Ji Nanfeng acted quickly and brought back an old classmate and comrade-in-arms, Yu Chengmao, from the neighboring Honghui Commune the next day.
Yu Chengmao and Ji Nanfeng were both 26 years old. They were classmates and had joined the army together. Two years earlier, Yu Chengmao had been discharged from the army after his wife died in childbirth, and he never remarried.
After Ji Nanfeng introduced Ruan Tang, he invited Yu Chengmao to eat. Yu Chengmao ate with big mouthfuls and praised loudly: "Sister-in-law's cooking skills are good. I really want to come here to eat every day."
When the others saw the Ji family coming to eat for free, they all ran away. Everyone's food rations were fixed, and they had to dig a river channel for more than ten days. They worked very hard every day, but they couldn't stand going hungry.
After no one came to the Ji family, Yu Chengmao slowed down his eating and whispered about the current situation of the Ruan family.
In Hongyang County, oilseed crops were a major source of income, and every commune, including the Honghui Company, had a good income. Therefore, when the Ruan family was sent to Honghui Commune, they received per capita rations. Although they were not overfed, they were not starving. However, they wanted to eat meat, but that was impossible.
Moreover, I was sent to the cowshed. Without a letter of introduction, the production team would not issue me a letter of introduction for fear of taking responsibility. Without a letter of introduction, I couldn't even buy some meat from the supply and marketing cooperative.
"We went to see Uncle Ruan, and he was very wary." Yu Chengmao looked at Ji Nanfeng with interest when he said this. "Uncle Ruan didn't believe that I was sent by my sister-in-law. He said..."
Ji Nanfeng raised his eyebrows and asked, "What did my father-in-law say?"
Yu Chengmao smiled frivolously, "Uncle Ruan said he didn't know any Ji Nanfeng, and his daughter wouldn't get married without telling me. Then he kicked me out, thinking I was a liar."
Ruan Tang smiled bitterly. She was coaxed into getting the marriage certificate by Xu Yan, but his father was so angry that he refused to acknowledge his daughter.
Ji Nanfeng took a bite of the radish bun and said, "It doesn't matter. My father-in-law will recognize me when he sees me."
Ji Nanfeng urged Yu Chengmao to finish eating and leave quickly, and also packed six radish buns, six pancakes, and six steamed dumplings for Yu Chengmao to take to the Ruan family.
"Eat early and go to bed. I'll come back and clean up."
Ji Nanfeng saw Yu Chengmao out and asked, "Want one?" Tianlai Novel Network
Ji Nanfeng took the cigarette and took a puff. Ji Nanfeng was not a heavy smoker. He had not smoked since he married Ruan Tang.
Yu Chengmao was enjoying the fun, "Your father-in-law is a difficult person to deal with. Even if you give him three sixes, you can't bribe him. You're going to have a hard time."
"I'm not that hard-pressed. If he were far away in Shanghai, I might not be able to do anything about him, but if he were in the commune next door, would I be able to do anything about him? I'd wear him down to death if I kept pestering him."
Yu Chengmao laughed. When Ji Nanfeng first joined the army, he tortured himself with the old men every day in order to get the title of Rookie King.
"You're awesome."
Yu Chengmao took the cloth bag and left.
When the Ji family made dry food, they also made it according to the number of people. Later, they needed an extra portion for the Ruan family, so their own portion would not be enough.
It just so happened that Grandma Ji had run out of medicine for ten days, so Ruan Tang drove her to the county hospital to get the medicine and replenished the medicine in the medicine box.
On the way back, Ruan Tang went to the supply and marketing cooperative and bought ten vegetarian buns and thirty meat buns, filling a whole basket.
When Grandma Ji saw it, she carried the baby on her back without asking any questions, so that Ruan Tang could ride the bike more easily.
Ruan Tang opened her mouth to explain several times, but Grandma Ji stopped her, "I'm old and my memory is not good. I might as well not know what I said when I turned my back to someone. If you have anything to say, just discuss it with your husband and wife."
Ruan Tang choked up and nodded, feeling warmed.
She thought, even if it was not for the purpose of giving Jiaojiao a complete family, for Grandma Ji, for Little Brother Ji, for Ji... Nanfeng, she was willing to stay in the Ji family.
After Ruan Tang put saline solution on Grandma Ji, he went to the shore carrying the medicine box.
After seven days of digging, a deep gully was dug out in the river.
Because Qingyun Brigade has surpassed other brigades by a lot, it has received a lot of praise from commune leaders and even county leaders.
Father Xu also shook off the bad luck and was full of energy. "Everyone, keep working hard. The leaders have seen how hard you've worked. We will definitely be among the outstanding teams this time."
The Qingyun Brigade hadn't been rated as an excellent brigade for two months. When the brigade next door was rated as an excellent brigade, each person was given an extra half pound of meat and an ounce of sugar, which made them very envious.
In order to dig deeper and surpass other teams, Father Xu transported the silt to both sides of the river and piled it up, intending to take it away together after completing the task.
As far as he could remember, there had been no accidents while digging the canal, but Ruan Tang always felt that it was too dangerous to pile up the silt on the shore without removing it in time.
So, Ruan Tang went to find Xu's father.
"Captain, our team is already much more advanced than the others. Why don't we send some people to clear the silt first?"
Father Xu sneered and looked at Ruan Tang with disdain.
"Ruan Zhiqing, you're an outsider, so don't be so bossy. Look at the other teams; they've all started to imitate us. If we slack off, we'll be eliminated at the last crucial moment."
"You're a city kid, how would you know how to work? If you have the time, you might as well go home and take care of your children. Oh, by the way, with my poor memory, I forgot you were a foot doctor. You should just apply the big plaster to the wounded."
Father Xu vented a lot and cleared away the depression in his heart.
The others also told Ruan Tang to move out of the way, as it was blocking their work. "Ruan Zhiqing, you may be great at treating illnesses and saving lives, but you can't really compare to us at work."
Later, Ruan Tang took a special look at other teams. It turned out that, as Xu's father said, they had also begun to use this method and were showing a tendency to surpass Qingyun Team.
When it was dark, Yu Chengmao came again, bringing back a bag of dirty cloth.
Mr. Ruan refused to accept the things no matter what and even threw the cloth bag out. His vigilance was extremely strong.
"They were just cooking a few sweet potatoes in a clay pot..."
If I don't eat well during this strenuous labor, I won't be able to endure it. I'll be sick before the ten days are up. Plus, eating too many sweet potatoes will give me heartburn, and I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep well at night.
Ruan Tang finally made up her mind, "I have to go there in person. My dad might be so scared by what happened in the city that he doesn't dare to trust anyone. He'll only believe me if he sees me."
Ji Nanfeng knew that he couldn't stop Ruan Tang, so he said a few words to Yu Chengmao and then directed and acted in a play himself.
Ji Nanfeng sent Yu Chengmao home as usual. After a while, Ji Nanfeng came back and said, "Wife, take the medicine box and come with me. Yu Chengmao just had diarrhea. I don't know if he can participate in the labor tomorrow."
Ruan Tang agreed and left with Ji Nanfeng.
To avoid suspicion, no one in the village was willing to live next to the Ruan family.
In order to get close to the Ruan family, Yu Chengmao deliberately lured the Yu family to occupy his straw hut and his dry food, and moved to the vicinity of the Ruan family.
The Ruan family’s straw hut was easy to recognize. It was the first time they were digging a canal and they didn’t have any oil paper, so they could only use straw to build a straw hut that was leaky everywhere.
Ruan Tang looked at the leaky thatched hut and felt a little sad.
"I'll be guarding outside. You keep your story short. If anyone comes, just say they've mistakenly come to the wrong hut."
Ruan Tang held back her tears and nodded heavily.
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