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Chapter 13 You know me
Han Hongbing was completely dumbfounded after hearing what Xie Hushan said.

My goodness, I guess Hu Saner has nothing else in his stomach but courage!

He was so bold that a militia platoon leader swaggered into the battalion headquarters of the People's Liberation Army regular army to scout the manure reserves in the toilet and even added some for them.

Where does he get the nerve to do that? Does he really think he is Commander Xie?
"I say..." Han Hongbing wanted to ask again, but Xie Hushan had already gotten on his bicycle and rubbed his hungry stomach: "Don't say anything, let's go back to the village to eat first! After dinner, I'll show you what a high-ranking civilian commander like Commander Xie is, and what a fucking large army fighting on multiple fronts is!"

The two men had no food coupons or grain, not to mention no money. Even if they had money, without food coupons or grain, they could not buy food in the state-owned restaurants in the county town.

Fortunately, they were young and strong, and they endured the hunger and rode back to Zhongping Village from the county town. However, their momentum and speed were completely different from when they went there in the morning, and it took them nearly two hours to get back to the team.

Xie Hushan didn't even go back to his own home. He and Han Hongbing rushed into his nearby house, parked their bicycles to the side, and split up into two groups. Han Hongbing rushed to the water tank under the eaves, picked up the ladle and poured water into his mouth, while Xie Hushan rushed to the water pressure well and used the last bit of his strength to press the handle a few times. Then he lay down in the pool below the outlet, with his mouth open, letting the well water wash over his head and face.

Dahei was originally lying at the door with his eyes closed to bask in the sun, but was startled by these two people who suddenly broke in and looked like they were fleeing. He stood up suddenly and almost didn't recognize them. He ran to them to smell the scent, and after confirming again and again that it was Han Laoer and Xie Husaner, these two big fools, he went back and lay down again with peace of mind.

The two of them drank some water to replenish their strength and boost their spirits, then they got up and went into the main room, lifted the lid of the pot, and took out half a basin of cooled mixed flour steamed bread and a bowl of pickled vegetables. Without even moving the dining table, the two of them sat side by side on the threshold of the main room, as they often did in their childhood, without bothering to talk. They grabbed the steamed bread in their left hands and a few pickled vegetable strips in their right hands and stuffed them into their mouths in big mouthfuls.

Without saying a word, they each ate three steamed buns with pickles. They choked on the buns and glared at each other and stretched their necks. Dahei, who was standing at the door, wanted to speak human words and persuade them to drink some water so they wouldn't choke to death.

After eating three steamed buns and drinking a bottle of cold water, they breathed a sigh of relief and were considered alive.

Xie Hushan picked up the fourth steamed bread and bit it slowly: "Go to the commune to find Minister Zhang of the Armed Forces Department and trick him into calling the battalion headquarters and writing a contact letter. Or go to the primary school to find the principal and trick him into agreeing to let the children and teachers go with us. You choose one."

"You are the militia platoon leader, so it's reasonable for you to report to Lao Zhang. I'll go to the elementary school." Han Hongbing stood up and pulled two cucumbers from the cucumber rack in his front yard. He washed them with well water and gave one to Xie Hushan. He bit the cucumber and said, "I found eleven trucks in the county party committee compound in the east of the city and those government agencies. You found thirteen trucks in the west of the city. You said there should be at least fifteen trucks in the military camp, so this is thirty-nine trucks."

"Those are all pure manure without water. If we calculate it based on the manure mixed with water sold in the manure pit, we have brought back 39 trucks of pure manure. If we mix it with water to make it the best first-class manure in the manure pit, we can have at least 55 trucks. If we mix in a little more water, that's 60 trucks. The manure for our team is equivalent to getting it for free, and we can sell another 30 trucks and make a profit of 150 yuan." Xie Hushan took the cucumber and said to Han Hongbing with shining eyes.

Han Hongbing sat back on the doorstep and ate a cucumber. "But how can the county party committee and government agencies agree to let us collect manure?"

"The military camp is a different story. For the others, they are all said that the school arranged for students to learn from Lei Feng and do good deeds before the summer vacation. You can't say you are going to pick up manure, but you are taking a group of children to clean windows and clean for them for free." Xie Hushan said to Han Hongbing, "Students will definitely not be stopped from doing good deeds. They will definitely be allowed into government compounds and nursing homes. When we were in school, we did good deeds everywhere just to get letters of commendation. When people heard that students were doing good deeds to learn from Lei Feng, they welcomed us warmly."

Han Hongbing nodded thoughtfully. This was true. At the end of each semester, the school required students to do a good deed and ask the other party to write a letter of praise. At that time, in order to get the letter of praise, he and Xie Hushan did a lot of good deeds, "even if there is no difficulty, we will create difficulties to help." Generally, when government agencies heard that the children came to learn from Lei Feng's good deeds, they would also encourage them, let the children symbolically help to clean the windows and sweep the floor, arrange an officer or clerk to accompany the team teacher to do reception, praise them, and finally write a warm letter of praise to the children.

"Then there is no way these children can do the work of collecting manure, right? Instead of sweeping the floor or wiping the windows, a group of children drove a cart into the county party committee compound and told the leaders, 'Leaders, we are students who do good things and are here to help you collect manure today!' Would the leaders still write a letter of praise? They would definitely write a letter of dismissal to the principal." Han Hongbing immediately realized a problem. No matter how strong and hardworking the rural children were, it was impossible to let them do this kind of work.

"You can't always use conventional thinking to look at the war situation, Chief of Staff Han." Xie Hushan finished eating the cucumber in a few bites, threw the cucumber tail to Dahei in the yard, and took out a wrinkled Labor brand cigarette and handed it to Han Hongbing:
"We must not let the children do this kind of dirty and tiring work. Children are a decoy. As long as they let the children come in and do good things, our manure trucks can go in."

"How do I get in?" Han Hongbing found it a little unbelievable.

"It is definitely not the leaders of the county party committee compound and government agencies who receive the children who do good deeds. Think about it, who receives us when we do good deeds?"

"Generally, the young guys who have just started working and don't have access to cigarettes or tea are definitely sent to receive the senior leaders because they are busy with work. It's the same as in our team. If there's any work that everyone doesn't want to do, we, the silly boy commando, will be called on to do it first." Han Hongbing thought about the people who wrote letters of praise to him when he had done good deeds before and when he received them. He also thought about his own experience in the team and began to complain.

The Silly Boy Commando, whose full name is the Basic Youth Production Commando of Production Team No. 3, and Xie Hushan is the captain of the commando. In fact, basically every production team has a similar organization, which is to organize the unmarried young men in the team into a small team. These young people are not yet mature in farming skills and are not very good at fine farm work, but they are strong and have high firepower, which makes them suitable for doing high-intensity heavy physical work. Therefore, when there is any heavy work in the team, such as turning the soil and digging holes, they are the ones who rush to the front. Therefore, the young men in the team jokingly call themselves the Silly Boy Commando.

Not only young men, but young girls would also be organized into teams, generally called the Iron Girls Commando or Half the Sky Vanguard, which was also a feature of the production team.

"That's right. That's what Ma Laowu and the other old men said when they tricked us silly boys into doing the heavy work." Xie Hushan imitated the tone of Ma Laowu's words when he tricked them into doing the work:

"Hey! These young men are so energetic! Work hard and don't be lazy! Your fifth aunt has a niece in her family, she is pretty and fair! If anyone works hard, I will ask your fifth aunt to be his matchmaker and marry him!"

Han Hongbing laughed when he heard Xie Hushan imitating Ma Laowu's accent. Xie Hushan continued, "You said it worked. Except for the two of us who didn't get fooled, our team was very happy. Those idiots like Ma San were so happy that they believed it and worked hard."

"Commander Xie, I understand now. On the surface, you are asking the school teachers to lead the children to do good things, but in fact, the children are leading the teachers to deceive the young cadres. Are you trying to use a beauty trap?" Han Hongbing smacked his lips, figured it out, and spoke.

Xie Hushan nodded slowly, with a sly smile on his face: "Chief of Staff Han, you know me well."

(End of this chapter)