Returning to the county opera troupe in 77

The tractor bumped along the way and finally, around 11 a.m., slowly drove into the territory of Hongxing Commune.

"We're here! We're here!"

He Jianshe let out a shout of cheers and relief from the vehicle in front. Immediately afterward, the tractor at the front slowed down, spewed out a large plume of black smoke from its exhaust pipe, and came to a sudden stop.

The tractors behind also shut off one after another, and the "putt-putt" sound that had been making people's eardrums hurt all the way finally stopped.

The Red Star Commune was not large; a dirt road ran east to west, with low mud walls and brick houses on both sides, and several rows of faded slogans painted on the walls.

A crowd had already gathered in the open space in front of the commune compound. When the tractor convoy stopped, a group of children with their faces smeared with pockmarks excitedly ran around the tractors several times, shouting, "They're putting on an opera! They're putting on an opera!"

The commune's revolutionary committee director, leading a few people, greeted them with smiles. Han Wenxue seemed to know them and introduced them, saying, "This is Secretary Zhu from our theater troupe."

The commune's revolutionary committee director was a middle-aged man in his forties wearing black-rimmed glasses. He smiled and shook hands with Zhu Zhengkuo: "Secretary Zhu, we've been waiting for you! You must have had a long journey!"

"Haha, it's all about serving the people, what's so hard about it!"

The two shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. The armed forces minister behind them waved to the crowd and shouted, "What are you all standing around for! Hurry up and help unload the stuff!"

Immediately, a dozen or so young men ran over and hurriedly helped untie the ropes and move the props such as knives, gun handles, and so on.

Chen Xiangdong rubbed his sore buttocks from the jolting on the train and turned to help Fang Zhengsheng: "Teacher Fang, let me help you off the train."

Fang Zhengsheng smiled and waved his hand, grabbed the side of the car with one hand, put down the injured leg first, touched the ground with his toes to test if it was stable enough, then braced himself with his arm, and jumped down with his other good leg, and landed steadily on the ground.

Feng Zhengxiao and Han Zhengkui followed closely behind and got off the car. Hu Xiaolian was the last to get off. The first thing he did after getting off the car was to go around to the other side of the truck bed to make sure that the prop box containing the scenery was safe and sound before he breathed a sigh of relief.

A woman in her thirties or forties, wearing a corduroy cotton-padded jacket with a side lapels, ran over and greeted them with a smile: "After you finish unloading, go to the commune canteen for dinner. The food is ready, lots of meat and vegetables, eat as much as you want."

Fatty Qin grinned and said, "That's great, then we don't have to rush things in the kitchen anymore."

After unloading the truck, a large group of people, each with their own lunchbox and bowls, lined up to get their meals at the commune canteen.

Li Zhangqing, Fu Xiaoyue, and a few others each held two steamed buns and their rice bowls, squatting at the entrance of the canteen.

Wu Xiaolian rummaged through the bowl with her chopsticks a few times, picking out only a few thin, almost translucent slices of fatty meat. She couldn't help but sigh, "Sigh, I thought they meant unlimited meat, but it turns out it's unlimited cabbage and radishes."

Seating in the canteen was limited, so many people brought their bowls out to eat. Lou Jingru sat down on the stone steps at the entrance with her bowl in hand. Hearing Wu Xiaolian's complaints, she smiled at Wu Xiaolian and Li Zhangqing, then turned to look at Chen Xiangdong, who was squatting down eating by the tractor: "It's good enough that they provide food. Eat quickly. After you finish, I'll go help Xiangdong set up the shed."

Her tone was natural, conveying a sense of closeness.

Upon hearing this, Li Zhangqing glanced at Lou Jingru in surprise.

I never noticed how close she and Xiang Dong were before. It seems that ever since school started a couple of days ago, Lou Jingru has been talking about "Xiang Dong" all the time.

"Zhangqing, do you miss your parents?" Liu Dezhu walked over with a bowl, squatted down next to Li Zhangqing, and said with a smile, "Hurry up and eat. After you finish eating, I'll take you back to Yushuwan and invite your parents to watch the play."

"Uncle, are you serious?"

Li Zhangqing's eyes lit up, his brows and eyes filled with surprise.

Since joining the training class, she has been practicing during the day and sleeping at night. While everyone else goes home on weekends, she has never been back to see her family because her home is too far away.

Hearing that she could go home, she quickly put down her bowl and chopsticks, her eyes wide with delight: "Uncle, let's go now! I've finished eating!"

Seeing her impatient look, Liu Dezhu couldn't help but chuckle. He finished the last mouthful of rice in his bowl, wiped his mouth, and put the bowl on the windowsill by the canteen entrance. "Come on, I'll go borrow a bicycle from Old Wei at the commune. We'll ride back. It'll only take an hour or so round trip, and it won't interfere with tonight's performance."

As he spoke, he walked towards the back of the commune. Li Zhangqing hurriedly followed, not forgetting to turn back and wave to Wu Xiaolian and the others: "Help me put away the bowls and chopsticks, I'll be back in a bit."

A short while later, Liu Dezhu rode out of the backyard on a slightly worn old bicycle, with Li Zhangqing sitting sideways on the back seat.

Fu Xiaoyue, Han Nongyue, and Wu Xiaolian watched with envy as the bicycle gradually disappeared at the end of the dirt road.

I wonder when the troupe will be able to perform in their hometown, so that they can go back and see their parents.

After lunch, the group didn't even have time to rest. They cleaned up the dishes and started working busily.

With the construction of a stage, the erection of sheds, the laying of tarpaulins, and the binding of ropes, the open space in front of the entire commune compound was instantly transformed into a construction site.

Finding accommodation for over a hundred people is no small matter. The Red Star Commune has limited resources and cannot free up enough rooms to accommodate everyone at once. They also have to put on a big show here for two days, so they need to find food and lodging on the spot. The priority now is to set up the accommodation tents.

"Gouwa, you and Mancang go and move some stones to weigh down the bottom corner of the women's shed, so that the wind won't blow the tarpaulin off when it gets windy at night."

Chen Xiangdong carried two cement blocks, each weighing over ten kilograms, firmly pressing down the lower corner of the men's shed. When the cement blocks weren't enough, he called to the group of male trainees, and they picked up a lot of stone scraps from the roadside, stacking them piece by piece at the lower corner of the shed, pressing down the hem of the tarpaulin completely.

He Jianshe, Qiao Haizhu, Guo Jufu, Liu Qiaosheng and the others all came to help. Some pulled up tarpaulins, some tied ropes, some hammered in wooden stakes, and some used shovels to level the ground.

Amidst all this busy activity, the sun slowly sank from its zenith to the west, until around 5 p.m., when the western sky was already dyed orange-red by the sunset, and the stage and tents were finally set up.

The group was finally able to rest for a while. Lou Jingru and the male students moved stones together, and they were so tired that they were covered in sweat, with their hair sticking wetly to their faces.

Lou Jingru, who had never done heavy physical labor before, had bruises all over her face, but her eyes were filled with an unconcealed smile. When she was moving stones earlier, Chen Xiangdong praised her with a smile, saying, "Jingru is so capable! Who says women are inferior to men!" Just that one sentence made her feel that no matter how tired she was that day, it was all worth it.

"Dinner's ready! Dinner's ready! The commune sent us a sheep, we're having mutton soup tonight!"

As Qin Pangzi's shouts rang out, a cheer erupted from the crowd. People threw down their tools and clapped their hands as they surged toward the stove.

"Lamb stew with bread, so delicious!"

"Haha, just for this mutton soup, we're going to give it our all and sing our hearts out tonight!"