Chapter 94: Letter from Comrade Lao Wen
Wen Wan entered the house in the dark. She couldn't knock on the door at that time. She really wanted to cry and have a good cry. But when she heard someone else crying, she felt relieved instantly and couldn't cry anymore.
She had already washed, climbed onto the bed, wrapped herself in the quilt and fell asleep. She had no idea when Deng Hongjuan and the others came in or when she fell asleep.
The next day was another difficult one. During the lunch break, Lu Donglin did not sleep but went into the woods. After Wen Wan rested for a while and started working, Lu Dongping took out the teacup from the backpack that Lu Chun'e had brought and called to her, "Wanwan, come here. I have something good to show you."
Wen Wan had just picked up the sickle and was about to reach the stubble when she heard him shout and ran over again: "What is that?"
Lu Dongping showed her the porcelain jar: "Donglin made this for you, Paoer." Of course, he also made it. This season is the time to eat Paoer, but it's a pity that he is very busy. By the time he is done, this thing is gone.
Wen Wan opened the lid and took a look. She had eaten the red one a few days ago, which was called Zaiyangpao. The white one seemed to look different, was it also a bubble? She took a look and happily closed the lid and put it back in the backpack. "Don't worry, I'll take it back and eat it later."
It’s up to her how she eats it.
Lu Dongping's family worked day and night, and they finished most of the work that was supposed to take three days in two days. There was still some wheat left that was harvested the night before. Lu Dongping and Lu Mingjiang worked all morning the next day and carried it all back home.
I could rest for most of the day, but now I have no time to rest. There are still two pigs locked up in the pen, so I have to go to the field to pick some pig grass.
Lu Mingjiang and Lu Dongping went to help Lu Minghai's family for half a day, and finally they had almost finished harvesting the crops in the field by dusk.
When they were leaving work one after another, there were still some unfinished tasks. Lu Minghai took a quick look and knew what was going on. They continued to collect the tasks that had not been completed and supervised each other so that no one could cheat.
It only takes a day or two to catch your breath, and the wheat in the threshing floor has just been dried enough to be threshed with a flail, and the wheat in the field can be harvested.
After working almost breathlessly for over a week, they finally harvested all the crops from the fields. Then they had to divert water to the wheat fields to flood them. The young and strong laborers rolled up their pants and went to the fields to plow, while the older ones took trowels to smooth the ridges.
The women gathered in the threshing floor, and while the sun had dried the straw to crispiness, they began to thresh the wheat with flails.
Wen Wan didn't know how to use a flail, so she followed Lu Chun'e and the others in turning the wheat. After the flail had been used once, they would turn the wheat over again, and then continue turning it when they saw the sun.
After beating it repeatedly several times, they began to rake out the wheat straw and used a winch to shake and pick it up into stacks at the edge of the threshing floor.
Wen Wan's letter arrived at this moment. The postman from the post office pushed his cart and shouted from a distance: "Wen Wan, who is Wen Wan? There's a letter for you!"
Wen Wan dropped the straw in her hand and ran outside. It was really not easy to get this letter.
Comrade Lao Wen had mixed feelings when he wrote this letter. He hesitated for a long time and even almost asked for leave to come here. Unfortunately, it would take too long to go back and forth. In his current position, he simply couldn't delay for such a long time because of his personal matters.
Wen Wan was raised in his care, so how could he not understand her personality?
After following the rules for more than ten years, the first time I made a decision on my own, it caused such a big commotion.
She secretly signed up to go to the countryside, and she chose the place farthest from home.
He knew the child had resentment towards him, but at his age and in his position, there were many things he couldn't just choose not to do, so he had no right to be willful.
He was born in the countryside and naturally knew how difficult life was in the countryside. Although he knew his little girl's personality and gave her enough things when she left, money and tickets were not everything.
Being sent down to the countryside meant working. He didn't realize how much he knew about the girl he had raised. If she were sent to the countryside, she would be one of the best girls in the compound, and no one else could compare to her. But what was the point of sending her to the countryside?
Can piano be worn as clothes or can singing fill your stomach?
He was worried for several months after she left, and then he received another letter from her, in which the girl said that she had a boyfriend over there.
Comrade Lao Wen couldn't imagine what kind of man could catch his girl's eye. He wasn't worried about her being coaxed, he was worried about her being taken advantage of. No matter how broad her horizons or how smart her brain was, she was still just a delicate and gentle girl.
He couldn't go and see it in person, nor could he write directly to express his disagreement, so this reply really stumped him.
He sent a telegram to Xu Qingming, who was also in Xinxi. Only after receiving Xu Qingming's reply did he start to write and consider.
The letter was written in great detail and tactfully. Wen Wan read it through while she was eating. It was a long letter, but it didn't say whether he agreed or not.
The letter said: "In the blink of an eye, Dad's Anbao has grown up and has someone she likes. Dad doesn't plan to interfere too much in your relationship. Dad is also from the countryside and has no prejudice against rural people. There are excellent and motivated young people everywhere. You have been smart since you were a child. Dad hopes that you can be smart in the matter of dating, at least don't let yourself be wronged when dating. Time is still short, and it is not easy to understand a person. Dad reminds you, don't just indulge in the things that attract you to him. Those who attract you must be excellent. You should try to find his shortcomings and see if he can change these shortcomings for you. Also ask yourself if you can't change such shortcomings."
"Dating is a very serious matter. You have to prepare yourself for your future, for the family you might start, and for your entire life. You have to think clearly. Once you settle down there, you might stay there forever. Are you sure you want to be so far away from your father, forever?"
"And his family. You need to get to know them better. Can they treat you well and tolerate your occasional temper? From the time you were born until now, Dad has never wronged you in any way, and I wouldn't want anyone else to wrong you—"
Comrade Lao Wen wrote this letter with great care, and Wen Wan also read it very carefully.
While working in the afternoon, her eyes were empty and she was thinking seriously about what was written in the letter.
Shortcomings, Lu Dongping's shortcomings. After thinking for a long time, she found that she had not found any shortcomings of Lu Dongping until now, which was a bit abnormal.
She felt that Lu Dongping's family was quite harmonious and nice when they got along with each other. As for whether he could tolerate her, she would have to try it to know. After all, she was a person with quite a temper.
As the sun set, the hay stacks piled up high. Lu Dongping took the cows to the cowshed, carried the plow, and held a bamboo basket in his hand, coming back covered in mud.
He put the plow in the warehouse and walked towards the wheat field carrying the bamboo basket.
Before he even got close, Lu Donglin saw him. His eyes lit up, and he threw the fork in his hand aside and rushed towards him: "Brother, brother, do you have any eels?"
After saying that, the man came up to him and grabbed the bamboo basket in his hand.
The basket was half full of eels, some as thick as a thumb, some as thin as a chopstick. They were tangled together and squirming in the narrow space, which gave people goosebumps. However, Lu Donglin was so happy that his eyes were full of stars: "Great, I have something delicious to eat tonight."
Lu Dongping hummed, "Go for a cesarean section, and have Mom stew it in a pot tonight."
"The wheat field isn't finished yet. Can I go first?"
Lu Dongping glanced at him and sneered, "You act like you're so important. How long will it take? How many forks of grass can you pick? I'll help you for a while."
Lu Donglin responded and ran away happily with the basket in his hand.
Only then did Lu Dongping walk towards the field covered in mud.
As soon as he got there, Liu Zhaoxing's family called out to him, "Dongping, are you done with work? How many more days do you have to work in the fields?"
Lu Dongping picked up the pitchfork that Lu Donglin had left there and said as he tossed the grass, "It'll take at least two more days to get everything ready. The water was just released today, and the fields haven't been fully diverted yet. The plowing is almost done, but don't we still need to harrow and then plow?"
As he spoke, his eyes fell on Wen Wan, who was among a group of people working.
Wen Wan thought the grass ash was too thick, so she got a scarf to cover her head and face, leaving only her eyes exposed.
She was working so hard that she didn't even notice Lu Dongping had been there for a while.
Lu Dongping glanced at her, pounded two forks of wheat straw to the stack, climbed directly on top of it, and shouted to the people below: "Come over here, pile it up closer, I'll do it for you."
Gao Xiulan smiled and said, "That's great. You guys are better at doing these jobs than us women."
Liu Zhaoxing's wife laughed and said, "Does this count as us being lucky?"
"That's just luck." When had Lu Dongping ever been so diligent and easy to talk to? He even came to help them after work. This had never happened before.
Lu Dongping grinned, glanced over, and finally caught Wen Wan.
Wen Wan finally noticed him now and waved to him quietly.
Lu Dongping felt relieved at once, and he stepped on and pulled the haystack until it was straight.
By the time the haystack was completed, it was almost dark, so he slid down from the haystack.
He waved his hand and said, "Let's go home and have dinner!"
As he spoke, he took the rake from Wen Wan's hand and asked her, "How was your day? Are you tired?"
"It's okay, just a little bit exposed to the sun. It's much better than the wheat harvesting two days ago." After saying that, she pulled the scarf on her face and said, "I wrapped it with something. It's a little hot, but my face won't be exposed to the sun anymore. I didn't think about it a few days ago." If I had thought about it, my face would not have been sunburned and blisters would have formed.
"Hey, do I look ugly when wrapped like this?"
Lu Dongping took the fork and rake in his hand into the warehouse, scratched them at Hu Xiujuan's place, and then came out and walked home with her. As they walked, he replied to her words just now: "It's not ugly, it's still beautiful."
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