Chapter 92
Pay public rations
The autumn grain harvest was plentiful, and so was the winter grain harvest. The new year was just around the corner. Today, when Chen Lina went to the mining area grain station to pay in her rations, she heard a few young men at the window whispering about her.
"Wow, this is really our Director Chen. The photo in the newspaper is really good, but she doesn't look as pretty as she does in person."
This is what it’s like to be a fan of everyone. You’re the center of attention wherever you go. There’s nothing you can do about it.
"I heard that she was the hero who caught Su Xiu in our mine. Why, boy, do you see she is stunned? She doesn't even check the food?" The other one poked this one and said.
"This is the public grain from Mulan Farm. You have to weigh it more gently. Hey, weigh it for me and weigh it more gently."
"That's not right, Director. Other farms not only pay the public grain but also need to get more. But how come our farm still has two bags left? Now I feel that the staff at the grain station are not entirely fair." Anna said gloomily.
"What? We have two extra bags. Can't we take them back and eat them ourselves?" The educated youth, who had experienced half a year of living in poverty and half a year of living in poverty, had a special preference for wheat.
The educated youth Xiao Qin kneaded the golden grain in the bag and said, "For these two bags of wheat, I plan to stay for another month and eat a few good meals of thin flour steamed buns before leaving. When I return to the city, I will have to find a job, and the food coupons may not be sufficient. I guess I will have a hard time."
Most of the educated youth at Mulan Farm have received transfer orders and are about to return to the city one by one.
As for those old professors, because she now has the status of a hero, Chen Lina has been actively working for their redress.
They were all knowledgeable and educated people who returned to the city and devoted themselves to various industries and professions to build the motherland. Although the ten years of rectifying chaos did not come earlier, it did come faster.
Chen Lina sent away batch after batch of children and saw that the labor force on the farm was getting less and less. However, she could not stop the children from rushing towards a new life.
"Okay, these two bags of wheat, everyone who is going to get on the train today, grab a handful each, take it home and show your parents, so that they know what you did on the border, okay?" Chen Lina said with a smile.
"I really don't want to leave, Director. I heard that you are this year's model worker. I really want to wait and see you win the award before I leave." Xiao Qin said.
"You really have a mouth full of honey. If you really don't want to leave, just stay and build the border with us, okay?" Chen Lina grabbed the girl by the collar and said, "Give me the train ticket. I want to tear it up."
"Well, Director, although I love the frontier, I still feel that people like me are too delicate and cannot adapt to the frontier. It is better for me to go back to Shanghai. The farm is more suitable for people like Sun Duoyu. Director, let's go, goodbye." Xiao Qin waved his hand and jumped on the train.
After leaving the train station, Chen Lina first went to the plastic factory. She took a large cloth bag from the factory manager Du, carefully took out a tweed coat from it, and then took off her old cotton coat and put it on.
"Sister, where did you get this dress? It looks so nice when you wear it. Is it warm?" Anna asked.
Chen Lina wrapped her coat tightly around her and sighed, "It's warm, really warm. It's so warm that I don't even have to worry about how the farm will operate after the educated youth leave."
"But Director Du has a family, so why did he give you such a beautiful coat? It must be worth a lot." Anna couldn't help but remind him. After all, even if Director Du was an official, this coat would cost at least one month's salary.
"What are you thinking about? I saved my own money and asked him to buy it at the Canton Fair. The educated youth left the farm and headed for a wider world. We are in a difficult situation. How can we relieve our worries? The only way is to go shopping. We can skip meals, but we must buy clothes."
Anna said, "All good things must come to an end. They will leave eventually. I have made up my mind. If you don't leave, I won't leave either. Let's build the border together. What do you say?"
"Okay, why not? Besides, a large number of members will be going to the border soon. There will be no shortage of people in our farm. Let's go back quickly. I should go home and cook for my sons." Chen Lina said, shook her head, and said, "No, Anna, the award ceremony will be the day after tomorrow. My dress is beautiful, but my hair is not. Let's go back to Xiao Chen's house first. You have to perm it for me."
"Okay, let's go." Anna said, and so, after the two of them arrived at the base, they did not stop when they passed Lao Nie's house, and went directly to Xiao Chen's house.
"Nieuwenhui, your existence in this society is simply a waste of our republic's food. You are a national disgrace. Ah, look at He Junqiang, look at how smart he is. He is only a second-grade kid, but he can already do the four arithmetic operations and use multiplication proficiently. He has perfect scores in every subject. Look at yourself."
The new principal, Wang Revolution, who was also the second-grade math teacher, held a ruler in one hand, pointed at Erdan's head, and kept scolding him.
Wang Geming was wearing a homespun Liberation suit with at least ten layers of patches on it, and even more on his trousers. It was a pile of patches upon patches.
Moreover, her original name was not Wang Geming, but Wang Erniu.
Originally, in the old society, she was a beggar. Later, when there was no liberation, she was adopted by a kind-hearted person. She learned to read and write when she was over 30 years old. Of course, she was eloquent and good at public speaking. No matter where she went, her tragic speeches could always touch the hearts of countless people.
So, in Daqing, she not only participated in the compilation of the most contemporary primary school textbooks, but was also the director of the local Women's Federation.
If the fact that kids nowadays use slogans when they have an argument is inseparable from the textbooks she compiled.
It has been two or three months since she came to the mining area primary school. Just as President Wang said in his speech, her arrival has brought a new atmosphere and a new teaching model.
For example, compared to Teacher Tian’s poop-making machine, her way of scolding is much more elegant.
Moreover, she didn’t just scold Erdan, she even scolded Nie Weimin, “And you, Nie Weimin, you think you are so great just because you know a little junior high school math. Let me tell you, kid, pride makes people let down their guard.
You are now a proud little peacock. You are forbidden to pass paper eggs to Chen Tiantian. I have seen many unruly and lazy children like you. You think you have half a bottle of Mo Shui in your stomach and wander around blindly. Why, are you so proud just because you know a little physics and chemistry? Look at He Junqiang. It’s not that he doesn’t understand, but he doesn’t say it. He is not arrogant or impatient. He is a real three-good student. "
He Junqiang, He Min's son, sat in the middle of the first row. His mouth was all moist with saliva, and he sat upright. Haha, if he were to be pushed onto the podium, he would be a little leader directly.
After school, Erdan finally breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Sister Xiaohong, why don't you come to my house today?"
"No." Liu Xiaohong said, "I have to go back and wash diapers for my sister." Chen Lili gave birth to a little girl, who is five months old and is as delicate as a porcelain doll.
"Don't lie to me. Your dad washes all your sister's diapers. Your aunt thinks you don't have enough strength in your hands and don't wash them cleanly." Erdan knew it very well.
"Then I have to go back to the farm. The educated youth aunts who are going back to the city need to pack their luggage. I help them with their luggage. They will give me all their unwanted old clothes and bed sheets, which can be cut into diapers for my sister." With that, Liu Xiaohong got on her bicycle and left.
"Brother, you got scolded today, too. Besides, didn't you only get 97 in this monthly exam? Do you dare to tell mom?"
"I dared. Why shouldn't I? It was Wang Geming who was wrong. I answered all the questions correctly. She just said that I had a bad attitude during the exam and she wanted to deduct three points from me. I want to ask you, do you think I had a good attitude?"
"It's not right to congratulate the army for its strength." Erdan said sincerely.
"That's called a correct attitude? Pah, I think it's just pretense and extremely hypocritical," said Nie Weimin.
However, this was the first time he had done so poorly on an exam since he started school.
But this is not the end. As soon as school was over, he called Wang Geming and said, "Nie Weimin, isn't there a commendation meeting for outstanding employees in the mining area the day after tomorrow? I tell you, I had a hard time getting it to be held at our base. You must recite a poem for me with great emotion. This is your mission."
Ah, I also have to recite poetry with expressive voice and emotion.
You know, Nie Weimin is the kind of person who can't even get on stage even if you kick his butt, so how could he recite poetry?
"Well, Principal Wang, I have had a sore throat recently and I really can't make any sound. But, can my Nie Weiguo go on stage? His stage performance is much better than mine." Nie Weimin said.
"Him? Forget it. How can he go on stage when he just passed the exam? Well, if you don't want to go, I'll let He Junqiang go. He's really outstanding. He can go on three programs in our school alone."
"Brother, are you really not going to participate? Liu Xiaohong participated in the whole process and sang with He Junqiang. You can't go, and neither can I. Why is that?" Standing in front of the large iron gate of the mining area, Erdan was very depressed, and asked Nie Weimin, who was also dejected.
"What I hate most is the formalism. If He Junqiang likes it, let him go. But don't you like singing the most? Why don't you take the initiative to sign up?
You know, this time the excellent staff commendation meeting will be attended by the primary schools in the mining area, the primary schools in Base No. 2, and the primary schools in Base No. 3. Erdan loves singing so much, and he also likes to perform on stage. Isn’t this great? "
"Wang Geming said that I can only go on stage if she dies and the tombstone is covered with moss. Brother, it will take years for the tombstone to be covered with moss."
"Bah, wait a minute. I'll put some bricks in Revolutionary Wang's chimney. She won't be able to light a fire tonight."
Erdan is just a bear in nature. When it comes to doing bad things, he is far from being as capable as Nie Weimin.
Moreover, during the past year or so of school, this child, who was a very active member of the base, has been scolded repeatedly by several teachers and has become a worm in the base. Now he is very timid.
The radio at home was on, and a female voice was saying something in an impassioned voice.
Erdan stopped at the door of his house and started to act like a scoundrel.
"Erdan, you are such a pity! Do you dare to tell your mother that you only got 59 points?"
Qian Gou'er ran home, jumping and shouting, "Mom, Mom, I got 80 points on the test, and Erdan only got 59 points. He is a big loser."
"Oh, there are so many red crosses on it. I don't believe you can get 80 points. Tell me, did you change the score yourself?" Mrs. Qian yelled in a loud voice.
"The teacher said that I have a positive attitude and positive thinking, so I got 30 more points than the original 50 points." Qian Goudaner was more reasonable.
Erdan looked at his paper. He had originally scored 80 points, but because of his improper attitude and negative thoughts, he lost 21 points and the score became 59. It was not very good.
The child slapped his forehead with his dirty little paws, and the nursery rhyme came to my mind: Little Erlang, carrying his schoolbag to school... I was afraid that the teacher would scold me for being lazy, uneducated, and ashamed to face my parents.
In this situation now, isn't it too embarrassing to face my parents?
The car was not at the door, obviously Mom had not come back yet. The glass window of the study was open, but Dad was not in the front yard.
In the backyard, he sprinkled grass ash on the frozen soil of the vegetable garden. The grass ash is fertilizer, and when it melts into the soil as the snow, the soil will become fertile next year.
Erdan still didn't dare to go home, but because of Qian Goudan's playfulness, he hid in the small warehouse.
As a result, as soon as he entered, he saw a woman wearing a pair of tight little pants, a liberation jacket with a wide collar, a tweed coat, high heels, and long wavy hair entering the yard.
"Dad, dad, a beautiful girl came and entered our room. You should go and see her and have a good chat with her. I will keep it a secret for you in front of my mother." Erdan said as he slipped into the backyard.
The laborer, covered in pot dust, was also excited when he heard that a beautiful woman had come. "Really? She came straight into our room. Why didn't you call her?"
His study room has not been locked yet. Although the policies and rumors are much more relaxed than in previous years, what if another Soviet revisionist comes?
"You didn't ask what the aunt is like or anything. Did you take a look at her? Doesn't she have big eyes and fair skin? Um, is her last name Bao?" Nie Gong asked Erdan.
Erdan didn't actually see the human form clearly, he just felt that the woman was particularly familiar with him, so he exaggeratedly described her as "very beautiful, with big eyes, literally, as soon as I saw her, I thought, oh, this woman would be great to be my mother."
When Nie Gong heard this, he thought, this is the most beautiful female classmate coming.
Bao Manli, the campus beauty of their Beijing University of Technology, has been with the Hongyan Song and Dance Troupe. She has been writing to me recently, saying that she has rehearsed a particularly stunning musical called "Dream of Dunhuang" and will be performing in Uru soon. She asked Nie Gong to take some time out to go to Uru to watch her performance.
Nie Gong thought that it was probably a female classmate who was on a business trip to the mining area.
I kicked off my cloth shoes and changed into leather shoes. After washing my hands, I also combed my hair which had grown a lot recently. When I looked in the water, I was surprised to see that my beard looked like Marx's.
Then, the father and son looked at each other and went in.
"What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like a ghost? Well, laborer, isn't it time for you to get a haircut? Look how long your hair is now. Also, you must wear the suit I made for you at the awards ceremony the day after tomorrow. I just went to the mining area, and District Chief Gao said that my application to remove my hat has been submitted. Soon, I will no longer be a stinking ninth grader." Chen Lina said, and grabbed the rubber band on the sewing machine and tied up her hair.
"Where did you make this dress? It's so beautiful," said Nie Bozhao.
To be honest, the little princess always thinks she is extremely beautiful and outshines everyone else. Forgive his poor eyesight, but he just thinks she is quite pretty.
But it was not like today, just based on a back view, it really made his heart beat. In his heart, he even secretly felt sorry for Xiao Chen, after all, he had never been so moved by her before.
"I made it on my own sewing machine. It was hanging outside yesterday, and I didn't see you bragging about it." Chen Lina then said, "Yie Gong, our frontier poverty alleviation project has begun. I sent away a large number of educated youth today, but at the same time, I also welcomed a large number of members who came from the inland areas to settle in the frontier. I am so tired."
"Mom, are you thirsty? Do you want some water?" Erdan said as he brought over the thermos. He found it was empty, so he hurried over to get Chen Lina's thermos from the car.
"Mom is not thirsty, but Erdan, today is the midterm exam, how did you do?"
Among the three most difficult things in life, being asked about your grades is the first difficult question for poor students.
"Brother must not have done well in the exam, and probably didn't even pass." Sandan said with a smile.
"No, I passed the test, but I don't know why I was deducted points. I failed because of this deduction."
Chen Lina took the test paper and looked at it, then said, "Okay, your brother, he's a person that most teachers can't find fault with, it's impossible that he didn't get a perfect score this time."
"97!" Erdan said with a gloating look.
In fact, Nie Weimin only scored 97 points. This news was even more exaggerated than the news that Erdan failed the exam.
However, Nie Gong and his wife looked at each other and didn't say much.
"Okay, tell me what you want to eat tonight?" Chen Lina asked.
"Mom, do I still have the right to eat? I think I might need to be hungry and calm down today."
"Whether you do well or not, you have to eat. Why don't you have the right to eat? Tell me, what do you want to eat?"
"Shredded beets, please?"
Speaking of beets, they are used to make sugar, but generally speaking, not everyone likes to eat them.
But one time, my mother shredded white sugar and made shredded beets, and Erdan couldn't forget it ever since he ate it.
"Okay, there's nothing wrong with that. But you're in the process of changing your teeth recently, so you should brush your teeth after eating sweets, and you must brush for a full three minutes. If I find out that you didn't brush your teeth, you can forget about eating sweets from now on." Chen Lina said.
"Okay, Mom, but Dad, shouldn't you help Mom with some work? The floor is so dirty, why don't you come and clean it for Mom?" As Erdan left, he reminded Nie Gong, "Oh, that was a close call, Dad, you must not let Mom know that we mistook her for someone else."
For a moment, just by looking at her back, Nie Gong's heart was moved, and he felt that this was what a wife should be like.
Erdan was completely infatuated with her and thought that this mother would be better than his current one, but in the end, both of them were excited in vain.