Chapter 78 Division
Liu Fengshou, familiar with the route, led several female comrades back to the tall wooden frame in front of the bazaar.
It was not even five o'clock yet, but a lot of people had already gathered at the camp.
"Where have you all gone? I haven't seen you at the market."
Everyone who had eaten a bellyful of rabbit meat felt a little guilty.
Feng Ying wiped her mouth guiltily, "We just wandered around the area. There were too many people today, so we didn't see you."
The person asking the question had no suspicion and took out a piece of candy covered in sesame seeds from his pocket and ate it.
Song Lubai saw this and felt a little regretful.
They had seen a stall selling sesame candy before going to eat meat with Liu Fengshou, but they didn't buy any at the time.
I was walking through the bazaar just now, but I didn't see any sesame candy for sale.
Everyone bought what they wanted today, and their faces, which had been clouded with gloom and covered up for the past few days, were now beaming with joy again.
The comrade with a watch looked at his watch and said, "It's 5:40. We need to gather and head to the farm headquarters. Everyone, check if anyone is still missing. Call them back within five minutes, or we'll miss the bus."
A few minutes later, almost everyone had arrived, and the main group followed the person who knew the way to the farm headquarters.
Song Lubai ate quite a bit of rabbit meat today. Let alone walking for an hour, she would be happy even if she had to dig a ditch for a whole day.
After walking quite a distance, we crossed a ditch paved with stone slabs. The water in the ditch was not muddy, but rather crystal clear, with many pebbles on both banks.
The old soldiers who worked on the reclamation project said that this river is called "Qingshui River".
Five or six o'clock is only half an afternoon for XJ.
The sky was a pure, unblemished blue, the air seemed to have frozen in the heat, and the birdsong that drifted from the sky carried a listless, half-dead quality.
After walking a short distance, a grove of poplar trees appeared by the roadside. These poplar trees must have been planted not long ago, as the shade cast by their canopies was not enough to provide shade for pedestrians.
When Song Lubai was in her hometown, she visited the suburbs, county town, and county outskirts, as well as villages and towns. Everywhere she looked, there was a lot of vegetation.
Unlike here, everywhere you go gives you a feeling of desolation and barrenness.
The land here is truly vast, but it looks incredibly barren.
The closer you get to the farm headquarters, the more houses there are on both sides of the road, and you can also see the lush green cotton and corn stalks planted all around.
While working, they always heard people say that there were delicious foods and several restaurants at the farm headquarters, which sounded very appealing. However, when they actually entered the farm headquarters and saw a large dirt road and the houses next to it, Song Lubai and the other comrades from the city were greatly disappointed.
Someone asked incredulously, "This is the farm headquarters? How can it be like this?"
One of the veterans from the military reclamation team retorted, "What kind of image are you envisioning?"
"There should at least be a few small two-story buildings. If there's no cement road, at least build an asphalt road in the middle, right? Why is it just bare and empty? Even the town in my hometown looks more impressive than this place."
Although the houses at the farm headquarters were no longer dugouts, the rather haphazard arrangement and sparsely built bungalows gave them a sense of desolation and decay.
The willow trees standing on both sides of the dirt road looked wilted under the scorching sun.
If it weren't for the spacious grounds of the farm headquarters, the nearby kindergarten and school, and the machinery and equipment compound further in, this place would look less impressive than a small town back home.
"Our Sixth Branch Farm has only been established for a few years. Not only is the farm headquarters under construction, but the designated company territories and land resources are also in the planning stage. Other branch farms seem to be much better off than ours."
Song Lubai looked at the person who spoke, "Why is this place called the farm headquarters? And how do you say the different farms? In our parlance, a factory is a large collective unit, like a food factory or a machinery factory."
Before coming here, she had heard that the corps was divided into divisions and headquarters. A division had battalion headquarters and regimental headquarters, and a regimental headquarters had company headquarters.
Why is this a division? Below the division are the companies.
The old soldier who had spoken earlier said, "Just think of our branch farm as a large unit, similar to the state-owned factories in Koukou. Our Sixth Branch Farm is under the jurisdiction of Shicheng, because the main farm is in Shicheng. There are several branch farms around the main farm in Shicheng, and each branch farm has many companies. We are employees of the 25th Company of the Sixth Branch Farm. The canal we are digging now will belong to the 25th Company in the future. We will also plant poplar trees and other things along the canal. After a while, it will look like a proper farm. But by then, you guys will definitely not be here anymore."
"Hey Lao Yang, I didn't expect you to know so much."
The old soldier surnamed Yang chuckled: "I only heard it from the company commander and political instructor. What do I know? If I knew more, I would be a company commander too."
Old Yang's words elicited bursts of laughter from the veterans of the reclamation army.
Led by the "elders," the group arrived outside the Armed Forces Department.
Song Lubai's hometown city also has an armed forces department, but the gate alone looks solemn and dignified. Unlike this gate, which is only surrounded by a few railings and is extremely small, there isn't even a gatekeeper at the moment.
A man in military uniform came out and said to the crowd, "You are from the 25th Company, right? Comrade Wei went to the engineering team earlier, and your company's tractor is also hauling things. Wait another half hour or so, and they should be back soon."
The man finished speaking politely and went inside.
Since the wait was quite long and the entire area was easily visible, everyone agreed on a time and went off in twos and threes to explore.
Song Lubai and Feng Ying hadn't taken more than a few steps when a male comrade behind them called out to them.
"Comrade Li, is there something you need?"
Comrade Li glanced at Feng Ying somewhat awkwardly, "Well, I heard from Lu Shuangshuang that you girls have all gotten lice in your hair. There happens to be some mutton fat soap for sale at the bazaar today. I heard from others that this mutton fat soap is effective in getting rid of lice. Comrade Feng, Comrade Song, here, you can use this. We're all from the same place, so don't be shy with me."
Song Lubai smiled, pursing her lips.
She noticed these past few days that this Comrade Yang always liked to help Feng Ying with her work, and when he sat under the shed to rest, he would often look at Feng Ying.
Feng Ying's pretty face flushed slightly.
She wasn't shy, she was just embarrassed.
In Feng Ying's view, having lice in one's hair is not something to be proud of.
Back in my hometown, only people who don't like to wash their hair and don't maintain good hygiene get lice.
"How much did you pay for it? I'll give it to you."
Comrade Yang quickly waved his hand: "No need for money. We're all from the same place, it's only right that we help each other. You don't need to give me any money."
Feng Ying's attitude was firm: "That won't do. It should be the right amount. I don't like to take advantage of others."
Comrade Yang could only hold up two fingers to lower the price by half.
After Comrade Yang left in a hurry, Feng Ying spat and said, "Does that Lu Shuangshuang have some kind of disease? We got lice, and she spread the word about it all over the place. How annoying!"
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