Chapter 69 Sweat
The young people who signed up to support the border areas all volunteered themselves. They had all transferred their household registration to XJ. They knew that it would not be easy to go back to their hometowns, and they were all mentally prepared to possibly settle down and live here for a long time.
However, it is very rare to see a woman like Lu Shuangshuang who is about to get married after only four months of being here.
After a brief discussion, Liu Xiang lowered her voice and said, "Sun Hong, who shared a room with me, is the thief on the bus, did you know that?"
Song Lubai paused, then remained silent.
Liu Xiang said disdainfully, "If I had known she was a thief, I wouldn't have shared a room with her. What if something else goes missing? Don't you think so? You have to be careful even if you live with her."
Almost none of the girls who lived in the same dugout as Song Lubai knew about this, so when they heard about it, they couldn't help but agree.
As the group discussed Sun Hong, Song Lubai interjected, "Sun Hong apologized to me as soon as she got off the bus. She was very sincere in admitting her mistake, and I think she won't steal anything again."
Liu Xiang disagreed, saying, "If she really knew she was wrong, she wouldn't have returned everything. She tried to be clever and kept only twenty yuan, which made Huifang cry for a long time."
Song Lubai shut her mouth.
She's not a pushover; Sun Hong should have thought about what she might face if she got caught when she was stealing things and money.
After a day of leisure, as dusk fell, the men who had dug the canal returned, dragging their weary bodies.
The communal meal was ready, and four large basins of tomato and vegetable soup, along with freshly baked cornbread, were placed on the earthen platform under the shed.
There's not much solid food in the savory soup, so it's impossible to get full just by drinking the soup. The purpose of making the soup is simply to make it easier for everyone to eat the flatbread.
No one complained that the food was bland and unappetizing; their only concern was that they would be hungry again soon after finishing the small portion.
Another sleepless night spent being bitten by mosquitoes.
The sound of a whistle signals the start of a new day's work.
When Song Lubai woke up, her back was still sore and her arms were covered with large red welts from mosquito bites that she had unconsciously scratched.
Looking at the sleepy-eyed people coming up from the dugout, Wang Haiquan, who looked energetic, said loudly, "Cheer up, everyone. Quickly wash your faces to wake up, and take two pancakes to eat on the way. Take advantage of the cool morning to dig the canal for a while. Everyone has a quota, so don't try to slack off or run away. You can't escape it."
The "old folks" would smear their faces with well water, then eat their flatbreads and carry their farm tools to the fields.
Over here, Song Lubai and her group are still brushing their teeth.
Wang Haiquan urged him on from the side.
Seeing that the "old folks" had all left, everyone felt a sense of urgency. After quickly washing up, they grabbed their pancakes, picked up the farm tools given to them by the instructor, and left.
Song Lubai tucked the shovel under her arm and ate a pancake as she walked.
The women were given lightweight shovels, while the men were given hoes.
The head of the kantuman is very heavy and has a unique shape, making it look much more dangerous than a shovel.
The men imitated the "old men," carrying the kantuman on their shoulders and then eating the bread.
They walked for almost two miles before reaching the canal, by which time everyone had finished eating their flatbread.
The "old folks" were already digging enthusiastically, wielding shovels and hoes in the ditch.
After meeting with the company commander and political instructor, Wang Haiquan said, "You can assign the tasks, since I don't know the situation here."
After the three exchanged pleasantries, the company commander said, "Each of you has to dig four meters a day. Look at the ditch we dug before. It's five meters wide, two and a half meters deep, and the slope is 1 to 1.25. You'll dig down following the example of the ditch we dug. If there are any problems, I'll remind you during the inspection. Alright, enough talk, let's get to work. Take advantage of the cool weather and work as much as you can. It'll be unbearable when it gets hot."
The instructor added, "You city guys need to be extra careful when using the shovel. Observe how others use it first. Be careful not to cut your own ankle. In the past, some people have cut their shinbone and become disabled. Try it out first before putting in any effort."
The men felt a chill run down their spines upon hearing this, and their movements as they raised their hoes became much gentler.
Following the marked channels, each person was assigned a plot of land, and everyone began to dig along the marked lines on the ground.
In summer, the soil is soft, so it's not too difficult to dig at first. But after using a lot of strength, the palms of my hands gripping the stick start to hurt, and my back, which has been bent over for so long, can't take it anymore.
The workers in the company dug much faster than the newcomers, and they took far fewer breaks.
Every second of digging the ditch was torture. Soon, I was covered in sweat. The sweat slid down my forehead and into my eyes, stinging them painfully.
While at school, Song Lubai had planted trees and dug holes with her class, but the labor intensity was far less than this.
The sun was directly overhead, and Song Lubai was drenched in sweat. Her face was flushed red from the sun, her hands ached so much she could barely grip the shovel, and her back ached when she straightened up.
Feng Ying, wiping her sweat, said, "Now I know why those people ran away. It hurt too much. My hands don't feel like my own anymore. How could anyone finish digging such a long and wide hole in one day?"
Song Lubai comforted him, "We still have to hang in there. We only need to work for a few months, and then we can leave."
Song Lubai's eyes were stinging from the sweat, and as she sat down to rub them, she saw Lu Shuangshuang pushing a wheelbarrow to deliver water.
"Come on, everyone, have some water before you get back to work."
There were only six tea mugs in total, and everyone took turns using them. Each person tilted their head back and gulped down the water, finishing a whole mug in one go.
Boiled well water, when cooled to room temperature, isn't icy cold to drink, but it's still thirst-quenching.
Director Wang was also sitting and resting nearby. The sweat on his face was reflected by the sun, and he looked quite tired.
While Song Lubai and the others were working, Wang Haiquan was also digging a ditch, just like them.
Everyone was exhausted, and it was inevitable that they would complain a few times.
Director Wang fanned himself with his hand and said with a smile, "If there are difficulties, we should overcome them. If we were digging the canal in winter, it would be even more difficult than it is now."
“When it’s cold, the ground freezes. It’s minus twenty degrees Celsius here, and the ground is frozen solid like a steel plate. You can’t dig through the frozen soil with a shovel. You have to use several times the effort to dig a piece of land. In the summer, it’s hot, but the ground is easier to dig.”
Song Lubai asked, "What are you going to plant after the irrigation ditch is dug? I don't see a soul in the area for miles around."
The instructor, who was not far away, said, "Once the canal is dug, we'll open up the land and build houses nearby to form a new company. Then the workers of our 25th Company will be able to get housing, and the dugouts we live in now will be obsolete."
One of the newcomers grumbled, "When will the new house be built? My back aches from sleeping on reeds these past few days. We don't ask for much, we just want a comfortable bed. If it weren't for the mosquitoes, I would have slept on the ground outside at night."
An old veteran of the reclamation army laughed: "You city kids are so particular. You haven't been sleeping well these past two days, but I guarantee you won't feel uncomfortable in three days."
"Why? It doesn't feel uncomfortable once you get used to sleeping in it?"
The veterans exchanged glances and smiled without saying a word.
With such a heavy workload every day, you can fall asleep as soon as you hit the bed when you get home. Who would care about something as trivial as whether the bed is comfortable or not?
City kids will understand after a few more days.
"Alright, alright, the sun is getting stronger. We can go back for lunch and a break after a few more hours of work. Everyone, give it your all."
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