My 1978 Hotel

Chapter 4: Going to work, the challenge of carrying manure

"Hurry up and bring some bowls for the rice."

People, no matter how many worries they have, they can't beat hunger in the end. Two taels of flour is not a lot, not to mention an adult like Li Feng, even a half-grown child is not enough to eat.

Li Feng thought of a way and cut a lot of wild vegetables and greens that he had picked.

Make the dough into vegetable dumplings and boil water before putting them in the pot. After a while, the aroma of the dough will come out. Although there is no oil or salt, it is still the fragrance of the vegetable dumplings wrapped in flour.

"Dad, you eat. We are full."

Daya shook her head and didn't reach for the bowl. Erya, though her mouth was watering with greed, followed her sister's lead and said, "I'm full, Daddy will eat."

"I don't have much appetite to eat so much."

Li Feng ignored the two children who tried to stop him as he spoke, filling each of them with a bowl of vegetable dumplings and ladle out a lot of noodle soup. "Eat quickly." It's true, when you're hungry enough, even a vegetable dumpling without much flour can taste delicious.

He didn't dare to eat too much. After being hungry for a few days, Li Feng still knew his physical condition. After eating a bowl of vegetables, he touched his stomach with satisfaction and felt much better.

"Abba."

Daya pushed her bowl away, and Li Feng was stunned. "Girl, why aren't you eating?"

"Dad, eat. I'm not hungry."

"How can I not be hungry?"

This girl ate a steamed bun at three or four in the afternoon. It was almost dark now, so she must be hungry. Meanwhile, Erya drooled and couldn't help but eat half a bowl. "I'm not hungry either." Erya wiped her saliva and pushed her bowl away. "Daddy, eat."

Li Feng wasn't a sentimental person, but he was somewhat moved by the two children. "I'm done eating, hurry up and eat before it gets too cold and tastes bad." Seeing that the two children hadn't started eating yet, Li Feng's face hardened.

"If I tell you to eat, you eat."

"I..."

Daya was okay with it, but Erya was so scared that she shrank her neck and almost cried, but she knew that her father didn't like children crying, so she was strong and held it in. "Eat, second sister."

"Oh."

Erya burst into laughter. This child was so simple-minded that she didn't care about anything else when she had vegetable dumplings to eat. Daya was different. She ate them in small bites, probably with the intention of keeping some of the vegetable dumplings. After all, white flour was hard to come by. She had borrowed it with great difficulty. Her father didn't eat cornmeal, but she didn't have any white flour at home. It would be better to save some of these vegetable dumplings.

"Eat."

Li Feng saw Daya stealing glances at him from time to time. How could this child not concentrate on eating? Just as he was about to speak to her, there was a knock on the door. He opened the door and saw that it was Han Anmin.

"Eating."

Han Anmin had a very sensitive nose. He was eating white flour, but the fragrance made his mouth water. He thought to himself that he would have a good talk with his mother later. He could not be so kind anymore. His family would not eat a single bite of this good white flour except during festivals and New Year, but he could borrow it to eat from the one in the city.

"Have a bite."

Li Feng greeted him, and Han Anmin waved his hand. "I just ate at home. You seem to be recovering well."

"Alas, there is no hurdle that cannot be overcome."

Li Feng's mentality is pretty good now. Since he can't go back, he will just survive first. After all, he can't really jump into the river. After all, nothing is more important than living.

"That's it."

Han Anmin thought to himself, "You're still alive, but I'm afraid you'll bring trouble to all of us." He wondered if he'd have to rely on relief. Just looking at Li Feng's sharp tongue, he was afraid he'd be in big trouble in the future.

"Whether it succeeds or not, it's already like this."

Li Feng washed his own bowl and poured a bowl of water for Han Anmin. "What are you doing here?"

"That's right. The team has also considered your situation."

Han Anmin said, "The team wants you to stay here first, work with them, and earn a few cents to keep yourself fed. What do you think?"

"Go to work?"

Li Feng hadn't really thought about this. These days, it's hard to leave the house without a letter of introduction. He was even more of an illegal resident, so he was probably going to become a migrant worker once he entered the city. "Okay, can we get settled here? You know I can't remember anything now, I don't even know where my home is."

"You want to settle down?"

Han Anmin hadn't expected Li Feng to bring this up. The educated youth were making quite a fuss, clamoring to return to the city. "You know, if you settle down in Hanjiaba, you won't be able to return to the city."

Compared to Han Anmin's surprise, Daya's eyes were full of joy. She knew that they had settled down, which meant that Li Feng would not leave. Erya didn't quite understand, but she was happy too seeing her sister happy.

"I'm afraid of returning to the city..."

Li Feng felt that he could be an actor, so he joked about going back to the city. But where to go back to? He had no identity, and if he went back to the city, he would probably be sent to a reformatory within two days.

Han Anmin saw Li Feng's bitter face. Although he didn't like people from the city, he thought about it and realized who would want to leave their hometown.

"I'll talk to my dad about settling down later."

This matter is actually simple. It is difficult to get a household registration in the city, but there are no restrictions for rural household registration. This is different from later generations.

After finalizing the household registration, Han Anmin talked to Li Feng about going to work tomorrow, and then went home.

"Settled down?"

Han Fuguo hadn't expected Li Feng to bring this up. "What did he think? You didn't say anything, did you?"

"What can I say? He was the one who brought it up himself." "There's no rush. I'll ask him tomorrow."

Settling down is a big deal. Han Fuguo also knows something about the current policy. These educated youth still have the opportunity to return to the city. If they really settle down, it will be difficult to go back.

……

Nothing happened that night. The next morning, Li Feng heard some noise. Han Anmin came over and called him to work. "Hurry up and eat. We have to go there early."

But it was too early. Li Feng estimated that it was only around five o'clock and the sky was not yet fully bright. Why did he get up so early?

He washed up quickly. As for food, there was nothing else at home except steamed corn bread. Li Feng couldn't bring himself to eat it, so he simply gave up.

When we arrived at the dam mouth, many people had already arrived and the work had been arranged yesterday.

"Come here quickly, I'll greet you and let you recognize me."

Han Anmin is a straightforward man without much thoughts. Li Feng's words yesterday made him have less opinions about Li Feng, and now he even took the initiative to help him introduce someone.

"This is Uncle Abacus."

Han Anmin pointed at a man in his fifties wearing a grayish-blue hat and reading glasses. "He's our brigade's accountant."

"This is Uncle Scarhead, the militia captain of our brigade. I tell you, Uncle Scarhead has killed American devils."

"Good fellow," Li Feng thought, "no wonder he has such a fierce face, especially the scars on his face, which are a bit scary. This man is strong and sturdy, worthy of having fought against the American Empire." There was also a more gentle one. Han Anmin called out to the scorer of the scholar, and Li Feng greeted him with a smile.

"You follow me today."

"to make."

Li Feng secretly memorized the names of the cadres in the brigade, including Han Futian, the abacus uncle, Han Fuqiang, the scarred uncle, Han Anbang, the scholar scorekeeper, Shi Chunhua, the women's director, Han Fuguo's wife, also known as Daya's third nanny, Han Anding, the captain of the first production team, and Han Anquan, the captain of the second production team.

Then there was the deputy team leader Han Anmin. Li Feng only met the others briefly. In total, there were about fifty or sixty laborers, both men and women. Among them, there were a few with quite unique characteristics, such as the crooked-necked uncle who smiled and was quite enthusiastic when he saw Li Feng.

Li Feng just felt that this man was a shrewd and calculating one. His small eyes and squinting smile made him look a bit like Youcai, the sixth-old man, whom others called Uncle Six or Uncle Waibo.

There is another one named Wu Gou who looks a bit cunning.

Others shouted louder, "Sister-in-law" and "Big-foot sister-in-law". These women were all over 40 years old and kept saying that Li Feng had a fair and tender face and was worthy of being from the city. He attracted the young wives and said that they would introduce a young wife to Li Feng.

Li Feng was a little amused and helpless. He was a little naive. Although he was born in the countryside, he studied well when he was young. He basically did no housework since the second grade. After that, he went to college and met his current wife. They got married and had children smoothly.

Even though he is almost forty years old now, if he goes out, others would still think he is a young man in his thirties. But among a group of dark-skinned rural men, he would be a pretty boy.

"Shout sister-in-law, don't just focus on the pretty boy."

Wu Gou said with a smile, "Introduce me a wife someday."

"Go away, go away! Come back to me when you change your slippery, cunning, and deceitful ways."

"Shouting sister-in-law, you are worthy of being the monitor of the literacy class."

"Wu Gou, you're asking for trouble."

Everyone laughed, Wu Gou snorted and glared at Li Feng, who he considered a pretty boy, leaving Li Feng speechless.

"Okay, let's get to work."

Han Fuguo tapped his pipe against the iron hoe. "We need to get started early, or the sun will come out in two hours, and it will be very hot then." Li Feng followed Han Anmin. A group of men were distributing tools, and Li Feng was numb at the sight.

Carrying water, he had never done this job before, not to mention carrying water, he had not done much. This wooden barrel was not small. If it was filled with a bucket of water, it would probably weigh more than a hundred pounds.

Li Feng picked up the bucket with a bitter face. This empty bucket alone must weigh more than ten pounds.

"Hurry up."

Li Feng was helpless, afraid that he would die soon. When he arrived at the place, he was dumbfounded. "Aren't you carrying water?"

"Where are you fetching water? Today I'm fetching manure water."

Li Feng took one look at the manure in the pit and nearly vomited the vegetable dumplings he had eaten yesterday. The foul-smelling, yellow-gray manure was like a nightmare, reminiscent of the toilets he used to use as a child. "Ugh..."

He retched for a while. Fortunately, he didn't eat breakfast, otherwise it would have all been wasted. The others laughed when they saw Li Feng vomiting. These people from the city were just sewage.

"A gigolo is a gigolo." Wu Gou laughed, finally he got his revenge.

Han Anmin glanced at Li Feng. He hadn't even started working yet and already vomited. What should he do? "Don't just stand there. Hurry up. Today's task is not easy."

"okay."

Wu Gou was less active and took a large dung spoon to stir a portion. Li Feng was almost killed on the spot by the sudden stench. He couldn't do it, he really couldn't do it. He could bear it when carrying water, but this dung water was too deadly.

"Ugh vomit vomit."

Li Feng finally felt better after vomiting out streams of acid.

"I can't do it." Li Feng finally decided to ask Han Anmin to change his job. The stench was unbearable.

'Do you want to start the manure-carrying challenge?'

(End of this chapter)