Chapter 612 Finally Arrived
In order to reach the last village within the specified time, Zhou Yimin and Li Feng rushed there as quickly as possible while ensuring their safety.
After more than half an hour of travel, the two of them finally arrived at the last place of this mission.
The truck drove slowly into Qingya Village. On the old locust tree at the entrance of the village hung a few strings of faded red silk, floating weakly in the wind.
On the snow-covered village road, there are only a few footprints winding away into the distance. The whole village is as quiet as an ink painting.
As soon as Zhou Yimin opened the car door, a biting cold wind carrying snow particles blew in his face, making him shiver.
The two men walked towards the village on the thick snow, and every step they took sank deeply into the snow, making a crunching sound.
After turning a corner, the sound of dogs barking suddenly came from the courtyard in front. Then, an old man wearing a sheepskin hat lifted the cotton curtain and stuck his head out.
"Who are you?" The old man narrowed his eyes and looked at the two uninvited guests warily.
After all, in this era when enemy spies are rampant, people are still relatively resistant to outsiders. If you can't explain why, it is normal to be arrested and sent to the police station.
"Uncle, we are from the steel plant and are here to collect chickens!" Zhou Yimin shouted loudly, taking out his work ID.
The old man took a closer look, and the alert look on his face gradually eased. "So you are from the steel factory. Come in and warm up! It must be hard to walk on the road in this horrible weather, right?"
Inside the house, the earthen kang was burning hot and the charcoal in the brazier was crackling.
The old man called the village chief, and several people sat around the kang table to discuss.
The village chief was a man in his forties. After hearing the purpose of the visit, his brows furrowed into knots. "That's great. Our village is having a headache about this matter, and you guys came."
Zhou Yimin and Li Feng looked at each other, and a hint of happiness flashed in their eyes. It seems that this time should be smoother.
"Village chief, that's good, we each get what we need." Zhou Yimin said anxiously.
The village chief pondered for a moment, then slapped his thigh and said, "Okay! In that case, I'll go get someone to catch the chicken!"
The village suddenly became lively, and villagers ran to the chicken coop with bamboo cages and hemp ropes.
Zhou Yimin and Li Feng also joined in to help with the moving and counting.
In the cold wind, their faces were frozen red and their fingers lost feeling, but their movements did not slow down at all.
It was already past noon when the last chicken was loaded into the truck.
At this time, the village chief said, "You two, it's getting late now, why don't you stay for lunch?"
After all, Zhou Yimin solved a big problem in the village. Everyone had thought that the chickens in the village would have to wait until next spring, when the ice and snow melted, and then someone would come to collect them.
It's so much earlier than expected, which can save the village a lot of feed, and after selling the chickens, the village can have a good New Year.
Zhou Yimin looked at the time and saw that the snow was getting heavier, so he could only refuse: "Village Chief, this is really not possible. We have to get back to the steel plant before dark, otherwise it will be troublesome if the road is blocked by heavy snow."
The village chief looked at the weather and saw that there was indeed such a sign, so he did not continue to try to persuade them to stay.
In the sky, large flakes of snow were falling like goose feathers.
Zhou Yimin looked at the two trucks full of chickens, and the heavy stone in his heart finally fell to the ground.
"Captain Li, let's set off. We have to get back before the snow blocks the mountain!" he said loudly.
Li Feng nodded and started the engine. The truck slowly drove out of Qingya Village, the headlights illuminated the road ahead, and snowflakes danced in the light column, like countless silver elves.
Zhou Yimin looked back at the village gradually disappearing in the wind and snow, silently praying for a safe and smooth journey. He also hoped that these chickens could bring warmth and comfort to the workers in the steel plant in the winter.
The headlights cut through the flying snow, but could only illuminate the road a few meters in front of the car.
Li Feng gripped the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force. The truck slithered along the icy winding mountain road, and every turn was accompanied by the screeching sound of the tires slipping.
Zhou Yimin stared at the lights of another truck in the rearview mirror. The halo of light flickered in the snow and fog, as if it would be swallowed by the darkness at any time.
"Squeak" a sharp brake sound suddenly rang out.
The road ahead was covered with a thick crust of ice, like a mirror.
Li Feng turned the steering wheel sharply, causing the car body to shake violently and the chicken coop in the car to make a harsh collision sound.
Zhou Yimin grabbed the handrail tightly, cold sweat instantly soaking his back, and watched the truck draw a long arc on the ice and almost hit the roadside.
At the critical moment, the anti-skid chain bit into the ice, and the car body stopped trembling on the edge of the cliff, with half of the wheel hanging outside the cliff.
The two men sat stiffly in the driver's seat, their eardrums hurting from the sound of their heartbeats.
Zhou Yimin swallowed hard and said, "Captain Li, this way."
Before he could finish his words, a flash of lightning suddenly streaked across the sky, illuminating the snow all over the mountains - a blizzard was coming.
Dense snow particles hit the windshield like bullets, and the wipers swinging wildly are of no use.
"We have to find a place to hide!" Li Feng said in a hoarse voice as he reversed the car carefully.
Finally, after turning a corner, they found an abandoned mine halfway up the mountain.
Two trucks drove into the cave entrance in a crooked manner, and the sound of their engines echoed in the empty mine.
Zhou Yimin jumped out of the car to check and found that several chickens in the car were injured in the violent shaking, and their snow-white feathers were dyed red with blood.
Strong winds howled at the cave entrance, blowing up snow particles that piled up into small snow hills.
Zhou Yimin and Li Feng huddled in the truck cab, eating cold steamed buns to fill their stomachs.
Although Zhou Yimin could take out good things from the space, he couldn't explain the reason clearly, so he could only follow Li Feng to eat cold steamed buns.
"When the snow stops, we have to reinforce the chicken coop." Zhou Yimin looked at the raging snow and wind outside the car.
"Don't let the workers wait so long for the New Year's goods, only to have something go wrong in the end."
Li Feng silently lit a cigarette. The flame flickered in the darkness, illuminating the tired but determined faces of the two men.
Time seemed to have stopped inside the mine, with only the wind and snow howling at the cave entrance.
With the dim light from the truck's taillights, Zhou Yimin used hemp ropes to reinforce the loose chicken coops one by one. His fingertips were rubbed so hard by the rough hemp ropes that they hurt, and the blood that seeped out quickly turned into dark red scabs in the cold night.
Li Feng squatted in front of the car and repeatedly checked the brake system with a wrench. The sound of metal collision was particularly clear in the empty mine.
"Look!" Zhou Yimin suddenly pointed at the cave entrance and shouted.
At some point, the raging snowstorm miraculously stopped, a hint of paleness appeared in the east, and the morning light penetrated the clouds, casting a layer of light gold on the snow.
The two looked at each other and jumped onto the truck without saying a word. The tires rolled over the newly formed ice, making a crisp "crunching" sound, but the body of the truck was much more stable than before.
Zhou Yimin was about to get on the train when he heard a strange commotion in the carriage. He lifted the tarpaulin and saw a chicken that had somehow broken free from its ropes and was struggling on top of its cage, its sharp claws making the cage creak.
He quickly reached out to grab it, but the frightened chicken pecked his hand.
"Don't move! Go back to your nest!"
He grimaced in pain, but still patiently tried to comfort the chicken, and finally tied it up again.
When we set off again, the sunset had dyed half the sky red.
The truck bumped around the last bend and the steel mill's towering chimneys finally came into view.
Zhou Yimin took out the crumpled cigarette from his pocket, only to find that it had already been soaked by the snow.
The truck tires rolled over the snow in the factory area, making a squeaking sound, and slowly stopped in the open space next to the cafeteria.
The workers who had been waiting eagerly gathered around in an instant, and the beams of flashlights crisscrossed across the carriage, illuminating the frosty faces of Zhou Yimin and Li Feng.
Director Ding pushed through the crowd and patted Zhou Yimin on the shoulder: "I've been waiting for you to come back!"
He was a little worried whether Zhou Yimin and the others would come today, after all, it was snowing so hard.
Director Ding wrapped himself tightly in his dark blue cotton-padded jacket, stamped his numb feet, and waved to the workers gathered around the truck: "Cheer up! Whether we can eat fresh chicken tonight depends on this!"
With a "crash", the rear deck of the truck was dropped heavily, startling a burst of crowing of roosters.
The workers, who had been prepared, immediately took action, and the beams of light from their flashlights intertwined and swayed in the carriage.
Old Wu, wearing thread gloves that half exposed his fingers, bent down and picked up the bamboo cage. The chickens in the cage flapped their wings and their tail feathers brushed across his wrinkled cheeks.
"Be gentle! Don't scare the chickens!" Director Ding warned loudly, and the white air he exhaled instantly condensed into frost flowers, sticking to his thick mustache.
The team carrying the things quickly formed two rows, like a long winding dragon.
The workers carefully passed the chicken cages around, one after another.
"then"
"Steady"
Echoing in the cold wind.
The young apprentice Xiao Zhang slipped and the bamboo cage in his arms tilted suddenly. A spotted chicken almost flew out, causing the people around him to gasp in shock.
He hurriedly steadied himself, the cold sweat on his forehead quickly froze in the cold wind.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He apologized with a red face, but he held the bamboo cage tighter with his hands.
At the entrance of the cafeteria, Chef Zhang was already waiting there with a few kitchen helpers.
They brought long wooden benches and stacked the unloaded chicken cages neatly, carefully placing straw between each stack to prevent the bamboo cages from squeezing each other.
Director Ding held up the roster and shouted to check the number: "Workshop three, fifteen cages! Workshop five, twelve cages..."
His voice was torn into pieces by the howling north wind, but it still revealed unquestionable majesty.
As the last cage of chickens was gently put down, the bell tower in the distance struck seven times.
Director Ding patted the chicken feathers on his hands, looked at the chicken coops piled up like a small hill, and finally a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
It seems that the biggest problem at the end of the year has been solved, and I won’t have to be bothered by my leaders anymore.
Director Ding suddenly remembered that the workers’ year-end benefits had been resolved, but the leaders’ year-end benefits had not yet been resolved.
Suddenly I saw Zhou Yimin and Li Feng talking. How could I have forgotten about Zhou Yimin? Since Zhou Yimin is so capable, it shouldn't be difficult for him to get so many chickens and some other supplies.
However, Zhou Yimin was still busy, so he had to give up the idea of looking for Zhou Yimin and could only turn around and walk back to the office.
The incandescent lamps in the backyard of the cafeteria swayed in the wind and snow, illuminating the killing field as bright as day.
Master Zhang dipped the whetstone into the bucket of water. The blue-gray stone surface glowed coldly. He turned his wrist, and the kitchen knife rubbed against the whetstone, making a harsh "rustling" sound. Sparks splashed onto the snow, instantly melting out tiny black holes.
"Everyone line up! Don't hurt the wings when catching the chickens!" he shouted, his apron still stained with oil from chopping meat the day before.
When the first strong man approached, grabbing the chicken's neck, the chicken flapped its wings and let out a sharp cry, and its tail feathers brushed across his frozen red cheeks.
Master Zhang took the chicken with his left hand, pressed the chicken head with his thumb and pressed it onto the chopping board. The kitchen knife in his right hand flashed with a cold light, and the sharp blade instantly cut the throat.
Warm blood gushed out, splashing onto the straw-covered ground and forming dark red ice crystals in the snowy night.
"Hurry up and get the blood!" he shouted to the apprentice beside him. The young man hurriedly raised the enamel basin, the edge of which was still stained with water stains from washing the pot the day before.
Boiling water was bubbling in two large iron pots, and the steam carrying the fishy smell of chicken feathers rushed straight to the roof.
The female comrades, wearing coarse gloves, pressed the slaughtered chickens into hot water and stirred them back and forth, and groped in the water with their whitened fingers to pluck the feathers.
"This old hen's feathers are so hard to pluck!" Aunt Wang's voice came from the steaming mist. She pulled hard feathers at the base of the wings, and the splashing water left dark marks on her cotton coat.
Several male workers stood by the pot holding tongs, ready to pick up the floating chicken feathers at any time to avoid clogging the drain.
There was a mountain of chicken on the chopping board. Master Zhang's knife flew up and down, and the blade made a dull "dong dong" sound when it collided with the bones.
He precisely cut the whole chicken in half; the rich chicken fat dripped down the blade and formed a greasy puddle on the wooden board.
"One for two people! Remember your work numbers!" He shouted to the bookkeeping clerk while cutting the papers.
The clerk held the pencil between his red, frozen fingers and wrote quickly on the yellowed paper. The tip of the pen made a slight "sizzling" sound as it scratched the paper.
The cold wind blew into the kitchen with the smell of blood, but was dispersed by the leaping flames in the stove.
The white breath exhaled by the workers mixed with the rising hot air, turning the incandescent lamp into a hazy halo.
When the last chicken was processed, Master Zhang straightened his aching back and looked at the neatly stacked chicken on the chopping board. The pipe in his apron pocket had already been soaked with sweat.
At this moment, the loud speaker in the steel plant suddenly made a crackling sound of electricity, which startled Xiao Zhao, who was wiping the machine tool, and made his hands tremble.
Then, the clear voice of the announcer pierced through the biting cold wind: "Attention all employees! Attention all employees! The New Year's gift that everyone has been longing for - freshly slaughtered chickens, has all been delivered to the cafeteria."
The sound was like a drop of water thrown into boiling oil, exploding in every workshop in an instant.
Next to the steelmaking furnace, the oil-stained Old Chen took off his protective mask and shouted to his co-workers with a grin: "Did you hear that? The chickens are back!"
In the machine tool operation room, the female workers stopped their work and clasped their hands in labor protection gloves excitedly: "We have finally been waiting for this!"
The broadcast continued to announce the details of the collection in an orderly manner: "Please go to the canteen window to register and collect the chickens in groups with your work badges. Considering the limited quantity, the standard for this distribution is half a chicken per person."
The sound was torn apart by the howling north wind, but it could not block the expectation flashing in the workers' eyes.
(End of this chapter)
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