Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 313: The story of joining the team that year. Brother-in-law, do you also practice martial arts?

Fangyan found that little Zhao Zhengyi had a serious expression, sat upright, and looked as if he was facing a great enemy.

I asked my elder sister:

"Sister, can the child use chopsticks?"

At this time, Zhu Lin stood up and said:
"Look how careless I am. I'll go get two spoons."

The eldest sister said:

"No, he can use chopsticks, but he has never seen the food on the table."

After hearing this, the old lady asked with some distress and curiosity:

"Then what do you usually eat?"

The eldest sister said:

"Corn, sorghum, and millet. Corn can be made into corn steamed bread and corn cakes. Sorghum can be used to make sorghum rice. Millet porridge is very fragrant but rarely available. Sometimes we eat steamed buns, but it is impossible to eat them often."

"In addition, there are dairy products, such as milk skin, milk tofu, ghee, and milk tea."

Father Fang Zhenhua, who was screwing the cap off the wine bottle, asked:
"Isn't Inner Mongolia well-developed in animal husbandry? Can we eat sheep?"

The eldest sister said:

"Sheep are collective, so we can't eat them often. We can only get some on special occasions, such as important festivals and celebrations."

Many people present were a little surprised when they heard this. They had originally thought that the people who joined the production team in Inner Mongolia could eat as much mutton as they wanted.

I still remember a report in the newspaper at that time, which encouraged young people to go to Inner Mongolia to work in the countryside, and asked them to train themselves to eat beef and mutton and adapt to life there.

Now that Fang Jie said this, many people feel that their filters have been shattered.

Fang Zhenhua asked:
"So you guys eat meat?"

At this time, my brother-in-law Zhao Yuanchao said:
"We occasionally eat wild game, such as marmots, but those game may be diseased. In the past, an educated youth ate that and was sent to the hospital but could not be saved. So we stopped eating it later."

The eldest sister nodded and took over the conversation:
"The conditions in the pastoral areas are very difficult. Not to mention meat, even vegetables are hard to come by. Turnips, cabbages, and potatoes are only available in the commune. We only eat them in the winter when there is nothing to eat."

"At other times, we can only dig wild vegetables, such as sand onion, sonchus, purslane, etc. In the summer, we also bring some wild fruits back home to make soup."

"Also, water is hard to get. I was not used to it at first."

"The best dish these two little guys have ever seen is lamb stewed with potatoes during festivals."

Hearing this, He Huiru said with red eyes:
"Oh, my poor child."

This is said not only to the two little ones but also to the older daughter.

Fang Jie said:

"In fact, they are relatively well off. At least they have no problem supporting their family with the aid from North Korea, and their children are not starving."

"There was a female educated youth who went with me. Her husband was eaten by wolves on his way back from fetching water less than a year after their marriage. She had to raise her children and her parents-in-law. Her life was miserable..."

The old lady He Huiru asked:
"Are the wolves over there so powerful?"

Fang Jie nodded and said:
"Yes, there are often wolves on the grassland. They are cruel and cunning. They often move in groups and attack sheep and herdsmen. The climate has been very cold in recent years, with the coldest temperature reaching minus 40 degrees Celsius. These wild wolves often take the initiative to attack people and animals during the coldest time."

"So every herder household will keep several dogs, one to guard the house, and the other to protect the sheep."

"I remember at the end of May 1973, when I went to fetch water alone, I encountered several wolves. Fortunately, my dogs followed me, otherwise I would not have survived."

At this point, Fang Jie just smiled lightly, but many people present felt scared.

Fang Jie sighed:
"Before I went there, I felt that the prairie in literary works was all about the vast sky and boundless wilderness, with cattle and sheep visible when the wind blows the grass low."

"Only after I went there did I realize that it was cow dung, the songs about milk production, the never-ending supply of water, the child who fell off a horse and got stuck in the stirrup, the countless mosquitoes, the winter that could freeze your ears off, and the educated youth who went looking for sheep after losing their flock and never came back..."

The old lady hurriedly said to her:
"Okay, okay, today is a happy day, so let's not talk about these sad things."

Dad also said:
"That's right. Now that I'm back, things will get better and better in the future!"

After that, he poured wine for his daughter:
"Come on, Xiaojie, have a drink too."

"Okay!" Fang Jie agreed.

Then wait until Fang Zhenhua poured a cup for all the adults at the table.

He stood up and gave a toast.

It means to celebrate the return of the eldest daughter and her family.

Everyone picked up the cup and took a sip.

Then the banquet officially began.

Maybe it was because she hadn’t eaten such a sumptuous meal for a long time, and my eldest sister was a little uncomfortable for a moment.

Some stomachs can't stand too much oil.

Fortunately, there were quite a few stews and steamed dishes on the table, which was enough to satisfy your appetite.

My eldest brother-in-law Zhao Yuanchao didn't eat much today. He just drank with the people at the table.

Everyone in the circle had a drink with him. Zhao Yuanchao accepted all the drinks and it was obvious that he could drink a lot.

After drinking, he was still silent, but with a silly smile on his face. He looked at his wife and children, and there was something called hope in his eyes.

In addition, the two little ones who were sitting at the table for the first time at a banquet had never eaten good food before. Today, the dishes prepared by their grandmother and third aunt made their mouths drool.

It’s just that my little stomach can’t hold that much food now because I just had some snacks. I just tasted all the dishes on the table and I felt full.

But unlike other children, even if they are full, they still stay at the table and accompany the adults.

Then he watched his father and grandfather get increasingly red in the face from drinking.

I saw my mother drunk and telling stories about the grassland.

……

After the meal, my father and brother-in-law were both drunk.

The original plan was to send them back to the family compound at Beili, but this time the plan was changed temporarily and they were allowed to live in the front yard first. However, it was obvious that the eldest sister's family was not the kind of people who would stay and not leave, so Fangyan and Queen had no objection.

This is a good time to ask the eldest sister to give the two children a bath.

As for my brother-in-law Zhao Yuanchao who was drunk.

Tomorrow afternoon, when the fourth child is free, I will take him to the bathhouse to have a bath and he will be clean all over.

Because Zhu Lin and her elder sister were of similar build, she gave a new set of clothes to her elder sister.

But there is no way to buy clothes for the two children today, so the eldest sister will have to buy them herself tomorrow.

When it was time to rest and sleep, I arranged two rooms for them because I was afraid that the smell of alcohol on my brother-in-law would disturb the children.

The eldest sister slept with the child, and her brother-in-law slept in a separate room.

After the two children curiously entered the room, they looked at the antique wooden bed that Fangyan bought with curious looks on their faces.

Even the electric light on the roof seemed like a treasure to the two children.

The eldest sister explained that they used kerosene lamps at night and the two children had never seen electric lights.

Every family slept on the floor of a yurt. Their family was a little better off. My brother-in-law was afraid that my eldest sister and the children could not stand the coldness on the ground, so he specially made a "wooden floor", then covered it with wool felt to keep out moisture, and then covered it with the quilt that my eldest sister brought from the capital when she went to the countryside to work.

I have never seen such a high and beautiful wooden bed.

Their house is a yurt, and the children have never seen other houses, so everything they see is curious.

Asking questions excitedly.

For example, on the underground right side of the entrance to the yurt, there is a stove made of mud, and a large tin box for dry cow dung. Why are there none of these in this room, and everything is square, even the furniture?
Why is the water here free to use? Just turn on the tap and it will come out? My aunt will not get angry if they use too much water, but will ask if it is enough, and if not, there is hot water.

In addition, after dinner just now, my third uncle turned on that thing called TV, and there was actually someone inside it, and it could make sounds. What was going on?

There is also a lamp above my head. I don’t know what it burns, but it is just hung with a rope. It is very bright and has no smell at all…

……

After dealing with the child's ten thousand questions, Fangyan said goodbye to his elder sister and returned to the bedroom in the main courtyard.

Seeing how hard Sister Fangyan was having a hard time outside, Zhu Lin felt that he was really lucky.

When she was sent to the countryside to work, she didn't suffer any punishment and was directly admitted into the art troupe.

Then she asked Fangyan about what happened when he was sent to work in Jiangyou.

Fangyan had no choice but to tell him that the environment in Jiangyou was actually quite good at that time.

The commune where I was working at that time was called Xin'an Commune.

The person in charge of the educated youth in the commune assigned him to the fifth team of the third brigade to settle down. That place was used to grow aconite at that time. The land was all sandy, so the work was relatively easy.

At that time, except for not having enough to eat, everything else was fine.

Then Zhu Lin asked Fangyan to talk about whether there were any interesting people or things.

Fangyan thought about it and actually remembered one.

The Xin'an Commune where I worked in the countryside was not far from Chonghua Town. There was a thatched hut on the hillside of the town called "Benyuan Jingshe".

There is a monk who knows martial arts. The farmers around here would go to him for medical treatment, and the local young people would also come to him to learn martial arts. Some people call him Taoist Wubing, while others call him Monk Haideng.

Fangyan said to the queen, this monk is not ordinary...

Then he told the legendary story of the local monk Haideng.

The Queen was stunned by what she heard.

……

Time flies to the next day.

Early in the morning, when Fangyan got up to exercise, he found that the lights in the front yard were on.

He walked over and found that his eldest sister and brother-in-law were awake.

The couple was tidying up the room and cleaning the front yard.

"Sister, brother-in-law, what are you doing so early in the morning?" Fang Yan asked.

Sister Fang Jie said:

"I'm used to getting up early. I couldn't sleep and had nothing to do, so I got up, cleaned up, and then prepared to go out for a walk on the street."

Then the eldest sister Fang Jie asked:
"Why did you get up so early?"

The dialect said:

"I am used to getting up early to practice martial arts. I get up at this time every day."

As soon as these words came out, my eldest brother-in-law Zhao Yuanchao, who was sweeping the floor, raised his head and asked in a low voice with some embarrassment:

"Brother, do you practice martial arts too?"

Fang Yan nodded, then reacted and immediately asked:
"Brother-in-law, from what you said, do you also practice?"

Zhao Yuanchao took the broom in his hand, waved it in a big way, nodded and said excitedly:
"Practice! Hold a spear, draw a bow, and ride a fast horse!"

Fang Yan was stunned. He didn't expect that his elder brother-in-law, who looked easy to bully, was actually a martial artist.

After looking his brother-in-law up and down, Fang Yan asked:

"What kind of Kung Fu do you practice?"

My eldest brother-in-law performed a horse stance and elbow push from Bajiquan and said:

"Bajiquan, taught by an old soldier in the commune!"

PS: 6000 words updated, more to come

(End of this chapter)