Chapter 17

Cheng Likun reminded Xie Huaxiang not to show off her wealth. Then, he helped her carry the luggage onto the cart, tied it with a hemp rope, and got into position. He shouted, "Let's go!" Then, he pushed the cart forward.

Xie Huaxiang looked at him. He really did look like a farmer. She couldn't help but laugh. "You got into character so quickly!"

Cheng Li Kun looked at her flower-like smile and couldn't help but be dazed for a moment. He didn't know what he had said, but seeing her smile even more happily, he couldn't help but smile as well.

When they walked past Tang Guiying, Cheng Likun said, "Comrade Tang Guiying, let's go!"

Tang Guiying rolled her eyes. She felt that it was really embarrassing to push a wheelbarrow on the road like an old farmer. She couldn't help but say, "What are you so proud of? When we get to the bus station later, they won't let you bring your luggage onto the cart. You'll have to walk there!"

The bus station to the county town was still some distance away from the train station. They asked around along the way and walked there. The bus station was quite lively. There were passengers everywhere with big and small bags. Although they had a lot of luggage, it didn't seem particularly out of place.

The staff at the bus station were experienced and knowledgeable, so they were already used to it. However, seeing that they had too many things, they asked them to pay a small fee. Xie Huaxiang hurriedly rushed to pay the money, and the staff at the bus station stuffed all her luggage into the luggage compartment under the bus. Then, they threw the wheelbarrow onto the roof and fixed it. The passengers got on the bus and sat down. The tattered bus drove to their destination, Dongshui County, with a "clang clang clang clang" sound.

The swaying of the car made people sleepy. In the rhythmic "clang" sound, Xie Huaxiang unknowingly fell asleep with infinite longing for her beloved man. The journey to the county was not far. After more than two hours, Cheng Li Kun woke her up. "Wake up, we're at the county."

Xie Huaxiang opened her eyes and looked around. The scenery around her was indeed different from the wilderness and farmland along the way. All she could see were low and dilapidated houses. There were almost no buildings. It was much worse than the big city they came from.

It was impossible to say that she didn't feel a little disappointed. However, Xie Huaxiang was immersed in the joy of seeing Shen Tingsheng soon. She didn't care about the environment at all. Most importantly, she knew that the hard days were only temporary. Her Shen Tingsheng was very capable. He had long become one of the first people in the village to become rich. It was definitely not a problem for him to eat and wear warm clothes.

Cheng Likun was fine. Since he had decided to cut the queue, he was also mentally prepared for the harsh environment in the countryside. Now that he saw the poverty and backwardness of the small county town in the countryside with his own eyes, he could only sigh silently in his heart.

Only Tang Guiying looked at the county town bus station with all kinds of unknown stains on the ground and the dilapidated houses around when she got off the bus. Her eyes were filled with bitterness and hatred.

Their train arrived early in the morning. After taking the bus all the way, they arrived at the county town at noon. The three of them took the recommendation letter and food coupons to the state-run cafeteria for a meal. The food in the state-run cafeteria here was not as good as the food in the city. In addition, after such a long journey, Xie Huaxiang didn't have much of an appetite. She only ordered a bowl of mixed grain noodles with clear soup. The noodles were a little rough and probably not very fresh. There was a strange smell. Since she didn't want to waste food, Xie Huaxiang picked the noodles with difficulty and put them into her mouth.

Probably because the three of them came from a big city, their clothes and temperament were different from the people here. The waiters in the state-run cafeteria had a good attitude towards them. After the food was served, they stood by the side and warmly chatted with them.

Cheng Likun had asked them about Anji Village. It was about five hours to walk from the county town to the county town. They set off after eating, so they should be able to make it before the sky turned dark.

However, if they were lucky, they would be able to get a ride on the ox cart from the village. That would save them a lot of time and effort.

However, usually, a production team only had one ox cart. The wealthier ones only had two oxcarts at most. Other than buying fertilizer or paying the public grain, the villagers generally didn't need to drive an ox cart to the county town. Therefore, it was not easy to meet an ox cart.

As luck would have it, they had intended to walk across on their own two feet, but when they reached the bridge leading out of the town, they happened to meet a farmer who was passing by with a cart drawn by oxen. The farmer was very kind, and when he saw that the three of them were pushing a cart full of luggage, he asked them where they were going, and if it was on the way, he would give them a lift.

Coincidentally, the farmer driving the cart was their destination. He was the captain of the production team in Anji Village, Shen Xuman.

According to Captain Shen, he drove the ox cart to the county town today because the members of the production team had hunted a big wild boar in the mountains last night. Now that the weather was hot, the meat would spoil easily if it was left out for too long. Therefore, he used the ox cart to transport the wild boar to the county town early in the morning to sell it to the supply and demand cooperative.

No wonder there was a smell of wild boar on the cart. However, they were already very lucky to be able to sit in a cart. How could they complain about the smell?

Captain Shen helped them move their luggage and wheelbarrows onto the ox cart. After tying them up, there was not much space left on the cart. The three of them each found a place to rest in the pile of luggage. Sitting on the luggage bags, they set off in a wobbly manner.

In addition to the smell of wild boar, there was also a faint smell of urine on the ox cart. Tang Guiying could not help but pinch his nose and complain, "Who is so immoral to pee on the cart?"

Captain Shen chuckled and told them that there was still some fertilizer in the cart, so it smelled a little. He asked them to bear with it for a while.

Xie Huaxiang took a closer look. Sure enough, there were a few white plastic bags under the pile of luggage. He could vaguely see the two big red words "carbamide" on the packaging.

It seemed that Captain Shen was not only selling the wild boar, but also buying fertilizer.

"Captain Shen, is the wild boar that you hunted very big?

The people in the village can't even finish it. Are you going to sell the leftovers? "Xie Huaxiang asked curiously.

"How can that be!"

Captain Shen said, "Our production team slaughtered the boar and distributed the meat once during the Lunar New Year. The members haven't smelled meat for half a year. If we really distribute this wild boar, it won't even be enough to fill the gaps between their teeth!"

Cheng Likun chimed in, "I think so too. No matter how big this wild boar is, there won't be much left for each family. Instead of getting complaints if we don't distribute it evenly, it's better to sell it for some money and share it at the end of the year!"

Captain Shen laughed heartily, "It seems that Comrade Cheng is also made to be a cadre!

It's just that we're not afraid that we won't distribute the meat evenly this time. It's mainly because our team is poor. Look, we still don't have enough fertilizer for this year. It wasn't easy to sell a wild boar in exchange for some fertilizer. It can be considered to have solved our urgent needs. "

She didn't expect this honest farmer to be so cultured when he spoke.

"If you can't even afford to buy fertilizer, then how poor is your village?

Why am I so unlucky! "Tang Guiying suddenly said with a sharp voice.

Captain Shen's expression became a little ugly, "Don't call us your village. Since you've cut the queue and settled down in our production team, you'll be part of our An Ji production team in the future. Our team is a little poor, but we still work and eat to live. How can you be so unlucky?"

Cutting the queue at this time was not as simple as going to the countryside to train for a few years. Once you went to the countryside, you would have to move your household registration as well. It was equivalent to going to the local area to take root. It was very likely that you would be a farmer for the rest of your life. You would never be able to return to the city and be a resident who ate commodity grain.

In the early years, when the movement to go to the mountains and go to the countryside was first carried out, the educated youths were full of passion as they cut the queue. However, when they really lived in the countryside, they realized the hardships involved. It was not something that people who had lived in the city since they were young could endure. Therefore, they wrote letters to their families to complain.

However, if the educated youths wanted to return to the city, it was like farmers wanting to eat commodity grain. It was an extremely difficult matter.

Therefore, now that the three of them had cut the queue and joined the An Ji production team, it was not wrong to say that they would be part of An Ji Village in the future.

"Oh right, Captain, how many production teams are there in our team?"

Xie Huaxiang asked. Among the three of them, she had the most sense of belonging. This was Shen Tingsheng's team, so it was also her team. There was no difference.

"Our team doesn't have a lot of people, so we're divided into three production teams. Starting from the area at the foot of the mountain and going all the way to the river, we're divided according to the order from top to bottom. Each production team has about 20 to 30 families. Including the laborers, there are only about 80 to 90 people!

It just so happens that there are three of you this time, so we have to be fair. We can't all go to the same production team. Let's just give each production team one person. What do you think?

No objections, right? "

Cheng Likun said straightforwardly, "I'll listen to the team leader."

Xie Huaxiang said, "I'm also fine with it. As long as I can go to the production team that I want to go to."