Back to 1978

Chapter 171: Pick up the car

Under the shade of a tree at the entrance of the weighing room of the steel rolling mill, Xie Hushan was sitting on a stool with his bare chest and wearing shorts, holding a piece of watermelon in his hands and chewing it with all its juice. Dahei was lying at his feet, using his two front legs to pick up the watermelon rind that Xie Hushan had just given him and chewing it seriously.

Behind him was the child laborer hired to buy two popsicles for four cents. His second uncle's younger brother Xiaobao was holding a large palm-leaf fan in both hands and was fanning Xie Hushan earnestly.

This child is a bit like his second uncle, too honest. Xie Hushan originally teased him when he bought him ice cubes, but this little guy was really responsible after eating the ice cubes, and he couldn't be driven away even if he was shouted. From the time Xie Hushan sat down to enjoy the cool air until now, he has been fanning him for more than half an hour, and his little face is covered with sweat from exhaustion, and he refused to take a break even when asked to do so.

He was afraid that his brother would not hire him tomorrow and he would lose this job that paid only two popsicles.

Xie Hushan felt that except for Daxiu, everyone in the Xie family had impeccable character.

"Xiaobao, take a break. If you continue to fan me, your aunt will come and slap me in the face." Xie Hushan turned around and said to his brother:
"It's time to get off work. Go, take a nap on my bed in my room. I'm telling you, if you continue to work after get off work, it will be considered a violation of discipline. I will fire you and I won't buy you popsicles tomorrow."

When Xiao Bao heard that he would be breaking the rules and not be given the popsicle if he continued fanning, he did not stay for even a second and ran towards Xie Hushan's office with a large palm-leaf fan.

"You are too honest. Why don't you leave the palm-leaf fan for me?" Xie Hushan sighed frustratedly as he saw his brother taking even the fan with him. Just as he was about to ask Dahei to take the trouble to bring the fan back, Ma Saner was already riding a bicycle towards him in the scorching sun.

When he saw Ma Saner, Xie Hushan lowered his head even more.

Sure enough, Ma Saner stopped his bicycle, squatted opposite Xie Hushan, and his voice was full of pleading:

"Thank you, Commander. Please forgive me. Although I am only a brigade commander under you, my position is lower than that of Chief of Staff Han, but it can't be too bad. At least I should be equal to Daxi, right?"

"A horse rider can earn more than ten yuan a month at the steel mill, but Wu Shuanzi, Wang Chong and I work so hard at the Yakou Brick Factory that we only earn 1.5 cents. It's only natural for those two to earn 1.5 cents. After all, they are not your direct descendants."

"I'm different. Commander Xie cultivated me. If you keep doing this, I'll have to shit on my neck. This guy is just showing off. Commander, you have to think of a way to help your brother for the sake of the party and the country."

"If you don't speak up, I will drag Wu Shuanzi and Wang Chong to set up a new camp, right?"

Normally, after the summer harvest and planting, Ma Saner, Wu Shuanzi, and Wang Chong would rest for two days and then pack up and rush back to Yakou to take charge of firing the kiln. This was the original plan for the three of them, until Ma Saner learned about the salary of his younger brother Cao Ma at the steel mill, and his mentality collapsed.

He watches the temperature of the brick kiln every day at the brick factory at Yakou. He is a genuine technical backbone of the brick factory and a genuine brick-making successor of Master Luo. He earns 1.5 cents a day, which comes out to 4.5 yuan a month, not even a fraction of his younger brother's salary at the steel mill.

He originally wanted to ask his younger brother to run errands to help buy a pack of cigarettes, and he generously gave Cao Ma five cents as errand fee.

In the end, Cao Ma didn't even look at the five cents. Instead, he took out fifty cents and asked Ma Saner to buy it himself. He also asked Ma Saner to bring back a bottle of orange juice. After drinking it, Ma Saner would help return the bottle. The 1.3 cents return fee was considered as Ma Saner's errand fee.

Which brother can tolerate this?

Ma Saner was so angry that he bit his teeth while holding the 1.3 cents his brother gave him as errand fee.

Upon asking, I found out that my younger brother earned more than 18 yuan a month from the steel rolling mill when he earned more, and 16.5 yuan when he earned less. The small change in his salary was more than the 45 cents he earned a month.

After asking Han Laoer and others, he found out that Xie Hushan's cronies only earned 1.5 cents, so Ma Saner began to plead with Xie Hushan, asking to come to the steel rolling mill to work. He did not ask for special treatment, but just wanted to be treated the same as everyone else.

Xie Hushan looked at the pitiful Ma Saner, slowed down his tone, and spoke in a slightly serious tone: "Comrade Ma Mengqi, we work so hard, is it for personal enjoyment? It's all for the collective. Just take me for example, I'm busy every day..."

He was preparing to persuade Ma Saner, who had come to ask for equal pay for equal work, when Chen Daxi, who had just finished work in the workshop, drank a bottle of beer cooled with well water and brought another bottle to Xie Hushan, shouting:
"Thank you, Commander. Beer Town is ready. It's hot, I'll get you some..."

"Get out, get out, get out!" The solemn and stern atmosphere was shattered by Chen Daxixi's words, and Xie Hushan was so angry that he cursed at him.

I was just telling Ma Saner that hard work is for building the motherland and that one should not enjoy personal pleasure, but this blind guy was trying to deceive me.

Da Xi was so shocked by Xie Hushan's series of insults that he turned around and ran away.

"Well, the temperature in the steel mill is too high, and sometimes the comrades go to relieve themselves after work...ah, it seems that the brick kiln is not too cold either." Looking at Ma Saner's almost crazy eyes, Xie Hushan remembered that the brick kiln seemed to be not much cooler than the steel mill.

This is indeed a bit of an exaggeration. Last time, because the other militiamen helped Captain Qiu to take revenge, they were all withdrawn by Zhang Cheng. Later, when Lao Yang got the steel mill equipment and other things, they started working in the steel mill with him, enjoying the treatment of temporary workers in the team-run enterprise, and they could get more than ten or twenty yuan every month.

It's just this much. It's not that Xie Hushan treats his brothers badly. On the contrary, the wages of Han Laoer, Chen Daxixi, and even the young boy Cao Ma are much higher than those of other workers from Xishan.

Because the steel rolling mill is a brigade enterprise, not a sideline business of Team 3, the two are of different natures. Working as a sideline business for Team 3 earns work points within the team, but there is no salary.

However, the brigade's steel rolling mill employed members of the production teams below, so it was not a question of earning work points. The team-run factory had its own official seal. Unlike a small brick kiln, the production team and the team-run factory were public to public. When the factory hired members of a production team, it had to pay to buy the members' work points in production team three.

In fact, he had to pay Han Laoer and others a basic salary of more than 50 yuan per month in exchange for them receiving more than 10 yuan per month.

For example, the full daily work points of Production Team 3 this year are worth one yuan and 13 cents, which is thirty-one yuan and 31.3 yuan a month. After Han Laoer and his colleagues receive a salary of more than 50 yuan, they have to hand over thirty-one yuan and 31.3 yuan to the production team, and he can only put the rest in his own pocket.

Even Xie Hushan himself had to pay money to Ma Laowu, the captain of the third production team, every month before they agreed to let him come out and become the factory director.

Only in this way, when Production Team 3 distributes dividends and grain at the end of the year, will they have a share. This is equivalent to using money to buy other members of the production team to complete their share of the production team's labor work.

At the same time, this was also the result of Xie Hushan's deliberate control. Each person had a dozen yuan left, which was enough for these people to spend in a rural place like Zhongping.

Han Laogou had specifically told him before to tell these militiamen not to publicize how much money they earned at the steel mill. Otherwise, when other members of Zhongping went to the team to report problems and also wanted to go to the steel mill to earn money and work, it would be difficult for the team to do ideological work.

By this calculation, Ma Saner, Wu Shuanzi and Wang Chong, the three technical backbones of the brick kiln who failed to withdraw, are the most unlucky.

They were all brothers. Chen Daxi and his friends ate and drank in the steel mill cafeteria every day and received their wages, but the three of them had to sleep in a shack at the edge of the cliff and earn work points at the rate of 1.5 cents a day.

The three of them were quite miserable, and the young widow was even more miserable. She was the deputy team leader of the sideline group, earning 1.5 cents a day. Not only did she have to do the work of a brick kiln manager, but she also had to cook for these three guys.

It's time to rearrange it.

"The brick kiln is the sideline of Team 3, and the steel mill is the sideline of Team 1. If you want to raise the standard, it's like asking for Ma Laowu's life. Now 1.5 cents a day is too much for him." Xie Hushan thought for a moment and looked at Ma Saner:
"Well, I'll give you an idea. Take your people to find Ermianfei."

"What should I talk to him about? You've already told him that he thinks 1.5 cents is too much..." Ma Saner asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"You can't say that. You have to talk to him from the perspective of collective interests. I'll teach you." Xie Hushan said to Ma Saner:

"When you see him, tell him, Uncle Wu, we want to contribute more to the team. Now there is an opportunity to generate income of more than 30 yuan per month. Do you think I should seize the opportunity or pretend to be ignorant?"

"I understand!" Ma Saner's eyes lit up. He was much smarter than Chen Daxixi. He could set a trap for his fifth uncle in his words. As long as Ermianfei wanted to take advantage of him, he would just nod and fall into the trap.

If he regrets it later and dares not admit it, don't blame me for being heartless and going to the third team headquarters to cause trouble.

Xie Hushan nodded: "If the three of you come back, shouldn't Lao Meng and the fourth girl come back as well? If we can trick a pipe factory into building one, we'll still need the cheap labor in Xishan to build it."

"Let's put it this way. Even if we have an agreement with Ma Laowu, the three of you have to go back to the kiln and stay there for a while. At least teach my father-in-law and his wife the kiln-firing techniques, and make sure there is someone in the kiln who knows how to watch the temperature and watch the workers loading the kiln."

"I'll ask Lao Yang later. He's good at this. Let him study how to solve the brick kiln problem. Should we transfer it from the third team to the big team and manage it together with the steel rolling mill? Or should we give some benefits to Yakou and see if we can get some other advantages from him?" "Okay! I said the commander is wise!" Ma Saner heard Xie Hushan nod and grinned, "Then I won't disturb you to rest. I'll take my leave. Take my leave!"

Xie Hushan waved his hand at the flattering Ma Saner:
"Get lost! I don't know who you are just now. You threatened me by bringing Wu Shuanzi and Wang Chong to set up a new camp!"

After Ma Saner rode away on his bicycle, Xie Hushan rubbed Dahei's head and handed the unfinished watermelon to Dahei's mouth to strengthen Dahei's ideological education:

"Dahei, it's hard to lead the team. Lao Meng has been corrupted by that bastard Lao Yang. You are the only loyal one left by my side."

Dahei was lying at his feet, wolfing down the melon flesh and rubbing his head against Xie Hushan's hand affectionately. Just as Xie Hushan was enjoying a rare peaceful afternoon, Lao Yang appeared at the steel rolling mill riding a bicycle, carrying Lv Yuan, who was using a folding umbrella to protect herself from the sun.

"Have you eaten? If not, go home and eat! The factory chef is not here today, and I'm on a diet!" Xie Hushan turned his head away in annoyance when he saw the couple.

Lu Yuan jumped off the bicycle, walked over with a bag in her hand, and said with a smile:

"Xie Hushan, why are you becoming more and more stingy? When I first met you, you were so generous."

"This doesn't reveal his true face. When I first met him, he looked quite simple and honest." Yang Liming spoke slowly from behind.

"No matter how generous I am, I can't stand you two being so aggressive." Xie Hushan looked at the two people standing in front of him and pointed at Yang Limin:
"If you two eat from the big pot in the cafeteria, you can eat as much as you want, right? If I were to be stingy, I'd be a nobody. It's all the collective money, so just eat as much as you can."

"You two are here to eat in the cafeteria, for the special kitchen. I paid for that with my own money! Can you control your wife? That's too much. I remember it all. She has come to eat with you four times. Except for the first time, she brought her own lunch boxes the other three times and had to take the food away after eating!"

"I just want to ask, which couple would bring a lunch box when they go out to eat at someone else's house?"

Lv Yuan was amused by Xie Hushan's angry look and handed the bag to Xie Hushan:
"It's not for free. I got my salary and bought it at the Yaoshan First People's Mall."

"If you say so... this is for me?" Xie Hushan opened the bag, pulled out a dress from it, and said unsatisfactorily:
"You don't have to act like a lady when giving gifts. Don't be afraid that I'll be embarrassed. Just be generous and direct and give it to me."

"Where is Taozi?" Lu Yuan looked around and asked Xie Hushan after not seeing Taozi.

Xie Hushan said, "Let me coax her home to take a nap with my grandma, so she won't be idle here and always looking for work to do."

Yang Liming pulled over two stools, put one in front of Lu Yuan first, and then sat down himself. He didn't treat himself as an outsider at all. Without thanking Hushan for his greeting, he picked up a watermelon from the side and started cutting it.

When Dahei saw that Xie Hushan no longer had the watermelon in his hand, he looked in front of Yang Liming, walked over decisively with his tail wagging, lay down beside Yang Liming's feet, and began to rub Yang Liming's trouser leg affectionately with his head.

Seeing this scene, Xie Hushan was even more upset. This team, not to mention the human hearts, even the dog hearts were scattered...

"Director Ma hasn't contacted you in the past two days. Why are you so free?" Yang Liming asked Xie Hushan while helping Lu Yuan pick watermelon seeds.

Xie Hushan, in consideration of Lv Yuan's gift, took out a bottle of soda from the basin in the nearby weighing room, opened it and handed it to Lv Yuan, and said to Yang Limin:
"It's not a good deal to rush. Why are you in such a hurry? It's easy to be exposed if you're too impatient. Mr. Li is quite impatient. The more impatient he is, the more stable we have to be. Hold the trap steady so that the rabbit can get in and can't escape."

"Secretary Yin is very concerned about this matter. Just don't let the rabbit run away." Yang Liming knew that he was not treated as well as Lu Yuan. After picking the watermelon seeds for Lu Yuan, he went to get a bottle and sat back.

Xie Hushan watched the two of them eating watermelon and drinking soda, just like his mother was on a picnic, and couldn't help but question:
"Are you two going to eat from now until the evening, or are you going to sit there drinking soda and eating watermelon until the evening to wait for dinner?"

"Eat until tomorrow." Lu Yuan held the soda bottle and said to Xie Hushan seriously:
"Your factory doesn't want the car anymore? Didn't we agree to pick it up after the wheat harvest? My mother wants you to take it or not. If you do, drive it away quickly. If not, another unit or factory may take a fancy to it and ask the leader to buy it for you, and she won't be able to handle it."

Xie Hushan showed an affectionate expression on his face: "Auntie, it has to be you. What do you want to eat tonight? Did you bring your lunch box?"

"I brought it. It's in the small travel box on my bicycle." Lu Yuan replied to Xie Hushan seriously, "I want to eat dry-fried hairtail fish, braised pork, and mixed..."

Xie Hushan covered his chest and interrupted Lu Yuan:

"Stop, stop. I was just being polite. You didn't hear that? Did you really bring it? Old Yang, you should control your wife and not be too harsh. Although you have many other problems, I still admire your dignity. Think about it, when you lived in my house, didn't our whole family praise you for your high consciousness and being a good cadre of the country?"

"My boyfriend has been staying at your house for two months, paying for his meals, and the team also gives him subsidies, but you, you feed him steamed bread and pickled vegetables every day." Lu Yuan said to Xie Hushan confidently:

"Our old Yang has a sense of shame. Sorry, I will shamelessly take back all the money he lost from you!"

"You two ate four takeout meals from my special kitchen, and you've already made your money back, my good aunt," Xie Hushan reminded.

Lu Yuan chewed a watermelon and said, "It's not based on the quality of the food, it's based on the meal."

Xie Hushan looked at Lao Yang and said, "Uncle, can I ask someone to find you a wife with traditional virtues? I'll pay for the betrothal gifts and other things. This woman doesn't look like a good person. She will affect your future sooner or later."

Lu Yuan stayed at Xie Hushan's house with Taozi and her grandmother for one night.

Early the next morning, Lv Yuan took Xie Hushan to her mother's workplace to pick up the bicycle. She originally thought that the scene would be that Lao Yang would carry her on the ladies' bicycle given by Xie Hushan, and Xie Hushan would ride the bicycle alone. After riding to Yaoshan, Xie Hushan would drive Lao Yang back, and she would go to Zhongping next time and ride Xie Hushan's bicycle back.

It was a beautiful idea, and they made an appointment to meet at the commune. However, when Lu Yuan arrived at Zhongping Commune, she was shocked.

In addition to Yang Liming who was still riding his own ladies' bicycle, Xie Hushan, wearing a suit and a big gold chain, was sitting in the sidecar of the Changjiang motorcycle from Zhongping Commune. Han Laoer, wearing sunglasses, was the driver of the sidecar motorcycle. At this time, he was turning the throttle, causing the motorcycle to spew out puffs of black smoke.

In the distance, there were a dozen young men, all wearing sunglasses, T-shirts, and jeans, pushing hiking bicycles, and they all seemed to be waiting to set off with him.

Lv Yuan looked at the situation in front of her and asked Xie Hushan, "Are you going to my mother's workplace to pick up the car, or are you going to bring people to knock down my mother's workplace?"

This scene gave Lu Yuan the illusion that she was not taking Xie Hushan to pick up the car. It was more like the couple were acting as guides for the traitors, leading a group of disguised puppet soldiers behind them to attack the Mining and Metallurgical Administration Bureau where her mother worked.

At first glance, these dozen militiamen looked like prisoners who had escaped from prison and paraded through the city wearing stolen clothes and bicycles.

"We finally have the opportunity to go to Yaoshan to pick up the car. They also want to go with us. It's not convenient to go to Yaoshan from here, so let them come with us." Yang Liming explained to Lu Yuan.

Although Zhongping is only about 40 miles away from Yaoshan City, which is about the same distance as Bingyang County, there is no long-distance bus between Yaoshan City and Zhongping. People from Zhongping need to provide their own transportation to go to Yaoshan City.

It is also for this reason that people in Zhongping usually go to the county town when they go to the city, and rarely have the opportunity to go around the city with friends.

These people heard last night that Mr. and Mrs. Yang were going to take Commander Xie to Yaoshan City to pick up a bicycle for the steel rolling mill. So they went home that night to find the clothes they were going to wear, and wiped the bicycles carefully with flashlights overnight, waiting to go to the city to see the world early this morning.

"I'll trust you again." Zhang Cheng walked out of his office and patted Xie Hushan on the head twice:

"We agreed to drive for me for two days. If you don't bring the car back, I will ride you out for a ride every day from now on."

Xie Hushan patted the bag on his back:
"The money, official seal, and letter are all ready, Master, just wait at home for news of my triumphant return."

(End of this chapter)