Jiang Jun got her wish and followed the fourth squad leader Wang Weiguo on the mission.
Before leaving, they politely asked Jiang Yun and He Xiangdong to take turns sitting in the driver's seat.
Jiang Jun declined, "It would be nice for the two of us to sit in the back truck bed."
The cab can only seat two people, one to drive and the other to give directions.
According to military regulations, drivers are not allowed to talk to people beside them while driving, except to ask for directions or give directions.
They didn't know the way, and He Xiangdong didn't want to be separated from Jiang Jun.
With two female soldiers following the car, the soldiers became a little shy.
In fact, it is not that they are shy, but that they are used to speaking freely in their daily lives. They don’t know how to start talking in front of female soldiers, and are afraid that they will appear to be particularly uncultured as soon as they open their mouths.
Half of the carriage was filled with telephone poles and wires, which were tightly tied to the railings of the carriage with ropes.
Wang Weiguo brought a few soldiers and took the initiative to sit on the electric pole. He placed a small stool on the empty space for Jiang Jun and He Xiangdong to sit on.
You can't just sit there like this for over an hour.
Jiang Jun stood up, pointed everywhere and asked questions.
After a while, the soldiers became lively. No matter who answered Jiang Jun's question, the others would laugh.
The scenery on the grassland in August was so beautiful that Jiang Jun couldn't get enough of it.
The back of the car was swaying, but the view was still quite nice. The only downside was the intense sun and the strong winds that made it hard to wear the military cap; it would fall off easily.
"I can't even wear my hat. The wind is giving me a headache. Won't those herdsmen have headaches too?" Jiang Jun covered his military cap with one hand and held the railing tightly with the other. "I'll have to sew a string on my hat and tie it under my chin when I get back."
"In a few days, we'll be able to wear cotton hats," Zhang Dashan said with a smile. "The hats these herders wear weigh several kilograms and won't be blown away by the wind."
The male soldiers couldn't wear their hats steadily, so they had to stuff some cardboard or handkerchiefs into the hats. When they took off their hats, there were deep marks on their foreheads.
Jiang Jun was surprised: "Aren't cotton-padded jackets distributed after the 11th?"
Zhang Dashan shook his head. "By mid-August or the end of August, you'll need to wear a cotton-padded jacket at night on the grasslands." He gestured at Jiang Yun's backpack. "Even with this little four-pound quilt, you'll still wake up in the middle of the night from the cold."
He Xiangdong asked stupidly: "Then how do you sleep?"
As soon as she arrived, she discovered that the communications company did not have a kang. If it was so cold at the end of August, how would they sleep? How would they survive the winter?
Zhang Dashan sniffed. "Don't you smell the car? We pick up cow dung everywhere. Whenever we see it on a mission, we pick it up and use it to keep warm in the winter. We don't have enough quilts, so we use the kind of felt the herdsmen use. We pad it with thicker hay and sleep wrapped in our military coats."
The quilts given to their communications company were already thicker, but they were still not enough after being in the ice and snow for half a year.
He Xiangdong began to feel sad just by listening to it: "You guys are really suffering!"
Zhang Dashan smiled innocently: "It's not that hard, it's actually quite good."
For those of them whose family conditions are more difficult, being in the army provides them with food, drink and allowances, which is much more stable than herding or farming.
Wang Weiguo quickly changed the subject: "Look, we're ahead."
Not far away there was a pile of stones about two meters high, with several ropes tied to it, and small triangular colorful flags tied to the ropes, fluttering in the wind.
Not far from the pile of stones, a small tent was set up.
Zhang Dashan said in surprise, "Hey, someone actually came here! You two are so lucky to meet herders setting up tents here."
Usually after the Oboo Festival, the herdsmen’s tents are removed and the Oboo is just a lonely pile of stones.
Aobao is a sacred and inviolable place in the minds of herdsmen. The truck stopped a few dozen meters away from Aobao.
Someone came out of the tent and looked around.
Zhang Dashan was the first to jump off the car to greet him. After a while, he came over and reported to Wang Weiguo: "It's a herdsman waiting for someone here."
It is not uncommon to wait for ten days or half a month after making an appointment to meet someone on the grassland. Wang Weiguo and his friends have seen this many times, so it is not surprising.
Zhang Dashan: "He even invited us in to sit down and drink milk tea, but I said we're not going in."
According to the military regulations they followed, they would not sit in the herders' tents. When the soldiers went on missions, they would carry their own water bottles and dry food, and generally they were the only ones who shared water and food with the herders.
The herdsman who had just spoken to Zhang Dashan came running over again, mumbling something and gesturing with an anxious look on his face.
Zhang Dashan looked at Jiang Jun. "He said there's a woman in the tent who's sick and asked if we could help her."
Jiang Jun agreed without hesitation: "I happened to have some anti-inflammatory pills with me. I'll go see what's going on."
For these herdsmen, seeing the soldiers was like seeing hope, and they didn't expect that they really brought hope.
Jiang Yun took He Xiangdong into the tent.
Lying on the woven carpet were a mother and son. The little boy was only about four or five years old. He curled up next to his mother and looked nervously at Jiang Jun and the others as they walked in.
Jiang Jun stepped forward and felt the forehead of the reclining woman. He glanced at the little boy with a runny nose and touched his forehead as well. He turned back to Zhang Dashan and said, "They must have caught a cold from the wind. They both have a low-grade fever. The medicine I brought is just enough for them to take twice."
If you take good care of a cold in its early stages, it won't get worse.
Wang Weiguo listened and made a quick arrangement: "Xiao Jiang, why don't you two stay here with them? We have to go finish today's task first. When we're done, we'll come back to pick you up."
Their task was to erect electric poles and pull up telephone lines. The female soldiers would not be able to help much if they went with them, so it would be better to let them stay here. At least they would have a tent to stay in.
Jiang Jun nodded: "Okay, we will definitely take good care of this mother and child."
Zhang Dashan acted as an interpreter for the two of them, explained the situation to the herdsmen, and then left with Wang Weiguo and the others.
The herdsman was extremely grateful and hurried to make milk tea to entertain Jiang Jun and He Xiangdong.
Milk tea made with mare's milk black brick tea is the highest standard and most grand hospitality for herders.
He Xiangdong curiously filled his teacup with half a cup of milk tea. He took a sip and almost spit it out: "Xiaojun, why is this milk tea salty? It's also a bit astringent."
Jiang Jun took a sip cautiously: "Very pure!"
After taking the medicine, the sick mother and son fell into a deep sleep. Jiang Jun took He Xiangdong to walk around the Aobao and pick wild flowers nearby. They had a lot of fun.
In the afternoon, the sky became dark. The herdsman came over and gestured to them, saying that it was going to rain, and he wanted to ride his horse to the nearby area to see if the person he was waiting for had arrived.
They couldn't understand each other's language, so after the herdsman gestured to her, he rode away on his horse.
Not long after, big raindrops began to fall.
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