Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 7 Wood Gang
As soon as he entered the house, Yan Hui staggered and almost fell to the ground, because the house was at least 20 centimeters lower than the outside. Although there was a light in the house, it was not bright at all, and the black oil on the incandescent lamp looked like it was a hundred years old.

The entire thatched house was covered with mud, and the floor was swept fairly clean. There was a broom and dustpan in the kitchen, and the dustpan was full of dirt.

Yan Hui seemed to understand why the house was lower than the outside. The 20 centimeters of height reduction must have been swept away over the years.

In addition to the kitchen, this house has a super long kang, with a place for burning fire every few meters. Every place shows traces of time.

The old man came into the house and started to make a fire. Yan Hui saw a big pot of rice in the pot, which looked like enough for at least 30 people.

Judging from the situation on the kang, there are indeed so many people living here.

At this time, Yan Hui discovered a problem: the old man did not add water when steaming rice.

Yan Hui fell into deep thought.

Although his family was poor, they always ate rice and had never seen anyone steam rice without adding water.

Is it possible that this kind of practice still exists in this place?
Is this fried rice?

For a moment, Yan Hui thought of the soldiers who had crossed the border eating fried flour. Is this fried rice? Is there a way to fry rice like this?

Confused, Yan Hui looked at the closed door to make sure the yellow dog couldn't get in. Only then did he have the courage to question the old man: "Uncle, are you steaming rice? Why don't you add water?"

"Ah?" The old man walked over slowly, opened the lid of the pot and took a look. "Yes, yes, I forgot. Um, I forgot."

Yan Hui almost fainted and immediately asked, "Where is the water?"

"Tank." The old man pointed to the water tank three meters away.

"Then I'll put it in." Yan Hui walked over and found that there was indeed water in the water tank, with a shiny black ladle floating in it.

He poured several buckets of water into the pot, until the water covered the rice by about two or three centimeters. Then he stopped and helped the old man light a fire.

The wood used for burning here is quite a luxury. Some of it can be taken to the timber market for secondary processing and then burned here.

Yan Hui ignited the wood, so there was no need to add more fuel to the fire. The wood was more than enough to cook two pots of rice.

"Just eat rice?" Yan Hui meant whether or not to cook.

"And this." The old man pointed to a jar next to him.

Yan Hui walked over and opened it. He saw a large jar of red kimchi. It had a pungent smell, but it looked edible.

The work was extremely simple, and Yan Hui was ready to leave. He couldn't be trapped here forever.

He looked outside at the dog and realized that the dog's perception of him had changed from "hostility" to "questioning." If he went out at this time, he could easily leave as long as the old man didn't shout that the dog was biting him.

"What's in your bag? Is there a letter?" the old man suddenly asked.

Yan Hui looked at the old man and felt that he was a little scary at the moment, with his eyes fixed on him.

He immediately took out his bag and showed the old clothes inside: "I'm away from home, these are all some tattered clothes."

The old man's eyes gradually returned to normal. He didn't want to delve into it any further. He nodded silently, turned around, left the kitchen, and went into the house.

"Uncle, if there's nothing else, I'll leave first." Yan Hui said.

"Since you helped, you can have a bowl of rice, a bowl of rice, eat it, a bowl of rice." The old man turned around and said.

"Thank you, uncle. I'll go out and take a look and come back for dinner later." The room was indeed a bit too depressing.

"Don't go too far, it's cold, don't get lost." The old man said slowly, as if emphasizing something.

Yan Hui was sure it was safe at this time, so he pushed open the door easily, took a step up, and walked into the yard.

When the dog saw Yan Hui, it really had no desire to attack. Yan Hui did not dare to run fast, but just walked away at normal pace.

After walking a few hundred meters, Yan Hui finally breathed a sigh of relief. It was really dangerous to be outside alone.
Thinking of this, Yan Hui suddenly felt refreshed. It felt like an adventure just now!
Yan Hui was a little excited as he realized that he had reached the foot of the mountain and would have to pass by the place he had just been on when he went back.

But he could take a longer route, so he wouldn't have to worry about the dog.

It was getting dark, and Yan Hui saw a piece of red cloth tied to a tree by the roadside, with another piece underneath.
Pig head?

He was quite curious, so he went over to take a look and found obvious signs of worship here.

The people of southern Fujian attach great importance to the culture of worship. Yan Hui has known how to worship Mazu since he was a child. When he came here this time and saw this altar-like thing, he also put his hands together and worshiped. There is nothing wrong with it after all.

Just after he finished worshipping, Yan Hui heard a sound from the distant mountain.

He looked up at the mountain and saw a horse pulling a lot of things, walking down the mountain at a fairly fast pace.

He had good eyesight and could see from afar that there were probably more than one group of people, and there were people behind them.

This should be the lumberjack coming down from the mountain.

These people definitely wouldn't be as scary as the old man just now. With these people back, Yan Hui no longer had to be afraid of dogs. So he planned to wait here and wait for these people to come down the mountain before going back. It would be safer to have these people restrain the dogs.

The horses went down the mountain very quickly, pulling a huge sled with two logs tied to it. The logs were over 50 centimeters in diameter and about three or four meters long.

Yan Hui had worked in the lumber shop for so long that he could tell at a glance that the two logs weighed at least one ton. If they were not going down the mountain or on snow, the horse would not be able to pull them at all.

This looked very dangerous, so Yan Hui immediately moved to the side of the road and sat on a felled wooden stake to watch.

He had never seen this scene before. As a teenager, he was very curious and of course wanted to watch it for a while longer.

As the carriage passed this area, the terrain was a bit flat, so the horses and sleds slowed down. There were two people leading the horses. One of them saw Yan Hui and immediately came over and shouted, "Don't sit on the wooden stakes!"

Yan Hui was startled and stood up immediately like a child who had done something wrong.

"Who are you?" The person who just called out came closer.

This man is also a man in his 50s, very tall, at least about 1.85 meters.

"Hello uncle, I am following my elders," Yan Hui repeated what he had just said.

"Why are you here?" The uncle looked suspicious. Yan Hui knew there was no need to lie, so he explained what had just happened.

"Oh, so that's the case. Old Wang is indeed a little confused," the uncle confirmed that what Yan Hui said was true. "If that's the case, we really have to thank you. Otherwise, this pot of rice would be wasted. It's a rare opportunity to eat rice."

"It's okay, it's okay. I was just wandering around," Yan Hui showed the shyness that was unique to teenagers.

"It's all thanks to you," the uncle looked behind him, "our people are almost down the mountain. This is the only way out. I won't block the way here anymore. Let's go. Come back with me. You can go directly back to the forest farm."

"Uh-huh."

The horse was pulling a heavy load down the mountain. It was nearing the end and was extremely tired, breathing heavily.

This place is close to flat ground, and it is difficult to pull the horse. The uncle and another teammate started to help push it. Yan Hui felt embarrassed to stand idle, so he went up to lend a hand.

The stable was not the end, the forest farm was. Yan Hui was also heading towards the forest farm. After passing the thatched house, Yan Hui felt embarrassed to leave the carriage and go back alone, so he helped and went back slowly together.

In this way, Yan Hui was actually working. The owner of the horse, the tall uncle Gao, was naturally embarrassed: "It just so happens that Lao Wang just said that he would keep you for dinner. If you don't have a place to eat, come and eat with us. Our rice is pretty good!"

"Ah? No need, I can just go back and eat."

"You don't know Lao Wang," Uncle Gao said. "He's not very smart now, but he's very stubborn. He invited you to dinner today because he was worried you'd be cold or hungry. If you didn't go, he'd definitely be very worried, and he might even be worried about you for a long time."

"Uncle Wang, what's going on?" Yan Hui couldn't help but ask.

"He...it's a long story."

Gao Bo wanted to tell this story, and Yan Hui wanted to hear it too. Since Fourth Uncle had asked him to learn about wood, lumberjacks were the source of all sources.

There was nothing much to do along the way, and the carriage was moving slowly on the flat road, so Uncle Gao told Yan Hui the story of Uncle Wang, and the conversation went off topic.

At Baishan Forest Farm, deforestation can be traced back to the Westernization Movement. Later, during the Japanese occupation, forest railways were built in some areas.

There is no forest railway in this forest farm, but it is said that the railways in other mountainous areas are still in normal use.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the country needed timber for major construction projects, and many people came to build forestry farms. Gao Bo and many others were originally from Shandong and Qi provinces, and they all came here in the 50s. At that time, they were employed by state-owned enterprises.

Many people from Qilu came here with dreams, most of them seeking employment. But by 1962, the forest farm was overstaffed, and a wave of layoffs began.

Those who were capable and could be transferred back found ways to do so, while many of those who were incompetent had to leave. They were given some money at the time, but it was still a planned economy, so the money they received was better than nothing.

Uncle Wang wanted to go back at that time, but he was about to get engaged to a local girl.

Uncle Wang was young and naive at the time. He thought that he could change the status quo through his own efforts and cut more trees so that his leaders would think that he should stay.

So, when everyone was going down the mountain, he hid himself, wanting to take advantage of the time when others were going down the mountain to cut down a few trees by himself to show off his efforts.

But after going down the mountain, people had to be counted every day. If he was not there that day, everyone had to search the mountain for him.

It was already late at night when Uncle Wang was found, but he was already unconscious from the cold. He was carried down the mountain and rescued, but for some reason he had mental problems.

At that time, there was no way he could be repatriated to Qilu. The key problem was Wang Bo's unique identity. Born in 1935, his parents were killed by invaders when he was 4 years old, leaving him an orphan.

He came to the forest farm when he was less than 20 years old. By 1962, Uncle Wang was already 27 years old.

There was no way to send Uncle Wang back to Qilu, so the leader had no choice but to keep him and let him sweep the floor and cook.

Over the years, Uncle Wang has had no major problems with his cooking, but as he has grown older, now at the age of 60, his intelligence has further declined.

"Hey, is his intellectual problem real or just pretending?" Yan Hui felt it was a pity.

"I've known Lao Wang for about 35 years." Gao Bo counted on his fingers. "At least 35 years. If you ask me, he might have been pretending at first. If he hadn't pretended to be stupid, he would have been sent back to his hometown. But since he pretended to be stupid, the girl couldn't be with him. In his life..."

Gao Bo didn't know how to comment.

After the story was finished, Ma had already pulled the sled to the forest farm and started unloading the logs.

On the way, Yan Hui learned that this thing wasn't called a sled, but rather a sled. He also learned a lot about the local taboos. These lumberjacks, known as "wood gangs," were particularly averse to sitting on felled logs, which was why Gao Bo had called him that in the beginning.

There were only two logs, so they could be unloaded very quickly, but Gao Bo had to wait here for the rest of the woodworking gang.

Yan Hui took advantage of this opportunity to go back to his residence and found that Shan Ge's car had not returned, so he decided to go with Gao Bo to have a meal.

Uncle Wang has experienced hunger and cold, and he is actually kind-hearted. Uncle Wang said that he would give a bowl of rice to Yan Hui, who "did the work". It would indeed be better for Yan Hui to go over and eat, otherwise it might really be like what Uncle Gao said, leaving Uncle Wang with a new worry.

Of course, in Yan Hui's eyes, helping to steam the rice and eating a bowl of rice is a reasonable exchange.

When he returned to Gao Bo's place, there were already a lot of people. There were at least 20 people from the Mu Gang, and they were basically configured as two people and one horse or two people and one mule.

When the horses get here, they basically have no strength left, but after years of accumulation, the old horses know very well that their work is over here and they will have grass to eat when they go back soon.

Yan Hui had just returned when he heard the people from the Mu Gang cheering. He walked up to Gao Bo and asked for the specific reason.

"For years, our timber gang has been logging in the winter. Winter has snow, so the wood needs to be transported. Without snow, no one can get it down." Gao Bo looked at everyone. "The boss just said that this year's logging will be finished in another week! Divide the money!"

In the mountains in winter, the temperature is over 20 degrees below zero, which is extremely cold, but it is indeed the window period for cutting wood. Whether in terms of transportation, fire prevention, or the convenience of cutting and preventing attacks by wild animals, winter is the best choice.

Yan Hui didn’t understand why his fourth uncle went to the forest farm in the middle of winter. It turned out that this was the logging season.

At this moment, two very old Jiefang trucks also drove over and were loading.

Loading the truck had nothing to do with the Mu Gang. Soon, all the people from the Mu Gang arrived and walked back together. Yan Hui followed. Gao Bo introduced everyone enthusiastically, emphasizing Yan Hui's contribution to tonight's pot of rice.

But after hearing this, everyone started to worry about Lao Wang.

Has Lao Wang's brain reached this point? Is he really stupid?

The carriage was pulling an empty sled, so it was bumpy and a bit noisy on the road. Yan Hui asked Uncle Gao why Uncle Wang was so excited to see his bag, and whether he needed to put the bag away when he went there later.

Gao Bo thought about it carefully, looked at Yan Hui's bag, and finally shook his head.

(End of this chapter)