The Red Era: Starting from Being an Educated Youth in the Countryside

Chapter 78: Paying public grain, a lot of twists and turns

The man with glasses refused without hesitation, "I don't need it. I'm fine now."

Yang Xiaolin looked at her apologetically, "I'm sorry, if they don't like it, then that's it. We have to heat the kang anyway."

Liu Xiaoyu's face was full of confusion, and he was also thinking about building a pot so that he could use some of their firewood!

"You guys also heat the kang during the day? Isn't that a waste of time?"

Three people: “…” The weather is cold, are we going to just endure it?

Aren’t they working so hard to collect firewood just for a good winter?
If you were so stingy, why did you work so hard at that time?
"If you work harder to chop some wood, you won't have to carry it hard. We are not strong, unlike you old educated youth who can withstand it. When it's cold, you still need to warm the kang."

"Just like you can have two meals a day, but I can't. I feel uncomfortable if I miss a meal, so there is no need to force ourselves to get together. If there is a dispute, we will not be able to live comfortably for years."

After hearing what the other party said, Liu Xiaoyu didn't dare to pester them anymore. It was obvious that they disliked them. It was so short-sighted of them to even take the initiative to do so.

The other side has a lot of food, so we don’t have to worry about eating it.

There is plenty of firewood, so there is no need to worry about burning.

There's really no need to get together with them.

In the end, I could only leave in shame.

Stay and watch breakfast?
No one had extra food, so no one would be so inconsiderate. Even if she wanted to keep it, the other party would not be willing to give it to her.

After Liu Xiaoyu left, the man with glasses asked in confusion, "Why does he want to share a pot with us for no apparent reason?"

Chen Huaiyang glanced at him, "Are you really stupid or are you pretending to be confused? We have a lot of firewood, and both kitchens are full. Their firewood is obviously not enough to survive the winter, so we must find a way."

"Besides, it won't hurt to share the same pot with us. Anyone who is not a fool would consider it!"

"You can go if you want to. I have no idea."

He eats a lot in a day and is given a lot of food, so he doesn't want to encounter someone who is stingy, so as to avoid causing trouble for himself.

The man with glasses understood and shook his head without hesitation, "No, if you follow me, you can eat meat. If more people get involved, the food will have to be divided. It's better for us to be together."

He is not a fool. With the subsidy given to him by Chen Huaiyang, he can have a few more bites to eat. There are so many people and it is impossible to subsidize everyone. By then, he will have to eat less!

He is no longer the impulsive person he was when he first came here.

People teach people constantly, but things teach people once and for all.

Only what you have experienced can leave a lasting impression on you.

He just needs to live his own life well. He can't meddle in other people's affairs with his ability.

Chen Huaiyang patted him on the shoulder and said, "Comrade, as long as you work harder, it's okay to miss some food."

The man with glasses' eyes lit up. No matter where he got the food from, as long as he had food to eat, there was no need to find out anything else.

"Don't worry, I will follow you from now on. I will do whatever you ask me to do and I will never go against you."

Yang Xiaolin was speechless, "Comrade, do you remember how angry you were with him on the train? You looked so angry that you wanted to eat him up."

Now, you’ve been slapped in the face!
Chen Huaiyang has this kind of charm that can make people impressed by him and capture them easily.

The man with glasses pushed his glasses up and said shamelessly, "I was too naive before. I didn't understand how treacherous people are and I was deceived by others."

"Now we have to be smarter and think more before doing anything, so as not to let others lead us by the nose."

As soon as I put down my bowl and chopsticks, the captain's wife came over, looking anxious and almost sweating in such a cold day.

"Xiao Chen! Go and help your uncle."

Chen Huaiyang looked at her panting and asked, "Auntie, what's wrong? You're running so hard that you can't even catch your breath."

The captain's wife sighed, "It's just that your uncle suddenly had a stomachache. He didn't get in line to pay the public grain yesterday, but he has to go today. Since he's delayed, we can't get the job done."

"Looking at the weather, it's going to snow soon. We have to pay the rations as soon as possible. We have to be busy distributing rations to the team members later!"

"He asked me to come find you and Lao Zhong. Young people have quick minds. He said you can handle this matter, and he feels more at ease leaving it to you."

"If you have nothing to do today, you can help run a trip. This is a matter of great importance and cannot be delayed. Once it snows, the ground will be slippery and there will be many obstacles on the way to transport public grain."

"The cattle in our team are quite valuable. If one of them slips and gets injured, it will affect our work in the spring of next year."

After listening to this, Chen Huaiyang asked worriedly, "Did uncle take the medicine?"

"I have nothing to do today. My uncle asked me in the letter, so I went to run the errand. The main reason is that I am not familiar with the issue of paying public grain, so I still need to find someone familiar to lead the way."

The captain's wife said, "Don't worry about your uncle. Just go find a local doctor to prescribe some medicine. He is just anxious and angry, so his body can't stand it." "Old Zhong will go with you. If you don't understand something, ask him. If there is anything, discuss it with him and try to get the grain payment done as soon as possible."

Chen Huaiyang nodded and went to the warehouse. There were several full trucks like this yesterday. He didn’t expect that they hadn’t paid the tax yet!
As expected, I saw Lao Zhong when I went over there.

I drank some wine in the evening and now I feel energetic.

Old Zhong looked at him and smiled, "I guessed that they were looking for you, you are so cunning, it is indeed easier for you to get things done in the past."

Chen Huaiyang touched his nose. After hearing these words, why did he feel like a lamb to be slaughtered?

Would he be so unlucky as to be used as a gun by the captain?

It shouldn’t be possible!

No matter how smart he appears, the captain would not dare to let go completely on such an important matter. Doesn't he worry about the consequences if he messes up?
The thought that had just come to my mind was broken by the busy scene, and I had no time to think about it.

The team members urged impatiently, "Don't waste time, it's too late now, don't wait in line for a whole day and still not get a turn. It's suffering for people and cows even more."

Chen Huaiyang nodded frequently and asked his men to drive the ox carts one by one. If he had any questions, he would go to the old team members nearby to find out.

"Brother, didn't I see you going to pay the public grain yesterday? Why are you transporting it again today?"

The old team member sighed, "There are so many teams here, and everyone is crowded together to pay the public grain. Who doesn't want to pay as soon as possible? The queues are long enough."

"I queued all day yesterday. There was a long queue in front of me, but I still couldn't get a seat until dark. Not only was I exhausted, but the cows also suffered."

"The heavy load of grain has made the cows angry. Today is another hard day. Every time I pay the public grain, it is the most painful."

Chen Huaiyang nodded in understanding. If he still didn’t know that the captain was putting the blame on him, he would be a fool.

At this moment, the captain was sitting at home leisurely, enjoying his breakfast. His wife patted his arm and said, "You left this matter to Xiao Chen. Is he reliable?"

"What if we can't pay the public grain today? Wouldn't there be complaints everywhere? I'm afraid there will be many complaints again."

The captain waved his hand indifferently, "It's the same every year. Every time I pay taxes, my temper explodes. Even if I go, I can only wait and I can't solve the problem."

"In that case, we might as well throw the can down the drain. He's a smart guy. What if there are follow-ups?"

"Let's wait and see for a day. If it doesn't work, I'll go again tomorrow." He had a feeling that Chen Huaiyang would definitely be able to solve it.

The captain's wife nodded in understanding, "Then you can't go out and wander around today. It would be embarrassing if someone caught you."

The captain's face was full of black lines, and he looked like he didn't want to talk. "I finally got a day off. I have a plan for where to go. You don't need to worry about it."

The captain's wife thought about it and reminded him, "How are you going to deal with Liu Jun's matter? He is too reckless. If there is a flood, the impact will be huge."

The captain waved his hand and said, "I have diarrhea today, so I can't take care of anything. I won't die from starvation for two days. Just have someone keep an eye on me and make sure nothing happens."

"We'll deal with this after Xiao Chen comes back. I also need to understand how Xiao Chen feels about the punishment. If he is asked to help with the work, I have to give him some benefits. Otherwise, he won't be able to use his power anymore in the future."

If Liu Jun doesn't behave himself, he will be hungry for two days. He should be less careful so that he won't always act like a clown and hinder others from behind.

"As for how to deal with his problem, let's talk about it after paying the public grain! I haven't had a good night's sleep for a few days, I'm going to catch up on some sleep."

Chen Huaiyang didn't hear their conversation, otherwise he would have vomited to death. He usually used some tricks to avoid working, but was caught by the team leader at the critical moment.

Now we will follow the ox cart and slowly go to the town.

When we arrived at the grain management office, the main gate was blocked by fully loaded carts. Looking at the densely packed crowd, I was afraid that we would have to wait for a whole day to get our food.

The veteran team members sighed and said, "I said we shouldn't have gone back. We should have waited outside all night. Look at this full team. We have to waste all our time on them again."

"Who says it's not true? It's the same every day when we pay our taxes. It's only because we take good care of our cows that they have a lot of strength. Otherwise, we would have to push the carts!"

"Pushing it back and forth is really painful!"

Chen Huaiyang took a look and said to Lao Zhong, "Uncle Zhong, wait here for a while. I'll go to the front to take a look."

Uncle Zhong waved his hand, hoping that he would find out as soon as possible, pay his taxes and go back home soon.

Chen Huaiyang walked forward. He didn’t know what was going on until he looked. He was shocked. Only after he saw it did he understand what public grain was all about.

The person who collected the public grain was a fat cadre. He was picky about the grain brought over, with a look of disgust on his face.

The team leader next to them kept saying nice things, handing them cigarettes and water, for he was worried that they would trip them up and be picky about the food, which would then be withheld without reason, affecting the team's harvest.

Chen Huaiyang understood after taking a look around. Since no fertilizer had been applied at this time, the harvest of crops would not be comparable to that in the future.

If the grain collectors are picky and obstruct the payment of grain, how can the team leader not be afraid?

(End of this chapter)