Chapter 78

Little brat

Wear cotton jackets in the morning and gauze in the evening, and eat watermelon around the fire.

Although I was sweating profusely in the fields during the day, as soon as the sun went down, I was so cold that I had to curl up my arms and legs and sniffle.

After digging the ground on the Gobi Desert for a whole day, Master Jin felt that it was time to live in the cave that Wang Hongbing had arranged for them. After all, it was warm and clean.

However, reporter Guo wandered around and finally lived in the underground dwellings of the male educated youth.

The male educated youth also cooked their own meals, and the meals they cooked were terrible. Besides, as the saying goes, even if there is a three-year drought, there will always be someone who doesn't hope for rain.

There was a male educated youth named Hou Hao who was lazy and didn't like to work. He took sick leave every day. Of course, if he didn't work, he would have no food to eat.

So, others were lucky enough to have porridge to drink, but he had to chew on two half-cooked steamed buns.

Reporter Guo did not team up with others because he felt sorry for the man, so he took out all the biscuits and instant noodles he had brought with him, and chatted with him and asked some questions.

Well, Hou Hao is of course completely opposed to what Chen Lina is doing now.

In his opinion, she spent the money from the mining area to buy so many production tools and urged the educated youth to reclaim wasteland, all for her own political achievements.

If the mining area has money to invest in tillage machines, it might as well buy some flour and find a way to improve the lives of the educated youth. Isn't it true that such hard work is of no use? It would be better to send the educated youth back to the city as soon as possible and let them enjoy a good life. Why should they work so hard here farming, right?

You know, the two reporters had never seen the time when Chen Lina was not here. The educated youth slept on dry straw mattresses and ate mushy soup. They saw that the male educated youth's bedding was generally black and they didn't know that they were too lazy to wash the bedding and thus ruined the good cotton. They thought that the director was abusing them.

Hou Hao, who was too lazy to go to work, pretended to be sick and lay in his hole in the ground when others were working overtime for the spring planting, and he complained a lot.

Reporter Guo had never worked before, so of course he could not see the truth of the matter after just one or two days of experience. However, he also carefully wrote down Hou Hao's thoughts and planned to take a train from Uru to Beijing in two days to write an article criticizing Mulan Farm as an example of vanity.

As a result, I didn't meet Director Chen the next day.

By the third day, I still hadn't seen Director Chen.

They had finished their egg noodles and had no car to go back to the mining area. They had taken many photos but had no darkroom to develop them. Reporter Guo couldn't stand it any longer, so he ran to find Chen Lina and asked her to take them back to the mining area in her car.

Today happens to be Saturday.

On this day, some workers at the base who wanted to earn work points in exchange for cotton or fruit, and even some people in the mining area who wanted to exchange some cotton, or some fresh fruits such as strawberries and mulberries for their children, would come to the farm in trucks to help the members with their work.

Chen Lina got up early with her four children, and drove the car towards the morning sun, each holding a buckwheat pancake. Liu Xiaohong started the song, and Erdan sang along, from the sunset to the red clouds flying in the sky to a young poplar tree, with a car full of little kids.

But don't look at them. When they get to the fields, they can help mix pesticides with the wheat grains and help the members dig fertilizers. People as dexterous as Liu Xiaohong cannot help the members to spread the wheat seeds, one grain at a time, into the ditches, and spread them evenly evenly than the most dexterous members.

"Hello, Director Chen, are you done with your work today?"

"Hey, is this reporter Guo? I don't quite recognize you." Chen Lina said with a smile.

Well, I recall when reporter Guo first arrived, he was wearing a white shirt, a Liberation Army suit, and a pen stuck on his chest. He was so elegant and handsome.

He had only been in the cave for three days, and not only was his hair greasy, but the collar of his white shirt was also covered with a layer of black oil, just like dried grapes that had been wilted by wind and rain.

"Well, I heard that the title of the article that reporter Guo is going to write is "On the actual impact of a vain and arrogant leader on people's lives." In your article, you said that I am a vain and arrogant leader who ignores the hard work of the members and drives them to perform miracles in the Gobi Desert, right?"

This is exactly what reporter Guo wrote, but he remembered that he had never shown the manuscript to anyone.

But in fact, the female educated youth in the farm who had a good relationship with the male educated youth were not uneducated. They secretly stole his manuscript and took a look. They knew everything about Chen Lina.

After getting off the car, Nie Weimin asked Wang Hongbing, "Uncle, uncle, what are we going to do today?"

"You guys, follow me to the greenhouse to catch insects. Erdan wants to go too, but no, no, no, you should stay here alone and spread the fertilizer."

As soon as he finished speaking, Sandan solemnly pulled Chen Lina, stood on tiptoe, gave her a kiss, and then ran away.

Oh, that's how Lao Nie treated her in his previous life, kissing her goodbye when she went out and greeting her with a kiss when she came home. But this life's Lao Nie is no longer romantic, and Sandaner has become her male god.

Erdan followed behind Liu Xiaohong and said, "Wherever Sister Xiaohong goes, I will go."

"I'm going to mix pesticides for the wheat. Can you help me carry the wheat?"

Nie Weimin looked at Sandan who was running away, then looked at Erdan and Liu Xiaohong who were running towards the warehouse, and finally, he went after Sandan.

In March and April, there was no one idle on the farm, not even a stray dog.

Reporter Guo was standing there, still in a daze, when he saw Director Chen get on a tractor and wave at him, "Get on."

"Director Chen, I have already done the interview. It is time to go back and write the article."

"No, the farm you see is just your imagination. You have to walk with me to see the real farm." Chen Lina shouted.

Coming out of the back door of the farm, such a beautiful woman, wearing a straw hat, driving a tractor, was simply bizarre and incongruous, but also very heroic.

Master Jin chased after him, filming with his camera.

She drove the tractor very wildly and suddenly turned from the road onto the Gobi Beach. The whole tractor jumped up, scaring reporter Guo who was holding onto the motor from the back and didn't dare to let go.

The tractor bounced and jumped, almost throwing reporter Guo off.

The fields were fertile and all the members were working on the land. But whenever Chen Lina passed by, they all stopped hoeing and waved to her.

"You think they must have been brainwashed, just like 5859, bragging with me, dreaming of launching satellites into space and producing 10,000 catties of rice per mu, but they are doing meaningless work in this Gobi Desert, right?"

The noise of the tractor was so loud that reporter Guo was deafened and unable to speak.

Finally, they reached the edge of the farm. It was a huge ditch that reporter Guo had never seen before. The color of the ditch was completely different from the color of the land outside. When he reached out his hand and touched it, it was all white alkaline.

"This is called an alkali drainage ditch. First, let the river water into the fields, and then after a natural drainage, the alkali in the ground will all be drained into this alkali drainage ditch."

Walking further, passing by several members, Chen Lina picked up a handful of wheat seeds and took out another handful from her pocket. "Reporter Guo, do you see the difference between the wheat seeds?"

A handful of wheat grains are slightly rounder, and a handful of wheat grains are slightly longer. They are all wheat. One can only notice the difference between them through careful observation.

"Do you know how many varieties of wheat there are? And do you know where they should be planted?" Chen Lina threw away the wheat in her hand, got on the tractor, and continued walking forward with reporter Guo.

Further ahead is her most important field this year, the earth-covered corn field.

Because it was planted early, the corn sprouts have already emerged, and each one looks like soldiers lined up in a row.

Looking back, what is shocking? That shock is that Director Chen paused and said, "This is 50 mu of corn field. Because we used a new type of corn seeding machine, it took only 50 people five days to plant all the corn. If it were done manually, 200 people might not be able to finish it in 15 days."

"Director Chen, I don't understand what you mean. You took me to see so many things. What do you want to say?"

"I thought that when reporters from Beijing came, they would at least take a look at how our members worked. After all, in the Gobi Desert, more than a thousand people could support themselves for a year with only a barren beach. That is not easy. I thought you would learn from our advanced labor experience, write about it in the newspaper, and prosecute it to the entire republic, calling on everyone to use advanced farming methods like us, reduce labor and increase grain production.

This was the only way to get the educated youth back to the city when the Republic did not have the spare capacity to feed 400 million people. Because, whether people were in the system or outside it, they needed food to survive.

I thought you would at least ask me seriously what kind of soil is suitable for growing what kind of food, and why we can produce 900 kilograms of crops from the same field, while others can only produce 600 kilograms. Who knew you were digging for clues just to find out some gossip about me? You should have asked about my background in private, right? "

Under the pressure of Director Chen's young, sharp and aggressive eyes.

Reporter Guo blushed immediately and raised a finger, "I just asked quietly."

"Then I tell you responsibly that I am a stinky old ninth, and most people in this farm are stinky old ninths. However, the strawberries, tomatoes, and mulberries that I serve to you are all melons.

Even cucumbers, cabbages and all our fresh fruits and vegetables are now grown in soil-film greenhouses. However, due to the harsh climate in the border areas, a large part of our greenhouses have been destroyed.

If I can save money, the higher-ups are even willing to give me a sum of money, and then give the plastics factory a sum of money, so that we can vigorously develop new products. By next year, I will not only plant some samples, but also mass-produce them.

The people who developed these seeds and modified the genes are also stinking old men like me. Look, where are they all? "

As she spoke, Chen Lina pointed far away and said, "Today is Saturday, and it should be a day for those experts and professors to rest."

But they didn't go far. Tian Jin took everyone to the corn field to watch Professor Qiu Hua do the grafting.

"Uncle, uncle." Reporter Guo looked for a long time, then suddenly ran over and said, "Uncle, I thought you were dead. I didn't expect you to be here?"

Mr. Tian stood up, rubbed his eyes, and said, "You are Xiaobin, right? I didn't expect you to grow up so big?"

"So, Mr. Tian, ​​this guy who hid in the educated youth's cave as soon as he arrived and made a good reporter look like a Japanese invader entering the village, is actually your eldest nephew?"

Mr. Tian laughed and said, "Yes, he is my nephew, but he probably doesn't know me. I was one of the first batch to be sent down to the countryside, in 1960. I was first sent to Yan'an, then to Daxing'anling, and then to Yili. It has been thirteen years, and the children still remember me."

"Yes, not only does he not remember you, he has forgotten you completely." Chen Lina said teasingly.

After a long separation, the nephew, who was once full of vigor and vitality and a top student at Peking University before liberation, now has gray hair and was in middle school when he left. He has become a journalist.

However, although they were relatives, they were of different backgrounds. In order to prevent Tian from getting involved with the Guo family, Tian's sister had already announced to the outside world that Tian had died during the labor reform.

When family members get together, of course there must be a glass of good wine. In the evening, Chen Lina told Wang Hongbing to cook two more dishes, and took the opportunity to arrange reporter Guo to stay in Mr. Tian’s cave.

After dinner, the temperature outside had dropped below zero.

The members were also busy protecting the newly sprouted corn from frost. A bonfire was lit in front of the cave, and all the idle members came over, full of the enthusiasm of the frontier. Some were singing, some were chatting, and some even insisted on pulling reporter Guo to dance.

"Why, reporter Guo, do you still have a deep prejudice against those of us with problematic backgrounds?" Chen Lina teased.

"No, no, no, Director Chen, what you said is so profound, and the feeling the farm gave me was so shocking that I haven't had time to digest it. I don't think there is any problem with your composition at all."

It should be said that reporter Guo was extremely ashamed. He really did not expect that a young and beautiful female manager could say such profound words.

The farm she led was able to achieve self-sufficiency in just one or two years.

Most importantly, he felt ashamed to hear these elders say that she respected and protected intellectuals.

But that's not all.

Chen Lina was getting ready to go home, but she stood up and said, "I have to tell you, if you go back and say I'm ambitious and making great strides, it's not like I haven't been to Beijing before, and it's not like I don't know where the New Youth Daily is. When autumn comes, I will go to Beijing in person, grab your ears and drag you to the border, and ask you to come and see if the cotton harvest is good and if the wheat yield is 900 kilograms per mu."

"Director Chen, the report is invalid. Can't I just rewrite it?" Reporter Guo asked.

When he first arrived, he felt that this place was too harsh, and of course, it was also particularly cold at this moment.

However, the educated youth gathered around the campfire, the local girls danced, and the music continued.

Although it was hard, this place actually brought him a kind of pure happiness that he had not seen in the city for a long time.

"What, have you given up your prejudice?" Chen Lina walked quickly forward, ready to drive.

When they got to the car, reporter Guo scratched his head and said, "How about, Director Chen works overtime tonight, and we can spend the whole night chatting in my uncle's cave and write a good article, okay? I can develop the photos for you in advance, do you want to see them?"

As he said this, he patted Chen Lina's Hongqi sedan and said, "This thing is too old. I have a brand new Jipu Youth. When you come to Beijing, I will take you for a ride."

"Reporter Guo, I don't have time to discuss the manuscript with you, and I don't want to follow you around. Also, you have to use my manuscript. My manuscript lists in detail the significance of soil film for crops, the soil suitable for each type of wheat, and the care after sowing. Then, I also hope that you can call on those who are hungry in the mainland to come to Xinjiang to fight.

Because as long as the border areas realize mass production, they can support three to four times more people than now. And since 1958, our country has already exceeded 400 million people.

Especially in large provinces like Henan, Sichuan, and Hongyan, where the population is exploding and the land output is far from enough to feed the hungry children, the border is a vast world where they can fill their stomachs and achieve great things.

If you really want to publish it, it will take up an entire page. Either you overcome all difficulties and publish it in the New Youth Daily, or..."

"How is it?"

This ruthless and aggressive Manager Chen looks like he wants to eat someone.

"Or you can just walk the thirty miles to Base No. 1 to catch a bus. I won't send a special car to take you to Uru." Chen Lina said, handing him a stack of manuscript paper.

"Could this person who signed the document, Nie Bozhao, be our country's advanced worker, General Nie?" Reporter Guo followed behind Director Chen, holding the manuscript.

"yes."

"He also knows about agriculture?"

"He is my lover." Chen Lina said and got into the car.

Little brat, you think you are great just because you are young. You think you are great just because you have a jeep and can develop photos.

Chen Lina whistled in her heart and thought to herself, my love is incomparable to any other man. With him around, who would like you young guys?

It was almost eleven o'clock when we got back to the base. After working on the farm for more than a year, this was the first time that Chen Lina came home so late.

Besides, the gas station was closed, so she had to park her car outside and walk home by herself.

Liu Xiaohong stayed at the farm today. There were only the laborers and her three sons at home.

Nie Guozhu has been staying at her house for five consecutive days. His lover Gong Hongxing has not come yet, so he follows Nie Bozhao closely like a follower all day long.

Today, Nie Bozhao arrived at the farm in the morning and rushed back to the laboratory in the afternoon. Nie Guozhu, on the other hand, stayed at the farm until very late.

After all, He Lan'er is his aunt, so he has to chat with her for a while.

I don’t know if he is back now.

"Potato Potato, I'm Sweet Potato. There is a situation, there is a situation." In the middle of the night, Chen Lina had just entered the family area and was about to open the door with a clang when she heard a child inside say.

Well, how can you not hear it? It’s obviously Nie Weimin’s voice.

"Guardians?"

"Oh mom, it's you. You came back early?"

It is a very rare thing in the world that Nie Weimin actually took the initiative to call her mother.

"What is that on your back? Bring it over to me and let me see it." As she stretched out her hand, the mother's majesty emerged.

"Really, it's really nothing." Nie Weimin wanted to hide, but Chen Lina snatched it away.

"This is my drinking cup, made of black rough porcelain. It cost me 50 cents. Nie Weimin, why did you drill a hole in it? Oh, and there's a copper wire. Tell me, what did you make here?" Chen Lina pulled it. The copper wire was quite long. When she pulled it this way, it would pull back the other way.

"Well, it's nothing, just a toy. Hey, Comrade Chen, please walk slowly. I have to run."

She grabbed the eight-year-old son, who was almost as tall as Chen Lina's shoulders. "Okay, little spy, you think I don't understand. This is a phone call. If I were to guess correctly, one end is at the big iron gate, and the other end must be at home. Tell me, what bad things are you and your brothers doing?"

"You even understand this?"

The moonlight was exceptionally bright, and Comrade Xiao Nie's thief-like eyes were exceptionally bright.

"Mom, do you want to eat some strawberries? I was helping Aunt Anna in the warehouse today, and she gave them to me as a reward."

Hmm, the little strawberry with the smell of sweat, who knows how long it has been covered, the little guy took it out, blinking his eyes, looking at his mother.

Well, Nie Weimin was definitely wrong for doing something bad and still trying to please her.