Chapter 54
The Yunshui County militia went to the countryside this time, and the local communes had arranged accommodation and canteens.
The county revolutionary committee specially allocated a batch of food, including white flour and cornmeal, and a cart of radishes and cabbages. Even if there was a disaster outside, the county would still have the food it needed. Apart from other things, there was enough steamed buns and steamed buns made of two-grain flour.
Most single guys got on the bus with a bag, but those with wives were different. They all had big and small bags. Xu Xiangqian also had a water bottle hanging around his neck, which contained red dates and ginger syrup cooked by Gu Chunmei. Drinking a sip in the damp and cold weather warmed his stomach and body.
Deputy Director Gu was even more amazing. He packed a big bag with spicy meat sauce cooked by his sister-in-law, scarves, sweaters and pants knitted by her, thick woolen gloves, and spare clothes.
A group of young men looked at him eagerly, thinking that they should hurry up and find a wife for him.
Lin Yao sent Gu Shian away, watching a group of young men with backpacks lining up to leave, and armored vehicles driving out one after another. She sighed that it was really not easy in the cold weather, and shivered in the cold wind outside. Thinking that she
didn't have to go to work today, Deputy Director Gu had been gone for more than half a month, and she returned to her wonderful life of living alone. Lin Yao happily went back to her room to take a nap.
When I woke up again, the winter morning light was already filling the courtyard. A few days ago, it was damp and cold outside, and the sky was also gloomy and cold.
Today was a nice day, but it was winter after all. As soon as I opened the window, the cold air rushed into the house. Lin Yao was startled and stopped thinking about breathing fresh air. She wrapped herself in a floral quilt and ran to the kitchen to boil water to brush her teeth and wash her face.
Usually, Gu Shi'an would boil water for her at home, but when he left, Lin Yao had to fend for herself.
There was an iron kettle in the Gu family's kitchen. One kettle of water was enough for Lin Yao to wash her face twice. She added water to the kettle, used a pair of pliers to remove the ash from the beehive stove, and used a broom to sweep the slag from the beehive into a pile at the foot of the wall to use as fertilizer for the plum blossoms.
Uncle Dafu from the next door moved two plum blossom trees from his hometown and said that the plum blossoms were particularly beautiful when they bloomed, with white snow and red plum blossoms. It would be a great mood to pick a few branches of plum blossoms and put them in a vase.
Aunt Dafu didn't understand the mood or not, and didn't want to understand. She just felt that the plum tree in the yard was really an eyesore, so it would be better to cut it down and burn it as firewood.
Uncle Dafu almost exploded when he heard this. He glared at Aunt Dafu and got so angry that he had to sit there with a small stool all day to watch over his baby Ramei. Something
happened at the steel mill. The lifting equipment in the third workshop suddenly stopped working for some reason. Uncle Dafu asked the factory staff to rush to the factory.
Aunt Dafu had a big fuss yesterday. Her husband was not at home, so she came to the old customer's house with a dustpan of matchboxes and complained to Zhang Cuilan while making matchboxes.
"This old man makes a fool of himself in the yard all day long. He lives in a big compound, but he grows plum trees. What's the point of selling plums when they bloom? He got angry when I said I'd chop them up for firewood. His loud voice made my ears buzz. I didn't sleep well. His face and nose were not the same in the morning. He has a bad character."
Zhang Cuilan laughed at her, "Did you sleep in the lady's room last night?"
Dafu's aunt glanced at her, "Your eyes can't hide anything. The old man kept mumbling. I'll send him to sleep in the outer room, and let the stinky old man stay with the plum tree."
"I think it's okay. When Dafu comes back, don't give him food or water, so he gets hungry."
"That won't work. What if he gets too hungry?"
"We have been sleeping in separate rooms, why do you still care about this?"
"After all, we have been married for decades, it's not right."
"Oh, I feel bad for
you now, you need to work on your hard-mouthed but soft-hearted problem." "Go to hell."
"......."
Aunt Dafu stayed at the old man's house until after ten o'clock. Uncle Dafu came back tired and grimacing, smelling of engine oil, and was looking forward to eating a bite of the hot soup noodles cooked by his wife.
"You are too shameless, old man."
Aunt Dafu said hard, but still smiled and went home.
Lin Yao ate a mouthful of dog food, and was afraid that Aunt Dafu would go out and stuff her with dog food again, so she quickly rubbed her red face and slipped back into the house.
A few days ago, it was cloudy outside. The county children's group suspended training and the school was on holiday. Gu Shidong slept at home until the sun shone on his butt. Zhang Cuilan wound up the old clock in the room. It was half past ten and the bastard hadn't gotten up yet. She picked up the broom next to him and went into the small side room.
After a while, barefoot Gu Shidong was beaten by his mother and jumped all over the bed.
"Mom, I'm getting up, I'm getting up now!"
"Get up for nothing, you've been lazy at home all day, what can you do when you grow up!"
"Cuilan, don't hit the head of the child, just spank the butt."
"Yes, spank the butt, old son, stick your butt up!"
"..."
The old Gu family was in chaos for the whole morning, and finally quieted down at noon.
Today is the day when the county grain station distributes food. The big iron pot in the Gu family kitchen has been simmering, with rice porridge cooking at the bottom and steamed buns on the grate above.
Lin Yao took a bowl of sour bamboo shoots from the pickle jar, cut them into thin strips, and put them in two small plates, one with chili and the other without anything.
When the millet porridge in the pot boiled and gave off the rice fragrance, the Gu family's lunch was served.
Zhang Cuilan felt sorry for Lin Yao, whose face was thin at work, so she cooked a boiled egg for her. No one in
the Gu family had such treatment.
There were four people in the family, and Lin Yao was not at ease eating alone.
A small boiled egg was divided into four portions, one for each family member. It tasted delicious. For decades to come, Gu Shidong never had such delicious eggs again.
After dinner, Lin Yao took out a piece of cotton flannel that she had prepared earlier and compared it with the family.
"Mom, this piece of cotton flannel is fifteen feet long, enough to make three years of cotton-padded jackets. You and Dad can make one each, and the rest can be made for Dongzi. I heard that this winter will be very cold, so we can wear new cotton-padded jackets to keep warm."
Speaking of which, Zhang Cuilan and her husband hadn't made a new cotton-padded jacket for two or three years. Gu Mancang's old cotton-padded jacket had been disassembled and washed so that its original color could no longer be seen. The cotton inside was as hard as felt and did not keep warm.
The old couple was very happy to see their daughter-in-law being filial.
Zhang Cuilan touched the cotton cloth in her hand and said with a smile, "Okay, I'll listen to Yaoyao, and we old couple will enjoy the blessing of having a daughter-in-law."
Gu Mancang was also very happy. He only had one cotton jacket for the whole winter. He wore work clothes in the factory. When he got home, he changed and changed clothes except for a jacket. He had nothing to wear.
Zheng Dacheng in the front yard laughed at him, "Why don't you change into good clothes as a fifth-level clamp worker?"
Gu Mancang smiled and didn't take it seriously.
It's not that the old woman didn't make him a new cotton jacket, but it was hard to exchange cotton cloth and cotton. She only gave so few cloth coupons last year. Chunmei was about to get married. When Dongzi was growing up, he would freeze to death if he didn't wear warm clothes. The cloth coupons at home were tied to the two children, so it didn't matter if his parents suffered a little.
This year, Yaoyao got married and his daughter-in-law got married.
Gu Mancang really felt that the burden on his shoulders was lightened. He was almost fifty years old, and it was time for him to listen to his children, eat more good food and enjoy life more.
Gu Shidong didn't have enough lunch, so he stewed a few sweet potatoes in the pot, picked up a big sweet potato, and ate it with both hands, while "sighing" to vent his anger, he squatted at the door waiting for his mother to take the food book and food coupons, and then go to the food station to push the food.
The family had to go to the food station to buy food every month. For convenience and safety, Zhang Cuilan put the food book and food coupons together in the drawer under the five-piece cabinet.
Lin Yao took out her warm fur-lined shoes, wrapped herself in a thick scarf and a hat, revealing only her pretty face, and went to buy food with her family.
To be honest, she had never gone to buy food before.
Today was a good time for them to join in the fun.
During the days when Deputy Director Gu was away, Lin Yao had been working or lying at home. It was freezing cold outside in June, and white steam rose as soon as she went outside.
Gu Chunmei stayed at her parents' house for a day, and from what she said, it seemed like it was going to snow, and the militiamen who had gone to the countryside for training in the county might have to come back early.
In the Dongfanghong production team, Lin Hongna drank bowl after bowl of bitter soup in order to get pregnant with her son. The thick taste of Chinese medicine made her nauseous.
She drank and spit, relying on gritting her teeth to force herself to drink.
After a long time, Lin Hongna's body was full of the smell of Chinese medicine. She went back to the factory and took a good bath. She touched her delicate skin in front of the mirror and decided to go back to Sun Jialiang after work to have a good "talk".
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