Chapter 106 Chapter 106 Extreme Difficulty

Lao Yang hummed "Fifteen moons and sixteen rounds..." in Obao Meeting, and opened the door with brisk steps. Here, there are only him and his wife. The girls are married and have children for other people's families. , his son guards those fields in his hometown. Lifting the quilt, the mother-in-law gritted her dream teeth, turned over to avoid the electric light that Lao Yang turned on, and continued to snore with her fat buttocks raised.Lao Yang went to bed, bent his body and leaned against it, stretched his hand through the socket of his shoulder, and scooped up the lump of soft flesh that had been touched for decades.

With a hey smile in his mouth, he turned off the light with a thud, and pushed his waist hard, um, it's great to have a reaction! Early the next morning, Zhu Ziqiang got up, packed a pair of underwear in his backpack, stuffed a coat, toothbrush and toothpaste, towel soap, and a cup for drinking and rinsing.Hardcover notebook, a fountain pen, a ballpoint pen, and an army canteen.Then I went to the cafeteria and asked for some salt and chili noodles, put them in a small plastic bag and put them in a small bag outside my backpack. When they walked out of the cafeteria, Lao Yang, Jiang Chongjian, Liu Hailong, and a middle-aged woman had arrived. This was Liu Yan, who was a bit different from the person in the photo. The real person was even older, with short hair at the ear, and hoarfrost hidden in the hair , fine and dense crow's feet appeared in the corners of his eyes, his face was black and rosy, and his face was covered with small spots. After seeing Zhu Ziqiang, he showed an amiable smile and reached out his hand: "Is it Secretary Zhu? This is Liu Yan, two days ago I went to help select women directors in several villages, but I didn’t catch up with you.”

Zhu Ziqiang held her hand a little harder, feeling like an electrician's gauze, and said with a smile on his face: "Aunt Liu, I'm really sorry to trouble you when I come here." Liu Yan stared, and pretended to be angry and said, "Am I that old? My name is Sister Liu! Everyone who knows me is called that, don't you want me to retire early!" Zhu Ziqiang laughed loudly and said: "Okay! Sister Liu, welcome to join the Economic Development Office! I will trouble you a lot in the future! Are you all ready?" Seeing the other three nodding, Zhu Ziqiang said to Liu Yan again: "Sister Yeah, are you okay at home?"

Liu Yan smiled cheerfully, shook her head and said, "Thank you for your concern! It's absolutely fine!" Jiang Chongjian walked over, took out a small map from his bag and spread it out. , Jiang Chongjian pointed to Douwei and said: "Secretary Zhu, this is the most remote and impoverished place in the whole town, with an altitude of more than 2,000 meters, and the corn grown there is only as tall as a child. Sigh... Even a mouse stealing the corn has to kneel." Zhu Ziqiang frowned and asked, "Are there any ethnic minorities?" Jiang Chongjian said: "Basically they are Miao people, with a small amount of Yi people."

Liu Yan interrupted: "Secretary Zhu, if you want to go here first, you'd better bring some condolences, such as salt, rice, flour and so on." Zhu Ziqiang shook his head and said, "No, I'm not going to go down and look around and finish the job. I will have a lot of time to deal with it in the future, and condolences are not enough." Liu Yan lowered her eyelids, didn't speak any more, and stayed quietly aside. Lao Yang pointed to the map and said, "The most convenient way is to go around Hexi Village here, and it will take about a week, except for the two in the middle. Outside the village, all other villages have gone.”

Zhu Ziqiang stared at the map for a long time. According to the map, these villages are located halfway up the mountain. Eighty percent of the entire countryside is mountainous, and most of the farmers' land is on the mountain. The higher the altitude, the less food The lower the yield.Zhu Ziqiang rubbed his nose a few times, shook his head and said, "Take a little detour, and take a W-shape to take care of it. How many days will it take?" Lao Yang was calculating silently, but Liu Yan had already said: "Eleven days." Zhu Ziqiang nodded: "That's the decision, let's go, and rush to Hexi Village today."

*** Shangzhai Village and Zhongzhai Village are two mixed villages of Miao, Yi and Han. On the eighth day, Zhu Ziqiang and his party finally arrived at Shangzhai. The altitude here is as high as 2113 meters, and it is cloudy and foggy all the year round. In October, the climate is very humid. Lao Yang said that there is a custom here not to take a bath. Firstly, the weather is too cold, and secondly, the air humidity is too high, so the clothes cannot be dried. They can only be grilled with charcoal fire, and the coal has to be carried down the mountain. . Most of the people in the village are burning wood fires, and from a distance, you can see the smoke from the cooking, mixed with the mist and swaying around. In the mountains, it rains and winds at times, like a big girl losing her temper. When she thinks about it, the five people step on the pulpy mud. They walked to the village step by step. After eight days, the others looked at Zhu Ziqiang with admiration. After walking about three hundred miles on the mountain road, Zhu Ziqiang didn't cry tired. The first one who couldn't hold it was Liu Hailong. Although the pen has also been sent to the countryside, it is the first time for such a revolutionary test.

The stamina of Lao Yang and Liu Yan was astonishing, even Zhu Ziqiang secretly admired them. When entering the stockade, there was a sudden sound of gongs and drums, and a dozen people rushed out from behind the low thatched hut, holding copper gongs and reeds, and the liberation shoes and brown rope shoes on their feet made the mud stink. Everyone was singing in Miao language, Liu Yan whispered to Zhu Ziqiang: "They are welcoming you, listen carefully, there is a pronunciation of Secretary Zhu behind every sentence." Zhu Ziqiang listened carefully, and sure enough, after the quick Miao language in front, he called Secretary Zhu with singing voice, thinking that it must be Zhu Mingjun who sent someone to bring the letter back.After singing, a few of them were dressed in Miao clothes, their hair was tied into a Taoist bun, and plastic combs were fixed. Zhu Ziqiang understood that this meant they were married. Each of them held a big bull horn in their hands. A total of five women came up and sang crisply. Just like a yellow warbler coming out of the valley, speaking softly in Miao language, closing his eyes with excited and passionate brilliance, ignoring the mud under his feet, he came to toast with dancing steps. Zhu Ziqiang took the horn, and the other party kept singing, Zhu Ziqiang secretly As soon as he gritted his teeth, Lao Yang and the others said that if you don't finish drinking it in one gulp, they will keep singing. If you can drink three horns in a row, you will receive the most honorable treatment.

When the three ox horns went down, Zhu Ziqiang shook his head, and there were bursts of hot air in his chest and abdomen, which made him grin constantly. Liu Yan hurried over to help him: "Secretary Zhu, you drank too fast. I'll take you to vomit it out. Otherwise, if you drink up after a while, you won't be able to bear that living crime!" Zhu Ziqiang shook his head: "I'm fine, big sister, who is the secretary of the village chief?" He lowered his voice and asked, "How much wine is there in one ox horn?" Liu Yan also lowered her voice and said, "One catty."

The village head and branch secretary are the same person, an old Miao in their fifties, surnamed Zhu, wearing a Chinese tunic suit with black stains on the shoulders, back and chest, and wearing a sky blue hat. front.Zhu Ziqiang followed behind, taking advantage of the movement, constantly trying to get rid of the alcohol with luck. The thatched huts in the village were blackened by the wood fire, and there was a smell of pig manure from time to time. The children were like painted cats, with snot smeared on their faces, some had dried into shells, their hair was messy, and some had high belly He looked at the five people with his big eyes wide open, covered in mud and dirt. Liu Yan walked over from time to time, touching this and hugging that. The children all showed happy smiles and called people in Miao language.

Zhu Ziqiang stopped Lao Yang: "Let's go and see those extremely poor households first." Village head Zhu nodded hurriedly: "That's right, I have to go and see them." For a long time, I turned to a low-lying place, and a few wooden sticks propped up the plastic tarpaulin. Outside the door, there were seven children sitting in a row. Only the eyeballs kept rolling, and Liu Yan said beside him: "This family is Xie, and they are of Han nationality. They have given birth to five daughters in a row. They really wanted to have a son. The sixth child gave birth to twin daughters. Alas, Chong When the sword came to grasp family planning, his mother-in-law would not ligate her life and death, holding a pair of scissors to her chest." Zhu Ziqiang looked at his feet. He no longer had the courage to look at those children. There was something that made him unable to face it. He asked casually, "Where's the house?" Liu Yan pointed to an old thatched hut at the entrance of the village and said, "It was sold early, when the third child was born. The year before last, their family only had a pair of trousers, and whoever went out wore them. Since the year before last, the Civil Affairs Bureau has given them relief and repaired the house. The money was secretly used by the couple to give birth to the sixth and seventh..." Zhu Ziqiang walked over, squatted in front of the oldest girl and asked, "Is it cold?" The girl nodded timidly, and the village chief chirped, "Old Xie!" Fei ran over, about 30 years old, saw Liu Yan was there, and hurriedly ran over with a smile on his face: "Sister Liu, what official are you here again? Do you have anything to eat?" Liu Yan looked at Zhu Ziqiang with some embarrassment. Seeing her like this, Lao Xie hurriedly turned to Zhu Ziqiang and said, "What kind of leader is this? Thank you! You care about helping the poor in mountainous areas!" Zhu Ziqiang didn't wait for the others to speak, and said first, "I'm the secretary of Tianyuan Township. I didn't bring anything with me this time." Lao Xie looked at the room with a disappointed face, then leaned down and cursed: "What's the point of not bringing anything? Now the officials are getting more and more fierce, and the circus still charges tickets. Don't watch it, go to another place!" Zhu Ziqiang smiled and said, "You would rather eat relief food for the rest of your life?" Lao Xie rolled his eyes and scolded: "I am willing! Want to arrest my wife for sterilization? There is no way!" A few people saw him misunderstood. It is estimated that in the past few years, the cadres here have either offered condolences and relief, or arrested family planning students for sterilization. Lao Xie pointed to Jiang Chongjian and said, "I know you, you are from the family planning station, what do you say? Today you are hard or soft?" Jiang Chongjian rushed over and pinched his neck: "What's the hard one? What's the soft one? It's unreasonable for you to have six babies! Look at the sins you have done. Seven babies don't even have to wear pants." You still want to live!" Jiang Chongjian was a big man with big arms and a round waist. Although Lao Xie was a rural laborer, he was not his opponent. He was so frightened that his face was green and his face was black. People! Serving the people is like this, everyone come and see..." Zhu Ziqiang shook his hand at Jiang Chongjian, telling him to put down Lao Xie, and then said with a smile, "Stop screaming! We're not here today to arrest you two for vasectomy." When Lao Xie heard this, he raised his eyes and asked, "Really?" Zhu Ziqiang nodded, ignored him, and said to others: "Let's go, we don't need to go to the other houses, let's go to the village head's house." Zhu Ziqiang was full of thoughts. He had seen several such super-birth households, and only Lao Xie gave birth to the most, seven!How can we change their minds?Zhu Ziqiang was very troubled. Lao Xie was counting on government relief, but he still opposed the family planning policy. Could it be that the concept of raising children for old age is so strong? When she was about to enter the village chief's house, Liu Yan came over to pull Zhu Ziqiang: "Secretary Zhu, there is also a poor household here, go and see." Over the past few days, Liu Yan's prestige, status, and degree of love in the hearts of farmers have made Zhu Ziqiang respect her even more. Seeing that Liu Yan said this, there must be a reason, so he followed her into a low-rise household. In the black thatched hut, a hearth was built with mud in the corner, and the wood fire shone brightly and darkly on the inside of the house. The wall was smoked black, and the corner facing the stove was covered with thatch, and there were two quilts on it. An old woman with gray hair was lying on the bed, and a little girl of thirteen or fourteen was squatting by the stove, smoked by the fireworks. His eyes were red, and he was wiping tears and throwing wild vegetables into the pot. Suddenly, someone came in. After seeing that it was Liu Yan, the little girl grinned: "Miss Liu is here, sit down quickly, I am cooking porridge now." .” Zhu Ziqiang leaned over to the stove and saw cornmeal floating sparsely in the pot. Zhu Ziqiang picked up some wild vegetables and asked, "Are these edible?" Seeing that Zhu Ziqiang was young and smiling again, the little girl nodded and said, "You can eat it, mix it with yams, it tastes very good." Lao Yang and the others didn't come in. The room was too small to accommodate a fifth person. Liu Yan walked up to the old man's side and held out her hand: "Grandma Wu, are you feeling better?" The old man stretched himself up: "Director Liu is here, sit down quickly, Xiao Yan'er is about to cook, eat something casually, what are you going to do this time?" Liu Yan smiled and said: "It's nothing, that's the new secretary, he wants to visit everyone." Grandma Wu stared at Zhu Ziqiang with a pair of dim eyes. She probably had poor eyesight, but she said, "Tell the secretary that our family doesn't need relief. We have enough to eat." Zhu Ziqiang felt uncomfortable hearing this, and hurriedly asked the girl named Xiaoyan: "Do you eat this every day?" The little girl glanced at him: "How can this be? This is the corn that has just been harvested from the field. It should be eaten evenly. When there are yams, burn them and eat them. When there are no yams, you should drink porridge." Feeling sour for a while, she hurriedly turned her head and said to Liu Yan, "Eldest sister, let's go out first." Liu Yan nodded and patted the old man gently: "Grandma Wu, you should rest well, let's go to another house to see." Grandma Wu hurriedly grabbed Liu Yan's hand and said, "Director Liu, if you meet him, go after eating, don't go to other places, I have roasted yams here." Xiaoyan also hurriedly persuaded: "Miss Liu, look, my porridge is all cooked, let's make some yams and cook them up, and then we can eat at my house, okay?" After Liu Yan politely declined, she went out to see Zhu Ziqiang staring blankly at the distant mountains surrounded by clouds and mist, with tears rolling down her eyes. Liu Yan patted him on the shoulder as if comforting her own child: "It's okay, Been here for so many years.” "Sister, tell me about the situation of this family." Liu Yan hummed twice, and then slowly said: "Grandma Wu is a widowed old man. Her husband died before liberation, and she left behind a daughter who was brought up with great difficulty. She married to Zhongzhai down below, and she burned charcoal fires in winter without opening the windows. The family was smothered to death in the house. Xiaoyan was an orphan. Her parents were bombed to death when the road from Tianyuan to the county was built in 1986. Her grandparents died the year before last, so Xiaoyan moved to live with Grandma Wu. Xiaoyan will enter junior high school next year..." Zhu Ziqiang nodded, and followed Jiang Chongjian into the village chief's house. These days, he talked less and less in the countryside, and the other four didn't take the initiative to say anything to him, and answered when they asked.The village chief cooks rice with yams. Zhu Ziqiang couldn’t bear to eat the yellow yams with a few grains of white rice on them. He could bear fleas and lice, but he couldn’t bear the poverty in front of him. I brought salt and chili noodles. This is what I heard from the veteran cadres in the agency. Some people can't even afford salt. Almost twenty years have passed, and some villages have not changed at all. They are struggling hard on the poverty line. Is it because of poverty that Lao Xie has changed from a simple and honest farmer to a super-born household under the Lai government?No matter how poor Grandma Wu and Xiaoyan are, they still think about the kindness of others. This makes Zhu Ziqiang feel uncomfortable. What can I do to change this? Zhu Ziqiang chewed on the yam, and kept asking in his heart.We have gone to five villages, and the people in each village have been scattered. Some village party chiefs complained that there has been no village meeting for more than ten years. Why?It’s rare to call someone. You go to this mountain to notify several families, and it may take two or three days to go to another mountain. The corn stalks on those mountains are only as thick as a finger, the corn cobs are like children's feet, and the yams are as small as glass beads. With just these, the people here have persisted! Zhu Ziqiang sighed in his heart, and at the same time, he was plotting that these people must be gathered together, and they must be moved down from the mountains by every means. These mountains are only suitable for closing the mountains to cultivate forests, and planting crops is completely against God! concentrated!This is the key. Zhu Ziqiang's eyes suddenly lit up when he thought of this. Lao Yang was the first to sit upright. Concentrate, otherwise everything is delusional!" Liu Yan shook her head and said, "If it was during the Cultural Revolution, one sentence would have been copied down, but now, it's difficult!" Lao Yang's eyes rolled a few times: "It's difficult, but it's not impossible, it's just that you need to be more particular about the method." Zhu Ziqiang looked at the old man and said with a smile, "What's the point?"