Chapter 116 The Runaway
The group that escaped to the 25th Company numbered as many as 32 people.
Walking through the desolate Gobi Desert, they looked like a fairly large group.
The company commander asked around and found out that this group of people had escaped from the 10th Company of the First Division and were young people who came from Shanghai this year.
Currently, young people from Shanghai make up the majority of the workforce in the various companies and brigades under Shicheng.
“You’d better go back now. If you stay here and refuse to leave, we can’t feed you. At most, we can give you some water. Once we notify your superiors to pick you up, you’ll be hungry for at least two days.”
“We’re not going back. We’ll stay here. Your company has brick houses, so why don’t we? If you want us to go back, we have to live in brick houses too.”
The group of Shanghai youths were also speechless; they had been avoiding people for almost three days.
They started fleeing the day before yesterday when it got dark, and they've been on the run for about seventy or eighty hours now.
They came here looking for water, stealing vegetables from the garden, and then they discovered the company and were discovered themselves.
My legs were about to break from running. I thought I had left Shicheng's territory, but I never expected that I was still in a branch farm under the main Shicheng farm. I even went in the wrong direction.
If the direction is wrong, then it's wrong. Why should the people in this company live in brick houses?
They should all be destined for hardship, so why should others get to live a good life first? This is simply unfair.
The company commander was very annoyed: "What right do you have to talk to us? It's like we're going to provide you with brick houses. If you go back, you'll still have food to eat. If you don't go back, we can't provide you with food."
The cooks were preparing food at that moment. Although they were cooking ordinary grains, the aroma of the food was irresistible to these people who had gone hungry for three days and nine meals a day.
The company commander and political instructor did not welcome this group of outsiders, and their words implied that they wanted to drive them away.
As Song Lubai washed her face by the well, she noticed the group of people frequently glancing towards the stove under the shed, their eyes fixed on the steaming pot, and an ominous premonition rose in her heart.
Just then, Director Wang subtly winked at her.
Song Lubai understood what he meant instantly.
Director Wang told her to hurry up and go to the fields to call for reinforcements. As long as the main force of the 25th Company returned, they wouldn't be afraid of these thirty-odd people.
Now half of the company's manpower has gone to dig canals at Guhekou, and they are all able-bodied men. The other half of the company's manpower is digging canals and turning over the land five or six miles away.
A month ago, the location where the canal was dug was only two or three miles away from the camp. As the project progressed, the canal became longer and longer, and the work site naturally became farther and farther away from the camp.
As for the construction team, they left after the house was built, and only a few days ago.
Now we work until 10:30 every day, and it takes almost an hour for the main force to come back. As for the people who go to Guhekou, they don't come back at all because it's inconvenient and takes too long to get there and back.
There are only eighteen people in the camp now, from the cooking squad and the vegetable planting squad. Including Song Lubai, Liu Xiaolan, Lin Jinyao, the instructor, the company commander, Zhao Aiguo, and Director Wang, there are only seven people in total, and most of them are women.
After the company commander and political instructor finished saying they would refuse to provide them with food, the group remained silent for a long time.
The company commander and his men sensed that the atmosphere was clearly unusual.
In this eerie atmosphere, Song Lubai, who was washing her face outside the crowd, spoke up: "Company Commander, you guys are too stingy. We're all here to build up the frontier, we've all suffered a lot, we're all in the same trench. What's wrong with eating a few meals from us? Who doesn't want to live in good housing? We were promised housing when we signed up, so we can't blame them for deserting..."
These words resonated with the people who had fled. Before Song Lubai could finish speaking, she was interrupted by a male comrade who strongly agreed with her.
"Exactly! What did they tell us back then? What kind of life have we been living since we arrived? Upstairs and downstairs? Where are the buildings? There aren't even many buildings at the farm headquarters!"
Song Lubai almost burst out laughing.
The person in charge of recruitment over there is exaggerating too much. People in Yangcheng who are in charge of recruitment don't make such big claims.
Song Lubai asked casually, "What kind of work do you do? We dig irrigation ditches here every day. Look at our hands, how many calluses have grown on our palms! We sweat endlessly in the fields every day, and we can't even straighten our backs. In the first few days of working, I couldn't even hold chopsticks, and I cried in bed every day."
"Is the work you're doing as hard as the work we're doing digging the canal? The old soldiers who worked on the reclamation project all say that digging the canal is the hardest work."
The thirty-odd men opposite exchanged glances, and one of them retorted defiantly, "Our work is definitely harder than digging the irrigation ditch. Our company grows cotton and corn, and there's always work to be done in the fields. In the spring, we nail the cotton seedlings in place; in the summer, we pinch off the tops and pull weeds. We're constantly in and out of the cornfields, carrying baskets to pick corn. Our shoulders bleed from the effort, and we're itchy all over every day, sweating buckets. We eat so little, and we're hungry again in no time. Who can stand that? Aren't they treating us like animals…?"
The more he talked, the angrier he became, truly angry, speaking through gritted teeth and spitting as he spoke.
Song Lubai comforted her, "Oh dear, getting angry is bad for your health, don't think about it."
Then she called out, "Xiao Lan, Lin Jinyao, you two go to the vegetable garden and pick some more cucumbers and tomatoes for them."
Liu Xiaolan responded from afar.
Song Lubai didn't know if Liu Xiaolan could understand the meaning behind the look she was giving her.
Liu Xiaolan pulled Lin Jinyao away, and Song Lubai said to the group of people, "Our conditions here are also quite difficult. Don't be fooled by the fact that we now live in brick houses. Look over there, a month ago we were living in dugouts, crawling around like gray cats and mice every day."
The group looked at the dugout and whispered, "No matter what, you'll be living in brick houses from now on. If we can live in brick houses, we won't run away."
Song Lubai continued, "The soil here is too alkaline, so the yield of vegetables is not high, and the fruits are also a bit small. You can eat some cucumbers and tomatoes first, and then eat more when the meal is ready."
After saying that, she looked at the company commander, smiled, and winked, saying, "Company commander, you wouldn't be so stingy, would you?"
Even the head of the household didn't want to give away a single grain of rice.
Because their company didn't even have enough food for its own people, they had to beg for food from the farm headquarters like grandsons every time they went there. The higher-ups were in trouble, and the company was in trouble too; every grain of food was precious.
This isn't three people, it's thirty-two people!
If you feed them one meal, their rations won't last until they need to ask for more.
Everyone has a lot of work to do every day, and they get hungry very quickly after receiving their daily rations. If they eat even less, how will they survive?
The company commander didn't want to give it to them, but he was wary of the tense atmosphere.
If we don't want things to get chaotic in the company, we can only verbally agree for now and wait for their own people to come back.
Once their people return, he'll be in charge.
“You’re all unfortunate people, we’ll take care of your meals first.”
The group of people visibly relaxed.
"Company commander, could you talk to the higher-ups and let us stay in your company? We can dig ditches too, and we can do anything."
The company commander didn't know how to answer.
He couldn't make any promises to them, he had no say in where these people would go, and he didn't want them anyway.
Digging ditches is definitely the hardest and most tiring job; these people can't work for more than a few days before they have to leave.
While the company commander remained silent, Song Lubai said, "Why don't you go to the fields tomorrow and try it out first? I think digging ditches is much more tiring than farming."
The escapees were indignant and looked at the brick house, saying, "As long as we can live in this house, we'll endure any hardship or toil."
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