Chapter 49
In the greenhouse, there was an earthen kang built by the militiamen at the request of Yang Qiujin. On the kang were several old quilts. Yang Qiujin asked Fan Hui and three other people to move baskets of eggs that the hens could not hatch into the greenhouse, place the eggs in rows on the kang, and cover them with quilts.
Mao Xiumin was very skeptical: "Director, can we hatch all the eggs this way?"
Yang Qiujin said: "In the absence of a hen to incubate the eggs, hatching them is also quite simple. Just put them in a nest, keep the temperature high enough, and leave them alone. They will hatch on their own."
"Since you can hatch them by yourself, why do you still ask someone to build a kang as a greenhouse?" Yu Qiaoyun asked curiously.
"This is because there is a big temperature difference between day and night in our border area. Even in summer, the temperature will drop very low at night. When the weather is hot during the day, we can ignore the breeding eggs, but when the temperature drops at night, we need to heat up the kang slightly to keep the temperature the same as during the day. In this way, most of the breeding eggs can be hatched after more than 20 days." Yang Qiujin explained.
Yu Qiaoyun suddenly realized: "In that case, does someone need to be here to guard at night?"
Yang Qiujin nodded: "Yes, starting from today, you will be divided into two groups, and take turns to guard the eggs for a day. At night, one person will guard the eggs, and the other person will get up in the middle of the night to check on the piglets and patrol the farm to prevent wolves and other wild animals from appearing and eating the piglets."
The four of them looked at each other. They never thought that they would have to keep watch all night. They had elderly people and children at home. If they had to be on duty here, who would take care of the children?
Yang Qiujin seemed to see their concerns and said, "It's my fault that I didn't explain it clearly before. Our farm is a little far from where people live. Although there are militia patrols at night, our farm has just started, so we have to be careful about everything. How about this, if you are willing to keep watch, I will give you two yuan each this week. Next week, someone will be guarding the farm, so you don't have to keep watch."
The four of them were tempted to earn two more dollars a week. Fan Hui was the first to say, "Captain Yang, I'll guard tonight."
The other three also said they would keep watch tonight. Yang Qiujin thought about it and ordered Hou Pingqing and Fan Hui to form a team.
Although Hou Pingqing seemed to be quite smart, Yang Qiujin felt that she was not as reliable as anyone else in getting things done, so she asked the more stable Fan Hui to work with her. With Fan Hui keeping an eye on things, Yang Qiujin felt more at ease.
Yang Qiujin repeatedly reminded them: "When you heat the kang at night, don't use a big fire. Just heat it slightly. If it gets too hot, the eggs will be cooked. If many are burned to death, you will have to bear the consequences yourself."
The four of them all understood that this matter could be a big deal or a small one, so they readily agreed, "Don't worry, Director, we will know how to handle it properly."
After preparing the breeding eggs, Yang Qiujin led four people to reclaim the land around the farm and plant various vegetables, livestock grass and other crops. It took the five of them three days to plant nearly ten acres of land.
During this period, the bean cakes and vegetables used to feed the pigs were all purchased from the company's logistics department, and mixed with the wild grass that Fan Hui and other three people cut along the bank of the Tianhe River. The four piglets ate well, drank well, and slept well, and showed no signs of discomfort from the change of location or diarrhea.
On this day, Fan Hui told Yang Qiujin that she heard the howling of wolves when she was patrolling the farm at midnight yesterday.
Yang Qiujin immediately told this matter to Han Yongxin, who was now the deputy director of the farm's armed forces department and was in charge of the militia company.
Han Yongxin immediately assigned more night patrols near the farm and said to Yang Qiujin, "You can apply to Secretary Zhai to equip your farm with a Type 55 automatic rifle, in case wolves come to your farm to eat livestock at night, you can use the gun to fight back. Of course, the automatic rifle has great lethality, and you female comrades may not be able to use it well. I suggest you go to the county's sports goods store and buy two gas guns for the farm. Gas guns use lead bullets, and their lethality is not great. At most, they can kill sparrows and rabbits, but they can't kill people or wolves, but they can have a deterrent effect on wild wolves."
Yang Qiujin was moved by what she heard: "You mean gas and guns? How much is one?"
Han Yongxin stretched out his hand and made a four-character gesture: "More than forty yuan."
My god, a gun is so expensive, it can be equivalent to her two months salary.
Yang Qiujin was extremely distressed. After all, the farm was far away from the farm headquarters and was close to the Tianshan Mountains. There were many wild animals on the mountains and on the grasslands below the mountains. They would come to the farm from time to time to injure or even eat people. She had to protect the workers who were on night watch at the farm.
She rode her Benying to the farm headquarters, found Secretary Zhai, and applied to him for 55-style rifles and muskets.
Secretary Zhai said, "Our farm belongs to the Corps and is no longer part of the military organization. We are short of guns and bullets. I can only approve two Type 55 rifles and 150 rounds of bullets for your farm. If you use up all the bullets, you will need to apply for more at the farm."
"Okay, Secretary Zhai." Yang Qiujin was also happy to have one more gun than expected. She returned to the farm with two guns on her back and asked Fan Hui and the other four, "Who among you knows how to shoot?"
In the military corps in border areas, all the people serve as soldiers. Regardless of gender, they are regularly taken to military farms for training and shooting. Many farms have female militiamen who are good at throwing missiles and shooting, and are no less skilled than male militiamen.
The four workers at the farm are all family members of employees. They came from all over the country to marry their husbands. Although they are not female militia, they have received a lot of training over the years. They all say, "I can shoot."
Yang Qiujin took down a gun and handed it to Fan Hui, the most mature of the four: "Sister Fan, try firing one."
Fan Hui was not timid. He loaded the gun quickly, put the long rifle back against his chest below his right shoulder, and then aimed at the open space in the distance. He stretched out his hand and pulled the trigger. "Bang!"
There was a bang of a gunshot and Fan Hui's chest shook slightly. She put down the gun as if nothing had happened. However, the piglets in the pigpen were frightened by the gunshot and kept whimpering.
Next, Yu Qiaoyun and the other two demonstrated their techniques to Yang Qiujin one by one. However, compared to Fan Hui's swiftness in loading the gun, they were obviously inferior.
Yang Qiujin envied them, "I can't even shoot, but you are such a good shooter, Sister Fan."
"My story is nothing." Fan Hui waved her hand and said, "My mother's family is from the Great Northern Wilderness. My father supported our family by hunting. When I was young, I often went hunting with my father. I have been shooting hunting rifles for a long time, so shooting other guns is no different."
Yang Qiujin's mind moved: "Sister Fan, can you teach me how to shoot?"
"Sure." Fan Hui is from Northeast China, and has the boldness and energy that is unique to people from Northeast China.
She immediately took the gun and explained to Yang Qiujin how to unload and load the gun, how to load the bullet, and how to use the butt of the gun to support the shoulder to reduce the recoil and allow the bullet to be fired.
Yang Qiujin held the gun and did as she was told, then put the back of the gun against her shoulder, aimed and fired.
With a bang, Yang Qiujin took a few steps back. Her shoulder was numb from the recoil of the gun. She couldn't help but scream, "Oh my god! I'm so scared. Why is the recoil of this gun so strong!"
Yu Qiaoyun and the other three couldn't help but laugh, "Yeah, a skinny person can't fire this gun, they will be blown away."
Fan Hui walked over and held her back, saying, "This is what happens when you fire a gun for the first time. After you fire a few more times, you will get used to it, master the key points, and then you will be able to handle it easily."
"I also want to practice twice more, but unfortunately, the bullets are limited. When they are used up, we have to buy more from the farm, which is very expensive."
Yang Qiujin put the gun down and handed it to Fan Hui, saying, "Sister Fan, put the gun in an empty dormitory. You can get it when you are on duty at night."
"Okay." Fan Hui put away the gun and turned to Yang Qiujin and said, "Director Yang, I have a small suggestion for you. Instead of spending a lot of money to buy bullets, why don't we learn from the nomadic people and raise a few more guard dogs in our farm? That can save a lot of bullets."
Yang Qiujin clapped her hands and said, "Yes, Sister Fan, why didn't I think of this? Do you know where there are good dog breeds for sale?"
"I don't know." Fan Hui shook her head and said, "Most families in our frontier farms only eat half their fill and don't have extra food to keep dogs. If you want to know the right breed of dog to buy, it's better to buy it from the nomadic people."
Yang Qiujin was lost in thought. She rode back to her family compound in the afternoon and wanted to go buy gas and guns. But just as she got home, the sentry at the army gate called out to her, "Comrade Yang, someone is looking for you at the army gate. They say it's your relative."
Relatives? Could it be Qiuyue, Professor Zheng, Professor Cai and the others are here?
Yang Qiujin hurried to the army gate. When she saw the three Yang Qiuyues standing at the door, carrying large and small packages and looking exhausted, she excitedly went to greet them, "Professor Zheng, Professor Cai, sister, you are finally here."
"Big sister." Yang Qiuyue and the other two were also very excited to see her, "We finally get to see you."
The sadness of the train ride and the desolate scenes seen on the borderland filled Yang Qiuyue's heart with shock and sadness. She always felt that if she took root here, she would starve to death in this desolate land. After seeing Yang Qiujin, her anxious heart finally settled down.
"You must be tired. Come on, follow me home. I will cook for you and treat you well." Yang Qiujin helped the three people carry the heavier packages and walked towards the army.
"Xiao Yang, have you forgotten something?" Professor Zheng, who had gray hair and looked a little listless but had bright eyes, said, "With the background of Lao Cai and I, we cannot join the army."
Professor Zheng and Professor Cai were both rightists, so they could not join the army or stay in hotels. If they wanted to stay overnight, they could only go to the farm.
"Look at me, I forgot about this." Yang Qiujin turned around and smiled embarrassedly, "Then Professor Zheng, Professor Cai, you two wait here for me. I will take my sister in first, and then my husband and I will take you two to the farm for resettlement."
Professor Cai wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Comrade Xiao Yang, thank you for your help. Please go ahead. We will wait for you here."
Yang Qiujin led Yang Qiuyue to the military gate and, in accordance with military regulations, registered as a relative visitor with the sentry. The sentry carefully checked the identification Yang Qiuyue brought with her before letting her in.
Yang Qiujin brought Yang Qiuyue back home and saw Chen Shengqing chopping wood in the yard. He had bought the firewood from a nearby family at a price of one yuan per hundred kilograms, which was cheaper than burning coal.
If there were family members in the family compound who had nothing to do, they would go to the Gobi Desert to collect dry firewood and carry it back to the troops to burn. If someone wanted to buy it, they would sell it to make some income.
Chen Tianyou was in the corner of the yard, playing in the water in a large washing basin, naked.
Yang Qiuyue walked into the yard and saw Chen Tianyou with his bare bottom. She yelled, "You little bastard, it's almost dark and you're still playing in the water."
"Auntie!" Chen Tianyou heard the familiar voice, looked up and saw Yang Qiuyue, and got up in surprise, "You're here."
The two sisters Yang Qiujin had a good relationship. Yang Qiuyue was very kind to her family. She often bought food and drinks for Chen Tianyou at home. Chen Tianyou liked her very much and would run to hug her naked as soon as he saw her.
"Hey, go slow." Yang Qiuyue smiled and held him up with her hand: "Go put on your clothes. It's shameful for a child this old to be without clothes. Put on your clothes and come to find your aunt. Your aunt has brought you some delicious food from home."
"Okay." When Chen Tianyou heard that there was something delicious to eat, his eyes lit up and he quickly went back to get dressed.
Normally, when Yang Qiujin asked him to put on clothes, he would hesitate for an hour or two and refuse to do so.
"Brother-in-law." As soon as Chen Tianyou left, Yang Qiuyue greeted Chen Shengqing.
Chen Shengqing hummed, "You must have had a hard time on the way here. Come into the house with your sister and have a rest. I'll call you when the meal is ready."
"Thank you, brother-in-law."
The man said nothing and continued chopping wood.
He was wearing a black off-shoulder vest made for him by Yang Qiujin. Every time he chopped firewood, the muscles on his arms bulged into ridges, and the sweat evaporated in the afterglow of the setting sun, like oil, making it impossible for Yang Qiujin to take a look.
When Yang Qiujin passed by him, she deliberately rubbed his strong arm and said, "Don't cook for the time being. We have to ride horses to send Professor Zheng and Professor Cai to the farm, and then come back to cook."
The man looked at her strangely, chopped off a piece of wood, and said without objection, "Okay."
Yang Qiujin led Yang Qiuyue into Chen Tianyou's messy little house that looked like a doghouse, "Sister, there are only two rooms in the house, you can sleep in one with Tianyou, play at home for a few more days, and then go to work on the farm."
"Okay, sister, you go and get busy." Yang Qiuyue had no objection and did not ask what work Yang Qiujin would assign her.
Anyway, she is her sister and will not harm her. Yang Qiuyue put down the package and began to clean up Tianyou’s messy clothes and quilts.
"Let's go, Comrade Chen." Yang Qiujin walked out of the house, told Chen Tianyou to listen to his aunt at home, and turned her head to call Chen Shengqing to go.
The two men rode their horses to the gate of the army. When the two professors saw Chen Shengqing, they were very frightened and polite, and neither of them was willing to ride on the same horse with Chen Shengqing.
The main reason was that they were used to being beaten up in the countryside, and they had a deep fear of these officers in their bones.
Finally, at Yang Qiujin's request, Professor Cai, who was in weaker health, rode with her, while Professor Zheng, who was in better health, rode with Chen Shengqing, because Chen Shengqing's horse ran faster and Yang Qiujin was afraid that the weak Professor Cai could not bear it.
The two horses were heading towards the farm. Along the way, Professor Zheng saw many company staff members harvesting yellow wheat in the fields. The yield seemed not very high, and there were few fruits and vegetables planted. He could not help but ask Yang Qiujin: "Comrade Yang, have you shown the seeds that Professor Cai and I gave you to the farm officials?"
Chen Shengqing's horse and Yang Qiujin's horse were riding side by side. The wind was whistling, and Professor Zheng's voice was blown intermittently by the wind.
Yang Qiujin listened to the general situation and replied, "Don't worry, Professor Zheng. I have planted all the crops that need to be planted. I have also invited all the leaders of the farm to visit the test field. The cadres are very interested in the successful research of you and Professor Cai. I believe that you will be valued when you arrive at the farm."
Professor Zheng breathed a sigh of relief. "It doesn't matter whether they are important or not. As long as we can solve the problem of food and clothing for our people and solve the problem from the seed perspective, we are willing to do our best."
Professor Cai agreed: "Yes, we studied agricultural science in order to solve the people's food problem. We don't care about anything else."
Yang Qiujin couldn't help but admire them. After experiencing many hardships and tortures, they still remained true to their original aspirations and worked for the country and the people. She hoped that Tianshan Farm would not let them down with such a pure heart.
An hour later, Yang Qiujin and Professor Zheng arrived at the farm headquarters.
When Secretary Zhai heard that two professors were coming, he shook hands with them without hesitation and said, "Professor Zheng, Professor Cai, I have heard of your great names for a long time. Thank you for your hard work on the journey."
"It's not hard. We are honored to have a chance to make a difference." The two professors shook hands with him in a dignified manner.
Secretary Zhai looked at them, both of whom were wearing washed-out, patched clothes, their temples were a little gray, and their cheekbones were protruding. He knew that they had suffered a lot from the policies in the inland areas.
However, even so, their eyes are still bright when they look at people, and their words and actions are full of knowledge and calmness, which makes people know at a glance that they were once highly respected and knowledgeable.
Secretary Zhai couldn't help but admire them and said, "Now that you two have arrived at our Tianshan Farm, just go ahead and do your work. I have already set up a laboratory for you to study seeds and crops in the group according to Comrade Yang's suggestion. In addition, I have approved five mu of fertile land as a test field for you two to conduct experiments. However..."
He paused here. "Your background is a big problem. According to national policy, we cannot give you too much preferential treatment in terms of accommodation. When you are not working, you have to live in the livestock shed in the group. The salary is only three yuan per month. I can only guarantee that no one can bully you. In a few days, there will be several other agricultural experts to cooperate with you two. Do you have any opinions?"
"No, this is good enough." said Professor Zheng.
Professor Cai said: "We are lucky to be able to put what we have learned into practice. We would not ask for anything else."
Secretary Zhai admired the noble character of this scholar and immediately called his subordinate to take the two professors to make arrangements.
Before leaving, Yang Qiujin said to the two professors, "I am now the director of a farm. The farm is located to the north of our farm. If you two professors are bullied or treated unfairly in the group, or if you need my help, just come to the farm and find me."
"Comrade Xiao Yang, thank you very much." Professor Cai said sincerely, "We two old bones are alive today because of your care over the years. We will always remember your kindness to us. If you can use us in any way, please ask."
Yang Qiujin waved her hands at them and said, "I am just repaying a favor. Professors, please don't be polite. It's getting late. You should go and get settled."
Both professors nodded to her to express their gratitude, and then, carrying their few packages, they gradually left following the office staff who was responsible for receiving them.
After Yang Qiujin and Chen Shengqing watched them leave, they rode their horses back home. It was dark when they arrived home.
The lights were on in the house. They walked into the yard. A table of food had been set in the living room. Yang Qiuyue was teaching Chen Tianyou calligraphy at a small table next to them.
Seeing them coming back, Yang Qiuyue raised her head and greeted them: "Sister, brother-in-law, you are back, let's have dinner."
Yang Qiujin glanced at the food on the table. There was a small dish of sliced sausage, a small plate of cold green pepper and preserved egg, a serving of smashed cucumber, a large bowl of tomato and egg soup, and a plate of stir-fried water spinach. There were just the right amount of food and it looked very delicious. She knew that the sausage and preserved egg were brought by Yang Qiuyue from her hometown.
Yang Qiujin sat down at the table and said, "You are really diligent. I wanted to cook a meal to treat you well, but I ended up asking you to do it. I am so sorry."
"Just pretend with me. Do we sisters need to be polite to each other?" Yang Qiuyue handed the chopsticks to her and Chen Shengqing, and then carried Chen Tianyou to the table and served him rice. "Sister, I brought a lot of things this time. They were all bought by mom and your mother-in-law and asked me to bring them to you. I have already sorted them and put them in your kitchen. Remember to eat the sausage and meat as soon as possible. The weather in this border area is too hot during the day. I am afraid they will stink if left alone."
"Okay, let's eat."
Yang Qiuyue's cooking skills are as good as Yang Qiujin's. The green pepper, preserved egg and fried cucumber are spicy and refreshing. The tomato egg soup and stir-fried water spinach can relieve the spiciness. The most important thing is the sausage brought from her hometown, which is spicy and smoky. Yang Qiujin, who has been eating mutton for half a year and especially wants to eat pork, eats piece after piece of sausage and can't stop at all.
Even Chen Tianyou, who used to dislike smoked sausage and thought it tasted bad because it had a strong smoky smell, kept eating sausage.
The plate of pickled sausage was quickly eaten up, and the other dishes were also swept away. Yang Qiujin praised her sister's excellent cooking skills while urging Chen Tianyou to clean up the dishes and go to the kitchen with his father to wash the dishes.
When boys grow up, they should start learning to do housework so that when they grow up and become independent, they can take care of themselves and not starve to death.
While the father and son were washing dishes in the kitchen, Yang Qiuyue followed Yang Qiujin to the master bedroom and talked about sisterly matters.
Yang Qiuyue first looked around their room. Although there weren't many pieces of furniture, they all looked new. A dressing table was filled with all kinds of cosmetics. She sat on the kang bed and sighed, "Sister, you've finally made it. Your brother-in-law chopped wood, cooked, bought you new furniture, and so many cosmetics. He gave you all his allowances. I think your brother-in-law really loves you."
"It's OK. After all, I've been nice to him. People are all made of flesh and blood. If I continue to be nice to him unilaterally without seeing him reciprocate, then our lives would be worse off than ever."
Yang Qiujin took out a hot water kettle with a red shell and a silver mouth from under the dressing table, poured a bowl of hot water for Yang Qiuyue, added a spoonful of maltose and stirred it, and handed it to her to drink: "Now that you are divorced from Ke Jian, do you have any thoughts? We have a lot of unmarried men in our border defense department and the farm."
"I won't find someone to marry again for the time being." Yang Qiuyue was thirsty after working all night. She drank the water in the bowl in one gulp, feeling the sweet taste of maltose in her mouth. She put the empty bowl on the counter and said, "Sister, I won't hide it from you. I came to the frontier because I want to do something like you. I don't want to be like in my hometown, with no autonomy in my marriage, marrying a man who doesn't believe in me, and living a life of torture. Now I just want to work hard and support myself. As for men, I must find a man who completely believes in me, loves me, and is willing to give in to me. Only then will I marry him and live with him for the rest of my life."
Yang Qiujin understood the pain in her heart and said without further ado, "Just make up your mind. You are new here, so stay at my house for a few more days. Don't rush to work. Come with me to the county to buy some things tomorrow."
Yang Qiuyue said hurriedly: "Sister, I don't need anything, don't buy anything for me."
"What are you thinking? I want you to go with me to the county to buy gas and guns."
Yang Qiujin said this, but in her heart she had made up her mind to buy two ready-made clothes and some skin care cosmetics for her sister.
Qiuyue was still wearing patched clothes, and her eyes lit up when she saw the cosmetics on her cabinet. During the time she and Ke Jian were married, she spent almost all her money on her husband's family and her own family, and she was reluctant to spend a penny on herself.
Yang Qiujin, as an elder sister, felt very distressed when she saw this. Now that she had some money in her hands, she naturally planned to be nicer to her younger sister.
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