Why? Is it because of those unpleasant things Mr. Chen said?" Li Mercy asked with a frown.
"Yes, but not all!"
Just as Yang Milan was about to continue explaining, Li Mercy spoke up, "If you're worried about people gossiping, you don't have to. You didn't get this scorekeeper position for nothing!"
Yang Milan was stunned for a moment and immediately asked, "What do you mean it's not for nothing?"
Li Mercy blushed and replied, "Don't ask about this. Even if Mr. Chen reports it to the commune, it's useless. Dad didn't show favoritism, and we didn't take advantage of the team!"
Hearing this, Yang Milan suddenly realized there was something inside that he didn't know. But looking at the girl's expression, he knew she was unwilling to tell him, so he thought, I'd better not ask further questions. I'll ask my father-in-law later!
But his decision didn't change. He immediately said, "Not wanting to be gossiped about is only one reason. The main reason I'm not continuing as scorekeeper is because I can't be away from my translation work."
Yang Milan then continued, "You know, I've taken on a translation job in the city. If I keep being a scorekeeper, it will affect my work. I might end up being delayed on both ends!"
Li Mercy thought for a moment and said, "Can't you do both? I'm worried your job as a translator won't last long. You know, besides being a scorekeeper, you really can't do any other work in the production team!"
Yang Milan knew that Li Mercy said this because she wanted to leave a backup path for her family in case the translation job didn't work out and she lost her scorekeeper position. Otherwise, the family would be in trouble!
However, Yang Milan thought, This kind of thing will never happen. The unrest will soon be over, and then the whole country will enter a period of rapid development. By then, translation will only become more and more important instead of being eliminated, at least not in the short term.
He said aloud, "I know what you're worried about. Don't worry. Even if I don't work as a scorekeeper, I can still raise you and Maggie to be fat and plump!"
As he spoke, Yang Milan took out a stack of manuscript paper filled with words from his canvas bag and said, "See this? I translated this this morning. According to the agreement, they'll pay me 10 yuan for it!"
Hearing this, Li Mercy's eyes widened in surprise. "Really… did you really make ten yuan this morning?"
"Well, if I stay home and do translation, I can earn at least 20 yuan in the morning!" Yang Milan said.
"How can you make money like this…"
No wonder Li Mercy was so surprised. At that time, the rural population of the country was about 800 million, and the average annual net income of farmers was only 133 yuan, with more than 90% of it in kind, and less than 10% in cash.
More importantly, there were 40 million farmers who could only eat enough food for half a year, and millions more who ran out of food when their fields were empty. From winter to spring, they relied entirely on government relief, borrowing, or begging to survive.
Worse still, about 200 million people earned no more than 20 cents a day, 271.6 million earned 1.64 cents a day, 190 million earned 0.14 cents a day, and 120 million earned 0.11 cents a day.
For example, in Pinglu County, Shanxi Province, farmers could only earn about 6 cents per person per day. Many farmers in production brigades didn't receive a single cent of cash except for food rations.
In this era, where everyone earned only a few cents a day, Yang Milan earning 10 yuan in half a day was truly beyond Li Mercy's imagination.
Yang Milan touched her upturned nose with a smile and said, "It's only ten yuan. Once I'm promoted to translator or senior translator, I can earn even more!"
"This… such a high salary, is it really allowed by the higher-ups?" Li Mercy asked.
"Don't worry, I'm working for the country. It's no problem!" Yang Milan replied.
But Li Mercy was still a little worried. "Let's discuss this again. The scorekeeper position has little work and isn't tiring. It would be a shame to just quit it!"
"Well, I don't plan to stop working now anyway. I'll discuss it with Dad later," Yang Milan said.
"Um!"
When the couple arrived at farm they saw from afar the Li family sitting under a big poplar tree eating, with a cornfield beside them that hadn't been watered yet.
Seeing the two coming, Maggie's eyes lit up, and he quickly stood up and trotted over to greet them!
Yang Milan saw the little girl holding half a bun in her hand, running with her short legs like a Hot Wheels toy. Worried she would fall, he hurried over.
When Li tau and others saw this, they couldn't help but smile knowingly.
"Dad, my brother in law has really changed now. Not only did he marry my aunt, he also cares about Maggie much more than before!" said sister-in-law Lin Aizhi emotionally.
"Who said it wasn't so? My brother in law is ready to live peacefully with my sister in law has finally made it through!"
Li tau looked at his two daughters-in-law and said, "He is a cultured and capable man. He just didn't put his heart into this before, but now it seems he has come to terms with it!"
However, the eldest brother Li Jianguo said while eating the buns, "My brother-in-law has indeed changed a lot, but his habit of spending money lavishly is still the same! If this white flour and meat were replaced with cornmeal, it would be enough for us to eat three meals!"
Lin Aizhi rolled her eyes at him and said, "Just tell me if this big meat bun is delicious?"
"It's delicious! I've never eaten a better bun than this!"
"Hmph, just because it tastes good doesn't mean you can keep complaining. It would be terrible if your uncle heard what you said!" Lin Aizhi said.