The pit in the earth and the orifice in the sky

After breakfast, Wang Manyin looked at the ten educated youths standing in front of his house and asked in surprise: "Are you all going? How many women are going too?"

When Wang Lianshun explained yesterday, he thought he would only send a few male educated youths to collect firewood, but he never expected that all ten of them would be left behind. There was even a heroic female comrade holding a small red flag in her hand.

I knew I was going into the mountains to collect firewood, but I didn’t know I thought I was going to be a tour guide.

"Brother Wang, what do you mean, why do you look down on us women? Women can hold up half the sky..." A girl named Shen Jinqin immediately retorted.

"No, no," Wang Manyin shook his head repeatedly, "You have misunderstood. What I meant is that there may be wolves in the mountains, and it is safer for boys to go there."

He was afraid that if the other party continued to talk, it might lead to other questions, so he quickly stopped the conversation.

"We are not afraid of wolves. Ten educated youths belong to a group. When we encounter difficulties, we must work together... we will definitely overcome it!!" Another girl named Shan Muqing said, clenching her fists and waving her hands in the end.

Suddenly, Wang Manyin thought he had met another Director Zhao.

He glanced at Liu Xiangyang and saw the helpless expression on the other person's face, knowing that there was no need to discuss the matter.

"Okay, let's go together. After entering the mountain, you must obey my instructions." Wang Manyin didn't say anything more, and he didn't dare to let the other party put the red flag at home.

"It's too troublesome to go home to get dry food. Brother Wang's house is the sales agency. Let's just collect some food stamps and money and buy some biscuits and cakes to eat..." At this time, Wang Licheng, an educated youth, suggested.

It is common to accidentally fall and break your leg.

I saw a large pit the size of a wooden basin protruding from the wormwood at the bottom of the ditch, pitch black and bottomless.

"That's auntie? The baby mother here in Jar Village, she's been here since birth."

The rest of the people nodded and then started to dig into their pockets.

The educated youth bought food, and water was easy to get... Orchid burned a large bottle last night, and it's still warm now.

Rural people used their ingenuity to saw the old gourd in half vertically from the middle to make a gourd scoop for scooping water. Or they could make a small opening from the top and hollow out the silk pulp inside to make a container for water.

She insists on learning abacus these days and has a clear understanding of economic calculations. These biscuits and pastries, together with fruit candies, cost six yuan even if food stamps are not included.

If you are not careful, you may end up in the dark.

That's it, all preparations are done.

"one comes……"

The terrain on this cliff is steep and stretches into the distance.

Wang Manyin confirmed that Xie Liansheng's head was half a circle slower.

Riddles of this level have long since become popular in later generations. Wang Manyin naturally thought of the answer immediately. However, he did not say anything because he wanted to see the level of the educated youth.

Shang Zhimin is an active member of this group of educated youths and has many talents. He is outgoing and likes to mingle with the members, talk and laugh, and liven up the atmosphere.

Hearing this, the educated youths ran towards the bottom of the cliff one after another.

Confirming that the other party really didn't understand, Wang Manyin could only answer nonsense.

However, it is very dangerous for people who are not familiar with pits.

It's just like this on the Loess Plateau. It takes several hours to walk. As long as you find the right place, it doesn't take half an hour to actually chop wood.

At this time, Wang Manyin still had little to forget.

After receiving everyone's applause, Shang Zhimin did not refuse, and immediately said: "Come on one by one, let me tell you a riddle first. 'Twelve in the country, each person has one', guess something."

The car drove so hard that Wang Manyin was caught off guard and almost overturned.

The wattle, wormwood, and jujube thorns are so luxuriant in the ditch that the edge area alone is enough for each person to cut a large bundle.

Coal is produced here on the Loess Plateau, and the price is very cheap. The best coal costs less than a penny per catty. Six yuan can buy nearly 800 catties of coal, which is enough for ten people to burn for more than a month.

After the growth period, the gourd turns brown and has a particularly hard texture.

Someone urged me again.

I happen to have two big gourds filled with water at home, so just let them take them with them.

After saying that, he stretched out his hand and pointed in the distance.

Sometimes, Wang Manyin also feels that he is a bit too low-key and mature.

Shang Zhimin also laughed loudly and said: "Xie Liansheng, what do you think? This is not something that grows on the body. Do you think that there are men and women when going to the toilet? What I am talking about is a folk custom that everyone has when they are born.

I will follow you forever."

Wang Manyin led the way, and a group of people marched toward the mountains with red flags and loud songs.

"Shang Zhimin, let me tell you a joke." Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit dull, Wang Licheng said.

For the first half hour of entering the mountain, the educated youths still felt it was very fresh. After all, they had spent most of their time wandering around the Jar Village in the past few months and were already tired of it.

Although Wang Manyin was a little speechless, he also sensed the unique vitality of young people in this era. Looking back at himself, he has just turned 21 this year, and he seems a bit old-fashioned.

"Let me go, you finally guessed it"

He now regrets it very much. If he had known this, he should not have taken the educated youth up the mountain to collect firewood.

After walking for almost two hours on a mountain road of more than ten miles, we finally arrived at the edge of a cliff.

It is said that in the early years, landowner Lao Cai hid gold, silver, jewelry and food in string caves. Many people searched in this area but could not find it.

These deep pits are distributed in series along the bottom of the cliff, and even form underground passages. Before liberation, when bandits broke out, many people fled to the pits to take shelter.

After Wang Manyin gave his instructions, he immediately picked up the machete and started doing it.

Hearing this, Wang Manyin immediately had a bad look on his face. Looking at the other educated youths, many of their expressions also changed.

If you want to carry it, carry it. Anyway, it's not you who is tired.

They are really going on a trip!

Liu Xiangyang said helplessly: "Xie Liansheng, I think you miss your mother-in-law so much that you went to find her right after you were born..."

Then, Shang Zhimin read in a melodious voice, "First of all, during the Chinese New Year, we eat bitter-remembering rice, which is mixed with bean dregs, bran, and grain chaff. I stretched my neck and swallowed it. It's really unpalatable and can't be held in my hands."

The so-called gourds are the ones that city dwellers in later generations liked to dish up and were shiny, and were generally eaten as vegetables on the Loess Plateau.

After a while, there was a big bundle next to me.

This question left Wang Manyin speechless.

"another one……"

"Because the firewood nearby has been cut down long ago."

Only then did the educated youth discover that there were many deep, dark pits among the wormwood.

"Without growth, there is no distinction between men and women. I understand... Is it relative?"

At this time, Liu Xiangyang suddenly waved his hands excitedly and said: "Brother Wang, come over quickly and see what kind of animal's cave this is. It can't be a wolf, right?"

"Shang Zhimin, come one!"

When the production team was working last time, someone talked about breeding animals. This person immediately responded: He said that being a breeding pig and stallion was very good and he enjoyed it every day. He also suggested that the higher ups set up a breeding station for male bachelors.

If you all become a kind of person, you can change your mother-in-law every day.

Over time, the villagers nicknamed Shang Zhimin "Cowardly Chui", which means he likes to be funny.

Now he estimated that he had obtained almost 200 kilograms of firewood, so he stopped early.

But after looking at it, he asked aloud: "You didn't bring any food or water?"

"It's so far away, why don't you collect firewood nearby?"

Wang Manyin felt that this person was too outgoing. If he couldn't keep his mouth shut and continued talking nonsense, something would happen sooner or later.

"You need to bring food to collect firewood?" Shan Muqing asked in surprise.

Seeing that others were about to speak, Wang Manyin hurriedly stopped the conversation and said: "I'll also tell you a riddle, 'White handkerchief, wrap black beans, and Didi pull and pull all the way.' If you hit an animal, what do you think it is?"

"

There are actually pits under the cliffs around Guangu Village, but as soon as they are seen by people, they will be blocked in time to prevent the pits from getting bigger and bigger, and eventually causing the terraced fields to collapse.

But soon, the singing stopped.

In the summer, there are often heavy rains on the Loess Plateau, and the torrential torrents pour down, creating deep pits of different sizes in the cliff ravines. The diameter of the small ones is more than one meter, and the diameter of the large ones can be more than ten meters.

The other educated youths cheered.

There was not much scenery to see on the Loess Plateau in this season. Apart from the loess mountains, there were still mountains. Even if a few wild birds occasionally flew by, they were unable to catch them.

However, after attending every village meeting, he still felt that it was better to keep a low profile.

There are still more than ten miles of mountain road to go back, and I can't carry it no matter how much more.

"Does everyone have one? How do they look? Are men and women the same?" Xie Liansheng asked curiously.

In order to make the next process of collecting firewood go smoothly, he had to explain again: "The place we are going to is very far away, more than ten miles away, and we need to climb mountains and cliffs along the way. Including the time to collect firewood, it will take at least six or seven hours. It is estimated that when we get back,

It's afternoon. If you're not hungry, you don't have to take it with you. Let's leave now."

None of the dozen or so people had done any heavy work, so it was okay to go into the mountains, carry hundreds of kilograms of firewood on their backs, and rest and stop along the way. It would be good if they could get home in the afternoon.

After this interruption, everyone turned their attention to the new riddle. Finally, no one pursued Shang Zhimin's poem anymore, and Wang Manyin breathed a sigh of relief.
To be continued...