Chapter 55 Chapter 55 Second update (two updates combined into one)...
These people were no less skilled than the old farmers at work. They used rice husks mixed with mud and smoothed out the uneven wall surface that Lin Xinghuo had specifically instructed the caracal to leave smooth in just a few strokes. This little bit of work didn't even take the whole morning.
At noon, the squad assigned to the labor camp arrived in donkey carts. This squad, young and old, consisted of carefully selected trusted aides of Minister Guo of the Armed Forces. The squad leader, Guo, was his elder brother. Upon arrival, Old Guo urged Director Zhang and He Qing to return, saying that the people were causing chaos. Parading them through the streets in a single layer of clothing in temperatures of -7 or 8 degrees Celsius was a recipe for death.
Sanshi is the ancestral home of the Jin family, known as "Golden Snow," from the provincial capital. With the Jin family around, not only Song County but the entire region is devoid of large landowners. "The typical example they're parading through the streets is just a small landlord. He's been getting his comeuppance for diligently cleaning toilets all these years. Fighting him to death is a bit unreasonable," Old Guo gasped.
The donkey cart also carried all the farm's more valuable belongings. Lin Xinghuo glanced at them and realized the hardest items to find were probably three thermoses, some enamel pots, and aluminum lunch boxes. The remaining bedding, which was supposedly in good condition, wasn't even as soft as the corn stalks. To get this load of stuff, ten soldiers had chased the donkey cart, carrying their own bedding rolls on their backs. Only when they were exhausted did they finally get on the cart to rest.
This donkey cart is the largest asset of the entire labor camp.
Just by looking at their demeanor, it was clear they were from Buxiantun. No longer needing to worry about these "guards," the old Party Secretary breathed a sigh of relief. Then, lunchtime was a bit more leisurely. He pulled a large pot of chopstick-proof multi-grain porridge from the small-foot kitchen, along with two baskets of cornmeal and sweet potato steamed bread, washed down with half a bowl of pickled radish leaves. Old Guo and his men ate without even looking up.
After this meal, Director Zhang was completely relieved. He couldn't delay any longer, but he still had a few questions to ask Buxiantun's opinion.
But the thing he was going to talk about was new, and he was afraid it would take too long to explain it to Secretary Chen. Director Zhang glanced back and forth between Huang Dazhuang and Lin Xinghuo, then turned and headed towards Lin Xinghuo. He Qing nodded. The Buxian Village captain was a good hand and foot, good at getting things done, but not a good brain. He and Director Zhang both saw that Secretary Chen was trying to push Lin Xinghuo forward and let her make the decision.
But even though they had made their decision, Director Zhang had to tell the three of them: "The higher-ups want to test a wind turbine prototype. Our province's wind resources are particularly suitable, and we've been allocated a spot. After preliminary exploration, several communes have suitable locations, and one of them happens to be the wind tunnel on the mountain west of your village... This is urgent, and we have to finalize it before the heavy snow blocks the mountain and construction is impossible."
"You have to give me a definite answer now. Will your team take on this matter?"
Wind power? Electricity is a good thing! Lin Xinghuo and the old Party Secretary exchanged a glance and immediately agreed.
But then Fang Tongjian interrupted: "What wattage wind turbine is it? Will the line from the wind turbine to the village be paid for by the government or the brigade? How far is the wind turbine from here? Will installing the wind turbine disrupt people's lives?"
Wow, Buxian Village is incredible! It only took half a day for Lao Fang, the stubborn intellectual, to figure it out for them! He Qing thought to himself, these three people right now are already incredible enough. With Lao Fang and his men helping with their advice in the future, Buxian Village will sooner or later be able to take over Fangmaji Commune and be promoted from a village to a town.
Director Zhang had clearly done his homework. He immediately said, "These 20-kilowatt units are the largest single-unit wind turbines currently available in our country. Old Fang is incredibly resourceful, always hitting the nail on the head!" He sighed and said honestly, "While the lines will be laid by professional construction workers, the brigade will have to cover half the cost." Even half would cost several hundred yuan, a sum not even the brigade or the commune could afford. If it weren't for this dispute, Director Zhang wouldn't have held onto the quota. He would have first asked Buxiantun for its opinion.
"As for Fengwozi, it is a canyon formed by the West Mountain and Cuizi Mountain in the north. There are strong winds all year round. Apart from the so-called 'wind resources' mentioned by the staff, there is nothing useful nearby." In terms of straight-line distance, the distance to Bushantun is quite suitable.
Fang Tongjian nodded and said, "Objectively speaking, Buxiantun is remote and mountainous. Even if we wanted to pull a line from the nearest Jinjiayao Commune, it wouldn't be easy. If we miss this opportunity, we might not have electricity for ten years." While he wasn't an expert, he had a wide network of contacts, including many at the Academy of Sciences. He knew that wind power had only been studied for twenty years. Furthermore, with the recent protests, all the capable researchers had been sent to labor camps in the Gobi Desert, bringing wind power generation to a standstill. It was a rare opportunity for Buxiantun to have this opportunity now.
Lin Xinghuo quickly calculated the accounts of the winery and the pharmacy in his mind, and nodded slightly to the old branch secretary. The old man immediately said that he would very much welcome the use of the Bushantun Production Brigade as one of the pilot projects for wind power generation.
This blocked Director Zhang's words: "The county can help negotiate with the commune, and the county and Fangmaji Commune will share part of the expenses for the Bushantun Production Brigade."
After a pause, Director Zhang finally offered some additional information, but the old Party Secretary refused, saying he wanted to apply for a multi-year payment plan. The old man knew the answer. Even though everyone thinks it's expensive now, that's because they haven't experienced the benefits of electricity! Besides the commune's power lines, the production brigades are scattered here and there, like children playing with mud. Which brigade has electricity? They can monopolize wind power now, so they can't let the commune get involved. Otherwise, they can move it around. What if they're forced to take it away in two years?
After Director Zhang hurried back to the city, the three people from Buxiantun, old, middle-aged and young, asked Fang Tongjian: "How much is 20 kilowatts? I hear this means the best and highest?"
Fang Tongjian said, "It can generate 20 kilowatt-hours of electricity in one hour."
The old Party secretary had no idea what this meant. What he was concerned about was, "Our village wants to install an electric loudspeaker. Is this enough for the loudspeaker?"
"What if we install the brightest light bulb in the brigade's auditorium? Will it still be enough?" the old branch secretary asked worriedly.
Having an electric loudspeaker would save a lot of trouble, especially in winter. The members wouldn't have to brave the snow to go to the brigade headquarters to wait for their work assignments. They could just shout over the loudspeaker if they needed something. And even after Lin Xinghuo donated a music box to the brigade last year, the old branch secretary had been thinking about broadcasting radio programs over the loudspeaker. He wanted the members to be able to keep up with news from outside the village, so they wouldn't be so nervous when they went out.
It would be even more beautiful if there were a light bulb installed in the auditorium! Now it gets dark at four o'clock, and the members can only work in the yard with torches. If there were electric lights, they could work comfortably in the house!
Old Fang smiled even more kindly. He himself had fallen into this predicament, but he still managed to meet good people. Director Zhang and others who had taken the trouble to protect them, the old comrades, were one example. These few people, young and old, who were dedicated to their fellow villagers were also one example. Seeing these people, Fang Tongjian was able to relax and live to this day...
"I'm not sure how many watts the electric horn consumes, but I estimate that the maximum will not exceed 50 watts. For a village of this size, installing four should be enough, so let's say it's 200 watts in total. The brightest light bulb nowadays is also 200 watts. Let's assume that there are 20 light bulbs installed in a one-acre auditorium. That adds up to 21 200-watt bulbs. One 200-watt bulb consumes 0.2 kWh of electricity per hour. Comrade, can you please calculate how many kWh of electricity all the light bulbs and electric horns consume in total?" Fang Tongjian spoke very carefully, and even tested Lin Xinghuo as if jokingly.
The villagers were used to calling Lin Xinghuo "Auntie." The old Party Secretary and the team leader almost ignored her age, speaking to everyone as if they were their equals. Suddenly, Fang Tongjian was testing her like a child, and she was a bit unaccustomed to it. Lin Xinghuo was even more unaccustomed, but Fang Tongjian smiled kindly, so she replied, "4.2 kWh."
Fang Tongjian nodded in satisfaction, picked up a wooden stick and scratched the ground, then went on to explain: "The ideal power generation of a 20-kilowatt unit is 20 degrees of electricity per hour, but it is basically difficult to reach the maximum power generation. However, I can hear that the wind is strong in the wind nest, so 15 degrees of electricity should be no problem." If the actual power is too poor, the explorers will not consider it.
"At least it should be enough to power these devices." Old Fang smiled and said, "This type of wind turbine should be equipped with a lead-acid battery, which is a storage battery. The unused electricity can be stored in it..."
Not only did the old branch secretary's eyes light up, even Lin Xinghuo, who didn't need electricity, felt warmed when he heard it.
Mr. Fang laughed. Although he always looks very steady, he is actually just a child.
But in the second half of the afternoon, when Lin Xinghuo took the pulse of each of them, Fang Tongjian no longer thought so. The girl's face was so tense that even Lao Ning, the soldier, was scared when he saw her.
Excluding the two children, most of these forty-nine people are around fifty years old, but their physical condition is worse than that of the oldest old man in the village. They are all sick. Among them, twelve people who come from the military, including Lao Ning, still have old illnesses left over from injuries in their early years, and the nine female comrades are so frighteningly weak that their lifespan has been severely affected.
The conditions here in the valley were still too simple, so the two malnourished children were temporarily taken home by Grandma Wei to be raised. While applying ointment to the children's cracked faces and ears, the old lady complained distressedly: "You skinny little kids, alas! Let grandma take care of you for a few days, and I promise to fatten you up and send you back." It was so pitiful, it reminded her of Chunxing during the three difficult years. The little kids were so hungry that they were skin and bones, but their stomachs were full of water.
"They basically didn't collapse because they were holding on with one breath," Lin Xinghuo sighed. "If this continues, one day when they let go of this breath, they will either get seriously ill or..." Especially in the middle of winter when something unexpected happened, these people basically didn't get enough rest in the past few days.
This is a bit of a dilemma. I can neither assign them heavy work nor let them sit idle. It's not that I don't want these old men to have a break, but I'm afraid that if they're idle, they'll have wild thoughts and end up doing something bad with good intentions.
Old Guo naturally had to be involved in the arrangements for River Valley Farm. He was also scratching his head in worry: "Girl, is it really that serious?"
Lin Xinghuo handed him the prescription he had written while taking his pulse. Old Guo felt a headache when he flipped through the papers with the long list of Chinese medicine names.
Old Ning, however, didn't take it seriously. He glanced at the prescription and called Fang Tongjian: "Hey! Old Fang, come here and take a look at this word!"
Fang Tongjian, who was restless and started picking up firewood, heard it and came over to take a look, his face became serious. It was obvious that this beautiful handwriting was not practiced with a pencil or a pen. This girl must have been learning calligraphy since she was a child, and she must have had careful guidance from a famous master... This child's background is probably not very good.
Lin Xinghuo hadn't realized that someone had mistakenly guessed her ingredients after reading the prescription. Her mind was racing. But Old Ning's loud voice reminded her that they had just borrowed a lot of books from the Workers' Cultural Palace at the coal mine a few days ago! These people couldn't do anything else, but they could definitely copy books!
Even Mr. Ning, who called himself a "rough guy", wrote a neat and tidy ideological report.
It's more than just copying books. These old cadres who were sent to the farms for labor reform are simply treasures!
Take Lao Ning, for example. He had not only shed blood on the battlefield but had also experienced the Great Production Movement in Red Yan'an and even participated in the Nanniwan land reclamation. He was a master of the spinning wheel and knew the parts of a loom better than anyone else! With just Lao Ning's guidance, Buxiantun successfully built its first replica loom, a feat the carpentry team hadn't managed to build in the previous few days, even though they'd nearly worn out the blueprint.
With their first loom, how could ten or twenty be far behind? Selangor, a land of wood, was in dire need of everything. The carpentry team quickly outpaced the hand-cranked spinning wheel team, forcing them to build a dozen more spinning wheels.
In addition to Lao Ning, Yang Gengshun from his hometown in Inner Mongolia Province can process wool into yarn. The old branch secretary asked him to try it with the wool in the brigade warehouse. After washing and twisting, the yarn he made was not much worse than the yarn sold in the county department store.
Old Xiao, whose father was a sheepskin raft craftsman in northern Shanxi in the old society, was very good at nitre treatment. He could also slaughter sheep and pigs, and was also adept at making sheepskin boots with leather.
The cotton played by Grandma Ma from Shandong Province is fluffy, and her bow-playing is as brisk and rhythmic as dancing, which is even more beautiful than the dancing of the actors in model operas.
…
There were many skilled people, and even more so were cultured and advanced intellectuals. In the seventeen-volume "Self-Study Series of Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry" that Lin Xinghuo had borrowed, a dozen or so people, led by Fang Tongjian, wrote down their answers as they copied the books. As they wrote, they competed to see who had more solutions and who had solved them faster. Unfortunately, Fang Tongjian, a liberal arts expert, lost to the newly crowned "Three Musketeers of Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry"...
Rural children these days might have cotton-padded jackets and trousers, but wearing a sweater and long johns over a cotton-padded jacket is something only one in ten can afford. They're usually left with nothing. Those who wear cotton-padded jackets know best the chill of the wind blowing through collars and cuffs. To prevent their children from catching cold, many parents have beaten and scolded them, confining them indoors for the entire winter! Not to mention the delay in their schooling, being confined to a small space for half a year is unbearable for children. If there aren't many people at home, it could literally drive them crazy.
But ever since some people from the River Valley Farm came to the village and started spending time there, these problems vanished! Cotton yarn was spun, and the newly woven coarse cloth was becoming denser, thicker, and softer. Even wool yarn could be made—with the raw materials, autumn underwear and woolen sweaters could be made with a little effort. Not to mention a bearded uncle who knitted sweaters incredibly quickly and knew all sorts of fancy stitches. The adults mostly prioritized their children, and within a few days, the mothers and grandmothers, who would rather work long hours than burn the midnight oil, had the children in the village dressed in a full set of clothes, thick and thin.
The children, no longer afraid of the cold wind and needing to wear cotton-padded jackets, were as happy as little ponies. They were drawn to the knowledgeable and storytelling Old Ning and his companions, and a group of them followed them around like a train, telling them stories. Lin Xinghuo's fox cubs and sables also quietly mingled among them. Even the caracal, intentionally or unintentionally, urged her to sit closer to the group of old men. Several times, while Lin Xinghuo was drawing and poring over the alchemy furnace with the caracal, she would find him distracted, his ears perked up. By the time the big tiger Huahua began to frequent the cliffs of Nanshan near the river valley, startling Old Guo and his companions and firing their guns, Lin Xinghuo had completely calmed down. The next day at work, he grabbed Huahua by the ears and led her to the brigade headquarters auditorium.
For the members of Buxiantun, the relocation of the labor camp to their village was like pie in the sky! These versatile masters were far more sought-after than pie in the sky. The simple villagers didn't say anything nice, but they stuffed them with ready-made shoe soles, coarse cloth simply dyed with impure indigo powder from the supply and marketing cooperative, and fluffed cotton whenever they could. They even sent their fastest young men to work there. It was simply impossible not to have them…
Less than half a month had passed, and the forty-nine people, from their spirits to their attire, looked brand new inside and out. The two little ones' cheeks had grown a bit plumper, and the older one, Ningde, even held his younger brother's hand and dared to imitate the other children by secretly petting the fox cub.
No one mentioned the name "labor reform farm" anymore; they just called it Hetan Farm. Because the people from Hetan Farm had been integrated into Buxian Village, the brigade had no choice but to suspend the practice of using labor to pay debts in Liangzigou. Hetan Farm was a special farm after all, and the elders in charge of each household had urged their families to keep their mouths shut, otherwise it would bring disaster not only to their own family, but also to the entire village's relatives!
Fortunately, with the example of Lin Xinghuo, even the old ladies who like to gossip have become accustomed to not mentioning the fairy girl in public. When others ask her, they just say they don’t know. When they get annoyed by the questions, they just get angry and turn hostile: Now there is just another riverside farm on the Songwazi River. For these women who never lack topics to talk about, it’s nothing at all!
Besides, they can all tell the difference between inside and outside, so the gossip is directed at outsiders. The most important thing is to find out about other people's affairs. Why would they tell the secrets of their own village to outsiders?
Thanks to these informants, one day in late November, when the sky cleared after the snow, groups of people were chatting as they headed to the brigade headquarters to go to work. Suddenly, a chatty auntie who lived at the entrance of the village came running towards the brigade headquarters. She ran into Lin Xinghuo halfway. The auntie's eyes lit up and she quickly whispered, "Aunt! Go tell the people on the riverbank not to come to the village! A man came over on a sled from the village entrance, saying he's from the anti-Confucius working group. He's acting so pretentiously and doesn't look like someone who would be a good person!"
"Mother Changchong, Grandma Huzi, and two militiamen have held the man back. You run fast, Auntie, and you still have to go and talk!"
Lin Xinghuo's face darkened, and he quickly thanked her. Auntie waved her hand, "I'll tell you what's going on here. It's okay, we've already discussed this. Don't worry!" But what they'd discussed was what to do if someone discovered and reported the entire village for following the fairy lady in practicing feudal superstition. The aunties had already agreed: Refuse to admit it! They'd unleash all their secret tricks, from crying to threatening to commit suicide. They didn't believe anyone could deal with a few dozen unreasonable women!
Seeing the fairy lady disappear in a few steps, the aunt slowly stamped the snow on her feet, cleared her throat, rubbed her hands together, and slapped her thighs: "Oh my! My mother is coming! Our beloved leader!..."
The aunties and grandmas who followed the crowd toward the brigade headquarters were all in high spirits. Their voices spread faster than the barking of dogs in the dead of night. Soon, at Wang Huzi's house, which was on the south side of the mountain and farthest from the brigade headquarters, Jin Zhaodi put down her chopsticks and rushed out the door. Then Wang Huzi heard his wife howling outside, "Our beloved leader!"
Wang Huzi was so frightened that he shuddered all over and didn't notice that Wang Caiduan's little hand was covering his greasy little mouth.
"What's wrong?" Wang Huzi pulled his wife, who was having a hysterical attack facing the door, back and touched her forehead. She didn't have a fever.
Jin Zhaodi rolled her eyes: "What do you know? This is the code we agreed on!"
"What's the code?"
"It must be someone from outside. They've either reported Little Fairy, or it's Hetan Farm... No, that's not right. It's probably someone from another village who's jealous of Little Fairy's presence in our village! Anyway, we have to prepare for battle now!" Jin Zhaodi explained to her husband while looking at her daughter. "Duan'er, what will you say if someone you don't know asks you a question?"
Wang Caiduan shook his head and said nothing.
"What if someone else asks someone you know to ask you?"
Wang Caiduan grinned: "I want my milk!"
"Someone keeps asking, and they're trying to scare you. For example, if they want to take you away, take me and your dad away, and even take your grandma away, what would you do?"
Wang Caiduan's mouth flattened as he cried out in a voice that was only thunder and no rain: "I'm scared! I'm scared!"
"Oh! That's right! Your grandma is the best at teaching!" Jin Zhaodi kissed her daughter's tender little face, and was about to go out to meet the 'battle' with high spirits!
Wang Huzi was completely dumbfounded. When had this secret code been agreed upon? When had he taught it to his daughter? Why was he the only one in the family who didn't know anything?
Jin Zhaodi raised her head and said, "We women have to deal with this kind of thing! What use are you?" Then she clenched her fists. It was a waste of her big brain. Don't think she didn't know that it was these grown men who stopped Chen Lai Fu and taught him a lesson, warning him not to get involved with Widow Jin.
As a result, his brother Jin Gouzi was beaten and reformed by his brother-in-law, but without Gouzi as a matchmaker, the crooked-hearted Chen Laifu still got together with Jin Guafu! If they hadn't been so arrogant and left the matter to the wives at home, they would have torn those two rascals apart, and at least they wouldn't have ended up in the situation where people from other villages still talked about Chunfeng. Whenever Jin Zhaodi heard people from other villages say something like "Jin Guafu is luckier than Wei Chunfeng. The widow head who is several years older than her stole the man of the young wife, and she got pregnant now. Old Mrs. Chen said it must be a boy...", she would get very angry. But after all, they caught the adulterers in pairs and missed the right time. Now she can't even find any evidence to hold against them!
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The author has something to say: See you tomorrow~
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or provided nutrient solution between 2023-11-29 21:45:00 and 2023-12-01 23:20:00~
Thanks to the little angel who threw the rocket launcher: 1 for seventy-one;
Thanks to the little angel who threw the grenade: shanyangxiezi 1;
Thanks to the little angel who cast the mine: Dangdang 1;
Thanks to the little angels who provided the nutrient solution: Dangdang (908 bottles); Wei Xiaoqian (152 bottles); Xiwei (139 bottles); Dengdeng (50 bottles); Yingying and Yu Jici (40 bottles); Shui Ruochen and Fang (30 bottles); Yue Muwen (28 bottles); zc1303 25 bottles; Missie, Pear Blossoms Not Yet Bloomed, Dusk Rain and Clear Lotus, Heng, Swallow, Honghong, Wooden Man, Yan (20 bottles); Attack of the Big Meat Bun (15 bottles); Mimi, Alalalala, Zha Mao, Linmulin, Mo Qianran, Thirst for Love, Slow Heat, One, Fallen Cherry Blossoms on the Other Shore, Feifei Feichang, Max Level Rabbit, Crazy Snail (10 bottles); Colored Smoothie (9 bottles); Miss Qianjin, Salt of the Sea of Tears (8 bottles); White Elf (6 bottles); Shelled Bingdun Dun, Avada Eating Big Melon, Xiaxia, Snow Branches, Naiheishisi, Will It Snow for Christmas (5 bottles); Qin (4 bottles); Mushroom Riding a White Horse, Rainbow Candy Lover, Half Moon, Monopoly (2 bottles); Weilan, Audrey, Nut, Weiwei, Coke Without Ice, Crazy Pig, One Leaf Knows Autumn, Grass and Tree Essence, Emily, Hanting, Yue Beibei, A Cup of Lemon Tea, D (1 bottle);
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