Chapter 25 Chapter VII

"Poor bones by the Wuding River, still a person in a girl's dream in spring", the bitter cold wind blows from the Mu Us Desert in the north, rolling grass leaves and fine dust, swirling in the vast wilderness, sending out Sharp whistling, oh, my northern Shaanxi, my Loess Plateau. The sky is leaden gray, the ground is yellow and clear, and there are mottled residual snow accumulated in the far and near ravines. The bitter cold wind blows from the Mu Us Desert in the north, rolling grass leaves and fine dust. The wilderness swirls, giving out a sharp whistling, not After a while, a thick layer of loess surface fell on people's bodies.

In winter in northern Shaanxi, the sun is either covered by yellow dust, or the sky is filled with haze. Ten educated youths led by Zhong Yuemin and Zheng Tong were assigned to settle in Shichuan Village, which is located in the middle of Suide and Jingbian, where a tributary of Wuding River and Dali River meets, and turns 90 degrees along the mountain. Bend to the east.Shichuan Village is tens of miles away from Jingbian County, which is a small county on the edge of the Mu Us Desert.Anbian, Dingbian, and Jingbian are collectively referred to as the three sides, and they are all along the side wall. Judging from the words Anbian, Dingbian, and Jing, these places are border areas where the ancient court appeasement.The strata in Jingbian are all piled up with yellow sand. There are no cave dwellings here, and almost all flat-roofed mud houses.Shichuan Village, fifty miles away from Jingbian, is located on the Loess Mound on the south bank of a tributary of the Dali River. Here is a typical landform of the Qin-Jin Plateau. The loess layer was cut into ravines by rainwater. Make the landforms on both sides of the Strait distinct.

Zhong Yuemin, seven men and three women, a total of ten educated youths, boarded the cart sent by Shichuan Village, and headed for Shichuan Village under the yellow dust all the way.The driver was an old man surnamed Du, dressed in a typical northern Shaanxi peasant dress, wearing a white goat belly towel on his head, and wearing a bare goat skin. Turned into a dark gray.Old man Du was not very talkative, and when the educated youth asked him to answer, he seemed very reserved. He really couldn't figure out why these educated youths stayed in the capital and why they came to Shichuan Village.

None of these ten educated youths came from the same school, and they didn’t know each other. Zhong Yuemin was not interested in those boys, because at first glance, he knew that these boys were self-confident students before they went to the countryside, not game masters. Zhong Yuemin and Zheng Tong have nothing in common with them.However, Zhong Yuemin took a closer look at the three girls and found that two of them were pretty good looking.He was very satisfied, turned his head and said to Zheng Tong: "The cadres of the County Educated Youth Office are not bad to our buddies in Shichuan Village. They didn't assign us a few girls who don't eat pigs and dogs. Otherwise, it would be terrible. Here It’s a poor place, and we’ll be guarding a few ugly girls all day long, and they’ll always dangle in front of your eyes when you come out and go in, and you can’t even think about it, how are you going to live these days?”

The boys on the cart all burst into laughter, while the three girls kept their faces sullen and silent. Zhong Yuemin lay on the luggage bag and continued to complain: "This damn place is really boring. I haven't even seen a tree after walking for a long time. Hey, is that river in front of me the Yellow River? Why is the water so yellow?" Zheng Tong took out the atlas and looked at it: "You are completely blind to geography. The Yellow River is at the junction of Shanxi and Shaanxi. It is far away from here. This river may be Wuding River." Zhong Yuemin stood up abruptly: "Wuding River? Poor Wuding River, he is still the person in the dream of a girl in spring. This is the river mentioned in the Tang poem? Damn, what's wrong with me? After a long time, this place is In ancient times, it was the place where the army was dispatched, yes, if you send my brothers here, if things go wrong, they will become bones by the Wuding River."

Zheng Tong smiled and said: "You are still in the dream of a spring girl, what about me? Unclaimed bones." A bell rang on the road ahead, a young farmer led a donkey, and a young woman sat on the back of the donkey, like a young couple returning to their natal home.The educated youths found it fresh, and stretched their necks to stare at the young couple. The old man Du who was driving the car suddenly opened his mouth with missing front teeth, and sang a sour tune at the top of his voice: Come in the first month, it’s the New Year, I came to pay New Year's greetings to my father-in-law.

Carrying a jug of four liang of wine, I kowtow to my father-in-law. ... The old man Du's sudden roar really made Zhong Yuemin dumbfounded. This is the real, authentic northern Shaanxi folk song, sung from the mouth of a native old farmer. The taste is imitated by any professional singer in a song and dance troupe. no. ... In February, the dragon raises its head, The father-in-law took his daughter-in-law's hand, Pull and pull to eat. The soft hands of other dolls ... Zhong Yuemin was so happy that he fell down on the luggage bag: "This old man picks up ashes, and he is not afraid that his son will fight him hard..."

... Peach and apricot blossoms in March, The daughter-in-law wears date red shoes again, Walking and swaying with the wind, love father-in-law ... The young couple who returned to their natal home were far away, and the ding-dong sound of the bell hanging on the donkey's head could still be heard faintly, and Old Man Du stopped singing. Zheng Tong whispered: "This old man is hooking up with someone's new wife, huh? Yuemin, what's the matter with you? Are you stupid?" Zhong Yuemin stared blankly at Old Man Du, he hadn't woken up from this sour song... On the threshing ground of Shichuan Village, a meeting of all members was being held, and a line of words was crookedly written on a tattered red banner, "Warmly welcome Beijing educated youth to jump in and settle in Shichuan Village".

The villagers in ragged clothes had dull eyes and numb expressions. They sat scattered on the threshing floor. The women held the soles of their shoes and the men smoked tobacco. The children were chasing and playing in the haystacks. Zhong Yuemin, Zheng Tong, and seven or eight educated youths sat on the ground and whispered to each other. Chang Gui, secretary of the Party branch of Shichuan Village, is speaking.He was in his fifties, with criss-cross wrinkles on his face, and a pair of small eyes that shone with a sly light. Compared with the dull-eyed villagers around him, such a person should be a village cadre in the countryside.Chang Gui also wore a white sheep belly handkerchief that was so dirty that he couldn't see the color, and he wore a bare old sheepskin jacket. He looked similar to the old man Du who was driving the car. The difference was that he was holding a two-foot What a long pipe.

Chang Gui knocked on the broken table in front of him with his cigarette pipe, cleared his throat, spit out a mouthful of thick phlegm two meters away, and then began to speak: "Folks, the meeting is now, everyone be quiet, don't talk, today, Ten educated youths from Beijing came to our village, and I represent the Party branch of Shichuan Village... Huh? Goofy, I hate your mother, why are you still talking like a donkey? You take the leader's words as a fart, don't you? Be careful, I will drive you a donkey Criticism of the day." Northern Shaanxi is poor, and the main means of transportation is donkeys. Because donkeys are easy to raise, there are many donkeys in northern Shaanxi, and people love donkeys, so

Folks open and shut their mouths are "donkey day". Sometimes this is not necessarily a curse, it may be a modal particle expressing intimacy. The villagers seem to have gotten used to it, and the meeting place is still noisy. The educated youths couldn't help laughing when they heard the branch secretary scolding people. Seeing the educated youths laughing, Chang Gui quickly explained: "Don't laugh, kids, you'll know when the days go by, there are some donkeys in our village who don't want to go and drive away, you have to smoke with sour dates That's fine. Let's go on, um, what are you talking about?" The villagers and educated youths burst into laughter again. Zheng Tong said: "Secretary Chang, you said there was a Gouwa who belonged to Donkey Day." The laughter grew louder. Chang Gui lit a pot of cigarettes: "That's not it, oh, today is to welcome the educated youth from Beijing to our village. It was Chairman Mao's idea for the educated youth to come to the countryside to settle down. Since Chairman Mao said it, our Shichuan Village has nothing to say, so we have to accept it." If you don’t accept it, you have to accept it. There is nothing else in our Shichuan Village, but there are too many people and less land, and there is not enough food. Now we have added ten mouths. What should I do? I can’t help it. Chairman Mao and his old man let these ten children come Our village has registered permanent residence, and we have to give Chairman Mao this face no matter how tight the food is. Our village has a total of 417 people, men, women and children, how much is it if we add ten people? Accountant Zhang, how much is it?" A middle-aged man with a shaved pot head stood up and replied, "Four hundred and twenty-seven." Chang Gui said, "Yes, four hundred and twenty-seven... who is this..." An old sow looking for food was pushing Changgui's crotch with its mouth, and the villagers and educated youths burst into laughter again. Chang Gui kicked the old sow hard, and the old sow ran away howling. He continued to talk: "The population of our village is really too large. Twenty years back, the food supply in our village is not so tight. There wasn’t that many people back then, but now it’s good. There’s not much land, but there are more than 200 people. What’s the matter? I have to blame the mothers and aunts, who are addicted to giving birth to babies, like old sows hugging their nests. I can’t hold it anymore. Let’s talk about Gouwa’s mother-in-law. She is still breastfeeding in her arms, and she is pregnant again. This is the seventh one. Are you still going to finish?” It seems that this dog boy is Chang Gui's punching bag, and he is always picked up and scolded. The educated youths stretch their necks to look into the crowd, but they don't know which one is the dog boy, but they see a woman in her forties standing up and scolding back. Said: "Chang Laogui, fart your mother, is it a matter for one person to give birth to a baby? Which of you men is not a greedy cat who steals your mouth, and you will go up when you smell fishy smell? Now you are pushing your mother-in-law again ?" It seemed that this was Gouwa's daughter-in-law. The villagers and the male educated youths burst into laughter, and the female educated youths bowed their heads in embarrassment. Chang Gui looked like an adult who didn't remember the villain's faults, but just grabbed Gouwa and said, "A good man doesn't fight with women, I won't tell you, Gouwa, why don't you speak up, you bastard? Your mother-in-law contradicts you Leader, why are you a mother-in-law who disciplines you? Haven't you got the law yet?" A short man in his forties stood up from the crowd: "Secretary Chang, my mother-in-law and aunt are in charge of the house, and I can't count what I say." The villagers and educated youths burst into laughter again... Chang Gui hated iron and steel, and said, "Why do you let your mother-in-law take over the power? You just beat her up? How can you not let you go to the kang at night? Let's not talk about it, let's talk about it." It's business, folks, I beg you, Chang Laogui, don't give birth..." laugh... "Our Shichuan village has only this little land, so it can't support so many people. No, we have added ten more mouths. When the spring is green next year, I have to take the villagers out to beg for food. Well, it doesn't matter if the educated youths come. He is able to speak and write, and he is better at begging than the people in our village. Last year Shuanzhu took people to Mizhi to beg for food. He couldn’t even speak a whole sentence. It’s a shame. Team, let's let people see, our Ishikawa Village is not without people..." Zhong Yuemin stood up: "Secretary Chang, how about I lead the team to beg for food next spring?" Chang Guixi said: "Good boy, if you have the guts, it's you." Zhong Yuemin said respectfully: "Thank you for the trust of the leaders, I will work hard to beg for food, and I will never let down the trust of the village leaders." Chang Gui asked, "What's your baby's name? Are you a party member?" "Zhong Yuemin is not a party member." "Well, do a good job and let you join the party next year." "Thank you branch secretary for cultivation." Chang Gui roared: "The meeting is over."