Back to 1978

Chapter 134: Dahei is really a piece of shit
During the time when Xie Hushan was on an escort mission to Hong Kong Island, Bingyang County had two spring rains that gave birth to all things. Coupled with the green wheat seedlings nearby, the area around Zhongping Village was all green at a glance. The branches of the weeping willows on the roadside were already full of willow leaves, swaying gently in the spring breeze.

However, he was not able to see this kind of scenery until he had rested for three days.
After taking a break and having breakfast, Xie Hushan squatted in the yard and used a shovel to clean the drainage ditch which had accumulated a lot of silt due to the spring rain washing the ground.

The drainage ditches in the courtyards of rural households are often only half the width and depth of a red brick. Due to their small size, they have to be cleaned every two or three rains, otherwise the rainwater will be blocked by silt and unable to drain out. It is easy for the yard to be filled with water with nowhere to go after a heavy rain.

Grandma was sitting on a bench in the yard to rest, holding a cane in her left hand and carrying a small bag that she had just packed in her other hand, looking like she was ready to go out.

There is an old lady in Zhongping Village who has a very good relationship with grandma. Her granddaughter-in-law is about to give birth today, and she asked grandma to go over to help take a look. Knowing that grandma has small feet and it is inconvenient for her to walk, she has already made an appointment to send family members to accompany grandma later, so grandma is waiting for someone to pick her up.

Strictly speaking, the other party is not asking the grandmother to help with the delivery. In rural areas, the midwives who really help women give birth at home are generally women in their forties or fifties who have experience and energy to accompany the pregnant women. They must have enough energy to accompany the pregnant women.

An old person like grandma is simply responsible for sitting with the anxiously waiting family members, talking to them and giving them some comfort.

This is the custom in Zhongping. If a woman in the family gives birth, in addition to the midwife, they will also invite one or two older ladies who have given birth to several children and are experienced to sit over and chat.

First, the elderly can say comforting words to ease the pressure on pregnant women and their families. Second, they themselves have rich experience in giving birth. In case the midwife encounters any difficult problems, the elderly can be there and the midwife can have someone to discuss with and give her some advice.

It was already 1979, and the vast majority of rural women still chose to give birth at home.

Because going to the health center costs money, but if you give birth at home, you only need to give a few red eggs to the person who helps with the delivery.

Grandma obviously had rich experience in giving birth to children, because Xie Hushan once heard his aunt talk about it in casual conversation. It seemed that when his uncle Xie Qimao was born, there was no one around his grandmother. His sixth uncle was out of town, so his grandmother gave birth to the baby by herself.

"Grandma, I'll clean up the drains and remove the manure from the toilet, then go to the cliff to see how the brick factory is doing." Xie Hushan said to his grandmother:
"So when you come back and see that I'm not at home, don't worry. It must be me who took the dog and Han Laoer to the cliff."

Giving birth is not something that happens too quickly. If you go in the morning and come back before the evening, it will be considered a success, so Xie Hushan said to his grandmother.

The grandmother was watching her grandson working with a smile on her face. When she heard Xie Hushan say that he was going to the cliff mouth in a while, she thought for a moment and told Xie Hushan:
"Bring it to Taozi's parents for me when you go. Also, remember to tell Taozi openly about the girl you helped on the road. Don't be embarrassed. You can't wait for your girlfriend to know what you did from other people. That will embarrass your girlfriend in public. Do you understand?"

Just now, while digging the canal, Xie Hushan told the old lady about helping to issue a letter of introduction and taking Zhu Youjun to Hong Kong Island, hiding the dangerous details and treating it as a joke. The grandmother didn't react until he said they were going to the Yakou Brick Factory, then she reminded Xie Hushan.

"I heard you, grandma." Xie Hushan agreed.

Grandma was afraid that he was hiding it from Taozi. After Taozi found out from others, they both felt a little uncomfortable. Although the discomfort was not big at the time, there was still a long way to go in life. After these discomforts accumulated over time, they would eventually turn into big troubles.

The best way is to not let this kind of knot appear from the beginning.

Seeing her grandson agreed, the grandmother smiled and said, "During the New Year, I used some cloth to make Taozi a coat for spring. I put it in your bag. Please give it to her. Even if it's not as good as the one you bought, you have to tell her that it was made by grandma herself and she is not allowed to dislike it."

"She doesn't mind, but I do." Xie Hushan straightened up and looked at his grandmother:
"Grandma, you've become too biased now. Now you have to rely on me to maintain the fragile relationship between you and Aunt and Second Aunt. Without me, Aunt and Second Aunt will be so angry that they will carry you away to starve."

She didn't make any clothes for her grandchildren to wear in the spring, but instead made some for her granddaughter-in-law who wasn't married yet. This old lady just thinks that her grandparents are filial.

If you really have a daughter-in-law with a bad temper, such as Daxiu, who is a weird person, she will definitely teach the old lady to recognize her identity and tell her who is the grandmother if they disagree with each other.

After grandma was taken away to help with the birthing, Xie Hushan cleaned the drainage ditch and collected manure. He was busy until noon and ran to Han Laoer's house for a lunch. The two of them packed their things and rode Accountant Zhao's bicycle with Erxi in their arms, heading straight for the cliff.

"When Accountant Zhao sent us off just now, I saw he was about to cry. Why did he have tears in his eyes and seemed reluctant to leave us?" Han Laoer, carrying a backpack and holding Erxi in his arms, sat on the back rack. He turned his head to look at Accountant Zhao, who had become a small black dot but was still standing there, watching them leave, and asked Xie Hushan.

"According to my analysis, there are two possibilities for Accountant Zhao's symptoms. First, he and I have a deep revolutionary comradeship. If we leave for at least several days, he will be reluctant to leave us." Xie Hushan pedaled his bicycle vigorously:
"Second, he has a deep affection for his bicycle and was worried that if we took the dog with us on the bicycle, the bicycle would fall apart when we came back, even though we and the dog could make it back."

Han Hongbing smiled and asked, "I'm just wondering, if he knew that two people and a dog were going to ride a bicycle for 70 miles, why would he agree to lend the bicycle to you?"

"He didn't borrow it. He's such a cunning guy. I gave a bag of MSG to his wife, and his wife took the initiative to lend it to me. By the time he found out, it was too late. He just came in time to wave goodbye." Xie Hushan said to Han Laoer.

The two of them took turns pedaling from after lunch until after four in the afternoon, when they finally reached the cliff. At this hour, the people who came to buy bricks and transport bricks had already left, and the workers in charge of removing the bricks seemed to have finished their daily quota and were taking a break from smoking or doing some light work such as turning over the bricks and grinding off burrs.

There were only a dozen workers left loading the kiln, and it looked like they were almost done. Ma Saner was standing on the kiln roof, carefully checking whether the workers were stacking the materials neatly when loading the kiln, and from time to time he reminded the workers to leave enough space on the kiln roof.

"Swoosh~~" Xie Hushan jumped off the bicycle and whistled loudly!

Dahei did not appear immediately, but the other dogs appeared quite quickly. Lao Meng, Daxi, Ma San, Wu Shuanzi, Wang Chong and other dogs saw Xie Hushan and Han Hongbing, and they all dropped their work and rushed towards the two of them.

"Comrades..." Xie Hushan had just opened his mouth to say comrades when Daxi grabbed his hands from behind. Ma Saner quickly searched all the pockets of Xie Hushan's body, and in just a moment, all the cigarettes and lighters were taken away.

The speed at which the two men searched him made him feel that calling them "comrades" was not quite appropriate. It was more like two Kuomintang secret agents encountering an underground party member who had fallen into their trap.

Han Hongbing who was standing nearby was also searched clean.

After everyone had a foreign cigarette in their mouths, they began to take turns playing with the two people's lighters in their hands, making clicking sounds.

Only Lao Meng, biting the chocolate bar handed to him by Xie Hushan, squatted down to look at Erxi brought by Xie Hushan, looked at the dog for a while, then looked up at Chen Daxi who was rubbing a lighter with a cigarette in his mouth in the crowd, and asked Xie Hushan his own question:

"Thank you, Commander. How come Daxi looks similar to this dog?"

The other people hadn't noticed the dog just now, but when they heard Lao Meng's words, they all looked over. Chen Daxi took the lighter and focused on lighting a cigarette, saying dissatisfiedly:

"Lao Meng, if you can't speak, just hold it in..."

"Fuck!" Ma Saner's voice.

"Fuck! Daxi, is this your brother?" Wu Shuanzi's voice.

“Fuck! Daxi, has anyone in your family ever done anything indecent to the dog?” Wang Chong said.

When the other militiamen heard what Lao Meng said, they all looked at the dog and immediately responded with shock.

Chen Daxi also discovered the problem at this time. He squatted in front of Erxi and looked at him for a long time with a tangled expression. Finally, he gritted his teeth and said to Xie Hushan:
"This dog is obviously our Chen family's dog!"

The others, including Lao Meng, all nodded at this time, obviously agreeing with Daxi's words.

Absolutely. Anyone who says otherwise is lying. Ma Saner deliberately said with a sly smile, "Put a black hood on the dog's head, cover its body, and only show its face. It will look more like a human than Daxi."

Hearing this compliment, Chen Daxi picked up a shovel and chased Ma Saner to beat him hard. After Ma Saner gave in, he came back with the shovel and looked at the dog again. After thinking for a long time, he finally said to Xie Hushan:
"Commander Xie, your dog must have been stolen. The person who was stolen must be surnamed Chen, and he is one of our relatives. How about this, we are from the same village, you give me the dog, and I will find out which relative lost it and return it for you."

Xie Hushan glared at Chen Daxi: "You are talking nonsense. You can't even think of stealing my dog! This is a dog given to me by a foreign friend to show the friendship between our two countries!"

"A real foreign dog! It's yours. This is a white dog, the same color as the white foreigners. Look at your face, isn't it the same color as Erxi's? This is what I brought back for Dahei."

Daxi's reaction was rare and he actually asked Xie Hushan:
"Are there no foreign friends with the surname Chen?"

At this moment, Dahei finally ran back, with a lot of grass debris on his fur. He was thinner than when Xie Hushan left. It was obvious that his mother had not been idle.

Dahei was wagging his tail and circling around the legs of Xie Hushan and Han Hongbing affectionately. The expression on his dog's face could be understood without even requiring translation. He was celebrating the return of the good days when he had food and drink with Xie Hushan.

However, Erxi didn't show any sign of love at first sight for Dahei, and his face was full of disgust towards Dahei.

"I said that this dog is too ugly and Dahei doesn't like it. If it liked Erxi's appearance, it would have chased Daxi and ridden it a long time ago." Han Hongbing said to Xie Hushan with a gloating look after seeing that the two dogs did not fight but Erxi did not react to Dahei.

Xie Hushan helped Dahei clean the grass debris on his fur, and introduced Erxi next to him without giving up:

"Erxi, this is Dahei, he is definitely a gentleman among dogs. Don't think he is as thin as a skinny dog ​​now, it's all because I'm not here. They didn't take good care of Dahei and made him starve. Wait until I get him some good nutrition, he will definitely not be suffering from kidney deficiency!"

"Look at it, look at it. What if you look at it a few more times and it becomes more pleasing to the eye?"

But no matter how Xie Hushan praised Dahei to Erxi, Erxi still maintained the virtues of a capitalist lady and didn't even look at Dahei.

On the other hand, Dahei had come back to his senses from the joy of reuniting with Xie Hushan and Han Hongbing. He noticed the white dog and slowly walked towards Erxi, circling around him and sniffing him constantly.

As soon as Erxi let out a threatening growl from his throat, Dahei would immediately walk away and then slowly approach again.

"It's possible, it's possible!" Xie Hushan saw Dahei's reaction and said to a few people:

"Dahei is interested in Erxi, so he is planning to slowly approach her to establish a good relationship with her. Dahei understands human nature, and when faced with a love that spans thousands of miles, he will definitely..."

While Xie Hushan was still talking, Dahei had already redefined what love that spans thousands of miles meant.

The damn thing is called showing his face to Xie Hushan, that's a piece of shit. While Xie Hushan was talking and attracted Erxi's attention, Dahei seized the opportunity and lay down behind Erxi and prepared to start moving, not even avoiding people...

It was too late for Erxi to react and run away. It let out a low growl to drive away. At this time, Dahei no longer had the cautious and tentative manner as before. Hearing Erxi's growl, he opened his mouth from behind and bit Erxi. The sharp canine teeth bit Erxi so hard that he screamed. After several bites, Erxi stopped struggling in pain. Then Dahei began to concentrate on making the dog.

Everyone was stunned by this scene. Xie Hushan looked at Dahei. He was thinking about letting the two dogs develop feelings for each other. But what Dahei did seemed to be committing a crime, right?

It is not clear how much the Hong Kong Public Security Bureau Chief's blood pressure would rise if he saw his beloved dog being bullied by a country dog, but Xie Hushan estimated that the other party would have to send elite police officers to Bingyang County to expose him, and find a way to bring him to Hong Kong for trial, strive to restore the death penalty, and hang himself to vent his anger.

"Fuck you... Otherwise, the people at the cliff would call you the Liu Jinsuo among dogs! Even though you are so skinny, no one would feel sorry for you! You are really a piece of shit! I asked you to eat foreign food, but not like this!" Xie Hushan was so angry that he kicked Dahei on the butt:
"I want to tell you the whole love story of two dogs in Hong Kong. You really need to show your face and turn the love story into a true crime story."

It seems that there are so many wives around Yakou, and Dahei has used this method to occupy them?

After scolding Dahei for a while and leaving a group of bad boys smoking and watching the dogs nearby, Xie Hushan walked towards the office with his backpack. The group of people outside had been talking and laughing for a long time, but no one saw Han Hongzhen come out.

When he pushed open the office door, Xie Hushan discovered that the young widow Han Hongzhen had actually begun to learn how to use an abacus. She was now sitting behind the desk in an orderly manner with an abacus and an account book in front of her.

However, she did not touch the account book or abacus. Instead, she held her chin with her hand and stared blankly at Xie Hushan who came in with her pair of almond-shaped eyes.

Looking at the other person's eyes, Xie Hushan knew that she was not looking at him at all, but was thinking about something in her mind.

Xie Hushan put down his backpack, pulled a stool and sat opposite Han Hongzhen. He waved his hand in front of Han Hongzhen and asked curiously, "Deputy Team Leader Si'er, what are you thinking about?"

"When did you come back?" Han Hongzhen came back to her senses and looked at Xie Hushan, her eyes full of surprise.

Xie Hushan took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth, saying with a disdainful tone:
"I just need someone. As long as Lao Meng's mental ability reaches that of a twelve-year-old, I will make him the deputy team leader. With his reaction ability, if I don't shake it, you won't remember to ask me when I came back tomorrow."

"I'm thinking about business." Han Hongzhen explained when she heard Xie Hushan's teasing.

Xie Hushan looked very surprised: "Quick, quick, quick, tell me, let me open my eyes."

"If we can always buy cheap coal, should we switch to burning red bricks?" Han Hongzhen did not dislike Xie Hushan's tone, but asked Xie Hushan a serious question.

"Can you buy it?" Xie Hushan put away his joking expression and frowned slightly.

"Yeah." Han Hongzhen nodded to Xie Hushan:
"Today someone came to the brick factory and asked if we wanted coal. He also said the price was cheap and he guaranteed to provide us with coal in a long-term and stable manner."

"Don't burn red bricks." After hearing Han Hongzhen's words, Xie Hushan said simply.

Han Hongzhen heard Xie Hushan's answer and nodded in agreement:
"I was just thinking about this. Although making red bricks can earn more money and produce faster, it doesn't require so many people. We can just move back to our brigade's land. The leaders of Lingguanying Commune will definitely disagree. We agreed to help the poor one by one, so we can't just run away halfway."

Xie Hushan picked up an account book on the table and flipped through it, saying:
"I don't disagree for this reason. I just think that what you just said is not very reliable. It's a bit like a liar trying to deceive people."

Han Hongzhen suspected Xie Hushan was a liar when she heard his words and explained:

"A liar? Not likely. He is a cadre in charge of purchasing or supply and marketing at a factory in our county. He has been responsible for purchasing coal for the factory. He said that their factory has a lot of coal quota this year, and they can't use so much in the factory. There is a lot of surplus, so he came out to find a way to see if small brick kilns and brick factories in rural areas can help digest some of it. The price is also cheap. The main purpose is to complete this year's allocated purchasing quota. If this year's coal quota cannot be used up, the state will reduce it next year."

"Can I still tell you that I'll give you a batch to burn first and then pay you when you think the quality of the coal is good?" Xie Hushan put down the account book and looked at Han Hongzhen and asked.

Han Hongzhen nodded to Xie Hushan and asked in confusion: "Hey~ How did you know since you just came back?"

(End of this chapter)