Back to 1978

Chapter 46: You are right, don't be a coward

Xie Hushan stood up and walked out of the team headquarters. After walking for a distance, he quickly slipped back to the team headquarters entrance along the wall and secretly listened to the movements inside.

Sure enough, Accountant Yang Shuangxi was telling Han Laogou his opinion on the matter:
"It's obvious what Hu San'er said. He, Hong Bing, Da Xi, Ma San and the other guys from Team 3 have always been excited when they hear about a fight, even more than eating stewed meat during the New Year. How can he stand being bullied?"

"Let alone four people, he dared to fight with forty people. How did he become a militia platoon leader? It was during the earthquake that he distributed supplies. He was too soft when things got tough. He stood up and wanted to lead people to bury those who stole the supplies from their third team. If Minister Zhang hadn't rushed over in time, they would have been thrown into the pit and filled with soil."

"Hehehe, I later heard about this from Lao Zhang from the Armed Forces. He was shocked when he arrived. He said these little bastards were so cruel. Seven or eight people were strung together by their scapulas with wire. When he arrived, Hu Saner and the others were digging a hole with shovels. While digging they said to Lao Zhang that anyway looting supplies during an earthquake is a capital crime and they will definitely be shot, so they might as well suffer a little and dig a hole to bury them, saving the country some bullets and also fertilizing the fields of Team 3." When Han Laogou heard Yang Shuangxi say that these guys didn't know how to let go, he smiled smugly.

In his opinion, the Zhongping Brigade must ensure that there are such people from generation to generation, so as to avoid being bullied.

If they were all cowardly and honest people, they would be squeezed to death by other teams in a place like the countryside.

Every time the agricultural machinery station sends machines to help with plowing and harvesting, you try to bully them, so other teams dare to cut in and take the machines to their fields to work first, regardless of how much less grain your crops will yield if they are harvested a day later!

When we asked the commune leaders to mediate, the only result was some kind of compromise. They said that since the machines had already reached the other party's land, we should just finish their work first, and then we could scold them without any mercy and never do it again, and we wouldn't even have to remove our positions.

Because if you withdraw today, the brigade members can vote to elect you again tomorrow!
What to do? Of course, he, the brigade secretary and militia battalion instructor, and the militia battalion commander should go out together, take weapons and go directly to grab the machine. Anyone who dares to stop them will be killed!
If you dare to be soft and show a little mercy, the other party will think you are a coward and will ride on your neck and shit on you every year from now on!

In early summer, all the communes were busy watering the wheat fields. The electricity supply was insufficient, and each team had to rank the order of electricity for watering the wells. They should have drawn lots to arrange the order. Since I was absent from a meeting in the city, I should have been left with one lot and others should have helped to split it. However, the power company was unfair and directly treated the Zhongping Brigade as a coward without a leader, who was easy to talk to and bully, and directly ranked Zhongping last in terms of water and electricity usage.

I got the last place just because of bad luck, I can admit it, but you can’t stop me from drawing and tell me directly that I am the last place.

What to do? Xie Hushan and Han Hongbing, who were young boys, had to ride their bicycles to the city to inform him after receiving the news, and then, under his suggestion, lead a team to the gate of the power station to make a big fuss, seal the gate, block the toilet, and call a bunch of people to watch.

Nothing else, I just want to show you guys whether the people in the power station are all monsters who don't have penis and don't need to go to the toilet. If they have penis, how can they do such inhuman things!
If you dare not draw lots according to the rules, I will block your door!

The whole staff of the power station was so upset that the stationmaster took the initiative to call himself, the brigade secretary, and beg for mercy and surrender, so that the crops could get water as soon as possible?
You’re dreaming! By the time the fields have water, the wheat yield will be at least a few dozen kilograms less per acre than that of other teams!
Yang Shuangxi continued, "I think it's probably Hu San'er's first day at the market. He heard that the other party had offended Aunt Wu and the fourth girl, so he deliberately picked a fight to provoke them. The boy acted like a tough guy, which must have scared the other party. At that time, we didn't know his background and didn't dare to provoke him, so he decided to go back to his own place to find trouble with him."

"I know this kid is not someone who will take being bullied." Han Laogou said calmly:
"But no matter how much his words are, there is one thing that is definitely true, that is, the people from Lijiazhai will definitely cause trouble tomorrow. Hu Saner may be a rascal or a reckless person, but he is not stupid. He came to inform me in advance."

Yang Shuangxi asked tentatively: "Secretary, what do you mean..."

Han Laogou glanced at Yang Shuangxi and took a deep puff of his cigarette:
"What do I mean? The four young men wanted to beat down the troublemaker Hu San'er at that time. That was because they were capable. Hu San'er was a loser. He had no ability but was still showing off. He deserved to be beaten and crippled. I will never protect him. But if you are a coward and want to go back to your own territory and bully others by relying on your numbers and familiarity, then don't blame Zhongping Village for being domineering!"

After hearing what Han Laogou said, Xie Hushan did not listen to what else he said, but walked briskly towards his team.

There is a reason why Han Laogou has been the brigade secretary for so many years.

When he is not provoked, he is an upright and selfless old revolutionary, but if he is provoked, he is the biggest troublemaker in the village, and these two identities can be seamlessly switched at any time for the benefit of the brigade. If you encounter trouble in the countryside, you may not understand the law, but you must understand two conventional rules: one, be in the right when encountering things, and two, don't be a coward when encountering things.

If both of these conditions are met, the team will definitely help out. If one more small condition is met, the conflict can be resolved perfectly.

Win this fight.

……

The next morning, at the Lijiazhai market, Li Changfu and his three nephews drove out of the team early in the donkey cart. Today was the village market, so they didn't need to get up too early, but he came out at three o'clock. He wanted to see if this guy named Zhongping Husan could get there earlier than them. Zhongping Village was twelve miles away from Lijiazhai.

As soon as I arrived at the market, I saw that the braised pork stall occupied the two best spots, just like the previous two days.

In the darkness of the night, Xie Hushan was all alone, sitting on a donkey cart and smilingly greeted him:
"Lao Deng'er, you're here quite early. You didn't expect that I, the third brother, have upgraded my weapons and am using a donkey cart today. You should continue to practice your stall-running skills, but I guess you have no chance."

Then he pointed to the worst spot and said, "Remember, that piece of land will be your permanent stall from now on."

"CNM, are you tired of living? You still dare to pretend to be a grandson. This is fucking Lijiazhai, not Zhong..." A kid who had been holding his anger for two days jumped out of the car and cursed at Xie Husan!
Before he could finish, Xie Hushan jumped off the car, grabbed the axe at hand and smashed it towards the man's head:
"I'm CNM! Tell your mother to boil water and wash herself at home and wait for me, or I'll turn your Li Family Village into a Li Family Tomb!"

The young man was frightened and dodged to the side, smashing the axe hard on the steamer of buns in the donkey cart, and the axe blade split the steamer!
This kid really dares to kill!
The young man was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat!

I thought that the other party wouldn't dare to show off in my own territory, but I didn't expect that he would be even more arrogant than in Liushen Village. He wouldn't let me say a word. If I dared to curse, he would just smash the axe at my head!
"Come, pick up the axe for me. I'll let your mother have some rest at night." Xie Hushan stood in front of his stall and waved at the other party:

"I'll count to three, one!"

Seeing that the four people on the opposite side did not react, Xie Hushan was too lazy to count to two. He picked up the large kitchen knife for cutting stewed meat and this time he was about to smash it towards the donkey's head:
"You've become more capable, you really want to fight me! All right, I'll give you a meeting gift first, let your team kill a donkey and eat the meat today, and have a prosperous new year in advance!"

Li Changfu was the first to react. He picked up the axe himself and shouted, "Pick it up! Pick it up! Let's pick it up!"

He turned his head to look at his three nephews and whispered:
"Why would you bother to argue with a mad dog without parents? Wait until the people we arranged come in the morning. Then we will rob the stall and beat him half to death. Then you can let out all your anger."

Then he handed the axe to Xie Hushan with a smile and said, "Don't be angry, we go to the market together all day long. Well, take a break, we'll go over there to unload the truck."

"It would be great if those three bastards were as sensible as you, Lao Deng'er." Xie Hushan took the axe and threw it back on the car. Seeing Li Changfu turning around to leave, he patted him on the shoulder and asked:
"I forgot to offer cigarettes to your third brother. I didn't need to remind you the past two days. Why, after coming to your village today, you dare not offer your respect to your third brother?"

(End of this chapter)