At two o'clock in the morning, the piercing wake-up call sounded in the fields.
At this time, almost everyone in the city is still asleep. But in most rural areas, especially those in the south, the "Tou Bian Hao" has begun to urge some people to get up.
Generally speaking, the first number is given to the cooks and other people in charge of logistics work in the brigade, including Wen Hui.
Wenhui did not live in the village, but slept in a guard shed on the edge of the field.
It stands to reason that it is spring plowing time, and there are no crops in the fields, so there is no need to guard them. However, Wenhui has a special status, and arranging for her to live here is actually punitive.
Wen Hui originally lived here alone, but later the brigade arranged for a girl to sleep together with her. This girl was from the same village and was punished because of her status.
The so-called guard shed is actually a triangular "scissors shed" supported by four wooden poles. Bamboo rafts are tied in the middle of the shelf, which serves as a bed. Two mats made of bamboo strips cover the top of the triangle to protect it from wind and rain.
There are coarse cloth curtains tied at both ends of the shed. The curtains are torn and small. As long as there is a little wind, water will inevitably flow in. The space in the shed is small, short and narrow. In fact, it is a bit reluctant to sleep one person, let alone two people?
When Wen Hui lived here, the brigade gave her a threadbare and old thin quilt. She spread it half-covered and covered it half-covered for the first two nights. After the girl moved in, she also had a quilt. The two of them discussed it and decided to use one.
There is a bed and a cover, and the two of them sleep under the same quilt.
There was no pillow, so Wenhui rested on a fairly flat piece of wood, which she wrapped in her own coat when she slept at night.
In fact, the current climate and environment are quite good, the weather is not too cold, and there are no mosquitoes. If it had been two months earlier or two months later, Wen Hui would have suffered the same fate if she still lived here.
As soon as the first horn sounded, Wen Hui was awakened and jumped up.
She rolled her stiff neck sleepily and began to shake the girl next to her awake.
"Jin Xiu? Ou Jinxiu? Get up, we have to help in the kitchen!"
The girl opened her eyes in confusion. She had not recovered for a long time, and said in a tearful tone: "I didn't let anyone go to bed until ten o'clock last night. I woke her up so early, and I can't let her live..."
"Stop complaining and get up quickly." Wen Hui had quickly gotten up and put on her clothes. "You pack your bed and I'll go to the river to wash your face and bring you a basin of water. Don't stay in bed. It's late."
It’s time to be scolded again…”
"I don't want to live anymore!" Jin Xiu cried when she collapsed.
Wen Hui ignored her, quickly found her shoes from the end of the bed and put them on, took down the enamel basin hanging on the side, and jumped out of bed.
At this time, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse, but the night was actually dark, but since Wenhui came here, she had gone to bed at around ten o'clock every night, and then got up again at two o'clock.
I can only sleep for more than three hours a day.
Wen Hui could understand why Jin Xiu collapsed. If it hadn't been for the incredible thing before leaving, she, a civilian worker who had never done farm work, would have been so tired that she cried for her father and mother and couldn't hold on any longer. But these days, no matter what the brigade gave her
No matter how hard or tiring the work is, she can always persevere and complete the amount of tasks assigned every day.
You must know that the tasks assigned to her are the heaviest and most tiring, and many men may not be able to do them, but she, a seemingly thin "young lady in the city", has done it very well.
The whole team thought this was incredible and looked at her with admiration.
Because of this, some strange looks, discrimination, and bullying were actually avoided by Wen Hui.
A "city lady" who knows how to do farm work and is willing to do farm work will always make the villagers subconsciously be more tolerant.
From coming to the village to the present, from the initial disdain, hostility and rejection to the recognition, goodwill and even admiration of most villagers, this is all due to the hard-working, intelligent and low-key good reputation that Wen Hui has established in these days. image.
It's a pity that she has a complicated background. No matter how much people look at her with admiration, most people dare not approach him, dare not talk to her, or even dare to be nice to her.
Wen Hui's situation has not improved. She still does the heaviest work, lives in the worst place, and eats the least food.
Moreover, the image Wenhui has established does not include "not easy to mess with", and she is often bullied by others.
There were women who couldn't stand her appearance and maliciously made things difficult and abused her, there were also villains who took pleasure in bullying others, and there were even lustful ruffians who coveted Wenhui's appearance and were ready to take action.
From now on, although Wen Hui has resolved waves of malicious and evil thoughts, some bold and short-sighted people have gradually lost their patience and started to move from dirty words to physical actions, and even more excessive. .
After enduring it for so long, Wen Hui felt that she could no longer endure it.
Wenhui has had enough of this kind of life!
Especially what happened last night made Wen Hui determined.
She knew that she had to change her impression of being weak and easy to bully, and she had to improve her living environment. Otherwise, if she continued like this, sooner or later she would be swallowed up by the "unruly people" here, and she would eventually become a broken soul who had lost her soul. body.
This is definitely not what she wants.
At this time, there was generally no electricity in rural areas, and lighting at night basically relied on homemade kerosene lamps or candles.
As for the big speakers in the village, they are powered by special speaker batteries.
In addition to the loudspeaker, the only electrical appliance in the village is the flashlight in the hand of the production team leader.
As for equipment such as water pumps and motors used for farm work, each village applies to the town, and then has dedicated personnel to maintain it, and each village takes turns queuing up for use.
The moon was bright and the stars were sparse, shining dimly on the paths in the fields, making the dirt roads white and preventing Wen Hui from stepping into the fields.
As she walked quickly, she quickly went through the things she had thought about before going to bed last night in her mind, carefully considering the risks involved in every step.
Wen Hui is very aware of how sensitive her current situation is. Once she launches her plan today, it will be easy to say if it succeeds, but if it fails, it is no exaggeration to describe it as a disaster.
So she has no right to fail and no retreat at all!
After walking for more than a mile, we arrived at the river. The river was gurgling and the current was fast.
Wen Hui skillfully put a branch in her mouth and chewed it. Then she took out a cloth bag from her pocket, grabbed a handful of grass ash and stuffed it into her mouth. She dipped the branch with chewed fiber filaments into the saliva.
Wet the grass ash and start brushing your teeth.
In fact, hygiene was very unhygienic in rural areas at this time. Almost everyone had bedbugs on their bodies, and people hardly brushed their teeth.
But Wenhui couldn't stand the habit of not paying attention to personal hygiene, so she had to use the oldest method to deal with oral hygiene.
After rinsing her mouth, Wen Hui picked up a handful of water and slapped it on her face.
The cold river water made her thinking sharper. While washing her face and thinking carefully, she accidentally discovered a figure reflected in the water waves.
A familiar figure.
Wen Hui was shocked, her heart stirred up, and she froze in place.
She suddenly turned around, only to see the dancing shadows of trees not far away, and the waves of forest waves, but there was no trace of her figure.
Thinking again that that person was far away in the capital, she laughed to herself.
"I must miss you too much." She murmured to herself, sighed slightly, then filled a basin of water and walked back with it.
When he returned to the guard shed, Ou Jinxiu had already gotten up, wrapped the bedding with a piece of bamboo mat and tied it tightly.
There were many children in the village, and their bedding was stolen twice, leaving the two of them without bedding at night.
Fortunately, they were all found back the next day.
Later, at Wen Hui's suggestion, the two began to tie up the bedding, and they tied it with a very special knot that was not easy to untie.
Ou Jinxiu actually doesn't understand the matter of tying up the bedding. She thinks that if you really want to steal it, you can still steal the bedding without untying the rope, which is more convenient.
But Wen Hui told Ou Jinxiu that this was not to prevent theft, but to prevent the bedding from being stolen next time. There is a high probability that the stolen bedding would not be as dirty as the previous times.
Because children usually steal bedding out of bad taste or are instigated by others, the bedding itself is of no use to them, and they usually hide it after they get it. This was the case the first two times.
Once he hid in the pig pen and once in the donkey shed.
The sanitary conditions in these places can be imagined. As a result, the bedding was so dirty when it was retrieved that the two of them had to take it apart, wash it, dry it, and then use it the next day.
Wen Hui said that children are most likely too lazy to untie a knot that cannot be untied, and the tied bedding is easier to hide and store. In this way, when they find the bedding again, it will most likely be clean.
Ou Jinxiu admired Wen Hui's perspective and way of thinking about problems. In addition, she was also impressed by Wen Hui, so she naturally obeyed Wen Hui's words.
"Come and wash your face." Wen Hui put the basin on the ground.
"Thank you, Sister Wenhui!" Ou Jinxiu said with a smile.
"Jin Xiu, I asked your opinion last night about Ou Dabao, and you said you supported my suggestion. I want to ask you again now, have you changed your mind?" When Ou Jinxiu washed his face, Wen Hui was beside him.
Asked straight to the point.
"Sister Wen Hui, how about... forget it." Ou Jinxiu paused and said in a low voice, "Ou Dabao is a scoundrel. No one in the village dares to mess with him, and we can't fight him either."
"He was scared away by me last night, but a person like him will never give in in the future." Wen Hui said calmly, "If you endure it, in the future he will only think that you are weak and can be bullied, and he will do it again whenever he has the opportunity."
That would be even more extreme."
Fear flashed in Ou Jinxiu's eyes and he said: "But, but he will definitely take revenge on us."
"What if he can't take revenge on you?" Wen Hui asked.
"How is this possible?" Ou Jinxiu said.
"Do you believe me?" Wen Hui looked at her.
"Of course I believe you, Sister Wenhui!" Ou Jinxiu said hurriedly.
Wen Hui smiled: "I promise you, he will never take revenge on you!"
Ou Jinxiu was silent for a moment, and finally made up his mind, gritted his teeth and said: "Okay, Sister Wenhui, I'm willing to risk everything, and I'll do as you say!"
Wen Hui smiled and nodded: "Just do as I say when the time comes, and you don't have to worry about the rest."
The two of them rushed to the village canteen under the moonlight, but there was no one there.
In fact, there should have been two other women working at this time, but these two women deliberately did not come in order to let Wenhui and Jin Xiuyi do their work as well, so that they could get some sleep.
This is of course not the first time. Jin Xiu reported this matter to the old party secretary in the village, but the reply he received was "I only look at the results, not the process."
Jin Xiu angrily told Wen Hui that he said this not because one of the lazy women was his sister-in-law.
Wen Hui smiled and told Jin Xiu not to worry about it yet.
It sounds like it would be troublesome for two people to prepare breakfast for hundreds of people in a production team, but it is not, because breakfast is basically either cornmeal or pumpkin soup.
The water in the five large pots was picked out by the children in the village the day before. Moreover, this kind of large stove is not turned off at night, and the fire is sealed with ashes to keep the temperature of the water in the pot.
Not to mention the cornmeal soup, if you have pumpkin soup or sweet potato soup, the ingredients have been prepared by the children the day before.
In this era, children cannot be idle and must earn work points for the family. The adults work during the day, and children do such work.
So Wen Hui and Jin Xiu's job was to turn on the fires in the five large stoves, and then wait for the water to boil, add the ingredients to the pot, and cook them.
It sounds simple, but it's actually very tiring.
Dinner is served at three o'clock, and from getting up to finishing work, they only have one hour left.
To light a fire, you need to pull the bellows. The bellows of this kind of large stove are very heavy, and people with less strength can't pull it at all. Even if they are strong, it is very laborious to pull it. Because the people who do this work are usually women, so the bellows are pulled.
This matter usually involves two women working together.
But there are only two people, Wen Hui and Jin Xiu, so no one has to do the work of adding firewood and stirring the fire. If they stop and go, the efficiency will slow down, which may affect the time for dinner at three o'clock.
But since Wenhui arrived, she has never missed breakfast time. This is because Wenhui does all the work of pulling the bellows.
While adding firewood and stirring the fire, Jin Xiu praised: "Sister Wenhui, it's lucky that you are strong, otherwise we would not be able to finish the work. You said you don't have as much meat as me, why are you so energetic?"
"
Jin Xiu has always been surprised by this incident and can't help but say it again every day.
There were five large stoves, and the two people started to heat up the fires one by one. By the time they finished, the water in the big pot on the first stove had already boiled.
At this time, the two of them hurriedly started putting the ingredients into the pot.
What we had this morning was pumpkin soup. The cut pumpkins had already been put in bamboo baskets. The two of them quickly put the pumpkin pieces into the pot, then put the lid back on the pot and waited for it to cook.
After pouring the first pot, the water in the second pot was almost boiling, and they continued working on the second pot.
Basically, the two of them have been busy since arriving here.
At two forty, the second trumpet sounded. This was the trumpet to wake up the whole village.
