Chapter 236 East City
Lu Dongping ran back from the commune in the middle of the day with sweat all over his forehead, but he did not enter the yard. Instead, he went to Lu Minghai's house on the left, which was separated by a wall.
Lu Minghai and his wife had just put down their bowls, Gao Xiulan was washing the pot in the house, Hu Qingqing was chopping pig grass behind the pillar, and Lu Minghai, Chuyi, and Lu Dongcai were sitting on the wooden block at the door of the main hall, making a pair of straw sandals.
The picture is peaceful and perfect.
He suddenly found himself unable to move.
Lu Minghai looked up and saw him standing at the entrance of the yard. He called out to him, "Dongping, what are you doing standing there after you've returned? It's so relaxing to bask in the hot summer sun."
Lu Dongping sighed and walked towards the shade under the eaves.
"Why are you back at this time?"
Lu Dongping wiped the sweat from his face, pursed his dry lips and said, "I came back to talk to you and my aunt about something." Gao Wensheng came out of the kitchen and said, "What's the matter? It's not worth it for you to come back from the commune in such hot weather."
Lu Dongping said, "Brother Dongcheng sent a telegram. I'll tell you when I get back."
Gao Xiulan was stunned for a moment: "What's going on? Why are you still sending telegrams? What a waste of money! Why can't you write letters for everything? Telegrams are so expensive!"
"Exactly. He's injured and has been transferred to the city hospital. Do you want to go see him?"
Lu Minghai and his wife were stunned for a moment.
After a while, Gao Xiulan came back to her senses: "Why, why did he suddenly get hurt?"
"He is a soldier and he is always on a mission. It is inevitable that he will get injured."
Gao Xiulan didn't say anything else, but her eyes suddenly turned red.
Lu Minghai then spoke: "What did you say? Is the injury serious?" Although he asked this, he actually had an idea in his mind. For soldiers, injuries are inevitable. How could he possibly send a telegram asking them to visit him for just a minor injury?
"The telegram only contained a few words, saying he was injured and in a city hospital, and asking you to visit him."
The yard was quiet. Hu Qingqing stopped the knife in her hand. Even Chuyi noticed that something was wrong with the adults. He looked at this one and that one, and dared not say a word.
After a long silence, Lu Minghai finally said, "Then pack up and go this afternoon. Go this afternoon." He couldn't wait any longer than a night. The telegram only had a few words, and they were unclear. He seemed calm on the surface, but inside he was in a state of panic.
"Okay, then pack up. I'll go borrow a tractor from the commune and take you to the county to buy tickets."
"Okay, okay!" Lu Minghai didn't refuse. His mind was in a mess and he couldn't think of anything else.
Lu Dongping then went home. As soon as he reached the entrance of the yard, he heard Gao Xiulan crying.
Lu Dongcheng's injury was like the collapse of the backbone of the family.
He entered the yard, and Zhang Hongying had just poured the pig feed into the stone trough. "Why are you back at this time? My eyes were blurry just now, and I thought I was seeing things!"
Lu Dongping sighed: "Something's going on. Is there any food left?"
"Haven't you eaten yet? I still have some millet cooked for Wanwan. It's not much. Have some first."
Lu Dongping entered the room. Wen Wan was knitting a sweater. Dandan was awake, lying in bed, occasionally covering his mouth and glancing around. He was truly a child who was easy to worry about.
"How do you do this? Watch your eyes."
Wen Wan put down the work in her hands and stood up: "No, I just have nothing to do and I'm doing a few injections. I can do this without even looking at it."
"It's so hot, and you're running back from the commune without even eating?"
Lu Dongping went to tease the child, then stood up straight and said, "Brother Dongcheng sent a telegram to the commune, so I came back to bring a message to my uncle, so I didn't eat in the cafeteria."
Wen Wan didn't ask what was going on, but urged him, "Then hurry up and get something to eat."
Lu Dongping responded and went to the kitchen to bring out the leftovers. It was a hot day, but the rice was still warm after half an hour, so it didn't need to be heated up at all. It tasted just right, and he slurped it down in a few mouthfuls. Then he scooped a ladle of cold water from the water tank and drank it down.
Then he told Lu Mingjiang and his wife, "Brother Dongcheng sent a telegram to the commune saying he was injured and has been transferred to the city hospital. He asked his family to go visit him."
The couple were both stunned: "What's going on? Dongcheng is injured?"
Lu Dongping hummed, "I've already told my uncle that I'll just pack up and leave this afternoon."
After saying that, he whispered, "I'm afraid he's seriously injured. Otherwise, even after so many years and so many missions, I've never seen him send a telegram asking his family to visit him."
Lu Mingjiang took a long time to say, "Your uncle and aunt are so old, and they haven't been to the county town many times. They suddenly want to go to the city, and even East City. I don't know what's going on."
"I'll go to the commune right away and borrow a tractor from there to take them to the county train station. I'll buy them tickets. If that doesn't work out, I'll take them there myself."
Zhang Hongying asked, "You were delayed just last week and asked for leave again. Will people have any objections?"
Before Lu Dongping could say anything, Lu Mingjiang had already stood up and went to the next room.
For such a big thing, he would always ask about it and offer some words of comfort. Whether it was people or money, as long as there was a place where he could help, he would always lend a hand. Brothers and nephews were not outsiders.
The yard was quiet, with only the sound of Chuyi babbling along with Hu Qingqing.
Lu Minghai and Gao Xiulan were both inside. Gao Xiulan was packing up her things, packing enough clothes for both of them, so each of them only needed to take one set. Lu Dongcai went to Lu Mingqing's house to get a note, and then went to the brigade to get a letter of introduction.
Lu Minghai said, "Take all the money with you, just in case you need it. Don't bring anything else. You don't know what the situation is."
Gao Xiulan knew this without Lu Minghai telling her.
Lu Mingjiang stood at the door of the main hall and called out, "Brother!"
Lu Minghai heard the sound coming from the bedroom.
"Brother!" Lu Mingjiang called out from the doorway, "I heard Dongping mention that you were going to the city, so I came to see if I could be of any help."
Lu Minghai said, "We've been pretty busy these past two days. With just two pigs and some odd jobs, Dongcai can handle it all by himself. Even on the first day of the new year, I'm not worried about Qingqing taking care of her during the day, but at night, she's used to sleeping with her milk, so I'm afraid she'll make a fuss. I'll have to ask Hongying to come over and help watch over her, otherwise your sister-in-law will definitely be worried about me leaving."
"So, do you have money handy? I don't know what the situation is like in Dongcheng. When you're out and about, you need to have some extra money so you don't have to be a burden."
Lu Minghai nodded: "I know, that's enough, that's enough. If it's not enough, I will definitely scold you and I won't tolerate you saying anything. Just help me look after the house, that's all."
Lu Mingjiang nodded and said, "Okay, that's it."
After they had packed up, Lu Dongcai came back with the production team's approval slip. He checked the Li family again and followed them to the commune, and stopped by the brigade to get a certificate.
Along the way, the whole family was extremely silent.
They went all the way to the commune, where Lu Dongping drove a tractor to take the couple to the county railway station to buy tickets. Only then did he turn around and walk back.
He was actually very panicked, and didn't know how serious Lu Dongcheng's injuries were. He was very nervous and wanted to go and see him, but he also knew that it was not realistic and it would not be possible at home, so he didn't say anything.
Hu Qingqing was still sitting on the doorstep holding Chuyi. When Gao Xiulan left, Chuyi followed her and cried like crazy. She had seldom cried like this in her life. Now she had cried enough and was tired, so she fell asleep, still sobbing in her sleep.
Hu Qingqing sat on the doorstep, holding her in her arms, with no intention of letting her into the house. She felt a little bewildered. This incident had happened so suddenly, and no one had even told her what was going on.
She roughly guessed that something had happened to Lu Dongcai's elder brother, and it was a very serious matter.
She had been in the Lu family for more than a year, and she had a general understanding of the family situation. She only knew that Lu Dongcheng was Lu Dongcai's brother, and that he was in the army and was a very promising and capable person.
How come this happened suddenly?
My heart suddenly started to race.
After Chuyi fell asleep, she stood up and carried him into the house, put him down in the room where she and Lu Dongcai lived, went out to pick up the pig grass knife she had put down before and continued to chop the pile of unchopped pig grass.
After tidying up the house inside and out, Lu Dongcai finally came back.
"I'm back!"
She opened her mouth to ask, but in the end only this one sentence came out.
Lu Dongcai nodded, climbed up the eaves and sat down at the door of the main hall. He wiped his nose with his hand, and sat there with his head drooped, not knowing what he was thinking about.
Hu Qingqing came over and squatted down beside him, looking at him: "Don't be sad, although I don't know what happened, but I think everything will be fine. Mom and Dad will be back in a few days. Big brother, big brother will be fine too."
Lu Dongcai raised his eyes and rubbed her head with his hand: "You are right, big brother will be fine, he is such a powerful person."
"In our family, he is the oldest, except for my two sisters, but he is only slightly older than me. When we were young, he, Dongping, and I were always together. He and Dongping were both naughty, and they had the most clever ideas. I was not like that, I was a bit stupid, so I followed them in everything. They always took good care of me. My grandparents were martyrs. That year, there was a conscription, and my eldest brother went. I have never seen what the army is like, and I don’t know what they do, but I can imagine that it must be harder than farming and earning work points at home. Although we are liberated now and don’t need to fight the Japanese, it is not peaceful everywhere. I send money back every month, and how can I get all that money without hard work?"
"My parents are the same. They've always been very proud of him and think he's capable, but I also know they've always been worried about him. If it weren't for my eldest brother wanting to join the army, they would rather he stayed at home, like me, securely finding a wife and having children, working hard in the army, and not having to worry about him. At least he's right in front of them, so they don't have to worry about him."
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