Back to 1978

Chapter 217: New Year's Eve

"Hey hey hey..."

Early in the morning on New Year's Eve, before it was completely light, Song Tiesheng and Dongzi knocked on the door of Xie Hushan's house.

Xie Hushan, who was in a bad mood after waking up, glanced at Song Tiesheng and Dongzi:

"Hey bullshit, are you two fucking sick? You don't stay at home on New Year's Day, but knock on other people's doors in the morning? You can even make the wrong New Year's greetings? Tomorrow is the Spring Festival, and today is New Year's Eve!"

"The uncles and uncles from the railway asked us to give you something to show our appreciation." Song Tiesheng grinned and turned his head to look behind him.

Xie Hushan looked over and saw that in addition to the 212 jeep they usually drove, which he had borrowed from somewhere, there was also a 130 truck. At this moment, the truck driver was unrolling the tarpaulin, revealing a truck full of fireworks and firecrackers.

Dongzi took out a cigarette and gave it to Xie Hushan, smiling as he introduced:
"A few days ago, we checked a batch of fireworks and firecrackers. The fireworks factory of that brigade had no formalities at all. They dared to make gunpowder by themselves and transported them to other places by wagon. Fortunately, they were all seized by the railway. Otherwise, if something really happened, half of the brigade would have been blown up. The unit organized the destruction, but we have limited manpower, so please, third brother, help destroy some of them."

Xie Hushan took the cigarette and yawned: "Is that all?"

"The leaders and some elders at the railway wanted to invite you to dinner after the New Year, and asked you to set the date. Without you to resolve this matter, those buddies who helped me fight would not dare to come back for the New Year. Everyone will remember your kindness." Song Tiesheng took out a lighter, lit a cigarette for Xie Hushan, and said:
"Also, it's a good thing you sent me the letter. If the letter had been delayed a little longer, I would have boarded the train and headed south. Now I don't have to run, and I've even been promoted to a higher rank."

Hearing Song Tiesheng say that he was promoted to a higher rank, Xie Hushan's expression froze slightly, and he stared at Song Tiesheng: "You were promoted to a higher rank? When did it happen?"

"I was notified yesterday." Song Tiesheng said to Xie Hushan, "I thought it must be you, Third Brother, who arranged this. Why, it wasn't you? Is it because I work diligently and conscientiously?"

"Did your leader say anything else?" Xie Hushan asked as he lit a cigarette with the flame of a lighter and took a puff.

Song Tiesheng thought for a moment, shook his head and said, "No, my leader asked me what my relationship with you is and why we are so close. Then I told him the truth, starting from how we met. After listening to him, our leader said that there was an opportunity for me to visit my sister-in-law's family more often. I thought that I must visit my sister-in-law's family more often because her sister is my girlfriend and my sister-in-law's parents are my father-in-law and mother-in-law."

After hearing this, Xie Hushan turned his head away with a headache. Da Qiao's mother, that damn old woman, this is a slippery and beautiful snake. These are all troubles that need to be solved in the future.

He did not continue talking to Song Tiesheng, but changed the subject and asked:
"Is your mother okay? Is she not frightened by your head full of gauze?"

Song Tiesheng nodded: "That's fine. She didn't know anything happened to me. I said it was because I was injured while catching a thief. She only heard about it from others after the incident. Seeing that I was alive and well, and I told her yesterday that I was promoted to another level, she didn't take the gossip seriously."

"Daxiu!" Xie Hushan turned his head and shouted to Daxiu, who had gotten up early, changed into new clothes and ran to say auspicious words to grandma:

"Help me to call Fourth Girl and ask her to go to the steel mill and tell her what I said. Pack up some of the things that the factories sent yesterday and have Tiesheng and his men take them back to share with the families of the guys on the railway."

Daxiu was in high spirits today because she had just received two yuan of pocket money from her grandmother. She ran out of the main room holding Erxi's hand in a new cotton coat, and readily agreed and went to find Han Hongzhen.

When Dongzi saw Daxiu, he couldn't take his eyes away. He turned his head to look in the direction where Daxiu disappeared. Song Tiesheng was so angry that he slapped Dongzi on the neck:
"You kept saying you would marry Xiaoyu, but now that you've seen Third Brother's sister, have you changed your mind?"

"I have to marry Xiaoyu, but it doesn't affect me making a backup plan. What if Xiaoyu is not happy?" Dongzi said with a smile, covering his neck.

Xie Hushan smiled and asked Dongzi, "Do you have a grudge against your parents?"

"No?" Dongzi asked doubtfully.

"If not, stay away from her. If you want your parents to die a few years earlier, I won't stop you." Xie Hushan retracted his gaze and explained to Song Tiesheng:

"Yesterday, several factories in the county gave me some New Year gifts, including a few tractors. You can take some back and share them with my brothers. You're welcome."

"As for the meal, let them choose a date. Any day is fine after the tenth. If you have nothing to do, go to the steel mill to load the trucks. I'm going back to sleep. I'm going to pay New Year's greetings to your mother on the sixth. The deputy director and the driver who were responsible for collecting the gifts didn't come back until after ten o'clock yesterday. It was past twelve o'clock after I finished eating with them, and then I went home to sleep."

Han Hongzhen went begging yesterday and got a lot of rewards. This is mainly because the leaders of the county factory are all good at dealing with people. They had thought that even if Xie Hushan was not shot, he would have to go through labor reform for more than ten years. Unexpectedly, after such a big fuss, nothing happened. Instead, the other party's father accepted the organization's arrangement and returned to his hometown province to retire in an idle job.

Since he had said the wrong thing in the first place, he naturally had to admit it now. So when he heard Han Hongzhen say that Xie Hushan, the plague god, had returned to Zhongping alive and specially asked her to come and pay New Year's greetings, he did not hesitate to contact the factory logistics department or the factory labor union, and allocated some of the welfare materials for the workers in the factory to Xie Hushan. In the local dialect of Bingyang, it is called "giving Director Xie pain."

The gifts are not actually that valuable. They are just a trick to fool people by using large quantities. They are rare only in rural areas, but nothing in the city. Every family basically gives the same thing, a set of hard goods, and the rest are common goods like ham, canned luncheon meat, cake powder, orange juice, cigarettes, alcohol, grain and oil that fool people.

As for the hard stuff, it depends on how well each factory can provide welfare to its workers; each one is different.

The hard goods that Bingyang Special-Shaped Steel Processing Factory prepared for its workers this year are a batch of high-quality imitation gabardine fabrics that came from an unknown fabric factory. As long as you are a worker of the factory, you can get a certain number of fabrics. The exact number is not clear, but it is definitely enough for the workers to make a new set of clothes to wear during the Chinese New Year.

Han Hongzhen went to beg for money under the name of Xie Hushan. In addition to packing a bunch of gifts, the other party also brought out two large pieces of imitation gabardine cloth. They didn't say that it was for Xie Hushan, but asked Han Hongzhen to use it to make clothes for the tractor drivers who helped transport scrap iron as a welfare, so that they would work harder when they returned to work after the New Year to transport scrap steel, and not be lazy.

The No. 2 Steel Plant has performed well this year and has obtained a batch of small refrigerators with surplus from a refrigerator factory in the south that has been supplying them. Dual-income families do not need to draw quotas and can directly move one away, while single-income families can transfer the quota internally at a discount. Xie Hushan and Han Hongzhen each received one.

Therefore, the things in the steel rolling mill’s warehouse may not be as good as the inventory in Zhongping Supply and Marketing Cooperative, but the rare things that are not available in rural areas are much more than those in the supply and marketing cooperative.

Xie Hushan was too lazy to be polite with these two guys, so he turned around and went back to sleep. If he delayed too long, the heat in the quilt would easily dissipate. If he went back to bed now, he could still retain a lot of residual warmth.

"Third brother, I'm causing you trouble again this time." Song Tiesheng, with his head wrapped in gauze, whispered to Xie Hushan.

After hearing what Song Tiesheng said, Xie Hushan walked up to him again and touched the gauze on his head with his hand:

"You've caused me so much trouble. Next time you want to fight, make sure you ask clearly. Don't get angry just because some female comrade says she has an affair with me. Go back and ask Er Tao to coax my wife. Otherwise, I'm afraid my wife will punish you sooner or later."

"After I send you off this time, I have a truckload of New Year's goods left. I'll deliver it to my sister-in-law's home in Yakou right away," said Song Tiesheng.

"Then let's go to the factory and load half more truckloads, install the refrigerator, and unload it at my wife's house. Just say I delivered it. Go away, I'm going to sleep." Xie Hushan sent the two men away, went back and slept until around nine in the morning before getting up.

The sound of firecrackers outside was already intermittent. Daxiu actually behaved like an older sister today. She no longer ran around outside to play, but coaxed Xiaobao to whip the spinning top that her second uncle had helped her make at the door. It was not her who whipped the top, but Xiaobao. She watched from the side, and only after the spinning top stopped would she take the whip and help Xiaobao start it spinning again.

After all, he has grown up.

"Xiaobao, am I good to you?" Daxiu asked Xiaobao from the side.

Xiao Bao waved a small whip and hit the spinning top, nodding his head vigorously: "Okay, sister is the best."

"Your New Year's money this year..." Before Daxiu finished speaking, Xie Hushan covered his forehead and praised him too early. "Auntie, Daxiu cheated Xiaobao out of his New Year's money." Xie Hushan was about to shout, and Daxiu, who was so angry that her evil plan failed, stuffed her cold claws into her brother's collar.

Xie Hushan took out a little more than one yuan in change from his pocket and handed it to Daxiu to beg for mercy: "Go, buy me a pack of cigarettes, and the rest will be yours as errand fee, is that ok?"

Daxiu took Xiaobao away and came back a little while later to hand Xie Hushan a box of Labor cigarettes. Xie Hushan sighed: "For more than one yuan, you bought me a box of Labor? Even if you bought Xiaobei."

"I didn't buy it. I bought it on credit. Next time you buy cigarettes, remember to pay me back. You gave me 1.7 yuan and I collected 2 yuan. When you pay me back, remember to pay back 38 cents." Daxiu said to Xie Hushan while chewing a candied melon.

Xie Hushan picked up the cigarette speechlessly: "I died more miserably than my father with this money. I'll give you some pocket money to spend. You can also help me to get some food outside. Didn't grandma give you two yuan this morning? What do you want to buy? Two yuan is not enough. Are you trying to trick Xiaobao and get some food outside for me?"

"I'll save money for a use, so I won't tell you." Daxiu snorted, walked past Xie Hushan, and walked away with Xiaobao: "Come on, Xiaobao, sister will take you to play."

Xie Hushan reminded from behind: "Xiaobao, be careful with your New Year's money."

The house was filled with busy and peaceful scenes. My aunt, my second aunt, and my sister-in-law were busy in the main room washing vegetables, lighting fires, and preparing various dishes.

Grandma and Sixth Master, who rarely wore neat clothes, were sitting in the east room. They were talking to Second Master Xie, who had come specially on New Year's Eve to wish them a happy new year.

Xie Hushan went in, said hello to the Second Master, and then walked out.

The relationships among the six brothers of the Xie family always made him feel very complicated. For example, the second uncle called the sixth uncle and grandmother "sister-in-law". Xie Hushan even asked his aunt privately why, but his aunt didn't know. Not to mention her, even the uncle didn't know the details.

Moreover, every time the Second Master came to visit Grandma and Sixth Master, he came alone. His wife and children and grandchildren would never come with him. The descendants of the Second Master's side rarely visited Zhongping. It was said that the Second Master had a bad temper and did not allow her children and grandchildren to visit Zhongping.

But during the holidays, the uncle, second uncle and Xie Hushan from Zhongping would go to the second uncle's house to pay New Year's greetings. Xie Hushan had met the second grandmother and felt that she did not seem to be a person with a bad temper.

Therefore, Xie Hushan could only guess that Mr. Xie had married into the mistress's family as a son-in-law. The family had strict rules and looked down on the son-in-law's family, and did not allow their children and grandchildren to visit them.

But if he really was a son-in-law, how could grandma let the second master, who was a son-in-law, take charge of all matters of the Xie family? And if the second master was going to be a son-in-law, why would his children and grandchildren still have the surname Xie?
When I went to Hong Kong Island, the second uncle said at the dinner table that he was old and wanted to hand over the affairs of the Xie family to the eldest uncle Xie Qimao, but my grandmother did not agree.

I don't understand.

It has been a rule in Zhongping for many years that on New Year's Eve, the men in the family basically have nothing to do. Lighting the fire and cooking are women's jobs, and the men are cleaned up neatly by their wives, so they don't have to do anything.

They either hang out in the supply and marketing cooperatives on the street, or find a place to gather together to play cards or chess, just waiting to go home for dinner.

After working as a slave in the production team for a year, one must dress neatly and cleanly on New Year's Day to show off to his wife and prove that his wife is in charge of all the housework. In a word, the more idle the men are today, the more face his wife will have.

He stood at the door and watched Daxiu, Xiaobao was playing not far away, Han Hongzhen rode a bicycle, sweating on her forehead and rushed over. Seeing Xie Hushan standing at the door with his sleeves tucked in, looking up at the sky like a lazy man, she said with a smile:

"Thank you, Captain. I have taken inventory of everything as you ordered."

"Luckily I'm the team leader now. A new team leader must bring about a new atmosphere. Men and women must be equal. Every family has wives cooking and cooking, but the husbands do nothing. This is unacceptable and needs to be dealt with." Xie Hushan looked at the members who were chatting in groups of three or four with their arms folded on the street, and said to Han Hongzhen:

"Tell Accountant Zhao to prepare the broadcast on the loudspeaker and find something for them to do."

"As the captain, why wouldn't you go and do this kind of thing?" Han Hongzhen looked at Xie Hushan and asked.

Xie Hushan refused confidently, "Why would I do such a job that will get me scolded? Ma Laowu, Accountant Zhao and you, just find a few people to distribute it."

Han Hongzhen turned around and was about to ride her bicycle to the brigade headquarters, but Xie Hushan stopped her and said, "Wait a minute, does the refrigerator they gave you count as a gift?"

"There's no use for that thing. There aren't so many things at home that need to be frozen. Besides, we have a cellar." Han Hongzhen said as a matter of course.

They did give her two refrigerators, one for her and one for Xie Hushan. Xie Hushan's refrigerator was taken to Taozi's house by Song Tiesheng that morning. Han Hongzhen didn't take the other party's words that it was given to her seriously. Who was she to deserve a refrigerator? Without Xie Hushan's name in front of her, would they give her a refrigerator? It was her luck that they didn't squeeze her to death.

Xie Hushan said, "Then keep the money according to the selling price. It can be regarded as you selling it to the brigade at a discount. When it comes back, just transfer the money to my account. Then you can go to my cabinet and take half of the cosmetics that Han Laoer sent back. The remaining half is for Lao Yang's wife. It can be regarded as exchanging the refrigerator for cosmetics."

"Why didn't you give Taozi the cosmetics?" Han Hongzhen asked puzzledly.

Xie Hushan said, "Isn't this nonsense? Han Laoer's mistress Lin the translator bought Taozi a lot of cosmetics to curry my favor, but Lin the translator was reluctant to spend money and bought cheap stuff. I'm afraid that Taozi's face will be damaged by the makeup."

"You just can't speak properly." Hearing Xie Hushan's deliberately irritating words, Han Hongzhen did not get angry this time. Instead, she smiled and spoke to Xie Hushan like an elder who dotes on a child.

Seeing that Han Hongzhen was not angry, Xie Hushan felt a little sorry: "Recover yourself. I am not used to you not scolding me."

Han Hongzhen ignored Xie Hushan and rode her bicycle to the brigade headquarters. After a while, Accountant Zhao's voice rang out over the loudspeaker:

"Ahem...According to the brigade's arrangement, the blacklist and redlist reward distribution event will be held at the steel mill at 10 o'clock this morning. Each company will send a representative. If you don't go, it will be considered an automatic waiver and a black mark will be recorded."

As soon as the loudspeaker finished speaking, Xie Hushan saw women rushing out of every house carrying vegetable basins or kitchen knives, shouting at their husbands. The men, who were originally leisurely, now felt as if they were facing a great enemy. At the urging of their wives, they all ran towards the steel rolling mill, cursing Accountant Zhao as they walked. When they saw Xie Hushan poking at the door of their house, they urged him to quickly beat up Accountant Zhao, who had no sense at all. How could he be so cruel on New Year's Eve? He was such a jerk.

In a moment, all the men and women in the village, young and old, rushed along the village road towards the steel mill, leaving only the women, children and the elderly who were busy preparing lunch.

When Han Hongzhen brought the black and red account to Xie Hushan for review and signature as instructed by Accountant Zhao, Xie Hushan was walking around the village with Dahei, who had come over with his hands behind his back, and said to Dahei in a provocative tone:

"Dahei, isn't my trick powerful? If any family in the brigade finds a beautiful new wife this year, I can stand at their door and look at her openly without worrying about getting beaten. If their husbands dare to come back, I can even righteously punish them."

Han Hongzhen couldn't help but burst out laughing when she heard this.

In the distance, Lao Meng and a few boys placed a large firecracker on the ice of a fish pond in winter, then lit the fuse, and there was a loud "bang".

Firecrackers flew high and exploded in the sky on New Year’s Eve in 1979!
1979 has passed...

(End of this chapter)