A Tale of Two Cities Supporting Xinjiang

After running for more than an hour, they finally arrived at the agricultural supply store in the county town. Li Chao was shivering from the cold, his lips were as purple as eggplants, and he stammered, "Boss, I need some winter cloth, bamboo strips, and hemp rope. Can you tell me the price?"

The shopkeeper flipped through the ledger. "With this weather, warm clothing is in high demand, and prices have gone up. A bamboo strip costs 8 yuan, a meter of thermal cloth costs 15 yuan, and a pound of hemp rope costs 12 yuan. The amount you want will be 1800 yuan in total."

"What? 1800?"

Li Chao was stunned. He only had 2000 yuan left in his pocket, which he had saved up by living frugally. "Boss, can you give me a discount? I'm planting fruit trees for the village, not for my own use. I just want the villagers to earn more money. Please be lenient with me."

"Young man, it's not that I'm not offering a fair price,"

The shop owner shook his head. "It's hard to get goods right now. I'm just running a small business, I can't afford to lose money, can I? If I didn't see you freezing like this, I would have liked to raise the price a bit more."

Li Chao gritted his teeth, thinking to himself: These things are just enough to build sheds for all the saplings. If I buy less, there will definitely be some saplings that I can't take care of.

He took out his phone and transferred the remaining 1800 yuan, his voice a little hoarse: "Okay, I'll buy it. Could you please help me load it into the car?"

Seeing his sincerity, the boss didn't make things difficult for him and offered to lend a hand.

But those bamboo strips and hemp ropes, weighing hundreds of kilograms, were piled up there, which looked frightening.

The bamboo strips were hard and heavy. Li Chao carried them on his shoulders, and his shoulders went numb instantly. The sharp edges hurt painfully. After carrying them for less than three trips, his clothes were soaked with sweat and felt cold and piercing against his body.

The rope was tied tightly, so he had to bend over, grab the rope with both hands, and pull hard backward. His back ached so much that he couldn't straighten up. When he got to the side of the car, his arms were shaking so badly that he couldn't lift them.

The most troublesome thing was the cold-proof cloth. It was large and would blow into the sky when the wind blew. He could only hold the corner of the cloth tightly with one hand and drag it onto the car with the other. Several times he was blown away by the wind and almost fell. His face and hands were burned by the edge of the cloth.

After more than an hour of struggling, they finally got everything loaded onto the car. Li Chao leaned against the car, panting heavily.

On the way back, the wind was twice as strong as it was on the way there, as if it were ramming into the car with a brute force.

The tricycle swayed and rocked on the road, like a leaf swirling in the wind, threatening to tip over at any moment.

Suddenly, a gust of wind carrying sand swept over, and the tricycle veered violently to the right, heading straight for the ditch by the roadside!

Li Chao's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly swerved the steering wheel while simultaneously slamming on the brakes.

I knew the brakes weren't working well, but I never expected them to fail completely. I lost my balance instantly and flipped over.

Li Chao was thrown violently, his right arm slamming heavily against the gravel on the roadside. He was then grazed by the edge of the overturned truck bed. He struggled to get up and looked down to see that his clothes on his right arm had been torn open with a gash nearly ten centimeters long, and blood was flowing out quickly.

Li Chao gasped, realizing just how deep the wound was.

He gritted his teeth and struggled to crawl to the tricycle, trying to lift it up, but his injured arm was too weak to lift it.

Bamboo strips and winter protection cloths were scattered all over the ground. When the wind blew, the cloths rustled. Looking at the agricultural supplies scattered all over the ground, and remembering the saplings in the field that were waiting to be sheltered, he became anxious and his eyes turned red.

After hesitating for a long time, he finally dialed Uncle Simayi Maimaiti's number: "Uncle, I had a car accident on my way back to the village, and I got a big cut on my arm. Can you come and help me?"

"Officer Li, where are you? Don't move, I'll get someone to come right away."

Less than half an hour later, Simayi Maimaiti arrived by car with two villagers.

Upon seeing Li Chao clutching his bleeding arm, the uncle turned pale with fright. He quickly rummaged through the car for clean strips of cloth and carefully bandaged him. "Officer Li, how did you get so badly injured!"

The cloth strip had only been wrapped for a short while when it was soaked with blood. Simayi Maimaiti was heartbroken and anxious. While pressing the wound, he shouted to the villagers nearby, "Quick, lift the tricycle up and take Cadre Li to the village clinic first!"

Li Chao shook his head. "No, Uncle, we can't throw away these agricultural supplies. We still need the saplings."

He struggled to his feet and watched as everyone slowly carried the scattered bamboo strips and winter cloths back onto the vehicle.

Simayi Maimaiti had a villager ride behind Li Chao on Li Chao's tricycle, while Li Chao sat on the back seat, heading towards the village clinic.

Upon arriving at the village clinic, the doctor quickly treated Li Chao's wound, cleaning, disinfecting, and stitching it up. The doctor used eight stitches and prescribed anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving medications, repeatedly instructing him: "The wound is too deep, you must rest well, avoid getting it wet, and absolutely avoid heavy work, otherwise it will easily become infected and inflamed."

But Li Chao was worried about the saplings, so he forced himself to go to the field that afternoon. He was extremely anxious looking at the remaining unfinished greenhouse.

Li Chao tried to lift the bamboo strips with his left hand, but without the help of his right hand, he couldn't hold them steady and they fell to the ground as soon as he lifted them up.

Looking at the unfinished scaffolding scattered on the ground, Li Chao squatted down in frustration and punched his thigh hard, feeling both anxious and helpless.

Uncle Sima Yi was worried about him, so he came to the field to check on him. Seeing his condition, he was both angry and heartbroken: "You child, you're injured like this, and you're still pushing yourself! The doctor told you to rest, why won't you listen? We'll take care of the work in the field, you should go back now!"

"Uncle, I want to rest too, but I'm worried that the temperature will drop at night and the saplings will freeze. There are still so many shelters to be built, I'm really worried about them!"

"Don't worry about it, I'll find someone to help with the installation, and everyone can help build the shed!"

Sima Yi Maimaiti said, forcefully pulling Li Chao back, "Your most important thing right now is to recover from your injury. If the wound gets infected, it won't be a small matter!"

The uncle took Li Chao back to his place. Seeing that Li Chao had to use his left hand to eat and dress, which was clumsy and strenuous, the uncle was really worried.

That afternoon, the uncle found the village secretary, Aini Abudusai, and told him everything about Li Chao's injury, emphasizing that he was unable to take care of himself and that the greenhouse in the field was not yet finished.

Upon hearing this, Aini Abdusay immediately said, "Officer Li was injured while working on our village's saplings. We can't let him suffer like this! This is a work-related injury and must be reported! The work in the fields can't be delayed either. I'll inform the villagers right away and make sure everyone finishes setting up the sheds."

After saying that, the village secretary went door-to-door calling for people, and even made a special phone call to Director Ai to give a detailed report on Li Chao's accident, which involved a car overturning due to brake failure, his injuries requiring eight stitches, his inability to take care of himself, and the unfinished state of the greenhouse.