Chapter 62
More than a month later, Gu Yan drove a tractor to take the two children to the commune junior high school. After registering, they went to the dormitory to make the bedding. As soon as they entered, the couple frowned.
I heard the environment was bad, but I didn't expect it to be this bad. The newspapers on the wall have turned yellow and even black, and the north and south sides of the room are covered with wooden boards, less than one meter high. The ground was wet and damp.
The couple looked at each other and said nothing. One of them went to get a broom and dustpan, and the other went to fetch a bucket of water. Gu Yan was wiping the dust, and suddenly raised his hand to tear off the annoying newspaper.
"You stay here while I go find some newspapers and re-paste the wall."
"Mom, where are you going to find it?"
"The commune courtyard."
It was originally just a simple matter, but she made it much more complicated. I found some newspaper and spent ten cents to make paste in the commune canteen. When I returned, the dormitory had been cleaned by Li Zhongxia. The parents who came later did not get to clean the house, but when they saw that they were going to paste the walls, they hurried over to help.
There is strength in numbers. In less than an hour, this complicated task was completed perfectly. This time it looked much cleaner and brighter, without the dull and depressing feeling from before.
A thick mattress was placed against the wall for my daughter, covered with a red, blue and white checkered sheet. Quilt cover and pillowcase in the same color. Her neat outfit made the little girl next to her envious.
Several parents went together to pay food rations for their children, either for a week or a month. Gu Yan paid for a month at a time. Before leaving, I stuffed a few cents into my daughter's pocket.
"I heard that there will be people carrying baskets to sell steamed dumplings, pancakes and other things. Don't be reluctant to buy them. These will be used up in a week."
Xiaohua laughed and held her mother's arm, leaning against her head and whispering, "Mom, you paid the grain, and you gave me another meal allowance, isn't that too extravagant?"
"Not at all. When I was delivering the grain just now, I saw that the grain of several households had worms. The food must not taste good."
"That's right! I heard from the brothers who went there that there is meat and bug protein."
"You don't care about anything as long as you can go to school, right?"
"This is already good enough. Many people don't even have food with insects, and can't go to school because they can't afford the food. I have everything I need, so eating some insect-infested food is no big deal."
Not long after school started, the busy autumn harvest season arrived and everyone was busy with the harvest. Every grain of rice is stored in the warehouse, and food is our lifeline.
After going to the commune in the afternoon, Gu Yan came back with a gloomy face. Li Zhongxia was cooking and asked carefully, "What's wrong? Did you encounter any troubles in the commune?"
"The higher authorities assigned several educated youths to work for us, but they didn't specify who they would be assigned to. The other brigades pushed all the responsibilities away, citing housing and management issues as excuses. As a result, the branch secretary actually responded positively and offered to support the work.
Damn it, how could the branch secretary agree to this? It seems like this matter is not going to be easy. What's wrong with him? How much trouble would it cause if we threw a bunch of city kids into this pile of dirt? ”
"Just say this at home, don't go to the party branch and make a fuss about it. We welcome intellectuals to go to the countryside, and you have to keep up with the trend."
After this sentence, Gu Yan became completely dispirited. He sat on the stool with his head lowered and remained silent. Although she had known that this situation was likely to occur, she still found the secretary's actions incomprehensible. Why take on this trouble? If this starts, will all the educated youth assigned to their team be assigned to them in the future?
No matter how reluctant she was, she couldn't object. Not to mention that she is the second-in-command, even if she is the first-in-command, as long as her partner responds positively, she will not be able to refuse.
That night, the brigade held a members' meeting to mobilize everyone to actively accept the educated youth and help them integrate into the big family of working people.
"Each educated youth will receive a total of 30 kilograms of food allowance per month. If anyone has a place at home, please sign up quickly. This is definitely worth it."
"Secretary, is this educated youth a girl or a boy? If it's a girl, my family wants one."
Gu Yan became furious when he saw the speech. What he feared was coming true. Their neighbor to the west of the courtyard had three side rooms and two ear rooms to the south. The family was small and they immediately became interested when they heard there was a bargain to be made. They even want a girl. Don’t they know that a hot commodity is a reason for dispute in the eyes of a hungry wolf?
"Okay, your family will register a baby girl." The secretary danced with excitement, "Who else is there? There are only a few. If you are late, there will be no more."
It sounded like the hawking of a man at a market. Gu Yan was too lazy to listen anymore. Since the branch secretary was in charge, she simply went out to the threshing ground. Walking in the night and listening to the chirping of insects is more comfortable than staying in a noisy party branch.
I heard the sound of "exercise" from a distance, and when I walked closer I found that it was Li Zhongxia taking the children running. Okay, are you going to manage these three children in a militarized manner?
Niu Niu was following at the end, and after running a few steps with her short legs, she actually sat on the ground. Gu Yan went over, picked up the child, and chased after the team in front.
"One two one, one two one..."
The child giggled with joy and looked at his older brothers and sisters with pride. Look, I have my mother to hold me, you have to run by yourself. The little girl understood her sister's eyes, rolled her eyes at her and ran while talking.
"One, two, one, two, one, let's unite and fight the Midea."
"No, we're fighting the Japanese. They are so bad in the movies, all bad guys."
"Stupid, the Americans and the devils are all the same, they are all bad guys and they all need to be fought."
Listening to the child's childish words, the couple smiled at each other, and the annoyance in their hearts disappeared. No matter the ups and downs, no matter the joys and sorrows, as long as the family is together, it is the greatest happiness.
The next day was Sunday, and Xiaohua was leaving in the afternoon. Gu Yan made pancakes at noon, and fried some fresh cabbage with various peppers. Add more oil and various seasonings when serving. Wang Xiaomai from Dongwu sniffed the fragrance and brought the bowl over.
"Your chili is really fragrant, not pungent at all. Are you making this for your daughter to eat with rice?"
"Yeah. The child will lose his appetite if he eats boiled vegetables every day."
"You are really good to your children. You cook porridge, steamed rice, and boiled vegetables with some salt. Every family eats like this. You are the only one who specially grows peppers and saves the oil for cooking for the children."
"You don't know, the lack of oil and salt in the school food is not a big deal. But a lot of the grains are infested with bugs, and some people don't care and mix in bran or sorghum husks, which are so rough that they can break your throat."
"Really? Then...then the school will just let the kids eat this?"
"We can't help it. Every family has a hard time. If we want more children to go to school, we have to make some concessions in other aspects. Otherwise, just for food, many people will be blocked from going to school."
"Yes. It's difficult!" Wang Xiaomai's eldest son only graduated from elementary school, and the second son has no plans to go to junior high school. The few who came down here are in a tough situation. The family can barely make ends meet, so how can they afford to send their children to school?
The food was packed in a specially made bag, in duplicate. Last time, Sister Xu told Xu Wa to recognize Gu Yan as his godmother and to be filial to her when he grows up.
"Mom has to go to work this afternoon, you and Xu Wa should be careful on the road. Don't leave too late, it will be dangerous after dark."
"I know. Don't worry, Mom. I'll leave at around four. I have a self-study class in the evening, so I'll go there and prepare for it."
In the afternoon, Gu Yan was picking corn in the cornfield in the north of the village. In the evening, he ran away after work and went to Sister Xu's place to find the child first. As a result, I saw a group of adults putting out a fire at the big cowshed on the street, and Sister Xu was among them.
"Sister Xu, where are Leilei and Xiaoya?"
When asked, the woman turned around. "It was there just now, where did it go all the time?"
"Didn't I tell you?" She told the child that he had to report to Aunt Xu before doing anything, so how could he suddenly disappear?
"No." Sister Xu slapped her thigh. "You're not afraid of being beaten by adults, so you're hiding, right?"
"What's going on?"
As soon as she asked, the people who were putting out the fire started talking at once. Sister Xu interrupted everyone and explained to her quickly. "The two little guys set the haystack next to the cowshed on fire. When everyone noticed it, they rushed to put out the fire. Then they threatened the children that they would be beaten for starting the fire. They will tell you when you come back to take good care of the naughty kids at home.
Everyone was in a hurry to put out the fire and didn't bother to look at these people. I guess he was scared and hid himself. He has already made a mistake and was scared. Will he hide back home to find his grandmother? ”
"It's possible." Gu Yan said as he raised his leg and walked towards his home. "I'll go home first."
"Wait, I'll go with you."
The two women ran towards the Li family's yard, one in front and one behind, and entered the house in less than two minutes. The old lady was sitting on the kang doing needlework. Seeing them in a panic, she quickly asked what was going on.
"The children haven't come back yet?"
"No, isn't she playing outside with her Aunt Xu?"
broken. Where did these three run away in fear? She had repeatedly warned her not to play with fire, otherwise her mother would beat her. He would really beat people up.
The original intention was to scare the children so that they would realize the danger and not play with fire in the future. Now, with the two of them together, the child must be scared. They are so young and don't have the ability to recognize things. Where can they hide when they get scared?
After such a while, Li Zhongxia came back and got the news. The man patted his wife on the shoulder and said, "Don't let your imagination run wild. Hurry up and gather everyone to help find them. They are so young, they probably can't walk far."
Gu Yan nodded, turned and walked out. It's getting dark, we have to find the child quickly. If these three foolishly hid in the wilderness where there were many wolves, it would be a very dangerous thing.
"Fifty dollars reward for finding the child."
As soon as she said this, the members were immediately shocked. A whole family may not be able to fall behind by 50 in a year. This time the director is really ruthless.
"Director, is this true? You've lost a lot of money, right? Don't you want the money from raising pigs?"
"Really? Everyone hurry up and look for it. I'm a man of my words. If we find it together, we'll split it equally. If we find it alone, we'll keep it all. So hurry up and act."
"Okay. Let's get some pine oil and light a torch, and go find someone."
There's no benefit, so everyone just helps out as a routine matter. Now that there is a reward, everyone is like a chicken with its blood pumped up. As long as no one has found it, there will be people who will do it for the money.
There is strength in numbers, and soon the village was turned upside down. There was no sign of any children. Everyone began to expand their targets outside the village and even further.
Gu Yan suddenly remembered that when her nephew got married, she took her child to her sister's house. The little ones have also been to their aunt's house. Will they run to their relatives' houses to seek shelter when they are scared?
After sharing the idea with Li Zhongxia, the man also thought it was possible. "Then I'll go to Bai Lu's place, and you can find Brother Xu or a few other companions to go with you to your sister's place. Take your sickle, there may be wolves on the road."
Now that everyone has dispersed, where can I find Brother-in-law Xu? Gu Yan responded with a grunt, then walked away with the sickle in his hand. He said he was going to see Brother-in-law Xu, but in fact he ignored it.
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