Chapter 72 Goodbye
Although Liu Fengshou's past may not seem remarkable, there are dozens of veterans like him in the reclamation team who are over thirty and still unmarried.
Those people looked like Liu Fengshou, appearing to be in their forties or fifties. They had been burdened by farm work for a long time, looking unkempt and weathered. They were all quite old and unmarried.
The young man from Shanghai standing next to Song Lubai said, "Most of us young women from Shanghai are from Shanghai, but after we were assigned to different companies, there are still more men than women in each company. If we can't go back in the future, we'll all have to settle down and start families here."
"Comrade Song, your unit is the Commerce Department, right? Are you all high school graduates?"
Song Lubai nodded, "Don't you have a business department that's hiring?"
The man shook his head. "I don't know. It seems like some youth league schools are recruiting, and they're looking for high school graduates. Once they come to XJ, they'll be assigned jobs, probably as cadres in government agencies or other institutions."
Song Lubai was taken aback.
The units assigned by the Commercial Division are likely state-owned enterprises, which are slightly inferior to becoming cadres in government agencies.
If there were a Communist Youth League school recruiting students in her hometown, she would definitely choose the Communist Youth League school over the Commercial Department.
However, her dream, and the book she read in the dream featuring Lin Jinyao as the main character, indicated that a great wave would sweep in next year.
In the face of the torrent, many people are unable to protect themselves.
Looking back now, it might not have been a bad thing for her to apply to the business department in the future.
"So after a few months of labor training, you'll be transferred and assigned work?"
Exhausted, Song Lu stopped to rest, her arms crossed and supporting herself on the top of the shovel.
She wiped her sweat and nodded, "That's right."
The man's tone became dejected. "If I had known that there was such a big difference between high school students and junior high school students, I would have finished high school no matter what."
The thought of endless farm work ahead filled him with despair.
Song Lubai wanted to say that the future would be very different and that everyone would have the opportunity to change their destiny, but if she said it without any basis, no one would believe her.
The sun was even stronger at noon today than yesterday. Before 2 p.m., several more people fainted from exhaustion, including a thin man.
They carried the person to a shady spot to rest, and placed a cool, damp towel on their head. After about half an hour, the person slowly woke up.
At 2:30, Song Lubai and the other female comrades returned to the camp on time.
Song Lubai's palms were covered in blood and flesh. The blisters that had burst yesterday hadn't healed yet, and two more blisters had appeared next to the ones that had festered today. They were rubbed open by the handle of a shovel when she wasn't looking.
My palms felt like they were burning, and the pain was even more unbearable when they got wet.
The girls all winced in pain when they came into contact with the water.
The woman working at the stove said, "It will get better in a while. It won't hurt anymore once the calluses wear off."
The woman held out her palm, and you could see that her palm had a lot of yellow calluses.
It's only been a little over four months since I arrived and it's already like this.
The woman looked at them and laughed, saying, "You've only been working for two days, and you've already gotten quite tanned. Go to the bazaar and buy some straw hats and headscarves; that will help you look better."
As she spoke, Lu Shuangshuang, who had her head wrapped in a colorful scarf and was holding her head high, came closer.
"See that? It's the kind of headband that Shuangshuang is wearing. It's lightweight, breathable, and brightly colored. It's really pretty."
Lu Shuangshuang walked around the group of female lesbians and made sure everyone could see clearly: "This was given to me by my boyfriend. You've all met my boyfriend, he's Zhao Aiguo, the tractor driver."
No woman doesn't love beauty, especially since this headscarf looks pretty and can cover half of her face, and it must have sun protection in the sun.
Lu Shuangshuang instantly became the focus of the crowd.
Everyone asked her how much the scarf cost.
Lu Shuangshuang raised her chin: "I didn't know that. Aiguo bought it for me. He traded it with a Uyghur at the bazaar. If you want it, I'll have Aiguo drive you to the bazaar in a tractor when we have a break in a few days."
"Lu Shuangshuang, when are you planning to get married?"
Lu Shuangshuang blushed. "It'll be soon. The company commander and political instructor said that once the canal is finished, they'll give everyone an extra day off. Then, we can hold a simple ceremony together in front of everyone."
Everyone noticed the phrase "several couples" and asked curiously why several couples needed to participate together.
In their hometown, weddings are usually held by one couple at a time, but here it's several couples getting married together.
A woman tending the fire said, “This place is different from our hometown. When we first arrived, we stayed at the Sixth Company of the First Branch Factory. We happened to witness eleven couples getting married under the witness of the chief and the chairperson. There are many unmarried men here, and the organization will help men and women get together and form new families. Although the ceremony was simple, it was still quite lively.”
Song Lubai was staring at the scarf on Lu Shuangshuang's head when she suddenly noticed Lu Shuangshuang glancing at her with a strange look.
Song Lubai frowned slightly, instantly realizing why Lu Shuangshuang was upset.
By announcing her relationship with Zhao Aiguo in such a high-profile manner, wasn't she just reminding these new female comrades not to have any ulterior motives?
Honestly, is it really worth it? They'll work for a few months and then leave. Who's going to stay here and suffer like this?
With her mind racing, Song Lubai said, "I don't think there are any extra dugouts. Why don't you wait until our group finishes our labor training and then leave before you get married? We'll make room for you in the dugouts then."
Lu Shuangshuang snorted, "That's unnecessary. Marriage is marriage. Once we're married, our hearts will be together. Whether we live together or not is not important. Besides, the company commander said that the higher-ups are planning to build brick houses for our company. Although we don't know when it will be completed, it will definitely be built! Once the bungalows are built, we'll be able to get our own houses."
Song Lubai smiled at her "spirited" look, then turned and got out of the dugout.
Some people are inexplicable; arguing with them is just asking for trouble.
For four consecutive days, the sun shone brightly. At noon, the sky was a pure, unblemished blue. The earth was scalding hot from the heat, and the people digging the canals were practically dried out by the heat.
Every morning I eat the same two pancakes, and for lunch and dinner I mostly eat corn porridge.
They got hungry early in the morning while working, and then got hungry again in the middle of the night. They didn't wake up hungry because they were too tired. They really needed to rest.
What was initially disliked by everyone became something that everyone missed during the day.
Every day, the moment everyone looks forward to most is the time when they finish the task and return to camp in the evening. On the way back to camp, they sing "Returning to Camp" again, and there is no better mood than that.
In just a few days, Song Lu became tanned and thinner.
She could clearly feel that her pants waistband had become looser.
After working for several days straight, tomorrow will finally be their first day off.
Song Lubai walked briskly back to camp with her shovel today.
Halfway there, I saw a truck and a tractor parked about half a mile to the left, with people standing on them unloading something.
The truck was located about one kilometer away from their camp.
Everyone walked in that direction without prior arrangement.
Upon closer inspection, I saw a group of men carrying bricks down.
Standing among them was a male comrade whom Song Lubai could barely call an acquaintance.
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