But no matter what, after Chu Tian's talk, Chu Jie felt much better and his tone of voice became more relaxed.
"Ah, actually, I'm not used to Xinjiang when I first came here. It's too dry. You know, back in my hometown, June and July are the rainy season, and it's cloudy for half a month out of a month. But it's different here. It doesn't rain for ten days or half a month at a time. The occasional rain either falls at night and stops in the morning, or it's a torrential downpour that pours for a while but stops soon. The ground can't retain the rainwater and dries up quickly..."
Chu Tian took his son from Chu Jie's arms and glanced at Chu Jie with raised eyebrows, "Isn't there any place better than home?"
Chu Jie grinned, "There are still some. The fruits here are sweet. The autumn watermelons we planted in the yard were stored in the cellar some time ago. I cut one yesterday. It was so sweet. And some time ago, Jun brother gave me some grapes grown in their yard. They are also very sweet. There are not many grapes and watermelons grown in my hometown. Even if there are some, they are not delicious~"
"Also, there aren't as many mosquitoes here as back home. The best thing is the big temperature difference between day and night. Even if it's incredibly hot during the day, sleeping at night is very comfortable, unlike back home where it's hot during the day and even harder at night..."
Chu Tian listened to Chu Jie's list of advantages and laughed, "Brother Jie, have you ever heard of this saying?"
Chu Jie was puzzled, "What?"
"Wear a cotton-padded jacket in the morning, a gauze dress in the afternoon, and eat watermelon around the stove!"
"This metaphor is about our Xinjiang!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Chu Tian saw Captain Sun and greeted him with a smile.
"Captain."
Captain Sun saw the Chu Tiantang brothers head-on, "Well, what are you two doing?"
Chu Tian, "Pingping's mother and my grandmother were busy making tomato sauce, and he didn't want to stay in the yard, so I brought him out for a walk!"
Captain Sun nodded, "Well, you guys go ahead and turn around."
He continued walking forward. After a few steps, he turned around and looked at Chu Tian and Chu Jie. Under their puzzled gazes, he thought for a moment and then said, "This year, it's the turn of our Seventh and Sixth Companies to provide a total of 400 strong laborers to dig the canal. 400 people will be divided into 200 people in each company, and then divided into four battalions. Each battalion needs 50 people. The work will probably last until the end of November. How do you say we should choose these 50 people?"
Chu Jie asked, "Are there any work points?"
Captain Sun nodded, "Yes, not only does each person get ten work points a day, but the regiment also provides a pound of food allowance and fifty cents per person a day!"
Chu Jie blinked. "Such good conditions, with work points, food rations, and money. I think as long as we tell everyone, many people will sign up, right? I guess by then, these fifty places won't be enough, right?"
Chu Jie thought, with such good conditions, his brothers would definitely want to go, not to mention the other team members. You know, after the autumn harvest every year in their hometown, they would organize team members to dig canals, but they didn’t get that much subsidy. Each person would only get two steamed buns or two taels of dried sweet potatoes for each meal...
Upon hearing this, Captain Sun just glanced at him and said nothing.
Chu Tian frowned slightly and glanced at Chu Jie. "Brother Jie, it's not as easy as you think. Do you know how the canals are dug in Xinjiang?"
Chu Jie was confused. "How else can we dig? Isn't it just widening, extending, or clearing the silt?"
He looked at Captain Sun and said, "Captain, do you want to widen it, extend it, or clear the silt?"
Captain Sun, "Clear the silt."
Chu Tian frowned even deeper when he heard this. He finally understood why the captain was worried about how to choose people.
Chu Jie looked around. He felt that after the captain said that the canal was dug too deep, Xiao Shi's face turned pale. After thinking for a moment, he asked hesitantly, "Captain, my Xiao Shi just said that digging canals in Xinjiang is different from back home. What's the difference?"
Captain Sun curled his lips and said, "You've been here for a while, and you should have noticed that many places in Xinjiang are different from your hometown. For example, the water in your hometown is all well water and river water, while the water in the canals here is basically glacial snow water, which is very cold. Don't even mention late autumn. Even in the summer, if you go to the canal to wash things, the water is icy cold, let alone now..."
"To clear the silt at the bottom of the canal, you have to go down into the canal. Although the valves on the canal will be closed by then, there won't be as much water in the canal as in the summer, but there will still be some water. Even if people step into the mud, it will be unbearable..."
"So, usually around this time of year, when the regiment headquarters asks the regiment to dig a canal, everyone hopes to widen it, extend it, or clear the silt."
“If it’s really about clearing silt, basically no one wants to go…”
Chu Jie, "..."
Chu Tian thought for a moment and said, "Captain, you can try to let everyone sign up first. If no one signs up, then we can decide based on work points! Whoever has the fewest work points will go! Or, we can draw lots and decide whoever gets drawn will go!"
Captain Sun was extremely worried. He rubbed his temples and nodded, "This is the only way...Okay, you guys can go shopping..."
After saying that, he really left.
Chu Jie looked at Captain Sun's back, and after a moment of silence, he said, "Is it really that bad?"
Chu Tian uttered an "Ah?" and then realized what he was asking, and explained, "That's not good, Brother Jie. You should know that if people soak in ice water for a long time, they will develop chronic diseases in the future. No one would ruin their body for such a small profit..."
After a pause, he continued, "However, there are still people who will covet the supplementary rations, work points, and the fifty cents. After all, fifty cents a day is twenty yuan in forty days. If you spend it frugally, it's enough for a family to spend for a year or two..."
Chu Tian thought about the last time when it was his company's turn to dig a canal, Liu Zhaodi signed him up just for the daily allowance of food and work points, as well as the fifty cents...
However, Chu Tian was lucky that time. He only asked to extend the canal and remove the dry silt at the bottom of the canal. Although it was a bit tiring, it did not require people to step in the mud...
Chu Jie nodded thoughtfully, "Hmm..."
Chu Tian glanced at Chu Jie, thinking of the characters of Uncle Chu, Uncle Chu II, and his cousins, and kindly reminded him, "If there's enough food at home, I think it's best not to go. There's really no need to ruin your health for that 20 yuan salary..."
"You have to think clearly. You earn a little over twenty dollars now, but in ten or twenty years, you'll have to spend a hundred or a thousand times that amount on treatment. It's not worth it!"
After saying that, Chu Tian didn't say anything else. After all, what he thought was bad might not be considered bad by others. He said too much and was afraid that others would think he was stopping them from earning money, food, and work points...
Anyway, he won’t go. Even if he is chosen, he will find a way to pay someone to go in his place!!!
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