Chapter 142 Cold
The night was still long, the snow fell silently, and the cold air invaded every corner of the dormitory.
Lying in bed with her neck hunched, Song Lubai rubbed her face. Thinking of Wei Yang's tall stature, she felt a little less respect for him.
He was tall and strong, and when he started beating people up, she was no match for him!
Field headquarters.
It snowed lightly all night, and a layer of crystal-white snowflakes covered the ground, treetops, and eaves.
Wei Yang, who got up early, remembered what Song Lubai had said about Zhang Jian yesterday, and sat down at the table to write a letter of denunciation with his left hand.
The letter contained only a few words, accusing Zhang Jian of having illicit relationships with women.
He didn't know what would happen to the letter in the end, but if it ended up in Director Zhang's hands, Director Zhang would definitely teach his son a lesson.
If Zhang Jian was dealt with seriously before falling into Director Zhang's hands, then he deserved his fate.
As Song Lubai said, Zhang Jian's wife was heavily pregnant, and his behavior was utterly shameless.
Any married man who engages in extramarital affairs—no, any man or woman—should be condemned. They have a shallow sense of morality, and let others tell them what to do.
The handwriting on the letter was crooked and looked like it was written by a primary school student who had just learned to write.
Wei Yang folded the paper, put it in his pocket, and stumbled out the door towards the mailbox.
The air was bitterly cold, and the snowflakes on the ground illuminated the entire world.
Looking at his footprints, Wei Yang cleverly took a longer route to deliver the letter.
After dropping the letter in, he strolled leisurely through the snow, whistling.
Even though Song Lubai didn't make any promises to him yesterday, he was still very happy.
He was overjoyed that she had finally learned the feelings that had tormented him for so many days, feelings that he couldn't express to anyone else.
He was just so happy to know.
The glistening snowflakes fell silently, and the thin layer of snow crunched under his feet.
…
In the 25th Company's camp, while everyone else was still asleep, several men got up to unload coal.
After a cold night, the tractor froze again.
Compared to yesterday, it's freezing much worse today. A fire has been lit up below to warm the frozen areas.
The female cooks in the mess hall already have to get up early to cook, and this morning their hands were so frozen they couldn't even stretch them out.
After Song Lubai came out wrapped in her coat, she saw Liu Fengshou inserting the crank handle into the hole in the front axle, using the hole as a fulcrum to press down hard and then quickly pull it up.
After going back and forth like this seven or eight times, the tractor finally started rumbling, and the familiar "putt-putt-putt" sound echoed through the camp.
The tractor finally started, and everyone's faces lit up with excited smiles.
The company commander said, "Let's go, let's skip the meal for now, we'll eat when we get back. Let's get the coal stove back first."
"Song Lubai, once everyone is up and has finished eating, urge them to get out of bed."
Song Lubai replied, "I understand."
Song Lubai was surprised that even though the snowflakes were still falling, everyone still had to go down to the ground to dig a ditch.
The temperature has been unstable these past few days, and quite a few people have already caught a cold. If they have to go out into the fields to freeze for another day, what will happen?
Song Lubai found the instructor and told him her thoughts.
The instructor said, "We have no choice but to keep going. While it's still not too cold, let's finish all the tasks as soon as possible. There are only two branch canals left. Once these two canals are completed, we won't have to continue."
Song Lubai: "The ground is probably frozen solid, how can we do anything?"
The instructor cleared his throat and spat out some phlegm. "There are pickaxes in the warehouse. After we finish eating, we'll distribute the pickaxes. They can break up the frozen soil."
In Song Lubai's memory, even in her rural hometown, people would stay at home and hide away when it snowed.
She felt that the people doing the work were working too hard.
It's one thing to not have a stove for heating, but how come you have a pickaxe to break through the frozen ground?
I had hot sweet potato porridge for breakfast, along with some cornbread. I hadn't sweated in bed all night, but after drinking the hot soup, I did sweat a little, and my whole body felt warm and cozy.
Just as everyone was enjoying their drinks, Song Lubai relayed the company commander's instructions.
The instructor, holding a bowl, said, "I'll open the warehouse in a bit, and everyone can grab their pickaxes and dig the ditch. The better you can do it, the faster you can."
Many people felt very resistant, feeling that the company was treating them like livestock.
Even the donkeys belonging to the production team need to rest in the shed when the weather is bad.
The resistance from the crowd was too obvious. The instructor said, "There are only two branch canals left. If we work harder and finish in half a month, our task for the whole year will be completed, and we can start planting grain next spring. The weather is not cold now. When it gets really cold, the temperature will be 10 or 20 degrees lower than it is now. Then everyone can have a good rest."
No one responded. The instructor continued, "As you all saw, the company commander has already had the coal brought back. They're going to get the coal stoves now, so you won't be cold anymore. The company commander is thinking of you all. The coal he allocated isn't enough, so he's going to ask the farm headquarters for some more so that you can have a more comfortable winter."
"While the brothers and sisters in the Commerce Department are still here, let's all work together to finish the job. The sooner we finish, the sooner the comrades in the Commerce Department can leave. Before they leave, they can help us share some of the burden. The sooner they leave, the more coal we can save."
"Don't be so resistant, everyone. Victory is just around the corner. Let's persevere and try to finish in half a month. If we're delayed, it'll look bad for our company. The higher-ups will say we were built for nothing..."
After some encouragement and a bit of criticism, everyone resigned themselves to their fate. After finishing their meal, they listlessly picked up their farm tools and went to work in the fields.
The world was a vast expanse of white.
This barren Gobi Desert was completely covered by heavy snow, appearing peaceful and serene.
Just two weeks ago, the sun was shining brightly, and they hadn't even had a chance to savor the cool and pleasant autumn weather before they were suddenly plunged into the cold, snow-covered winter months.
In such cold weather, everyone else had gone to dig ditches, and Song Lubai felt guilty sitting in the public room warming herself by the stove.
The labor training in the Commercial Department is almost over, and we need to quickly train Liu Xiaolan to be able to work independently.
After these days of practice, Liu Xiaolan's stutter has improved slightly, but it has not been completely corrected.
Liu Xiaolan was reading the newspaper, while Song Lubai was writing the literacy plan on her lap.
Not long after, the tractor returned, pulling the stove.
Looking at the sixteen stoves in the tractor's trailer, Song Lubai found it hard to feel happy.
There isn't enough coal, and there aren't enough stoves. To get through this winter smoothly, these resources need to be allocated in a planned way.
Back in her hometown, her family couldn't get a coal stove, so they had to tough it out every winter.
However, winters in Henan Province are not that cold, far less cold than what she experienced last night.
Including the coal stoves in the public housing, the 25th Company only had 17 coal stoves in total.
The company commander took a sip of hot tea, paused for a moment, and said, "We can only put everyone together in the seventeen houses. If they can fit, it shouldn't be a problem."
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