Chapter 24 Chapter 66

At dawn, the cold north wind blows into circles of cyan swirls, and falls from the mountain to the fort wall of Liubao Village at the foot of the mountain. This village in the Taihang Mountains of Shanxi shakes its spirits and wakes up from sleep.Wake up, but not fully awake, the village is still desolately silent in the hazy gray.Lu Xiaolong led the educated young man to the mountain to repair terraced fields with baskets, shovels, hoes and picks.Two months ago, they set off from Beijing and planned to go to the countryside of Yan'an to join the team. When they walked here, they found that this backward mountain village needed them very much, so they changed their original plan and took root in Liubao.

Today, it's Lu Minmin and Lu Jimin's turn to cook at home. In the group of thirty educated youths, two people are left on duty every day. The place of work is seven or eight miles away from the village on a mountain road. The workers leave early and return late, and do not come back in between. When you arrive in the village, you have to grit your teeth and do all the work. As long as you grit your teeth, you can do it. When Lu Minmin and his elder sister Lu Jimin carried a pair of buckets to the well to fetch water, the cold mountain wind blew over like iron, and the undulating dirt roads in Liubao Village were frozen hard. It swayed, making the creaking sound of iron being rubbed against.When we arrived at a main road in the village, it became even more empty, and the adobe houses on both sides of the road were shrunk there.A little farther away, there are hole after hole earthen cave dwellings, with their honest and poor faces placed in various orientations from east to west, north to south.

The mountain village has not yet fully woken up, and the wooden doors of the cave dwellings are still closed. One or two early-rising farmers in black padded jackets drowsily came out from the cracks in the cave dwellings, looked up at the sky, and sneezed. , coughed twice, spit out phlegm, turned around and entered the cave again, after a while, brought out the iron urinal, and walked slowly into the hut surrounded by the earth wall or corn stalk fence not far from the door of his house.Then, I saw two or three early-rising peasants clutching their black padded jackets tightly with their sleeves and hands, hanging their heads down and carrying buckets of water out of their yards, stepping up the slope step by step as if they hadn't woken up.The shoulder pole, which had been used for many years, was polished to a dingy shine. It was like growing on the shoulders without holding it by hand. It carried the empty buckets on both sides steadily, and wandered along the semi-dark village road.

Their black cotton trousers were fat and their ankles were tied tightly. Some wore hats and some didn't. They all walked unhurriedly in the biting cold wind to fetch water from the well.An unwritten rule here is: start queuing up on the road, and no one will overtake or catch up. Lu Minmin and Lu Jimin did not abide by this rule. They wore cotton gloves and walked quickly up the slope with their shoulder poles.Because they were walking fast, the empty barrels swayed violently. The two ends of the shoulder poles were connected by iron chains with iron hooks. They grasped the hooks with both hands one after the other, and then they managed to stabilize the empty barrels. Farmers in front.Seeing them driving by, the farmers didn't think it was strange. They all knew the situation on the stove of educated youths, and occasionally someone greeted them generously: "It's your turn to cook today?"

A young man named Laiwang was tall and strong, wearing a small thin padded jacket, carrying a pair of empty buckets in his sleeves and walking in front. With a rectangular face that was red and rough by the wind, he said honestly: "Be careful today, don't be hit by the reel." Lu Minmin smiled slightly, blushing, and once used the reel to win the water on the well, and put down the empty bucket She was accidentally hit on the arm by the crank and fell to the ground in pain. It was Laiwang who helped her up and wrung the water up for her.Laiwang asked with concern: "Do you want me to help you twist today?" Lu Minmin said: "I should practice more by myself." Laiwang obviously knew the answer, so he moved out of the way for the two sisters. Get ahead.

The well is in a place in the village that is neither high nor low. The well platform is made of bluestone slabs. The well mouth is round and deep, and the bottom is not deep.The well is more than ten feet deep, and it takes an average man to smoke a bucket of water, but it's not sure if it's a woman.The two sisters put down the bucket, leaned the shoulder pole against the earth wall on one side, and tied the iron bucket to the rope. The end of the rope was a thick iron chain, and on the end of the iron chain was a group of strange big iron rings. They walked around according to the method taught by the farmers, and the iron bucket was tied to it.Then, he put the barrel into the mouth of the well, shook the reel and lowered the rope, and saw the rope on the reel going down in a neat and orderly circle, Lu Minmin boldly let go of the handle again, clasped his hands On the Lulu, the Lulu rotates relatively quickly, and the friction force of the hands together controls the speed of rotation.

This skill is only mastered by repeated practice boldly. If you can’t control it, the reel will turn faster and faster, and finally it will fly. Not only will the barrel fall straight to the bottom of the well and break, but the rope may also break. It has become a major accident in the draft of the whole village.Seeing that Lulu was turning faster and faster, more and more ropes were going down, and the weight was getting heavier and heavier, she hugged Lulu with both hands more vigorously, increasing the friction, and the rope went round and round, layer by layer. Walking down, I finally couldn't hold my hands together, so I quickly grabbed the handle with my hands, and patiently shook the last few feet of rope down round and round.Across a height of more than ten feet, it is difficult to hear the sound of the iron chain carrying the bucket into the water. It is more dependent on the feeling of the hand on the handle of the reel. It rises up, down and down, and repeated several times. When the weight was enough, and knowing that the bucket was full, he grabbed the handle with both hands, stepped on a lunge, and used his whole body to shake it round and round, twisting the bucket upward.

Lu Minmin watched the rope that was thicker than her thumb was wound round and round, round and round, until the first layer was full, and then went back to the second layer again and again, she remembered helping adults wind wool when she was a child.She wrung vigorously at first, but after dozens of turns, she was out of breath.At this time, Lu Jimin faced her and grabbed the handle and helped her shake it together. The bucket suddenly felt lighter and the twisting was fast.After dozens of rounds of twisting in this way, both of them lost their energy. Seeing that there were dozens of turns of the last layer of rope on the lulu, the two slowly twisted back and forth.Laiwang had already arrived at the well, put the barrels behind, leaned the pole against the wall, and looked at them with a smile on his arms. He knew that these educated youths were unwilling to give up the opportunity to exercise.

Finally, the bucket was wrung out of the well head little by little, and the two of them put in the last effort. The bucket rose out of the well surface with the swaying water, and Laiwang helped them carry the bucket to the well platform, and the two sisters took the three empty Take the bucket, pour the first bucket of water into an empty bucket, and then sink the empty bucket into the wellhead again.Lu Minmin asked Lu Jimin to dodge, and practiced lowering the bucket by herself. She repeated the process just now, shaking and lowering it a few times first, slowly holding the lulu with both hands, and lowering the rope at a faster speed.The reel turned faster and faster, and Lu Minmin felt his face was covered with sweat. Apart from Laiwang who was smiling, several farmers put down their empty buckets and waited behind him.With a dazed expression, Lulu lost control in his hand and flew up. At this time, it was too late to grab the handle, because the fast rotation of the handle could break a person's arm.At this moment, Laiwang jumped up and hugged Lululu with both hands. The speed of Lululu's rotation slowed down, and Laiwang quickly freed his hand to grab the handle. At this time, the rope on Lululu was almost empty. Last few laps left.Lu Minmin blushed nervously. Seeing that Laiwang's palm was scratched and blood was oozing from the tiger's mouth, she immediately took the handle and said, "Come on, let me fiddle with your hand." Laiwang Only then did he let go, and saw the blood on his hands, and also saw that the blood stained on the cold iron handle had frozen into thin ice.

Lu Minmin submerged the bucket into the water, tried to fill it up a few times, and then twisted it up round and round. At the same time, she smiled shyly and looked at Laiwang embarrassedly.Laiwang grabbed a dry yellow corn leaf from the fence next to it, gently pressed it and wiped the blood from his hands.Lu Minmin said: "This is too unhygienic." Then he said to Lu Jimin: "Second sister, I have a handkerchief in my pocket, you can give it to him." Lu Minmin held the handle to stand still, and Lu Jimin came over She took out a squarely folded white handkerchief from her trouser pocket and handed it to Laiwang.Laiwang shook his head and said, "Don't waste such a clean handkerchief." He pressed the wound on his hand, blew on it with his mouth and said, "It doesn't matter, it will be fine in a day or two." Lu Minmin said "Use it." Laiwang was still shaking his head, Lu Minmin twisted the water a few times, and said to Lu Jimin, "Second Sister, help me twist a few times." Lu Jimin grabbed the shaker on the opposite side. Now, Lu Minmin took out the handkerchief from her hand, and said to Laiwang, "Extend your hand here." Laiwang looked at the men around him who were winking at him, grinned embarrassedly, and his face turned even redder. Yes, stretch out your hand.Lu Minmin gently wiped the wound on the tiger's mouth with a handkerchief, then opened the handkerchief, folded it into an inch-wide strip, used it as a bandage, and tied the wound around the palm of her hand. She said, "Later you Go to our place and give you some medicine." Lai Wang winked mischievously at the men around him, and nodded shyly at Lu Minmin.

Lu Minmin took the crank handle, twisted up the second bucket of water by himself as much as possible, and poured it into the second empty bucket.The third and fourth buckets of water were mined by Lu Jimin.Living in this mountain village, every educated youth wants to develop a full set of labor abilities. When the fourth bucket of water was wrung up, the two sisters took off the bucket and each carried water.The seven or eight farmers who were waiting by the well stepped out of the way one after another, and they walked back carrying the water and trembling their poles somewhat unfamiliarly. This line of mountains runs from east to west. Liubao Village is near the foot of the mountain. Most of them are earthen cave dwellings and half of them are bungalows. They live at the west end of the village. The road from the well to the residence is about a mile or more. The road is flat and slopes, uphill and downhill. , curved back and forth.As they walked, there were more people on the road, and the sky was getting brighter. People greeted them in front of the house, behind the house, in and out of the courtyard. The houses in the mountain village were high and low, and they dared not raise their heads to answer every greeting. Carefully watch the road under your feet, and if you miss it, the water will splash out.When they arrived at a quite wide downhill, the two sisters grasped the chain of the shoulder pole with one hand in front of the other, and walked carefully in a "zigzag" shape down slowly. Whenever a little water splashed, they would feel distressed.It is their first wish now to carry a load full of water home.An ox cart came up in front of them, and they immediately stepped aside obediently, letting the cart pass by on the shoulder pole. The driver was a short old man with a felt hat and a Rendan beard, showing teeth whiter than his face. Smiling at them, the cart drove away on the uneven slope.They ran their hands through their hair, wiped the sweat from their foreheads, and concentrated on walking the zigzag all the way downhill.Turning again, after one or two uphill and downhill, a small test appeared in front of us. This is a narrow but deep ditch with a narrow stone slab on it, which is called a bridge. It doesn’t feel like walking empty-handed before, but now it’s not safe to carry two buckets of water.The two sisters put down their burdens, panted, you looked at me, I looked at you, and asked each other with their eyes, do you dare to pick the past today?Lu Jimin said: "Let's use the safe method." Then, she put the stretcher on a bald elm tree, carried a bucket of water across the stone bridge, and returned to pick up the second bucket of water, carefully After crossing the stone bridge, I came back to pick up the pole, and turned back to wait for Lu Minmin.Lu Minmin thought for a while, made up his mind, picked up a load of water again, Lu Jimin said across the ditch: "Minmin, don't take risks." Lu Minmin didn't speak, his eyes looked straight ahead Let's go, she knew she couldn't look at the bottom of the ditch. The ditch was very deep and dark, meandering and extending into the river beach below, turning into a canyon, a mist wandering in the canyon, like a magic cave with ulterior motives, she almost I crossed the stone bridge with my eyes closed.Lu Jimin sized her up, and somewhat lost the burden behind him. The two of them walked another section of dirt road, and then went up a section of steep slope, and came to the yard where they lived: a chest-high dirt courtyard wall, and a fenced courtyard gate facing east.Entering the courtyard, you will be faced with an earth cliff several feet high, and an earth cave dwelling with three holes facing east.The cave dwelling is like an arched tunnel, about ten feet wide, more than ten feet high, and two or three feet deep.This used to be the ancestral hall of Liubao Village, and later became the brigade headquarters of the Liubao Brigade. After the educated youths came, they distributed the three-hole cave dwellings to them. Twenty boys lived in two holes, and ten boys lived in one hole. girls.There are a row of adobe houses facing north and south on both sides of the cave, where several peasant families live.The right hand is leaning against a small room in the cave dwelling, which is now the stove for educated youth.After the two sisters greeted the two old ladies who were feeding the chickens in the yard, they opened the door of the stove and brought water in. The immediate task is to quickly make lunch and send it to the mountain. A large iron pot of water was sitting on the large stove, and the coal fire below was suppressed, exposing a small hole of red fire. Lu Minmin poured two loads of water into the water tank one by one, and Lu Jimin picked up the steel The brazing-style poking fire stick pokes the coal fire at the stove mouth, and then pokes the bottom of the stove a few times to drain the burnt ashes, make the stove fire hot, and then use bowls to press the grains one by one. Dig out the cornmeal quantitatively, add water to the clay pot and mix it up.Lu Minmin used a bowl to scoop out the millet according to the planned standard and put it into the big pot. On the iron pot, put the iron scorpion and spread the soaked drawer cloth. Measure out cup by cup, knead the cornbreads into the same size, and lay them on the cage drawer. Thirty cornbreads neatly filled the cage drawer. There were still a few scattered cornmeal in the crockpot, so they swept them into the bowl, and at the same time Cover the heavy iron steamer.The fire rushed up and licked the bottom of the pot. After a while, steam came out of the four sides of the steamer. They used a damp cloth to surround the lid to increase the airtightness, and the steam came out straighter and more violently.The two sisters then took the pickled vegetable lumps out of the vat, washed them with water, cut them into thin strips, and put them in a clay basin. While waiting for the fire, they gently poured the dirty water from washing their hands and vegetables into the stove pit , the ashes in the stove pit are either cold or hot, with ash gas, and gradually get wet, and then they are carried into a large basket, and the ashes in the stove pit are cleaned with a shovel, and the ashes are poured on the soil outside. ditch.I still have to take the time to clean the yard, and those mothers-in-law and aunts who didn't work smiled and dissuaded: "Sweep every day, it's not too dirty, just leave it to us to clean, you are busy with your work." After sweeping the yard, he opened the door of the three-hole cave. The cave was dark, and the oil lamps were lit at night, and only natural light was available during the day. They quickly tidied up the three-hole cave.Two-thirds of the width of the cave is from the window to the bottom of the cave. This is a solid earth kang that cannot be used for fire. It is covered with straw mats, and on the straw mats are the mattresses of every educated youth. Quilts for everyone.According to the regulations of the educated youth collective, when getting up in the morning, each person must fold his quilt squarely, put the pillows neatly on the quilt, and stretch the quilt upright. The quilts of ten people are connected, and the quilts of different colors The sheets were folded into a straight line at the edge of the kang, and the sisters just checked and tidied up the irregular places.One-third of the width of the cave is the aisle connected to the door. In the inner half of the aisle, everyone’s boxes are piled up, and in the outer half of the aisle there are two narrow and dilapidated long tables with oil lamps, books, pencil cases and some Scattered items, a washbasin stacked against the door, a wire stretched from the door to the bottom of the cave, on which towels, washed socks and handkerchiefs were hung.On the walls on both sides of the cave, there are maps of the world and China. After Lu Minmin cleaned up the female educated youth cave next to the stove, she came to the male educated youth cave in the middle.Lu Xiaolong's bunk was next to the door, and when she saw that the pillow cover on his pillow was a little crooked, she knelt down to straighten the pillow cover, and when she got off the floor, she straightened the crumpled mattress and bed sheet.Although the cave dwelling is warm in winter and cool in summer, it is still very cold in winter without a fire. When she smoothed Lu Xiaolong's mattress and sheets with her hands, she could feel their dampness.Seeing that Lu Xiaolong's mattress was lower than the adjacent mattress, she lifted it up to compare with the adjacent mattress. His mattress was much thinner, and the mattress in the second berth was almost twice as thick.After thinking about it, she pressed the mattresses of several other people, all of which were thicker than Lu Xiaolong's.She smoothed the traces left when she lifted the sheets, returned to Lu Xiaolong's bunk, and fell into a momentary reverie.She knew that Lu Xiaolong was a stepmother, and she also knew that no one cared about his life since he was a child. Now, his thin, pitiful mattress made her think a lot. Lu Jimin came in at some point, apparently she had just cleaned up the male educated youth cave next to her.When Lu Minmin saw her coming in, she put down the mattress in her hand.Turning around again, she found that Lu Jimin was still looking at her, so she turned her gaze and looked at the window next to Lu Xiaolong's bunk. There was a hissing sound, and she tried it with the back of her hand. There was a gust of cold wind, then she turned her head and said to Lu Jimin, "There is an air leak here. Let's paste it after the food is delivered." Lu Jimin glanced at it. Glancing at her without speaking, the two left the cave and closed the door. Lu Minmin stood in front of the door and looked again, and said, "There should be a thick curtain outside the door." Lu Jimin looked at the other two caves, Said: "It's not hanging, it's facing east, it doesn't matter." The cornbread should be cooked, and they returned to the stove, where the steam was filling.Lu Minmin was taller, so he tensed up, raised the iron cage with both hands, and moved it aside. The steam came to his face with the aroma of steamed steamed buns and boiled millet porridge. Thirty golden corn flour steamed buns came together squeezed on the iron cage drawer.Adding a little cold water to the side of the pot, the rising steam suddenly weakened. Lu Minmin grabbed the strings on both sides of the drawer with both hands, and brought a drawer of steamed buns to the large desk behind.The thin millet porridge below was almost done, so they diluted the wet corn flour left over from the steamed steamed buns with water, poured it into the millet porridge, covered the pot, and let it boil again.The two moved the nest heads on the drawer one by one to prevent the drawer cloth from sticking. Then, they spread a dry bucket with a thin cotton pad that had been prepared earlier, and then spread a layer of dry drawer cloth. Put the steamed buns into the bucket, make sure the piles are even and stable, and don't crush them. Cover the top with a drawer cloth cotton pad, and put a bowl on it.They dried the inside of the two buckets, put a thin cotton pad on them, stuffed two smaller buckets inside, and then scooped millet porridge into the two smaller buckets with a big ladle, and then covered them A good log cover, and then wrap the cotton pad.The two started together again, bringing the empty large iron pot to the stove next to it, and sitting on a smaller iron pot on the fire, adding a spoonful of black cottonseed oil to it.As soon as the oil was hot, they threw a few chopped red peppers into it. The pungent spicy smell made Lu Minmin cover her nose. She took the pot down and put the sliced ​​salted radish into the pot in the chili oil, and then put it in a clay basin, put the clay basin in another empty water bucket, cover with a wooden lid, and put thirty bowls and thirty chopsticks on it, Afraid of shaking on the road, they were stuffed with a few pieces of cloth.Finally, cover it tightly with a folded drawer cloth, this layer is to cover the dust. The four buckets and two sets of loads were all ready. Just as they were about to set off, the stove door rang, and Laiwang leaned against the door. The door was relatively low. He lowered his head slightly, and held a freshly washed white handkerchief in his hand. Said to Lu Minmin: "I've washed the handkerchief, if you think it's not clean, you can wash it yourself." Lu Minmin immediately remembered, and said, "Come on, I'll give you some medicine." Lu Jimin hesitated a little He looked anxiously at the alarm clock on the kitchen window sill, and said, "Hurry up, hurry up." Laiwang stretched out his hand and said, "Look, it's all right, no need to apply medicine." Turning over, the blood stopped bleeding, but the wound was still quite severe. Lu Minmin said, "How can I do without medicine?" Then, she ran back to the cave where she lived, brought a bottle of red medicine, opened the bottle cap, Use a cotton swab dipped in red syrup to wipe Laiwang carefully.Laiwang stretched out his hands and remained motionless. The two stood outside the kitchen, the sun out from the east slanted over, and both of them stared at the cotton swabs. At that moment, Lu Minmin felt that the sun in front of her was very bright. He also felt that Lu Jimin was standing in the dark kitchen looking over here. The two sisters went up the mountain with their burdens. Lu Jimin carried two barrels of millet porridge, and Lu Minmin carried corn bread, pickles, and bowls and chopsticks. This was much more difficult than carrying water. Gritting your teeth and persevering, you can walk down.People in the village greeted the sisters affectionately. Half of the fields in this mountain village are in the river beach below the mountain, and half of the fields are on the mountain.The villagers always rest and do not work in winter. When the educated youths come, the wind is like wind and fire, and they want to carry out the basic construction of winter farmland, build weirs, build embankments, and repair terraces. Supported, and sent a few members to go up the mountain with them.People in the village both admire and dislike the energy of the young intellectuals, who have earned their work points by doing so.As soon as these students arrive in the village, they get equal pay for the same work as the members of the commune, and work points are recorded for their work. Lu Minmin is not aware of these subtle social relationships. The world in her eyes is more or less like a straight picture. The sun is placed in the sky on time, and the moon is round or missing according to the rules. Arriving here, I am walking with a group of people, walking with Lu Xiaolong, she seldom speaks, but can understand everyone's words, when the fields, trees and villages on both sides of the road have passed hundreds of miles, She felt stronger and more obscure.She remembers the story of herself and Lu Xiaolong. The water of Ganjiang River is always flowing in front of her eyes, and the small town of Ji’an is always like a big ship floating in front of her eyes. Sitting on the beach, Xiaolong watched the river sparkle in the evening sun, and there were steamships passing by, dragging smoke and waves. The Ganjiang River left her with memories of summer.It was another summer on the Ganjiang River, boats collided with each other, spears stabbed spears, a golden light in front of her eyes divided her life into two halves.In Liubao Village, she still felt the same as when she came all the way from Beijing on the Long March, always walking non-stop, and now she is walking up the mountain. They finally walked out of the village and set foot on the road up the mountain.There are several cave dwellings here, where two shepherds and two flocks of sheep of the production team lived.One shepherd is an old man with a crooked and thin face, everyone calls him old man Shun, and the other shepherd is a middle-aged widower with a long sallow face and a pair of piercing eyes, everyone calls him Ercheng, the two of them are With a sheep whip in his sleeve, he beat the cave dwelling for the sheep, each came out yelling at his own sheep, and seeing the two sisters carrying burdens all the way up the steep slope, they called out, "You two are delivering food today?" Lu Jimin gasped. Furiously, he greeted back.The old man Shun wrapped tightly in his ragged blue cotton jacket, looked back at the flock of sheep rushing out of the cave noisily, then turned around and joked in a hoarse voice: "My sister is taller, and my younger sister is strong." Lu Minmin and Lu Jimin They all smiled politely, they had reached the same height as old man Shun along the uphill road.Old man Shun opened his cloudy eyes again, shook his white beard, looked at Lu Minmin with a smile and said, "My sister is like a young man, much stronger than my sister." The two sisters forced a smile, they were panting Powerful, struggling to move step by step.After they walked a few steps along the slope, the Yangguan named Ercheng behind said to old man Shun: "That sister's brain is injured, she's a bit silly." What?" Probably Ercheng repeated it in his ear, and the old man Shun nodded.Lu Jimin turned his head and glanced at Lu Minmin. Lu Minmin didn't seem to respond, and continued to walk up the uneven steep slope step by step. After a while, I heard the sound of snoring and snoring behind me. I stopped and looked back, and saw a flock of sheep rushing up. The road was not wide, and there were steep walls on both sides.The sheep bleated and bleated, rushing past their feet like muddy water, kicking up a cloud of dust and anger from the sheep. The old man nodded at them with the sheep whip in his armpit, and followed the rolling sheep up.The two sisters waited for the cold wind to blow away the dust, then gritted their teeth and carried the burden and moved up step by step. This section of steep slope is called Shiba Bend. It bends steeply and has a road of three or four miles. Most of the fields in Liubao Village have to go up and down this road. During spring plowing, manure is carried up the mountain, and during summer harvest, wheat is carried down the mountain. This is the village. The kung fu that people have practiced for many years.On the first day the educated youths came to the village, they climbed up the mountain empty-handed to see it, and more than half of them were so tired that they staggered. Now, they grit their teeth and climb up step by step.The slope is steep, so they can only turn the load sideways, or the bucket in front will knock down the slope.They lowered their heads and walked step by step on the uneven road to find a place to stay. They grasped the shoulder pole hook chain with both hands, and walked up step by step.Sometimes, the two footholds are far apart, and it seems that no matter how hard the front foot is, they can't lift up the whole weight and the burden. They want to divide one step into two steps, and there is no suitable foothold in between. At this time, they can only Leaning forward as far as possible, putting the weight of the whole body on the front foot, like stepping on a very high step, pushing up with all the strength of the whole body, and barely going up. Steady yourself and your load at once, lest you roll down the hill with your bucket. When they encountered a slower turning point, they put down their burdens and panted for a while, sweat dripping from their heads like water, the sweat on their necks was already wet, and the sweat on their bodies had already soaked their underwear. Standing still, the cold wind on the mountain will blow your body wet and cool.They have known the mountain fever for a long time, so they dare not wear cotton hats or cotton gloves, but only wear thin cotton gloves.Looking at the village that was getting farther and farther below, they knew that they had already climbed a considerable height, so they breathed evenly and did not dare to rest, so they worked hard to carry the burden and continue uphill. This section of mountain climbing can best reflect the proverb of rural work: "Don't be afraid of slowness, but be afraid of standing." If you stand too much, you won't be able to climb the mountain all morning. When they encounter a slightly slower slope, they will go up step by step. keep walking.Sometimes I felt that my legs were about to cramp, so I stopped and shook my calves, not daring to stop, and then walked forward.Eighteen bends were passed, and when the last few turns were left, they struggled to fight every step.The clothes are completely soaked, and there is no thought in my mind, only one thought, which is to take one step after another, making one step less and one less.At the end, I no longer count how many turns are left, no longer look up to see how far the distance is left, and climb up like dragging a burden, dizzy, as if the whole content of life is this one step after another. One step uphill without end. Finally, after climbing the 18th bend, they staggered through the last few steps, as if they were struggling out of the abyss of death, and they stepped on a flat ground. Jumping, the legs became as weak as noodles, the wind blew, the load dangled, and the person seemed to collapse.After they put down their burdens, it took them a while to catch their breath. There was an openness in front of them, and layers of terraced fields were placed half-levelly in the mountains.Looking up, it is a gently sloping path, and there seems to be a little shadow of the red flag in the distance, not too far from where Lu Xiaolong and the others work.The mountain wind blew over, and the sweat on my head was more white than the white steam from the cornbread in the cage.Here you can see the whole picture of Liubao clearly. Liubao Village at the foot of the mountain stretches out a long stretch at the foot of the mountain. A circle of fort walls only surrounds a small area at the foot of the mountain. It is said that it was hundreds of years ago. There is a fortress wall.Coming up the mountain from Liubao Village, there are strips of sluggish terraced fields.Looking down from Liubao Village, there are patches of flat land on the wide river beach, and these lands also fall down in a ladder shape, but the area of ​​each piece is larger than the terraced fields on the mountain.In the distance, one can see a dry river bed, where the smoke illuminated by the sun floats. Lu Jimin said to Lu Minmin: "I think Wang is very kind to you." Lu Minmin looked at the mountain and said nothing. Min was standing on the edge of this halo, talking to herself indistinctly.Lu Jimin said again: "Laiwang is very good." Lu Minmin still didn't respond.Lu Jimin looked at her and said, "Laiwang is really good." Lu Minmin brushed the hair on his forehead, wiped the sweat from his face, and said, "We should go." After carrying the load, their knees and calves were almost stiff and numb. Fortunately, the slope was much gentler, and they carried it to the destination without stopping.A red flag was planted on the slope. Dozens of educated youths and a few farmers were working with pickaxes and shovels. Dozens of baskets were carrying soil clods back and forth. They were blocking a terraced field washed away by mountains and rivers. Gaps. Seeing the meal coming, there was a burst of cheers, Lu Xiaolong waved his hand, and the tall educated young man announced loudly: "It's time to rest, it's time to eat." Everyone put down their tools and clapped their hands and rushed forward.Lu Minmin first distributed the cornbread to everyone one by one, and someone took it, pinched it, took a bite, and said, "It's still warm." Lu Minmin felt a little excited and happy while sending it out.Then, Lu Jimin handed the big bowls to Lu Minmin's hands. Lu Minmin used a big spoon to hold bowls of millet porridge and handed them to the hand that stretched out. Someone took a sip from the bowl, and then They shouted again: "The millet porridge is still warm." The two sisters put a pot of pickles in the crowd again, and dozens of pairs of chopsticks stretched out happily.Lu Minmin and Lu Jimin each served a bowl of millet porridge, picked up a Wotou, put two pieces of pickles in it, and sat down to eat.The peasants also had their own cornbread in their pockets, and at this time they took out their own food, and when the educated youth took out a few bowls and filled them with millet porridge, they all waved their hands and declined, and then, it was not counted. He politely reached out and squeezed out a few pickles from the pickle bowl, and ate them with his own dry food. The meal was finished soon, and Lu Minmin began to clean up the dishes and chopsticks, and the educated youths who had fed their stomachs all laughed and laughed.Lu Xiaolong and a girl combing two small brushes sat on a pole and talked. This girl was Jia Ruoxi, the daughter of Jia Cheng, the deceased Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Animal Husbandry where Lu Tiehan worked. She came to the countryside with Lu Xiaolong to jump in the queue.Lu Jimin squatted in front of Lu Xiaolong, and said: "The paper on the window next to your bunk is a bit leaky." Lu Xiaolong said: "Really? I don't think so." Lu Jimin said: "Go back later, we will paste it for you." Come on." Lu Xiaolong said, "It doesn't matter whether it's muddled or not, just let it breathe, the air is good." The educated youths took a nap after dinner to play. Tang Beisheng, who was once one of the founders of the Red Guards in Beiqing Middle School with Lu Xiaolong, stood up. A mature face with lumps on his face said, "It's okay for me to carry three hundred catties." Someone shouted from the side: "Don't brag about carrying three hundred catties, you can carry two people." Tang Beisheng brought over two Basket basket, a shoulder pole, said: "I will carry two people, which one of you will go?" A short junior high school boy jumped into a basket and said, "I'll count as one." Everyone immediately booed: "Don't want him, find two heavy ones." The junior high school student jumped out of the basket, taller than everyone else The "big man" at one end was coaxed by everyone and squatted into a basket, Tang Beisheng yelled: "One more." Everyone looked around, and someone's eyes fell on Lu Minmin, and shouted: "Let Lu Minmin come. "The crowd yelled together: "Lu Minmin, come on!" A very clever junior high school girl jumped up and grabbed Lu Minmin's hand, and said, "You weigh the weight." Lu Minmin picked up the pole with eyes downcast, It seems that I didn't understand everyone's words at all.Another girl came up to pull Lu Minmin. Lu Minmin broke free with a blank expression, picked up the pole, and hooked the bucket with a chain hook. The people were still coaxing: "Lu Minmin, crush Tang Beisheng." Lu Xiaolong glanced at Lu Minmin who was struggling silently, and said, "Everyone, don't bully Lu Minmin." The two girls let go.Lu Minmin picked up the burden and left without looking back.Facing the foggy and sunny river below the mountain, tears welled up in her eyes.