Chapter 5 chapter Five

After harvesting more than three acres of wheat on the plateau slope for four consecutive days, Zhao Peng was exhausted. He pulled back the last cart of wheat from the plateau slope, unloaded it on the wheat field, let out three long breaths, and walked back to his small courtyard, like a tree that had been sawed off and fell on the kang. His cheeks were burning hot, which was the result of the strong sun on the plateau tanning his sweat-stained skin; his neck was so painful that he couldn't turn it easily, it was the musculoskeletal damage caused by the fall of the cowhide cart; The hard cowhide cart stumbled and oozes blood, and it hurts like a scorching fire; the chest is under heavy pressure for a long time, and the lungs are squeezed so that they can't breathe comfortably, and they have to let out a long, congested breath every once in a while. The legs and arms seemed to be parts that did not belong to my own body, and they were completely numb. Only when the calf muscles twitched frequently did I feel that they were my own legs and feet; It hurts from bouncing; the lumbar spine seems to be broken from the back, sore, the upper body and lower body can't move the sleeping position on the kang organically and harmoniously; no muscle or bone in the whole body can relax from the tension down.

He didn't wash his face, and he didn't even bother to wash his feet. He fell on the kang with dust and awns all over his body.Rest—relieving the pain of the flesh is now a thousand times more urgent than paying attention to hygiene. Heavy and intense physical labor and paying attention to hygiene are opposed to each other, and the latter is unquestionably subordinate to the former, almost an irreversible instinct.He thought that if such heavy labor continued for many years, he would forget the habit of brushing his teeth, and he wouldn’t feel bad if he didn’t take a bath for a year or so. There will be no discomfort!When he was approaching old age, he would naturally walk around the village alleys, fields, and inside and outside the house on the same ugly bow legs as many peasant old men.

When he went up to Polamai on the first day, he recited in his heart the spectacular scene of the wheat harvest season on the Loess Plateau like a poet inspired by poetry, recalling fondly the naughty childhood; lying in the shallow water of the small river at night, recalling The scene of walking out of the valley for the first time and seeing the running train on the plain is also full of romantic poetry.Now, he didn't even have the mood to climb up to the top of the slope again. The sight of the slope covered in gold didn't arouse any emotion at all, and the cry of the grasshopper seemed dull and annoying, and he didn't even want to move a step and lie down on the ground. Went to the creek.The heavy physical labor squeezes out all the poetic and picturesque feelings from people's hearts.

In the past four days, his wife Shuqin led him from Qianliang to the west slope, then to the east slope, and then to the back ditch... There are eight or nine plots of wheat scattered on the plain slope. in every corner.The soil structure on the plateau slope is too different, and this result appeared in order to make a fair mix of high-quality land and inferior land.If it wasn't for Shuqin's guidance, he wouldn't be able to identify his own field from the wheat fields. When he and Shuqin were harvesting on the dry beam the first day, there were only scattered people harvesting far and near on the plain slope, and he could even tease and make friends with Shuqin on the wheat sheaves without worrying about anyone around watching.The next day, here and there, in the east and west fields, in the front ditch and the back ditch, there were men and women bending over and waving sickles everywhere to harvest.On the third day, the harvest reached its climax. On the entire plateau, almost every field had human heads flickering. The small roads leading from the plateau to the village were filled with carts coming and going, men, women, and adults. Children, you call him, it becomes a noisy world.The high tide lasted until the fourth day, and the tide gradually ebbed in the afternoon. Most of the fields and sloping fields were harvested, and only a few plots still stood upright with wheat, like the tufts of long hair left by an inferior barber on the customer's head. , the plateau slope was almost looted.

He was lying on the kang, wanting to drink a bowl of hot and sour vegetable soup, but he could only think like this.Shuqin was still on the wheat field, maybe she and her child were laying sheaves of wheat, maybe it was just out of precaution, afraid that someone would snatch a few sheaves of wheat away, for three days, he hadn't eaten anything except salted garlic moss vegetable.When he was hungry, he ate two steamed buns and drank a cup of boiled water. He could only lie down in the middle of the night, and when the sky was not clear, Shuqin shook him awake again.She didn't think he could bear it if he just gnawed dry buns without fireworks for a few days; instead, she just urged him to run fast, no matter how hard it was, it would be like this!

His mind became blank. What kind of crankshaft quenching test, what academic papers, what Japanese, English or Russian, have long since disappeared without a trace. Fatigue completely suppressed human wisdom, and heavy labor made his brain suddenly Becoming naive and bordering on stupid. "Dad! Dad——" the son yelled and jumped in the door, "Hurry up, it's going to rain! My mother told you to pile the wheat rolls!" He suddenly turned over and sat up, slipped down the kang, grinned, endured the pain that seemed to be falling apart, walked out of the courtyard, looked west, and saw a layer of thick black clouds rushing over, covering the sinking sunset.Seeing the dark clouds rushing up to the east, it made people feel terrible.Suddenly, the wind passed by from the west, stirring up wheatgrass and loess all over the sky, and the chilly wind made people's sweaty skin shrink.He bent down and ran towards the wheat field.

On the wheat field, the slivers and sheaves allotted to each family are all crowded with wheat sheaves.The man stood on the wheat pile, piled up the wheat sheaves handed over by the women and children, pressed them with his hands, and stepped on them with his feet.The women and the dolls pulled the wheat sheaves planted in the field to them, and the strong women picked them up with wooden branches and handed them to the wheat piles.Dark clouds have spread over the top of the head, and it is getting dark. The man's rough throat is urging the woman, and the woman is screaming and urging her children. The whole wheat field, as if it is facing a war that is about to be looted, is in a hurry.

"Did you die in the house?" Zhao Peng had just rushed to his own arena, and when she saw Shuqin, she scolded him head-on. "Blind in the eye sockets? Can't you see that the sky has changed!?" She cursed again. He was stunned for a moment, his face flushed, it was the first time she scolded him so harshly in front of the whole village, men, women and children, and he was at a loss what to do.A thought flashed through his mind, and he wanted to get away and go, fuck it!Let the heavy rain wash these ghost sheaves into the river bank, it's shit!He glanced at her resentfully, and his heart softened. Shuqin's face was covered with sweat, dust, and wheat chaff, and she became like a panicked she-wolf, with her mouth distorted and red eyes, anxious and angry. It has completely made those lively eyes become evil.Her clothes were torn from the shoulders, revealing the muscles of the round shoulders, and even the breasts of the upper breasts were exposed. She didn't care about anything, but desperately pressed the sheaf of wheat that her daughter dragged to the front of the wheat. go up.He did not move away, but grabbed two sheaves and dragged them to her.Now, here and now, he is not an engineer with ideas about heat processing, but a laborer who piles up wheat sheaves.

"Don't worry at all! It's like I'm alone!" Shuqin was still venting her dissatisfaction with him loudly. "Why are you yelling! If you keep yelling, I'll—" He also got angry, "Shall I come for a while?" A sister-in-law next to her hurriedly flashed by, and said, "Heavy rain is coming! Why don't you get angry if you don't pile up the wheat!" Shuqin bit her lip and remained silent, but tears flowed down her cheeks. The wind intensified, and the wheat bundles rolled around on the field. Somebody's reed mat covering the wheat accumulation was thrown into the air by the strong wind, and then thrown to the slope outside the field.In the woods next to the field, a big-leaf poplar tree snapped and broke in the middle. After a flash of light, thunder exploded overhead, and heavy rain poured down...

Men and women, old people and children, ran out from the field in disorder, discarded the sheaves of wheat and the piled wheat accumulations, and fled to the eaves of several nearby families to avoid the rain.Holding his daughter with one hand, Zhao Peng ran out from the arena and huddled under the eaves, shivering from the cold.There is no choice but to let the rain drench. If the wheat sheaves are piled up in the rain, the scene and the wheat ears will be trampled into a mess; the wheat sheaves that have been soaked in the rain are piled up and will be retting in two days. It is better to plant them in the open air. .

Shuqin didn't go to the eaves to take shelter from the rain, she didn't wear a straw hat, she let the pouring rain pour on her head and body, she walked slowly and tiredly in the heavy rain, walked back from the village alley, the torrential rain splashed from the ground The muddy water stuck to the trouser legs, and the torn clothes were tightly stuck to the flesh, and they still walked slipperily.A few women called her name in a kind voice, telling her to hide under the eaves quickly, because the hot skin and hot flesh that had sweated would not be drenched in the cold rain!She didn't seem to hear, dragging her heavy legs, she walked towards the west, in the narrow place of the village alley, which was covered by rain, fog and walls. Zhao Peng's heart tightened, and he felt a little uneasy. He jumped from under the eaves into the rainy field, and ran back with slips and steps.He ran back to the courtyard, and saw Shuqin lying on the small dining table in the house, half-closed her eyes, her lips turned black, her hands and feet were as cold as ice, and her trembling lips were panting.He hugged her limp and paralyzed body, tears streaming down his face... He struck a match, lit the straw, stuffed it under the stove, turned on the bellows, and boiled a basin of warm water for her to wash her body with.In the past, regardless of winter or summer, when he came home on Saturdays, she smiled and put a basin of warm water mixed with hot and cold water on the wooden basin stand, and asked him to wash away the dust and dust from the ride. , it seemed that there was nothing unusual about it, now that he was squatting under the stove, it was the first time he felt that it was time to provide her with a basin of warm water for washing her face and body.He didn't learn the skill of burning pots and stoves, and puffs of thick smoke came out from under the pots, choking his nose and tears, and he still pulled the bellows devoutly. In the four or five days since the wheat harvest, she ate more than he did. less sleep, less sleep, and almost non-stop, steamed buns in the middle of the night, put out the stove, and went to the field with a sickle. There are rows of sheaves.He was exhausted, and she was not made of iron. He took a basin of warm water and put it on the basin stand, closed the door, stripped off her wet clothes, helped her to the basin, and helped her to scrub.She suddenly put her arms around his neck, and she was so moved that she shed tears, her sunburned cheeks and those sunken eyes revealed a ray of gentleness and infatuation.When the rainstorm came, their quarrel in the wheat field disappeared, and it was as quiet and harmonious as a summer night after the rainstorm.There are loving couples living in various forms in the world, either engaged in a profession they love in common, or share similar interests.Middle-aged engineer Zhao Peng and his farmer's wife live together like this. It can't be said that they are not happy, can they?At this moment, his self-feeling: very good!