When Zhan Jun heard this, his expression suddenly changed!
His face had become very dark and old due to years of hard work.
Now after being frightened, it looks more like those blood-stained soil ditches on the dry yellow land in the north of Saibei:
The black is red, the purple is green.
after all,
In this era, we rely on communes to lead everyone's development.
If a family like his is secretly a member of the society working alone, it will be particularly dangerous.
Fortunately, Luo Xuan realized this in time.
Seeing that something was wrong with the situation, he quickly explained with a smile, "Peng Yong, what are you talking about? How can there be a one-man business?!"
They live far away and cannot go to work with other members of the production team.
In fact, this is not a problem with Comrade Zhan Jun! This should be called adapting measures to local conditions and being flexible to solve practical difficulties."
Listening to what Luo Xuan said, Zhan Jun nodded quickly. Peng Yong also knew that what he said was a bit inappropriate, so he also nodded.
The atmosphere calmed down, and the occupying army took out a pile of cut newspapers from the pocket of his clothes, which were somewhat gray and white.
The first two pages were crumpled, and he smoothed the wrinkled corners with his rough hands.
Then he touched his pocket again and shouted to his mother-in-law who was busy making batter on the stove.
"Bring me a box of matches. The cigarette residue is gone."
After a while, the Zhan army woman came over with a box of matches and a rusty tin can like an old antique.
The occupying army first poured some dry tobacco residue on the paper and began to roll the dry tobacco.
None of Luo Xuan smoked. After the occupying army rolled up the dry cigarettes, they lit a fire with a "chi" sound and threw the matchsticks on the ground.
"Bah!"
After taking a puff of the cigarette, Zhan Jun's whole body trembled with excitement, and the nervousness just now was forgotten.
The men here,
Many people have the habit of smoking dry tobacco. The home-grown tobacco residue rolled in newspapers is very strong, but these farmers enjoy smoking it.
Luo Xuan knew that these old smokers would not care about heaven and earth once they became addicted to smoking.
So she quickly asked Zhang Xiaoli to take Xiao Rongrong out to prevent the child from choking.
"Oh, Comrade Luo is right. In this day and age, living with the production team and working with the collective is better than my family."
Zhan Jun took another puff, knocked the ashes from his cigarette, and asked his wife to pour two cups of freshly boiled water.
Then he sighed and said, "I can't help but wonder. When we were digging cave dwellings, I didn't know it would be like this now.
We are so far away from the production team and there is no way we can go to work together."
Luo Xuan nodded, understanding the suffering of Zhanjun.
"Brother Zhanjun, are there many families like you here? Or is it just your family?"
Zhan Jun said "Ah" and started talking with great joy. When talking about these things, Zhan Jun seemed very excited and spittle came out.
"How is it possible that we are the only family? There are two or three families at the east end and the south end of the village who are very far away."
"But they are a little better. They can't work in the production team, so they have two or three families helping each other.
We are the only family here. Hey, you don’t know, but some jobs are difficult for one or two people to do, and they have to do the hard work even if they are very tiring.”
"Just say that in the first half of the year, I was given more than 100 kilograms of sheep dung for the field in the east end of my house, which was so heavy that my shoes sank two inches deep. It exhausted me to death, old man."
Zhan Jun sighed,
It seems that when I think about it now, I can still remember the feeling of pain and tightness in my tired chest.
Luo Xuan thought silently: It seems that the problems in the village are quite big.
I guess the matter of repairing the canals will have to be put on hold for a while.
You have to find a way to solve these practical problems in the village first and then worry about it.
The first thing that needs to be solved is to build a protective shield for disguised single-owner households like the Zhanjun family.
You need to know: in the situation of occupying the army, it is actually a "single business".
If this matter is revealed,
Everyone in Zhanjun, production captain Dou Jiande, and other relevant leaders in Zhimi County wears a pair of watches, and in the end they will definitely have to eat peanuts.
No one can protect them.
Next,
Luo Xuan chatted with Zhan Jun for a few more words, and then walked out of the door to get some air.
The power of dry smoke is comparable to that of thermonuclear weapons.
It's really unbearable to be filled with steam from cooking in a sealed cave dwelling.
In the yard, little Rongrong was holding a corn noodle bun and munching on it.
Huang Chengcheng's cornbread was a little smaller than a girl's fist, but Xiao Rongrong only ate one corner and stuffed the rest into his pocket.
No need to think about it!
It must be the same as the sesame cake before. Xiao Rongrong wanted to take it back and share it with her brothers and sisters.
Luo Xuan grinned at Xiao Rongrong. When the little girl saw Luo Xuan coming out, her round and dark eyes flashed.
The hand that had just been stuffed into the pocket remained motionless, for fear that Luo Xuan would see what she had just done.
Luo Xuan knew what the little girl was thinking, so he didn't reveal it and waved to Xiao Rongrong.
Xiao Rongrong glanced at her pocket timidly and ran to Luo Xuan.
Like a magic trick, Luo Xuan took out three or four candies from his pocket.
This candy wrapped in transparent tissue paper is a local specialty.
The outside of the candy is yellow and the taste is just average.
But the moment Xiao Rongrong saw the candy, his eyes widened.
This kind of candy is made from the juice of a wild vegetable root that is unique here and has a special sweet taste.
Luo Xuan also tasted one. Anyway, he thought the taste was a bit weird and he wasn't used to eating it.
Xiao Rongrong's eyes were gleaming, obviously she wanted to eat it, but she didn't dare to take it.
Seeing this, Zhang Xiaoli on the side reached out to take the candy cube from Luo Xuan's palm, then pulled Xiao Rongrong aside and muttered in a low voice.
Sure enough, it is more caring between girls.
After a while,
Luo Xuan saw Xiao Rongrong taking the candy, as if someone on the plateau had dug up a treasure, and he was caring for it carefully.
I'm afraid that if my hands shake, I won't be able to find the baby.
Luo Xuan touched Xiao Rongrong's head and said with a smile: "Eat quickly, I will give you a few more, but you are not allowed to eat half of it. The remaining half is stuffed in the pocket of your clothes."
This little girl in front of me,
When she was beaten in the morning, she was actually taking the blame for her brother, who actually stole the mutton stew and ate it.
It's not easy for this little Rongrong to be a sister.
Hearing that Luo Xuan refused to let him take away the candy, Xiao Rongrong nodded obediently, held the candy cube in front of his eyes, looked at it again and again, and licked it with his tongue.
Underneath the crispy dough shell, there is a faint sweetness.
She took a bite and, having never eaten anything good before, she cherished this rare delicacy.
These sugar cubes,
Luo Xuan bought it from the Zhimi County Supply and Marketing Cooperative. The quality is much better than the candy made secretly by private individuals.
In the houses of commune members here, they sometimes use their own grain to secretly make some candies.
It can be used as a gift for visiting relatives or as a snack for children.
But Lao Li’s family,
Obviously this is not the case: Lao Li and his mother-in-law are famous for their extreme frugality.
So for little Rongrong, this is as delicious as sesame cake. Even if she grows up, she will have no place to go to even eat it.
Watching Xiao Rongrong eat it in small bites, and finally licked the balls of her fingers, savoring the wonderful taste that she had never tasted before.
After taking a few breaths, I felt much better.
So Luo Xuan turned around and returned to the cave dwelling, "Brother Zhanjun, give me your bucket, and I'll bring you a load of water."
Zhan Jun was shocked: "This is impossible! You don't know how hard it is to carry a load of water."
Luo Xuan insisted,
In the end, Zhanjun had no choice but to ask his mother-in-law to find the bucket and pole for Luo Xuan.
In addition, there is actually a big hammer and a steel drill!
It's just to carry water, why do you need a hammer and a steel drill instead of smashing rocks?!
Luo Xuan endured the confusion in his heart, picked up the burden and went out.
Then he waved to Xiao Rongrong, "Do you know where I can get some water?"
Xiao Rongrong nodded, "I'll take you there."
Zhang Xiaoli and Peng Yong will naturally not be idle and will follow them.
The road to get water is not easy to walk.
The Loess Plateau looks like the terrain is very gentle on the plateau, but when you actually walk on it, it is not the same!
The path is rugged and difficult to navigate.
Under the leadership of Xiao Rongrong, Luo Xuan carried the bucket and the steel drill.
A group of four people walked for more than half an hour before they arrived at the water collection point halfway up the slope.
"That's it?"
Facing the puddle under the gravel cliff, Zhang Xiaoli was at a loss, "Is this their drinking water source?"
Peng Yong's cheek twitched: "Can people drink the water taken back here?"
I saw only the bottom of the cliff,
There is a small puddle, probably only about 2 square meters in area.
Around the puddle, there are white flowers of alkali. The water contaminated by high concentration of salt and alkali tastes very bitter.
High-concentration saline-alkali water is highly corrosive.
So many people here have black and yellow teeth.
There are many big girls in Zhimi County who look pretty.
But it's better if they don't open their mouths. When they open their mouths, the blackened front teeth are like an old smoker who has been smoking for a lifetime: black, yellow, and rotten.
It can really scare people!
If this kind of bitter alkali water were stored in the Bashu area,
It's used to feed pigs. I guess the second senior brother would rather starve to death than take a second sip.
But people living on the plateau have no choice because this is their only source of drinking water.
Between dying of thirst and suffering, Zhanjun and his family chose to suffer.
——And he will suffer for a lifetime.
It was winter at this time, and the water dripping from the cracks in the cliffs had already been frozen into strings of small ice hangings.
Luo Xuan sighed, "Throw away the word "?". Just carry this water back, and others still regard it as a treasure.
First scoop a small ladle to wash your face, and use the water after washing your face to wash your feet.
By the time I wash my feet, the water has turned into a dark soup."
Luo Xuan asked Peng Yong, "Guess what they will do with that small basin of water that has been used to wash their feet and is already dark, sticky, bitter and astringent?"
Zhang Xiaoli pouted: "Of course I'll throw it away. What else can this water be used for?"
Luo Xuan shook his head, "They are reluctant to waste any drop of water. They will use this water to feed chickens and sheep."
"Hey, let's get to work."
Peng Yong sighed, "I was still wondering why we had to carry a big hammer to carry water? Now I finally understand. It turns out that we were asked to smash ice to get water!"
There is snow everywhere on the loess slopes, especially in the shade, which is more than two feet thick.
It stands to reason that this snow can also be used as a source of water.
But in fact, the snow looks very white. When it is really melted, the soot and yellow sand mixed in the white snow will be revealed.
That kind of water is even more undrinkable!
And the snowflakes are so weak that no matter how hard they are pressed, two buckets will be filled with them.
The snow water that melted out in the end was probably not even half a bucket.
Therefore, melting snow to obtain water is more time-consuming and laborious than melting ice.
Over time,
No one wants to do the inefficient task of collecting snowflakes in exchange for drinking water.
Now that we have figured out how to carry water back to the Zhanjun family, the next few people will do it together.
Cut out the ice and put it in buckets.
Doing these tasks is not particularly strenuous. If you are tired, you just have to carry a bucket with sharp ice cubes and walk up to the plateau.
Moving forward with a heavy load is not easy.
What's more, you still have to carry a heavy load, and you have to carry a steel drill and a big hammer.
It weighs over a hundred kilograms! You still have to hold it with both hands.
Under such circumstances, when carrying a load up a steep slope, it is not easy to even reach out to hold the pole on your shoulders.
In order to retrieve this load of ice, I had to go back and forth for almost two hours.
It was not easy to pick the Zhanjun family.
This time Luo Xuan went to carry water and came back. Several people were there to help with the work, which took two hours.
It is conceivable that
How difficult it must be for Zhanjun to fetch water alone!
Today, someone helped pick up ice cubes, which saved her family the effort of two bowls of rice. Luo Xuan, Zhang Xiaoli's move moved Zhanjun's family so much that they thanked them repeatedly.
Through this matter,
Luo Xuan, Zhang Xiaoli and Peng Yong have deeply realized that the lives of the people living on the plateau are hard, and their lives have already reached this level.
Zhang Xiaoli and Peng Yong thought to themselves: We cannot continue like this. We must do something for the folks in the Shilipu production team!
Put the ice cubes in the bucket into the large water tank at Zhan Jun's house and let it melt slowly.
Later, Luo Xuan and others resolutely declined the Zhanjun family's warm invitation to stay for dinner.
Several people said goodbye and left.
The journey down the mountain is not short.
Not long after the group left, the sky began to turn gloomy, and it seemed like it was going to snow again.
The wind is biting and biting.
Peng Yong kept booing as he walked, "It's easier to go up the mountain than it is to go down the mountain. You're right, I'm exhausted."
Zhang Xiaoli laughed: "Are you embarrassed? Look at Xiao Rongrong, she is walking so easily. Did you hear her say a word?"
Taking a look at Rongrong who was following Zhang Xiaoli, she could not even take a breath except that her face was red from the cold.
Peng Yong asked her curiously: "Xiao Rongrong, are you tired? Do you want me to carry you?"
The little girl shook her head,
He said nonchalantly: "What's the point? In the summer, my father asked me to carry grass from the bottom of the ditch, and I had to carry a very big bundle.
Then we walk up from the bottom of the ditch and back again. We have to run several times a day."
Peng Yong muttered, "Your father is very cruel to you!"
Xiao Rongrong shook his head: "Actually, my father is usually very good to me, but sometimes he gets upset and scolds me."
"Actually, that's good. Because my dad scolds me, so he won't scold his younger siblings..."
Luo Xuan and several people heard this,
I couldn't help but sigh secretly: It is said that the children of poor people have become rich early. This little girl is so sensible and heartwarming.
Xiao Rongrong pulled a dry dogtail grass and held it in his mouth.
Jianshengsheng explained, "Actually, my father is also very tired. Every day he drives the donkey cart, takes care of the crops, levels the land, and learns the spirit of his superiors. All day long, he has no time to idle.
By the time my dad got home, he was already paralyzed from exhaustion. Many times, even if he wanted to hit me, he didn't have the energy to do so."
"It's winter now, so there's nothing to do. So I'll get beaten more often."
Xiao Rongrong calmly recounted the incident of being beaten.
It seems that she has become accustomed to this: "Every winter, I get a few more beatings. I'm used to it."
This topic is a bit heavy.
So on the way, Luo Xuan and Zhang Xiaoli stopped talking.
The group of people hurriedly hurriedly and slowly arrived at Lao Li Tou's house before the heavy snowfall.
When Old Li Tou saw his daughter come back, he was still angry and naturally he didn't look at Xiao Rongrong at all.
but,
However, Lao Li no longer looked at her as viciously as he did before.
"Please help me! What kind of things are these? Just give me a chance to take a walk in one day."
"I'll give you food and clothing every day. Can you do less of these annoying things? I'll be so angry that I'll die. Let's see where you can find your stutter."
It can be seen that Lao Litou's anger has almost disappeared by now.
However, in order to maintain his dignity as the head of the family, Old Li Tou still cursed and nagged Xiao Rongrong.
Zhang Xiaoli was impatient, "Uncle Li, Xiao Rongrong is so well-behaved, can you stop nagging her?"
Lao Li refused and said, "Comrade Zhang, you don't understand our side. Let me tell you, these girls' lives are very cheap. When they get married, they will lose everything they have!"
If they encounter someone without a conscience, some women will rake him back and often secretly take the grain from their parents' family to their husband's family."
Old Li spoke eloquently: "So, you cannot spoil your mother-in-law when she is a child. You must let her know that the family has family rules and the state has laws."
Zhang Xiaoli slowly walked up to Old Li and stared straight at Old Li who was talking enthusiastically.
He warned him coldly, "Uncle Li, I don't care about your family rules. But I know that according to the national law, beating and scolding women and children is not allowed!"
"Uncle Li, if you don't want to, this is the last time I will call you uncle."
Zhang Xiaoli's face had never shown such ferociousness before, "I'm warning you! If you hit Xiao Rongrong once in the future, then I will hit you back twice as hard!"
The status of educated youth is high.
Even the production team cadres that Lao Li couldn't afford to offend could not afford to offend educated youths like Zhang Xiaoli.
Now, Old Li Tou saw Zhang Xiaoli's unusually stern tone and warned him like this.
My heart trembled for no reason.
Lao Li sighed secretly: It's over!
It seems that I may not dare to use my fists on my daughter in the future.
