Chapter 395 Mobilization and Evacuation
His hand holding the phone trembled uncontrollably; 19,000 jin (7,500 catties) needed to be packed into at least 190 bags.
He didn't know how Gu Yihan had raised the money.
But he knew that this grain could help many elderly people living alone in rural brigades who hadn't had time to earn work points due to the evacuation.
Thinking of this, Mr. Lu quickly stood up and solemnly thanked Gu Yihan on their behalf.
When Gu Yihan heard Mr. Lu's serious yet heartfelt thanks, her hand gripping the phone tightened.
Feeling a mix of emotions, she hadn't expected that Lu's father's first thought wouldn't be Lu Huailin, but rather the elderly widows and widows in the village.
Afterwards, she told Lu's father about her idea of going to Tang City by car.
Mr. Lu was very supportive and offered to send someone to pick up Hao Hao and take him to his place.
Let her go to Tang City with peace of mind
He had ulterior motives; the medicine in Gu Yihan's possession might be able to save lives in a critical situation.
Remembering that Lu's mother was still in the family compound, Lu's father said directly, "As for your mother, I will inform Lu's older sister and have her go to the family compound to pick her up immediately."
Gu Yihan nodded and gave a soft "hmm".
After hanging up the phone, she called out to her brother, who was in her mother's bedroom, "Sister Lai, could you please tidy up my mother's things?"
Lai Di paused for a moment upon hearing this, then called out, "Okay!"
Two hours
Sister Lu stormed in, her face full of anger, without even glancing at Gu Yihan sitting on the sofa.
He went straight to Lu's mother's bedroom.
Ignoring her vehement objections, she called upon Fang Yi, who had come with her, to help carry Lu's mother out.
Lu's mother didn't want to leave. Her eyes were filled with anxiety and pleading as she pitifully called out "ah ah" in Gu Yihan's direction.
Hopefully, she'll let her go, considering she's been relatively well-behaved for the past few months.
Gu Yihan glanced at Lu's mother, then calmly looked away.
She is not a soft-hearted person and will not be overwhelmed with sympathy just because the other person looks pitiful.
Sister Lu was already furious because her father had threatened to sever their father-daughter relationship, and now her mother was too oblivious to shout.
My mind grew increasingly agitated, and without thinking...
He slapped Lu's mother's bare arm hard across the face.
With a "smack," a bright red handprint instantly appeared on Lu's mother's arm.
Gu Yihan was stunned when she saw what Sister Lu did.
She never expected that Sister Lu would take her anger out on her mother.
Her gaze fell on Lu's mother, who struggled to say, "No... I'm not going."
I felt a pang of sadness.
Last time, Sister Lu took good care of Lu's mother. She was quite patient. It hasn't been long since she left.
She just...
Is it really true that there are no filial children at the bedside of a chronically ill patient?
Thinking of this, Gu Yihan suddenly felt a jolt; she knew she had to work out properly.
We absolutely cannot end up like Lu's mother, who became paralyzed and thus became an eyesore to her son and daughter-in-law.
Several days passed in the blink of an eye, and Mr. Lu arranged for people to load all the grain onto trucks and move it to another location from the courtyard.
The supply convoy organized by the family compound is almost ready.
Tang City
On the day Lu Huailin arrived, he immediately discussed the matter with the director of the Revolutionary Committee of Tang City.
A "Joint Military-Civilian Pre-Earthquake Evacuation Working Group" was established, with a clear division of labor: the municipal and district revolutionary committees were responsible for issuing policy documents and coordinating grassroots mobilization.
The military is responsible for the transportation of supplies, the construction of resettlement sites, security, and technical support from geological experts.
Both sides acted in unison, endorsed each other, and worked together to persuade people to evacuate.
After implementation, Tang City and the surrounding counties and cities carried out the evacuation tasks in an orderly manner.
However, the villagers in the commune's brigade did not believe that an earthquake would occur in Tangshi, and they stubbornly refused to evacuate no matter how much they were persuaded.
If you say too much, they take advantage of their age and lie on the ground, throwing a tantrum and shouting.
"Now is the golden time to harvest wheat. We can earn 10 work points a day. If we delay for a day, we will earn one less day's worth of food."
The old commune member next to him chimed in, "Work points are your lifeline. Without work points, how will you get grain?"
"You think there will be an earthquake just because you say so?"
"You can just move us like that?"
Who will make up for the work points?
"When there's no food and we're starving, will you give us your food?"
Their commotion caused the young people who had initially agreed to the relocation to harbor a sense of wishful thinking, believing that what the geological experts said might not be accurate.
They picked up sickles and prepared to go to the field to harvest wheat.
Natural disasters and geological disasters are not as important as the crops grown in the fields.
Upon seeing this, the soldier hurriedly tried to step forward to explain, but was surrounded by elderly members of the brigade.
He shouted excitedly, "What do you want to do?"
"Are you trying to sabotage agricultural production and make us go hungry by stopping the commune members from harvesting wheat?!"
In their lives, they endured famine, war, and three years of natural disasters, overcoming countless hardships.
This led them to have a deep obsession with grain and the work points that could be exchanged for it.
How could anyone abandon ripe wheat in the field and run for their life because of an unknown earthquake?
Seeing their excited expressions, the soldiers quickly took out a geological survey report, which stated "crustal activity" and "earthquake risk" for them to see.
The older commune members didn't read it at all, nor could they understand it.
They only knew that the grain they had worked so hard to grow all year couldn't be left to rot in the field.
He looked up at the commune secretary standing to the side.
They threatened, "If you push us too far, we'll all take ropes and hang ourselves in front of your house!"
Upon hearing this, the commune secretary paused for a moment, then exchanged a glance with the soldier who had come to persuade him.
Left with no other choice, he had to return to the city to find Lu Huailin.
When the commune secretary saw Lu Huailin, a worried look immediately appeared on his face.
"Commander Lu, it's not that we're not cooperating, it's just that the commune members simply won't listen!"
The accompanying soldiers also relayed the old commune members' attitudes in detail.
Upon hearing this, Lu Huailin frowned slightly.
He knew that farmers valued food to the core, and that it couldn't be forced.
We need to find a way to resolve their concerns about work points and food rations.
Lu Huailin rubbed his temples in frustration, remembering that his wife had said the earthquake was in July, and there would still be time to harvest the wheat.
He immediately ordered: "Deploy troops to each production team to help harvest, dry, and store the wheat, ensuring that every grain is safely stored!"
Afterwards, Lu Huailin went to find the agricultural director of the regional revolutionary committee and together they went to the agricultural bureau and the grain bureau.
The distribution of work points and rations during the transfer of communes, brigades, and production teams was discussed.
Finally, it was decided that the chairman of the Revolutionary Committee would read out the "Notice on Guaranteeing Work Points and Food Rations for Commune Members During Earthquake Relocation."
"The Urban Revolutionary Committee clearly stipulated that during the relocation period, commune workers' points would be calculated based on full attendance, and their grain rations would be uniformly allocated by the commune's grain depot. The relocation would not delay everyone's grain distribution."
Lu Huailin went to the wheat harvest field of the production team with the commune secretary and his entourage.
The director of the Revolutionary Committee, holding a notice stamped with the official seal, said to the brigade leader and commune members, "This is an official document from the Municipal Revolutionary Committee. It's in black and white, and every word counts."
Lu Huailin then pointed to the soldiers standing straight behind him.
He said in a deep voice, "The able-bodied men should stay and help the soldiers with the harvest. The elderly and children should be escorted and evacuated by the production team cadres and militiamen. We can make sure that neither is delayed!"
With the guarantee of the local revolutionary committee and the manpower support of the army.
Although the members still had some dissatisfaction, their resistance had eased considerably.
The brigade leader immediately stated, "Since the Revolutionary Committee and the army have thought so carefully for us commune members, we will follow the organization's arrangements."
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