone else answered it first.

He can’t read, but he’s actually pretty good at guessing riddles, and he wanted to show everyone another side of himself.

Li Haoran is really annoyed by this person named Zhang Siyu. He always feels that she will interfere with him at critical moments.

As the activity started, more and more people guessed the riddles, and there was even a line of people forming in front of the podium.

Even the host Chen Jianghe ran to guess the riddles, holding the microphone and speaking to Zhou Xiaoying.

"Riddle number 10: There are many brothers in one family, sitting side by side. Whoever wants to come in will be punished. I guess it should be teeth."

"And number 21, it should be butterfly."

Zhou Xiaoying joked: "As a host, why are you guessing lantern riddles?"

“The host also needs to feel involved.”

Zhou Xiaoying smiled and said, "Please rest assured, we did not cheat. All the riddles were set by me, so none of my family members can participate in the riddle guessing competition."

As for the old man who had been reading the "Collection of Lantern Riddles" all day, he was dumbfounded when he saw the exquisite riddles in front of him.

He looked at so many riddles, but none of them were the same. Looking at the riddles in front of him, he wiped the sweat from his forehead. It might be because he had looked at too many riddles.

At this moment, he couldn't guess any of them. Instead, those who guessed the riddles were either children or those who didn't read much.

There are even some people who have not even graduated from night school and cannot read a single word, but they can actually guess the answer after hearing others relay it orally.

As the number of riddles on the scene became fewer and fewer, everyone became anxious. The one with the most points at the moment was the girl named Zhang Siyu.

What no one expected was that the second place was Li Haoran, which made Zhu Xiuhua very excited.

At the same time, he looked at Li Yaoguo with disdain: "All you do is read the newspaper all day long, and when you ask him to guess lantern riddles, he can't guess any of them. You're not even as good as our Haoran."

Li Yaoguo was also very surprised. He always felt that his child seemed to have some strengths in other areas except reading.

Zhu Xiuhua was also very serious about guessing the riddles. She skipped those that asked "guess an idiom" because she only knew a few idioms.

She was always looking for the kind of (guess an item). At this moment, she frowned at a riddle. Although she couldn't understand all the words on it, Li Yaoguo helped her translate it into the local language.

[A tall building is built with a single piece of wood, without tiles or bricks. People walk under the water, and the water flows above them. ]

After Zhu Xiuhua read it several times in the local dialect, he suddenly understood and said excitedly in his ear: "Number 18 is an umbrella, an umbrella, go tell Haoran quickly, so that he can tie for first place."

But what no one expected was that after Chen Jianghe came on stage, he answered nearly two answers in one breath, and directly answered the answer to Zhu Xiuhua's riddle.

She was so angry that her face turned black, and she couldn't help but yell, "Chen Jianghe, do you know the answer? Why do you always give so many answers? You are not ashamed to snatch the prize from a kid."

Chen Jianghe, the host, snorted, "Mr. Zhou's character is guaranteed. This time, everyone is guessing riddles based on their own abilities. There's nothing to be embarrassed about."

But what he didn't expect was that when he was answering Zhu Xiuhua, the girl named Zhang Siyu answered two more riddles and overtook her again.

At the end of the whole event, it became just four people competing for four important awards, and everyone was watching with great interest.

They even formed cliques and told them the guessed answers. In this atmosphere, Li Yaoguo also spared no effort to support the fat boy Li Haoran.

On the village committee side, many people supported Chen Jianghe, but the riddles that followed became more difficult than the last.

They are all word puzzles and idiom puzzles.

This does not give much advantage to adults, but on the contrary, it gives a huge advantage to students who are studying.

Zhang Siyu's family saw that she was currently ranked first, and they kept shouting, "Xiaoyu, come on, as long as you get one more answer right, we'll definitely win."

Li Duoyu glanced at her. It was the first time he saw Zhang Siyu's family being so nice to her.

All I can say is that one's original family is really fate. Even if she won a color TV, it would probably have been sold by her parents.

The entire Lantern Festival was filled with an atmosphere called "Spring Festival", and at the end of the event, Zhang Siyu successfully won the special prize.

Her father simply picked her up and threw her high up, and the girl showed a rare happy smile.

"Congratulations to Zhang Siyu for winning the special prize of this round of lantern riddle guessing with a score of 8 and a Furi brand color TV."

"Congratulations to Chen Jianghe for winning the first prize of this round of lantern riddle guessing with a score of 7 and a washing machine."

When Zhou Xiaoying was presenting the awards, a villager couldn't help but say, "Secretary Chen, why do you need a washing machine when you live alone?"

Chen Jianghe, the host, snorted, "You know I live alone. I'm not like you. No one washes my clothes for me. I wash them all by myself. The well water is so cold that I get frostbite in winter."

"That's easy. Just find someone in the village to wash it for you."

"You have no chance. Your village party secretary has a girlfriend who works for the county party committee."

"Cut~~"

In fact, even if Chen Jianghe won this washing machine, he was reluctant to keep it for himself and planned to give it to his future mother-in-law.

Zhou Xiaoying continued:

"Congratulations to Li Haoran for winning the third prize in this round of lantern riddle guessing with a score of 5 and receiving a sewing machine."

"The fourth place winner will receive a Yanwu tape recorder."

"Finally, anyone who guesses the riddle will receive a reward. Those who score two points will receive a school bag and a set of stationery, and those who score one point will receive a set of stationery."

"This lantern riddle activity ends here. Thank you all for participating."

After Chen Jianghe took the microphone, he continued, "Finally, I would like to thank Director Li Duoyu, the biggest sponsor of our lantern riddle competition, and the boss lady for her strong support. I hope we can hold the same event next year."

After Chen Jianghe finished speaking, there was warm applause from the audience.

Some villagers also shouted: "We must do it. Next year, if I make money from raising kelp, I will also sponsor it."

The atmosphere of this Lantern Festival was very good. When the event ended, people set off fireworks at the Tianhou Temple.

Everyone in the village was having a great time today, except for the old man wearing reading glasses who was sighing.

His grandson followed him and comforted him: "Grandpa, we were just unlucky. There were several times when we almost guessed right."

The old man thinks that one should not rely too much on the answers, as the most important thing about riddles is inspiration.

Li Duoyu shook little Tutu who was sitting on his shoulder, wanting to ask him to watch the fireworks in the sky.

Unexpectedly, he fell asleep while holding Li Duoyu's head, and even the fireworks couldn't wake him up.

At this moment, Li Duoyu had a bad premonition and was about to hug him in his arms, but it was too late.

The moment he felt the warmth in his upper body, Li Duoyu immediately went home without waiting for Teacher Zhou. (End of this chapter)