Chapter 122 The Second
After digging the canal all day, Miao Dayong was exhausted and couldn't get up. But thinking about the consequences of not leaving that night, he kept pinching his thigh to keep himself from falling asleep while resting on the straw mat.
At noon, the thought of escaping came to mind, and when he returned for lunch, he kept an eye on the 25th Company's grain and warehouse.
Under the cooking shed now, there should only be kneaded dough waiting to ferment, and no other dry food.
As for that warehouse, it should contain rice, flour, and watermelons, but it was locked up.
There are cucumbers and tomatoes in the vegetable garden.
Miao Dayong chose to steal from both the warehouse and the vegetable garden.
As the leader, he woke up the people around him, reminding them that it was time to get up and take action.
The man beside her was fast asleep. He turned over and mumbled, "I'm not leaving. I want to sleep."
If I can't even get out of XJ after walking for days, where else can I escape to? Let's just leave it at that. I need to get a good night's sleep so I'll have the energy to think about tomorrow.
Miao Daqiong has a tough time.
He stayed awake not because he wanted to hear his teammates say discouraging things.
They agreed to travel together, and once they left Xinjiang province, they would crawl back to their hometown, even if it meant crawling.
Miao Dayong choked them awake and said angrily, "If you don't get up, I'm leaving!"
The teammate was forced to wake up, and with a resentful look on his face, he woke up everyone around him.
Miao Dayong secretly went next door and started calling for help.
Whoever made the loudest noise, he would cover their mouth and mutter curses under his breath, urging everyone to get up quickly.
After working for more than half an hour, everyone was finally awake.
Everyone was listless and had no will to run away.
Miao Dayong was exasperated. "Do you still want to go home? Those who don't want to go home can stay here. Those who want to leave, listen to my orders."
"You girls, climb up to the back window, don't make a sound, go to the vegetable garden, pick as much as you can, then head north and only pick cucumbers and tomatoes. Fifth Brother, you guys come with me to the storeroom, the door's locked, let's see if we can get in through the window..."
Miao Dayong's troop deployment was very simple: split his troops into two groups, steal the grain, and escape under cover of night.
The stolen grain can only last for two or three days at most. When they get to other places, they will have to find another way to steal grain.
The group of people dejectedly jumped out of the back window and crouched down to move. Zhao Aiguo, who was leaning against the stove and yawning, heard the noise and thought to himself that they had finally started moving.
Zhao Aiguo thought they were too naive.
To think you can escape home on two legs is nothing short of delusional.
Seeing the group sneaking around to the warehouse door, and some even going around to the back window to rummage around, Zhao Aiguo quietly approached Miao Dayong and suddenly asked, "Why don't you go get the keys?"
The group was startled.
Miao Daqi turned around angrily, "Keep your voice down! Are you afraid you won't wake them up?"
By the moonlight, Miao Dayong was so startled that he took a step back when he saw Zhao Aiguo's face clearly.
He awkwardly started making small talk: "Why aren't you asleep yet?"
Meanwhile, a quarrel could be heard coming from the vegetable garden.
Miao Dayong never expected that the people of the 25th Company had been on guard against them all along.
The night shift staff moved closer to this area.
The company commander and political instructor came out, still half asleep.
"Where are they planning to steal the grain?"
Miao Dayong hurriedly tried to explain, "It's a misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding, we just couldn't sleep at night..."
Zhao Aiguo spat and said, "If you can't sleep, go take a walk in the warehouse and vegetable garden. It's one person who can't sleep, but all thirty-two of you can't sleep?"
Caught red-handed, the group was speechless, and too guilty to lift their heads.
The company commander snorted, "I was originally planning to keep you here, but now that I see you can't endure the hardship of digging the canal, I don't need you anymore. You don't want to endure any hardship, you just want to go home. You won't have any food rations if you go home, so what's the point of going back? People like you can't do anything for long, you're of no use to the country. What's the point of your existence? You tell me!"
Someone muttered under their breath, "I didn't let my mom give birth to me. If I had known I would suffer like this, I would have preferred that my mom never gave birth to me."
For the company commander, these words were utterly heartless, especially considering they were directed at their own mothers.
The company commander wanted to teach these people a lesson, but the political instructor wanted to go back to sleep as soon as possible. He said impatiently, "Go back to sleep, you can't escape. Don't waste your time. It's not worth the trouble. There are wolves in the Gobi Desert. If you encounter one and survive, you're lucky. You can run all night, but the tractor will catch up with you in a few hours tomorrow. We won't stop you if you want to run, but anyone who dares to steal a tomato from the field will be in big trouble when we catch them."
The company commander and political instructor were afraid that these people would do something extreme, so they kept watch on them at night. But now, seeing how these people were acting, they felt that these young people had let them down.
That's true. He's just a naive young man from the city, what great things could he possibly accomplish? He's just not good at enduring hardship or suffering.
Before long, only Miao Dayong and his group remained outside.
The staff on duty yawned and watched them from a short distance away.
A gentle breeze blew, and everyone shivered.
"Brother Dayong, should we still run away or not? If we don't leave tonight, the company commander and his men might come and take us back tomorrow or the day after."
Miao Dayong's expression changed several times, his heart filled with bitterness.
He wanted to go home, but the road home was more difficult than Tang Sanzang's journey to the West.
Miao Dayong waved his hand dismissively, looking dejected. "I don't know either. Those who want to leave can leave, and those who want to stay can stay. Don't ask me anymore. It's up to everyone to decide."
Some people complained: "How could you do this? You woke us up, and now you're at a loss. It would have been better if you hadn't gotten up at all; at least you could have gotten a good night's sleep."
…
The voices outside were quite loud, but they didn't wake Song Lubai, who was dreaming.
At this moment, Song Lubai, who was lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), was covered in sweat, breathing rapidly, and her brows were furrowed. She was completely unable to wake up.
She had another dream.
She didn't realize she was dreaming.
A year after her first fiancé, Li Guangming, died in a car accident, she became engaged to her second fiancé.
This time, the person she was dating was introduced by her aunt Zhang Lan, and the candidate was Chen Weiliang, the son of the Chen family next door.
Chen Weiliang served in the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps as an orderly for an officer. Because he was in the army for many years, he missed out on his marriage.
She and Chen Weiliang settled down very quickly.
With his wedding day fast approaching, Chen Weiliang returned home from Xinjiang Province.
The scene shifts, and her biological grandmother and Li Guangming's biological grandmother are blocking Chen Weiliang's door.
The two elderly women were arguing heatedly.
Her own grandmother said that she had already arranged a marriage for her granddaughter and did not agree to the marriage, telling the Chen family to be sensible.
Li Guangming's biological grandmother said that Song Lubai was already engaged to Li Guangming, and even if her grandson died, Song Lubai would have to stay by his side and take care of him after she passed away.
In her dream, Song Lubai was so angry that she wanted to slap each of the two old ladies across the face and tell them to get as far away as possible.
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