After lunch in the afternoon, Jiang Dahai went to the home of the team leader Mo Dashuan and asked him for the notice from the Revolutionary Committee and the certificate for taking people from the team. He also borrowed the donkey cart from the team. He didn't know how many people the Revolutionary Committee would send over, so it would be more convenient to drive the donkey cart.
There is only one donkey cart in their team, which is very precious and not easily used on weekdays. Behind the big grey donkey is a cart made by the villagers themselves, which is just a simple piece of wood with two wheels and a circle around the board. No matter people sit on it or carry things, there is no need to worry about it falling off.
At this time, there was a thick layer of bedding on the cart behind the donkey cart, and a small body was tightly wrapped in a thick quilt, with only half of the little face exposed, with the nose and mouth buried in the quilt, constantly breathing out hot air.
The person sitting on the cart was Jiang Yilu. During lunch, he insisted on going to the county town together. It was too troublesome to go into the city. The last time he went to the county town was during the Chinese New Year last year. This time, he not only wanted to see if the Grandpa Ruan his grandfather mentioned was the economic tycoon Ruan Jingguo in his previous life, but also wanted to see what the current situation in the city was like.
For this, he rarely acted like a spoiled child to Jiang Dahai. Jiang Dahai could not stand his beloved son's nagging, so he agreed without any hesitation. Before leaving, he was severely scolded by the worried old lady Miao. Despite the scolding, when they set off, old lady Miao carefully asked her daughter-in-law to spread a thick mattress on the cart, for fear that her grandson would be cold.
In the cart at the back, in addition to Jiang Yilu, there were several bags of things of different sizes. They were all mountain products distributed by the team this time. They had gotten a lot of good things from the mountains this year. Except for those handed over to the county, the rest were distributed to the villagers in the form of work points. The Jiang family was not short of food now, so they asked for some more. These were specially distributed by Old Man Jiang to his wife as gifts to his youngest daughter's family.
They were all mountain products such as mushrooms, fungus, and chestnuts. They were not rare in the village, but they were very popular outside. Old Man Jiang knew that he had always troubled his son-in-law over the years, and buying coal briquettes wasted his time. It would be bad if he didn't bring something over, and there would be a return if there was a visit. Although Old Lady Miao was a little reluctant, she still let the old man suppress it.
The packages at the back were all deflated and looked a bit shabby. Old Mrs. Miao didn't dare to compete with her old man openly, but she did a lot of tricks secretly. For example, for the dried black fungus, Old Mrs. Miao put mostly broken ones in them. There were hardly any large and complete ones. She also picked the chestnuts from the shriveled ones, and the quantity was not much, for fear of being at a disadvantage.
Jiang Yilu had long known about his grandmother's character. The only ones who could get good things from her were his grandfather and his father, and now there was one more person in his life.
Not only is Old Lady Miao stingy with others, she is not much better to herself. She is a person who truly practices the principle of favoring boys over girls. At home, the food she prepares for herself is only slightly better than that for her daughter-in-law and granddaughter, but it is definitely inferior to that for the men in the family. In her opinion, the pillar of the family can only be the man, and the good things in the family should naturally be left to the man.
Jiang Yilu didn't know whether he should be happy for her "fairness" or feel sad for her foolish idea.
He glanced at the packages, then turned his head to look at his father who was concentrating on driving the car. Using his mind, he slowly filled the packages with wood ear mushrooms and wild mushrooms from the dry goods area of the space supermarket. The originally shriveled packages gradually swelled up.
Jiang Yiliu didn't put too much in, fearing that Jiang Dahai would be suspicious, and stopped when it was almost done. After all, Old Lady Miao was just a little old lady in the village, and she didn't see things as clearly as Grandpa.
The Jiang family has asked the Meng family to do a lot of things over the years. Even if my uncle has no complaints, his parents may not. These things are taken over to maintain a good relationship with the old couple of the Meng family and not to make it difficult for my aunt. If we follow the things that grandma just prepared, I am afraid that not only will it not end well, but it will also make the two old people of the Meng family have some bad thoughts, which will hurt the relationship between relatives for nothing.
Jiang Yiliu looked at the packages with satisfaction. He had gotten used to doing this over the years. Every once in a while, he would quietly add some food to the grain jar and oil tank at home. The amount was not large, but it accumulated over time and was enough to make the family's food supply less tight. With enough food at home, Old Lady Miao was no longer so harsh towards her granddaughters.
The eldest sister was only 1.5 meters tall in her previous life. Now she is 14 years old and has grown to the same height as in her previous life. Because the food was poor, he ground some calcium and vitamin tablets into powder and secretly added them to their meals to provide them with sufficient nutrition. In this life, the four sisters are much healthier than in their previous life.
He is still young, and this is all he can do.
The donkey cart swayed all the way, Jiang Yilu was almost asleep, and finally they arrived at the county town.
The county town now seems like a sea of red. The blue brick and stone walls along the streets are covered with big-character posters and red slogans. Quotations from the Chairman painted in bright red can be seen everywhere, announcing to people the beginning of this vigorous movement.
Jiang Yilu silently looked at everything in front of him. The current county town was far from being as prosperous as it would be in the future. Most of the houses were small bungalows with blue bricks and red tiles. Occasionally there were a few tall buildings, the tallest of which was only three stories high.
There were not many pedestrians on the street. Occasionally, a few people were seen, all with stern faces, hurrying to and fro. Most of the people wore black, gray, and indigo clothes. A few years ago, some people still wore colorful clothes, but now they were not allowed to do so, saying that it was petty bourgeois. If the Red Guards saw them, they would be criticized.
The weather is gloomy, just like Jiang Yilu's current mood. Even though he knows in his heart that this dark cloud will eventually dissipate, when you really witness it all, your mood is still extremely heavy.
When Jiang Dahai drove his donkey cart to the compound of the Revolutionary Committee, he was stopped by a middle-aged man in a gray coat as soon as he parked the cart.
"What are you doing? Is this a place where you country people can just come in casually?" The man's eyes swept across Jiang Dahai's gray and patched coat, and a trace of contempt flashed in his eyes.
"Leader, I'm from Qingshan Village. The county has instructed our village to accept several laborers who need reform. So our team leader sent me here to pick them up." Jiang Dahai had never encountered such a situation before. He glanced at the man, took out the team's certificate from his arms and handed it over.
"Those reactionaries haven't arrived in the county yet. Please come back in a few hours." The little leader who seemed to be in charge, with a big belly, accepted the certificate issued by the team, waved his hand, and told them in a not very good attitude to come back in a few hours to pick them up.
Jiang Yilu frowned. The Revolutionary Committee had great power now and he couldn't afford to offend any of them. As the saying goes, it's better to offend a gentleman than a villain. The people in the Revolutionary Committee were not easy to deal with. They would just pick on some faults of yours and it would be enough to make your family fall to the ground.
Jiang Dahai obviously knew this, so he agreed with a smile, picked up the package on the back of the donkey cart, took his son's hand and walked towards his sister's house, taking the opportunity to deliver the things.
Judging from the look of that little leader, even if they stayed there, they could only wait in the yard. Who knew when those people would deliver the food? The weather was so cold now, he would be fine, but his son would be frozen. It would be better for them to go to their brother-in-law's house and wait until the time was right before going over.
The donkey cart was left in the compound of the Revolutionary Committee, where an old man was guarding the gate. In addition, no one in the entire county would dare to steal things from the Revolutionary Committee.
Jiang Dazhen's home is not far from the Revolutionary Committee, just across a small alley. This area is full of old-style courtyard houses, most of which are duplexes. They are much more exquisite than the bungalows seen when they first entered the city.
These were all built with funds raised by several factories in the county a few years ago. Most of them were distributed to the factory workers. Meng Pingchuan and his father were both senior workers. They each got a room, which happened to be one upstairs and one downstairs, so they simply connected them and turned it into an independent building, which was large and spacious.
Jiang Dahai held his son's hand tightly, and before they could cross the alley, they were blocked by people.
An independent courtyard was crowded with onlookers. From inside, one could hear the cries of old people, the curses of some young people, and the sound of things breaking and smashing.
Jiang Yilu couldn't help but hold his father's hand tighter. This familiar scene told him what was happening ahead.
There were too many people watching in front, but this was the shortest way to his sister's house. If he turned back now, he would probably have to go around a long circle again. Jiang Dahai simply picked up his son, let him sit on his shoulders, and tried his best to squeeze into the crowd.
"What a sin! Teacher Lu is such a good person, how could he become a reactionary?" Many people crowded in front of the courtyard, pointing and talking inside, with a trace of sympathy and pity on their faces.
Jiang Yilu sat on Jiang Dahai's shoulder and could clearly see what was happening inside.
In the empty yard, torn books could be seen everywhere. Exquisite wooden furniture had all turned into broken limbs and piled up in a pile. A group of young people who looked to be fifteen or sixteen years old were constantly carrying things out of the house. "Snap", a half-person-high vase was casually thrown in the yard and instantly shattered into pieces.
"You can't burn it, you can't burn it." An old man with gray hair, a broken eye socket on the bridge of his nose, drooping on his face, his clothes torn to tatters, revealing the black and yellow cotton wool inside. At this time, he was pulling a man holding a torch, his face full of grief and despair.
"Get away, you old man. If your son hadn't reported it, we wouldn't have known that you had hidden so many reactionary books at home. You are a member of the "Five Black Categories" and a "Stinking Ninth Class". The organization will punish you."
As the man spoke, he kicked away the old man who was pulling him and threw the torch in his hand directly at the pile of books. The burning flames immediately engulfed the books.
"We can't burn them. Those are things left by our ancestors." The old man who was kicked away covered his chest and tried to rush towards the fire, but was stopped by an old woman next to him, who cried and shouted at him not to go over.
"What a beast, what a beast." The old man was in tears and pointed his finger at the young man huddled in the corner.
"Lu Jianxun, you reactionary. From today on, I will completely sever the father-son relationship with you and will draw a clear line between myself and you, the five black categories." The man saw that everyone's eyes were looking at him, and he immediately puffed out his chest and said with great righteousness.
Except for the Red Guards, the onlookers were all in uproar. There was actually a son who dared to sue his father. Where was this man's conscience?
Jiang Yilu looked at this scene and felt that the cold wind blowing on his face was not as cold as the heart, but he was powerless to do anything. This was the era, and he seemed to be able to only watch this scene happen.
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