Chapter 102
The social hall was bustling with activity, but Chen Tianyou had no interest in staying there. He put a handful of fried peanuts in his pocket and asked Wang Songyue, "I'm going out to play. Do you want to come?"
"Didn't Aunt Yang tell us not to go out? It's dark outside and it's snowing. What's fun to do there?" Wang Songyue was dancing to the music in the hall.
As a little girl, she has a natural passion for dancing, especially Wang Songyue, who is good-looking. She would go on stage to perform at the school's annual cultural performances, National Day holiday performances, etc. When she heard the music and saw the adults dancing, she would start dancing along.
Today she was wearing a dress that Liang Xueqing had altered from her woolen coat. The dress was a bit long, with the hem reaching her calves, like a small summer skirt. When she turned around, she looked like a pretty butterfly.
Chen Tianyou was stunned, thinking that Wang Songyue was really pretty and she was also pretty when dancing. No wonder so many boys in junior high school always liked to get close to her, and so many hooligans outside the school were eyeing her covetously.
Chen Tianyou bit open a peanut and said, "It's boring to stay here. Let's go set off firecrackers. I brought some."
As he spoke, he took out a string of firecrackers and an old-fashioned kerosene lighter from his pocket and walked outside.
Wang Songyue promised Yang Qiujin to keep an eye on him, and seeing him trying to run, she had no choice but to follow him and ask, "Where did you get the lighter to set off the firecrackers?"
"My dad, I secretly fixed his broken lighter when he wasn't paying attention." Chen Tianyou rushed to a ditch behind the regiment headquarters and wrapped a double-kick firecracker in snow, leaving the ignition part exposed.
Then he used his thumb to laboriously press the small gear on the kerosene lighter. After a long time, his thumb turned red, he could barely draw out a small flame the size of a bean.
He reached out to light the cannon, and quickly threw the snowball containing the double-kick cannon into the frozen ditch.
With a loud bang, the snowball exploded and the frozen ditch was blown open, scaring a naked man and woman who were standing behind a row of haystacks beside a nearby ditch. They screamed and ran quickly in the other direction.
Chen Tianyou thought he was seeing things, so he turned around and asked Wang Songyue, "Did you see that? Two naked men and women ran away."
Wang Songyue saw it all. Not only did she see it, she also clearly saw the man's banana and the woman's round nipples. Her face immediately turned red and she gritted her teeth and said, "What did I see? I only saw two figures."
Chen Tianyou squatted on the ground, kneading the snowball again and said, "I saw that woman's buttocks were bleeding, and that woman looked familiar."
Wang Songyue: ...
Chen Tianyou kneaded the snowball and continued to press the lighter to make it pop. "By the way, are you having your period? Xu Tao has already had her period, why don't you react?"
Wang Songyue's face flushed: "Why are you asking a girl such a private matter? Also, how did you know Xu Tao was having her period?"
"I'm just concerned about you. When I was little, one year when my mother had her period, she accidentally got it on her pants. I thought she was dying of illness, so I grabbed her hand and cried and asked her to see a doctor. She explained to me what menstruation was with a smile and tears, saying that girls of you will have your period almost every month when you reach a certain age unless you're pregnant. I ran into Xu Tao in the family compound a few days ago. Her butt was covered in blood, and her pants were stained red. She didn't even know she had her period. It was only after I reminded her that she realized it. You're almost eleven years old now, about the same age as Xu Tao, so it's time for you to have your period too," Chen Tianyou said seriously.
Wang Songyue was so ashamed: "Xu Tao is Xu Tao, I am me, why do you care whether I have my period or not?"
"If you have your period, I will help you wash the dishes at school and won't let you touch cold water to prevent you from feeling worse." Chen Tianyou said seriously.
Wang Songyue didn't want to discuss this issue with him, so she stood up and walked back.
Chen Tianyou followed her and said, "What's wrong? Why are you suddenly angry? I'm serious. If you have your period, you must tell me and I will help you."
Wang Songyue ignored him and walked faster and faster.
After dancing, Yang Qiujin couldn't find her children anywhere, so she hurried to Fan's house worriedly. The two children were eating happily in the house, while Li Xiu'e was holding little Tianxing and chatting with Fan Hui's mother-in-law next door.
Seeing her coming, Yang Qiuyue led her into the living room and said, "Sister, the children are hungry. I cooked hot pot for them. Would you like to have some?"
There is a small stove in the living room, with various vegetables and meats cooking, and the house is filled with the aroma of hot pot.
It was a rare occasion for Yang Qiujin to come to her sister's house, so she naturally had to give her face. She sat next to the stove and said, "You are too used to Tianyou. You still make hot pot for him so late at night."
Nine o'clock, neither early nor late, the Fan family had already passed their dinner time. Yang Qiujin knew that her son was greedy, so Yang Qiuyue satisfied his appetite.
She glared at Chen Tianyou and said, "Your aunt is now more than five months pregnant, why are you torturing her?"
This table full of greenhouse vegetables and meat slices needs to be washed and cut, which makes Yang Qiuyue very tired every time they come.
Chen Tianyou shrunk his neck and said, "I just casually said I wanted to eat hot pot, and my aunt asked my uncle-in-law to prepare these dishes for us. I didn't mean to trouble my aunt."
Yang Qiuyue tried to smooth things over by saying, "Yes, these jobs were all done by Fan Su. I didn't touch them."
Wang Songyue picked up a piece of fish that was boiled and curled white, and put it into Yang Qiujin's bowl, "Auntie Yang, eat."
"Thank you, Songyue." Yang Qiujin picked up the fish fillet and ate it with the garlic, coriander and hot pot sauce in the bowl. The fish meat was spicy and fresh, tender, without any fishy smell and no fish bones. She ate it with a big appetite. She picked up two cabbage leaves and put them in the pot to cook. She asked Yang Qiuyue: "You are more than five months pregnant now. How do you feel? Is Fan Chong treating you well?"
"I feel fine, but I'm very sleepy. I want to sleep from morning to night. Fan Sui does all the housework, and I have nothing to do. I just sleep at home all day." Yang Qiuyue touched her slightly bulging belly, her pretty face full of happiness.
Yang Qiujin was happy for her sister because she was living a happy life. Seeing that Fan Sui was not there, she asked casually, "Where is Fan Sui?"
"He's holding Xiao Tianxing next door." Yang Qiuyue said this with a helpless look on her face. "Xiao Tianxing is so adorable, she's pretty and not shy. Fan Chong loves her so much that he keeps holding her and won't let go. He also wants me to have a daughter like Xiao Tianxing."
As he was speaking, Fan Sui came back carrying Xiao Tianxing, followed by Li Xiu'e.
When little Tianxing saw his mother, he waved his hands excitedly, stretched out his arms towards her, and shouted "ma, mama" unconsciously.
Fan Sui's eyes widened when he heard this: "Wow, this is incredible, little Tianxing can call me mommy now."
"She's only seven months old, how can she call me mom so soon?" Yang Qiujin took little Tianxing from his arms, kissed her chubby face, grabbed one of her chubby little paws, waved to Fan Sui and said, "Tianxing, let's say goodbye to my uncle and aunt. When the new year comes, we'll come to pay New Year's greetings and give your uncle a big red envelope."
Xiao Tianxing didn't know if it was a coincidence or something, but she waved her little hand to Fan Sui, staring at him with her big black grape eyes and making two "oh" sounds with her little mouth, as if to say, "Give me a big red envelope for the New Year."
Fan Sui laughed so hard that he said, "Your uncle will definitely give you a big red envelope when the time comes. Little Tianxing, remember to come early to pay New Year's greetings, otherwise your uncle will give the red envelope to someone else."
After Yang Qiujin and her family left, Fan Sui cleaned up the dishes and washed the pots and bowls while staring at Yang Qiuyue's belly and said, "It would be great if we could have a daughter as pretty and well-behaved as Xiao Tianxing."
Yang Qiuyue sat beside the brazier Fan Sui had prepared for her, drinking a bowl of hot water made from malted milk, and said without raising her head, "Don't even think about it. It's said that sons take after their mothers and daughters take after their fathers. Don't look at how pretty Xiao Tianxing is, that's because my sister and my brother-in-law are both pretty, and Xiao Tianxing looks more like my brother-in-law. If you want a daughter, don't let her grow up to be as big and strong as you, like Li Kui, making people laugh."
Fan Sui touched his rough face and felt that what she said made some sense. He said without giving up, "What if my daughter is as pretty as you?"
Yang Qiuyue finished drinking the hot water in the cup in her hand and breathed a sigh of relief. "I was just joking. Don't take it seriously. It doesn't matter who the child looks like, whether it's a boy or a girl. After all, it's our child. If we really give birth to a daughter who looks like you, we will accept it."
Fan Sui laughed, "That's right, they are all my children, no matter if they are watermelons or bitter melons, as long as the child is obedient, I will raise him well, and appearance is not a problem. Who dares to laugh at my child?"
As the year draws to a close, it should be a good time for everyone to prepare for the New Year, celebrate the winter, and visit relatives and friends.
However, on the night of the New Year, Chen Shengqing, who was far away at a border post in the Tianshan Mountains, received an order from his superiors that Tieke Township, which was about 4,000 meters above sea level, had once again suffered a snowstorm and that border defense officers and soldiers were needed to go to the disaster relief. Without saying a word, Chen Shengqing took a battalion of soldiers and rushed to Tieke Township overnight.
Tieke Township is located on the westernmost snow-capped mountain of my country's Tianshan Mountains. When Chen Shengqing and his team climbed to Tieke Township in the raging snow and wind, it was already covered with vast white snow.
Tieke Township is a herdsman township with a population of about one hundred Kyrgyz households. The township is located in a valley between two mountains and has houses built there.
Now the snowstorm has collapsed the houses built with rocks, and the cattle, sheep and horses raised behind the houses have been crushed by the rocks. The villagers have also been crushed and injured, and flocks of sheep have disappeared. This is an immeasurable loss for the villagers of Tieke Township who make a living by grazing. They need the People's Liberation Army to rescue them, and they also need them to help them find the lost sheep.
The battalion led by Chen Shengqing was a cavalry battalion. They rode horses up the mountain along the winding mountain road in Tieke Township.
They appeared at the entrance of Tieke Township in military uniforms and on war horses. It was already dawn.
A villager saw them and shouted excitedly: "The PLA comrades are here, they are here to help us!"
The few villagers who were not affected by the disaster seemed to have found their backbone and swarmed towards them.
A little old man named Sai Keli, who was about 60 years old and wearing a woolen hat and a woolen felt coat, walked in front and said, "Comrades of the People's Liberation Army, you are finally here. I am the secretary of the Tieke Township Commune. Please help us."
Chen Shengqing rode on a tall horse. He shouted, swung his long legs, and got off the horse in a handsome manner. He handed the horse to Zhang Lei, the commander of the accompanying cavalry battalion, and said, "Old countryman, tell me what's going on here."
"Hey, last night we had heavy snow all day and strong winds. Suddenly an avalanche broke out on the top of the mountain. Large pieces of snow rolled down from the mountain and destroyed our house and the cattle and sheep pens. Many people and cattle and sheep were trapped at the bottom of the mountain. We are desperately digging out the snow to save people."
Due to the special geographical location of Tieke Township, the foot of the mountain is open to the Soviet Union, and sentry posts have been set up at the foot and on the mountain. When Tieke Township suffered a snowstorm, Sai Keli almost immediately sent people to seek help from the soldiers at the sentry posts.
The soldier at the sentry post immediately used the radio to contact the nearest patrol team and ask for help.
Tieke Township would be hit by a major snowstorm every few years. Both the villagers and the border defense department were used to it. Chen Shengqing did not say anything and turned around to give orders to the soldiers behind him: "I heard you all. Do your best to rescue the villagers and pay attention to your own safety."
"Yes!" the soldiers answered in unison.
Under the command of Chen Shengqing, a battalion of soldiers was divided into five teams and entered Tieke Township in batches. They used the tools they carried with them to dig rocks and snow to rescue people.
There was still heavy snowfall in the sky and the weather was very cold. When the wind and snow blew, the originally soft snow was quickly frozen into ice by the extremely low temperature. The snow was as hard as a stone, which added a lot of difficulty to the rescue work.
All the soldiers were wearing thick military coats and cotton hats. They were standing in the heavy snow that made it impossible to open their eyes. They were braving the biting cold wind that scraped their faces like knives. They gritted their teeth and struggled to dig out the snow from under the collapsed houses.
The trapped villagers had their hands and feet almost frozen under the accumulated snow, but because they lived in such a high-altitude area, they had some knowledge of snow disaster prevention and self-rescue. Many of them survived and were alive and well. They only made weak cries for help to tell the rescuers outside where they were.
Chen Shengqing stood in the snow, squinting his beautiful long eyes, scanning the nearby houses buried in the snow. Enduring the extremely low temperature, he was in a vast expanse of white snow, holding an engineer shovel, and laboriously shoveling the snow.
On the plateau, ordinary people find it difficult to breathe, let alone such vigorous digging movements.
Even though he was used to the plateau climate, Chen Shengqing would still stop every once in a while, stand there, and breathe heavily.
The rescue work was of great intensity and urgent. All the border guards were wielding their engineering shovels with all their might. Their hands were covered with big blisters from being rubbed by the shovels, but they never stopped to rest.
By the time the trapped villagers and injured people were rescued from the vast expanse of snow, more than half a day had passed.
Regrettably, among the more than 100 villagers they rescued, there were more than 10 elderly people and children who froze to death due to exhaustion, poor health, and lack of oxygen under the accumulated snow.
Chen Shengqing led all the soldiers, took off their military caps, and observed a minute of silence. Then, without stopping, they continued to dig snow to rescue the cattle and sheep and look for the sheep.
Cattle and sheep are all the property of Tieke villagers and their life. After winter came, the entire northern Xinjiang region was covered by snow and wind. There was no way to move the cattle and sheep, so they were kept in their own backyards. Who would have thought that this snowstorm would be so severe that so many cattle and sheep were covered by the snow.
The soldiers worked numbly and quickly to dig the snow everywhere. Before nightfall, they finally dug out all the snow in the cattle and sheep pens, rescued batches of cattle and sheep, and captured most of the sheep that were lost in the snow.
Although many cattle and sheep died and Tieke Township suffered heavy losses, the people of Tieke Township still warmly entertained the soldiers.
In the words of Sekli, "The cattle and sheep are all frozen to death anyway, and today is Chinese New Year's Eve. We can't let down the comrades who came to help us. Let's cook and roast the mutton and beef."
Chen Shengqing said: "Secretary Sai, don't bother. Serving the people is what we PLA should do. We can't eat your food. This is against the rules."
Sakeli took his hand and said, "Comrade Chen, I know the rules of your army. The army requires you not to take anything from the people. We are not giving you anything, but just inviting you to a meal. You climbed up to help us overnight and worked all day. You must be starving. Today is Chinese New Year. We can't let you go back hungry. We will feel guilty if we do that. Besides, so many cattle and sheep have died. If we don't deal with them in time, they will attract many wolves and wild beasts to compete for food. We also want you to stay and help us transport these dead cattle and sheep to the nearest grocery store tomorrow for disposal."
Except for a few, all other cattle and sheep of nomadic people belong to the collective and are distributed among families to be raised. The sale of cattle and sheep or the milk produced by them are all collective property, and at the end of the year the commune will share the accounts and buy grain.
There were about 300 cattle and sheep killed by the accumulated snow, and almost every villager was heartbroken.
The death of so many cattle and sheep means that next year their cows and sheep will give birth to fewer lambs and calves, and their cow and goat milk will also decrease. By the end of next year, the money they collectively receive will be reduced by one third.
But no matter how heartbroken they are, they have to be thankful that these dead sheep and cattle died of natural disasters, not disease. As long as the beef and mutton are slaughtered, they can be taken to various supply and marketing cooperatives and grocery stores and sold for a good price.
There were butchers in the village who specialized in slaughtering cattle and sheep. Under the command of Sekli, two strong butchers and more than a dozen men who were not butchers but were experts in slaughtering cattle and sheep began to dismember the dead cattle and sheep in the snow.
The other villagers rummaged through their collapsed houses to find woolen blankets and set up tents. Then they dug out pots and pans, wood and firewood, and started cooking.
Chen Shengqing could not refuse, thinking that it would be unsafe for the villagers of Tieke Township to transport so many dead cattle and sheep to a grocery store a hundred miles away to sell them tomorrow, so he just went with the host's wishes.
When it was completely dark, huge fires were lit in front of the town square of Tieke Township, roasting dozens of whole lambs. There were also several large iron pots nearby, stewing beef and lamb. The whole square was filled with an alluring aroma.
Chen Shengqing and the cavalry battalion commander were pulled by Sai Keli to sit in the largest tent. Sai Keli brought them a large pot of cooked beef and mutton, and also got them a roasted leg of lamb. He poured wine into their bowls and said to them, "Comrades, eat and drink, don't be polite."
"Secretary Sai, the army stipulates that we cannot drink alcohol when we are on patrol." Chen Shengqing covered the bowl with his hand and said politely, "We can't drink."
Seeing that he insisted, Saikeli did not force him. He sat beside him, took a knife, cut off a large piece of boiled mutton, and put it in Chen Shengqing's bowl. "Deputy Commander Chen, try the mutton from Tieke Township. It is boiled in clear water with a little salt. There are no other miscellaneous seasonings. Most of the cattle and sheep in our township eat highland grass. The meat is better than that in other border areas. It doesn't taste any mutton. You Han people should like it."
Chen Shengqing lowered his head and took a bite. The meat was indeed tender and plump, without any smell. Although it was a frozen sheep, it did not affect the taste at all and it tasted very good.
"It's indeed better than the mutton from other border areas." Guest Chen Shengqing exclaimed.
Sai Keli raised his head proudly and said, "I won't brag about other things, but the Soviets and some cadres especially like the beef and mutton from Tieke Township. Every year they order a lot of beef and mutton from us to eat."
"Indeed, the beef and mutton here are the best meat I have ever eaten in the border area. I want to buy one to bring back for my family. I don't know how the Soviets buy beef and mutton from you, and which cadres like to buy from you." Chen Shengqing drank a mouthful of beef soup served by Sekli and asked calmly.
"Well, Comrade Chen, if you like to eat our mutton, you can take a live sheep away tomorrow morning, no money required." Sai Keli said while drinking a bowl of wine, "Our beef and mutton are all exported to the Soviet Union through formal foreign trade. The Soviets of course buy our mutton from the Border Foreign Trade Department. As for which leaders like to buy our mutton, I am not in a position to disclose it."
It looks like there's cat poop in here.
Chen Shengqing and Zhang Lei looked at each other, and Zhang Lei asked, "Secretary Sai, I have something I have always wanted to ask you. Your Tieke Township encounters snowstorms almost every few years. Your township is located between high-altitude snow-capped mountains, and it is inconvenient to go to the countryside. Why don't you move the villagers to live down the mountain, where it will be safer?"
"No matter how good other places are, it's hard to leave your hometown." Sai Keli put down the wine bowl in his hand, his face flushed from the strong liquor and said, "Although our Tieke Township has suffered many snow disasters, the whole township is rich in water and grass, and many precious medicinal herbs grow here. We have lived here since we were young, and we make a living by herding cattle and sheep and digging medicinal herbs. If you ask us to leave here, we may not live better than here if we go somewhere else."
"That's true." Zhang Lei smacked his lips.
Chen Shengqing said nothing and silently ate the piece of beef in his hand.
When everyone finished the sumptuous feast of beef and mutton, it was already midnight. Sekli asked the villagers to set up more than a dozen large tents for the PLA soldiers to sleep.
There was a brazier burning in the tent, with a ventilation hole open, and the soldiers slept on the ground.
When the soldiers fell asleep, a figure quietly walked out of the tent.
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