Chapter 79 Secretly Giving Things
Lu Shuangshuang was the one among the group of young women from Shanghai in the camp who most liked to seek a sense of presence within the group.
She was a member of the cooking squad and also the marriage partner of tractor driver Zhao Aiguo, making her quite eye-catching in the crowd. Similarly, she liked to meddle in other people's affairs, which annoyed many of her female colleagues, including Song Lubai and Feng Ying at this time.
Previously, Feng Ying had spoken ill of Lu Shuangshuang behind her back. At this moment, Song Lubai deliberately said, "Oh dear, I don't know if you're blaming Lu Shuangshuang for being so talkative, or blaming her for making you lose face in front of Comrade Yang."
Feng Ying pinched her, "Believe it or not, soon everyone in the camp will know we have lice on our heads."
Song Lubai nodded: "Why wouldn't I believe it? But if I know, I know."
It's no big deal.
The two hadn't gone far when they were stopped by another man.
This man, Xia Huai, was the artistic youth in their team. When he got tired of digging the ditch, he would often compose a poem while facing the scorching sun, the setting sun, and the clods of earth, expressing his feelings at the time. He was quite different from the other men.
The men thought he was pretentious, but the women were more divided. Some thought he had a strong cultural air and the demeanor of an intellectual, while others, like the men, thought he was genuinely pretentious.
"Comrade Xia, is something the matter?"
Xia Huai smiled slightly and pushed up his glasses. "I heard that many of you girls have lice in your hair. There happened to be some mutton fat soap for sale at the bazaar today, so I bought three. You can all use them. Don't be shy. After all, we're all from the same place. If you women don't look good, it will affect us."
The two girls: "..."
Song Lubai, puzzled, pressed for details: "How did it affect you?"
Xia Huai: "People will think that people from our hometown are unhygienic."
He pushed the three dull gray mutton fat soaps forward in his hand, looking quite generous, "Here, catch them quickly."
The principled Feng Ying sneered, "Keep it safe. You might need it if you get infected too."
The two turned and left.
Once they were a distance away, Feng Ying said, "Is he crazy? People who know him think he meant well, but people who don't think he came here specifically to mock us."
Song Lubai's shoulders trembled as she laughed.
Comrade Xia Huai meant well, but his words ruined everything.
Seriously, does he think he can just recite poems with that mouth of his?
Xia Huai, still standing in the same spot, was completely baffled.
He didn't understand what was going on; he clearly meant well.
He clearly mustered up a lot of courage to come and deliver the item.
He had pondered these words repeatedly, and he felt there was absolutely no problem with them.
Xia Huai turned around and saw Sun Hong, who was all alone, and pushed the mutton fat soap in his hand out again.
"Comrade, I mean well. I heard that you girls have lice in your hair. Please take this back and let everyone use it."
Seeing Sun Hong standing there in a daze, Xia Huai stuffed the mutton fat soap into her arms without saying a word.
The factory was really small; you could see from one end of the street to the other. Song Lubai and Feng Ying found the post office and mailed the letter they had written earlier back to their hometown.
In her letter, Song Lubai once again urged her mother to be extremely careful about the accidents she had mentioned that had not yet occurred, and reminded her that if she had the opportunity, she should definitely change to another workshop.
Around seven o'clock, trucks and tractors loaded with half a bucket of bricks and some farm implements stopped at the entrance of the Armed Forces Department, and the chugging sound of the tractors could be heard from afar.
When Song Lubai and the others returned, the company commander and political instructor were sitting on the ground in front of the car talking with Wei Yang and several other male comrades from the armed forces and armored departments.
Several grown men were covered in sweat, and without any regard for appearances, they threw off their sweat-soaked shirts, revealing their sweaty upper bodies.
Looking up and seeing the person approaching, Wei Yang subconsciously pulled down his shirt, which he had lifted up, to cover his sweaty body.
"Company commander, where is our Director Wang? We haven't seen him all day."
The company commander exhaled a smoke ring. "He went back to Shicheng to report on his work and also to see his wife and children. He hasn't seen his wife and children for more than two months since you were recruited."
"He's gone, but you should continue as usual. He'll be back in a few days. Just do your job well in our 25th Company these days."
Everyone expressed their understanding after hearing this.
Alright, alright, everyone hurry up and get on the bus, it'll be almost dark by the time we get back.
The truck bed was full of stuff, so everyone had to find a place to stand, which inevitably led to complaints.
"What are all these for? They take up so much space."
The instructor, who was smoking while leaning on the cart, glanced at it and said, "This is good stuff for hauling sand. It's all good stuff prepared for you women."
Upon hearing this, the women all turned their attention to those items.
"What are these for? How are they good for us?"
The instructor smiled, a few dry lines appearing at the corners of his eyes: "You women won't have to dig ditches anymore."
Upon hearing this, the women, both those who had boarded and those who hadn't, perked up.
Really?
Everyone's eyes lit up, and their surprise was written all over their faces.
The instructor nodded: "See these carts? They're used to haul sand and soil. From now on, you'll just need to haul sand and soil to treat saline-alkali land. It'll be much easier than digging a large canal."
The women agreed that digging ditches relied entirely on manpower, while hauling sand was aided by carts, making the work with external assistance clearly easier.
They were all smiles, completely unaware that they had simply fallen from one pit into another.
Song Lubai sat by the car, fanning herself with her straw hat, waiting for everyone to arrive before setting off.
Suddenly, she felt a poke on the back of her shoulder.
Turning around, I saw Wei Yang, whose hat brim was pulled low, handing me a package wrapped in a handkerchief.
Song Lubai smelled a very sweet fragrance: "What is this?"
This was the first time Wei Yang had done something like this, and not wanting to be noticed, he felt uneasy and urged in a low voice, "It's delicious, don't worry about what it is, just take it."
Song Lubai took out a dime from her pocket and pressed it into his palm as she took the handkerchief.
Thank you.
She wants delicious food, but she won't take advantage of others for nothing.
Wei Yang stared blankly at the one-cent coin in his palm, unable to come to his senses for a long time.
After realizing what he had said, he whispered, "I picked them on the road, they're not worth much, you can take the money back."
From his tone, Song Lubai sensed an unquestionable authority.
Song Lubai lifted a corner of the handkerchief and saw what was inside, and she also felt that the money was indeed too much.
But the car had already started moving slowly forward, and Song Lubai didn't have time to give him a small bill, so she could only say, "Then next time you come to our place, can you bring me a meat bun?"
One cent could buy two meat buns, but she only wanted one, so it wasn't like she was taking advantage of his meat coupons.
As the car drove further and further away from him, he slowly raised his head, his gaze fixed on her with a slightly narrowed intensity.
Song Lubai didn't know what he meant, but she felt very uncomfortable, so she simply looked away.
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