Chapter 27 Explosives
In a blink of an eye, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month has passed, and once the Lantern Festival is over, the Chinese New Year is over.
It's still very cold. The educated youth followed the example of their fellow villagers and only ate two meals a day, breakfast and lunch around 10 a.m. and dinner around 5 p.m. They went to bed early and got up late, staying in bed to keep out the cold winter.
When they first saw the magnificent sight of heavy snow covering the entire landscape, the educated youth were laughing and playing, having snowball fights, making snowmen, playing with icicles... they found it fresh and fun.
But as time went by, the view was always white, and it was inconvenient to go out. I gradually became aesthetically fatigued and began to mutter: "Why is it always snowing? When will this winter end? The postman can't go up the mountain, I wonder if there are any letters from home..."
At night, everyone gathered around the charcoal stove, began to miss the days of spring when flowers were blooming, and started a poetry competition by picking out poems about spring.
“I don’t know who cut out the fine leaves, the spring breeze in February is like a pair of scissors.”
"The beauty of April has faded, and the peach blossoms in the mountain temple are in full bloom."
“It’s February in which the grass grows and the birds sing!”
"The peaches and plums in the city are worried about the wind and rain, while spring is here at the streamside, with shepherd's purse blooming!"
As they talked, the days of spring outings in their youth seemed to emerge before everyone's eyes. Peach, plum and apricot trees were in full bloom, butterflies and bees were flying among the flowers, and children were playing in the grass.
——I really hope spring will come soon.
The biscuits were all eaten, the snacks were all eaten, the bacon was all eaten, the potatoes were all eaten, the pickles were all eaten, and even the small fish in the pond were caught and eaten...If spring doesn't come, everyone will be unable to bear it.
The sun finally came out!
All the educated youth ran out of their houses happily like hibernating old bears, sweeping the snow with shovels and brooms, and clearing the snow and mud in front of and behind their houses.
"I finally saw the sun, but it's still cold."
"It's like this when the snow first melts. It will get warmer once the snow melts."
"Hurry up and pack up. Everyone should report to the site office tomorrow. It's time to start work."
After staying in seclusion for so long, the educated youth were looking forward to going to work for the first time in their lives. The more they talked, the educated youth became happier and happier, and they all started laughing. The hands that were exposed were frozen red, and the face that was not covered was also frozen, but I didn't know why I felt extremely happy.
Xiao Aiyun held a bamboo broom in one hand and shouted at the yellow mud road leading to the site: "Let's start the work~~ Let's repair the road~~"
Tao Nanfeng raised her hand to tuck the loose hair behind her ears. After a winter, her hair had grown a lot longer and she could even tie up her bangs. She raised her right arm slightly, feeling the strength overflowing throughout her body, and thought to herself with a smile: If I don't move around, my arm will really get rusty.
Wei Min proudly put on his large army green backpack and raised his chin to everyone: "Brothers and sisters, I will go to the site office first and come back to inform you if there is any new news."
Qiao Yadong and Chen Zhilu punched him on the shoulder and said, "Go quickly, Chief Wei!"
Wei Min chuckled and strode forward, but unfortunately he fell on the icy road after only a few steps. He climbed up from the snow in a awkward manner, which caused everyone to laugh.
Amidst this lively scene, three days later all members of the road construction team went to work.
Mao Peng and Tao Nanfeng led more than thirty team members through the tunnel and continued to move forward.
The weather in early spring is still chilly, but after experiencing the loneliness of a winter, everyone's heart is warm - as long as a road is built, cars will be able to access Xiufeng Mountain, making travel convenient and no longer afraid of heavy snow blocking the mountain.
Infinite power - this crown has been firmly placed on Tao Nanfeng's head. As soon as the team members dug out rocks, they would shout, "Captain Tao, come quickly!"
Tao Nanfeng held an iron chisel in his left hand and a hammer in his right hand. No matter how big the stone was, he could break it into more than a dozen pieces with just three hits of the hammer. Xiao Aiyun would then direct everyone to move the rubble away.
In her eyes, each stone was covered with white lines. She only needed to find the area where the white bright spots were most concentrated to quickly decompose the stone, which did not require much effort at all.
But to others, it is simply magical!
So, the road construction team members gave Tao Nanfeng a nickname: Tao Sanchui.
From the delicate and graceful Tao Meiren to the powerful Tao Sandichui, Tao Nanfeng's prestige in the road construction team skyrocketed. In this age of shortage of construction machinery, in this age of worshipping strength, who doesn't want to have power like her?
With Tao Nanfeng, the road construction team made incredibly fast progress. Even Mao Peng was amazed: "Last year it took us a month to complete the project. This year, with Tao Sanchui, it only takes a week. The progress has been shortened to a quarter."
Seeing the status of the road construction team, Yang Xianyong happily said to Xiangbei: "Our road construction team is now making much faster progress. I originally thought that the road would take four or five years to complete, but maybe... it will be completed next year."
Xiangbei shook his head: "Maybe, it will be open to traffic this year."
"So soon?" Chen Zhilu jumped up when he heard it. "Will the road be open to traffic this year?" For a moment, he could not control his excitement and started dancing on the muddy and gravel road.
Xiangbei pointed to the stone wall in front of him: "The premise is that we blow it up!"
Two kilometers out of the tunnel is a stone wall. To the right along the stone wall, a rugged path leads to the Beipo Village; to the left along the stone wall, there is a narrow goat path that only one person can pass through sideways.
This is the only way to Quping Town.
With a rock wall on one side and a cliff on the other, the road is narrow and difficult to walk on. If the wind is strong and the road is slippery, it is extremely dangerous. It is called the "Death Road" of Xiufeng Mountain.
Every time the educated youth went up or down the mountain, they would be terrified when passing this section of the mountain road, fearing that they would slip and fall off the cliff. That would be a pity, my life is in danger.
Previously, Ximei went to Luohan Peak to fetch spring water, and on the way back she fell down this road. Fortunately, her companions followed her and found her and called for help in time. They called for members of the road repair team to lower the rope and rescue her. Otherwise...
Seeing this road of death, Tao Nanfeng looked deep and fell into deep thought.
There is a cliff on the left and a stone wall on the right. How can we widen this section of road? They took space from the cliff and built a plank road by driving wooden piles, but the carrying capacity was not enough and cars could not pass through. To create space within the stone wall, the workload of carving out this stone wall is enormous.
If you want to repair the road, you can only take a detour.
This is how mountain roads are built, with mountains connected to mountains, slopes connected to slopes, and winding roads with many twists and turns. The originally short straight distance is forcibly stretched into a winding mountain road of more than ten miles.
If it is directly connected, roughly, simply and directly, it can indeed shorten the distance and save time.
But...explode? Is it really possible?
Mao Peng asked: "If we want to blow up the mountain, we have to buy explosives, detonators, and detonating cords. Not only do we have to apply to the public security department, but it also costs a lot of money."
Xiangbei carefully observed the stone wall in front of him and pondered for a long time: "As for the gunpowder license, I will find a way."
Engineer Yang hesitated for a moment and said, "Once we get the license, the Infrastructure Department will write an application report and ask the farm to approve the purchase. I just don't know how much it will cost, and whether Director Jiao and Director Luo will approve it."
The road construction team works vigorously and decisively and gets things done as soon as they say they will.
Although Xiangbei was demobilized, he was still famous in the spearhead company and had abundant comrades-in-arms resources. He found his comrades in the Public Security Department, obtained a gunpowder license, asked an expert to inspect it, and wrote the quantity of materials on the purchase application:
Four barrels of black powder, with a net weight of about 39.26kg, one □□, and one turn of detonating wire, totaling three hundred and sixteen yuan.
As soon as this report was submitted, it was rejected by Luo Xuan.
"Three hundred and sixteen? You must be kidding! The educated youth get a subsidy of sixteen yuan a month, and the road construction team members get a salary of twenty-one yuan a month. The farm can barely support you guys, so how can it have any spare money to buy explosives?"
Luo Xuan was born before the liberation. Born into a poor family, he suffered from hunger as a child, so he developed the habit of being stingy. Paying the farm workers’ salaries every month is the most painful day for Luo Xuan. Any money he handles, even if it is only one cent that he gives out, will make him feel painful.
Jiao Liang tried to smooth things over: "Comrades, the farm is in a difficult situation right now, and we can only work together to overcome it. Go down the mountain and see how many people don't even have enough food to eat. If there is no explosives, then we can just dig slowly, there is no rush."
Jiao Liang has his own little plan. It is currently difficult for Xiufengshan Farm to communicate with the outside world, so he can maintain absolute authority on this land. If there is a road, maybe there will be electricity, postal services, and telephones... If something happens then, who knows how these educated youth will rebel.
Another point, the reason why that tigress of his refused to come to the farm was because she disliked the hardship of climbing mountains, right? If she comes over from time to time when the road is open, how can I continue to hook up with Liu Lili? The good days of having everything under one roof are over. This is not good, not good.
So for Jiao Liang, it is better to have no traffic than to have traffic.
Although Xiang Bei is the deputy director, the financial person is Jiao Liang and the executor is Luo Xuan, the office director. These two people do not agree to the application, so not a penny can be allocated.
He silently withdrew his application and turned away.
On the way back, seeing Xiang Bei remained silent, Qiao Yadong exchanged glances with Chen Zhilu and said loudly, "Director Xiang, let's work together to figure out a solution for the money issue."
The others all said together: "Yes, yes, yes, if we don't have money, we can pool it together."
He glanced at everyone to the north and waved his hand.
Life is not easy for everyone nowadays. Those who are married have to take care of their wives and children, those who are not married have parents and siblings to support, and bachelors also have to save money to marry a wife. Twenty-one dollars a month is only enough to maintain basic living.
It was even more difficult for the educated youth. They were all teenagers and growing up. Most of the 16 yuan subsidy was spent on food. They also had to buy clothes, send letters, and buy daily necessities. How could they have any extra money?
Thinking of this, Xiang Bei said in a deep voice: "Don't worry about the money, I will take care of it."
After hearing Xiangbei say that he had found a solution, Yang Xianyong grabbed his arm and said nervously, "Xiangbei, are you going to touch that money? That's your demobilization allowance. You're saving it for building a house and getting married. You can't touch it."
Xiang Bei pulled at the scar on his face, as if he thought of something unpleasant, his eyes darkened: "It's settled." After saying that, he hurried away.
A group of gossipy road construction team members left behind and asked Yang Xianyong, "Chief Yang, what happened? Tell us."
Everyone is also curious. Xiangbei joined the army at the age of seventeen, was demobilized at the age of twenty-three and was assigned to a farm. Now he is twenty-six years old. In the countryside, he would have become a father at this age. Why is he still single? He is the only son in the family. Aren’t his parents in a hurry to get him married?
Xiao Aiyun pricked up his ears and dragged Tao Nanfeng closer.
Yang Xianyong has a good temper. When he heard everyone asking, he sighed and said, "After Xiangbei returned to the farm, his parents arranged for him to meet two girls. The first one thought that the scar on his face was scary, and the second one thought that the conditions on the farm were too harsh and refused to marry him. Later, Xiangbei refused to meet any more girls, saying that he would wait until the road was repaired."
When Xiao Aiyun heard this, she whispered in Tao Nanfeng's ear: "It's a pity that the person I like is squad leader Qiao, otherwise I would marry him."
Tao Nanfeng glanced at her with a smile in his eyes, as if saying: Really?
Xiao Aiyun and Tao Nanfeng went in and out together every day, worked on the same road, ate from the same pot, slept in the same bed, and were very close to each other. Xiao Aiyun was willing to tell Tao Nanfeng everything in her heart.
Seeing that she didn't seem to believe him, Xiao Aiyun nodded hastily: "Really! The scar on Director Xiang's face doesn't seem scary after looking at it for a long time. Besides, he is a war hero, and that scar is a medal. Also, those who despise the poor farm are fools. Once we repair the road, the farm will be rich in the future!"
Tao Nanfeng couldn't help but laugh, his white teeth sparkling in the sunlight.
Rich as hell? It's possible.
After returning to the educated youth point, Qiao Yadong called everyone to a meeting to discuss whether they should pool money to buy explosives.
Among the educated youth from Jiangcheng, except Wei Min, Li Huilan and Ye Qin, the other seventeen people joined the road construction team. Everyone was anxious to open the road, sell the mines, and make money. When they heard that blasting the rock wall could double the progress, they all expressed their opinions:
"If we can use explosives, then we can pool our money!"
"We can't let Commander Xiang pay for it all by himself. He earned that money by bleeding and getting injured on the battlefield."
"I still have five dollars in my hand. Monitor, give it to you."
"I just bought a pair of Jiefang shoes with my money, and I only have 1.6 yuan left. I'm donating it all."
Everyone stuffed money into Qiao Yadong's hands. Looking at the small change in his hands, Qiao Yadong felt a surge of warmth in his chest. He took out three big unity notes from his bag and generously slapped them on the table: "Here are thirty yuan, I'm donating it."
In addition to the 16 yuan subsidy every month, Qiao Yadong's parents occasionally send him money. As soon as the thirty yuan appeared, everyone knew that Squad Leader Qiao's family was very well-off - this was two months' subsidy for educated youth!
Chen Zhilu grinned and paid twenty yuan: "I'll follow."
Before closing the mountain, Tao Nanfeng received fifty yuan from his father, but he was reluctant to spend it. He planned to save it for travel expenses and take leave to return home when the farm work became less busy. Now seeing that everyone was eager to empty their family's savings, he pondered for a moment, quietly walked back into the house, dug out the fifty yuan from the bottom of the wicker box, took it all out reluctantly, and gave all the money to Qiao Yadong in one breath.
"I'll donate fifty."
Seeing these five new great unity pictures, the educated youth opened their mouths wide: "Wow~~ Tao Nanfeng you are so rich!"
Xiao Aiyun was anxious: "Tao Nanfeng, this is the money your father sent you before the New Year. Why did you take it all out? Didn't you say you wanted to save it for your trip home?"
It would take four days and three nights to get from Xiufeng Mountain to Jiangcheng if everything went smoothly, and you would have to change transportation including trains, minibuses and ships, and it would cost a lot of money for food, accommodation and transportation.
Which educated youth doesn’t want to go home? But there are no holidays on the farm, and going there and back is hard and time-consuming. In fact, if there were no ten-day long holiday and if there was not enough financial support, there would be no way to go home to visit relatives.
Tao Nanfeng waved his hand: "It's okay, I'll save up slowly and fix the road first."
Chen Zhilu looked at Tao Nanfeng, his face suddenly flushed, and he took out another ten yuan from his pocket: "Well, I still have a little here."
Chen Zhilu is a shrewd man. His father is the head of the purchasing department of the nitrogen fertilizer factory. He has a lot of money and is very generous to his youngest son. Although he spent money lavishly, he still had some savings, so it was not difficult for him to take out thirty dollars.
Guo Junzhi smiled slightly, with a hint of shyness on his delicate face: "I have money, I'll give fifty too." Guo Niu is someone who is willing to go down the mountain to make a long-distance call, how could she not have money?
After gathering together, everyone realized that among the twenty educated youth from Jiangcheng, there were five rich people.
Tao Nanfeng and Guo Junzhi: 50 yuan;
Qiao Yadong and Chen Zhilu: 30 yuan;
Ye Qin: 20 yuan;
The rest of the educated youth had five yuan, some two yuan, and when they finally counted the total, it turned out to be two hundred and eight yuan and sixty cents!
Everyone said to Qiao Yadong happily, "Team Leader, quickly give this money to the field manager and go buy explosives tomorrow."
Qiao Yadong was worried that Xiangbei would leave early the next morning, so he asked Chen Zhilu to rush to Xiangjiaping of Nanpo Brigade and handed the money to Xiangbei: "Director Xiang, this is the money donated by our educated youth to buy explosives for you."
The banknotes were wrapped in a blue and white checkered paper. There were ten yuan, five yuan, one yuan, fifty cents... a thick stack of them. These were the savings of the educated youth. Xiangbei looked at the money for a long time without saying anything, with huge waves in his heart.
These teenagers in front of me are generous and enthusiastic. Twenty of them took out so much money, which means they definitely gave everything they had.
Thinking back to his three years on the farm, he realized that all the road construction team members were generous and kind-hearted, but extremely poor; Luo Xuan was stingy, Huang Xingwu was petty, and Jiao Liang was two-faced, but they lived a life of luxury.
I used to think that this was how the world was: the richer you are, the stingier you are; the stingier you are, the richer you are.
But these educated youth from Jiangcheng broke this rule.
——They are kind, generous, and have ideals and goals. If they are in charge of the world, there is hope that it will become a better place.
Xiangbei did not refuse anymore and raised his hand to take the money.
The gunpowder license was quickly obtained, and Xiangbei bought four barrels of black gunpowder according to the previous plan. The remaining matter was how to blast the stone wall.
The stone wall is more than ten feet high, and there is only a small path at the bottom of the cliff that is only wide enough for one person to pass.
Standing at the bottom of the cliff and looking up at the huge stone wall in front of me, it seems that the whole world is left with only this gray mountain wall. Even the veteran members of the road construction team who were experienced in field work felt a little frightened by the overwhelming sense of oppression. Their legs unconsciously went weak and they had to stretch out their hands to hold onto the stone wall to stand firmly.
The road to death is very difficult to repair.
Yang Xianyong checked for a long time and asked, "Why is this road blown up?"
Xiangbei had previously served in the army in the mountains and blasted roads, so he was no stranger to gunpowder. He looked up at the stone wall and replied, "First drill a hole, then install the fuse and detonate them together."
Yang Xianyong continued to ask: "How do you drill? What's the diameter of the hole? How much gunpowder do you need?"
Xiangbei waved his hand and said, "Distribute it evenly. I'll try it first." He rolled up his sleeves twice and walked to the stone wall to prepare to drill holes.
"Wait a moment." Tao Nanfeng stopped him.
Xiangbei turned his head in confusion and met a pair of bright eyes as clear as a stream.
Tao Nanfeng's voice is very distinctive, as if the autumn wind is blowing through the drooping wheat, the timbre is full and low, and a bit like gently plucking the bowstring of a cello, long and full of magnetism.
Ever since experiencing that brutal battle, in which only he and Miao Jing survived from the entire Sharp Knife Company, Xiang Bei felt that his heart was like a dead tree, and he felt indifferent to everything. It was only after meeting this group of educated youth from Jiangcheng that his heart slowly came back to life.
For some reason, standing on the narrow path, he suddenly heard Tao Nanfeng's words and looked into her understanding eyes. He felt that the dead tree in his heart was sprouting new buds under the spring breeze, and its branches were swaying gently in the wind.
Xiangbei's eyelashes twitched slightly, and he forced himself to suppress the throbbing in his heart: "What?"
Tao Nanfeng bent down and took out a pickaxe and a hammer from the tool basket, then looked forward with a steady gaze: "I'll do it!"
Before Xiangbei could say anything, Xiao Aiyun grabbed Tao Nanfeng and said, "Drilling holes on the stone wall is very dangerous, don't go."
The stone wall is smooth and steep, and we drill holes one by one. It's okay at the bottom, but what if we reach the middle or the top and fall down?
Tao Nanfeng looked up at the stone wall. In her eyes, the stone wall was covered with dense white lines, crisscrossing each other, and seven white areas were the most conspicuous.
When she heard the word "drilling", the rat in her body could not be suppressed, as if a voice in her head was shouting: "Go, go, dig a hole."
This is a rare opportunity to dig a hole openly, so we must take the initiative and not let Xiangbei get there first.
So, Tao Nanfeng stood up.
"Don't be afraid, start from the bottom, I'll show you."
Mao Peng suddenly thought of the scene last year when he saw Tao Nanfeng poking a hole in a stone with his finger. He suddenly asked loudly, "Tao Nanfeng, are you really good at digging holes?"
Tao Nanfeng nodded.
Digging a hole? I'm very good at it.
In early spring, the mountain breeze blows and the cold air suddenly arises. Tao Nanfeng didn't feel cold at all at this moment. With her hands occupied by tools, she walked forward like a soldier going to war.
Xiangbei was intimidated by her aura and slightly turned sideways to make way for her.
Tao Nanfeng walked to the stone wall, found the white area at the bottom of his sight, held the iron axe in his left hand, pressed the pointed end against the stone wall, and swung the hammer in his right hand, hitting the end of the iron axe hard.
There was a whirring wind, and with a crisp "clang" sound, hot fluid gushed out from the left hand and rushed towards the iron axe.
A hole! A deep black hole.
The stone was like tofu in Tao Nanfeng's hands. With just one hammer and one strike, a half-foot deep hole was made.
Everyone opened their mouths wide and looked up at Tao Nanfeng who was working. At this moment, she was like the legendary giant spirit, able to split mountains and break rocks, invincible.
Tao Nanfeng turned around and asked Xiangbei: "Is this size enough?"
Xiangbei shook his head: "Not enough."
"How big?"
"About six centimeters in diameter."
Tao Nanfeng nodded, and after three hammer strikes, a hole with a diameter of six centimeters was completed. This hole made her feel extremely intimate, and the corners of her mouth rose unconsciously, with a feeling of joy.
Tao Nanfeng moved his body forward and pointed to a position about one meter above his head: "I want to drill a hole there."
Xiang Bei didn't know why her expression was so confident. She had clearly never used explosives and was just a teenage girl. How could she be so bold and have such an aura of being in control of everything?
He strode forward, squatted down in front of her, tilted his left shoulder slightly, and said in a deep voice: "Step on it, I'll carry you up."
Tao Nanfeng lowered his head and looked at the instep of his feet, his eyes flickering. For a moment he didn't know whether he should step on it or not. A pair of army green Liberation shoes, the soles are covered with yellow mud, just step on them?
He is Xiangbei, the deputy director and a war hero. How can I have the nerve to step on his shoulders? Wouldn't that dirty his clothes?
Xiangbei squatted in a horse stance, put his left hand on his knee, and patted his left shoulder with his right hand again: "Don't worry, I'm strong and very stable."
Tao Nanfeng did not hesitate any longer. He took a deep breath, lifted his left foot lightly, and stepped on Xiangbei's left shoulder. Xiangbei's body remained motionless and steady as a rock. He held her calf with his left hand and lowered his head and said, "Step harder!"
Tao Nanfeng lightly tapped his left foot and pushed with his right foot, like a flying swallow in the air.
Take a deep breath toward the north, squat down in a horse stance, use your waist strength to move in and out, and stand up. Tao Nanfeng put his feet on Xiangbei's shoulders and was instantly lifted more than one meter high.
Xiao Aiyun was dazzled and wanted to shout out: Good! But the footing under the stone wall was narrow, and she was afraid of disturbing the two people, so she could only secretly clench her fists to encourage them.
clang! clang! clang!
Xiangbei stood steadily, holding Tao Nanfeng's calves with both hands, not daring to look up, concentrating all his strength on his lower body. Tao Nanfeng stepped on Xiangbei's shoulder, raised his hand and hammered down, and in just three seconds -
The second hole is done.
Next, the two of them cooperated tacitly. Since the height was not enough, they climbed to the top of the rock wall, tied a hemp rope around their waists, and slowly lowered Tao Nanfeng from above.
The third, fourth, fifth...
When the last hole was completed, Tao Nanfeng rubbed his aching waist and frowned slightly: "Okay, the dynamite hole has been opened, and the next step is to put the dynamite in."
Such a huge stone wall only needs seven holes? No one questioned her words.
Her bravery and decisiveness shocked everyone present.
Xiangbei asked everyone to leave the scene, and he loaded the explosives and fuses himself. After everything was arranged, he walked to a safe area and was about to detonate when he heard someone shouting in the distance:
"Wait a minute..."
The author has something to say:
Work together to build roads and victory is in sight!
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