Era: Craftsmen in the Siheyuan

Chapter 273 Acceleration

With the issuance of the "1070" tasks for the communes and the Great Steel Production Campaign, mobilization began across the country.

At the same time, large-scale militia training began to be carried out intensively in various places.

Shelling began in the southeast, and the tense situation seemed to be on the verge of breaking out!
Xu Deyong also participated in two militia training sessions organized by the neighborhood committee and fired two shots in the suburbs.

Xiao Li'er had been spoiled by Xu Deyong and had become a little naughty. In addition, Xu Huizhen was pregnant, and when Xu Deyong was not at home, she found it a bit difficult to take care of the two little ones, so Xu Huizhen sent Xiao Li'er to kindergarten in advance.

At that time, childcare fees are divided into several types: there are 2 yuan per month, and the children do not have lunch at the kindergarten. The parents of these children mostly work nearby, and they pick up their children after work at noon for lunch, and then send them back; there are 5 yuan: the kindergarten provides meals at noon; and there are 3 yuan: this type of kindergarten provides both lunch and evening meals, and uses a tricycle with a canopy.

Xiao Li'er's bus cost three dollars and fifty cents, and Xu Deyong went to pick him up in the afternoon. Actually, the distance was not too far, and it only took about ten minutes to go there and back by bike.

Near the end of the month, Cai Quanwu, who was sent down to the countryside for training, returned, and Xu Deyong finally had some more free time.

It was the last day of August, a weekend, and the sun rose very early.

Xu Deyong opened his eyes and saw his wife and two children were sleeping soundly.

Xiao Li'er and Ping'er had traces of sweat and marks of the mat on their faces, and their mouths and hands and feet moved occasionally.

He quietly got up and watched for a while, then went outside, leaned on the flower bed in the yard and did push-ups slowly, sighing slightly in his heart.

After a few years of good days, under internal and external pressures and changes, hard times are coming after the new year!

Fortunately, he has space in the blind box to store things, otherwise he would have to eat only coarse food.

After washing up sweaty all over his body from the exercise, Xu Deyong opened today's blind box on a whim.

He has become accustomed to getting something for free every day and is not surprised at all.

Today we have ten kilograms of hairtail. This thing is hard to buy nowadays and is basically only available during festivals.

At this time, the price of hairtail is 54 cents per pound for the most expensive one, 38 cents for the less expensive one, and the lowest one is 25 cents per pound.

It’s not cheap, and only the urban working class can afford it.

After a simple breakfast, the family packed up and returned to the courtyard.

"Let's go to grandma's house."

The two little guys were also very happy, laughing and playing while being changed into clean clothes.

Xu Huizhen was already showing some signs of being pregnant, and someone patted her little butt and said, "Behave yourself."

Xiao Li'er secretly made a face, and Ping'er followed suit.

Xiao Li'er finished putting on her clothes first and quickly ran out. When she saw her sister leaving, Ping'er was so anxious that she was scared to death!
"Dad, I'm so awesome that I can climb onto the car by myself." Little Li'er ran to Xu Deyong and said with a little pride, stepping on the wheels with his little feet and climbing up with his little butt sticking out.

Xu Deyong looked at him with a smile and said, "Well, you are really amazing."

Xiao Lier finally climbed up with great effort, let out a long sigh, and then looked very smug.

Xu Deyong smiled and put a cute bamboo sun hat on her little head. There was a bamboo dragonfly on it that swayed with her little head.

Xiao Lier stood on the tricycle, holding the front edge, and said with high spirits, "Let's go!"

“Sister…” Ping’er also trotted out a little unsteadily.

Xu Deyong lifted her into the car with one hand and put a small bamboo hat on her as well.

Xu Huizhen closed the door and came out carrying a bag, which contained a bag of pastries and other things.

After locking the door, Xu Deyong helped Xu Huizhen into the car. There was also a sack of distiller's grains and bran in the car, which was for Xu Nanshi to feed the chickens.

Yes, Xu Nan’s chickens were being fed again, but the main thing was that she felt uncomfortable looking at the empty chicken coop.

And when Xu Huizhen gives birth, I can stew chicken again.

After the sun came out, the weather was already a little hot. On the road, we met a popsicle seller and two little kids were clamoring for some popsicles.

Xu Deyong stopped and bought one from someone, which cost five cents.

The two little guys licked it happily.

When we came to the courtyard alley, the children were full of envy. The courtyards were still the same, with old ladies washing clothes and chatting around the faucet, and they would talk about every little thing going on in the house.

The men at home are repairing the creaky chairs and benches that were made by the children, or climbing onto the roof to fix the loose tiles, otherwise the roof will leak when it rains.

……

“Fighting Sunday” is not just talk.

"Brother Deyong..."

"Sister-in-law Huizhen..."

Brothers Yan Jiefang and Yan Jiekuang ran out of the courtyard and shouted at Xu Deyong's family who were about to go in.

"Yeah." Xu Deyong nodded and smiled, "Where are you guys going?"

Yan Jiefang first looked at the two little guys eating popsicles with envy, then lowered his voice and said, "It's my parents who are so stingy. The school organized a trip to the Children's Palace on the weekend, but they didn't give us a penny. We stayed at home and were ordered to do this and that. We might as well go swimming."

After saying this, as if they were afraid of being stopped by Yan Bugui, the two brothers ran away.

"Down……."

Li'er and Ping'er were already impatient to come down.

Xu Deyong carried the two little ones down, and the family walked toward the yard.

Of course, there was no shortage of greetings in the front yard. The third uncle still smiled at everyone he met. He squinted his eyes and teased Li'er and Ping'er. However, the two little guys called someone and ran to the middle yard to find grandma.

The third uncle caught up with Xu Deyong and his wife and started complaining about how difficult their lives were.

Xu Deyong and his wife listened politely for a moment. When they entered the middle courtyard, the three aunts and other old ladies smoothly turned the topic to their family, muttering the same old things.

In the middle courtyard, Qin Huairu, who was eight months pregnant, was also washing clothes. She looked really "big butt and round waist"!
"Sister Qin is washing clothes." Xu Huizhen greeted with a smile.

Nowadays, it is common to work in the fields in August, let alone washing clothes, and no one makes a fuss about it.

Qin Huairu shook the water off her hands and said with a smile: "You two are back."

The two women chatted for a while, and Xu Deyong learned that Jia Dongxu was working overtime at the steel plant, while Jia Zhang had returned to the countryside. Mainly because she heard that people in the commune could eat for free, she hurried back.

As for the little stick, no one cared about it, so it naturally slipped away to some alley to play.

After chatting for a while, Xu Deyong and his wife returned home, and soon laughter and joy could be heard from the room.

Qin Huairu paused for a moment, sighed, and continued to rub the clothes.

Different people have different fates, you have to accept it and do it!

……

In early September, the newspapers issued a comprehensive call for communes and large-scale steel production, and the whole country was suddenly in an uproar.

Grassroots communes were quickly established, and by the end of the month, collectivization had basically been achieved throughout the country.

With steel as the lead and all efforts being made to achieve the 1070 goal, earthen blast furnaces for steelmaking began to be built all over the country.

Factories, military units, communes, government agencies, schools, and even the Ministry of Foreign Affairs all set up steel furnaces and iron plants.

Regardless of whether they were men or women, young or old, experts or laymen, everyone became a steel worker.

In places where there is no coal, people cut down trees and make charcoal; in cities where there are no trees, people burn furniture and bed boards; in places where there is no iron ore, people smash pots and cauldrons.

In order to build an earthen blast furnace without bricks and stones, ancestral halls and temples had to be demolished and walls and pagodas had to be destroyed.

For example, the bricks on the sidewalks on both sides of Wangfujing Street in Beijing disappeared overnight and were all put into the earthen blast furnace.

The usually quiet school was also bustling with activity. Students put down their books and walked over to the school. Women who had been doing housework for years also came out, delivering iron pots and hoes to be used as raw materials for steelmaking.

In short, contribute what you can and what you can give!
During this period, on the 4th, my country issued a statement on its territorial waters, setting the width of its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles. It should be noted that the previously internationally recognized width of its territorial waters was only 3 nautical miles.

……

(End of this chapter)