Chapter 26 Chapter Four

On the other side of the Yellow River, first there was a hazy fish-maw-colored light, and after a while, an orange moon hung on the top of the sandy slope, slowly scattering yellow brilliance.The grove in front, bathed in moonlight on one side and covered with thick shadows on the other, looks mysterious and beautiful.The ruts on the ancient road look even more uneven under the slanting moonlight, and seem to be endlessly long. For a while, the fields and the wastelands suddenly became silent and solemn, as if paying respects to the moon in amazement.Immediately, an erratic, warm night wind blew from the Yellow River, and the sound of water and the thunderous sound of the sand bank collapsing came out, and it became clearer and more shocking.

The donkey-cart danced along.Donkeys also have night eyes, that's what the older generation said, it's the gray-black scar on the inside of its left front leg.So people don't have to drive a donkey cart, it will know the way by itself. He lay on the railing, silently listening to all the sounds made by the river.He could even hear the rustle of the reeds being washed by the whirlpool on the edge of the river bank.The voice was subtle, rapid, and continuous, which made people admire Wei Ye's endurance, perseverance and tenacious fighting spirit. "Ah, Yellow River, you are the cradle of the Chinese nation!" This is true.Even the grass and trees growing by the river show a kind of tenacious vitality and fearless heroism.

well!But, ashamed to say, as individuals of this nation, they are not always so heroic.For example... Thinking of this, he put away his smile, shook his head, and sighed. When did this thing start? At first, the whole world seemed to go dark all of a sudden.The sky is still the same, with the sun, the moon, and clouds in the sky, and the birds are still flying in the air... It seems to be the same as before.However, in all of these, the heat, brightness and strength seemed to have weakened.People's eyes seem to be suffering from eye disease, covered with a thick layer of blurred vision, and everything in front of them is cast with a melancholy shadow...

Sure enough, what You Xiaozhou said was right, and a difficulty that had never been experienced since the founding of the People's Republic of China came. On such a day, a "three cadre meeting" was held in the county to complete the rectification of the society, and the secretary of the county party committee, He Lide, called him to the office. "Although the situation is very serious, we should still have confidence, and we still have a solution. This year, we still have to strive for a 'good start'; we must break the old customs, old habits, and have a revolutionary Spring Festival. You advanced brigade , you must take the lead!"

Holly frowned slightly and sat behind the desk. Although the secretary of the county party committee seemed worried, he still spoke in an encouraging tone.He sat silently in front of Holly.How can we celebrate the "revolutionary Spring Festival"?The land that produces food seems to have been swept away by a terrible tornado overnight; I heard that the food that is transported to the farmer's carloads is called "Boya" that the farmers have never heard of. The place.The red couplet posted on the door, "Let go of the strong skin to eat, work hard to produce" has not faded. Even the canteen of the Weijiaqiao Brigade can only serve two meals of rice soup a day.Under such circumstances, when he heard the words "advanced" and "leading", he shuddered.

"Well, why don't you talk, comrade, you can't lean to the right! To be honest, if you waver at this critical moment, you will make mistakes. We should all learn from You Xiaozhou's lesson." He slowly raised his head and met Holly's stern gaze.Suddenly, an ominous premonition beat in his heart.Sure enough, Holliday asked him: "Your team, who is performing the worst right now?" He avoided Hu Lide's eyes and pretended to be thinking about the problem, but he remembered You Xiaozhou's words in his mind: he must protect his fellow countrymen at all times...

"Well, this...it's bad enough at the moment, whoever is asked to work will not work, and the work will not work hard. It is said that he has edema and can't do it..." He replied evasively. "Hey! Comrade Wei Tiangui, to be honest, your thinking is very muddled. What kind of edema? That is purely a rumor made by class enemies!" He Lide gave him a dissatisfied look, but he still patiently said, "The rectification movement The whole society, first of all, is to fight against bad people and bad things. The more difficult we are, the more rampant class enemies will be. This is an iron logic. To be honest, we cannot lead the masses through difficulties without cracking down on bad people and bad things. This is a movement Miles. Of course, the majority of the people are good, and there are very few bad people. Think about it, who is the worst performer? Huh?" Holliday placed emphasis on the word "most".

"If you want to talk about bad things, everyone has their own bad ways." He still didn't name specific people. "Everyone is good when they are rich. When life is difficult, it's really 'there are no good people in Hongdong County'." "Oh!" He Lide became irritated by him, "You have always been smart and capable, why are you so confused now? I plan to start this campaign with your brigade first, and then roll it out throughout the county. Comrade, We must strive to be ahead of the movement!" But He Lide is a well-cultivated cadre after all, he moved the documents in front of him a little to the side, suppressed his impatience, and returned to normal and said, "Comrade Wei Tiangui, the above estimates , Ninety-five percent of the good people are good people nationwide, and five percent are the rich, the bad, the right, and all kinds of class enemies that we have not yet discovered. To be honest, our province is quite special. Before liberation Our province has a population of less than 1 million, but there are 100,000 local warlords and government officials. Therefore, the proportion of our province is larger, and the task of "double fighting" is even heavier. We do not use percentages Ten percent, not five percent, the most conservative estimate, there are always bad people in 20% or 30%, right? Tell me honestly, are there two or three bad people in a hundred people? That’s right! You admit that Yes. According to this ratio, there are more than 400 members in your brigade, so don’t you have seven or eight bad guys? Think about it.”

"Hmm...do they all have to be sent to reform through labor?" After a moment of silence, he asked tentatively. "Well, that's not necessarily the case. Of course, a brigade like yours, which has always been advanced, doesn't need to send all of them to labor camps. Just dig them out and control them. However, one or two extremely bad ones still need to be punished by law. No way. , can't defeat the arrogance of the bad guys." It seems that there is no room for bargaining.He began to use his brain seriously, thinking about who was suitable to send to a labor camp.Don't worry about those who "dig it out and control it", you can count anyone you want.Whether it is controlled or not is in his hands.

There are more than 400 members in the brigade, and he knows it like the palm of his hand: the landlord Wang Hai has died long ago, his children are all outside, some teach, and some even become cadres.The few rich peasants and their families are now more courageous than rabbits and more obedient in their work than donkeys, so they can't be unconscionable and call them bad.The rest are poor and middle peasants.He turned it over and turned it over, feeling that it was not appropriate to send anyone to a labor camp. In the end, his shrewd and fierce eyes became dazed. "Hey!" Hollide became irritable again. He quickly stood up from his chair and slapped his palm on the document. There are bandits! There is also the control member Han Yumei, who is still dragging the cadres of the commune team into the water. This is all under your nose, don’t you see it? You arrest those two bad guys! Alas, you usually have a bad idea There are many, but at the critical moment, they regressed. Comrade Wei Tiangui, you have to check your thinking carefully. To be honest, I don’t know how you did it in the recent period. You are very right-leaning. Fortunately, you are not an official national cadre..."

He was criticized and came back from the county on a bicycle.The cold wind is biting, piercing the bones.The moonlight is dim and its color is bleak.The front wheel bumped on a lump of frozen soil, the handlebars tilted, and he overturned the car and people in a ditch on the side of the road.Fortunately, there were no injuries.He sat on the ridge by the ditch and thought about it. Wei Defu is his little friend who fights donkeys together since he was a child.When they were young, they crossed the Yellow River together and fled to Inner Mongolia.Wei Defu didn't have to escape, he didn't break the law, it was just to send him off.In the early morning of that day, Wei Defu sang while paddling a sheepskin raft: "I said soldiers, there is no good thing! Pull me to the sorghum field, I said soldiers..." After crossing the river, the raft Throwing it away, he said: "I'll go with you too, to open your eyes on the prairie..." and left with him.When he arrived in Inner Mongolia, Wei Defu didn't keep the Shanxi people's sheep cabinets well. He wandered around on the grassland all day long, ate and drank in the yurt, and even took the sheep before leaving.The hometown was liberated, and the two of them came back together.After the land reform and land division, Wei Defu worked peacefully for several years; married a wife, gave birth to a son, and became a farmer honestly.However, since the beginning of "low standards, substitute melons and vegetables", this person's old problems have recurred. Why didn't he know that Wei Defu "stolen the road and broke the crowd".However, rabbits don't eat grass by the side of their nests, and Wei Defu never touches every plant or tree in the Weijiaqiao Brigade.Besides, his five children, like willow seeds planted on the river beach in spring, are about the same height, and the oldest one is only nine years old.If they don't steal, how can they feed them? The Yellow River was frozen, and the sound of rushing water could not be heard.But he is still not silent, and is still irresistibly showing his greatness, eternity and inner vitality with the majestic cracking sound of the ice layer. "Ah, the Yellow River, you are the cradle of the Chinese nation!" It seemed that You Xiaozhou's song sounded in his ears again, the singing voice was faint and vague, so it lost its majestic charm and became silky, Like weeping like complaining, like resentment like admiration... He bowed his head deeply. "The people are not in books, notebooks, or newspapers, they are around you, they are your fellow countrymen..." This is true.However, Holliday's words also have his "iron logic".isn't it?First, class enemies may take advantage of our difficult times to make trouble.If you don't make trouble at this time, when are you waiting?Second, there are 5 percent of the bad guys in the country, and it is by no means overestimated.Conversely, the 5% of bad guys will not only be in the books, but also in the newspapers, and they must be around themselves.So, wouldn't it be reasonable to distribute it layer by layer according to the ratio of 23%?Not in Weijiaqiao, nor in other places?Maybe more miles! The moon went down, and the cold wind blew harder.At that time, even the rooster that announced the dawn was slaughtered in the countryside. I don’t know when it will be, but it must be dawn soon... He sat on the ridge by the ditch thinking all night, and finally he came up with a way to deal with it . The next night, he went to Wei Defu's house. Wei Defu's adobe house was built on the east side of Zhuangzi, and there was a road behind the house.Like the adobe houses of ordinary farmers, there is a front and back yard, with a few miscellaneous trees planted in the front yard, and an open-air toilet and a sheep pen in the back yard. The sheep in the sheep pen have been slaughtered for meat and piled up Here comes the firewood. When the "low standard" started, Wei Defu immediately cut a hole in the back wall facing the road.This hole is the back door he goes in and out at night. "Hey! The secretary is here. Rare and rare!" As soon as he entered, Wei De squinted at him with vague hostility. "What? Did you come to see your elder brother get rich today, or to see your elder brother's hard life?" As he spoke, Wei Defu lifted the lid of the pot, shoveled out a bran pancake mixed with leaves, and handed it to him. "Let's eat, at least I'm a guest." "Forget it." Knowing the value of a bran pancake now, he carefully placed the chaff pancake on the lid of the pot - if it was placed a little heavier, the pancake would fall apart into pieces. "I ate it." "Eat, it's nothing!" Wei Defu was very generous, "Hey, I can afford one or two meals. Some people say that I, Wei Defu, can steal eighty chickens in one night. That's a lie. Anyway, as long as I go out, You can’t come back empty-handed, don’t look clean, there’s gold everywhere here!” He sat down on the edge of the Kang next to a bunch of dolls' heads.There was a smoking oil lamp hanging on the dirt wall, and it was definitely not burning kerosene, but diesel oil that I did not know where.There was an unpleasant smell of oily smoke, bran and musty smell of worn-out clothes and shoes.Wei Defu stood beside the pot with his elbows in his hands, staring at him with vigilant eyes.This man's hair, beard, and eyeballs are all yellow, and people have called him a "yellow-haired ghost" since he was a kid, but now he is thin and dry, making people look like he has been scorched by fire, his hair is scorched and black. "Hey, do you have a mom?" Wei Defu's youngest four-year-old doll got out from under the dark and greasy bed, bare back, and stretched out his red hands to dig into his pocket.This time, the other four yellow-haired heads popped out, and looked up at him greedily, as if they wanted to swallow him up. "Don't f*cking blow the horn on the plane - (think) loud!" Wei Defu slapped his son's dirty hand. "The secretary only has newspapers in his pocket, but no food. Sleep well!" Five dolls, I look at you, you look at me, and they shrank into the bed aggrieved.They were covered with a shabby quilt, and the one on the other side of the kang was pulled to the other, and the one on one side of the kang was pulled to this side, and the quilt was swung back and forth like a sieve.He sat silently for a while, rubbing the mud on his neck with his fingers, but couldn't think of a suitable opening sentence.Suddenly he saw the curtain of the inner room move suspiciously, and asked: "Where's sister-in-law?" Wei Defu turned his face away, and shouted to the back room: "Come out, we know that we don't do secret things." Then he said to him with a provocative look, "She is processing grain." "How to process food?" "How do you process food? Just use bricks to grind rice. The rice made from the ground rice is still delicious!" He remembered a bag of rice lost in the grain field of the Luoqu Brigade. "You……" "Don't you, you!" The "yellow-haired ghost" suddenly fired up, bared his yellow teeth and shouted with a grin, "then you bring the food! Did I work? Why did I work? Don’t let us be full? You told us so much about the “Great Leap Forward” at the time: what about communism tomorrow, what scientific progress, rice can be made from air in the factory! Is that what you released from your mouth? Fart? Say it! Good! Now you feed us with rice made of air..." The "yellow-haired ghost" groaned angrily, his tongue twirling in his mouth. "That, that... I also take it as true. Then, you don't want me to make a mistake?" "That's right! So if Xing'er makes a mistake, you don't want me to make a mistake?" The "yellow-haired ghost" clasped his elbows again, and stared at him proudly. "That's it for me, your secretary can figure it out!" "Cough! You," he coughed dryly, hinting cautiously to the "yellow-haired ghost", "but mistakes are always mistakes. I made mistakes, so I will not speak big words in the future. As for you, the earthen pot is always broken from the mouth of the well. There are many times. If you keep doing this, something will happen. At that time... I see. Besides, we have gold everywhere here. It’s better to go to Inner Mongolia again. Have you forgotten? There are so many people living on the prairie. When we got there ..." "Hey, you're thinking of going with me!" The fire ignited quickly and extinguished quickly.Wei Defu immediately dispelled his hostility, lit a "speaker", stepped on the pot and squatted down. "Tiangui, I don't treat you as an outsider, I'm just about to do this. To tell you the truth, I even branded the dry food on the road..." The "yellow-haired ghost" talked about his plan excitedly, and at the same time smoked the "trumpet" that was rolled with eggplant leaves mixed with chili leaves, so smoked that he couldn't even breathe.At this time, the "yellow-haired ghost" woman blinked her rotten eyes with undergrown eyelashes, opened the curtain and came out of the back room, interrupting her man's words in a crying voice: "His brother, once he leaves, what will this group of dolls do? Look, my life is miserable..." "What should we do? We all stay together and starve to death!" The "yellow-haired ghost" spat at his woman, and then yelled at his father and mother. "Don't interrupt me as a woman. I think my life is hard, you fucking remarry, I will stop you from not being named Wei!" "Okay, Defu, don't scare the baby." He stopped the "yellow-haired ghost", then turned his head and softly coaxed the woman with eye circles. "Sister-in-law, once Defu leaves, although the family loses a laborer, I won't deduct his rations from you. You can still buy seven meals in the cafeteria. One less mouth, one more ration, it's still a good deal He went out to hide for a year or two, and came back after the hard times. What's wrong with that? If you want to leave, you have to leave early. If the ice of the Yellow River is over after the Spring Festival, it will be difficult to cross the river..." The woman with bad eye circles was a farmer who had no idea. She lowered her head, rubbed her eyes that never dried up with tears, and fell silent.Wei Defu grinned and said: "Tiangui, you, pretending to be a dragon is a dragon, pretending to be a tiger is a tiger, pretending to be a lion can dance, and you can live with your lips. How about you become a cadre? I talked about it for a few days and didn't talk about turning her...Okay, let's go It's settled!" Wei Defu left just like that, but he didn't expect that there would be no news of the "yellow-haired ghost" once he left.The first two years were fine, but once the "low standard" passed, women with bad eye circles would come to his house every day to quarrel with him.In the year of the Cultural Revolution, she listened to the instigation of a group of opponents in the county, and she grabbed his clothes all day long, crying, "return him", saying that her man was driven away by the secretary, which made him speechless. Can you tell such an ignorant mother-in-law that if her man is not sent to Inner Mongolia, her man will have to go to a labor camp?Can you tell her that this is one of his thirty-six strategies? ……Pooh!He has been wronged! The next episode of the past, when it emerges in his mind, always arouses a kind of tenderness in his heart, a kind of melancholy of "I knew it earlier, I regret it", a kind of passionate impulse of a real man... After leaving the "yellow-haired ghost"'s house, the night was as cold as ice and the sky was full of stars. During the "low standard" period, everyone went to bed early, and the village was completely dark.Only the house next to the well was still lit with dim lights.This family, like the "yellow-haired ghost", has a way to get some lamp oil. He hesitated for a while, then stomped his cold feet and walked hesitantly towards that house... Holliday said that their place is "poor mountains and bad waters", no wonder he felt uncomfortable when he heard it.First, it is far away from the mountains; second, "the Yellow River is full of harm, but only rich." Their Hetao area is full of the convenience of the Yellow River water, and they plant and harvest every year, without any fear of drought or flood.If it is said to be "a prostitute making trouble for the people", of course Holly did not mean that.However, I have to point out with regret that in the era of local warlord rule, almost every man in this area was conscripted to serve as a soldier. , more or less must have some "Qiu Ba" habit, such as "yellow-haired ghost" is a living example.In this remote river beach, the villagers are all victims of disasters who have fled famine over the years and poor people who have suffered lawsuits in their hometown. They themselves say that they came down from the big pagoda tree in Hongdong County, Shanxi. In fact, there are people from all northern provinces. Their ancestors have Some carried baskets, some pushed wheelbarrows, and dragged their children and daughters to this barren beach overgrown with reeds and fertile land.For many years, they didn't care about the world, and when one warlord consolidated the important town he had won, he was beaten away by another warlord just as he was about to reach out to the river beach.So again and again, the barren village has become a paradise.In this way, their cultural education depends on one book, and their moral education depends on the feudal and anti-feudal stories told by storytellers who travel from village to village.Later, the local warlords of the Kuomintang ruled them, and the adult men were taken away, and the village was full of women. With no patriarchal restraint and very little blood relationship, this area is similar to that of the Cossacks in the 19th century. Just like in the Don region of China, the relationship between the sexes finally opened up according to the needs of pure nature. In the old society, there was a catchphrase that described the characteristics of this area: "The wheels are big and the cows are small, the forts and houses will not fall down, the mosquitoes will not run away when they bite people, and the elder brother will not bite the dog when he climbs over the wall." General, but as a folk oral creation, the language is relatively concise. After liberation, most of the men who served in the warlord's army returned.After the positive education of previous campaigns, although the wheels are still big and the old cows are small, although the houses are still built with rubbish, and although the mosquitoes are still very fierce, it is indeed rare for the "brother" to climb over the wall, even if some old lovers are still inseparable. , I had no choice but to glance affectionately while working in the field.However, once the "low standard" is reached, even though people can't even eat enough to eat, and the road can't walk, the atmosphere has turned crooked again.The difference is that there is no emotional basis in it, and the idyllic romance is gone. He Lide, as the ruler of a county with a population of 100,000, was able to tell Wei Tiangui Han Yumei's name in a single word, which shows that Secretary He is still a parent official who knows every detail and cares about every detail—yes, Han Yumei is such a romantic seed. He walked to the well and stopped.The wind is blowing, and the night is hazy.A thick layer of solid ice formed on the well, like wax tears from a candle, solidified around the stone well fence, showing smooth natural runoffs.All the people in Zhuangzi have drank the water from this well since they had Zhuangzi.Although there are several wells in Zhuangzi, the water from this well is not as sweet as this one. He does not know how many times a year he has to come here with a bucket.I can’t remember exactly which year it was, but it was always after the cooperativeization and before the “Great Leap Forward”. Once he came to the well with a bucket, and saw Han Yumei, who was about fifteen or sixteen years old, and was suddenly amazed at the fact that she had grown up and looked down on her since she was a child. The little girl has changed her appearance: What a yellow-haired girl who has changed eighteen times!He also smiled and said to Han Yumei's widowed father, you are really blessed with old age, your girl is getting more and more beautiful the longer she grows.Han Yumei's father is a bit of a handyman. While feeding the horses for the club, he cuts some achnatherum splendens woven fences, back buckets, and grain thatch on the beach. They sell them at the fairs, and they can make some pocket money. Not bad.At that time, the old man Han told him that it was not a good thing for a girl to look juicy, "Since ancient times, beauty has been so unlucky", and in the future, he, a "big nobleman", should be treated more carefully.Afterwards, the old man Han suddenly suffered from "wool therapy"-the symptom was severe pain in the stomach-and died, but Han Yumei was like a lotus flower out of water, the longer he grew, the more attractive he was.Some big men—there are young Gazi who are not married, and there are farmers who have families—always glance at her when they are working, but at that time, the farmers have learned to behave, He didn't dare to be very presumptuous anymore, he just teased her with crazy words, he saw all of these.Soon, the "Great Leap Forward" began. The cotton mills in the provincial capital needed workers, and he was the first to report Han Yumei's name.After passing the medical examination and getting a notice, Han Yumei sold and gave away all the things in the house, leaving only the house that no one bought.On the day before leaving, Han Yumei came to the house of the president and secretary to thank him again. Her long eyelashes were blinking, her big eyes were flickering, her braids were flicking, and she said "uncle" in one mouthful, which made him feel sweet in his heart. , So much trouble that he also forgot to tell her what to say. However, her good luck didn't last long. After less than a year, she ran into some kind of movement and was escorted back by the factory.The escort explained to him that Han Yumei had "pulled cadres into the water" in the cotton spinning factory and had improper sexual relations with three technicians and a section chief. Younger, with a good family background, he was only given a lenient punishment of "expelled from the factory and handed over to the local government to control labor". At that time, Han Yumei was standing alone in the brigade office of the landlord Wang Haijia, with a small bedroll under her feet, her big belly was upright, her eyes were drooping, her long eyelashes were stained with tears, and she had a miserable expression on her face. Showing a look of grievance and resignation.He looked pitiful. As soon as the escort went out, he waved his hand, sighed, and sent her home without even saying a word. Not long after, he heard that Han Yumei had given birth to a girl, and asked his eldest son who is now a reporter—who was just ten years old at the time—to secretly send two packs of brown sugar.In 1959, those two packs of brown sugar were rare treasures that ordinary peasants could not afford. If his wife knew about them, they would have to make a scene. Nothing about Zhuangzi, big or small, could be hidden from his Mongolian eagle eyes.At the end of the year, he soon found out that Han Yumei had hooked up with Luo Mazi, the secretary of the nearby Luoqu brigade, and that the person who had hooked her up was Luo Widow, a well-known pimp in Zhuangzi—the Luo widow's natal family was in the Luoqu brigade.To get in touch with Han Yumei's past mistakes and her status as being under control, this is indeed something that should be investigated, but if she is not allowed to hang up, what will Wei Tiangui do to ensure the lives of her mother and daughter?Like the "yellow-haired ghost", she would also yell at him: "Then bring food!" There is a line in Shanxi Bangzi's "Hitting the Golden Branch": "Don't be blind or deaf, don't be a Weng." I had no choice but to learn from Guo Ziyi and turn a blind eye.What's more, the folk customs in this area don't take these matters very seriously. "If the people don't get promoted, the officials won't be prosecuted." Let her go. However, now the higher authorities are going to "investigate" it! What should I do?Can she be sent secretly to Inner Mongolia like the "yellow-haired ghost"?Obviously not, she is a woman with a nursing baby... Alas!Let's talk about it first. He knocked cautiously on the door.Because he knew that maybe the secretary of the Luo Qu Brigade would pop out of the room.The two of them are at the same level, and they don't look good. Fortunately, Han Yumei was the only one at home that night.She opened the door a crack first, and when she saw him, she opened it abruptly and grabbed his arm. "Hey! It's the secretary, come in quickly. Seeing that you are frozen, your face is flushed..." Somehow, the first sentence warmed his heart.Since he came to the "official face", he has heard countless flattery and flattery from the following. He has not become numb, but has developed a keen recognition ability.He immediately heard that the woman's words and actions were completely subconscious and out of pure female concern. Suddenly, he even felt a burst of self-blame in his heart: Isn't what happened to her also related to him? ?If she hadn't been sent to the city back then, and had been put under his nose, she probably wouldn't have ended up like this.Now, instead of calling him "uncle", she calls him "secretary". Doesn't this also show her inferiority complex?Oh, I'm so heartbroken... "Sit down. Look, the room is messy...I haven't cleaned it up yet." Han Yumei was cleaning up the bowls and chopsticks on the kang table, and he took a look: there was still a pinch of yellow rice in the small bowl, and there was a piece of pickled carrot in the plate.In 1960, this was a delicacy.He knew that at this time, all the people who secretly hid things or obtained things secretly ate supper quietly after they went to bed in other people's homes.Han Yumei didn't hide it from him, which also showed her trust in him. "Is the baby alright?" He sat down on the kang, turned his face to look at the sleeping baby, and wanted to start this difficult conversation with some routine. "What's the name?" "Accountant Yang named Xiulian. A few days ago, I had diarrhea. I went to the temple to ask for some incense ashes, and it was cured..." In 1960, all ghosts, gods, demons and foxes came out of their caves, and there were even rumors that the government wanted to circumcise women There were rumors that Naitouzi was going to build an atomic bomb, and begging for incense ash was not uncommon in the countryside, but Han Yumei refused to talk about family affairs, leaned over from the kang table, stared at him as if checking his illness and said, "You Much thinner. Your legs aren’t swollen, right? Or, don’t you think I’ll make you a meal of yellow rice? It’s very fast, and the firewood will be cooked as soon as it’s burnt.” "Forget it." He waved his hand and swallowed.He came to do work for her, and even though he really wanted to eat a meal of hot, fragrant yellow rice, he couldn't eat it at this time. Han Yumei could probably see that he was going to the Three Treasures Hall for nothing, so she leaned her elbows on the kang table, rested her cheeks on her hands, and stared at him steadfastly, not saying a word.After a moment of silence, he also turned to look at her. People say that "Phoenixes grow out of the mountain's nest", this is true! The word "Shanwowo" of course refers to poor villages in general, not specifically to mountainous areas.Although their Hetao area is also poor and remote, but the water and soil are good, the climate is normal, and the women are generally beautiful, but Han Yumei is indeed more outstanding, worthy of being the phoenix of phoenixes.After giving birth, the natural luster of her eyes, hair, and skin is like the petals of a blooming flower, shining brightly even under a dim oil lamp.This loss of face made him dazzled, and his thoughts other than "doing work" unconsciously moved in his heart. Han Yumei is a clever ghost!Seeing the sparks bursting out of his eyes, she smiled at him first, then lowered her head and waited for him to speak docilely. He regained his composure, took back the out-of-body soul, coughed solemnly, and said, "Han Yumei, do you know what I'm here for?" He has the ability to change his face when he says he will.His face was pulled down, his eagle eyes were rolled up, and his eyebrows were raised. In the eyes of the villagers below, there was really an aura of power without anger.Han Yumei sneaked a look at his expression, sat up a little more straight, and took her hands from her cheeks without knowing it. After a pause, she blinked her big eyes covered with long eyelashes, and said timidly: "It's me...not good. But I'm afraid that the secretary will worry, so...or else, what are you doing, the baby is breastfeeding... look for your secretary, I know you can't do anything...I don't like Uncle Defu has the skills, so I have to..." As she said, Han Yumei shed tears. "Okay, okay! Stop talking!" Knowing that she was telling the truth, he closed his eyes in distress, the chewing muscles on both cheeks trembled, and stopped her words with the palm of his hand. "But..." After a long pause, he frowned again and said, "Don't just look for the cadres of the communes and brigades, you think, who are you hanging up with? I'll be with you. Hearing a little wind from above, he Immediately push the responsibility to you, but make you worthless..." "I...who looked for him? He wants to come. He has food in his hand, and I... need this again. If I am so hungry that I have no milk, the baby will..." Han Yumei wiped her tears with the back of her hand, and then Blow your nose. "At present, only such people have something in their hands, and the farmers even themselves..." Yes, the villagers can't even take care of their own stomachs, so how can they spend food for fun?He has nothing to say. However, a woman is a woman after all, Han Yumei sobbed sadly for a while, and then suddenly beamed with joy, as if she suddenly remembered something, she turned to the corner of the kang and began to rummage. "Secretary, I still have a good item! I think I can sell it for a little money to survive the famine..." She took out a small handkerchief bag, shook off layers of the outer layer, and held a shiny thing on the palm of her hand with a smile. When he saw it, it was a watch.Pick it up and put it to your ear to listen, but it doesn't make a sound; shake it, it still doesn't make a sound.He twisted the crown again, and the crown dangled in the case like a garlic mallet in a stone mortar.Although he hadn't put on a watch at that time, he was considered a man who had seen the world among the peasants—this watch was pure scrap metal! "That's what the section chief gave me. Originally, he told me that he was not married and wanted to marry me..." Han Yumei blushed when she said this. "He took this thing and said that I was engaged to me, so I married him... He, he also said that this watch was made in Switzerland. Where is Switzerland?" "Switzerland? Well, that's over there in Shanghai. Let me ask you, is it like this when he gave it to you?" "No! It was like this when it was given to me! I kept it tightly wrapped afterwards." Han Yumei picked it up, put it on her right wrist, and turned it under the dim light, admiring herself. Her wrist was white and tender, and the strap was shiny, so it was pretty.Looking at her stupid look, he already knew in his heart whether it was she who "seduced the cadre" or the scum cadre who seduced her.But he couldn't bear to destroy her interest and fantasy, so he just sighed unconsciously. "This...you keep it for yourself, don't sell it. In the future, within a month, the team will buy some food for you. You have to trust the collective, the collective can always help you overcome difficulties. What about you, Don't...don't mess around with others. Find another in-law's family and live a serious life, look, okay?" "Then... of course." Han Yumei took off her watch, but said boringly, "I'm afraid... no one wants me right now." "How come no one wants you? You are so juicy, who doesn't like it? Find a foreigner. If you find him, I will give him a registered residence and distribute food. What are you afraid of? I will tell you about your history." Forget it!" Indeed, the fate of the peasants was on his lips. Han Yumei thought for a while, raised her pink face, looked at him affectionately with tears in her eyes, and said with sobs while she was noncommittal to his proposal: "Secretary, I knew you were a good person. My father often said that when he was alive. I... I always think about it..." He suddenly felt that he couldn't hold himself up again, so he quickly waved his hands and got off the kang. "Forget it, don't say these words, folks in the country, you can rest." 他刚要抬脚，陡然，韩玉梅叫他意想不到地扑过来死死地抱住他，一头扎进他的怀里，眼泪鼻涕全蹭在他袄襟上，像发了疯一样哽咽着喊道： “我不让你走！我不让你走！我心里早就想你哩！你的啥都在我眼睛里。你是个好人，是个真正的男子汉！你跟那些鬼不一样……你给我红糖的时候我以为你会来哩，结果你不来……谁他妈的要跟那个罗麻子！我想你、想你、想你……”说着，韩玉梅又用拳头不停地在他肩膀和胸脯上乱捶。 他完全惊呆了。他活了三十多岁还从来没有享受过女人的爱情，而这爱情表现得如此突然、粗犷、奔放、热烈，如同火山爆发一般，燃烧的熔岩挟带着大量炽热的泥石流，能把一切草木顽石都熔化；又像黄河决了堤：泥浆迸溅，洪水横溢，咆哮翻滚，势不可挡，他低下头，看到一团青丝般的乱发在他眼前颤抖；在肮脏的衣领里，又看到她如雪似玉的肌肤。但他好像失音了一般，好像麻木了一般，既说不出话，也没有力量推开她。 “我知道你跟我婶过得不快活。我老想安慰安慰你。你太苦了，尽为大家伙儿操心。我能叫你快活，我啥也不要你的。真的，我啥也不要你的。我不要脸，可我挣下粮食来着。隔三下五的，晚上你就过来吃一顿饱饭。我再不跟人……就跟你……我也不嫁人。咱就这样一辈子。我要你快活……” 他的鼻子酸楚起来，眼睛不知不觉濡湿了。是的，他的家庭生活过得不快活，庄子上的人谁也不知道，这个细心而多情的女人却看出来了。 解放后，他从内蒙古回到老家，老妈死了，按庄户人的习惯，首先就要解决终身大事——“男儿无妻不成家”。那根本没有像现在他二儿子要求的啥“爱情”，找个媒人一说，男女双方的岁数、门第都相当，就娶过来呗。他女人娘家是放羊的羊倌，穷苦人出身，而过了门，才知道是个懒婆娘，一天到晚圪蹴在炕上，病恹恹的样子。可说她有病吧，还挺能吃，吃还要吃好的。生了娃娃，女人还不愿意做鞋做衣服，他只好求东家媳妇纳双底子，求西家大婶絮条棉裤，弄得他欠了一庄子的人情。庄户人，对女人的评判标准就是针线锅灶、鸡羊猪鸭，可他女人啥也不干，倒比过去王海家的地主婆还气派。他要不收拾房子，过不了三天家里就跟猪圈一样。他小脚的寡妇妈是个勤快人，后来别看他当的是地方军阀的兵，那个专给省政府看大门的警卫连对内务要求得还很严，所以他自小到大养成了一个爱整洁的习惯。这一来，屋里屋外仍然全得靠他一个人。他经常把娃娃打发出去，关起门用大巴掌扇她。可“江山易改，本性难移”，女人仍然故我，就是声势浩大的“大跃进”，也没把他女人“跃进”得勤快一点。想起来，他常常背着人掉泪，真像戏里唱的：“妻不贤，子不孝，无法可施。”他有浑身的本事，要有个《吕蒙正赶斋》里那样的“贤内助”，就如虎添翼了。可是，碰到这样的女人，有时半夜开完会回来还得自己点火做饭。他是个爱面子的男子汉，又当了支部书记，十来个庄子的头头，为了维护自己的威望，只能忍气吞声地受窝囊气，胳膊折了往袖子里揣。 “咋样？别走了，啊，别走了，我不让你走……”韩玉梅摇晃着他，在他怀里扬起脸，一股热气喷在他脖子上。使他痒得心神摇荡。“我就跟你……再不跟别人……你说啥我听啥。” “别、别……” 过了一会儿，他像从梦中刚醒过来，长长地吁了口气，微微推开她。“你现时正困难哩，咱不能……以后生活好了，咱们再……现时，不行，我心里有事。真的，我心里有事，等以后生活好了……” 韩玉梅好像也理解了，偎在他胸脯上，渐渐沉静下来，细嫩的手温柔地抚摸着他粗糙的脸膛，喃喃地说： “我懂。你正作难哩……我改，我以后再不了，只要你……可，以后……咱们可一定……” 他点了点头，阔大的手掌揉搓着她柔软的、蓬松的头发，在一时冲动之下，又笨拙地亲了亲她的脸蛋。随即，轻轻推开她，毅然决然地跨出房门。 从韩玉梅家出来，他登登登地跑到井沿上，搬起一块大石头，一下子把冰砸得粉碎，抓起一把冰渣子填进嘴里，嚼得嘎崩嘎崩乱响。好半天，他胸中那股如火的情欲才慢慢平息下去。然后，他抹了抹嘴唇，像一匹被骗了的马一样，无精打采地走回家。 他女人给他开开门，不知怎么难得地殷勤起来，问他：“回来啦，饿么？我可是饿了……” 他瞪起冒火的鹰眼，出手一巴掌把女人打到墙角。 “你饿，吃屎去！” 旋即，他一个箭步冲到炕边，一蹿身上了炕，拉过被子蒙头便睡，连鞋也没脱。他女人莫名其妙地吃了颗窝心九，在地上茫然地站了一会儿，才悄悄地爬上炕，饿着肚子也不敢言喘了。 其实，他一夜也没合眼。 第二天天亮，他喝了碗照得见人影影子的菜汤，一个人跑到河边的防洪坝上去了。 “啊，黄河，你是中华民族的摇篮！” 尤小舟就是在这片河滩上唱歌的，身后，就是那天他趴着的土坡。“爬地虎”已经枯败了，一簇簇扎得挺挺的，显得更瘦小而又更尖利了。今晨没有风，不但黄河是冻结的，世界的一切，好像连空气也凝固住了似的。摇篮不摇了。歌词仿佛变成了他不认识的、毫无意义的字，要叫他煞费脑筋去思索它。他就这样坐着，想着，坐着，想着…… 冬天日短，好大一阵子，太阳才费劲地从东岸沙坡上升上来，有气无力地蹲在沙坡顶上喘息。坡顶上横卧着一条干瘪的、疲倦的乌云。然而天空却是晴朗的，随着太阳挣扎着冉冉上升，乌云渐渐稀薄透亮，终于像一股烟似地化为乌有了。于是，黄河半透明的冰层和上面被风刮脏的残雪，像害肺痨的女人的面孔，泛出了病态的红晕，天气稍微暖和了一点。他在身边扒开一小片冰层，用手指头拨拉拨拉“爬地虎”的宿根，发现茎节上已经开始长出了点点像火柴头那么大的嫩芽。春天快来了，他拍拍巴掌上的土，对自己从贺立德那儿回来的路上设想的办法有了把握。 但是，关键还是需要一个人去蹲劳改。 这个差交不了，那就全盘落空。 就在这时，独眼郝三赶着一群乏羊到河滩上放牧来了。 “天贵，你知道么？天还没有亮，'黄毛鬼'一个人背着铺盖过了河，八成又跑内蒙古了。” 他们是自小打着耍的伙伴，尽管他早已当了“官”，独眼郝三还叫他的大名。郝三用一根烂绳头拦腰系着破棉祆，啪哒啪哒地趿拉着一双露脚趾头的雨靴，过来在他旁边蹲下。郝三比他大不了几岁，但面孔黧黑，皱纹纵横，一张小脸只有巴掌宽，小脸上嵌着难看的独眼，所以看起来要比他老得多。 “我咋不知道，是我叫他走的。”他怏怏地说。 “你叫走的？为啥？你又不是没去过，内蒙古那边。一出几千里不见人，可不比咱们这儿哩。” “管它比咱们这儿好。比咱们这儿孬！先躲过一关再说。要不，他就得蹲劳改哩。”他视而不见地望着在河滩上啃枯草的羊，不觉地把实话泄露了。 “蹲劳改？为啥？哧！就为偷那一把把粮食？这怕啥？叫我，就不怕！” “你当然不怕，吃饱了，连屋里的小板凳都不饿。他可是一大家子人哩。” “阿——哈咦！”独眼郝三大张开嘴，两臂伸得展展地，懒懒地打了个大哈欠，那只独眼也流出困乏的泪水。 “要说我呀，这日子，还真不如蹲劳改哩。去年劳改队来河边加防洪坝，嘟——吹哨吃饭，嘟——吹哨又吃饭。我他妈回去还得自己做饭，忙得烟熏火燎，饭还吃不饱……唉！”郝三放羊，吃饭总赶不上食堂敲钟。在羊圈忙到黑灯瞎火回家，又只有一只眼睛，做饭是他最头疼的事。 “哦！”听了郝三的抱怨，他心中古怪地一动，转过脸，认真地用锐利的目光打量着郝三，好像他过去不认识这个人一般…… 要说独眼郝三呢，也真够可怜的。他刚生下来，爹就被地方军阀抓去当了兵。在兵营里受了一年多罪，想家想得杠子馍都吃不下，偷偷跑了回来。他爹哪有魏天贵机灵，那是个窝囊人，前脚进门，逮他的班长跟着他的后脚就到了。抓回营部，也没揭他的背花，也没关他禁闭，而是把他脱得赤条条的，五花大绑着撂在河滩上喂蚊子。卫兵在远远的地方站着，拢起一堆烟火看着他。他妈——就是郝三的奶奶，趴在儿子身边嚎天嚎地地替他赶蚊子。可是赶去一层又扑来一层，上下一抹一身淋漓的鲜血，蚊子的尸体能搓成条。这样，让蚊子叮了两天，叮死了。葬在庄子西边的高岗上以后，庄子上有人却跟她说： “你赶啥呀！那头一层蚊子吃饭了就不飞啦，跟穿了件衣裳一样，罩在上头，第二层蚊子挤都挤不进去啦。你一赶，好，就跟那卫兵站岗一样，轮换着班来……那还有不叮死的！” 他奶奶听了很以为然，觉得儿子是死在自己手上的，竟一头栽进黄河。 郝三的妈，在当时也是这偏僻的河滩上的一只凤凰。原来她就守不住空房，曾在同一晚上约好两三个人，闹出不少笑话，成为庄子上茶余饭后的谈资，丈夫和婆婆都死后，碰上个从三盛公来这一带收羊皮的内蒙古人——听说那尕子长得又白净又精神，还唱得一口好“二人台”——没有认识两天，就撇下个不到两岁的娃娃跟那人跑了。 幸好，郝三已经断了奶，由他大伯收养下来。他大伯是个瘸子——这才没有被抓去当兵——一个人生活也够艰难的。饿了，大伯从炕洞里扒出个半生不熟的土豆撂给他；拉了，大伯从地上抓把土朝炕上一撒。日积月累，郝三等于在粪堆上睡着。大伯下地干活的时候，老是用根烂麻绳把他拴在炕上。有一天，他挣脱了烂麻绳想下地，却一个倒栽葱摔了下来，脸正好扑在炕洞旁边的掏灰筢子上。他大伯回来一看，他满脸是血，找了半天也没找见伤口在哪里。后来发现他一只眼窝瘪瘪的，才烧了些棉花灰捂住他的眼睛。 如此，他成了独眼郝三。 这样的娃娃，当然从小就受人欺负。打驴仗的时候，要是娃娃多毛驴少，独眼郝三就当驴让别的娃娃骑；柳拐子打飞了，要叫郝三用那只独眼去寻。可是，他魏天贵自小就照顾郝三，从没把他当驴骑过，还经常塞给他一点锅盔。别的娃娃打他，魏天贵总要替他报复，找个碴子也得揍那娃娃一顿。所以，郝三一直像一条忠实的狗一样跟着魏天贵。后来大了，魏天贵有什么说不出口的苦恼，譬如对自己女人的不满等等，也会对他发发牢骚。他成了魏天贵的“布衣之交”。 既然是残废，就有他特殊的幸与不幸，幸运的是没受过当兵的苦，不幸的是娶不上老婆，解放以后还是条光棍…… “嘿，”他阴沉他说，“你的话也对。你的日子还真不如蹲劳改哩。” “蹲劳改怕啥？三个饱一个倒，听说白穿衣服，一月还有几块钱零花哩，不就是干活嘛，我在外面不干活呀……”独眼郝三对蹲劳改很有兴趣，说得嘴角都冒出白沫。 “那你咋不去呢？”他冷冷地问。好像蹲劳改跟赶集一样平常。 “唉！蹲劳改还得有条件：要犯法，可我……”郝三眨眨独眼，沮丧起来。 “要犯法还不容易。”他脸上露出一丝阴险的微笑，指着那一群正在啃草的羊，“你把那羊捅倒几只。” “哎哟，我的大书记咧！”独眼郝三往后一仰，两脚朝天地躺在防洪坝上，笑得全身打颤。“哈……你真能摆弄人咧……” “你听着！”他猛地翻起身，揪着郝三的烂衣领，一把把郝三拽起来，咬着牙巴骨，下嘴唇可怕地向上蹶着。 “你怕，我不怕！我把那羊捅倒几只，你去蹲劳改！咱们俩一起让庄子上的人吃饱肚子，咋样？……” 他一口气把事情的原委和他的计谋和盘端给郝三。 “咦，没听说过，蹲劳改还派任务……”郝三听了以后，歪着脑袋，一边怔怔地寻思，一边嘀咕。 “行啦！那事是你寻思不透的，你干不干吧？” 郝三翻翻独眼，迟疑地看看他。真叫去蹲劳改，郝三又有点顾虑了。 “你要不去，谁去？你替我想想。”他动员郝三，“你去蹲个几年，全大队四百多号社员，一千多口人还能混口饱饭。回来了，你还是个你，有啥不好？” “那，我得蹲几年？” 他望了望那群羊，算计着庄子上的户口，“顶多蹲四年，咱打得宽宽的：五只羊一年。咱们捅它二十只。” “唔，四年，那还差不多。”郝三考虑了一会儿，表示同意。“舍不得娃娃打不了狼，你就领着大伙儿干吧。可你得分给我一条后腿，让我临走的时候吃顿好肉。” “行！”他一拍郝三的肩膀，霍地站起来，“带刀子没有？” 那条古道又弯向河沿。驴车慢慢走进了一段两边长着茂密的芦苇的地带。岸边的涡流轻轻地激荡着细嫩的苇草，发出柔和的沙沙声。河中间，浪涛拍击着浪涛，传来清脆的啪啪声。黄河水永不停歇，永不沉默，但她从来没有泄露过自己子孙的秘密，譬如，她决不会泄露这两个庄户人在公元一千九百六十年元月的某一天，在她几乎和地球一样古老的岸边，在一座人迹不到的悬崖下面，干的这件不可告人的勾当。 “啊嚯……啊嚯……” 两个人一致了以后，兴高采烈地把那群羊从尤小舟唱歌的河滩赶到一处背人的悬崖下面。他接过郝三的刀子，一刀一只，一刀一只……羊本来就没一点反抗的力气，他又是当过羊把式的，练就了一套疱了解羊的本事，二十只羊一眨眼就捅倒了。 两人先痛痛快快地趴在羊脖子的创口上喝了一顿羊血，才嘻嘻哈哈地回家。到了家，他先打发社员去把羊背回来，皮扒了，肉分给社员，肉下到锅里以后，他才跑到县上去报案。 第二天清晨，公安局派的民警就来了。郝三让人押着走到庄子头上，向他眨眨那只独眼： “喂，别的没啥，房子你可替我看好了。过了四年，我还回来哩。” 看见郝三手上带着铐子，他突然动了感情，悄悄地叫了郝三一声“三哥”： “你放心吧，三哥！” 郝三一辈子也没听人叫他一声“三哥”，听了后，立刻精神大振，挺起了胸脯，迈开了大步，回头说了句： “你也放心，天贵，我死也不说！” what!星空啊星空。独眼郝三那颗微弱的星光，这么一闪就熄灭了。而在它熄火之前，却还有一阵回光返照…… 出乎他意料的是，他把独眼郝三的“罪行”向县委书记贺立德汇报完以后，贺立德竟毫不怀疑，也不责怪他，而是神情庄重地从办公桌后面走出来，一只拳头在另一只已掌上捶着。 “你看看，你看看，这就是阶级斗争！这就是一个很好的说明阶级斗争的严重性的例子！这要发通报，要在全县宣讲：在我们困难的时候，国内外反动派就会一齐向我们反扑！我们有好些同志，包括你魏天贵在内，就是脑袋掉了也不知怎么掉的！” 他坐在旁边，埋着脑袋搓着手，感到万分惭愧。可是，事情已经做下了，只能一条道儿跑到黑；就是郝三说的那话：“舍不得娃娃打不了狼！”他心一横，干脆豁了出去。 “贺书记，”他趁贺立德略作停顿中间插上话，“你看，阶级斗争这么复杂：正要抓魏德富，魏德富就跑了，还有不少人想跑。春耕咱先不说，春天一来，黄河上游的冰凌一下，咱这儿防洪坝都没参加；有人，也没力气。要是立起了冰山，防洪坝一垮，别说咱大队，起码得淹半个县。贺书记，你看，是不是先给我批点粮食，一来好把人稳住，二来好叫人去加防洪坝。” “哦，”贺立德在办公室中间站住，愣怔了一下，疑惑地问：“不是兰州的水文站说，今年的浮冰流量不大么？” “嗐！”他眉飞色舞起来，“水文站光会看地图，我可是河边长大的。我这些日子去河滩看了无数遍：去年咱这一段冻得瓷实，冰凌一下，肯定在咱这儿堵住，非立起大冰山不行，再说，黄河水年年甩来甩去，今年河道该着往咱西边甩了。危险在咱们河西。'大跃进'里不是说了嘛；他洋专家不如咱土专家。到时候，贺书记看吧，飞机来炸也来不及啦！” “唔，”贺立德对他赞许地点点头，“这事，我可以考虑。” 接下来，贺立德也没有问韩玉梅，也没有再要那七八个坏人的任务，仿佛“坏”的质量能够顶“坏”的数量，就拿着独眼郝三触目惊心的“罪行”在全县宣讲。默默无闻的独眼郝三一下子出了大名。还了得！一个阶级敌人装成个老老实实的贫农，甘于寂寞地潜伏了十一年，最后在我们困难的时期暴动起来，疯狂地宰杀了集体的二十只羊……这大大地提高了群众阶级斗争的觉悟，“双打”运动终于在全县顺利地铺开了。 开“全县反坏人坏事誓师大会”的那一天，贺立德在主席台上作完报告下来，正在兴头上，随手一批，就批给他一部分防洪的专用粮。 粮食运回大队部，他叫全大队的人都到河滩的防洪坝上去。 “书记，带铁锹、背筐不带？”下面的队长问他。 “带背筐干啥？”他瞪起鹰眼。 “不是要加防洪坝么？” “加个熊！”他恶狠狠地啐了一口，“光带铁锹。主要把饭碗跟筷子带上。告诉大家：在防洪坝上加饭！一天两顿，见人就给！” 吃饭去！ 吃饭去！ 全大队的社员组成了一支浩浩荡荡的队伍，高举着“大跃进”时配备给他们的红旗。男男女女，扶老携幼，喜气洋洋地用筷子敲打着饭盆，奏起自有“哆唻咪”以往从来没有过的那样雄壮威武的进行曲，斗志昂扬地向河滩出发了。 人到齐后，先开一顿稠粥。他三叔掌着勺子，掂量着人的大小、劳力的强弱舀饭。稠粥！这可是白生生的、亮晶晶的、粘糊糊的、香喷喷的奇珍，不是那掉在地上会碎成一摊粉末的糠饼子。他抱着两肘，虎视眈眈地蹲在防洪坝上亲自弹压。饭锅四周人虽然拥挤，却也秩序井然；舀多舀少，庄户人没一个敢言喘的。他看到大人娃娃一张张笑脸，心里想起独眼郝三，暗暗地说了声： "value!" 社员的肚子吃胀了，一溜儿躺在防洪坝的坡上先晒一阵子太阳，再拿起铁锹在河滩的生荒地上翻地。也没有定额，翻多少算多少，可是社员的干劲却挺足。到了太阳偏西，再每人扒拉一碗稠粥，然后扛起铁锹、红旗回家。 这样，他在防洪坝东边开了一大片“黑田”。 粮食吃完了，他又跑到贺立德面前去诉苦，去报警。他发现，贺立德还是个对群众的饥苦关心的人，只要理由听起来顺耳，多少总会批一点。于是，他的胆子越来越大，编的谎话越来越圆，最终形成了他在那臭气熏人的茅坑上教给贺立德的处世哲学。 土地返潮了。中午，河滩上又冉冉地腾起氤氲的雾气。浮冰早已融化，春水一泻千里——冰凌当然没有立成冰山，畅通无阻地从他们魏家桥那段河道奔流而下。河滩上的柳树冒出绿烟，“爬地虎”的宿根也从土里顶出嫩芽。它从批来的防洪专用粮里拨出一口袋，叫会酿酒的罗寡妇酿了一桶私酒，又兑进去大量的凉白开，变成了两大桶，驮在驴背上，乘着筏子过了黄河。 “我告诉你，”他一边给驴煞肚带，一边狰狞地对罗寡妇说，“我这可是为大家伙好，你要在外头乱嚷嚷，小心我剜了你的舌头！”他知道他做的这事没法扯到政治思想工作上去，只好吓唬这个妇道人家。 “哎呀，我的好书记哩！”罗寡妇却晓事通理地一拍巴掌，“这是啥事，我能胡说哩。别看我嘴不牢靠，啥能说啥不能说，啥是好事啥是坏事，我肚肚子里有数哩。” 果然，历经以后政治运动的风风雨雨，这爱给人拉个皮条，什么事到她耳朵里比“最新指示”传得还快的长舌妇，却对这件事守口如瓶。这也成了他一生中的无数的秘密之一。 过了河，走进沙漠，上天似乎有意惩罚他的恶行：他把水掺到酒里，自己却忘了带水，啃了两天干饼子，弄得唇裂口燥，两眼昏花。万幸，进了草原后很快找到了她原来认识的蒙古族牧民。她就请老朋友替她换豌豆。当时，只有蒙古族牧民手里有这种粮食——豌豆是喂马的好饲料。蒙古族人没有别的嗜好，就是爱喝两口。酒味虽然淡薄，但他们老于此道的舌头尝得出来这不是什么红