Chapter 108 Culture and Education
The 25th Company of the Sixth Division.
The scorching sun evaporated the moisture from the torrential rain of the previous days, and the midday temperature returned to forty degrees Celsius.
The campsite smelled delicious with meat today.
When everyone returned carrying their farm tools, the aroma made their backs, which had been so stiff from being unable to straighten up, lessen the pain.
The meat floating in the pot wasn't pork; the farm's pig farm hadn't yet restored its supply to the production team.
The snakes cooking in the pot now are the cauliflower snakes that were caught from the dugout.
After the heavy rain, many snakes were found piled up under the collapsed dugout.
The tangled, wriggling worms were terrifying, but the veteran settlers were overjoyed and excitedly caught all the rat snakes.
In this time of scarcity and lack of meat, even the grass snake can be cooked into a delicious dish.
Almost all the veteran soldiers in the company had eaten this delicacy, but this was the first time Song Lubai and the others who came later had eaten snake meat.
The snake meat was chopped into small pieces and stewed with scallions and other green vegetables to make a soup.
With so many people in the company, each person only had five or six pieces of snake meat floating in their bowl.
After eating the snake meat, the "old men" smacked their lips, savoring the taste, as if they hadn't had enough.
The inexperienced "newcomers" wanted to take a bite but dared not, and one by one they frowned.
"What, you don't dare to eat it? Give it to anyone who doesn't dare to eat it."
A scruffy-bearded man stared at the snake meat in someone else's bowl with gleaming eyes.
Many people, stared at by him, subconsciously put the snake meat into their mouths, and were then shocked by the delicate texture of the snake meat.
Snake meat is delicate yet resilient, offering a certain elasticity and chewiness when chewed.
Song Lubai, who was eating snake meat for the first time, thought it was very delicious and tasted better than pork and lean rabbit meat.
The food prepared by the cooks was only edible and not particularly delicious, but the snake meat cooked in this way was surprisingly tasty, which can only be attributed to the deliciousness of the snake meat itself.
These long worms that look terrifying are actually quite delicious.
This is everyone's opinion on snake meat.
As everyone savored the deliciousness of the snake meat, the tractor chugged back.
The instructor approached, smoking a cigarette, and said to everyone, "There's a meeting at the farm headquarters today. In a while, the division and headquarters leaders will come down to the grassroots companies to inspect and guide our work. Although our 25th Company is a newly established company this year, is still in the process of reclaiming land, and is quite far from the farm headquarters, it is the first company in the Sixth Farm to build brick houses. There is a high chance that we will be selected by the higher-ups to inspect our hard work. Everyone needs to be on high alert recently and let the leaders see that our hard work deserves to live in such houses."
The workers of the 25th Company had a strong sense of collective honor. Under the guidance of their instructor, they stood tall with high spirits.
The instructor continued, "The brick houses are under construction, and we also need to get other things done in our company as soon as possible."
We brought back two blackboards today. Now our company needs an education officer to create blackboard bulletins, organize study classes, and conduct literacy work. Has anyone volunteered for this important task?
"What's there to hesitate about?" Song Lubai, who was so exhausted from farm work that she could barely hold chopsticks, raised her hand first and said loudly, "Instructor, I can do it. I graduated from high school and used to work in the propaganda office in my hometown city. I also made blackboard newspapers. I am very familiar with this kind of work and have a lot of experience. I think I can definitely do this job."
No matter what kind of work is involved in education, she has to take this job first.
They shouldn't be doing cooking or gardening; they absolutely cannot miss out on jobs that require education and knowledge.
After confidently stating her position, she deliberately hesitated and said, "However, the cultural and educational work in the company needs to be done long-term. After all, I belong to the Commercial Department, and I will be leaving after the labor and study period ends. Let's choose the employees of the 25th Company for this important job."
The instructor shook his head and said, "You can start doing it first. Let us see how you produce a blackboard newspaper. If it's suitable, we'll pick someone with education from the staff to learn from you. That way, when you leave, our company won't be without anyone who knows how to do it."
Song Lubai was overjoyed, but solemnly promised, "I promise I will complete the mission well."
The instructor nodded, glanced at his meeting notes, and continued, "The farm, the Party committee, and the committee have proposed to launch three major initiatives: first, high efficiency; second, high food production; and third, eradicating illiteracy. The so-called high efficiency..."
The instructor held an impromptu meeting that lasted half an hour, using his laptop.
After conveying the above message, the instructor continued, "As everyone knows, there was a flood at Guhekou before. To prevent this from happening again, our company needs to allocate half of its manpower to dig another canal in Guhekou. The farm manager will personally supervise the work. Everyone must complete this difficult task efficiently."
After everyone had finished explaining everything and dispersed, the instructor called Song Lubai over.
The instructor said, “Education is very important in the company. Don’t be fooled by your low rank; there’s a lot to do. Starting this afternoon, don’t go to the fields. Focus on writing the blackboard bulletin for the next two days. After I check it, if it’s up to standard, you can select some literate people from the company’s staff to help you and help the company get its people out there.”
Song Lubai asked, "What's the theme?"
The instructor took her to the public housing and brought out a stack of newspapers, including "Victory Daily", "XJ Army and Reclamation Daily", "Production War and Frontline Report", and "Awakening Daily".
Besides the newspaper, the instructor handed her his notebook, saying, "Mainly look at today's meeting content. There are two blackboards; you can decide what to write."
Song Lubai suggested, "I want to set aside a small section of the board to write down the labor evaluation results of the labor groups, which can motivate everyone's enthusiasm for labor. I also want to set aside a small section to praise the good deeds of the company, so that everyone can learn from them and improve the work style of our company."
The instructor thought it was good; based on these two points alone, he believed that Song Lubai had indeed done this job before and was definitely capable of handling it.
"Okay, you can do it as you see fit."
After the instructor finished explaining the other tasks in the cultural and educational department, Song Lubai rushed to the tractor to get the colored chalk that hadn't been unloaded yet, and then called on the male comrades who hadn't gone inside to rest to help her set up the blackboard.
She couldn't move the blackboard herself, and after the lunch break, the rest of the group went back to work, so she had to find someone to help her now.
After finishing her work here, she took a pen and paper and sat down at the earthen table under the shed to write and draw, drafting her notes. After finishing, she started reading the newspaper, summarizing the titles and text to be filled in for the blackboard bulletin.
When she worked at the neighborhood office, Lao Zhao was the main person in charge of creating the bulletin boards, and she was just the writer who added text to enrich the layout. But by working with Lao Zhao to create the bulletin boards, she learned a lot. Now, she can create the bulletin boards on her own.
Despite being exhausted and her hands trembling as she gripped the pen, her heart was filled with joy.
She was determined to make the bulletin board excellent, win the education job, and never have to do hard labor in the fields again, leaving no room for criticism from others.
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