blogombal Chapter 70 Sweep
Chapter 70 Sweep
The Da Liu Jia Youth Settlement was a youth camp with more than 400 educated youth sent to the countryside. It had 16 buildings, each with 10 rooms, all new red brick houses, covering dozens of acres. The club stood tall and was considered magnificent among these earthen houses.
The next pigsty is self-sufficient.
The next vegetable garden was grown by an experienced farmer who was skilled in growing vegetables, which we considered to be very good conditions.
Their classmate Li Jiamin served as the team leader and secretary of the Youth League branch. Local farmers were specially assigned to the production team, and Party member Gao Guozhu served as the battalion commander. This man was in his thirties, tall and imposing, with an upright character, and an expert in agricultural production.
The youth's production, life, and entertainment were all vibrant and colorful. Talented and skilled young people were also assigned to teach at Da Liujia School and work as health workers at the brigade's health clinic.
After the first batch of young people were transferred back to the city in 1973, more and more older young people returned to the city, and new young people filled the gaps. Some people began to be restless and their behavior was notorious.
That afternoon, after two classes, we lined up on the playground. All the students in the school lined up, class by class. Our class was the highest grade in the school. The PE teacher came to call a few of the big boys in our class: "You guys come and carry the drumsticks." After a while, the boys came back. It turned out that the brigade had borrowed them. So we'll just go and get them when we pass by the brigade.
My class led the way, and the group set off along the main road to the bridge under the county road in our brigade. All the students lined up on both sides, as if to welcome the new rural youth.
They waited and waited, but nothing came. As dusk fell, the students who lived far away secretly slipped away, leaving only a small number of timid students who lived nearby. This happened in every class, and the welcoming procession was scattered along the roadside in clumps.
Just as I was looking around in confusion, a truck slowed down, went off the county road and over the bridge, and stopped in front of us. A dozen young men and women were standing holding onto the front of the truck bed. A young man wearing light gray clothes was crouching on the truck bed, waving a bamboo pole and intentionally or unintentionally sweeping it out of the truck. We all dodged backward.
Battalion Commander Gao Guozhu stood beside the vehicle and said, "That boy, give me the bamboo pole." The vehicle started and drove to the youth settlement.
The sun had already set, and as I watched the car drive away, kicking up dust, I was quite taken aback by the small groups of students still standing by the roadside. Our afternoon welcome had been meaningless.
Jiang Hong, Chun Hong, Qu Hui, and I were about the same age. Jiang Hong lived on the back street of the main road, just across the street from the youth settlement. We were all familiar with each other from the same team, but since they were in the lower grades than us, we didn't play together often during school, only after school. That evening after dinner, Qu Hui came back to me: "Let's go play on West Street!"
After crossing the main road and down to Yaojie Street, we went to Chunhong's house to find her. Jiang Hong happened to be there and suggested, "Let's go to the Youth Center. The singing there tonight is really good."
I said, "We're not familiar with them, is it alright for us to go?"
Jiang Hong: "I know a few young women well. They have even come to my house. Once, they asked me to take them to buy eggs from several families in our sixth team. I took them to buy eggs from Guo Linghua's house behind the horse stable."
Qu Hui and Chun Hong agreed: "What's the big deal if we don't know them? We're just going to watch a karaoke performance, that's all!"
"All right!"
We followed the main road to the brigade headquarters, and followed the singing to the window of the "big canteen," from which the singing was coming from. We peered through the window and saw a spacious room with neatly arranged tables and chairs. More than two hundred people were sitting together in one place, with many other tables nearby that were empty. The brigade leader, Li Jiamin, was standing in front clapping his hands.
A spirited young woman with large, double-lidded eyes and a stylish short, wavy hairstyle led the singing. She wore a new round-neck, navy blue and white checkered top, neat dark trousers, and elegant leather shoes. A small round badge was pinned to her chest. Holding a song sheet in one hand and clapping the rhythm with the other, she exuded both confidence and charm as she led the singing.
Learn from Lei Feng, a good example.
Loyal to the people and loyal to the Party
Clear likes and dislikes, never forget your roots.
Firm in stance and strong in fighting spirit
Firm stance and strong fighting spirit...
Sitting inside were Ms. Cui, our school's teacher, and Ms. Xu from the clinic.
We were completely engrossed in watching; city people are so different from us…
"Creak—" The door opened, and before Li Jiamin could even speak, "whoosh—" we all turned and ran away.
Taking the main road to school was a bit of a detour, but it always meant running into classmates and also avoiding those stalking "little spies" for a while. That day, as soon as I got onto the main road, I bumped into Fatty Si, Xia, and Fei. We greeted each other, but Fatty Si was pouting and looking unhappy.
Fourth Sister asked, "Fourth Sister, what's wrong?"
Xia replied on her behalf: "Shumei's chickens were all taken by that young man last night. I heard them squawking in the middle of the night, so I peeked through the curtains and saw him catching chickens in the coop under the window. Shumei was so scared she didn't dare go out. She cried out from the kang (heated brick bed), 'Don't take them all—leave me a couple!' This morning, I saw nine big chicken heads on top of the coop, meant for you. When Shumei saw them, she cried out in anguish. Little Zhang was waiting to eat the eggs! How could he cheat us like that?"
Xiao Fei: "You know, these young people, why are they so greedy? If someone has a good dog, they'll snatch it up! They don't even like to work in the fields. Look at the land in their third and fourth companies, it's so barren that even if you drop a steamed bun there, it won't stick to the soil. It's a wonder they still give them such good housing and even built them a 'club'."
Xia: "The club doesn't just give them out; last time the county came to perform, they let us go watch too, didn't they?"
Xiao Fei: "Isn't that just because I benefited from someone else's fame?"
Qu Hui looked left at the youth group, then right at the large pit there: "Why are you saying all this! Is this any of your business?"
After school, my fourth sister, Qu Hui, and I walked back together when Liu Shunian caught up with us: "Today you'll walk with me along the main road."
Qu Hui: "Okay, is there something you need?"
Liu Shunian: "My mom makes me go to the clinic after school to get some medicine to take home, but I don't like going by myself."
Qu Hui: "Perfect timing, my mom's finished eating too, I want to order some for her as well."
On both sides of the main road, there are small wooden bridges that can only be walked by one person at a time, leading westward to the youth center, the clinic, and the brigade headquarters.
To the east lies the Chishui Pond—the Youth Point Pit.
The health clinic and the brigade headquarters were in the same building.
We followed Liu Shunian past the brigade's accounting office. Liu Shunian's father was sitting by the window. She waved to her father and led us straight into the clinic.
The sanitation worker, Xiao Xu, wearing a new gray top and with two high braids, was reading a newspaper at the table. Hearing someone approach, she turned around and greeted Shu Nian with a smile, "Little sister's here! What medicine do you need?"
Shu Nian: "I've come to get twenty vials of penicillin and twenty tablets of brain-clearing medicine."
Xiao Xu opened the medicine cabinet, wrapped twenty vials of penicillin in newspaper, and wrapped twenty brain-clearing tablets in a small piece of paper, then handed them to Shu Nian.
Shu Nian took it and said, "I take brain-clearing tablets when I have a headache, and they work quite well."
Xiao Xu: "Yes, the brain-clearing tablets work well."
Qu Hui: "Prescribe me twenty ephedrine tablets."
Xiao Xu then wrapped another small paper package and handed it to Qu Hui.
Liu Shunian waved to Xiao Xu, who politely replied, "Goodbye!"
When we came out and got to the main road, Qu Hui said with great interest: "I can be a doctor at the clinic too. I can prescribe brain-clearing tablets for headaches, stomach-ache-relieving tablets for stomachaches, ephedrine for bronchitis, and tetracycline and pain relievers for toothaches."
I asked, "You know how to give injections? Can you bandage wounds?"
Liu Shunian looked at her and smiled.
Qu Hui: "Hehe, let's learn it."
On a winter afternoon, at the large pit near the youth center, my mother filled two buckets with water, carried them out carefully, and rested at the top edge of the pit.
They saw Wu Ku, a young man from the Fourth Company, leading a herd of cattle toward the large pit; he was there to water the cattle.
Wu Ku was a tall, dark-skinned man. Among the young students, he was timid, quiet, and never argued with anyone. The young people called him Wu the Fool. The company commander took care of him and let him herd cattle. He never slacked off. Even if he had to go far away, he would drive the cattle to a place with good grass. If there was no water outside, he would drive the cattle back.
Despite being urged left and right, the ox stretched its legs, unwilling to go down into the pit.
He went to his mother and said, "Auntie, could you lend me your water bucket to water the cattle?"
Mom: "Sure, rinse it for me after you're done."
Wu Ku happily picked up his mother's water buckets and watered each of his cattle. After they finished, he went to the pit to rinse the buckets, filled two buckets with water, and returned them to his mother: "Auntie, you are so kind. Sometimes when I ask to borrow a bucket from someone, they won't lend it to me, saying that it's dirty to water the cattle."
Mother: "If you drink like this and then rinse the bucket, won't it be filthy? Wouldn't it be far more filthy to drive a herd of cows to drink from the ditch?"
Wu Ku: "The place I went to today was flooded a few days ago, but it's dry today. I saw you here and decided to try borrowing it."
Mom: "Most young people go home in winter and come back after the New Year. Why don't you come home?"
Wu Ku stammered, "I'm not going back. I have no home. This is my home. I have no father or mother."
The mother's heart sank: "Oh! Poor child, my home is in the sixth team, on the east side of the road. If you have any difficulties, I will help you if I can." After saying that, she carried water home.