Back to 1978

Chapter 17 The Last Battle

Just after dawn, Han Hongbing came to the Yaowang Temple team headquarters. Xie Hushan found that he was similar to himself, with bloodshot eyes and black eye sockets. He asked in confusion, "Why do you look like this? I went to and from the county town last night. I didn't ask you to stay up late lying on your kang to accompany me?"

Han Hongbing walked into the front yard of Yaowang Temple and washed his face with the help of the pressurized water well. "Come on, I'm not much more relaxed than you. I finally understand why in movies when they're acting out wars, the commanders and generals in charge of operations just talk a lot of nice things like large-scale military operations and multi-line operations."

"In fact, it's all because of you. You talk nonsense, but you let the chief of staff study the specific plans. You only want the results. I only have four female teachers. Four! It's equivalent to seven or eight battlefields. I only have four troops to mobilize. How can I fight? I stayed in my room with the lights on for most of the night to study the tactical deployment you mentioned. Let me tell you about the specific tactical operations for attacking the county town today..."

"Okay, stop complaining. This is the job of the chief of staff. If you don't want to do it, just switch with Daxi. He will be the chief of staff and you will be the transport captain." Xie Hushan waved his hand before Han Hongbing finished speaking:

"What kind of tactical operation is this? It's nothing more than four pot covers and eight pots, taking turns to cover them? I ride a bicycle to act as a mobile force, transporting four female teachers to quickly move between the eight units. Once we capture the gate, we immediately rush to the next location, leaving the male teachers to defend. Is this the tactic?"

"Fuck..." Han Hongbing opened his mouth: "You thought of that too?"

"Do you really think those commanders in the movies can only talk and can't think of anything? The overall situation is in my head! Otherwise, why am I the commander and you are the chief of staff? I asked you to think, that's the organization training you, is it worth thinking about this matter all night?" Xie Hushan teased Han Hongbing with a smile, and then talked about business:

"Er Mianfei has already secured more than 20 vehicles, and there are still 5 or 6 left. You ride your bicycle and take 15 vehicles to the school to pick up the principal, a male teacher, and 30 students. Then go to the workshop to load the vermicelli, tofu, and the 500 popsicles wrapped in quilts that Daxi brought back overnight on a tricycle. Then go to the military camp. The remaining vehicles, teachers, and students will wait until later. I will take them to the county town."

"Then I'm leaving? You really don't want to go to the military camp. It's a good opportunity for me to show off my status. Let me go to the county town instead. You ran around all night last night. You can't be lazy in the county town today..." Han Hongbing couldn't help but ask when he heard that Xie Hushan asked him to take people to the military camp.

What boy doesn't yearn to join the military camp? Han Hongbing certainly wants to go, but he also knows that this opportunity was earned by his childhood friend at the cost of his reputation.

"You kid, you always wanted to go to the military camp because you didn't have the chance to join the army. We are all brothers. If you go, it will be the same as if I went." Xie Hushan waved his hand impatiently:

"Tell the sentry at the camp gate that I treated you to the popsicles, and you'll keep your word and I won't be leaving. Get lost!"

Han Hongbing stopped talking nonsense and called for the trucks to follow him. After Xie Hushan sent them off, Ma Laowu ran into the team headquarters, holding an aluminum lunch box and two sesame cakes wrapped in straw paper, and handed them to Xie Hushan: "Hu San'er, the trucks and manpower are all here! Uncle Wu is only capable of this, the rest depends on you! You have to bring back 39 trucks of pure manure. The third team will remember your kindness every year for at least ten years! Eat the wonton sesame cakes while they are hot! Then you can hit the road!"

"Uncle Wu is still good at talking. His sweet words make my life as bitter as it is, as if he is sending me to the execution ground." Xie Hushan was not polite. He took it and started eating. Although the wontons had vegetarian fillings and the sesame seed buns were not made of meat, there were dried shrimps in the wontons to enhance the flavor, there were oil floating in the soup, and the sesame seed buns also had a layer of crispy oil. The taste was much better than steamed corn bread and pickles.

This was the best meal he had ever had since he traveled through time. He didn't spend any money and relied on his own ability to get the team to prepare it for him willingly. He ate it with relish.

After the meal, Xie Hushan gathered the carriages and led the way on his bicycle, first going to the school to pick up all the teachers and the remaining dozens of students. The students might have known that they were going into the city today, and some of them had put on makeup, put two red circles on their faces, a red dot on their foreheads, carried water bottles, and waved small national flags made of red and yellow paper in their hands, with expectant smiles on their faces.

There was no sign of Daxiu in the crowd. Yesterday, Han Hongbing had instructed the teachers to let Daxiu and some naughty students stay at home on the pretext that the school was closed today, so as to avoid going out and causing trouble and adding unnecessary variables.

The four female teachers looked somewhat solemn. It was obvious that they had received instructions from Han Hongbing yesterday and this morning, and they understood that the four of them were the key figures in this manure collection war.

This team set out a little later. Xie Hushan rode his bicycle and led the team to the empty field next to the county long-distance bus station. There was a plan to build a square in front of the station, but it had not yet started. The place was large and could accommodate so many children and vehicles. There were also some shops selling goods that relied on the long-distance bus station, and newsstands that rented and sold comic books, so that teachers could take the children for a stroll. After the placement, it was probably 9:00. Leaving the driver and teachers to take care of the students, Xie Hushan unloaded a bag of black noodles from the mule cart, put it on the back seat of his bicycle, pedaled hard, and went to a small restaurant in the west of the city with a sign that said "State-owned West Street Restaurant". He carried the 50-pound black noodles on his bicycle and walked in to say hello.

He had been to this restaurant before going to the military camp yesterday. At that time, he had already considered the plan of using the children's good deeds to obtain manure, so he was thinking about where to prepare lunch for the children. He went around several state-owned restaurants and found that none of them accepted brown rice and black flour, only refined white rice and white flour. After a round of searching, only the waitress at this West Street restaurant said that they could accept black flour.

"Sister, it's me. I was here yesterday!" Xie Hushan put the black bag on the ground and greeted the hotel waitress.

The waitress was a woman in her thirties. It was not yet dinner time, and she was sitting at the table knitting a sweater. When she saw Xie Hushan coming in with a bag of noodles on his shoulder, she smiled and said, "I thought you were tired yesterday and came in to rest your legs. I was just joking, but you really came?"

"Fifty kilograms of black flour, come and have a look." Xie Hushan untied the hemp rope on the bag and called the other party to come and have a look. The woman put down her needle and thread, came over to take a look at the quality of the flour, and said straightforwardly: "This flour is well ground, not too rough, it can be used to make sesame cakes, OK, take it! Let's weigh it to see the weight?"

After putting the flour on the scale in the corner and counting the amount, the woman said, "Fifty kilograms. What kind of dry food do you want to make?"

"How much can I get for my bag of flour in exchange for steamed buns, biscuits and other dry food that can be taken away? How much more money do I need?" Xie Hushan looked at the woman and said.

He was a little confused about the consumption system of that era. Even if he just wanted to buy some buns, because he didn't have food coupons, he had to give the other party the corresponding amount of food to replace the food coupons, and then he had to pay another sum of money.

The woman pointed to the price list on the wall and said, "Isn't it written there? Vegetable and meat buns are 1 cent, meat sesame cakes are 8 cents, vegetarian buns are 6 cents, white flour steamed buns are 4 cents, and brown sugar sesame cakes are 7 cents. They all cost two taels of grain coupons each. If you're going to save them for a few days, choose sesame cakes. They can be kept for a few days. If you're going to eat them the same day, then steamed buns are a better deal. The buns in our restaurant weigh three taels each, including the flour and stuffing. They're generous in weight."

"Can my fifty kilograms of flour be exchanged for 250 meat buns?" Xie Hushan calculated based on two taels of grain for one bun and asked tentatively.

"It can't be exchanged. That's black flour, and the buns in the restaurant use finely ground white flour, so you have to give it a discount again. I'm also from the countryside and married to the county town. I'm not going to lie to you. Even if other restaurants are willing to reluctantly accept your black flour, they will at least give you a discount in half. I'll give you 15 pounds, which is 35 pounds, for 175 buns, and you have to pay another 17.5 yuan." The woman said to Xie Hushan.

Xie Hushan sighed. No matter where you go in the world, the people who suffer the most are the farmers in the village.

According to the other party's calculations, the processing fee for farmers to go to the city to buy food is incredibly high. Fifty kilograms of flour plus 17.5 yuan can only be exchanged for 175 meat buns, but he has no choice because other restaurants simply look down on the flour ground by their brigade's mill.

No wonder most members of Zhongping Village rarely go to the city. Even if they do, they will bring their own dry food prepared at home. With this price, what kind of farmer would dare to eat a meal in a restaurant outside the city?

Xie Hushan paid the other party the full amount: "Big sister, just as you said, one hundred and seventy-five meat buns, make them, I'll wait and leave."

The emperor has no shortage of hungry soldiers. He is just busy collecting manure, and he has to give something good to eat to the teachers and children who came to the county town to help. Otherwise, even if he is beaten to death, he would never spend such money in vain.

When Xie Hushan arrived at the long-distance bus station carrying two large bags of steamed buns, it was already noon. The children had already walked around the area and were coaxed by their teachers to sit under the shade of the trees. They looked at him eagerly like fledglings. Xie Hushan smiled and patted the steamed buns hanging on his bicycle:
"Everyone come and eat! After you're full, let's go fight the last battle!"

(End of this chapter)