Chapter 50

The Great Escape

"Old Nie, I've noticed that you're quite flexible. I want to ask you, have you figured it out? Which fish tastes better?"

"As long as your apricot fork has not been taken by you to eat, I think it is delicious. Oh, he has never taken you to see such a magnificent scenery in his previous life. Very good, I will take you to travel all over the border."

"You are just jealous, and it makes no sense because that person is you."

"Don't flatter me. I will never leave the border, nor will I leave the oil industry. Didn't you say that the South will need to import oil in the future? Well, I tell you, for me, Nie Bozhao, this will not happen. I will eventually realize that the whole country will not only be self-sufficient in oil, but also able to export it."

"You are so beautiful, but the road is for people to walk, we will talk about it when the day comes."

On the banks of the Irtysh River, several staff members of the nuclear physics base are fishing.

In May, when there is a shortage of food, they have had enough of fish and now just hope to have some food. Even 85% rice flour will do, it tastes better than fish.

However, since the children have never eaten fish, they have to use their best skills to grill it.

The three children went fishing with the uncles who were soldiers. The fish in this river, which was strictly forbidden to cross, were big and plump and could be grilled or sashimied. The only regret was that all the experts here had gone to work in the field, and there was no expert with whom Nie Bozhao could really chat.

The young staff started a fire in the wild and showed the three children their skills in grilling fish.

The smell of fish wafted over. Chen Lina and her husband sat side by side on a big rock. The sun was shining in the sky. They put their feet in the water. Wow, it was so warm.

A staff member shook the fish in his hand and sang "The Rowan Tree in the Ural".

Researchers like these have a deep attachment to the Soviet Union because they have worked with the Soviet Union. When they sing, they always like to sing original Soviet songs.

There is a line in this song: "Come and help me see who is the smarter and braver one among them, Mr. Rowan Tree."

Chen Lina chewed over and over again, and suddenly she was alert, "Old Nie, is Kizilgarh on the border?"

"Yes, across the border is the Soviet Union, what's wrong with that?"

She was wrong. In fact, the two women were speaking Russian. If translated this way, what they said in the car was that they would cross the border from Kizilgarh tonight.

"Lao Nie, let me ask you, did the mass exodus in the 1960s have a big impact on our Republic?"

"Why are you asking this?"

"Today I saw Liu Xiaohong being led by two women from Loulan Farm. The two women could speak Russian. From what they said, they were probably going to cross the border along Kizilgarh and flee to the Soviet Union."

"Comrade Xiao Chen, why didn't you tell me about this earlier?"

"I thought what they said was Kazakh at the time. It was not until now that I realized that it was very stiff Russian," Chen Lina said. "Russian and Kazakh are similar, but the meanings are completely different."

"Do you know what it would mean if one person escaped?"

"What?"

"The relationship between China and European and American countries is about to break the ice. If someone flees to the Soviet Union at this time, even if it is just one person, as long as they distort the facts and spread internationally that they are being persecuted and spread some negative news, our republic will be isolated again. The great escape in the 1960s led to the isolation of the republic. The leaders have been visiting abroad to establish mutual communication and exchanges with more countries. This time the ice-breaking of relations with the United States is of great significance and must not be destroyed again." said Nie Bozhao.

Chen Lina then realized the seriousness of the problem. "What should we do? Should we just give up and notify the military immediately?"

Nie Bozhao thought for a moment and said, "If this kind of thing is really linked together, it is estimated that more than one farm is involved. No wonder so many people on the bus have reactionary emotions.

How about this, you go to the farm first, find Director Guo of Loulan Farm and report this matter, and let him stabilize the situation in the farm first. I will take a car to the mining area now and report the incident to the armed forces. I will try to solve the problem directly in our mining area without going through the border. Otherwise, if they really leave the mining area, it will cause a big trouble. "

"What happens if those sentenced to escape are caught?"

"Just shoot him."

Mom, even though she said she knew Liu Xiaohong would come to Hongyan Province in the future, it was because of her appearance that Liu Xiaohong had a stepmother like Sun Xiaoai, and her father was arrested. Don't let that child be shot in the end because of her, right?

"Will the director of Loulan Farm be turned against by them?" Chen Lina asked back.

"No, Guo Yangfan is also the descendant of a martyr. I can guarantee that he will not have reactionary thoughts." Nie Bozhao said decisively.

When it comes to children, there is a problem.

Chen Lina wanted Nie Bozhao to take the children away, at least it would be safer. But just when she said they wanted to separate, Sandan jumped on her, Erdan hugged her legs, and Nie Weimin looked like he was saying, "Don't play with me, I will never separate from you."

Well, the four of them, mother and her children, had to go to Loulan together.

On the way back to Loulan Farm in the buggy, Chen Lina thought about it and decided to tell the three children about this incident.

Although the three children were young, the place she was going to now was not a friendly farm, but a nest for defectors to communicate and contact.

At least the older two will be gangsters in the future, so they are capable of helping her do something.

"Awarguli from Mulan Farm turns out to be really young and beautiful." Guo Yangfan, the director of Loulan Farm, is 30 years old this year. He has a muscular body and looks like a good worker.

"Hello, Captain Guo. We should have more exchanges and interactions among our farms. Otherwise, if we each do our own production, it would be like working in isolation, right?" After shaking hands, Chen Lina said, "My sons and I have to stay here tonight. I have something to discuss with you. Can you arrange a place for us to stay?"

"Our second team is recruiting soldiers, and there are many caves in the ground. It's warm in winter and cool in summer. But since your chief Chen is here, I can't ask you to live in the cave. How about this, you live in our house?"

It was certainly better to have such a simple manager entertain her, and she had something to report, than to live in a strange cave. Chen Lina wanted to agree immediately.

However, before she could say anything, Nie Weimin shook her hand and gently called her "Mom."

This kid always brags about my mom in front of others, and he never calls her mom.

For a moment, she actually felt a tingling sensation. Good boy, you finally grow up.

The boy drew a circle in her palm and gently drew an hour hand inside it, which meant two o'clock.

Chen Lina looked over and saw a shoe sticking out from behind the half-open door, with something hanging on it, swinging.

That proved that there was someone sitting in the back, on a chair with his feet sticking out.

"How about this, we won't bother you anymore. There's a guy named Gou Ercai in the second team. We met him on the road, but he insisted on asking us to go to his house. It's hard to accept such a kindness." Chen Lina said.

When they came out, Chen Lina and her three children received a total of half a pound of sorghum flour, which was their food for the night.

Holding Chen Lina's hand tightly, Nie Weimin said, "The man sitting behind the counter is my uncle."

"Sun Dabao? How could he sit in the farm director's office if he wasn't in labor reform? And how did you recognize him from just one shoe?"

"He likes to put a bunny tail on his shoe heels, so I knew it was him."

"A prisoner sitting in the director's office is a big problem. Well, let's go to Gou Ercai's house first."

It turned out that the person they met on the truck was called Gou Dacai, and Gou Ercai was Gou Dacai's younger brother. When Chen Lina walked in, the whole family was having dinner together.

There were a few gray nests, with a large sliced ​​white steamed bun in the middle. It was brought to his younger brother by Gou Dacai when he came to visit him.

"Oh, comrade, you finally came. Why didn't that cadre comrade come with you?" Gou Dacai smiled and let the mother and her two children into the cave.

"He has something else to do, so he went back to the mining area first," said Chen Lina.

The few children who were protecting their food in the cave were of course not happy when they saw a few well-dressed children rushing in. They were afraid that they would snatch the big white steamed buns that they had worked so hard to get.

"Brother, we agreed that you would come alone, why are there others following you? You are harming us by doing this, do you understand?" The mother of several children, the second sister-in-law of the Gou family, stood up with a fierce face, banging and banging, "There is only such a nest, and so many people, are they going to sleep hanging? Besides, there are only a few nests in the house, can we have enough food?"

The brothers Gou Dacai and Gou Ercai were both very embarrassed. "We have guests here, Aunt Yinyin. People coming from far away are all guests. Let's treat them to a meal."

Gou Ersao stood there for a while with a fierce look on her face, then kicked away the rotten wooden stake she was sitting on. "Okay, I'll drink tonight and fart tomorrow, so you guys eat."

"We brought our own food, sister-in-law. Shall we eat together?" Chen Lina said as she handed half a canvas bag of food to sister-in-law Gou.

She took out a large loaf of bread from the big travel bag on Erdan's back and said, "Cut it up and let's eat it together. Please, sister-in-law, boil some water for us to drink."

"This, this is black bread. I haven't seen this for a long time."

"We also had a long walk, so we grilled one for the kids."

Erdan drooled, "Auntie, this is the only one Mom baked after the Chinese New Year."

"Eat, eat, come, let's eat together." Chen Lina said.

The children in the family were a little timid until Chen Lina took the initiative to cut the bread into pieces and handed each of them a piece, then they tried to taste it.

After finishing her meal, Gou's second sister-in-law was busy again, making a bed in the cave next door, which was actually nothing but rotten felt and rags.

But it's better than sleeping on a bare bed. "You guys are also planning to escape, right? We are also planning to leave, so we just squeeze in together. There's no kang, so you just stay here for the night."

"Second sister-in-law, I have to ask you, how many people are going to leave this time, and who are you all planning to go with?" Since Second Sister-in-law had misunderstood that she was also someone who wanted to escape, Chen Lina didn't hesitate to ask directly.

"Oh, there are a lot of people, from our farm and several nearby military farms, at least several hundred people."

It was indeed a serious incident.

Chen Lina then said, "I should pay a per capita fee. I haven't paid yet. I don't know who to pay it to or how much it is."

"It's 20 yuan per adult and 5 yuan per child. If you want to pay, I'll take you there."

"Tell me about that person first. After all, we came here without asking for permission. I'm afraid it will be difficult to get along with him. What if I can't pay him?"

"It's not hard to get along with him. Besides, he's a military family member and has direct connections there. He's very enthusiastic. Come on, I'll take you there."

Chen Lina's heart skipped a beat, and she secretly guessed that the woman must be Sun Xiaoai. Only she would go around claiming to be a military dependent.

She escaped from the base, but didn't go far. She hid in Loulan Farm to develop her subordinates.

"By the way, there is a prisoner named Sun Dabao in our farm. What is he doing here now?" Chen Lina changed the subject and asked about Sun Dabao's situation.

Gou Ersao said, "He has his own way of managing people. He is the foreman of those prisoners."

It's true that people like Sun Dabao, who are ruthless and cruel, can thrive wherever they go.

The management of these farms also has many loopholes. For example, the approval process for a person to enter Xinjiang is extremely strict.

However, at the same time, there were many escaped illegal immigrants in the border areas. In order to attract them as labor, the farms turned a blind eye and recruited these people.

Chen Lina would do a household registration survey for Mulan Farm every once in a while, one person per household. No matter what people outside said, she would at least know how many illegal residents there were in the farm, what their criminal records were, whether they had committed murder or arson and had fled to the border.

But Director Guo is obviously not as organized as her.

"Okay then, second sister-in-law, let's think about it again. What do you think?" Chen Lina said.

After Gou Ersao left, Nie Weimin said, "Comrade Xiao Chen, I think Sun Xiaoai and my uncle must be in cahoots."

"Yes, the situation is much worse than I expected. Even if Director Guo didn't betray us, he must have been paralyzed by your uncle. As soon as we came in, we were exposed to the enemy's eyes. The enemy is in the dark and I am in the light. Things are really difficult to deal with."

"What should I do?" Nie Weimin clenched his fists, thought for a moment and said, "No, I'll go see my uncle and talk to him."

"How do you talk to him?"

"I told him not to defect. If he wanted to defect, I would..." Maybe he wanted to be like Dong Cunrui in the movie, with a bomb on his head, and die together with his uncle?

"Okay, Mom has her own way, but I need your help. Go out quietly by yourself, find Liu Xiaohong, and ask her to be as careful as possible and bring her father here.

But remember to be quiet, we must have been monitored by someone. Liu Han just likes to take advantage of small opportunities and drink a little, he is not a bad person, we must turn him over first."

"Will Liu Xiaohong listen to me?"

"Yes." She is willing to die for you in the future, Chen Lina said to herself.

"Brother, the door is there, what are you doing?"

Good boy, he jumped up to the half-person-high window of the cave with one step. The window was right outside the ground, with two children inside. Chen Lina looked at them eagerly, and only when she saw that he disappeared did she become worried.

As a result, suddenly, his little head popped out and said, "If I die, remember to tell the children my story!" After saying that, he stuck out his tongue, and then the naughty little guy ran away.

This naughty kid is as naughty as his father.

Smoke was rising from the huts everywhere, and Nie Weimin knew where Liu Han was without asking anyone.

He was in prison for speculation and profiteering, so he would definitely be locked up in the bullpen.

The so-called cowshed was actually just a cave in the ground of a large shop. Liu Xiaohong, who had just arrived, was helping her father wash clothes under the big poplar tree outside the cowshed.

"Liu Xiaohong, Liu Xiaohong." Nie Weimin hid behind a white poplar tree.

"Wei Min, you guys are really here?" Liu Xiaohong immediately dropped her clothes and ran over.

"Where's your dad?"

"I was having a meeting in the cowshed with Mrs. Yao from Zhang County and your uncle Sun Dabao. But why are you here?"

Nie Weimin licked his lips, lowered his head and said like an adult, "I have to tell you now that your father may soon become a traitor to our republic and take you to the Soviet Union. I want to ask you, do you want to stay or go?"

For a child, a home is better than any other place. She immediately shook her head and said, "Of course I want to stay here, but my dad wants me to go out and have a full stomach."

As soon as she arrived here, Liu Xiaohong discovered that everyone in the farm was planning to escape. In their descriptions, the Soviet Union was like a paradise.

There is soda, a swimming pool, a soft big bed, and endless bread.

"Then you tell a lie and say you have a stomachache, and ask him to take you to the health room to get medicine. Then coax him to the cave next to Gou Ercai's house. My mother will convince him to stay." Nie Weimin said.

Liu Xiaohong lowered her head, thought for a moment, and asked seriously, "If I go back to Base No. 1, will you chase me away again?"

He always liked to drive her away with a small stick and not allow her to appear around his yard.

Nie Weimin said generously, "Oh, I can't do that. Besides, can you please stop asking such childish questions? Do you think we are still three or four-year-old children?"