The old educated youth saw that he was dejected and showed a sad expression. He curiously moved closer to him and asked, "Is the injury to your head not healed yet? If it's not, just rest at home. The body is the capital of the revolution. It's shameful to be a hindrance to the revolution. "
Lu Dewen was sighing when he suddenly heard this. His eyes brightened. The body is the capital of the revolution. How could he forget this? No, he must go back and discuss with Xue Huahua. He will go back to work in a few days.
After a few steps, he turned back. "Can you repeat what you just said?"
The educated youth was frightened by Lu Dewen's actions. He reacted and kicked a handful of soil at Lu Dewen. Without looking back, he carried the hoe and went back to the storage room.
The stupid illiterate was too lazy to waste time.
The grain, wicker baskets, hoes, sickles, etc. of the production team were all placed in the storage room, guarded by the storekeeper. They went to pick it up before work and put it back after work. They moved quickly, so at this time, no one came back from the storage room. Seeing the shock in the storekeeper's eyes, the old educated youth was furious again. It was all that fool Lu Dewen's fault. He finished a day's work in half a day. Just wait, he would definitely arrange more land for them in the afternoon.
When he came out of the storage room, Lu Dewen stood in front of him and stared at him. The educated youth angrily stepped back and pointed at Lu Dewen with one hand on his waist. "Comrade Dewen, what are you doing?"
"Can you go home with me to see my mother?" Xue Huahua will listen to the words of a knowledgeable person.
The educated youth did not give him face. "I have to work in the afternoon. I don't have time." He did not know what was wrong with Lu Dewen. He did not want to work with Lu Dewen. The villagers next door were cheated by his family. He would not be fooled.
Lu Dewen was disappointed that he couldn't bring the old educated youth home. When he got home, he saw a small bowl of vegetable porridge on the table, and his mood was on the verge of collapse. "Mom, I've been working for the whole morning, and the new educated youth are all praising me. Can you give me more …" It was better if there was no comparison, but when he looked down at the bowl in front of Zhao Caizhi, he almost spat out a mouthful of blood. Zhao Caizhi didn't work, but the bowl in front of her was full to the brim. He was exhausted. "Mom, I can't eat enough."
"You know you can't eat enough? What were you thinking when you were lazy last year? Eat like this this month. If you perform well, I will give you more next month. " Xue Huahua fed her grandson and looked at Lu Dewen from the corner of her eyes. She said coldly, "If you don't perform well, I will reduce it by half next month."
This little porridge was reduced by half? Didn't she want him to starve to death?
The food was piled up in Xue Huahua's room. Xue Huahua would give him as much as she said. Thinking of this, Lu Dewen's shoulders slumped. He sat down obediently and finished the porridge in a few mouthfuls. He then stared at Chao Caizhi's bowl.
Chao Caizhi also felt that there was a little too much porridge in her bowl. When Xue Huahua was scooping out the porridge, she was beside her. There were two big spoonfuls. She thought that Xue Huahua was scooping out the porridge for Lu Dewen. Unexpectedly, Xue Huahua put the bowl in front of her. "You eat."
Chao Caizhi was so surprised that her eyes widened. She didn't dare to reach out to take it. Xue Huahua said that she deserved it after working hard for a year. What else could she say?
She didn't know if it was because she was stimulated. After that incident, her mother-in-law's personality changed a lot. She often told them that working was the most glorious thing. If you don't work, you won't have food to eat. If you starve to death, you deserve it.
Lu Dewen swallowed his saliva. There were several times when he wanted to ask Chao Caizhi to share the porridge with him. But he was afraid that Xue Huahua would scold him. He opened his mouth and looked at Chao Caizhi with a drooling expression.
"Caizhi earned whatever she ate. If you didn't slack off last year, you would have the same amount as her. Are you done eating? Go back to your room and sleep. I'll wake you up when it's time to go to work. " Xue Huahua didn't even bat an eyelid. Lu Dewen stood up quickly and walked out of the living room. As soon as he stepped out of the door, he heard Xue Huahua calling him.
Lu Dewen was ecstatic. He ran back as fast as lightning. "Mom, you called me?" As he spoke, his hand had already picked up the chopsticks beside the bowl. As soon as Xue Huahua gave the order, he started to gulp down the food. The saliva at the corner of his mouth almost flowed into the bowl.
"If you can't sleep, go out and collect firewood …" The corner of Xue Huahua's mouth twitched. She tried her best not to laugh.
As soon as he heard this, Lu Dewen instantly became sluggish. He refused to give up. "Mom, I think Caizhi can't finish it. Do you want me to help her?"
Chao Caizhi tactfully pushed the bowl towards him. Lu Dewen held the bowl with both hands. He almost stuck his face on it.
"If you can't finish it, then eat it at night. How much work you do? You don't want to sleep, right? Go out and collect firewood …"
"Sleep. I'm going back to my room to sleep." Lu Dewen didn't dawdle. He threw the chopsticks and ran into the room. He took off his shoes, went to bed, covered himself and went to sleep. His actions were smooth.
Compared to a few mouthfuls of rice, he didn't want to collect firewood. He didn't like any laborious work.
Xue Huahua didn't know if she was doing the right thing. But without pressure, there would be no motivation. People in the village liked to say that women could hold up half the sky. She and Chao Caizhi wouldn't be able to support themselves for long. She had to motivate Lu Dewen and the others so that the family's days would get better.
In the afternoon, Lu Dewen went to work. Xue Huahua carried the basket out as usual. She couldn't do any heavy work, but she could cut the pigweed. A pigsty was built next to the storage room. There were four pigs, and the vice-captain was in charge of it. She went to take a look. After a few days of rain, the pigweed had been eaten up. The four pigs heard the footsteps. They arched their heads and sniffed their noses as they walked over.
Cutting the pigweed was done by the villagers after they finished their work in the fields. The pigs were fat, and they could only eat meat during the Lunar New Year. Therefore, the villagers were very motivated.
It was fine during the slack season, but during the busy season, the villagers were so tired that they didn't even remember to cut the pigweed. As a result, the pigs in the village were like humans. During the busy season, they were so skinny that it made people's hearts ache.
She told the vice-captain that cutting the pigweed was counted as work points. The vice-captain's face immediately changed: "No way. Work points are accumulated by the villagers' sweat. If cutting the pigweed is counted as work points, who would be willing to work in the fields?" The vice-captain felt that Xue Huahua was thinking too much. He just wanted to praise Lu Dewen's performance in the morning. Fine. Let's not talk about it.
"Captain, you can't say that. Our team has been rearing pigs for many years. Every year, we bring the pigs to the cooperative because they are too skinny. They are starved during the busy season. Pigs are different from humans. When humans are hungry, they will find food for themselves. Pigs can only starve in the pigsty. Cutting the pigweed is a good way to get work points. No matter how busy they are, they will not forget about the pigs. If you are afraid that the villagers will not accept it, then let everyone take turns to cut the pigweed. No one will say anything. "
The vice-captain thought about it and was a little tempted by Xue Huahua's suggestion. Everything about the production team was good, but they could not keep up with the side jobs. In the end, everyone's focus was still on the fields. No, on earning points.
However, this matter was not up to him. He needed to discuss with Lu Jianguo. Lu Jianguo was the one who had the final say in the production team.
Xue Huahua saw the vice-captain's expression and knew that he was relieved. She continued. "Captain, you have seen my family's situation. My two sons are still lying on the bed. If this matter is settled, can you take care of my family first?"
Lu Mingwen and Lu Jianxun were not young anymore. They could not continue to stay at home. When their injuries were almost healed, they could come out to work and earn as much as they could. It was better than staying at home.
Before the vice-captain said anything, there was a commotion coming from the hill behind. The commotion was far away and could not be heard clearly. It seemed like they were quarreling. Xue Huahua remembered that Lu Dewen was heading in that direction. She was worried and wanted to go and take a look.
Needless to say, Lu Dewen really had a quarrel with someone. The reason was that the old educated youth worked slowly and chatted with the new educated youth next to him from time to time. Lu Dewen had no place to plant the corn and could only stand and wait.
The terrain of this piece of land was high, and the villagers working in the field below could be seen clearly. If he didn't look, he wouldn't feel it. But when he saw the villagers working hard, he was afraid. He was afraid that Lu Jianguo would say that he was lazy and not give him the 8 work points of transplanting rice seedlings. If this news reached his mother's ears, would he still have a good life?
Therefore, he persuaded the old educated youth to move faster. They were all living in the educated youth's room. If they had anything to say, they could talk about it at night. If one night was not enough, they could talk about it for two nights. If two nights were not enough, they could talk about it for three nights. As long as it did not affect their work, they could do whatever they wanted.
Originally, he had good intentions, but the old educated youth was inexplicably angry. He scolded him for selling dog meat and pretending to be diligent. As he spoke, he brought up the matter of him slacking off last year and deducting his work points.
In all honesty, the old educated youth's saliva flew everywhere, but he did not say a word. He just watched from afar as Lu Jianguo came and wanted to find Lu Jianguo to explain the situation. He really did not slack off.
Unexpectedly, the old educated youth scolded him for snitching and grabbed his collar to teach him a lesson.
Lu Dewen hid behind Lu Jianguo with a dirty face. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar figure and quickly pushed Lu Jianguo away. He did not refute the old educated youth's words from beginning to end. He shouted, "Mom, I did not slack off. It was the old educated youth and the new educated youth who delayed me by chatting!"
He knew that his mother must be secretly supervising him. Otherwise, how could Lu Jianguo come to his mother's side? Thinking that he might not even have half a bowl of wild vegetable porridge when he returned home tonight, he immediately became discouraged. Behind him, the old educated youth was still scolding him for being heartless and unscrupulous. Last year, when he was lazy and went to the mountains to dig for bird eggs, he hid it for him. Today, he chatted with his fellow townsman for a bit and he reported him, biting the hand that fed him.
Sharing a common enemy, even the other educated youth looked at Lu Dewen with unkind eyes.
Lu Dewen grabbed his hair in a frenzy and wanted to cry.
"That's enough." Lu Jianguo interrupted the angry old educated youth. "This matter ends here. Everyone, go back to work in the fields."
Lu Dewen was used to eating and doing nothing. Now that he was willing to work actively, as the production team leader, he should encourage him. He turned around and patted Lu Dewen's shoulder. "Tomorrow, I'll get you a diligent partner. Pack up and get to work first."
As for the old educated youth, Lu Jianguo's heart was like a mirror. Usually, he would not be blatantly lazy, but he was not a proactive person either. It was just that in the past, there was Lu Dewen at the bottom, so he could barely get by. Now that Lu Dewen was diligent, he was outdone. Relying on his education, he made Lu Dewen speechless. If he did not help Lu Dewen, he would dispel his enthusiasm for work.
With this thought in mind, Lu Jianguo decided to find a diligent person to work with Lu Dewen.
The old educated youth's face was very ugly. Lu Jianguo's words made it clear that he was lazy. He also had the mood to work in the countryside. It was all Lu Dewen's laziness that had led him astray. He glared at Lu Dewen fiercely and left with the hoe.
Lu Dewen was not in the mood to pay attention to her. He walked to Xue Huahua with two tears in his eyes. "Mom, I'm really not lazy."
"Whether you are lazy or not, I'll see. It's none of your business." Xue Huahua softened her tone slightly. "There will be wild vegetable porridge tonight."
Lu Dewen cried tears of joy. "Really?"
Xue Huahua nodded. "More real than pearls."
The surprise caught him off guard. Lu Dewen sniffled and giggled.
Food was the most important thing in the world. As long as there was food to eat, he didn't care what the old educated youth thought of him.
Xue Huahua didn't expect that a bowl of wild vegetable porridge could make Lu Dewen so happy. In the end, her family was too poor. She carried the basket on her back and dug out the wild vegetables as she walked back.
The path was muddy and slippery after the rain. Xue Huahua seemed to be used to it and was not afraid of slipping at all. When the wild vegetables covered the basket, the deputy team leader talked to her about cutting pigweed. Lu Jianguo agreed. In the evening, he told the villagers that if there was no problem, he would start to count the centimeters tomorrow. He asked her if she could do it.
Xue Huahua said "yes" decisively.
She was so idle that she wanted to find something to do.
She thought about it. Tomorrow, she asked Lu Mingwen to work with her. If she couldn't carry the basket full of pigweed, she would ask Lu Dewen to help her. She just needed to grit her teeth and endure this period of time.
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