Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 831 830 Going to the Countryside
When Tang Gang entered the room, he was immediately greeted by a strong smell of blood.

As the squad leader of the patrol team, Tang Gang was no stranger to this smell. He had often bled and skinned the prey on the spot after hunting it while patrolling the mountains, but this was the first time he had ever smelled this in his own house.

Tang Gang strode to the bedside, not even bothering to hold his son or look at him, and bent down to check on Jin Yumei: "Are you alright?"

"It's alright, look how much our child looks like you." Jin Yumei was still very weak, her hair was wet with sweat, and her face and lips were white from excessive blood loss, but her eyes were full of tenderness when she looked at her son.

"Okay, close your eyes and rest for a bit." Tang Gang then glanced at his son. The newborn was all wrinkled, his hair was still a little wet, and he looked tiny and a bit ugly. You couldn't tell at all that he looked like him.

"Gangzi really dotes on his wife. This is the first time I've ever seen someone not holding their son." Old Niu Po ​​said to Tang Tianshi with a joke, and before she could answer, she said to Tang Gang, "Mother and child are safe and sound, so don't worry. Go out quickly, we'll tidy up a bit, and you can come back in later."

We definitely need to clean up. Not only the house needs to be cleaned up, but we also need to start digging a pit outside to bury the placenta.

In Northeast China, there's a saying that a boy's placenta should be buried on the left side of the main gate, symbolizing "supporting the family and ensuring prosperity for future generations"; while a girl's placenta should be buried under a fruit tree, symbolizing "many children and many blessings".

Whether it's a boy or a girl, the opening of the placenta should face upwards so that the mother's milk will be plentiful later on.

Tang Wenbang pointed to a spot and instructed Tang Gang to dig a pit inside the gate, while he went inside and brought out a basin of water.

It hasn't rained here for a while, so the ground is already hard, and with years of trampling, it's become exceptionally solid.

Tang Gang would put two hoes on the planer, and Tang Wenbang would pour a little water into them. After the water soaked down, Tang Gang would continue planing.

Old Lady Niu and Mrs. Tang tidied up the delivery room a bit, and when they came out, they saw the father and son busy at work. They opened their mouths as if to say something, but in the end, they said nothing.

With the reduction of various quotas, many people have abandoned tradition.

The placenta is still a piece of meat. Even if you don't eat it yourself, you can wash, steam, and dry it and sell it as a Chinese medicine to earn some money.

Tang Tian saw the old woman's expression and went back into the house to wrap a bag of cornmeal in newspaper for her, and also prepared an extra two yuan as a thank-you gift.

Old Lady Niu not only provided technical and psychological support, but she also brought coarse straw paper, which is scarce these days. If it weren't for the coarse straw paper that Old Lady Niu brought, who knows what kind of mess the kang (heated brick bed) would have become.

The old woman packed up her things, took some cornmeal and money, said some auspicious words, and left happily.

Tanggang carefully placed the placenta into the newly dug pit and then covered it with soil.

Tang Wenbang led the two hunting dogs to the door and warned them not to dig it out to eat.

In Northeast China, if a dog is found digging for and eating a placenta buried in the ground, that dog is considered unfit for marriage and will ultimately only have one fate: an iron pot.

After burying the placenta, Tang Wenbang took his son into the side room to see his grandson.

Tang Wenbang held his grandson, completely content.

The newborn baby was sleeping a lot. He was held in his grandfather's arms and didn't show any particular reaction. Instead, Tang Gang spoke up from the side: "I wonder if Anzi received the letter. I should have replied to him a few days later. The last time he wrote, he asked if the baby had been born yet."

"I'll write it later, there's no rush." ​​At this moment, Tang Wenbang only had his eldest grandson in his eyes, and his wrinkled face beamed with joy.

But the grandson didn't give his grandfather much face and started whimpering and crying.

"You clumsy people, get out of here! It's time to feed the baby." Just then, Tang Tianshi brought her daughter-in-law a bowl of millet porridge and, seeing this, began to shoo people out.

Actually, the main issue is getting the husband to come. The son is already very familiar with his wife, so there's no need to be shy about this. If things go wrong and the milk doesn't come in, the son will have to help clear the blockage...

Tang Zhitong received the letter on Sunday afternoon. If he hadn't been thinking about picking up salt from Master Gao that afternoon, he would have arrived at work right on time.

"Section Chief Tang, I was so busy yesterday that I forgot about your letter." Many people from the escort department went to work on the farm, but Kong Yiqin was left on duty at the escort office this time. When he saw Tang Zhitong, he took out a letter from his pocket.

"Okay, thank you, Brother Kong. It's always kind of you to leave one for me separately." Tang Zhitong took the letter, took out a cigarette from his pocket and offered one to Kong Yiqin. He was grateful that his uncle's things and letters always reached him in time.

"Just a side job." Kong Yiqin took the cigarette, took out a match from his pocket, struck one, lit it, and then flicked it out twice. He didn't even ask Tang Zhitong if he smoked, since the entire transport department basically knew that Section Chief Tang had quit smoking.

"Hey, I heard things haven't been very peaceful on the line lately. Brother Kong even helped me keep an eye on the mail, so I have to ask him for help. How's the journey? Nothing went wrong, right?" Tang Zhitong asked Kong Yiqin politely.

"Passenger vehicles are doing a bit better, but there are quite a few problems with freight vehicles. I heard from the staff at the station that people are scrambling to board every train." Kong Yiqin squinted and exhaled a puff of smoke.

"Well, at least things are a little better than back in Yu Ying's hometown." Now, the famine is just one step away from being resolved. If we wait another month or so until the wheat yield is tallied, then we won't be able to keep up the pretense anymore.

"I heard that in the Great Northern Wilderness, five steamed buns can be exchanged for a wife. Like Yu Ying, it's better to be out here than back in your hometown." Speaking of Yu Ying, Kong Yiqin took another puff of his cigarette and sighed.

"A tree dies when transplanted, but a person thrives. Who would willingly leave their hometown unless forced to?" The Tang family originally came to make a living after their hometown suffered a disaster. The old lady never got to see her eldest son and daughter again in her entire life, so Tang Zhitong deeply sympathized with the disaster.

"These sons of bitches, they don't care about human beings as long as they can keep their jobs!" Kong Yiqin cursed, threw his cigarette butt on the ground, and stomped on it hard.

"Brother Kong, loose lips sink ships. You must be careful with your words in the future." Tang Zhitong agreed with Kong Yiqin's words and could understand his feelings. Sometimes he also wanted to curse, but the current situation was really hard to predict. You never know if a single word could become a future disaster.

"Sigh, I know scolding is useless, but I still feel bad. You go ahead and do your work, I'm going back." Kong Yiqin sighed, waved his hand and left.

Tang Zhitong didn't try to persuade him further. He sighed and went to find Gao Lide, as they had agreed to pick up the salt today.

It was supposed to be a bag of salt, but it was actually only a small half-sack, weighing about thirty pounds.

Based on a daily intake of 25 grams per person, this amount of salt is enough for the staff of the escort agency who work on the farm for ten days. Adding the salt brought from the city bureau's canteen, it shouldn't be needed. Recently, the neighborhood committee has been conducting health education campaigns, telling residents that too much salt is bad for their health and that they should eat less salt to stay healthy.

Some people disagreed, but Tang Zhitong knew that this meant the supply of salt was under pressure, and it was estimated that it wouldn't be long before special salt spoons were made for the residents of Beijing.

After loading the salt onto the truck, Tang Zhitong took out the letter and glanced at it. It wasn't anything major; it mainly said that Tang Rong had accepted his suggestion and planned to apply to the Beijing Electric Power College.

Once everyone and all the vehicles had arrived, the staff of the escort department received their firearms and ammunition. After roll call confirmed, the escort team set up camp and headed to the farm.

The farm is located southeast of Yongdingmen Station. Before 1900, this large area of ​​land south of Yongdingmen was the royal garden of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. It was extremely lush with water and grass and was used exclusively by the royal family for hunting and recreation.

Officially it was called "Nanyuan", but the common people called it "Nanhaizi".

In 1900, the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded Beijing, and the Japanese invaders broke into the park, burning down buildings and shooting animals, destroying the entire park in an instant.

With the signing of the Treaty of 1901, the already impoverished national treasury became even emptier, and the Qing court was no longer able to maintain Nanyuan. Based on the principle of making use of waste, Emperor Guangxu issued "dragon tickets" to allow tenants to cultivate the land. As a result, eunuchs and warlords seized land in the garden and built manors.

Around this time, Nanyuan Airport was built, becoming China's first airport. The airport is still in operation and has grown significantly. Next to the airport, the First Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology and a prototype factory were built, making it a research and development base for ballistic missiles and carrier rockets.

Cars can travel faster than bicycles. Tang Zhitong and his colleagues who rode bicycles went together, and even with someone leading the way, it took them more than an hour to reach the farm. Meanwhile, the employees who had arrived by car earlier were already preparing their "beds" for the night.

The group went straight to the farm's temporary camp. There were many people standing around the camp, including many employees of the escort office who were busy spreading straw on the ground, obviously for making makeshift beds.

Several people put their bicycles aside and joined in.

In addition to his bicycle, Tang Zhitong also placed his gun on a gun rack set up by the other guards. With someone watching over it, he didn't have to worry about anyone trying to steal it.

"Section Chief Zhang, how are you? Are you tired?" Tang Zhitong asked cheerfully as he took the straw that Zhang Jinbo was carrying.

"With the harvest just around the corner, we're happy to be tired," Zhang Jinbo replied cheerfully.

"Hey, everyone seems pretty happy. I bet you all feel the same way. I noticed quite a few people coming to help with the work as soon as I entered the village. There must be a lot of people here this time, right?" Tang Zhitong threw the straw on the ground and spread it out thinly in the planned direction.

On the way here, we passed a threshing ground where a lot of people had gathered. It was easy to tell from their clothes who were commune members and who were city dwellers.

“There are quite a few, I only realized when I got here. Besides those from our own system, there are also quite a few college students and junior high school students. I heard some are from the University of Posts and Telecommunications, you might even run into your classmates,” Zhang Jinbo replied, wiping his sweat.

"Hey, no way. My classmates all went to the factory to do production work recently, so they missed the wheat harvest." Tang Zhitong smiled. The students in the wired industry are lucky. At least they can go to get off work on time in the factory. But the wheat harvest here is all about getting up early and working late.

"Haha, that's an alumnus. You lay it out first, I'll go get some more." Zhang Jinbo laughed twice and turned around to become a porter again.

Spreading the straw is faster than carrying it. After Tang Zhitong finished spreading out all the straw, Zhang Jinbo still hadn't returned.

Tang Zhitong took the opportunity to look around the temporary residence. There were eight small mud-brick houses in a row. The layer of mud and grass at the base of the houses had been completely stripped away by wind and rain, showing a dilapidated state.

One of the rooms was used as a warehouse and kitchen, with people going in and out carrying flour and cooking utensils.

The other seven rooms were probably used for women to rest, because only women went in and out, and no men were seen approaching.

"There are too many people. Apart from a few who are arranged to rest in the homes of the villagers, most of the others are sleeping on the floor. The city bureau's idea is to reserve these rooms for the female comrades, and the male comrades can make do outside for a few days." Fang Yuan came over at this moment, following the young man's gaze, seemingly to answer his question.

“This arrangement is quite appropriate; the rough men can sleep anywhere. Shall we dig a row of pits and build a temporary toilet?” Tang Zhitong looked around and only saw a simple shed in the corner. Seeing someone coming out holding their nose, he knew without getting close that it was the unloading area.

"Hey~ that's a good suggestion, we really need to expand the toilets. After you finish making your bed, go check out the temporary canteen. The city bureau just notified us that the students who came this time are also eating here, so the workload has increased. If we need to allocate manpower, just ask our comrades from the escort department." Fang Yuan's eyes lit up, and he waved to a few men who were smoking together nearby. After saying that, he led them to start the expansion project.

"Okay!" Tang Zhitong readily agreed, tossed his bag onto the unmade mat on the floor to indicate that someone was there, and went straight to the kitchen.

The world is vast, but rice is the most important thing. As for the bed, it's never too late to make it before going to sleep.

"Hello, Master, I'm Tang Zhitong from the escort department. Is there anything I can help you with?" Tang Zhitong peeked out of the doorway but didn't go in. The room was packed full of pots, pans, cutting boards, steamers, and flour. Several women were helping the head chef knead dough, leaving no room to move around.

"Hello, Section Chief Tang, I'm Qu Yi from the Municipal Bureau's canteen. I just heard from Director Fang that you were coming to help out. Welcome, welcome." Qu Yi raised his head, squeezed out from the side, and wanted to shake hands with Tang Zhitong, but his hands were full of noodles, so he could only raise his hand to greet her.

"Master Qu, you're too kind. We're just here to serve our comrades." Tang Zhitong took a step back, making room for Qu Yi.

"Haha, Section Chief Tang is right. How about you cut some pickled vegetables for me? We can make do for dinner tonight and start cooking properly tomorrow." Qu Yi was overwhelmed with work. There weren't many people coming to the canteen, but he had to feed several hundred people, and he was simply too busy to handle it all.

“Okay. I see the space inside isn’t very big either. How about we build a few platforms outside and move the tables, stoves, and stuff out?” The temporary kitchen was small, and Tang Zhitong glanced at it but lost interest in going inside. Once the fire was lit, who knew how hot it would be inside?

"That's great! I was thinking of just having some dumpling soup for dinner tonight, and then building the stove after we finished eating."

"Master Qu, please go ahead with your work. I'll go do the building. I'm familiar with this job," Tang Zhitong said cheerfully, offering his services.

Tang Zhitong's claim of being familiar with this job is no exaggeration. Before coming here, he had seen many large banquets in the countryside, where two cooks with three or four stoves could support ten or twenty tables of continuous banquets.

Moreover, in his original memory, Tang Zhitong had done a lot of such work when he was a child.

When Grandpa Ma used to run his business in greenhouses, he would always take Mark Jian with him, partly to get his help and partly to teach him.

Whenever there was such a good opportunity, Ma Kejian would never miss out on his friends. Although they had to build the stove, light the fire, serve the dishes, and clear away the dishes when they arrived at the host's house, they would always get their share of snacks, making it a truly lucrative job.

(End of this chapter)