Chapter 36
Ren Ying talked a lot to Yang Qiujin, and Yang Qiujin also heard that Ren Ying was not having a good time in the livestock shed.
It is easy to imagine that Ren Ying was a delicate educated youth, and Tianshan Farm did not formally accept her. She was only assigned the identity of a temporary worker, living and eating in the livestock shed with the bad elements who were sent down for reform. She fed cows, horses and sheep all day long and was smelly. For a girl, this was a very miserable life.
Yang Qiujin also knew that Ren Ying told her all this as a silent request for help, hoping that she could help get Ren Ying to work somewhere else.
Yang Qiujin had just taken over the job of statistician and had no ability to speak in front of the farm leader. She could only say to Ren Ying: "I can't help you now. If you trust me, just stay in the livestock house and wait for a few months. Maybe I can get you a job somewhere else."
"Sister Yang..." Ren Ying hesitated, "It's not that I don't want to stay in the barn. I'm not afraid of it being dirty or smelly there. What I'm afraid of is those smelly men who come to cause trouble for me."
The livestock houses of each company on the farm were a mixed bag of people, with many people here undergoing labor reform for various reasons. They ate the worst food, lived in the dirtiest places, and did the heaviest work, but not all of them were evil-hearted people.
Many of these people who are labeled as bad elements, "stinking ninths", etc. are educated and knowledgeable people with high intelligence. They would not do anything evil.
Instead, those activists who claimed to fight the revolution to the end would come to the cowshed every now and then to bully and insult those "bad elements".
There are quite a few female comrades among the bad elements. When they are bullied by them, they have no place to complain. Those with better qualities put on a cheerful face every day as if nothing has happened. However, those with worse qualities cry all day long and it is not uncommon for them to try to commit suicide.
Ren Ying was a delicate and pretty unmarried girl who lived in such a place, so she was naturally targeted by people with ulterior motives.
People like Liu Xiaoshan brothers, Cao Jun and others had harassed her several times. If she hadn't been alert and hadn't left alone whenever possible, she might have been raped by them and committed suicide like other women.
Ren Ying knew, of course, that this was not a solution. She had heard gossip about Cao Jun from others, saying that Cao Jun had a relative who was a leader in the District Revolutionary Committee. Even if Cao Jun was arrested and questioned because of Liu Xiaoshan, he had this relationship. Liu Xiaoshan and his gang would definitely not give him up in order to make life easier for their families on the farm. He would be detained for ten days or half a month at most and then would continue to run rampant on the farm, bullying men and women.
"I thought he was just a small clerk, how could he have such great ability? He promised Song Zhaodi the position of warehouse manager. It turns out that there is such a relationship between them."
After listening to her, Yang Qiujin suddenly realized what was going on. She pointed at Song Zhaodi who was still crying in the water and said, "Since you know her, persuade her and let her go back. I have to go back to do my work. If you encounter any problems, just come to me. I can't promise anything else, but I can protect you."
"Sister Yang, I feel relieved when you say this." Ren Ying was waiting for these words, and the haze on her face disappeared. "You go and do your work, I'll take care of her."
"become."
Yang Qiujin returned to the warehouse and spent the entire afternoon digging up the scattered land around the warehouse. She took a small tool with a V-belt handle and a sharp knife on the top and used it to make slits every half a meter in the earthen embankment she had dug. She inserted the sweet potato vines she had brought in the morning into the slits, covered them with soil, and planted about two embankments of land.
Then she gave her the various seeds that the two professors had improved, such as the improved Soviet cotton variety New Land No. 1, unknown sandy tomatoes, Xudong, Seedless No. 2, and Jincheng No. 1 watermelon seeds, Hami melon, cucumber, winter melon, chayote, beans and other seeds. She planted a little of each and recorded them in batches.
Because the warehouse is usually open in the morning and at noon to store and take things away, there is basically nothing to do in the afternoon. Yang Qiujin specifically told Han Yongxin that she had to leave work early today because of something at home, and rode her Benying to rush home.
When they passed a canal with lush aquatic plants, she stopped and let Benying eat as much grass as he wanted. She also picked some tender grass and tied it up in a basket to feed Benying tomorrow.
If you want a horse to run, you have to give it grass. Raising a horse is not that easy.
The cavalry camp where Chen Shengqing is located has hundreds of war horses. The amount of horse feed and grass these horses need to eat is a considerable amount every month. In order to feed these war horses, the Border Defense Department has specially opened up a horse farm with abundant grass and water, and also opened up a large piece of land to grow alfalfa, sorghum, dogtooth grass, etc. to provide the daily food for the war horses.
Yang Qiujin's horse did not belong to the army, so if she wanted to feed the horse, she had to find grass for it herself and also feed it some other feed to fill its stomach.
It was impossible for her to go out on the road every day to find fodder for Benying, so she decided to free up some land to grow some grass after returning home. She also planned to plant some grass in the slightly spare space near the warehouse to save her time looking for fodder.
Around 5pm, she appeared at the gate of the Military Primary School riding a tall horse, and immediately attracted the attention of the children, who whispered to each other: "Whose mother is this? The horse she rides is so tall and big, and she looks so handsome!"
When she joined the army, Yang Qiujin had already taken off the scarf wrapped around her face, mainly because they were afraid that she would come to pick up the children wrapped in the scarf and scare them.
After more than a month of continuous use of various whitening creams and moisturizers and little exposure to sunlight, her skin finally shed its honey-colored dark skin and became one shade whiter than before.
In the red light of the setting sun, she sat on horseback, with delicate features, fair skin, shoulder-length hair, and a red scarf hanging around her neck, which fluttered in the evening breeze, making her look heroic and yet feminine.
Yang Qiujin had been working on the farm for the past month and had hardly appeared in front of her family. When she appeared on horseback, everyone at the school gate focused their eyes on her, which made Shi Fangfang, who had come to pick up her child, very angry.
Ever since she was slapped in the face by Yang Qiujin and her true face was exposed, most of the military wives in the family compound stopped associating with her.
She felt ashamed and stayed at home for more than a month. She thought that things had calmed down and those military wives should have forgotten what she had done, so she dressed up today and came to pick up her two children.
She boasted that she had good looks, her skin was whiter than Yang Qiujin's, and she looked better in everything she wore than Yang Qiujin. As long as she continued to smile and chat calmly with the families who came to pick up their children, they would discover her good qualities and would not care about what she had done in the past.
But she died before she could accomplish her mission. When Yang Qiujin arrived, she not only attracted everyone's attention, but she was also much fairer and more beautiful than before. A military wife who was chatting with Shi Fangfang saw Yang Qiujin coming and immediately kept away from her, as if she was a monster and she was afraid that Yang Qiujin would see her.
Shi Fangfang felt choked up in her heart, staring at Yang Qiujin who jumped off the horse. The jealousy and anger in her heart almost made her lose her mind.
Why does this scumbag Yang Qiujin always do harm to her and always put her down in everything? !
Yang Qiujin naturally saw Shi Fangfang, her defeated general, but she didn't bother to even glance at her. She pulled Benying as far away from the children as possible to prevent the children from being naughty and scaring the horse, thus hurting the children.
People were coming and going at the school gate. When parents picked up their children from school, the children could not help but walk to Benying, touch his body and head, and ask curiously: "Auntie, is this horse a war horse of the army? How fast does it run?"
"It's not a war horse. It's a horse my husband got for me. It runs very fast because its mother was a wild horse tamed by my husband." Yang Qiujin reminded the children not to touch Benying as much as possible and to stay away from Benying, while patiently answering the children's questions.
"You are Chen Tianyou's mother." At this time, a child recognized Yang Qiujin, "Your husband is Captain Chen of the Cavalry Battalion. The horse trained by Uncle Chen is the best horse in our regiment. No wonder this horse looks so powerful."
"No matter how powerful her husband is, the child she gives birth to will be a jerk who fights and causes trouble all the time and will become a murderer in the future." The voice of a little boy in the crowd was particularly abrupt.
Yang Qiujin looked in the direction of the voice and saw a little boy with almond eyes, fair skin, and about six years old standing at the school gate. Judging from his appearance, the child inherited at least 80% of Shi Fangfang's features and was quite good-looking. Unfortunately, he had a mouth that spoke unpleasant and harsh words.
Yang Qiujin knew that this was Shi Fangfang's youngest son, named Ji Feiwu, who was in the same class as Chen Tianyou.
Such a young child said such unpleasant words. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that adults often say such things in front of children, and the children follow suit.
Yang Qiujin would not get angry with a child, but she would not let a child say that about her son. She stared at Ji Feiwu coldly and said, "You are young and eloquent. You should be a smart and sensible child. It's a pity that you are just like your mother. You are evil-minded and always think of ways to scheme against people. When you grow up, you will either be a murderer or a labor reform prisoner."
Shi Fangfang was furious when she heard this. She no longer cared about her gentle image and angrily said, "What are you talking about! Who are you talking about? Who are the murderers? Who are the prisoners in labor reform?"
"Whoever said it first is the one who said it." Yang Qiujin looked at her nonchalantly, "I am just giving back an eye for an eye, why are you so anxious? No matter how you slander and fabricate my child in front of your child, your son will follow suit and spit shit all over your mouth. I will be generous this time. If there is a next time, and I hear your son say bad things about my son, I don't mind disciplining your child for Ji Mingchen."
Shi Fangfang didn't want to quarrel with Yang Qiujin in front of so many military wives, as that would make her appear as aggressive and unreasonable as Yang Qiujin.
But Yang Qiujin's words, which were neither painful nor itchy, stabbed her in the heart and made her jump with anger. "Who do you think you are? You are here to educate my children for my husband? Ji Mingchen is my husband! He is my man. My son can say whatever he wants. You have no right to interfere!"
The sound of her irrational roar was particularly harsh in the noisy school gate. Everyone fell silent and looked at her.
Next to Ji Feiwu was a little girl with a pointed face, regular features, a mole at the corner of her mouth, and pigtailed hair.
Seeing Shi Fangfang and Ji Feiwu being looked at with curiosity and contempt by everyone, she felt hot on her face. She nervously reached out and tugged at the corner of Shi Fangfang's clothes, "Mom, don't be like this. You shouldn't have said those things to your brother in the first place. He has learned bad lessons from them."
She reprimanded Ji Feiwu again, "Brother, you can't say bad things about others like that. It's very rude. You should apologize to your aunt!"
"You are eating your own food and stealing your own food!" Shi Fangfang was already regretting her impulsive words in public. She didn't expect her eldest daughter to be so angry and speak for the person she hated the most. Shi Fangfang was furious and slapped Ji Feiwen in the face, cursing: "You little bitch, whose daughter are you!"
Ji Feiwen was slapped by her and her body tilted, almost falling to the ground. She steadied herself and covered her cheeks with five palm prints. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she couldn't believe that her mother would hit her like this.
Some military wives nearby were upset and came over to Shi Fangfang and said, "Hey, Comrade Shi, no matter how angry you are, you can't hit the child in the face. Don't hurt the child."
"Wenwen looks like a well-behaved child. If you have anything to say, why don't you just talk to her nicely? It's not appropriate to hit her in front of everyone. Children also need to maintain their dignity."
…
A bunch of military wives kindly gathered around to persuade her, and Shi Fangfang finally came to her senses and realized what she had done. She stared at Yang Qiujin with half regret and half resentment.
It's all because of this Yang guy! The gentle image she created was destroyed again and again in front of everyone. She was gentle, virtuous, well-educated and sensible, a sharp contrast to Yang Qiujin. Now she was almost turned into a shrew by Yang Qiujin.
Yang Qiujin was too lazy to pay attention to her. Just then, Chen Tianyou came out with his schoolbag. She put the child on the horse's back, got on herself, and rode away, leaving Shi Fangfang there angry.
It was Chen Tianyou’s first time riding a horse, and he was so excited, “Wow, Mom, this is riding a horse, it’s so fun!”
"Sit still and don't move." Yang Qiujin held down his moving body in front of her with one hand and walked towards their home.
She planned to keep the horse at home today instead of in the army's stable.
As a military wife, it was not convenient for her to go in and out of the army's stable all the time. She had to register every day, which was really troublesome.
Many military wives in the family compound raise chickens and ducks in their yards, so it is normal for her to raise a horse in her own yard.
After returning home, Yang Qiujin tied the horse to a wooden stake in the right corner of the yard.
Benying saw the green vegetables all over the yard and wanted to eat them as if they were grass. However, the ropes were tied too tight and too short for him to eat them. He was so anxious that he tumbled around on all fours and made loud hooves.
"Mom, the horse is hungry." Chen Tianyou liked tall horses very much. He threw his schoolbag into the living room and rushed to the yard to cut vegetables to feed the horse.
"Hey, hey, hey, stop it." Yang Qiujin saw him stepping into the vegetable garden on the left and pulling up a palm-sized cabbage to feed the horse. She stopped him distressedly, "Mom has never picked this cabbage to eat. You gave it to Benying. What will we eat? Look at the basket on the table in the living room. There is no grass in the basket. Just grab a handful and let Benying chew it. Mom will cook some sweet potatoes for him later."
Horses not only eat grass, but also a mixture of coarse grains, soybeans, fruits, vegetables, etc. to fill their stomachs and stay healthy.
"I got it, Mom." Chen Tianyou readily dropped the cabbage in his hand, ran to the living room to get a handful of weeds, and walked to about five meters away from Benying. Looking at Benying's tall stature and the excited way the weeds were running, he was afraid that it would kick him, so he didn't dare to move forward.
Yang Qiujin picked young cabbage, sweet potato leaves, beans, cucumbers, onions, garlic and other vegetables in the fields to prepare dishes for the evening dinner party.
Seeing Chen Tianyou's timid and frightened look, she stood beside him holding a bunch of vegetables and said, "Its name is Benying, it has a good temper, just feed it bravely, it won't kick or bite you."
"Okay, Benying, don't bite me." With his mother by his side, Chen Tianyou felt safe enough. He first greeted Benying softly, and then carefully reached out to feed Benying grass.
Benying stuck his horse's head out and first smelled the scent of Chen Tianyou's hand. He found that his scent was similar to Yang Qiujin's, with a hint of milk. Knowing that this was the cub of his new owner, he politely stretched out his tongue to roll up the wild grass, rolled it into his mouth and chewed it slowly, not forgetting to use his head to touch the cub's head to show affection.
"Ah!" The big horse's head suddenly came over and hit him. Chen Tianyou was so scared that he trembled all over. He stepped back repeatedly and ran to the living room.
"Look at your frightened expression. Where did your courage to fight and cause trouble in school go?" Yang Qiujin laughed at him bluntly, "Benying touched you with his head, which means he likes you. Why are you so scared?"
"Really?" Chen Tianyou had one foot in the living room and one foot in the yard. He looked at Benying eating weeds leisurely, smiled a little embarrassedly, and then said to Yang Qiujin angrily: "Mom, I told you, I don't fight with others anymore! I have changed my ways!"
"Oh?" Yang Qiujin pulled off the slightly older leaves from three cabbages and fed them to Benying. "Then why did you come out so much later than the other students today? And did you have a fight with Ji Feiwu?"
"I..." Chen Tianyou hesitated, "I came out so late because I didn't sit still and listen to the teacher during class. I sneaked out the back door to the playground to play in the water. The teacher punished me to clean the playground after class. Ji Feiwu always complained about me to the teacher and even provoked me to fight. I didn't fight back, I felt sorry for myself. If he hadn't complained today, the teacher wouldn't have known that I sneaked out to play in the water."
He also emphasized, "I will play in the water for a while and then go back to the classroom."
Yang Qiujin only felt her blood pressure rising. No matter how extraordinary Shi Fangfang was, her two children were very smart.
When they were in their hometown, Shi Fangfang's eldest daughter always got first place in the class, and although Ji Fei was not good at martial arts, he could still be in the top ten in the class.
Only Chen Tianyou was always at the bottom. No matter how Yang Qiujin taught him at home or helped him with his studies, his grades would never improve.
My own son's head is always thinking about playing. People say he is stupid, but he knows everything. In many things, such as calculating how many snacks and candies he has, and how to finish his homework in the shortest time to play, he is smarter than anyone else, but he just doesn't focus on studying.
Yang Qiujin felt unwell and was about to lose her temper when she saw Chen Shengqing coming into the courtyard carrying something. She said unhappily, "Your son was playing in the water during class and was detained by the teacher. Go and talk to him."
"Why is this kid playing in the water when he has nothing better to do?" Chen Shengqing placed two pieces of tofu, a five-jin big bluefish, some melon seeds and peanuts, a jin of fruit hard candies, a jin of glutinous rice candies, and five bottles of Niulanshan liquor bought from the grocery store in front of Yang Qiujin. "I'll go talk to him later. Do you think these dishes are enough for dinner? There will be about ten people coming tonight."
"That should be enough. We have so many vegetables at home, as well as mutton and rabbit meat." Yang Qiujin put the washed vegetables into the basket. "You go and urge Tianyou to do his homework. I'll cook. I don't want to watch him do his homework, or I'll get angry."
"Okay." Chen Shengqing thought for a moment and said, "Tonight we have invited our head, Guo, deputy head, Liao, political commissar, Wang Jianjun and others. Some of them are from the southern coastal areas and cannot eat spicy food. Please make the dishes a little lighter."
"good."
Chen Shengqing told the guests that dinner would be at 7pm, but it was now 6pm. In order to cook for so many people, Yang Qiujin prepared in advance.
Yang Qiujin first took out the lamb leg from the kitchen and cut off a piece of pure meat with a knife, intending to stir-fry it with celery. She then chopped the remaining meat into pieces and stewed it with the dried radish strips she brought from her hometown.
She also took out the rabbit meat, washed it, and chopped it into pieces, intending to make braised rabbit.
The fish is cut into thin slices, and some kimchi, pickled ginger and pickled peppers are taken from the kimchi jar in the kitchen to prepare sauerkraut fish.
Other vegetables can be cooked in advance, stir-fried or served cold.
She was busy in the kitchen when she heard someone outside the yard shouting, "Big sister, I'm here."
Yang Qiujin heard the voice and went out to greet him. She saw Zhao Erfeng walking into the yard and said, "Sister, I know you are hosting a dinner party tonight. I was worried that you might not be able to handle it, so I came to help you."
Her husband, Deputy Head of the Regiment Li Zhiyong, was on the list of guests invited by Chen Shengqing. In those days, no one was rich, so when inviting colleagues and comrades to the party, they would not invite their comrades' families.
The main reason is that there are many families like Zhao Erfeng's, where there are five or six children. Many of the children are the kind that eat their parents up, so they really can't afford to hire so many people.
Chen Shengqing invited more than ten people to be his guests. Zhao Erfeng heard the news from her husband and was afraid that Yang Qiujin could not handle it alone, so she came to help.
"Sister-in-law Zhao, you're here for the best." Yang Qiujin was of course happy that she could come to help, but she still asked, "Where are the children at home?"
"I've already prepared dinner for them. My eldest is already over ten years old and can take care of the younger ones. Don't worry about them." Zhao Erfeng rolled up his sleeves and followed Yang Qiujin into the kitchen. "If you need my help with anything, just tell me. I can do anything."
Yang Qiujin was not polite: "Sister-in-law, I don't have enough rice at home. I thought that Director Guo and Deputy Director Li are from the north and love to eat noodles. I am from Sichuan Province and I can never make noodles as well as you, a northerner. I thought of steaming some steamed buns and baking some cakes for them, and then cooking a pot of noodles with pickled fish soup after they finish eating. I don't know if it will be enough."
"That's enough, that's enough!" Zhao Erfeng looked at her stove full of meat and vegetables, and said with some heartache: "Sister, don't blame me for being outspoken. We women have to be thrifty to make ends meet. Look, you use so much meat and vegetables for a dinner, how much money does it cost?"
"Sister-in-law, I know you mean well." Yang Qiujin kept cutting vegetables. "This is not the first time I've invited Shengqing's superiors, colleagues and comrades to dinner. I can't be too shabby and let them laugh at Shengqing. Besides, the weather is getting hotter day by day, and we can't keep mutton and rabbit meat. I thought I'd cook it in one pot, and then serve two bowls of meat and vegetables for you to take back for your children to taste. I can't let you help me in vain."
"Oh, sister, you are too polite. I am just here to help you. How can I ask for your things? If I ask for them, I will be like a shallow-minded person asking for money." Zhao Erfeng quickly refused.
"Sister-in-law, what is the relationship between us? If you want to be polite to me, you are not allowed to enter my house." Yang Qiujin pretended to be angry.
"Hey, sister, I don't know what to say to you. You are too honest. I feel embarrassed. Okay, I won't refuse. Thank you." Zhao Erfeng saw that she was thinking about him all the time. He smiled and kneaded the dough with extra vigor.
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