As night fell, Ma Dali was still patrolling the construction site, walking back and forth, moving things around.
"Brother!" Ma Sanyue came running over with a basket in her hand: "It's time to eat!"
Ma Dali responded, finished the work at hand, and then hurried out to greet him.
"March, have you eaten?"
Ma Sanyue smiled and replied, "My little sister and I have eaten it. I cooked sweet potato rice the other day. It was delicious!"
She tore open the floral cloth on the basket and brought out a large porcelain bowl filled with rice, two red sweet potatoes on top, and a bunch of green vegetables.
Ma Dali exclaimed, "Hello!" and asked, "Did you guys eat it all? You don't have to give me so much. You and Sifang are both growing taller, so you need to get enough nutrition."
"I'm not lying to you!" Ma Sanyue explained with a smile: "My younger sister and I also had a big bowl each. We can't even finish all the rice at home now, so we won't save it. We eat as much as we need."
"Haha!" Ma Dali laughed and praised, "That's right. Lingling gave me an advance of one yuan a while ago, which is enough for us to eat rice for a long time. Remember, you must eat well every meal in the future."
Ma Sanyue laughed and whispered, "Brother, follow Sister Lingling and work hard. My little sister said that she thinks Sister Lingling is our family's lucky star. Since we met her, our life has been much better, especially in the past few months. We can fill our stomachs every day. When we lie down at night, our stomachs don't have to rumble - that feels really good!"
Ma Dali paused in his eating action, and his eyes couldn't help but become slightly moist.
"……That's good."
Over the years, I can’t remember how many nights I had to endure the pain and suffering of drinking water to relieve hunger and trick myself into falling asleep.
When Ruo thought about it, he couldn't help but feel sorry for his two younger sisters.
Since his second brother went to the countryside, he and his sisters have been living together. Ruo finally survived and had enough food every day!
Ma Sanyue was worried about her second brother who was far away, and asked, "Brother, why hasn't my second brother come home yet? Have you told him that things are much better at home now?"
"Yes." Ma Dali explained: "I wrote him two letters, but he never replied."
Ma Sanyue asked worriedly, "Does Second Brother really want to stay in the countryside?"
"That's what he was planning to do before." Ma Dali whispered, "He said that although the conditions there are not good, as long as he is diligent, he can fill his stomach. I advised him that there are more job opportunities and a better environment in the city, so it's better to go back to the city. It's been more than two thousand years, and I don't have time to go to him now. I can only wait for his reply."
Ma Sanyue thought for a moment and asked, "Big brother, does second brother have a partner over there? So - he is reluctant to come back?"
In his last letter, my second brother wrote that he was reluctant to leave the tea garden for the time being. He also said that he wanted to work with the villagers to reclaim new mountain land and that there was a promising future, so he told them not to worry about him.
My aunt said that he probably had someone who was tying him down, otherwise he would have come back a long time ago.
After all, the countryside cannot compare to the prosperous city of Chongqing. Almost every educated youth who received the notice to return to the city would come back immediately. Cases like my second brother were rare.
"He didn't say." Ma Dali said gently, "You don't know the inside story, so don't make random guesses."
A few years ago, his family was so poor that he had to drop out of school to make money so that his younger brothers and sisters could continue to go to school.
Unexpectedly, his second brother was assigned to work in the countryside not long after, leaving him and his two younger sisters at home. Fortunately, his eldest sister was still young at the time and managed to escape.
My second younger brother was assigned to Chaocheng, which was more than two thousand miles away. He only returned home once during his stay because the distance was too long and he couldn't come back often.
My second brother said that he and several good classmates were sent to work in the tea mountains. They went up the mountain every day to pick tea leaves and grow vegetables and rice. Although life was a bit hard, they could barely fill their stomachs.
Since the resumption of the college entrance examination, many young people who had gone to the countryside have returned to the city one after another, and he is anxiously waiting for his second brother to come back.
But my second brother kept putting it off, always saying he would wait and see. He kept putting it off, and it has been almost a year, and I still can't get the good news of his return.
Since the beginning of summer vacation, he has made a lot of money following Chen Xingling. While others earn a day's wages, he can earn extra wages as a night watchman.
From then on, he and his two sisters no longer had to go hungry, and their lives gradually got better.
The family's situation improved and he was admitted to university. He kept urging his second brother to come back to school as soon as possible so that he could also enter university next year or the year after.
Unexpectedly, my second brother never replied, as if he couldn't make up his mind.
A while ago, he sent his brother 30 yuan for travel expenses, worried that he might not have enough money for the trip.
But after I sent the money, there was still no news from my brother.
In fact, he was secretly worried in his heart.
However, he is the backbone of the family and the mainstay of the family. He cannot lose his composure. He can only keep himself steady and remind his sister not to make random guesses.
"Maybe he hasn't received the letter yet, or it was lost in the mail." Ma Dali said, "I'll send a telegram next week to ask for clarification."
In this era when communication was still relatively backward, sending letters and telegrams were the most common ways of long-distance communication. Telegrams were expensive, so people would not choose to send telegrams unless it was a very important or urgent matter.
Mailing letters is the most convenient and cheapest way. With just a stamp, you can send a letter far away. However, sometimes letters are missed. After all, my second brother lives in a small mountain town with inconvenient transportation, so letters may be missed or sent to the wrong place.
Ma Sanyue nodded quickly and said yes.
Ma Dali soon finished his meal and handed the bowl and chopsticks to his sister.
"I'm going to take a shower and then go to Lingling's house."
Ma Sanyue couldn't help but ask, "Brother, don't we need to guard this place?"
Ma Dali explained: "There are so many people coming and going outside now, so I'm not afraid. I'll be back soon, and I won't be delayed for too long."
By evening the cement was all gone, and there was nothing left to steal except gravel and thick slabs of stone.
The sand and soil were cheap, and the stones and slabs were too thick to be lifted by several people, so he was not worried about thieves.
Besides, it was only a little after six o'clock, and it was still early. The streets were full of people taking walks and enjoying the cool air, so even the most daring thief would not dare to do anything so brazenly.
Ma Dali was a native of Yu. When he was a little kid, he had run through every street and alley in Yucheng city so well that he could recognize it with his eyes closed. He soon went around to the north of the city.
When he arrived at Shuiyue Road, it was getting dark and there were few pedestrians on the road. Relying on his good eyesight and not wanting to waste batteries, he did not take out the flashlight in his trouser pocket.
Suddenly, he heard a quarrel!
Not far from the gate of Sanyuan, I saw two women holding a bicycle and arguing with two young men.
"Pan! If you continue to do this, we will go to the police station and report it to the police!"
"Go and report it! What's wrong with us? This road is not yours! The road is high! Why do you care how we walk?"
"Don't be so arrogant! God will punish you evildoers sooner or later!"
"Li Nishang! Don't be so ungrateful! I was worried that you might be in danger on your way home from get off work, so I was kind enough to pick you up. Isn't that enough? You have no conscience!"
"Get lost!" Li Nishang was furious: "Why are you pestering me all day?! I've already told you! If you can't afford to marry me, stop pestering me!"
Pan Zichong rolled his eyes and sneered: "It doesn't matter if I can't afford to marry her now, but it may not be the case in the future. What do you think?"
"Get away! Don't touch me! Get away!" Li Nishang collapsed and screamed, waving her hands wildly: "Pan Zi Chong! You bastard! Get away! Get away! What on earth do you want me to let you go! Ahhh!"
Pan Zi Chong sneered, but his hand reached out to grab her in an unruly manner.
"Nichang, stop, stop, stop. Don't be like this! Be good, stop shouting and screaming, I'll take you home."
The woman next to her was also stopped by another man and was so anxious that she almost cried.
"You are going too far! Don't touch Nichang! Don't touch her! Someone, help! Ah...! Help! Help!"
At first Ma Dali thought it was just a dispute, but when he heard the woman shouting "Help!" he rushed forward.
"What are you doing?! How dare you bully female comrades?!"
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