Jiang Dahai and Mo Dashuan separated at the gate of the county town, because the road to the county committee and the road to the machinery factory workers' hospital happened to be in two different directions.
"Brother..." Jiang Dahai was about to go in when he saw his sister Jiang Dazhen coming out of the hospital. She was holding a large aluminum lunch box in her hand, and it seemed that she had just delivered the meal and was about to go back.
"You came just in time. I was just about to bring you the food rations for my parents for the next few days. I'm sorry to bother you these days. When Dachuan gets better, let his wife take care of him, and then I can go back."
Jiang Dahai was carrying two large cloth bags on his back, one bag contained clothes for changing, and the other was food to be taken to his sister's house, about ten pounds of cornmeal and some sweet potatoes.
"Brother, what are you doing? I still can't live without a bite of food for my parents. There's not much food at home. Just give these to Dani and the others so they can have enough to eat. As their aunt, I'll be happy."
Jiang Dazhen frowned and pushed back the food handed to him by his elder brother.
Jiang Dahai smiled sheepishly and scratched his head: "How can Dani and the others be hungry? Their parents have been very good to them over the years, so they don't need to worry about food."
Jiang Dazhen rolled her eyes at him and said nothing.
Jiang Dazhen refused to accept the bag of grain, so Jiang Dahai had to take it back, thinking that his sister's mother-in-law seemed to like mountain products very much. If he hunted a wild boar in the mountains in a few days, he would share some with his sister's family.
"Where is Fan Xiaojuan? Why didn't she come with you?" Jiang Dazhen looked behind her brother and didn't see her second sister-in-law, so she asked in confusion.
"She didn't come to the hospital?" Even though Jiang Dahai was slow-witted, he realized something was wrong. The old lady said that Fan Xiaojuan came to the county town early in the morning. It didn't make sense that she hadn't arrived in the county town after so long. So where did she go with the package?
Jiang Dazhen heard what her elder brother said and saw his blue face. Her expression changed instantly: "What has that woman done again? Dachuan is in the hospital. Why is she so crazy? Instead of coming to the hospital to take care of her man, where has she gone to?"
"No, I'm not going to work today anyway. I'll go back to the village with you later. I want to see what that woman is up to." Jiang Dazhen gave some instructions to her eldest brother and hurried home. She had to go back to put away the lunch box and inform her mother-in-law first.
Jiang Dachuan is in a very bad state, but he is in this state now. After all, they are biological siblings. No matter how biased Jiang Dazhen is, she cannot bear to see her second sister-in-law treat her second brother like this.
Jiang Dachuan hasn't woken up yet. The doctor said he lost too much blood and it would probably take a while for him to wake up.
Old Mrs. Miao took a cotton swab, dipped it in water and wiped his lips to prevent them from chapped. Jiang Cheng sat beside the bed with a worried look on his face, sighing.
"That's Fan Xiaojuan." Old Mrs. Miao asked in confusion, in a not very good tone, when she saw her eldest son coming in with something.
Anyone whose son is in the hospital but whose daughter-in-law is nowhere to be seen will not be in a good mood.
Jiang Dahai was a little hesitant. Seeing his parents' haggard faces, he did not tell them that Fan Xiaojuan was missing. He thought that he would tell his parents about it after he found Fan Xiaojuan.
"She will be here soon, Mom and Dad. I brought you some clean clothes, so remember to change them. I'll come get the clothes in a few days and let Dongmei wash them for you."
"It's already this time, and she is still so leisurely. There is gold at home for her to clean up." Old Mrs. Miao didn't think there was anything wrong. She took out the clothes from the cloth bag, put them on the bed beside her, and folded them neatly, while muttering to herself, showing dissatisfaction with her daughter-in-law.
Old man Jiang glanced at his embarrassed son, frowned slightly, and wanted to ask several times, but he didn't ask.
"What do you want to do with the grain? Your father and I are taken care of by Dazhen. Take these things back quickly." Old Mrs. Miao opened another bag, saw the cornmeal and sweet potatoes inside, and nodded her eldest son's head.
"You still complain that there is too much food at home. Your father and I raised Dazhen, but we can't even eat a bite of her food." Old Mrs. Miao knew what her son was thinking immediately. She was so disappointed in her son that she wanted to open his head to have a look.
How could Miao Sanfeng, such a smart person, give birth to such a foolish son? The Meng family has money and food, they only need to eat for a few days. It is just a drizzle for them. Is there any need for him to rush to send food?
But then she thought again, it's better for her son to be a little simple, at least he is obedient, and they won't suffer any loss in the future. Old Mrs. Miao felt both worried and happy.
"Mom, I have to go back to work. I'll trouble you and Dad to take care of my second brother. I'll go back first." Jiang Dahai listened to the endless teachings of Old Lady Miao. He thought that his sister should be back soon, so he tied the cloth bag of grain tightly and left in a hurry.
"Okay, go back and tell Fan Xiaojuan to hurry up. Her man is lying here." Old Mrs. Miao leaned against the door frame and shouted at her son's hurried back. She stopped shouting only after being warned by a passing nurse.
******
Here, Mo Dashuan was standing in the county party committee office. A serious and rigid middle-aged man was sitting in the office, carefully looking at Mo Dashuan's application to go up the mountain to hunt wild boars.
"Director, our village only has so much land. Last night, a group of wild boars destroyed several acres of sweet potatoes. Those animals have tasted the sweetness and will come down the mountain every few days. If this continues, our village will not be able to bear it."
Mo Dashuan looked at the man in front of him and asked nervously.
"Yeah." Director Cao responded, put down the documents in his hand, and glanced at the honest country man standing in front of him.
"Is there anything else you haven't said?" Director Cao's eyes were small but extremely sharp. Mo Dashuan felt a little frightened when he looked at him like that.
"What's the matter, Director Cao? Can you give me some hints?" Mo Dashuan asked carefully.
Director Cao in front of him is in charge of production and has a lot of contact with production team leaders like Mo Dashuan. Although he is strict and usually doesn't smile, he is not an unreasonable person. He is much more likable than those smiling tigers who smile all day long.
Mo Dashuan didn't know what he did wrong and why Director Cao looked at him like that.
"Old Mo, I have always trusted you. This time you have disappointed me so much. How could you shield a bad element who tried to seize collective grain?" Director Cao slapped the table and said angrily to Mo Dashuan.
"How can you say that, Director Cao? Don't you know who I, Mo Dashuan, am? It's totally unfair for you to say that." Sheltering bad elements is a serious crime, and Mo Dashuan could not accept it at all.
"Hmph." Director Cao snorted lightly, and when he saw Mo Dashuan's puzzled expression, he felt relieved.
"Is Jiang Dachuan on your team? Was he attacked by a wild boar last night because he was stealing sweet potatoes in the middle of the night? Is he still lying in the staff hospital now? Why didn't you report such an important matter?"
Director Cao looked at Mo Dashuan to see if he had anything to explain.
Jiang Dachuan was just sent to the hospital last night, and the county committee already knew about it in just a few days. Mo Dashuan thought about it for a while, but he immediately said, "Director, we haven't figured out what happened last night yet. We're thinking about waiting for Jiang Dachuan to wake up and figure things out before reporting. The leaders' time is precious, and I can't waste it on something that hasn't been figured out yet."
The reason why Mo Dashuan was able to serve as the production team leader for such a long time was not only because of the trust the villagers had in him, but also because of his ability to get things done and his brain.
Now his confident look and well-reasoned explanation immediately frightened Director Cao, and his expression became much better.
"Well, you are right to deal with it this way. Once Jiang Dachuan wakes up, you should find out the truth. We in Yuchuan County cannot tolerate such bad elements. If he really stole the collective food, he must be criticized and punished by the organization."
Director Cao nodded, expressing satisfaction with Mo Dashuan's explanation. He also didn't like those subordinates who would panic when something happened. Mo Dashuan's approach was very good, well-reasoned, and saved the leader's time.
He still trusted Mo Dashuan's ability to do things, so he didn't hold on to the matter any longer.
"I'll write you a note. Go to the Public Security Bureau and get a few hunting rifles. Remember to return them after you've killed wild boars." Director Cao wrote on the note with a pen: "Also, remember to hand over half of the wild boars you kill to the county. Don't forget."
The New Year is almost here. If we can kill a wild boar, the leaders of the county party committee will give us some pork so we can have a good year.
This is also the reason why Director Cao so readily agreed to let Mo Dashuan go up the mountain to hunt wild boars. Otherwise, it would not be so easy to approve the hunting rifles from the Public Security Bureau.
Seeing that the biggest purpose of this trip had been achieved, Mo Dashuan smiled happily, and respectfully took the note from Director Cao, nodding repeatedly: "Of course, of course, when the time comes, we will send the fattest wild boar up and hand it over to the country."
Before leaving, Mo Dashuan turned back hesitantly and asked Director Cao, "Director, how did the county know about Jiang Dachuan? It seems that no one from our village has gone to the city."
The Jiang family did come into the city. Mo Dashuan thought, it couldn't be that the Jiang family reported themselves.
Director Cao took a sip of hot tea and did not hide anything: "It was Jiang Dachuan's wife. She went to the Management Committee early this morning and exposed Jiang Dachuan's crimes to the people of the Management Committee. She asked the organization to allow her to divorce the bad element."
"Comrade Fan has a very high level of awareness. The director of the management committee highly praises her. Once Jiang Dachuan's case is confirmed, the organization will approve Comrade Fan's request and commend her."
"Fan Xiaojuan!" Mo Dashuan exclaimed. He never thought that it was Fan Xiaojuan who reported his man. What on earth does this woman want to see?
"Hmm..." Director Cao was somewhat dissatisfied when he saw his expression.
Mo Dashuan quickly changed his expression, put away the surprise on his face, followed Director Cao in praising Fan Xiaojuan a few words, then turned around, closed the door and left.
As soon as the door was closed, his expression changed immediately. He walked downstairs and looked at Jiang Dahai and Jiang Dazhen who were waiting by the donkey cart with a serious expression.
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