Seeing that his great-niece's complexion was alright now, not as pale as when she first arrived, the Captain breathed a sigh of relief, followed by pride.
See, they said this place was blessed with exceptional people and a rich environment. His great-niece's health improved so much after arriving, she could even go out for a stroll. He had heard that when she was in Beijing City, she was constantly hospitalized.
Although the Captain and the other village cadres received a salary, it was only a little over ten yuan a month, which was hardly enough to support a family.
Therefore, most village cadres had to go to the fields to earn food rations. At this moment, the Captain had his sickle tucked into his belt, dressed for work just like the other team members.
Lin Yuexi knew that everyone valued work points and the rush harvest, especially the Captain, whose Brigade had lost its reputation as an advanced brigade many years ago. After greeting the Captain, she got straight to the point: "Captain, are there many mountain goods on the mountains behind us?"
The Captain, this cunning old man, was not like the auntie earlier who didn't react. He immediately understood what Lin Yuexi meant. He sighed and helplessly wiped his face.
"There are plenty of mountain goods, not only wild chestnuts and pine nuts, but also plenty of wood ear mushrooms and fungi. That's why they say as long as you're willing to work hard in this area, you won't starve."
"It's a pity that for so many mountain goods, we either exchange them for very little at the Commune's purchasing station, and after toiling for a month or two, we can't save much money, or we can only watch them rot on the mountain."
As he spoke, the Captain's little eyes occasionally glanced at Lin Yuexi, his intentions too obvious.
Lin Yuexi, finding it amusing, followed his lead and asked, "Do you have any ideas?"
The Captain's face truly soured now. "I heard that many big cities want to eat our mountain goods but can't get them. We've always wanted to set up a small workshop under the collective name of the Brigade to process the mountain goods and sell them to big cities, but we've never been able to get an approval slip. Every time we apply, they say our thinking is incorrect."
For this matter, he had already received criticism several times.
Incorrect thinking, my foot! They were undermining the collective by acting selfishly. It was clearly under the collective's name, and any profits earned would belong to the collective, for collective endeavors.
But they just wouldn't approve it, though they were never short on criticism.
The First Brigade, because many soldiers had gone out into the world, had over decades, left their footprints in all corners of the country. They had also brought back much information and new ideas, which to some extent changed and broadened the villagers' ingrained ways of thinking.
Take the matter of setting up a workshop, for example. A few years ago, Er Ya's Father and the Captain proposed selling mountain goods to major cities under the collective name. The money earned would be used to develop their village, build a school, install electricity, repair roads, and so on. Even if the villagers could each get an extra ten yuan or so a year, their lives would be better.
After several days of discussion, the Captain felt it was feasible. If this matter were successful, it would be a great thing, and the villagers would no longer have to worry about starving!
From then on, this idea took root in the Captain's mind, and they had been working hard towards it for several years.
Especially after the Educated Youth ruined the reputation of Hongxing Brigade, which had been the advanced brigade for years, Hongxing Brigade had not received the title for almost ten years. The Captain's desire to establish a factory grew stronger.
However, precisely because his desire was so strong, the setbacks felt particularly severe.
If she hadn't been afraid of stimulating the Captain, Lin Yuexi would have almost burst out laughing.
It was better not to have such an idea; everyone would just muddle along. But to have this idea and be unable to realize it was the most tormenting thing.
It was equivalent to watching money and tickets fly away every year when this season arrived.
It was like a paper-thin person awakening, making countless efforts, yet still being powerless to change anything.
It was truly frustrating.
She also knew that the Captain hoped she would help. In a society based on relationships, some things that people at the lower levels couldn't accomplish even if they ran themselves ragged could be resolved with a single word from someone higher up.
Lin Yuexi neither agreed to help nor refused outright. She just smiled and said, "As an idle person, I won't disturb the Captain from earning work points."
To the Captain, these words meant a refusal. He wasn't too disappointed; having been criticized for years, he knew this matter was difficult to handle.
On the contrary, he felt relieved. In the heat of the moment, he had blurted out his desire to build a factory. If his great-niece had actually gotten involved, he would have his old man at home break his legs!
The old man had strictly forbidden him from bothering his great-niece with village matters.
"Ah, you should hurry back. Come over to my place for a meal another day when you're feeling better. Your aunt will stew a big old chicken for you."
"Alright, Captain Uncle. You go ahead and be busy; don't let it affect your work points."
Xiao Qingqing sensibly pushed Lin Yuexi to head back.
The Captain couldn't just stand there watching them leave before getting back to work; he still had to earn work points. However, when he turned around, he was almost scared to death by a bloody, pancake-like face.
"Whoa, what happened here? Did you try to see if your face was harder than the ground?"
Er Ban tightly covered his mouth and shook his head. If he didn't cover it, he would cry out in pain immediately and scare Lin, the educated youth, who wasn't far away.
Not only would his work points be deducted, but he wouldn't get any meat during the New Year. His entire family would gang up on him.
San Ban, standing beside him, lowered his voice to report, "Uncle Da You, my second brother was beaten by my second sister-in-law. My second sister-in-law lied, saying she was pregnant, and yesterday she was crying about having a stomach ache. Today, my mother didn't let her go to the fields. This morning, she was gathering the family's grain to send to her maternal family when some village children saw her. My second brother went to chase her, and my second sister-in-law hit my second brother with a rock."
This was someone who knew how to report things, concise and to the point.
Looking at Er Ban, whose face was covered in blood, the Captain felt a pain in his eyes. "We'll talk about the rest later. First, take him to the clinic to stop the bleeding. Aren't you dizzy?"
"Dizzy."
He was truly dizzy; everything was swaying around him.
Hearing his second brother say he was dizzy, San Ban quickly squatted down, lifted him onto his back, and shouted back as he ran towards the clinic, "Uncle Da You, my mother and them have brought my second sister-in-law back. My mother says she wants my second brother to divorce her and wants you to be a witness."
He still remembered to lower his voice while shouting. His furtive demeanor made the Captain's eyes twitch.
Immediately, he felt a headache. They were in the middle of a rush harvest; what witness was needed?
He turned his head and saw an umbrella propped in front of him.
He looked down at the person in the wheelchair and saw that their eyes were shining with the same light as his wife's when she watched the fun.
He felt a lump in his throat.
I didn't expect you to be this kind of educated youth, Lin.
"Educated Youth Lin, this spectacle isn't good to watch. It will be very noisy, and there might even be fighting. The women here fight fiercely, they even tear clothes, and it might get bloody. The scene is terrifying, not good to watch at all."
The Old Chief said you can't stand noise at all, and you'll even faint if the volume gets too loud.
You said you had warned everyone house to house before you came, and now you've come to watch the fun yourself. During the argument, who will remember the warning? If you faint from a shout, then I'm finished.
My old man can truly break my legs. I'm begging you, Uncle, don't let me end up paralyzed in bed when I'm old.
Lin Yuexi thought about it. Her current body was indeed not suitable, and she might actually faint from watching the spectacle.
No, she couldn't afford to lose face like that.
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