Chapter 58 Reward for Bravery
As the sun rose, Lin Qi, with her back to the morning glow, carried a load on her shoulder and walked towards the village step by step under the watchful eyes of everyone.
"Why are we carrying the load today instead of dragging it along the way?" a team member asked.
The others shook their heads, they didn't know either.
When Lin Qi came closer, they saw that the two bamboo baskets contained not wild boars but skinned wolves, with their heads facing upwards, so they could be seen at a glance.
Wow!
Everyone was surprised, it turned out to be a wolf!
The wolf heads and internal organs still had to be left to the team, and the remaining wolf meat, totaling 260 kilograms for the two wolfs.
Wolf meat is not as fat as pork, nor as tasty as pork. But the people of Anliang Brigade don't mind, as long as it's meat. In addition to the 90 people who signed up yesterday, there are more than 200 people who signed up.
This time, in addition to male team members, there are also some female team members who have signed up.
"We don't know how to build walls, but we can carry soil and dig holes. We can also arrange the thatch for the roof." said the female team members.
The Anliang team was poor. Except for the house of landlord Xu, all the houses of other families had thatched roofs.
The materials for thatched roofs include rice straw, wheat straw, palm leaves, thatch, silver grass and sedge. After harvesting, these materials need to be processed, selected, combed and bundled. Women can do these jobs more carefully and better than men.
The male team member, who had lost the opportunity to work today because the female team member signed up, immediately shut his mouth when he heard that the female team member was going to make a thatched roof.
"The thatch needs to be dense and thick, otherwise it will leak in the rain." said a female team member.
"If you want to prevent rain from leaking, it's best to lay a layer of tarpaulin under the thatch." Another female team member said, "But large-area tarpaulins are easy to buy and not cheap."
"Lin Qi, don't worry. Even if we don't have tarpaulin, we will definitely help you tie the thatch tightly and not let a drop of rain fall on your floor." The female team member patted her chest and promised.
Since female team members are indeed needed to help, the captain recruited 100 male team members and 30 female team members this time. As for those who were not recruited, we can only wait until tomorrow.
We recruited more people today, so the work is more mixed. Some are digging soil to fill pits, some are making cornerstones, some are digging foundation pits, some are cutting down trees, and some are cutting various thatch materials.
Lin Qi worked with everyone else. She followed the rules and her working speed was no different from that of the other members of the team. It was her "normal" working speed that made the team members who were afraid of her at first gradually relax.
The captain and the deputy captain are right, they are just ordinary people who are a little more powerful.
At noon, people from the commune suddenly came, and with them came two policemen.
When the captain heard that the police were working with the people from the commune, his first reaction was that someone in the team had committed a crime? But when he heard that the police were holding certificates and prizes, he was stunned.
Who did what bad thing, and he, the captain, had no idea at all!
The captain, the deputy captain and others went to receive the people from the commune and the two police colleagues with doubts. At the same time, they ordered their subordinates to prepare a table of food in the cafeteria.
In order to make the meal more hearty, the captain and the deputy captain also contributed the wild boar meat that had not been cooked at home yesterday.
"Xu Hexiao bravely performed heroic deeds and rescued the hostages from the criminals?" When the captain heard the purpose of the police's visit, he was a little confused. Wasn't Xu Hexiao always in the team? How could he have the time to bravely perform heroic deeds and save people?
The deputy captain was also a little confused. "Comrade police, did you recognize the wrong person? Xu Hexiao is a member of the "five black categories" and he rarely leaves the brigade on weekdays."
"That's right. It happened in the mountains near your brigade," said the policeman. "Because we knew he was one of the five black categories, we didn't praise him with great fanfare. But he has made contributions, which shows that he is a progressive member of the five black categories. We should be more clear about rewards and punishments. Here are his certificates and prizes. Please help pass them to him and urge him to work hard, study progressive ideas seriously, and complete his transformation as soon as possible."
"Of course. We will not give up on any team member and we must get them back on the right track." The captain said seriously.
After delivering the certificates and prizes, the policeman left, declining the captain's invitation to dinner. However, three people from the commune stayed.
The people from the commune asked the team leader and others a few questions about Xu Hexiao's situation, but then they lost interest in Xu Hexiao and turned their attention to the work of the team. They reminded them that they had to go to the town to pay their public grain tax in five days.
After they chatted in the brigade office for more than an hour, someone from the canteen came to inform them that the meal was ready.
"Look, it's already noon. If you leaders don't mind the simple food in the team, please stay for lunch." The team leader smiled humbly.
Several commune leaders naturally said they didn't mind and went to the cafeteria with the team leader and others.
Before the group reached the cafeteria, they smelled the overbearing and rich aroma of food coming from the cafeteria.
"What are you cooking?" asked a commune leader.
"It's wild boar meat, wolf meat, and chicken." The captain said, feeling fortunate that Lin Qi had hunted wild boars and wolves in the past two days, otherwise they really wouldn't be able to produce some decent dishes.
"Oh?" The three leaders of the commune were all surprised. "There are wild boars and wolves!"
Wild boars and wolves are not common, especially when they appear together!
Seeing the surprised look on the commune leader's face, the captain felt extremely satisfied. What's the matter with the commune leader? They still have wild boars and wolves. The captain said happily, "It's all luck. We just happened to run into each other."
The three leaders looked at each other, and one of them said, "This is not luck, but strength. If you don't have any strength, you will have no choice but to run for your life when you encounter wild boars and wolves."
"Well, your team is lucky because we can hunt wild boars and wolves and have wild boar and wolf meat to eat. Unlike the commune, if you want to eat meat, you need meat tickets and you have to line up early in the morning. Now that the disaster has just passed, there is no meat." Another person said, shaking his head and sighing.
The captain's heart skipped a beat. What did this mean? They were asking us for meat?
Sure enough, the next second, another person said, "If anyone in your team has the ability to hunt, ask him to help the commune hunt a few wild boars. If there are no wild boars, wolves and other prey will also do. The commune will not let you work in vain, and will give you money and tickets."
Captain: “.........”
The deputy captain and others: “…”
They can't order capable people around, so how can they refuse?
After seeing off the people from the commune, the captain, deputy captain and others looked at each other in bewilderment.
"They asked us to bring the wild boar with us on the day we pay our taxes. Does that mean they will make things difficult for us if we don't?" the accountant frowned.
Every year when paying public grain, everyone faces difficulties, so they can only grit their teeth and suffer in silence.
The captain nodded slowly, "If we don't bring wild boar meat this year, I'm afraid we'll have to bring in a few more sacks of food to make up for the shortage."
"Then let Lin Qi hunt a few, and give all the money and tickets we get to her. The team won't take a penny." said the deputy captain.
"Okay, I'll go discuss it with her later. There are still five days left, and I'll help her supervise the house repairs, and she'll just be responsible for hunting." The captain said. If Lin Qi could hunt prey, their brigade's grain payment this year would be extra smooth, and they wouldn't lose out.
"In addition, there is Xu Hexiao's certificate and prize. If it were someone else, the team would definitely hold a commendation meeting, but this person is Xu Hexiao--" The deputy captain was a little embarrassed.
The captain waved his hand and said indifferently, "Treat everyone equally. At the end of the night, gather everyone together, give him a few words of encouragement, and then hand out the prizes and certificates."
Vice Captain: “Okay, let’s do it.”
In the evening, the gong sounded, and the men, women, and children of the Anliang Brigade gathered in the open space in front of the brigade office.
"What's going on this time?"
"I guess it's time to pay the public tax, right?"
"No, no, the people from the commune came today, along with two policemen. I'm afraid things are not that simple."
"Is it because of Lin Qi? Is it to confirm her identity?"
"Probably not. Lin Qi worked with everyone all day and never left. If there was something wrong with her, the police would definitely come and take her away."
"Why is that?"
“........”
Everyone was talking about it until the captain, deputy captain and others came out of the office and then they shut up.
“Ahem—”
The captain cleared his throat, and when everyone's eyes were on him, he spoke, "I'm sure everyone has seen that today, two police comrades and three commune leaders came to our brigade."
"Captain, why are the police and commune leaders here?" a team member shouted.
"To commend one of our team members." The team leader said this, looking at Xu Hexiao at the end of the crowd, "One of our team members bravely rescued the hostages from the criminals. The police comrades gave him a certificate and prize this year."
Wow——
The team members were shocked.
"Who is doing this brave thing? How come I didn't hear anything about it? Do you know?"
"I haven't heard of it either. Good deeds like this are usually publicized. Who is so tight-lipped that they don't say a word?"
"Is it you?"
"It's not me. I actually hope it's me. This is a great honor for our family."
“........”
The team members asked each other for information, but found out nothing.
Xu Hexiao was alone outside the crowd, with his eyebrows lowered, looking calm and unperturbed. Lin Qi was also alone a few meters away from Xu Hexiao. She lowered her head and looked at a blade of grass on the ground, seemingly distracted.
Applause broke out, Lin Qi looked up and saw the young man walk up to the crowd and take the certificate and prize from the captain.
"The police station gave a reward, so our team can't remain silent." The team leader said, turning to look at Xu Hexiao, "What reward do you want?"
Everyone fell silent and stared at the boy nervously.
"Captain, if he wants to take off the label of the five black categories, will you satisfy him?" someone shouted in the crowd.
"I can't do this," said the captain, adding, "Don't mention conditions that are too difficult."
The young man pursed his lips and smiled shyly, "I want to help Lin Qi build a house, and I want to eat meat."
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