Era: Craftsmen in the Siheyuan

Chapter 288 Accident
"What the hell, Jia Dongxu is dead?"

Xu Deyong looked at the letter sent by Xu Huizhen and was filled with surprise for a moment!
The letter said that Jia Dongxu had an accident due to overwork at work. Xu Huizhen went to the courtyard on his behalf to express condolences and sympathy to Qin Huairu, and gave her two dollars before leaving.

Two dollars was not the meaning of "you can't afford to suffer a loss or be cheated" in later generations. It was a lot of money when human relationships were measured in pennies.

If Xu Deyong was at home, he would definitely not give so much, at most one dollar. Xu Huizhen was pregnant, and she felt sorry for the "orphan and widow", so she should have given it privately.

Otherwise, if she gives so much, what will others do?
There should be not many people left in the Jia family's hometown, so the funeral arrangements were handled by the eldest uncle on behalf of the steel plant and the people in the courtyard.

"This shouldn't be possible!" Xu Deyong was puzzled. Xiaodang had just been born and Huaihua was nowhere to be seen. How come Jia Dongxu was gone?
Overtired?

The last time I saw Jia Dongxu, he looked very tired. I heard that he often worked overtime and was very active at work.

It's good to want to make progress, but why did you sacrifice yourself so early?

Who stimulated this?

Well, it definitely has nothing to do with me!
Qin Huairu became a young widow a few years earlier, and no one knows what will happen.

However, now is the period of "Y advancement", and Jia Dongxu had an accident while working, so it must be a work-related injury, and the compensation will be no less than in the future.

With the loss of a "槐花", life will not be too difficult in the short term. Unfortunately, the next few years will be difficult times and no amount of compensation will be of any use!
Xu Huizhen didn't say much in the letter, just a few words, mostly talking about the tavern and family matters.

For example: Ping'er missed him and cried for two days at first; Li'er was naughty in the kindergarten; grandma went there to stay for a few days, etc.

At the end, there are drawings (graffiti) by two little girls, and words written by Xu Huizhen.

To sum it up, “Dad, we miss you!”
Xu Deyong couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth as he read this. He could imagine the three of them writing a letter together, with the two little girls poking their heads out, one on each side looking at the unfamiliar words written by their mother, while asking questions in a whisper.

He read it again, then folded the letter and put it away. He only had a week left before he could go back, and he was getting a little impatient!

……

The next day, the weather was a bit cloudy.

After Xu Deyong got up and washed, he did some simple exercises and opened today's blind box on impulse.

"clang."

A big black pot appeared in the blind box space.

Xu Deyong: "..."

Well, it’s a good thing, but I just hope it’s not a sign of anything!
With the establishment of the big canteen, every household no longer needed to light a fire to cook. The chimney of the canteen would begin to smoke before dawn and the fire was almost never turned off during the day, after all, so many people were drinking water and eating there.

Aunt Sun still gets up early every day. Since there are no chickens to feed, she keeps the yard much tidier, but she will occasionally look at the chicken coop and sigh.

Aunt Sun also got a new job, looking after children in the village's "nursery", including those a few months old and those one or two years old, freeing women from the family so they can devote themselves to production.

This was all in accordance with the instructions of the "Resolution on the Establishment of Communes in Rural Areas", which raised the establishment of public canteens to a new level:

"Public canteens, kindergartens, nurseries, sewing groups, barber shops, public bathrooms, happiness homes, agricultural middle schools, red and expert schools, etc., have led farmers to a happier collective life and further cultivated and trained farmers' collective thinking."

Xu Deyong looked at the time, then went to the team to get the farm tools with everyone else, and plowed the land for more than an hour before it was time for breakfast.

Breakfast is corn grits, multi-grain and sweet potato porridge cooked in a big pot, served with steamed bread and pickles. The porridge is not thick but filling.

Everyone was happily queuing up for meals. They had a full stomach every day these days and could even poop an extra pound. They were so happy.

They are relatively frugal here.

In some places, canteens have even started serving buffets, where customers can eat as they please.

The policy is good, but the actual situation in various places was not taken into consideration during its implementation, which went beyond people’s cognition and awareness. The big canteen made everyone eat the same food regardless of how much they worked, and the phenomenon of slacking off in the big pot began to appear.

Under the circumstances at that time, if every family ate frugally, they might be able to eat for a few more days, but once they ate too much, they would soon run out of food.

There are too many things to describe.

When eating, families naturally gather together, and some tables, chairs and benches belong to each family.

Xu Deyong and his friends also ate with the families they were staying with. They all went out early and came back late every day to work, and there was not much communication. It was not at all as relaxing as when they first came!

The one who changed the most was Chen Xueru. This woman became much quieter, her face became darker, and her originally fair and tender hands were covered with calluses and became much rougher.

Of course, he didn’t have the energy to “harass” Xu Deyong anymore…

……

As the saying goes, "In the beginning of summer, sorghum grows; in the white dew, valley grows; in the frost, turnips are pulled out."

After breakfast, half the laborers went to pull out radishes, while the full laborers went to plow the soil.

On the mountain not far away, the persimmons are ripe. The persimmons here are mainly supplied to Sijiu City. Most of them are made into persimmon cakes, which are quite famous.

When working, some people with ulterior motives have already shown signs of slacking off, which is inevitable.

After working for two hours, Xu Deyong sat on the edge of the field and drank water from a green kettle. During his break, a light drizzle began to fall from the gloomy sky.

The rain wasn't heavy, and no one had any plans to take shelter from the rain or stop working.

The drizzle came and went, and by the time work was finished at night, most people's clothes were still wet, and the autumn wind made it feel chilly.

"A-choo, A-choo..."

Some people with weak constitutions couldn't help but sneeze, and thinking of the hot meals that had been prepared in the cafeteria, they couldn't help but quicken their pace.

……

After dinner, everyone went home, and soon the bustling village became quiet, with only the occasional barking of dogs.

After midnight, suddenly, the barking of dogs in the quiet village became louder, and it was obvious that someone was walking around.

Ten minutes later, footsteps arrived at Grandpa Sun's door, followed by a knock on the door.

"Comrade Deyong, Comrade Deyong..."

Xu Deyong, who was sleeping, opened his eyes, put on his clothes, turned on the flashlight and went out.

"Who's knocking on the door?" Aunt Sun also woke up and asked from inside the house.

Xu Deyong said, "Looking for me, Aunt Sun, you can continue to sleep."

As he said this, he went to the yard and opened the door.

The visitor said anxiously, "Comrade Deyong, Comrade Chen Xueru has a high fever. Captain Zhou and several other comrades have gone there."

Upon hearing this, Xu Deyong frowned and immediately strode out.

Chen Xueru had a high fever, probably due to the mental and physical fatigue of the past few days, plus the drizzle during the day, and she completely broke out tonight!
As for why he called himself..., well, he must have called Fan Jinyou and Yang Dian as well, after all, they were "cadres..." who came here together.

……

(End of this chapter)