Chapter 137 Something Happened
After the rooster crowed three times, there was a noise outside. The rustling sound of people getting up rose and fell, but did not disturb the person in the bed from sleeping soundly.
The warehouse next to the wheat field was very bustling with people coming to get sickles, bamboo baskets, and backpacks. Hu Xiujuan was busy there non-stop until dawn, when all the members who were supposed to work went to the fields. Only then did Hu Xiujuan finish her work, locked the warehouse, and went home.
Arriving at the fields, daybreak had already appeared. Zhou Lanhua, her belly bulging, was counting the number of people working. After counting twice, she still couldn't find the number right. She took the small notebook with her work points to Lu Minghai and said, "Uncle, Lu Changgui's family hasn't come to work." It wasn't just one person, but the entire family. They were a little lazy, slacking off on the work, but they absolutely couldn't refuse to work. If they didn't come to work, they wouldn't have any work points, and without work points, they wouldn't have any food rations. Without food rations, the whole family would starve.
Lu Minghai nodded to show that he understood: "Pay attention and see if he comes later. Maybe he overslept."
After Zhou Lanhua left, Gao Xiulan asked, "Could it be that Chen Xiuping got hurt yesterday?" Without waiting for Lu Minghai's response, she rejected this possibility: "No, that family is like that. Even if someone did get hurt, they probably wouldn't take it to heart. They're a bunch of bastards who treat people like they're not human beings."
Lu Minghai looked at the gradually brightening sky and said, "Let's work first and wait and see. I don't believe Lu Changgui can get the whole family to not come to work today. If he doesn't come, I'll have to talk to him. It doesn't matter if he doesn't want the work points, but don't let him corrupt the atmosphere of Lujiazui."
After saying that, he put the backpack on the embankment, and Gao Xiulan and the others poured the corn they had picked from their baskets into his backpack.
When it was full, he stood up with the help of his rake and walked down the mountain slowly step by step.
Lu Minghai's anger was rising when he saw no one coming to work and no one was seen along the way. Seeing that the weather was about to change, everyone was rushing to harvest, but this family was doing something that was holding them back at this critical moment.
When he arrived at the threshing ground, he saw Lu Dongping, who had arrived earlier than him, and said, "Stop for a moment and come with me. Let's go to Lu Changgui's house and see if he's bloated because of too much food rations and doesn't even know when to go to work."
Lu Dongping responded and simply threw away the backpack to take a break there. He looked up at the sky. There were several large black clouds in the sky. The sun was fighting a desperate battle in them. It would show its face for a while and then be covered again. It was still tenacious and unyielding, giving the dark clouds a layer of gold edge to show its existence to all things.
"It's going to rain in this weather, it's so hot it's killing me!"
"If it's going to rain, hurry up. It's still okay for the corn. I can just dump it under the shed and hang it up after I shell it. But if it rains at the end of the month when we're harvesting rice, then we're in trouble."
As the two were talking, Zhou Minghong and others also arrived.
Lu Minghai poured out the corn in the basket, wiped the sweat off his face, took a breath, chatted with them for a while, and then walked back to the field. However, this time he didn't go directly to the field, but went around Lu Changgui's house.
Zhou Minghong called out to him, "Cousin, are you going to Lu Changgui's house?"
Lu Minghai panted, "Go, go and see, are all the family members too lazy to do anything? The sun is already scorching, and they've already carried their corn several times, but there's no one in the fields or on the roads. These people are slacking off and dragging their feet, are they expecting to be criticized?"
Zhou Minghong and his companions were eager to watch the fun and followed him, goading him: "Cousin, let me tell you, Lu Changgui and his family have really brought shame to our Lujiazui. Xihe Brigade has three production teams, while other teams have two. There are deaf and dumb people, idiots and widows, but they are all hardworking and capable. But their family is not like this. Everyone in the family is lazy, and each one is more inhuman than the other. Chen Xiuping is the only one in the family who is okay, but they treat others like non-human beings. Cousin, although you are the production team leader and not the women's director, you still have to worry about this matter. After all, they are all members of the team. If you let them mess around, you can't guarantee that someone will die one day. Look at what happened to that person yesterday, and that woman Jian Zhaodi didn't even say a word of human nature."
Lu Minghai kept a straight face for a long time before saying, "You also know that I am the production team leader. Apart from worrying about and supervising the production of the members, what else can I take care of? Can I help others manage their wives or sons? Don't say I don't have the power. Even if I did, I couldn't do it. Even an honest official can hardly judge family affairs."
Zhou Minghong looked at him and then at Lu Dongping after hearing this. Lu Dongping smiled, his tongue touching the back of his teeth. "I can't care what my cousin is doing. I can only help him in one way. When his family gets into trouble, I'll show them the way and we'll stay there for a while."
Zhou Minghong didn't dare to speak anymore. What kind of place could that be? People these days have a great fear of prison. If you go to that place, you will be skinned alive if you don't die.
A few people chatted and soon arrived at Lu Changgui's house.
Lu Changgui also raised a pig at home. It was unknown how long it had been since it had been fed. The pig's stomach was sticking to its back with hunger. When it heard people talking, it cried out heart-wrenchingly.
As soon as he got close, Lu Minghai shouted: "Lu Changgui! Sleeping to death with your wife——"
Before he could finish his words, his voice stopped abruptly, and several people's eyes fell on the door.
Lu Changgui was curled up there like a dog. Not far away was a chipped black-glazed bowl. The bowl was tilted and the rice in it was scattered everywhere.
"Lu Changgui!"
Lu Minghai threw the backpack to the side, strode onto the edge of the eaves, came up to him, squatted down and reached out to touch Lu Changgui's body.
It was stiff and motionless, completely frozen.
Lu Dongping squatted down and took a look at the dried rice on the ground. Lu Minghong called out from the other side: "Cousin, this way!"
Jian Zhaodi and Lu Minghong were lying inside, in the same situation as Lu Changgui, with the bowl tilted on the edge, their faces hideous, and they had already died.
Lu Dongping called out to Lu Minghai, "Uncle, find someone to help check every room. Don't move anything. I'm going to the commune." After saying that, he ran outside.
It's really terrible. There has been a death in Lujiazui this year. This is the second time, and several people died at once.
Lu Dongping felt dizzy and his head was throbbing with pain all the way.
Lin Chenghai was also very troubled. He arranged for someone to go to the county to report the matter, and he rode his bike to Lujiazui with Lu Dongping.
There were seven people in Lu Changgui's family, big and small, and none of them survived.
Daya, who was only two years old and didn't even have a formal name, was lying on the bed. Next to her was Chen Xiuping, with blood all over her nose and mouth, and next to her was Lu Mingjian, who had a hideous face.
Chen Xiuping borrowed fifty cents not to see a doctor. She really didn't want to live, but she was unwilling to die like that. With the fifty cents, she bought enough rat poison from both the brigade and the commune, and poured it all into the pot.
The rice bran porridge with added lard and salt smelled so delicious that it made people drool. Although it tasted a bit strange, no one thought much about it and gobbled it up. By the time their internal organs were burning with pain from the poison, it was too late.
There is still rice left in the bowl and in the pot. If we send it to the county for investigation, we can find out the source. If we go to the health center and ask, the case will be solved quickly.
This family paid for their own sins with their lives.
Wen Wan didn't know that such a big thing had happened in the team overnight. She cooked some food, ate a little and went to the school. She didn't care that there were people in the wheat field. It was normal to see people there during the busy farming season.
The class that was originally in the second grade was supposed to be in the third grade this year, and with two repeaters, there were only twenty-four students left. Four of the students who were promoted from third grade to fourth grade had also been repeaters, meaning the total number of third-grade students she was supposed to teach this semester was twenty-eight, but only twenty-five had signed up in the end. Three students were missing. Wen Wan looked over the names that hadn't been checked. One was Liu Kucai, who had originally been in her class, and two were repeaters who had joined the class: Lu Minghong and Wang Hongsheng.
Liu Kucai was a skinny, but studious child from Wang Jialiang. She didn't know Wang Hongsheng very well. She glanced at Hu Gaoquan, who was busy with his work, and asked, "Teacher Hu, your class, Wang Hongsheng and Lu Minghong, didn't show up to register. Today is the second day. So, why don't they come?"
Many children are like Lu Donglin. Although they are only in the third or fourth grade, they are already not young anymore. If they go to work, they can be used as half an adult. It is enough for them to recognize a few words, know addition and subtraction, and do accounting. Their families will not let them continue their studies, especially those who are not good at studying and always repeat a grade. They will not be allowed to continue their studies.
Hu Gaoquan stopped writing and turned to look at her: "If you don't come to register today, nine out of ten times you won't come."
Wen Wan sighed silently, compiled the final number of applicants, and sent it together with the collected registration fees to Wang Xiannian next door.
Wang Xiannian took it and adjusted his glasses: "Twenty-five students?"
Wen Wan nodded: "Yes, there was one student in the original class who didn't come, and only two of the four students who were held back came."
Wang Xiannian made a note in the notebook that students who repeated a grade would not need to get new books, and part of the money would be refunded later.
Wen Wan continued, "I don't know much about the two students who were held back, but Liu Kucai from our class is a very hard-working student. She ranked first on the midterm exam last semester and second on the final, just 1.5 points lower than first place. She looks so young, it's a shame she's not in school." She stopped going to school so young, and if she stayed home, she'd be forced to work. When she was sixteen or seventeen, she'd start matchmaking, and when she was old enough, she'd marry someone else. That was how her life would be.
Wang Xiannian said, "There's nothing we can do about it. A semester's tuition and textbook fees aren't that high. Those who want to study will come, and there's nothing you can do about those who can't. Not only are they reluctant to spend the small amount, they also think it's a waste of time. They could be doing a lot of work at home if they were spending time at school."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
