The train driver in the courtyard

Woo hoo hoo, eat like crazy, eat like crazy, eat like crazy
A coal train was heading towards Yangcheng in the dark.

On the coal truck, Wang Dakui lay on the coal, holding his head in his hands and looking up at the stars.

He wanted to cry but had no tears.

When he first left Beijing Station, he was quite happy.

Because I can sit in the driver's cabin and brag with the driver and stoker. I can get some lunch when I'm hungry, and I can lie down in the tender car when I'm tired. It's almost like taking a sleeper berth.

Who would have thought that after passing the checkpoint on the outskirts of Beijing and learning that freight trains carrying illegal passengers would be strictly investigated in the section, the driver could only place Wang Dakui in the compartment of the coal truck.

Surrounded by rough and hard coals, they emit a strong smell of coal dust, mixed with the unique metallic smell of the railroad tracks, forming a unique, slightly dull smell.

Wang Dakui lay on the dark coals for nearly two days. Except for a pair of white teeth, his whole body was black.

"Forget it, forget it, I didn't spend any money anyway, just treat it as a car ride to visit the great rivers and mountains of the motherland."

Wang Dakui comforted himself, changed his position, and lay down in a pose.

At this moment, the speed of the train suddenly slowed down, and the train co-driver stuck his head out of the window and shouted.

"Little brother, Yangcheng is ahead. Jump out of the car quickly."

The coal truck did not enter Yangcheng, but its destination was a distant factory.

Wang Dakui stood up holding the lump of coal, looked at the lights of the city in the distance, and shouted at the top of his lungs: "How far is it from Yangcheng?"

"It's not that far, just over ten miles. You just need to walk along the railroad tracks and you can get there without getting lost."

A strong wind blew, and the co-driver's voice entered Wang Dakui's ears intermittently.

Wang Dakui's heart suddenly became cold.

Still have to walk about ten miles.
But there is nothing we can do. After all, the train will change direction later and it will be farther and farther away from Yangcheng.

Wang Dakui and Li Aiguo attended a railway technical secondary school together and were no strangers to jumping off trains.

He threw down the large and small bags first, then climbed over the roof of the car, holding the armrest with one hand, and tilted his body in mid-air.

When the speed of the train dropped to a minimum, Wang Dakui jumped forward. Although he landed in a awkward position, he was not injured.

After patting the soot on his body, Wang Dakui walked along the railway track with tired steps, carrying large and small bags.

At this moment, a dim flashlight light came from a distance.

Encountered a bandit? Wang Dakui was so frightened that he took out a spray gun from his waist and held it in his hand.

"Who, who?"

"Dakui, I am patriotic."

Li Aiguo breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Wang Dakui. After stopping his bicycle, he shined a flashlight on him and finally looked at the spray gun in his hand.

"Where did you get the gun?"

"Hey, didn't you know that you were going on a business trip? I was afraid of encountering bandits on the road, so I exchanged a few packs of instant noodles from Yang San in Geshi."

Li Aiguo took the gun and saw that the skill was good and the risk of misfire was very small, so he threw it back.

Going to the countryside tomorrow, Wang Dakui really needs something to keep him company.

"Come back to the hotel with me now. We will go to the countryside to harvest bananas tomorrow."

Wang Dakui was full of complaints. Hearing that bananas were being harvested, he could no longer complain.

He carried large and small bags and sat obediently in the back seat of the car.

Under the starlight, the bicycle gallops along the straight railway track towards the bustling metropolis.

"Don't hold me so tightly!" Li Aiguo.

"."

The next day.

Stonebridge Market Restaurant.

Li Aiguo looked at Wang Dakui who was devouring his food, frowned and asked: "Dakui, look at you like this, you must have been hungry for several meals. Didn't you bring any dry food on the road?"

"Forget it, the wind was too strong on the road. I was lying in the bed of the truck. When the wind blew, soot was everywhere. I opened my mouth and ate a mouthful of soot." Wang Dakui said with a sad face.

Seeing his aggrieved look, Li Aiguo almost laughed out loud.

Last night, when Wang Dakui entered Aiqun Building, the enthusiastic staff on duty immediately greeted him and extended his hand: "Hello, black brother."

"If I don't earn him ten or eight yuan this time, I'll lose a lot." Wang Dakui took a few hasty bites, remembering to collect the bananas.

At this time, Captain Chen and Liu Deli also rushed over on bicycles.

"Comrade Patriot, shall we go through the formalities first?"

Li Aiguo looked at Wang Dakui and asked, "Dakui, have you brought the procedures for the scrap shop and the letter of introduction from the street office?"

"Bring it." Wang Dakui took out a pile of documents from his canvas pocket and asked curiously: "Patriot comrade, aren't we collecting bananas? What do you want this for?"

"Establish a scrap shop acquisition branch."

"what?!"

Wang Dakui's head was still buzzing until he completed the formalities and walked out of the management committee door.

He has been in the capital for so many years, and he is not an unworldly boss. He knows very well how difficult it is to register a 'company' in these days.

Even if there is an official endorsement, it will take at least two or three months to go through all the procedures.

It only took him ten minutes to become the manager of the acquisition branch. All the procedures were completed, and he even had a business registration certificate.

Wang Dakui even felt that the director of the management committee regarded him as his own son.

Wang Dakui insists that he does not have such great personality charm, so the key point must be Li Aiguo.

Being able to win over Captain Chen and Uncle Liu in just a few days, and also establish a relationship with the director of the management committee, the patriotic brothers' ability to do things is really amazing.

No wonder Wang Tingting heard that Li Aiguo needed help, so she helped him pack his luggage without saying a word.

What surprised Wang Dakui even more was that Li Aiguo had even prepared a branch store.

At this time, there were seven or eight old women cleaning the five warehouses. These people worked very neatly, and the walls and floors were all cleaned up.

"Old Liu, is this the person you arranged?" Li Aiguo looked at Liu Deli and asked.

Liu Deli nodded: "These people are all family members of nearby vendors. I don't know where they got the news and they insisted on coming to help."

As soon as he finished speaking, two dollars appeared in front of him.

Looking along the money and the strong arms, Liu Deli looked at Li Aiguo in surprise: "Comrade Patriot, what are you doing?"

"People should receive labor remuneration for their work." Li Aiguo emphasized.

Liu Deli instantly understood Li Aiguo's true intention. He did not want him to be criticized by the public for this matter.

With a boss who thinks about himself like this, the last trace of doubt in Liu Deli's heart disappeared.

He took the money and gathered the old women together to distribute the money to them. Those old women still relied on Liu Deli to take care of them, so how could they collect money?

In the end, Liu Deli lost his temper and claimed that anyone who refused to accept the offer would be bribing him and would be driven out of the market. Only then did these old ladies accept the offer.

At this time, Chen Dabao from Dashi Commune came over with several members.

"Brother worker, when should we go to our Dashi Commune?"

Seeing Chen Dabao's impatient expression, Li Aiguo nodded: "Go now."

In the morning, the sun is shining brightly.

The large conference room of Dashi Commune was crowded with people.

The members stared wide-eyed at Chen Rongli, the party secretary, and Chen Baolai, the commune accountant.

Licking his fingers on his tongue, he opened a page of the account book and read loudly: "Chen Fang, on the first day of this month, you will get ten work points for hoeing the land on the Dongpo area. On the second day, you will get three points for mowing the grass." For work points, No. 3 will get ten work points for building the road."

Along with Chen Rongli's voice, Chen Baolai fiddled with the abacus beads.

The sound was like a big hand tightly holding member Chen Fang's stomach.

He stared at the abacus beads and his eyes almost popped out.

Every time the abacus beads beat, his heart contracts violently.

Every work point is sweat, and the final calculated work point is related to the hope of the whole family's survival.

In this day and age, it is purely a misunderstanding that members can eat from a big pot without paying.

A big pot of rice is not a big pot, and work points are the lifeblood of commune members. This is the consensus of all commune members.

Every month, the commune will advance a certain amount of basic work points to its members in advance. With these work points, the members can make meals in the commune for free.

At the end of the month (in some places it is the end of the year), the commune will calculate how many work points each member earned this month.

Adult laborers are required to work for 12 work points for hoeing, for the front row, for lesbians, and for children herding sheep.
The daily work is different, and the work points you can get are also different. In addition, every household also has a fertilizer book, and you can get two work points for picking up a basket of manure.

Generally speaking, an adult laborer can earn two hundred and fifty work points per month, and only one hundred work points are needed to make a big pot of rice, which leaves one hundred and fifty work points.

These work points can be used by the wife, children, and other family members to make a big meal.

You can also exchange it for money at an unfixed price at the end of the year.

If a family has few laborers or likes to be lazy, they will not be able to earn work points for the big pot meal, and thus will owe work points to the commune.

It can be seen that the so-called "big pot to feed idle people" may be just a misunderstanding.

"Chen Fang, there are eight people in your family. After deducting the ration work points this month, there are still fifty work points left."

The sound of the abacus beads disappeared, and Chen Rongli raised his head and reported a number.

A joyful expression suddenly appeared on Chen Fang's face, and his hunchback could not be straightened. He rubbed his hands and said, "Secretary, my second son has to pay tuition. How much can I exchange for these fifty work points?"

Hearing this, Chen Rongli's face looked a little ugly, "This year, bananas have not been sold yet, and there are no food crops in the fields. One work point can only be exchanged for 1 cent and 2 cents, which means your family has earned 6 cents this month. "

"Six cents is not enough for tuition." Chen Fang lowered his head.

Chen Rongli glanced at him and then said: "Because our commune's bananas cannot be sold, and now there is no money in the commune's big account, even these 6 cents cannot be exchanged to you for the time being. Don't worry, I'll wait for Lao Maozi. Once the order is placed, the commune will definitely make up the money for you.”

"What should we do? I'm still waiting to pay my child's tuition." Chen Fang staggered back on his chair.

The members in the conference room suddenly became anxious when they heard that the commune could not redeem the money, and stood up one after another.

"Party secretary, I'm still waiting to get money to buy medicine for my mother. What should I do if I don't have money?"

"Yes, my family has to buy kerosene and a red-headed rope for my daughter."

"My son is getting married. The woman didn't ask for anything, she just wanted an enamel basin."

Driven by excitement, the rough voice was particularly harsh, and the atmosphere in the conference room suddenly became tense.

clap clap clap!
Chen Rongli picked up the hookah, knocked it on the broken table, and shouted loudly: "What are you doing! Our commune is encountering difficulties now. You may not know it yet. The food in the granary of the big cafeteria has bottomed out. If the bananas can no longer be sold, If we don’t talk about sharing money, we won’t even be able to fill our stomachs.”

"Do you still have a sense of collective honor? Can you show your style?"

Chen Rongli had fought against the Japanese before liberation. He also had two sons who joined the team and had high prestige in the commune.

Seeing him getting angry, the members suddenly didn't dare to say anything and sat back one after another.

The atmosphere in the conference room relaxed. Chen Rongli looked at the aggrieved faces and felt uncomfortable.

No matter how much we pay attention to the sense of honor and promote our style, people still have to eat.

But now there are only bananas in the field.

I don’t know if Erbao and the others went to the market to sell bananas and whether they sold them or not.

That's when.

boom.

The broken wooden door of the conference room was kicked open from the outside.

Two club members rushed in.

Chen Rongli's face suddenly darkened: "Why are you so flustered? Didn't you see that our commune is holding a meeting now?"

The commune member ran for more than ten miles and was panting from exhaustion. He put his hands on his knees and waited for a while before he recovered.

They pointed to the door and said: "Secretary of the Party Committee, some merchants are coming to our commune to buy bananas."

Chen Rongli's expression softened a little.

"How many kilograms do you want to buy? You help them pick it in the field. Remember, you can't go to the fields to the west to pick it. Those are the best bananas. They have to be left for the boss. You are not allowed to weigh them. We don't do that kind of embarrassing thing. Son."

The "Fifteen Ton" members gasped.

"what?"

Chen Rongli rubbed his ears and realized that he heard correctly.

He quickly rushed down from the "rostrum", held the members' shoulders and said, "Hurry up and tell me what's going on?"

"The thing is like this, Brother Erbao met him in the market."

The members recounted what happened yesterday in detail.

I heard that merchants from the capital came forward to protect the members and punished the waiters in the restaurant.

Chen Rongli nodded and praised: "This man is a good person. He does not look down on our members."

When he heard that the other party wanted fifteen tons of bananas and was coming to the commune soon, Chen Rongli slapped his thigh.

"Oh, the guest is coming to the door soon, why did you say that?"

The member said quietly: "Party secretary, you didn't give me a chance to speak."

"If you offend a guest, I won't punish you."

Chen Rongli realized at this time that this was a good opportunity.

The first move requires fifteen tons of bananas, which is enough to illustrate the opponent's strength.

If a good cooperative relationship is truly established, the crisis in Dashi Commune may be resolved.

He immediately called the two production captains: "You should hitch the donkey cart immediately and go along the road to meet the merchants from the capital. Don't let Lao Hei and Lao Meng snatch it away."

Lao Hei and Lao Meng are the party secretaries of two nearby communes. Those two communes also grow a lot of bananas. On weekdays, the several communes often fight over the sale of bananas.

"Yes, Party Secretary, don't worry, we promise to complete the task!"

Two production captains ordered seventeen or eight young men, hitched a donkey cart, and left the commune.

Chen Rongli took two puffs of water pipe and called the women's director.

"The capital is a big city. I heard that people in big cities love to be clean. Our commune is full of broken things."

"Immediately organize women comrades to form a health commando and clean up the inside and outside of the commune."

The women's director was a fierce person. She turned around and shouted to the members: "Those who are willing to be heroes raise their hands."

The lesbians raised their hands one after another, looking particularly proud.

The women director rolled up her sleeves and got busy with a group of female comrades.

Chen Rongli then ordered the canteen to prepare meals, and ordered the poverty alleviation director not to let those households with poor status go out.

After doing all this, Chen Rongli always felt that there was something else that had not been arranged in place, but he couldn't remember it.

He walked out of the house with his coat on his back and suddenly saw the donkey tied up in the commune compound.

The donkey was lying on the ground and rolling happily. Its fur was covered with dust, but it was purring happily.

"Go, wash this thing. It's so dirty, what does it look like!" Chen Rongli pointed at the little donkey.

Little donkey:"."

On a country road, Li Aiguo was riding a bicycle with Wang Dakui, his long legs pedaling very fast.

Behind him, Zhou Ke led the production team leader, and Captain Chen led Liu Deli.

Three bicycles were walking in the southern countryside, and they were all armed. If someone didn't know better, they would have thought that the Japanese were sent to the countryside.

"Brother worker, turn the corner in front and you will enter the boundary of our commune." Chen Erbao showed the way from behind.

Li Aiguo looked up and saw banana fields on both sides of the road. The banana trees were full of fruits. Most of the bananas were not ripe and glowed green.

From time to time, you can see commune members patrolling with red tassel guns, their eyes watching the passers-by warily.

blah blah
There was a sound of horse hoofbeats ahead. Li Aiguo looked up and was stunned.

I saw five donkey carts lined up in a neat queue, approaching from a distance.

Wearing a half-sleeved coat and a handlebar-style Ma San, he was sitting on the shaft of the cart with his whip in his arms. His bamboo hookah was leaning on the flatbed, and his cigarette pouch was hanging precariously on the bamboo tube, like a hotel sign.

Seeing three bicycles coming towards them, Ma San reined in the donkey cart and shouted to the back.

The four donkey carts behind them stopped one after another, and seventeen or eighteen commune members armed with guns and cannons jumped out of the donkey carts and blocked the way.

"Damn it, are roadblocks and robberies so bold now? This is a large army operation, specially designed to bully small infiltration troops like us. It's a credit to labor and management for being prepared." Wang Dakui jumped off his bicycle, took out the spray gun and was about to rush. Go up.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Chen Erbao rushed forward and grabbed Wang Dakui: "Brother Wang, I misunderstood, these people are members of our commune. They are here specifically to welcome us."

"Is there anyone who picks up people like this?" Wang Dakui didn't understand the thinking of Dashi Commune.

Li Aiguo narrowed his eyes and walked over to shake hands with the leading production captains.

After a brief conversation, the three bicycles continued along the road, surrounded by five donkey carts.

Flatbeds were replaced with emergency lights, and bicycles were replaced with cars.
Li Aiguo walked in the middle, and he suddenly felt like a big leader was inspecting.

The mighty motorcade galloped all the way to the gate of the commune. (End of chapter)