Back to 1978

Chapter 167: Capturing Xie Hushan alive
In the distance, large areas of wheat stubble were burning with the wind, and the wheat fields that had just been burned here were already impatient to start a new round of cultivation.

Eight tractors were slowly moving forward in the field, with black smoke coming out of their engines. Behind each engine was a hand-held plow, which was personally held forward by an experienced farmer who was well versed in farming.

The plowshare broke up the blackened ground and buried the ashes of the recently burned wood into the soil as fertilizer, leaving behind a shallow ditch.

Behind them, women were carrying baskets and planting seeds. They did not dare to stand up straight and scatter the seeds at will. Instead, they bent down and carefully planted the corn seeds in the ditch, for fear of wasting a grain of food.

Finally, several strong young men took rakes and plowed the land, leveling the furrows where the corn was planted.

Han Laogou wiped the ash on his face from burning straw with a towel and smiled from ear to ear. Several production team leaders next to him had the same look, their faces were covered with ash blown by the wind, which almost filled their wrinkles and made their teeth look even whiter and brighter.

"I have been farming all my life and never thought that there would be such benefits in opening a factory." Ma Laowu stood at the edge of the field of Team 3 with his hands on his waist, watching the tractor help plow the land, and said arrogantly:
"Ma Da Nao of the Commune Glass Factory has been the factory director for so many years, but he doesn't think about all of us like Hu San'er does! It's because our team 3 has had good soil and water in recent years, and the children they gave birth to have consciences!"

Han Laogou smiled and joked with Ma Laowu for once:

"The Ma Da Nao you are scolding is your family, what does this prove? Zhongping is full of good people, only your Ma family is bastards."

"We are unlucky this year. I took a look around the area and found that our team's summer planting is much faster than other teams. Last year, we got first place because of the hard work of everyone. This year, everyone actually has time to sit in the fields and smoke a cigarette. I never dared to imagine it." Ge Baosheng, deputy team leader and acting team leader of Production Team 8, sat in the field and stretched lazily.

His team leader had gone to visit his father-in-law's grave on the 4th day of the seventh lunar month. During the entire wheat harvest, it was almost always Ge Baosheng who was doing the work of the production team leader of Team 8.

Now, the eight tractor engines that are helping the Zhongping Production Team plow the land and plant corn were all found by Xie Hushan. Two of them are tractors from his steel rolling mill, and six are tractors that usually help his steel mill transport goods.

These eight machines are really a timely relief.

Why did both the team leader and Ma Laowu let the young laborers take a rest and replenish their energy as soon as the wheat was threshed?
It is because we have to take advantage of the few days of break to urge these young men to go back to the fields and start planting corn.

Although the urgency of summer planting is not as great as the rush to harvest in autumn, the workload is heavy and when the animals are tired, someone else will have to pull the plow immediately.

In previous years, the young guys like Xie Hushan in the Silly Boy Commando Team were like farm tools used by animals. Once the animals could no longer pull the tools and needed to rest, it would be their turn to put on the ropes and continue working for the cows and donkeys.

This year, when the scene of eight tractor heads lined up in a row at the edge of the field appeared in sight, the production team leaders and Han Laogou felt as comfortable as if they had eaten a chilled watermelon in the hot summer!

As long as people rest and the machines continue working around the clock, the work that usually takes a week can be completed in three days at most.

What does it mean to be conscious? This kid Hu San is conscious. While helping the team with its side business, he did not forget that the team's main business is agriculture. At the critical moment, he dispatched eight tractors to support summer planting.

"Second Uncle, Fifth Uncle, Seventh Uncle, Uncle Wang, Captain Ge! Eat watermelon!" Taozi, Daxiu, Lao Meng, Han Laosan and the other four came from a distance pushing and pedaling a tricycle from the tofu workshop, transporting a pile of watermelons.

At this time, the tricycle stopped next to a few elders. Taozi put down three watermelons quickly and asked everyone to eat quickly. Then she signaled Lao Meng to continue pedaling and deliver the watermelons to the people in front.

"Taozi, where did all these watermelons come from?" Han Laogou tapped a watermelon with his finger and asked curiously:
"Isn't it time to pick the watermelons in our area yet?"

The watermelons in Bingyang County are still unripe and there is no need to send militia to watch over the watermelon fields. It will take at least another month for them to ripen.

Ge Baosheng took out his bayonet and cut the watermelon neatly. He handed a piece to Han Laogou first, urging him:
"It's definitely not stolen. Eat it quickly and try it."

"It's obvious from your enthusiasm that you're hoping I'll finish eating. Even if I knew you stole it, I'd be too embarrassed to ask any more questions. We're considered accomplices." Han Laogou saw through Ge Baosheng's thoughts at a glance and said with a smile.

Taozi explained generously:

"The watermelons were sent to the factory by my third brother's friend on the railway. He said they came from the south and ripen earlier than here. They are supplied to the big cities and factories in the northeast. They are transported here. The Bingyang Railway Section took the opportunity to buy a few wagons and gave two to the workers as a heatstroke relief benefit."

"His friend thought it was inconvenient for my third brother to eat fruit in the countryside, so he sent him a tractor. My third brother asked me to take a few children with him to share some with the people working in the fields, so that they can taste some fresh fruit and cool down."

After saying that, Taozi continued to move forward with a few people.

Ge Baosheng and several other production team leaders carried the cut watermelons to the people who were sowing seeds and plowing the land not far away. Only Ma Laowu and Han Laogou were left where they were, squatting side by side and eating watermelons.

"Second brother." Ma Laowu was eating a watermelon and waited for Taozi and the others to walk away, then suddenly said to Han Laogou.

When Han Laogou heard that Ma Laowu stopped calling him Secretary Han and started calling him Second Brother, he suddenly felt that the watermelon in his mouth was no longer sweet:

"When I heard you call me second brother, I knew you must have been holding your fart. If you want to go through the back door, don't open your mouth. Just keep eating your watermelon."

"I'm not calling you second brother for my own sake. I really want to get something through the back door. What do you think of Hu San's wife Taozi?" Ma Laowu asked Han Laogou.

Han Laogou nodded when Ma Laowu asked about his impression of Xie Hushan's girlfriend:
"Yes, this girl is very good. She can endure hardships and work hard. She is impeccable in her words and manners. Hu San's grandmother has good taste."

"Let's go through the back door." Ma Laowu said to Han Laogou:
"The two kids have to register their marriage next year at the earliest, but... I think, why don't we register Taozi's household registration here first?"

"Why are you bringing this up suddenly? Are you so moved by two watermelons?" Han Laogou asked puzzledly.

To settle down early is just a matter of one's own words. The other brigade and commune will issue a letter of certification of kinship, and you will issue a letter of acceptance. After stamping it with the official seal, you can go to Zhongping Commune to register your household registration, and Taozi's household registration will be settled there.

But there is no need to settle down in advance. You can just get the marriage certificate at the same time. Why do you have to do it in two times?

"Didn't the kids just give us watermelons? We got there in time. If they hadn't given us the watermelons, I would have mentioned this to you after the summer planting. The people from the third team have told me several times that there's no crop grown at the cliff mouth, so the peaches should have fallen here earlier, and we can get a share per person when the autumn harvest comes." Ma Laowu picked up another piece of watermelon and said as he ate it.

Han Laogou even forgot to eat the watermelon:

"When did the members of your team three become so generous? In the past, they all agreed to settle down only after seeing the marriage certificate. Didn't they always say that if there was one more person to share the food, everyone would get less? Have you changed your ways?"

"No one else is here, so I'm telling you in secret that Taozi prepares two dishes, one meat and one vegetable, from the factory canteen every day and sends them to the five-guarantee households and martyrs' families in our team." Ma Laowu lowered his voice and said to Xie Hushan:

"This girl is different from Hu San'er. Hu San'er is a shameless guy who takes advantage openly. If his factory can purchase more meat, he will definitely ask the third team to line up at the steel rolling mill to buy some cheap meals. He wants to let the whole team know that he is deliberately biased towards the third team, so that everyone can scold him for being poor and showing off."

"But Taozi helped those martyrs' families to get food. She didn't take advantage of the public. She paid for it herself. No matter if you say she paid for Hu Saner's reputation, it doesn't matter what. Didn't the five-guarantee households and martyrs' families benefit?"

"Even if the people of Team Three are blind, they are not blind in heart. They won't give such a person to Hu San'er, nor can they let outsiders take advantage of her. Besides, she has paid so much, so if we let her settle down early and share some food rations, everyone will feel comfortable. Although the rations are not much, it is a token of everyone's kindness. They treat her as their own family."

Ma Laowu spoke seriously to Han Laogou.

"It'll be fine as long as no one in your team gets upset. If everyone agrees, let Taozi issue a letter of certification and transfer the household registration. The team will not express its position on such matters." After listening to what Ma Laowu said, Han Laogou thought about it and did not refuse.

With Han Laogou's consent, Ma Laowu carefully picked up the watermelon rinds before Han Laogou. These things should not be thrown away casually. It would be best to feed them to the livestock later.

He didn't even leave a piece of watermelon rind for Han Laogou, who wanted to share it with Ma Laowu. Han Laogou was so angry that he put his hands behind his back and asked unhappily, "Where's Hu San?"

Ma Laowu held the watermelon rind in both hands and could only use his head to indicate the blazing wildfire in the distance:

"I was burning the fields and taking photos with Xiao Yang and the reporter from the Bingyang Newspaper."

……

Cao Ma was holding a pitchfork, shirtless, his face covered with ash, standing in front of the flames, just like the monsters under his mother Red Boy in the Fire Cloud Cave. He had a silly smile on his face and stared at the camera in the reporter's hand.

In the open space outside the camera, a group of young men and women are queuing up to pose for photos. This is what Yang Limin does for the Zhongping Brigade. He thinks that since he is not good at farm work, he might as well focus on helping everyone relax after work and ensure that everyone is in a good mental state.

While everyone was busy lining up to take pictures, Xie Hushan was sitting opposite Yang Liming in a field not far away, eating the watermelon that Tao Zi had brought.

After Xie Hushan and the others devoured a piece of it, they told Yang Limin about Li Xingyuan's overnight visit to him to discuss opening a new factory to grab business:
"Uncle, use your cunning brain and help me think about this. Is what this guy surnamed Li said reliable? He sounds more like someone who came here to help the poor than you do, and he treats me better than my father."

"He helped me contact the equipment and business, and I was responsible for providing the land, labor, water and electricity, and production. How could such a good thing happen in the world? I said I had no money and needed a loan, and he helped me find a way to get the loan. He made me so confused that I didn't know what to say."

Xie Hushan had finished eating a piece of watermelon, while Lao Yang was still leisurely picking out the seeds from the watermelon with a straw. When he finally finished picking out the seeds, Xie Hushan took over and started eating at the right time:
"Just you take charge and I'll help you eat."

Yang Limin picked up a burnt wheat ear from the ground and rubbed it in his hands. After rubbing it, the roasted wheat exuded a rich wheat aroma in his palms. He blew away the ashes and put a burnt wheat grain into his mouth and chewed it:

"Anything that makes you feel like you've gotten an advantage is definitely a scam. This doesn't sound reliable, and you can guess it without me reminding you."

Xie Hushan ate a watermelon and said vaguely:

"I also felt something was wrong, so I said I had no money. If you want me to help you, then I can get a loan from the county as a guarantor. But he dared to agree to the loan, which made me even more excited. What car do you think I should buy with the loan?"

After eating the wheat ears, Yang Liming took off his glasses and wiped them with the hem of his clothes. Xie Hushan said nothing and stared at Yang Liming's face. He knew that whenever Yang Liming made the slightest movement with his hands, he was working his brain like crazy to figure out people.

After wiping his glasses clean and putting them back on his nose, Yang Limin looked at Xie Hushan who was staring at him:

"I feel like this is a way of keeping the factory but not the employees. Is someone trying to get rid of you?"

Xie Hushan licked the juice on his lips:

"I've thought about it this way, but you said that you want to remove me as the factory director and replace me with someone else. Maybe the county's enterprises can do it. My steel mill is a team-run enterprise. If I am removed, it won't be the county's turn to make the decision. Isn't it still the brigade that has the final say? If anyone in the brigade wants to replace me as the factory director, there is no need to find an outsider. Just tell me. I'm worried that the brigade has no talent."

Yang Limin said that Li Xingyuan mentioned such great benefits, it was very likely that his ultimate purpose was to get him out of office or even put him in jail. Xie Hushan thought that it was possible.

But the team-run enterprises are different from county-level enterprises. Even if they get themselves in, the brigade cannot allow an outsider to be the director of the steel rolling mill, or use connections to arrange someone in. Considering that he tried to get himself in, the Zhongping Brigade had to squeeze the other party to death to vent Xie Hushan's anger.

"Is Director Li popular?" Yang Liming asked.

"Good, he has a wide network of contacts and a lot of ways. The steel mill has a lot of scrap steel that he helps solve. As long as the money is in place, there is nothing in the steel sector in Bingyang County that he can't solve." Xie Hushan introduced Li Xingyuan's situation to Yang Liming.

Yang Limin nodded: "You are so popular, but it doesn't make sense that he said he was not on good terms with the deputy director of the steel pipe factory. He is kind of teasing you as a fool."

"I am an honest person and easily bullied. I believe whatever others say." Xie Hushan laughed.

Yang Limin rubbed the wheat ears and slowly spoke out his guess:
"I'll ask my friends later whether the discord is true or false. That's one thing."

"There is another thing I am thinking about. Is it possible that Director Li is doing the same thing as collecting scrap steel for you? Maybe he is also doing the job for money and assisting someone who is interested."

"Who is the one who is interested?" Xie Hushan asked quickly and anxiously.

"Ma Da Nao." Yang Liming was about to speak, but the next second, Xie Hushan looked directly at Yang Liming and gave the answer himself.

Yang Limin nodded slowly, and it was obvious that he was also ready to say the name.

Xie Hushan picked up a burnt wheat ear and rubbed it, saying:
"That's right, Lao Yang! You're such a cunning kid. I've thought about all the literate people in Zhongping and tried to guess who is most likely to set a trap for me and try to take my position. I even thought about Daxiu and Dahei. In the end, I felt that if there really was someone who wanted to get rid of me and become the factory director, it could only be Ma Da Nao."

Yang Limin sighed, "He may have a reason for doing this. His glass factory has very poor performance, which cannot be hidden from everyone. Your steel mill has good performance, which may be hidden from everyone temporarily, but it cannot be hidden from people like him who have ulterior motives."

"In the past, Zhongping Commune only had one factory. Whether it was profitable or not didn't matter. But now there is a steel mill. You didn't use the brigade to pay for the factory. You raised the money yourself. The glass factory was built with money from all the members of the commune. From the beginning, the steel mill has been looked up to."

"If he knew Li Xingyuan, he would definitely be able to get a rough figure from him. This made him even more uneasy. He was afraid that by the end of the year, when the commune and the brigade would compare their accounts, he might not be able to keep his position."

"So, it would be better for him to find an opportunity to get rid of you, and then he can use his connections to take over as a Zhongping local with factory management experience. That's my guess."

Xie Hushan handed the rubbed wheat grains to Yang Limin:
"The loan is real, the business is real, the equipment is real, but the fact that Li Xingyuan shared the profits with me is fake. Whether the profits are shared or not, there is a knife hidden in it. When the time comes, they will use that hidden knife to stab me. Whether it is a new factory or an old one, it will have nothing to do with me."

Yang Liming ate the wheat grains given to him by Xie Hushan and nodded.

Xie Hushan let out a long breath:

"Uncle, it's you again. Look, eat something... Why did your face get black? Let me wipe it off for you."

He stretched out his finger and rubbed Yang Limin's mouth twice, then urged: "Just figure it out, come on, let's take a photo."

"Then are you going to reject Li Xingyuan?" Yang Liming was urged by Xie Hushan to stand up and walk towards the photo location.

Xie Hushan said:
"I can't bear to give it up. With so many benefits, Li Xingyuan is willing to invest so much, put all the equipment and business here, and even help with loans. Maybe he has reached a private agreement with Ma Da Nao and can take 80% of the profits. It's like opening a pipe factory and Li Xingyuan is the supreme director."

"It's very possible, and Ma Da Nao may be able to make a comeback with this incident." Yang Liming agreed with Xie Hushan's words.

Xie Hushan smiled at Yang Limin:
"So I think it's better to do this, to take advantage of the situation and eat it when it's delivered to my door. I have to let Li Xingyuan know that although I am a farmer, not all farmers like to be someone's grandson. We Zhongping farmers also like to be living fathers to others."

The two men stood in front of the camera with their arms around each other's shoulders. The reporter was about to open his mouth to remind Yang Limin, but Xie Hushan blinked and the reporter understood.

Yang Liming reacted very quickly. He noticed that the reporter taking the photo had a strange expression on his face. He immediately turned around and wiped the place on his face where Xie Hushan had just wiped it.

Sure enough, when I took my hand down, I saw black and gray marks on it.

If this photo was taken without Yang Liming's knowledge as a souvenir, this grandson would have framed it and hung it in his office at the steel rolling mill. Everyone who went there would have to explain to others why Yang Liming had two small mustaches on his face.

"Me too... I didn't notice my hand..." Xie Hushan tried to explain to Yang Liming hypocritically.

Yang Limin didn't even look at him, and spoke to Cao Ma, Lao Meng, Han Lao Er and others who were trying to hold back their laughter and watch him:
"If anyone can help me hold him down, smear dust on his face and take a picture, I will ask the commune projectionist to come and show an extra movie tonight. You can show whatever you want to watch."

"Fuck! Old Yang, you are seeking revenge for your personal gain!" After hearing this, Xie Hushan cursed and turned around and ran away.

Sure enough, Han Lao Er behind him was the first to betray, shouting:

"Capture Xie Hushan alive. Secretary Yang said, catch him and show a movie to the team tonight!"

Even Lao Meng couldn't resist the temptation of watching the movie. Although he didn't chase after them, he took the initiative to point out the direction for other people and acted as a guide: "The commander ran over there!"

Only Dahei followed Xie Hushan stupidly and ran forward. He was stopped and brought back to the camera after running only a few dozen meters. Yang Liming had a handful of wood ash prepared in his hand. He kindly reminded Xie Hushan to close his eyes and then smeared the ash on him.

The militiamen stood in front of the camera in the same posture as when arresting criminals.

With a click, the camera captured a precious group photo of the Zhongping Production Team.

(End of this chapter)