Yunshan County was surrounded by mountains on three sides, and nearly all the surrounding communes bordered high mountains,
Among them, Shuzhuang Brigade was not the farthest from the county seat, yet it was the poorest,
The reason was that no river ran through Shuzhuang Brigade. The villagers relied entirely on a few wells for water. Since water resources were limited, the fertile fields in the Production Brigade Area were also limited. On top of that, seasonal droughts and floods were severe, so the grain turned over to the state ranked last year after year,
The authorities assigned them a task: build a reservoir to store water and dig canals to divert the flow.
The other production brigades could rest during winter after working all year, but Shuzhuang Brigade could not. They were busy sowing and harvesting in spring, summer, and autumn, and in winter they still had to work on canal construction,
They had no free time all year.
The brigade leaders of several production brigades in Yunshan County all came,
Shu Zhenhua took one look and set his sights on Shen Jianghai and his two sons,
Father Shen was not yet fifty this year. Although various reasons had made him look somewhat older these past few days, he had served in military service for so many years that his physique was still impressive. He looked much stronger than a farmer,
Not to mention that Shen Zhongheng and Shen Zhongyue, the brothers, were in the prime of their lives.
Although the two Male Children looked young, there was plenty of work they could do. In a few years, they would also become strong laborers in the village.
They were far more useful than those delicate educated youth!
Thinking back to how Shuzhuang Brigade had finally received a male educated youth, only for him to make a scene after two days, threatening to live or die unless he was transferred to another Production Brigade,
he no longer wanted to transfer now. He had even enticed a commune member's daughter from the Third production team to help him work every day, and she wanted to marry him,
What a damn pretty boy who lived off women!
Even Nian's sickly son-in-law living with his wife’s family from back then was better than him.
The people from the Revolutionary Committee also knew how difficult life was in Shuzhuang Brigade. This entire family of backward elements was just right for reform there,
but he also gave Shu Zhenhua a few instructions,
“Strictly speaking, these people should be sent down separately. Since you have spoken up, I will not say anything more, but they cannot be placed in the same location.”
Shu Zhenhua patted his chest,
“Our Shuzhuang Brigade has eight teams. There’s no way they’ll be assigned to the same one!”
Thus, the Shen Family’s destination was finally settled.
After returning from the train station, Shu Yao suddenly remembered that she had forgotten to ask for the address where the Shen Family was being sent for rural relocation, but she soon tossed the matter to the back of her mind.
After working for several days, she gradually got used to it: arriving and leaving work on schedule, having someone watch the child, and eating at the canteen whenever she did not feel like cooking. It was wonderfully comfortable,
No wonder the older generation loved going to work.
On Saturday, after her final shift of the week, someone from the propaganda section suddenly came looking for her,
Only then did Shu Yao remember the wall newspaper Wu Xiuling had mentioned.
Fortunately, she had spent all her free time that week memorizing the Quotations. During the interview, two-thirds of everything she said consisted of quotations,
moving the two cadres from the propaganda section to tears of emotion.
“Comrade Shu, you are truly great, a good comrade of the people!”
“We will certainly write this issue of the wall newspaper well.”
“Following the Party’s footsteps closely, everything is for the people. Comrade Jin, this is nothing to me. The contents of the wall newspaper must be reserved for even greater comrades.”
Please, just let her go!
“Comrade Shu, your consciousness is truly high.”
The two junior clerks immediately developed starry eyes,
“Did you write that sentence down?”
Xiao Jin asked the other person.
“I did, without missing a single word. This sentence must be written in the wall newspaper!”
The other person nodded vigorously.
Shu Yao gave an awkward smile.
“Comrade Shu.”
After picking up Shen Huaiyu, Shu Yao had just reached the factory gate when she ran into Fan Tao, Shu Zhenzhong’s guard.
“Comrade Fan, what brings you here? Is Grandfather in the car?”
Shu Yao glanced at the car parked not far away.
“The Senior Commander is at home. He asked me to bring you and your son over for dinner.”
Thinking that she would see Wen Xia and her daughter, Shu Yao did not really want to go,
but remembering her earlier promise to visit Shu Zhenzhong more often, she got into the car anyway.
After a week away, the courtyard of the Shen Family already had new occupants,
“It is the Lu deputy division commander’s family, transferred here from Minzhou.”
Fan Tao casually explained after seeing Shu Yao’s gaze in the rearview mirror.
Shen Jianghai had previously been a division commander. Shu Yao did not know whether Lu Dakui’s transfer to the Capital City had anything to do with Shen Jianghai being removed from office.
Shu Yao quickly looked away.
“Damn it all! What kind of situation is this!”
“I was doing perfectly well in Minzhou, and they dragged me to the Capital City for no reason, even demoting me by one rank.”
Shu Yao had not even entered the living room when she heard a complaint.
“Lu Dakui, after all these years, why are you still like this!”
“It is a concealed promotion with an apparent demotion. What are you dissatisfied about?”
Could a position in the Capital City be compared with one elsewhere?
Shu Zhenzhong had a headache,
he had only wanted to eat a quiet meal with his Granddaughter, so why had this troublesome fellow come along?
“Company commander, you know what my brain is like. Won’t this muddy water in the Capital City grind me into meat paste?”
Hearing this unrelated remark, Shu Yao’s brow twitched. She entered and interrupted the conversation:
“Grandfather.”
“Yaoyao is here.”
Seeing Shu Yao, Shu Zhenzhong’s slightly furrowed brows immediately relaxed,
“This is Grandpa Lu. Go and greet him.”
“Hello, Grandpa Lu.”
“Ah!”
Lu Dakui froze for a moment. Seeing the child in Shu Yao’s arms, he felt from his jacket pockets to his trouser pockets, but they were completely empty.
His expression immediately became awkward,
“That, old company commander, this is...”
“My and Sister-in-law Lian’s Granddaughter, Shu Yao.”
Lu Dakui knew that before joining the army, the old company commander had married in his hometown, but hadn’t the entire company commander’s family been killed by bandits back then?
Only later, through an introduction by the organization, had he entered into a revolutionary partnership with Wen Xia.
Lu Dakui had always been straightforward. Whatever he thought appeared plainly on his face.
Shu Zhenzhong rarely offered an explanation:
“Back then, bandits attacked the village. Your Sister-in-law Lian took her parents and child into the deep mountains, then fled from place to place. That was how we lost contact. I was also at fault for never daring to go back and confirm it with my own eyes.”
During that period, the Military Unit was also attacked by the enemy. The troops had to depart in haste. On one side were his parents and relatives; on the other was the absolute authority of military orders. Shu Zhenzhong clenched his teeth and swallowed all his tears. Immediately afterward came the climb over snow mountains and the crossing of grasslands,
Then came resistance against the invaders, and it was not until 1953, when he returned from the battlefield, that he went back to the hometown he had been separated from for more than twenty years.
Wen Xia happened to return from outside and let out a cold snort when she heard this.
Seeing Shu Yao, her complexion became even uglier.
“Why have you come back?”
Shu Zhenzhong frowned.
“What? Am I not allowed to come back? Did I disturb the grandfather-granddaughter pair from bonding?”
Ever since Shu Zhenzhong had exposed her true nature last time, Wen Xia no longer pretended.
She had been with him for thirty years and even had a grandson. Could he possibly divorce her for some little wretch?
Lu Dakui coughed awkwardly:
“Sister-in-law.”
Wen Xia narrowed her eyes and stared at him for a long while, but could not remember who he was. She nodded and went upstairs.
Nothing had gone smoothly lately. If she had known the little wretch would return today, she would never have exchanged shifts with anyone. Even with a headache, she would have stayed at the hospital,
Wen Xia tightened her grip on the medicine in her hand. Thinking of that youngest daughter who made her so furious her heart and liver ached, her expression grew even worse.
Shu Yao looked at Wen Xia’s back, then at the Old Master’s complexion,
Had the two of them had a quarrel?
She had to admit, watching the Old Lotus change expressions was rather satisfying.
Shu Zhenzhong’s complexion was also unpleasant,
“Dakui, don’t take it to heart. She simply has a foul temper.”
“Old company commander, I’ll be going back first. We just moved, and I haven’t finished cleaning up yet.”
Lu Dakui stood up to take his leave. Although he was not very bright, he knew that it was best not to interfere in the old company commander’s family affairs.
“Come over for dinner tonight, and bring your younger brother's wife and the children.”
Lu Dakui agreed.
After he left, Shu Yao moved beside the Old Master with the child in her arms and asked softly:
“Grandfather, is this Grandpa Lu one of your former subordinates?”
“We were in the same company before. Later, when I was transferred to the Capital City, he went to the Minzhou Military Region. This time, after The Shen Family’s Relocation, deputy division commander Wang took Shen Jianghai’s position. The vacant deputy division commander position was assigned to Lu Dakui by decision of the Central military Commission.”
Then he mysteriously pointed at his head,
“Yaoyao, can’t you tell? His brain doesn’t work very well.”
“Someone played him, and he was sent here.”
Shu Yao wanted to laugh, and she indeed could not hold it back.
Although the Capital City was the political center, it was currently in complete chaos and truly was not a very good place to be. On top of that, Lu Dakui had been transferred there alone, making his situation even more difficult,
but fortunately, he still had his old company commander, Shu Zhenzhong, backing him.
Shu Zhenzhong also laughed, then said guiltily:
“Yaoyao, I didn’t know Wen Xia would suddenly come back.”
Shu Zhenzhong had no intention of maintaining harmony at all costs. If he made peace with her, would that mean his Yaoyao had to swallow all the wrongs she had suffered over the past dozen years?
Wen Xia had sons, daughters, and grandchildren in this family, but his Yaoyao had only him left as a relative.
After thirty years of marriage and raising children together, he could not simply abandon Wen Xia. He could only do his best to keep the two of them from meeting.
“Grandfather, it’s all right.”
The Old Madam had been a fool and only learned Wen Xia’s true nature after her death, but she had never asked Shu Yao to avenge her. Shu Yao would neither forgive Wen Xia on her behalf nor take revenge for her unprompted,
unless Wen Xia provoked her.