Chapter 35
Of course Liu Xiaoshan could not make up the balance, because he had never kept accounts in all these years. He just marked them out in a sloppy manner. The warehouse of the Second Company was like his own home. He could take whatever he wanted and there was no need to keep accounts.
Time passed minute by minute, and he pretended to search the warehouse statistician's office, but found nothing. Secretary Zhai and his gang were still watching him outside with a covetous look.
Liu Xiaoshan couldn't stand it anymore, so he secretly signaled to his elder brother, asking Liu Dashan to find Feng Sheng and the others to think of a solution.
Feng Sheng said, "What can we do? Secretary Zhai is determined to punish your second brother. We can't get into trouble for your second brother. You go and persuade your second brother to admit it. As long as he admits it and doesn't involve other people, we will give his wife and children a large sum of money so that they can live a life of ease. If he doesn't admit it and still wants to drag us into it, then we will all be investigated together and spend the rest of our lives in prison. No one will have a good life!"
Liu Dashan passed the message to Liu Xiaoshan, who said unwillingly, "Why should I be sued and imprisoned because of that woman? Didn't we agree yesterday to drive that woman away and continue to be landlords in the Second Company? Today, everyone is pushing the responsibility onto me. For so many years, my brothers have been stealing and selling grain to feed them. Now that something has happened, they want me to take the blame. Why?"
"Second brother, if you don't stand up, Dabao and his mother will starve to death." Liu Dashan advised earnestly: "You have been managing the warehouse of the Second Company for so many years. You have been stealing and selling grain. All other embezzled items came from you. You want to accuse Cao Jun, Feng Sheng, Uncle Fugui and others of colluding with you. Do you have evidence to prove that they did it? No one will believe you just because you say it without any evidence. You might as well admit it honestly. Anyway, you have made a lot of money in these years and your pockets are bulging. You can give the money to our mother in the countryside to manage, and Cao Jun and others will give a sum of money to your sister-in-law to support you and your two children. You can be a good man again after being imprisoned for ten or eight years."
Liu Xiaoshan was speechless and fell into silence, carefully analyzing the pros and cons. Not long after, he walked out of the small room and admitted his mistake in front of Secretary Zhai with tears in his eyes.
Secretary Zhai naturally reprimanded him and asked him to hand over the warehouse key. He then called the security department to take Liu Xiaoshan away for investigation by the factory committee.
Yang Qiujin kept a close eye on the situation the whole time, letting Secretary Zhai, Han Yongxin, and Secretary Zhang handle the matter.
Liu Xiaoshan was able to handle such a mess for so many years, and Yang Qiujin didn't believe that Secretary Zhai had not heard of it. Although she didn't know why he pretended to be stupid for so many years, she was here today, and she would not take over this mess unless she handled the matter properly.
Secretary Zhai got the key and opened the company's two large warehouses. Inside, there were sacks filled with food and some daily necessities. From the outside, there didn't seem to be any major problems.
Cao Jun said to Yang Qiujin, "Comrade Xiao Yang, Liu Xiaoshan's corruption is a fact. These are the only things left in the warehouse. Do you want to find two people to help you count the things?"
He pointed at an honest-looking female comrade and said, "Let Xiao Song help you. She's very strong."
Xiao Song, whose name was called, was named Song Zhaodi. She was pretty and wore a half-worn grey slanted-collar skirt with patches. After being pushed out by Cao Jun, she looked at Yang Qiujin with timid eyes.
Yang Qiujin looked at Song Zhaodi carefully from head to toe and found unspeakable marks on her neck and wrists. Her eyebrows jumped and she turned to look at Cao Jun and said, "I do need someone to help count the things, but I and Xiao Song alone are two female comrades, and I am afraid we can't move tons of food bags for inspection."
She paused, then looked at Han Yongxin and said, "Please ask Captain Han to find a few militia comrades to help me move all the food and other sundries out of the granary. I will check them one by one and record them in the book in front of everyone. Then, clean the two warehouses to see if there are any places damaged by rats and repair them."
"Comrade Xiao Yang, this is not appropriate, is it?" Han Yongxin was about to say yes, but Cao Jun said first: "The grain in this warehouse is at least ten tons, and other things such as coal, cloth, laundry supplies, etc. are piled up in a lot. If you want to check them one by one, it will take you forever to count them."
"Master Cao, what you said is wrong. Since I have taken over the job of statistician, I must carefully count all the goods in the warehouse and record them in the register so that everything is clear and I won't be like Liu Xiaoshan who made a mess of the accounts. Otherwise, why did Captain Han ask me to come here? Am I going to become the second Liu Xiaoshan?"
Yang Qiujin looked at the seemingly full warehouse in front of her, and smiled at Cao Jun who was desperate, "Secretary Cao, I am not anxious, why are you anxious? Is there some cat food in this warehouse?"
Everyone looked at Cao Jun, who was sweating profusely. He laughed and said, "I'm just making a suggestion. It's up to you, Comrade Xiao Yang, whether you listen to it or not, haha."
"Thank you for your kindness, but I choose not to listen." Yang Qiujin waved to Han Yongxin, "Captain Han, please find someone."
Han Yongxin did not say a word and quickly called seven strong militiamen over. According to Yang Qiujin's instructions, they moved all the things in the warehouse to the earthen embankment in front of the warehouse and let Yang Qiujin check them one by one.
Yang Qiujin found a yellowed, old, empty notebook in the statistician's office on the right side of the warehouse. She took out a pen from her bag and classified and registered all the goods in Daba one by one.
The seven militias moved out everything from sundries to food in batches, attracting many migrant workers, their families, and educated youth who were preparing to go to work to come and watch.
It was supposed to be time for everyone to go to work, but Han Yongxin, who was in charge of assigning work, was in the warehouse dealing with Liu Xiaoshan's affairs and no one was assigning work. When everyone heard that Liu Xiaoshan had been arrested, they all came over to join in the fun.
More and more people gathered, and more and more goods were registered in accordance with Yang Qiujin's classification in front of the earthen dam. At this time, a militiaman with a dark face came over and said to Han Yongxin: "Captain Han, something is wrong."
Han Yongxin saw Yang Qiujin looking at him and did not avoid her, "Speak!"
The black-faced militia pointed to the food warehouse on the left and said, "We felt no problem moving food at first, but the further we moved, the more we felt something was wrong, because some of the sacks on our shoulders were light and some were painful, and they didn't look like they were filled with food at all."
Han Yongxin's heart sank, and he walked into the granary and ordered seven militiamen: "Open all the remaining sacks inside."
Seven militiamen lined up in a row and untied the ropes of the sacks piled up in the granary one by one.
My goodness, you won’t know until you see it, and you will be shocked. These sacks that look bulging on the outside are actually filled with messy weeds and stones of various sizes when opened. Every sack is like this, and it is estimated that there are no less than a hundred sacks!
Everyone gasped. After the company paid its grain tax last year, the remaining grain in the warehouse was enough to provide food for the entire company's staff for a year.
So much food has disappeared, and there is not enough food. What are the company employees going to do with their food for the next six months?
Secretary Zhai was so angry that his head was swollen. Such a big grain theft incident would have to be held accountable by the Corps, not to mention Liu Xiaoshan. Even he, the farm secretary, would have to be held accountable.
Secretary Zhai immediately ordered Han Yongxin to arrest and interrogate all those who had contact with Liu Xiaoshan.
So much food disappeared, it is impossible for Liu Xiaoshan to do it alone. It must have been done by a group of people.
Liu Dashan, Liu Fugui, Feng Sheng and others were the first to bear the brunt of the consequences. They are relatives. Liu Xiaoshan was able to keep his accounts clean for so many years and dared to steal and sell grain. Without the protection and blessing of these people, it would be impossible for them to do such a thing.
Liu Fugui and several others were immediately captured by the militia company and made nonsensical excuses.
They discussed the matter for half the night and felt that Liu Xiaoshan's job was definitely lost. In order to set a trap for the new statistician and to get a last-minute report, they went to the granary overnight and stole half of the fine grains such as rice and flour. They then filled some sacks with hay and stones and placed them in the innermost part of the granary as grain.
In this way, even if Liu Xiaoshan could not keep his job, they would get a large amount of food, which they could use to sell for a lot of money. They could also report the new statistician at the right time and slander her for stealing and selling food.
If the new statistician cannot find food, he will either be fired or arrested. When she is arrested, the statistician position will become vacant and they will have to use the person recommended by them.
But the new statistician did not follow the routine and pressed Liu Xiaoshan down as soon as he came up. Originally, they thought that as long as Liu Xiaoshan confessed his guilt, they would be safe. But who would have thought that this woman would neither play dumb nor accept Song Zhaodi, who was pushed by Cao Jun to help cover up the matter. She insisted on finding the militia to make a big fuss and inspect the goods in public.
The truth is now revealed, and no matter how they try to argue or refute, it is no use. They glared at Han Yongxin, Secretary Zhang, and Yang Qiujin. The meaning in their eyes was very clear: just wait, we will not let you go!
Secretary Zhang watched them being arrested and taken away, and smiled wickedly. He said to Yang Qiujin: "Comrade Yang, you did a great job! You don't know how many evil things Liu Xiaoshan and his gang have done in our company! You are getting rid of harm for the people!"
Many employees who were watching the excitement nodded in agreement, saying, "That's right. When we employees come to collect our gifts, he always deducts our gifts against his conscience. For example, during the Chinese New Year last year, the factory provided each employee with a bar of soap, a pound of paper towels, one or two ounces of sugar, and ten pounds of coal. He divided all the gifts in half and told us whether we wanted to take them or not. He threw all the gifts we questioned on the ground and dismissed us like beggars. He's so hateful!"
"Yes, it's OK that he withheld employee benefits. My food relationship was not transferred to the canteen, but to the company. I had many children at home, so I bought my own food and cooked at home. Every time I came to the warehouse to buy food, he always shortchanged me and passed inferior goods as good ones. Over the years, I have reported his corruption to the leaders many times, but they always laughed it off and didn't deal with these things. It's a pity that my family is so hungry that we are skin and bones, and we can't muster the energy to do anything. Last year, I fainted because of excessive hunger, and my leg was stepped on by a Kazakh cow plowing the field. I am still lame now and can't find a place to complain. Now this evildoer has finally been arrested, which is really gratifying!"
"What you did is nothing. When Liu Xiaoshan's cousin Liu Wenshan was still alive, the brothers, together with their Liu family relatives and fellow villagers, bullied men and women in our company. Let's not talk about other things. Let's talk about the daughter-in-law of the Xia family who hanged herself. I heard that Liu Wenshan saw that Xia Laosi was skinny and could not do anything, so he often crawled into the bed of the beautiful daughter-in-law of the Xia family. After crawling so many times, he even brought Liu Dashan and his brother to do it together, and the daughter-in-law committed suicide! Liu Wenshan turned around and crawled into the bed of an unmarried girl, destroying the innocence of the girl. When her parents found out, they came to fight him, and he accidentally beat them to death. He wanted to escape to the Soviet Union, but was shot to death by a border guard officer..."
......
Everyone was talking about the evil deeds done by Liu Xiaoshan and his gang in recent years, and everyone praised Yang Qiujin's ability.
Yang Qiujin was horrified and waved her hands repeatedly, saying, "You are praising the wrong person. It was not me who brought down Liu Xiaoshan's party members, but your company commander Han and secretary Zhang. I have only been at the farm for a short time, and today is my first day to take over the job of statistician. I am just doing my job well. How can I use those means to bring down these local tyrants?"
Even if Liu Xiaoshan and his gang members were arrested, they still had relatives and friends who were connected to her through other connections. If these employees were to take all the credit from her and flatter her, she would become the target of public criticism and a living target for persecution.
She doesn't want to be like this. She should keep a low profile when necessary and launch functions when necessary.
Sure enough, her words successfully diverted everyone's attention, and they all praised Han Yongxin and the other two: "Captain Han, I knew that with your upright character, it would only be a matter of time before you could overthrow Liu Xiaoshan and the others."
"Yes, Secretary Zhang, you are worthy of being the iron-blooded revolutionary soldiers of our 35th Regiment. Even though our regiment has lost its military organization, you are still thinking about serving the country and the people... You have endured for so many years, and finally today you have removed the cancer for everyone..."
A bunch of people flattered Han Yongxin and his companions. Han Yongxin listened impatiently: "You are all so idle that you have nothing to do. Do you know what time it is? Go do what you were assigned yesterday!"
The crowd gradually dispersed. It took Yang Qiujin nearly an hour to sort and register all the items in the warehouse. She then cleaned the two warehouses covering hundreds of square meters and asked the militia to help sort the items and put them back.
Everything is in order, and the key is in Yang Qiujin's hands. From today on, Yang Qiujin is the official statistician and manager of the warehouse.
Secretary Zhai said a lot of things to ask her to manage the warehouse well, and then left with a group of leaders.
"Captain Han," Yang Qiujin called Han Yongxin at the right time, "Yesterday I asked you to promise me something. Today I have made up my mind. I want to use the one and a half acres of land around the warehouse to grow the crops I want, and the crops will belong to the collective."
The Erlian warehouse was built in the center of the nearly 10,000 mu of land under the company's jurisdiction. It was fan-shaped and surrounded by scattered houses and dugouts for the staff and educated youth.
In front of the warehouse there was a large earthen embankment that was rolled smooth with an earth roller. It was used for drying grain and parking vehicles. There was an empty area of about one acre on both sides and at the back, where some sparse weeds grew.
Han Yongxin frowned. "Isn't the statistical management work enough for you? What do you want to grow? Our company does not allow land to be designated for a certain ethnic group. This is not in line with national policy."
Yang Qiujin said, "In my hometown, there are two professors of agricultural and sideline industries who were sent to our production team for labor reform. They saved my mother and had some interactions with me. They gave me various seeds they had studied to try and see if the yield and quality could be improved. I have been planting them for several years and I feel they are pretty good. I want to plant them in the company and let you and the leaders of the farm take a look. If the yield and quality of the crops grown are higher than the crops currently grown on the farm, I hope the company commander can promote them for planting. After all, with good seeds, the yield can be doubled. Doubling the yield means that our farm employees will not be like they are now, with one-third hungry and one-third full, and they will not have enough to eat."
Han Yongxin was moved when he heard this. Nowadays, most farms in border areas have passed the most difficult stage of land reclamation and reclamation. The main problem facing each farm now is the problem of soil fertility and grain production.
In order to solve these two problems, the Frontier Agricultural Reclamation Department gathered a large number of experts from the Academy of Agricultural Sciences to conduct various seed researches, just to develop good seeds that are suitable for frontier soil and have high yield.
However, since the great movement began last year, highly educated people have been severely reported and exposed by the grassroots people. Many experts have been labeled as □□, Soviet revisionists, and the stinking ninth category, and have either been sent down to the countryside for reform or forced to commit suicide in various ways. Seed research has come to a standstill.
However, even so, many farms are trying to research and cultivate good seeds in order to increase production and enable their farms to achieve mass production targets.
Han Yongxin is an educated person. Although he only has an elementary school education, he knows what it means for a farm to have good seeds.
He thought for a moment and said, "I can't make the decision on this matter myself, but you can plant it first. I will talk to Secretary Zhai and other leaders about this matter later. It should be possible."
As long as she can plant the seeds improved by Professor Zheng and Professor Cai, I believe that in the near future, after the farm leaders see the results, she will be able to recruit the two professors here.
Yang Qiujin breathed a sigh of relief, "Okay, then I'll trouble Captain Han to go to the regiment headquarters."
After seeing everyone off, Yang Qiujin took out a hoe from the warehouse and went to dig the open space on the left side of the warehouse.
The girl named Song Zhaodi followed her all the time, "Comrade Yang, let me help you dig."
"No, I can dig it myself." Yang Qiujin dug up the dry and hard soil with a hoe. "Everyone has left, why are you still here?"
"I'm the administrator. I'm here to help you manage the warehouse. Have you forgotten?" Song Zhaodi said.
"Is this true? How come I didn't know about it?" Yang Qiujin said without raising her head and continued digging.
Song Zhaodi was anxious. "Cao said in front of everyone that I would be the administrator."
"Cao asked you to be the manager, so you are the manager?" Yang Qiujin leaned on the hoe and looked back at her. "He is just a small factory committee manager, how can he be more important than Secretary Zhai? The company warehouse has always been managed by only one person. Even if one more person is to be added, the factory committee personnel department must hold a meeting before deciding. This means one more position, one more salary. The farm cannot add more burdens. Did Secretary Zhai say that he would let you be the manager?"
The farm actually has a large warehouse. All the grains harvested by all the companies every year are stored collectively in the farm warehouse. The company warehouse is only used to store some staff grain, seeds and daily necessities for the company. One statistician is enough to guard the warehouse, and it is impossible to add a second position to keep an idle person.
"But, but..." Song Zhaodi's tears welled up in her eyes.
In order to become a warehouse manager and make money for her family, she gave up her innocence to Cao Jun.
Now Yang Qiujin says she can't be an administrator, what should she do?
Yang Qiujin felt a little sympathy for Song Zhaodi. It was obvious at first glance that Cao Jun was not a good person. Not only was his appearance disgusting, but his character was also disgusting. She didn't know how this girl could be so cruel as to sacrifice herself.
Song Zhaodi left in a daze. Yang Qiujin watched her leave, a little worried that she would commit suicide. After thinking for a moment, she followed her.
Near the warehouse is where the company's staff live. There is a dirt road that winds its way to a far place. On both sides of the dirt road, there are dilapidated and narrow earthen houses and caves. About 100 meters away from the dirt road, there is a canal about three meters wide and five meters deep. Normally, the second company's staff use the water here for eating, dressing, and washing clothes.
Song Zhaodi stumbled and avoided one residential area after another. She walked for a long time along the field path that connected the company to various places. Finally, she jumped down from a very remote piece of land and jumped into the ditch.
Yang Qiujint:......
To be honest, she didn't want to save anyone because the canal looked deep, but the water in it was only up to the waist and wouldn't drown anyone.
When she was hesitating whether to go down the drain to deal with Song Zhaodi, suddenly a figure rushed over from a distance and shouted loudly: "Hurry up, someone jumped into the canal!"
Yang Qiujin was stunned. She looked at the figure running towards her and felt that he looked familiar. She called out uncertainly, "Ren Ying?"
Ren Ying was also stunned when she saw her, "Sister Yang?"
"It's really you!" Yang Qiujin walked towards her, "Why are you here?"
"It's a long story." The surprise on Ren Ying's face flashed away, and was replaced by a happy smile of seeing an acquaintance, "Let's save people first."
"No need to save her." Yang Qiujin pointed at Song Zhaodi, who was writhing and crying in the canal, "This water won't kill anyone."
Ren Ying looked into the canal and found that indeed, the water only reached Song Zhaodi's waist.
She shouted worriedly, "Comrade Song, please get up quickly. If you have any worries, go talk to your leader. The snow and water are freezing, don't freeze yourself."
It would have been better if she hadn't said anything. Once she did, Song Zhaodi howled even louder, "I'm already dirty! What's the point of me living! I might as well just die!"
Yang Qiujin asked, "Do you know Song Zhaodi?"
"Yes." Ren Ying nodded. "Her parents fled from the north to the border a few years ago. She has eight brothers and sisters. The first seven are girls, and the eighth is a boy. She is the eldest. Her parents are extremely partial to their sons. All the delicious food and drinks are given to the eighth. The seven daughters eat the least and use the worst. Song Zhaodi was originally going to be sold by her parents, no, to marry a divorced widower. Why did she jump into this ditch and cry?"
Yang Qiujin was not in a position to say what she had guessed, so she simply told him what had happened in the warehouse, "Where are you working on the farm now? I haven't seen you before."
"I work in the livestock shed of the Second Company." Ren Ying's expression was gloomy. "After I said goodbye to you on the train, I went to the hospital and stayed there for two days, which delayed my trip to Ava Farm. It was three days later when I arrived there. The people there refused to accept me because I was slacking off, so I had no choice but to flee on the train with a group of bad elements. Finally, I came here and worked with those bad elements who were sent down to do the hardest and dirtiest work in the company to make a living. I was just cutting weeds by the canal to feed the cows when I heard someone jumping into the water, so I ran over here."
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