The golden age began in 1977

Chapter 29 There is a Blacksmith Shop in the Commune

Qian Jin was not interested in this matter, he just wanted to go to the countryside:

"Catching thieves is the responsibility of the public security team, and supporting agriculture is the responsibility of the commando team. Director, please move aside. I have something important to do today. I need to go support agriculture."

Zhao Bo didn't believe it: "Going to support agriculture again? What actions are they taking?"

Qian Jin took out a stack of food coupons and showed them:
"I haven't taken any action. The only difference is that last time I went to the Red Star Liujia Production Team, I saw how difficult life was for the villagers, so I copied the family's ticket book when I came back. We have to help the poor and lower-middle peasant brothers overcome their difficulties, right?"

Zhao Bo's eyes widened.

If you don’t advance in this awareness, who will?
I won’t buy People’s Pictorial unless it contains your stories!
Zhang Hongbo doesn't want to let him go:
"Second Captain, are you trying to show off your authority to me? The neighborhood committee can't boss you around anymore?!"

Zhao Bobo slid back to the wall to watch the fun. Daqianmen turned his head away and started to stir up trouble:

"Forget about Director Zhang. If he gets named a National Model Worker, we'll be counting on him to add luster to our neighborhood's honor roll!"

Xu Weidong, who hadn't returned to the building after delivering the car, saw the two parties confronting each other and hurried over to ask what was going on:

"What's this all about? Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy or The Red Detachment of Women?"

"Get out of the way!" Zhang Hongbo pushed him away to block the car.

"Women's representatives have already taken the matter to the neighborhood committee. The next step is to go to the higher authorities."

"This thief is no ordinary thief. He stole women's underwear and other things. He's a typical example of ideological corruption and depravity. If the Labor Commando Team doesn't care, who will?"

Money comes in soft ways, not hard ones.

And he had a gold box in his basket, so he couldn't wander around the city.

So he said, "No matter what, I have to go to the countryside to support agriculture."

"Also, my certificate for outstanding individual in supporting agriculture is right here at home. If you think I'm wrong, please send it back to the higher authorities for me!"

"You!" Zhang Hongbo was angry.

Xu Weidong helped Qian Jin handle the problem:

"Director, please don't block the way. Lao Qian not only delivers tickets but also has to work."

"The production team's peanut fields have been flooded. If we don't quickly remove the peanuts, they'll all rot inside."

"I'll have to go there later. I know how to butcher pigs and I'll do it for the villagers for free!"

He pulled Zhang Hongbo away.

Qian Jin pedaled hard.

The bicycle chain made a series of crisp "clacking" sounds, and the rubber tires rolled over the falling sycamore leaves.

Zhang Hongbo's curse drifted from behind the car:

"You're not obeying the organization's arrangements now. I think you're getting carried away after being named an advanced individual!"

Xu Weidong said:

"You know he's a progressive person, not a progressive pair of pants. What's the point of keeping him here?"

"Old Qian, go away!"

He also sang a farewell song:

"The commune is an evergreen ivy, and its members are the fruits on the vine..."

Zhao Bo whistled.

Gay brother, you are so naughty!
Zhang Hongbo continued to shout.

Xu Weidong rushed to shout:
"I brought back a puppy from the production team. I need it to protect the pants of the sisters-in-law and aunts in our building!"

Zhang Hongbo was so angry that he jumped up and down.

Now Qian is familiar with the route to the Hongxing Liujia Production Team.

When he was riding his bike through the commune, he ran into Liu Youyu and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Liu Youyu pointed to the ox cart:
"They're no longer needed this year, so the captain sent me to the blacksmith shop to sort them out. I'll have them repaired and sharpened, as we'll still need them to make a living next year."

There were many farm tools on the cart, including a new sickle with the "Red Star Farm Tools 1977" stamped on the handle.

Qian Jin had an idea and suggested going to take a look.

See if this place can smelt gold.

Gold has excellent ductility, and the small box he has on hand can be easily turned into a mainframe case by a qualified goldsmith.

The blacksmith shop is located in the southwest corner of the commune, next to a small river, and is a row of low and dilapidated old houses.

On the plastered wall outside the house was a slogan:

'Work hard to ensure production'.

'Strive to be the best and serve the people'.

As Qian walked through the door, a heat wave hit him in the face.

The house was remodeled and equipped with a stove, bellows and various iron utensils.

Liu Youyu took the money and walked in: "Here comes the leader, all of you are quacking."

Qian Jin distributed cigarettes to each blacksmith.

The blacksmiths laughed when they saw the cigarette label:

"Oh, Blue Golden Deer, this is a good cigarette. It would be a waste if we smoke it."

Someone used a pair of tongs to pick up a piece of coal, put it in his mouth and lit it, then took a deep breath and looked very happy.

"Who is this leader?" asked the master leading the team.

Liu Youyu smiled and said, "He is Qian Jin, who came to support our team a few days ago. He drove the Dongfanghong and helped us a lot."

Most of the time there are no entertainment activities in rural areas, and people rely entirely on spreading gossip.

Qian Jin and Xu Weidong drove tractors to help several production teams and gained a good reputation in the commune.

The blacksmiths washed their hands and shook hands with him, patting their chests:

"I've heard of this comrade. The commune even joined forces with several of your production teams to write a letter of praise to the city, right?"

"Xiao Qian, if you have any problems with the ironware in your home in the future, just bring it over and we will fix it for you!" Qian Jin really wanted to ask them for help.

But I don’t dare to put forward any ideas rashly now.

He was immediately delighted to see the blacksmiths were so generous.

So he took off his coat, revealing the well-defined muscles under his vest, and said:
"Thank you all, comrades. I came here in a hurry today and didn't bring anything, but I happened to bring some wine."

"Blacksmithing is a job that can easily strain muscles. I think we need some wine to invigorate the blood circulation and dissolve blood stasis, right?"

As he said this, he went out and picked up five bottles of Xiaoer in his clothes, and gave each person a bottle after they entered the room.

The five blacksmiths were overjoyed.

Huang Laotie, the team leader, unscrewed the lid and took a sip. His eyes lit up and he gave a thumbs-up: "Good wine, good wine. This is much better than the two-cent Daqu we bought."

They didn't hesitate and put away their liquor. Then, Qian Jin became the leader...

Huang Laotie brought him a glass of water: "Leader, please don't mind that my water smells like rust."

"It's just right for replenishing iron!" Qian Jin drank a glass of water directly.

Pass the water glass, another one.

It's not that I'm just showing off, I'm really thirsty after riding the bike all the way.

This can win the favor of the rough guys.

Huang Laotie happily accompanied him around the blacksmith shop and introduced him to the layout, tools and work plan of the blacksmith shop.

Qian Jin was delighted to see the awards for the "Agriculture Learns from Dazhai, Industry Learns from Daqing" campaign on the wall. Next to the awards was a group photo of the blacksmith team commended by the commune.

The five men in the photo swinging hammers look just like the five dragons causing trouble in the sea in New Year pictures.

After the tour, Qian Jin casually asked, "Can we mine gold here? For example, we can use gold bars to make a gold box or a gold chest."

Huang Laotie said cheerfully, "It's no big deal. We have gas here. Gas plus oxygen can reach 2,000 degrees. Melting gold is no problem."

Qian Jin had a plan in mind.

After the tour, the bicycle and luggage were put on the ox cart, and Qian Jin rode into the production team.

At the end of September, the threshing ground of the Hongxing Liujia Production Team was golden in color as threshed corn was exposed to the sun.

On the earthen wall at the end of the drying yard, the slogan "Labor is the most glorious" is still bright red.

Liu Youyu shouted, "Look who's coming!"

There are quite a few people on the drying yard.

Liu Wangcai was squatting beside the stone mill repairing a basket that was crushed by corn cobs. He looked up when he heard the shouting.

Suddenly I saw Qian Jin waving and smiling.

This made him very excited and he quickly stood up and greeted him.

The cracked rubber shoes tripped the enamel pot beside him, and a few fried soybeans rolled out, immediately attracting the children nearby to scramble for them.

"Xiao Qian, you are here again?" Liu Wangcai picked up the enamel pot and wiped the dust off the edge of the pot with his sleeve.

Qian Jin didn't waste any words and got straight to the point: "I'm here to give you something."

He brought down a bag.

The tin can inside hit the glass bottle, making a clanging sound.

Liu Wangcai was overjoyed.

When he arrived at the production team office and opened the bag to see the numerous bills inside, he was shocked again:
"Hey, why are there so many bills?"

Qian Jin said, "I took some old stuff from our team last time and had it looked at by someone. They said I didn't give you enough."

"I thought our team needed these tickets, right? So I went to the black market to exchange some to see if they would be useful to the members."

Liu Youyu, who was sorting out the forms, turned around excitedly and threw the pencil on his ear out:

"How could this not be useful? You're giving us an emergency! You're truly a timely help!"

"Wang Xiulan, the women's team leader, is getting her daughter married. They need to prepare two quilts, right?"

"The team is short of cotton coupons. We don't have many of them here on the coast. Hey, she had a hard time these days and got blisters on her mouth..."

Qian Jin handed the notebook that contained statistics on old items and personal information to Liu Wangcai.

Liu Wangcai, Liu Youyu and other team cadres got busy.

They have to combine the value information of the old items in the book with the family situations of the members and distribute the tickets to those who benefit as fairly as possible.

The women's captain came over upon hearing the noise.

Liu Wangcai first gave her ten kilograms of cotton tickets.

The impetuous and carefree woman took off the yellow headscarf wrapped around her head and couldn't help wiping away tears:
"My family waited in line for half a month at the commune supply and marketing cooperative. We tried our best to please them, but they just wouldn't sell us cotton..."

"Their company has its own rules." Liu Wangcai winked at her, "Don't embarrass yourself in front of Xiaoqian. The older woman is even crying."

Wang Xiulan said, "I'm so happy, Xiao Qian, thank you so much!"

She shook hands with Qian Jin very formally.

Qian Jin was quite embarrassed: "If I had known that you needed cotton tickets, I would have given you a few more. You don't have to thank me, these are all exchanged for your family's silver dollars."

Wang Xiulan kept saying, "Enough, enough, enough."

"Ten kilograms of new cotton, combined with the old cotton at home, can make two thick quilts for my daughter to use in the winter!"

The details of ticket allocation will need to be negotiated in detail.

Liu Wangcai went to the old locust tree in front of the office and picked up an iron rod.

The broken iron plow blade tied to the tree was blown slowly by the autumn wind, hitting the tree trunk and making a dull sound.

Liu Wangcai swung the iron rod and struck it, the crisp sound of "dangdangdang" echoing in all directions: "Pass the message down, stop working first."

"The members who exchanged old items with Comrade Qian Jin last time, please come over to check for any missing items!"

"The member who didn't clean up his belongings last time should go back and clean them up again. Comrade Qian Jin is a good comrade that we ordinary people can trust. If you have any old things at home that can't be eaten or used, please find them and give them to Comrade Qian Jin to see if he wants them..."

(End of this chapter)