Chapter 38 Chapter 38 You have to watch this movie, right?

Early in the morning, Shen Moer got up, washed, and went into the kitchen to cook porridge and make pancakes. When breakfast was almost ready, Shen Shaoyuan also got up. The father and daughter hurriedly ate breakfast and went to the yard of the next-door brigade to ride a donkey cart.

Today is not the market day of the commune, but because Shen Moer is going to the county town, the team leader specially approved that Uncle Liu take her to the commune. Uncle Liu will wait in the commune until the afternoon and then pick her up. For the team, this is also a high-standard business trip treatment.

Shen Shaoyuan also benefited from this and no longer had to travel long distances to work in the commune.

Because it was not a market day, not many people took the bus to the commune, so when Shen Moer walked over, she saw Zheng Jiamin leaning on the donkey cart and yawning madly, and Fu Mingze, who was standing next to him with his hands on his knees and his face buried in his elbows, so that only his head could be seen.

Zheng Jiamin greeted Shen Moer while yawning, “Comrade Shen Moer, come quickly!”

The head with thick black hair next to him immediately raised its head, revealing a slightly sleepy and listless face. His eyes gradually became clear after noticing the person approaching, and then for some reason his expression suddenly darkened.

Fu Mingze took the initiative to greet Shen Shaoyuan: “Seventh Uncle Shen.”

Then he nodded expressionlessly at Shen Moer, and quickly buried his head back in his elbows.

Shen Moer was a little puzzled. She always felt that this man seemed to be in a bad mood this year. However, seeing Zheng Jiamin next to him yawning continuously, he looked like the opium addicts that the old people in the village often mentioned in ancient times. She guessed that it might be because he did not sleep well.

She sat next to Zheng Jiamin. When the donkey cart started moving, she saw Fu Mingze on the other side motionless, as if he had fallen asleep. She couldn't help but ask Zheng Jiamin, "Did anything happen at your educated youth camp last night?"

Zheng Jiamin shook his head, then nodded and said, "We found a nest of rats. It kept us awake in the middle of the night, so we had to get up and kill them."

I see.

Why do you go to the commune so early in the morning? Can't you go another day?

Shen Moer felt puzzled, but guessed that they might have something urgent and important that forced them to rush over today, so she didn't say anything more.

They staggered all the way to the commune and everyone got off the donkey cart. Several members who were going to the purchasing station and the supply and marketing cooperative quickly left with bamboo baskets on their backs and baskets in their hands. Shen Shaoyuan hurried to work, gave his daughter a few words of advice and left, leaving Shen Moer, Fu Mingze and Zheng Jiamin behind.

Shen Moer said hello to the two of them and walked towards the bus stop.

There is only one bus from Liuqiao Commune to the county town, which departs from the commune in the morning and returns from the county town in the afternoon. It only runs three times a week, on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

It is said that the car was discarded by the county bus station, but even if it was a discarded car, it was very popular and several communes were vying for it. Later, the county decided to let Liuqiao Commune and two nearby communes share the cost. Liuqiao Commune got a good deal because of its good economic development and got three days of payment, while the other two communes only got two days.

It was impossible for the commune to build a station specifically for this passenger bus that only ran three times a week, so they just put up a sign on a small open space not far from the textile factory as a stop.

The original body had never been to the county town, but the original body went to junior high school in the commune, so she was familiar with the terrain of the commune. Shen Moer followed her memory and walked to the stop. Not long after she walked, she felt something was wrong. She looked back and saw Fu Mingze and Zheng Jiamin walking slowly behind her. One was still yawning, and the other was expressionless with gloomy eyes.

Shen Moer: “?”

She stopped and waited for them to come over, then asked, "Are you going to the textile factory?"

In this direction, the purchasing station and the supply and marketing cooperative have already come. Sparrow City is in another direction, and today is not a market day, so the only way is to go to the textile factory.

Oh, Qiaojie’s home is right next to the textile factory dormitory.

Just as I was thinking about it, I heard Zheng Jiamin say, "Let's go to the county."

Shen Moer was a little surprised, but then she was relieved. It turned out that they were going to the county. No wonder they had to get up even though they were so sleepy. After all, if they missed today, they would have to wait until next Wednesday to catch a bus.

She laughed and said, "I'm going to the county too, so we can go together."

Zheng Jiamin: "I heard you were going to the county to buy crayons and drawing paper for the children?"

Shen Moer nodded: "They are now practicing with fire sticks or pencils, and have not tried to draw colored pictures. I heard that the children of Dongfanghong Primary School all use crayons to draw, and crayons can also be used in the competition. I want to let them try it before participating in the competition."

Zheng Jiamin gave a thumbs up: "Come on!"

Fu Mingze, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly interrupted: "Are you just going to buy crayons and drawing paper?"

Shen Moer looked at him. He seemed a little gloomy today. She thought it was because he didn't sleep well, so she didn't take it seriously. She said, "Yes, it's mainly to buy these two things. The commune doesn't sell them. I heard that only the supply and marketing cooperative near Dongfanghong Primary School has them. Of course, I haven't been to the county, so I just happened to go there to take a look. Fu Zhiqing, Zheng Zhiqing, what about you?"

Fu Mingze's face seemed to look a little better.

Zheng Jiamin looked hopeless: "Let's go to the movies."

Shen Moer: “?”

I couldn't help but ask: "Are there any particularly good movies recently?"

It was so good that I had to get up early in the morning and take a half-day drive to the county to see it if I didn't sleep well the night before.

Zheng Jiamin was even more speechless when talking about this: "There is a new movie "Sha Jia Bang" that was released in August. My family mentioned it in their letters to me, but it probably hasn't been released here yet. We went to watch the old movie and be influenced and baptized by the revolutionary culture again."

Oh, Fu Mingze's original words were: The countryside is indeed a broader world, but relatively speaking, it is also a relatively culturally barren world. As educated youth, we must accept re-education from poor and lower-middle peasants and strive to train ourselves through labor, but at the same time we must not forget to frequently receive the influence and baptism of revolutionary culture. Otherwise, we will not be able to always maintain high revolutionary enthusiasm and truly make the best possible contribution to socialist construction.

As for why he had to go to the county on this tiring and sleepy day, Fu Mingze said: If this little difficulty can knock you down, how can you build socialism?

After knowing each other for so long, it was the first time that Zheng Jiamin realized that Fu Mingze had such a high level of ideological awareness. He felt very ashamed and reflected on himself for ten minutes. Then, with a firm belief in making his greatest contribution to the construction of socialism, he followed Fu Mingze on the donkey cart of the brigade.

At this moment, facing Shen Moli's indescribable expression, Zheng Jiamin couldn't help but feel a little hesitant and doubtful. His ideological awareness is now quite high... right?

Shen Moer didn't quite understand, but she quickly accepted Zheng Jiamin's statement.

She knew that the common people in this world had very noble moral sentiments, as well as a strong sense of conviction and honor, and were willing to make great sacrifices and contributions for the ideals and beliefs they spoke of.

This is quite different from their Daliang. The people of Daliang are more in awe of the imperial court, while the people here truly love their country.

She couldn't quite empathize with this feeling, but she thought it was good.

Of course, it would be better if it was a little less exaggerated.

The car was already waiting at the stop. It was the first time that Shen Moer saw something like a car up close and in person. She didn't rush to get in, but stood outside and watched for a long time.

When Zheng Jiamin saw the car, he climbed up yawning. Fu Mingze glanced at Shen Moli and got into the car. After the two of them sat down, Fu Mingze used Zheng Jiamin's shoulder bag to get Shen Moli a window seat in the front row, then he tilted his head back, leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes.

Shen Moer walked half a circle around the car, admiring it.

In fact, speaking of cars, as a princess, what kind of magnificent, gold- and jade-inlaid cars has she not seen?

To be frank, the car in front of us is just a pile of tin shells and a few pieces of glass. No matter how rare glass is, it can be replaced by colored glaze. The tin shell is even less valuable... But people in this world have an ability to turn decay into magic. The worthless tin shell can be turned into a car that can run by itself without the need for oxen or horses. If it were in Daliang, it would be a priceless treasure.

Shen Moer looked at it curiously for a while, and was about to get on the bus when she heard someone calling her from behind: "Comrade Shen Moer."

She turned around and saw a somewhat surprised person: "Comrade Zhang Junliang."

Zhang Junliang asked with a complicated expression: "Are you going to the county?"

Shen Moer nodded: “Yes, let’s go buy something.”

To her, Zhang Junliang was just a stranger who had gone on a blind date once and had made it clear that he would not continue the relationship. Just saying hello was enough, so she was about to leave, but Zhang Junliang stopped her again: "Comrade Shen Moer, can you say a few words?"

At this time, someone else was about to get on the bus, so Shen Moer had to step back a few steps and walked aside: “Comrade Zhang, is there something wrong?”

Zhang Junliang asked directly: "Are you dissatisfied with me in some way?"

Zhang Junliang was originally very confident about this blind date. Shen Moer was good-looking and had decent conditions, but it was also a fact that she had a rural household registration, and her family required that she not live in her husband's house but live with her father-in-law. No matter from which aspect, Zhang Junliang felt that he should be the one with better conditions among the suitable candidates.

Especially after that blind date, Shen Moer promised to consider watching a movie with him. Zhang Junliang thought that after watching a movie or two and having a meal or two together, the marriage should be settled.

But the next day, Section Chief Xu gave feedback saying that the woman felt the relationship was not suitable and rejected him.

Zhang Junliang was completely puzzled. He originally wanted to go to Chief Xu to ask about it himself, but his mother became very angry after knowing about it and refused to allow him to contact Shen Moer again. He has been doing his mother's work these days.

When Zhang Junliang suddenly met the person today, he couldn't help but asked directly.

Unexpected, yet reasonable.

After all, apart from the blind date, she and Comrade Zhang had no other intersections. Shen Moer just didn't expect that Zhang Junliang would be so persistent in getting an answer to this kind of thing that everyone knows and no one would usually get to the bottom of.

She thought for a moment and said cryptically, "It's not that I'm dissatisfied with you, but my family and personal character are not suitable for you."

Zhang Junliang frowned: "We have learned about the family situation in advance."

He hesitated and asked, "Is it because of my mother? Are you worried that the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law will be bad?"

It was just a blind date, so Shen Moer didn’t want to comment on his mother, so she just said vaguely: “Anyway, it’s not suitable.”

Zhang Junliang nodded dejectedly: "I understand."

Shen Moer breathed a sigh of relief and turned to walk towards the car door. When she was almost there, she raised her eyes and met the gaze of Fu Mingze who was looking out through the glass. Shen Moer subconsciously smiled, but Fu Mingze pretended not to see it and withdrew his gaze expressionlessly.

People who don’t sleep well at night tend to have a bad temper, right?

Shen Moer got on the bus. Comrade Zheng Jiamin, who also did not sleep well at night, warmly invited her to sit in the front row and saved a seat for her. He also gave her some fruit candies, saying that if she got carsick later, she would feel more comfortable if she put one in her mouth.

Passengers got on the bus one after another, and soon it was time to depart. Just as the door was about to close, someone ran up in a hurry.

Shen Moer leaned back in her chair with her eyes closed, and heard someone talking to the aunt sitting next to her. She opened her eyes and saw Zhang Junliang using two green oranges to persuade the aunt to sit in the back row.

She looked expressionlessly at Zhang Junliang who sat down next to her. Zhang Junliang was slightly embarrassed, and then explained palely: "My aunt's family lives in the county, and I went to her house for something."

As he was speaking, the driver suddenly honked the horn hard, and the person standing in the middle of the road ran away quickly.

Shen Moer heard Zhang Junliang's explanation amid the horn, but she didn't say anything and turned her head to look out the window.

She can't be so overbearing as to not allow people to visit relatives, right?

In the back seat, as soon as Zhang Junliang got on the car, Zheng Jiamin nudged Fu Mingze with his elbow and said to Fu Mingze in a low voice: "Comrade Shen's blind date, they have made an appointment, right? Oh, by the way, they made an appointment to go to the county to watch a movie before."

Fu Mingze looked at the rumored textile factory technician expressionlessly. He heard him arguing for a long time with the aunt sitting next to Shen Moer, and finally exchanged her seat for two oranges. He watched him sit down next to Shen Moer, with half of his head sticking out from above the car seat. He heard him seem to be saying something to Shen Moer...but the sharp sound of the horn covered his voice.

Fu Mingze's face became darker and darker.

Zheng Jiamin was still whispering, "Should we not go to the movies? Comrade Shen will be embarrassed later."

Fu Mingze glanced at him calmly: "Is this your determination to accept the influence and baptism of revolutionary culture? Can a little difficulty and accident make you retreat?"

Zheng Jiamin: “…”

This movie is a must-see, right?

Fu Mingze turned his head and ignored him, his eyes unconsciously falling on the gap between the front seat and the car window. In the narrow gap, he could vaguely see the figure of the person in the front seat. She seemed to have been looking out the window, as if there was some particularly attractive scenery on the road.

The restlessness in my heart inexplicably dissipated a little.

Until the air was filled with the sweet and sour aroma of citrus, Fu Mingze heard the man's voice: "Eat a few orange slices, you will feel more comfortable in the car."

Fu Mingze frowned tightly.

After a brief silence, he heard Shen Moer’s voice again: “No, thank you.”

I don’t know if it was an illusion, but there was a hint of coldness and distance in his voice.

Fu Mingze's frown relaxed slightly.

Zheng Jiamin nudged him with his elbow again and said in an almost whispered voice: "The technician is quite proactive."

Fu Mingze simply closed his eyes.

In the front row, Shen Moer turned her head and looked out the window again. In fact, she just closed her eyes and pretended to sleep, and Zhang Junliang probably felt embarrassed to talk to her again. However, this was her first chance to see other parts of the world with her own eyes, and Shen Moer was unwilling to waste this rare opportunity because of Zhang Junliang.

The car sped along the road, raising dust all the way. On both sides of the road were patches of green and yellow farmland, and in the distance were villages of varying heights.

Gradually, the buildings outside the window began to become denser, with more and more blue brick and tile houses, and the houses looked more and more magnificent. Then the farmland disappeared, replaced by wide streets with people coming and going. At a certain moment, the car suddenly stopped with a bang, and the conductor raised his voice and said: "We have arrived at the stop, get off——"

Zheng Jiamin fell asleep in a daze, but was startled by the ticket seller's shout and jumped up. After a while, he woke up and said, "Hey, we're here!"

Then he shouted without thinking: "Comrade Shen Moer has arrived."

Zhang Junliang, who had just stood up, froze for a moment, turned his head to look at Zheng Jiamin, recognized him as the educated youth from last time, and his face suddenly looked unhappy.

Zheng Jiamin didn't notice Jing'er at all. He greeted Zhang Junliang in a familiar manner and asked Shen Moer: "Do you want to buy movie tickets first or crayons first?"

In his opinion, since they had to watch the movie today, they would run into Shen Moer and the others no matter what, so they might as well act generously.

Zheng Jiamin didn't notice that after he said this, Fu Mingze, who had just stood up, and Zhang Junliang, who was standing in the front row, both turned grim-faced almost at the same time.

Shen Moer had also stood up. She glanced at Zheng Jiamin and quickly realized that Zheng Jiamin had misunderstood. When she realized this, she couldn't help but glance at Fu Mingze.

Well, Fu Zhiqing was expressionless as always.

So she said, "Get off first."

After getting off the car, Shen Moer said to Zhang Junliang coldly: “Comrade Zhang, goodbye.”

Zhang Junliang hesitated, and when he saw Zheng Jiamin coming down later, his expression became a little embarrassed, and he finally said, “Comrade Shen, I didn’t expect you to be such a person.”

After saying that, he turned around and left without looking back.

Shen Moer: “…”

Zheng Jiamin asked curiously, "Why did Comrade Zhang leave?"

Shen Moer replied: "He went to visit relatives."

Zheng Jiamin was surprised: "Ah, aren't you going to the movies?"

Shen Moer had an expression of "what nonsense are you talking about" and asked back: "Aren't you the ones who want to go to the movies to be influenced and baptized by revolutionary culture?"

She looked at Fu Mingze who was walking behind Zheng Jiamin, and her eyes indicated who were the two people who looked like they had not slept all night but were still determined to go into the city to watch a movie.

Zheng Jiamin: “…”

Although what Comrade Shen Moer said was very normal, it sounded inexplicably like she was being ridiculed.

Fortunately, he was not the only one being ridiculed.

He stood on tiptoe and put his hand on Fu Mingze's shoulder, saying, "Yes, we have firm ideals and beliefs, and we never forget to temper our will."

Fu Mingze, who had been gloomy and sleepy all the way, seemed to suddenly wake up after stepping into the land of the small county town. The autumn morning sunshine sprinkled on his fair and handsome face, and seemed to make his eyes brighter.

He curled his lips and said, “You can buy movie tickets later, so go buy crayons with Comrade Shen Moer first.”

Zheng Jiamin turned his head and looked at him in confusion: "Buy crayons?"

Fu Mingze said as a matter of course: "As an educated youth of Yangliu Brigade, I should also contribute to the work of the brigade primary school."

Zheng Jiamin: “…”

I always feel like something is wrong, but it also seems to make sense.

None of the three people had been to the county town and did not know the way. Fortunately, the Dongfanghong Primary School was very famous in Jiangbei County. They just found a passerby and she enthusiastically helped them find the way.

I successfully found the supply and marketing cooperative near the Dongfanghong Primary School. Sure enough, they had crayons and drawing paper for sale. They were twelve-color Hongying brand crayons, and on the packaging there was a picture of a young boy holding a red tasseled spear with a heroic look on his face.

The brigade approved three yuan for expenses. Crayons were ten cents a box, so Shen Moer bought fifteen boxes directly, preparing two boxes for each person, leaving three boxes for flexibility. The rest of the money was used to buy drawing paper, pencils, and erasers.

After buying the crayons, the main task for today was completed. Zheng Jiamin suggested going shopping in the department store, and Shen Moer and Fu Mingze had no objection.

The department store stands on the main street of the county town. It has four floors and is the "landmark building" of Jiangbei County.

Unlike the commune supply and marketing cooperatives where some shelves were often empty due to insufficient supplies, the shelves on every floor of the department store were filled with goods, which was a dazzling array.

Zheng Jiamin had just received a bunch of large and small packages sent by his family. It was a time when supplies were abundant, so there was nothing to buy. As for Chen Moer and Fu Mingze, even if they had money in their pockets, they would not dare to spend it lavishly. So the three of them said they were going out for a stroll, and they really were just strolling.

Soon, we came to a place selling bicycles.

A row of seven or eight shiny black 28-inch bicycles were placed there, attracting many people to stop and watch. Some people whispered that these were a batch of Forever brand bicycles that had just arrived at the department store. They were a big brand and definitely good stuff. Others said that despite the large number of bicycles, they would probably be sold out in a few days. Bicycles, especially those from big brands, have always been in short supply.

Shen Moer was very excited when she saw it, but unfortunately she had neither the precious bicycle ticket nor enough money in her pocket to buy a bicycle, so she could only look at it for a few more seconds to satisfy her visual desire.

Seeing her standing in front of the bicycle counter for a long time without moving, Fu Mingze opened his mouth, but finally closed it.

The department store was not far from the cinema, and with Zheng Jiamin's enthusiastic invitation and Fu Mingze's silent encouragement, Shen Moer agreed to watch a movie with them.

The main reason is that the bus back to the commune does not leave until 4 pm, so the free time in between is just perfect for watching a movie.

The three of them first ate a bowl of noodles each at a nearby state-owned restaurant, and then strolled to the cinema. It happened that the afternoon movie was about to start in about ten minutes, so they bought their tickets and entered the theater quickly.

It was an old movie, but Shen Moer was enjoying it. The original owner had seen this movie before, but it was different from the memory. Moreover, this was Shen Moer's first time watching a movie, and it was much more interesting than the shadow play she had seen in Daliang.

Zheng Jiamin had no idea how many times he had watched it, but when he saw Shen Moli watching it seriously, he suddenly felt that he was still not aware enough, so he gradually became very attentive.

Only Fu Mingze, in the bright and dim light and shadow, always couldn't help but turn his head to look at the people around him.