Chapter 136 Good Things
After sorting the cotton bolls, Song Lubai would often hang out with Liu Xiaolan to pick out the cotton bolls.
Although I didn't have to move while sitting there, I had split several of my fingernails from picking at cotton bolls, and the inside of my fingernails and fingers were all black.
However, thanks to her tireless efforts, she managed to remove all of the cotton bolls, which weighed just over five kilograms, during her lunch break and afternoon rest time.
Weighing it, there are still 3.2 kilograms left.
Unopened cotton bolls feel damp and sticky to the touch and need to be placed in the sun to dry for a few days.
Four days later, when weighed again, it only weighed 1.9 kilograms.
Song Lubai felt utterly dejected.
These past few days, the camp has been busy husking cotton bolls and drying cotton. After finishing work and eating, they start husking. Just as everyone is done, the main force that went to dig canals at the mouth of the valley returns.
After a while, this group of people looked like refugees.
The company commander told the group about the cotton bolls.
No one can resist the allure of a warm quilt as winter approaches.
The company commander didn't even wait for the next day off, fearing that the cotton stalks of the 11th Company would be snatched up by the 23rd Company, so he led a second group of people to the 11th Company the next day.
Song Lubai wanted to go to the 11th Company specifically to pick cotton bolls, but she also knew that it would be too conspicuous for her to go today, so she had no choice but to give up.
After the brick houses were built, one of them was used as a public housing unit for the company.
There was a stove in the communal room, and cotton stalks were burning in it at that moment.
Cotton stalks don't burn well, so you have to add more firewood soon.
At this moment, Song Lubai was sitting in front of the stove with a newspaper on her lap and sweet potatoes roasting on the stove.
Rice and wheat flour were rare commodities, but sweet potatoes and potatoes were plentiful.
Song Lubai doesn't like roasted potatoes, but she loves sweet roasted sweet potatoes.
The aroma of roasted sweet potatoes wafted out. As Song Lubai turned the roasted sweet potatoes over, the instructor and Director Wang came in together.
"How come you two bumped into each other today?"
Director Wang has only just returned since his last trip back.
Song Lubai hurriedly handed the two of them stools.
Once his hands were warmed up, the instructor took a newspaper out of his bag.
He laughed and said, "Great, Xiao Song, your article has been published in the newspaper, and our 25th Company is on the list. The director praised me at the meeting today."
The instructor was proud, but he couldn't help feeling sad for Zhao Aiguo.
He wanted to secure the honor of being named a martyr for Zhao Aiguo, but his application was rejected because it did not meet the criteria.
But Song Lubai's article made Zhao Aiguo's name known to more people.
Wang Haiquan said, "The leaders of the Commerce Department have also seen Xiao Song's article. They also heard that you were a model of supporting the border regions in Yangcheng. The higher-ups appreciate you very much. Xiao Song, the leaders intend to keep you in the Political Department or the Propaganda Department in Shicheng. What do you think?"
What could Song Lubai do? Naturally, she was overjoyed.
Her article focused on the labor and development of the 25th Company, describing it from various aspects such as the spirit of labor, the difficulties encountered, the results of labor, changes in the camp, and the support from above.
The article also mentioned the flood at Guhekou, portraying those involved in the rescue as heroes.
There are many names throughout the text, and Zhao Aiguo is just one of them.
Song Lubai had read many newspapers and roughly knew how to write something that could be published.
It is acceptable to celebrate suffering, but the spirit conveyed must be positive, uplifting, and undaunted by difficulties.
The message should clearly convey and affirm that the current route is correct...
If the central idea is correct, the chances of it being published will increase significantly.
"I will follow the leader's instructions."
Staying in Shicheng is naturally better than being sent down to a lower-level production and construction corps.
It's easy to go down to the city, but it's difficult to be transferred back to the city from the bottom.
However, she also had some concerns.
The movement described in that book was very intense. Although it didn't have much impact on Lin Jinyao's family, Song Lubai remembered that the book mentioned that when it was at its worst, the food factory where her mother worked shut down, primary and secondary schools suspended classes, and the college entrance examination was suspended for as long as ten years. In its place, a recommendation system was implemented.
I don't know if it will affect her future work, but one shouldn't give up eating because of a minor setback.
"Director Wang, if I stay in Shicheng, what kind of work will I do?"
Wang Haiquan peeled a sweet potato and said, "You can either stay and work under me, or go to the propaganda office. It's hard to say."
Song Lubai asked, "How much longer do we have to stay in the 25th Company?"
Previously, everyone liked to ask Director Wang for information, but he was very tight-lipped and never gave anyone a definite answer.
Seeing Director Wang's familiar smiling face again, Song Lubai thought he was going to make up an excuse again, but then she heard him say, "Around the end of November, we'll dig the canal for another month. By then, the soil should be frozen, and everyone in the company will be resting. You should go back to report for duty."
The company commander exhaled a smoke ring and said, "It's really impossible to dig ditches in December. The ground is frozen solid at minus ten degrees Celsius. It's hard to dig with a pickaxe. It's too inefficient and too grueling. Everyone really should take a break."
"After digging the canal for a year, it's time to take a break."
Wang Haiquan asked, "Don't we still have to go to the fields to collect cow and sheep dung in winter?"
The company commander chuckled: "Compared to digging a large ditch, what's collecting manure? It's like taking a day off every day."
Wang Haiquan shook his head with a smile, clearly disagreeing.
In ancient times, collecting cow dung in sub-zero temperatures of ten or twenty degrees below zero would have been nothing short of torture.
But that's how it is at the grassroots level; if it weren't for the veteran reclamation workers' ten-year effort, the situation would have been even more difficult.
With only thirty-odd days left until the end of November, Song Lubai's heart was practically soaring with excitement at the thought of leaving this place soon.
Just as she was feeling pleased with herself, she heard Director Wang say, "After work, notify our people to come and collect their money."
Another piece of good news! Song Lubai was overjoyed.
Today was the third month's salary. After signing and pressing her fingerprint, Song Lubai put a ten-yuan note into her inner pocket.
Fearing she wouldn't have a place to put her money, her mother sewed two pockets onto several of her clothes. The opening in the left pocket was always very small, so no matter how much Song Lubai moved around, the money in the left pocket never got lost.
She received thirty yuan in three months, and after deducting what she spent, she had about eighteen yuan left in her salary.
I didn't buy any daily necessities or clothes. At most, I ate and drank at restaurants, and saved all the money I saved.
Including what she brought from home, she now has a huge sum of nearly ninety yuan.
After hiding the money, Song Lubai grabbed a handful of raisins and went to wash them by the well. Just then, she overheard several girls squatting nearby washing clothes whispering about Lu Shuangshuang.
“When she’s gagging, it’s exactly the same as when my mom was pregnant with my little sister. She can’t eat anything at all. It’s been like this for several days now. Aimei said that her period hasn’t come this month either, so I think she must be pregnant.”
"What if she really is pregnant? The child will be born without a father."
"Oh, what can we do? She's so unlucky! She's only been married for two months!"
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