After setting the youth spot, we can’t go to the countryside immediately, because the youth spot of the hydrolysis plant is based on the distance that the original Korean pine forest in Beicha extends, and it is a place where no one lives. First, we have to build a house in the selected youth spot. , in order to call the educated youth in the past.

The hydrolysis plant is a large factory with abundant funds. It has built a lot of bricks and cement for each youth site to build a house. Originally, Mingbei thought he could enjoy a few days of vacation before going to the youth site, but he did not expect a high school graduate like him They were all pulled ahead of time to build a house. So Mingbei could only set out every day before dawn, and didn't come back until it was dark. Within a week, his little face was tired and lost weight.

Ming Bei had actually worked much less than children of the same age since he was a child. Before he was ten years old, the family let him dig wild vegetables, drag a firewood, and help pick some ears and so on while harvesting crops from the mountains. It was all Li Muwu and his wife were doing.

After Zhen Zhen was born, she started to use her supernatural powers to grow crops. Every year when they went to farm, Mrs. Li and Wang Sufen used her to cook at home, clean up the house and look after the children as an excuse to keep her at home. stay. When the crops were harvested, Zhen Zhen waved the potatoes and cabbage and turned them out of the ground by herself, and the wheat, sorghum, rice, etc. fell to the ground. At this time, Mrs. Li asked her family to help carry the grain from the mountain.

When harvesting crops and working every year, although there is a lot of work, in order to keep the family full, Mrs. Li steams big white steamed buns every meal, and cooks pheasant, hare, and river fish every day. People are not only not thin, but also gain two pounds.

In this era, let alone eating big white steamed buns, there are people who can't get enough to eat. Many people also eat pancakes with stewed pure rice noodles during the festival. Usually, they mix a lot of sweet potato noodles into them, and they steam it again. Dry and honest, but resistant to hunger. The monthly supply of refined grains is enough for the children or the elderly in the family to get a bite. Generally, half-sized children like Mingbei will wait until the Chinese New Year to taste the taste of white noodles.

Old Li eats well. The boys are tall and have a big appetite. Mingbei has been going to school in Beicha all these years. He usually eats at home in the morning and evening, and brings a large aluminum lunch box with him at noon. meal. This time, when I went to the youth point to build a house, I had to endure hardship. I worked hard in the cold wind from morning to night. Cold wind, shivering, took a piece of sweet potato noodles dry food that was not hot and stuffed it into his mouth.

Mingbei also ate this kind of dry food in the first two years of the natural disaster, and now it has been seven or eight years, and can't swallow another bite of this kind of dry food. The house is not finished, and naturally there is no place to boil water. Now this cooking place is temporarily built with a stove and an iron pot is temporarily installed on it. Mingbei can only grab a clean snow and stuff it into his mouth. The neck swallowed the dry food of sweet potato noodles.

When he came home every night, Mingbei could gobble down half a pot of pancakes. If there were a few pieces of meat in the dish, he would like to drink all the vegetable soup. Seeing that her younger son was so hungry, Wang Sufen felt a little uncomfortable when she heard him say that she couldn't eat well at noon. After the whole family lay down at night, they secretly went to Mrs. Li's house and discussed with her whether they could bring some food or something.

Mrs. Li rejected Wang Sufen at once, and the two sat on the small kang in the east inner room. Mrs. Li said in a low voice, "Don't you know why our family has a good life? Don't talk about other people's homes now, it's Mu Sen's home. , you don't know what they eat? Our family has had a good time these years, and we have been pampering our children a little bit. You look at the 18-year-old boy in the north of Ming Dynasty, do you look a little grown up? "

Seeing that Wang Sufen was no longer in tears, Mrs. Li touched her cigarette bag and took a deep breath: "Actually, I think it's good to go to the mountains and the countryside this time, and I can see you after a month and a half away from home. Once, Mingbei can also go to practice and hone seriously, and also know what life is going on outside. Now our family relies on Zhen Zhen to eat and drink, but we can rely on it for a lifetime? Looking at Ming Nan, Mingbei has reached the age of marriage, and the work of going up the mountain to farm the land will have to be handed over to their brothers. By then, Zhen Zhen will at most make more grains, but they will have to do it by themselves. If you don’t learn to endure hardship now, how will you live in the future? It’s Mingnan, let him dig out all the land in his own yard and plant it next year, and no one of us will be allowed to help at that time.”

Wang Sufen nodded, and stuffed Mrs. Li with another cigarette leaf: "Mother said that I've been too used to their brothers these years."

Mrs. Li sighed and slowly shook her head: "I don't blame you, I'm used to them too, it's mainly because the years of natural disasters were too hard, and when things get better, I won't see my children suffer. Look at how he dares to take a new pen for a broken seat, but Ming Dong bought it for him with his first month's salary, and he is getting more and more out of it." The older Mrs. Li said, the more angry she was: "I want to It's not that he is really tired these two days, I have to beat him three times a day."

Wang Sufen was also angry when she thought of this: "It's not that bad, Ming Bei is too outrageous sometimes. You show that Nan and he are about two years old, but he is much more sensible."

"Don't look two years older, Mingnan looks like a big brother." Mrs. Li said with a smile on Mingnan's face: "When you get married next year, there will be nothing to worry about. It's Mingbei... Mrs. Li frowned slightly: "I've been thinking about it in the past two days. It's not a bad thing to let him get married two years later. He will know what life is going on by working hard and training more. I think he is being It's a bit too lazy to be used to it, you look at Zhang Defu's house in front of you, it's all lazy, we can't let our children be like that."

When Wang Sufen thought of Zhang Defu's rascal appearance, she was shocked and nodded quickly: "What mother said, I listened to her."

There are special masons for building the house, and young men as big as Mingbei can also help a lot. After a full month of busywork, the house at Twelve Youth Point has finally been built.

There are a total of seven large rooms in the youth site. The two rooms in the middle are connected to the stove room, the three rooms in the east are reserved for the male educated youth, and the two rooms in the west are reserved for the female educated youth. There are special doors that do not lead to each other.

After the house was built, the hydrolysis plant prepared the cart and took the educated youth to the youth point. Wang Sufen gritted her teeth and was stunned that she didn't bring any food for Ming Bei, but prepared him a thick bedding and daily necessities such as a water tank, a rice box, and an enamel washbasin.

When they built the house in Mingbei, they dragged a lot of firewood, but now it is more convenient for the educated youth, so they quickly chopped the firewood and lit the kang hole and stove. Most of the children in this group are children of the hydrolysis plant. They have been together in high school for three years, and they are very familiar with each other. Before the room was allocated, they grabbed the bunk according to their usual preferences and spread the bedding. A large kang sleeps ten people, and a large kang in the north and south of the house has a full twenty people living together. These educated youths have never slept on such a large kang, and they are all excited.

The manager in charge of this youth spot is Li Mengwei, an employee of the hydrolysis factory office. He checked the houses one by one and saw that although these educated youths were self-sufficient, they were all very happy, and they didn't find any conflicts or disputes. Just go with them.

When it came to the girls, Li Mengwei called 40 girls together and asked, "Which one of you is better at cooking?" In addition to going to school, many girls in this era usually help the family cook, clean up the house, look after their younger siblings, etc. , so most of them raised their hands, only seven or eight looked squeamishly bowed their heads and said nothing.

Li Mengwei picked out eight girls who looked neat and tidy, asked their names, and ticked the roster he brought: "You guys will be responsible for the meals ordered by this young man in the future, and the food and vegetables for this week will be put in the kitchen. Now, you go to cook, and after dinner, I have to take them up the mountain to work."

Several female educated youths couldn't help but secretly rejoiced when they heard the words. In this day when the north wind was howling, it was hard to walk, let alone work outside. Although you have to touch cold water to cook in the kitchen, at least the wind can't blow and the snow can't suppress it. In comparison, it is much more delicious.

There are dozens of sacks of potatoes, kelp and a dozen bags of rough rice noodles in the kitchen. There is no oil and no onion, ginger and garlic. Cooking diced potatoes and kelp together is considered a dish. Mingbei was given a bowl of vegetables and four large pancakes, brought them back to the house, and sat on the edge of the kang to eat a bite of the vegetables. There was not a single bit of oil, not even a little salt, and the kelp was not washed clean. Anyway, a strong earthy smell, Ming Beihaoxuan didn't spit it out.

With a piece of kelp in his mouth, Mingbei looked around with a bitter face, but found that the other educated youths were basically eating vegetables, as if they didn't find it unpalatable. Mingbei swallowed the kelp in his mouth and bumped his elbow against the classmate next to him: "Zhou Qiang, don't you think the dish is unpalatable? There is no oil or water at all."

Zhou Qiang looked at him blankly: "But not all dishes at home are oiled."

Ming Bei was stunned for a moment, remembering that he always put a lot of oil in cooking or making dumplings, not to mention that Zhen Zhen sometimes eats spicy shrimp and boiled fish, basically half a pot of oil. Ming Bei stuffed a potato into his mouth, and asked Zhou Qiang with some incomprehension: "Why don't you have enough oil for your family? Don't you grow soybeans and squeeze oil yourself?"

Zhou Qiang took a bite of the big pancake and said vaguely: "There are so many fields in total, and the soybeans that are grown are not enough for anything. My mother would at most pour oil droplets the size of soybean grains when cooking." He Taking another bite of the dish into his mouth, he turned his head and asked Mingbei, "Why, do you have enough oil to eat?"

Although Mingbei was stupid, he was taught by Mrs. Li since he was a child that he was not allowed to talk about his family's affairs, let alone reveal his family background, so he immediately shook his head: "It's not enough to eat, I thought we could eat better here. Home is good."

Zhou Qiang gave him a sneering look: "You are dreaming." He looked around and said in a low voice, "We are here for work, not for enjoyment."

Mingbei didn't say a word. Seeing that someone who was eating fast was almost finished, he stopped talking. He closed his eyes and ate all the vegetables with a big pancake. Sitting on the kang in a daze.

Li Mengwei didn't let these educated youths rest. Seeing that everyone had finished their meal, he gathered all the educated youths together. Because there were too many people, no room could fit it. The educated youths had to take off their shoes and sit cross-legged on the kang. The educated youths sat next to each other. Li Mengwei almost retreated to the door before standing firm.

"Let me talk about the rules of our youth point." Li Mengwei opened a notebook and said aloud: "Today, everyone will arrive on the first day, and the factory will let everyone adapt to the temporary arrangement of work. From tomorrow, our youth point will implement the work point system. The work points are different for different jobs. For example, a day of hauling wood in the mountains has eight work points totaling 20 cents. For example, cooking at home is worth 7 cents for six and a half work points. There are also seven work points and seven and a half work points for the rest. Work, you can choose what kind of work you do. But you can eat later, but from tomorrow onwards, you will have to use meal tickets, buy them from me with the money you earn, you can do less work or stay in the house, But don't blame me for not giving you food when you're hungry."

There was silence in the room, and the educated youths lowered their heads in silence and made their own calculations. Li Mengwei glanced at them and turned a page in the book in his hand: "Last month, some of our educated youths came to the youth site ahead of schedule to build a house. , After consultation in the factory, it is uniformly based on eight work points a day. After a while, everyone I ordered will come to me to get the money. Today’s cooking is also recorded according to six and a half work points, and from tomorrow onwards, you can choose your own division of labor.”

When the educated youths were gone, Mingbei was a little confused when he received six yuan and two cents from Li Mengwei. He went out before it was dark before he could go home. He was carrying bricks in the whistling north wind all day long. His work was much harder than his father carrying sacks in the grain depot. How could his father earn more than 40 yuan a month while he was only 6 yuan?

When Ming Bei was feeling a little dazed, Wang Zehai, who was sleeping on the opposite kang, took out a notebook and took out a beautiful pen from his bag to record something.

Mingbei looked at the hero brand pen with red eyes. Mingdong earned 52 yuan in the first month of work. He bought things for the whole family. Mingxi, Mingnan and Mingbei are the same, and the value is the same. An eight-dollar hero pen. Mingxi's pen was taken to the army by him. Mingnan's pen is still in use. Mingbei often sees him holding a diary, only his own...

I worked hard for a month to earn money from bricks and I couldn't buy a pen, but I changed my seat with the pen. Mingbei put the money he earned in his pocket and felt a little confused for the first time.

Because of the six dollars, Mingbei rolled on the opposite side for a long time at night before falling asleep in a daze. As soon as the next morning, Li Mengwei knocked on the door of every house to wake everyone up.

For breakfast, one person, one bowl of porridge and two large pancakes, will be billed first, and the work points will be deducted directly at the end of the month. Mingbei stared blankly after eating breakfast, and when he just regained his spirits, Li Mengwei had already urged the educated youth to go up the mountain.

Because the educated youth will open up wasteland and cultivate the land by themselves in the spring of the coming year, so when building the educated youth spot, they chose a flat place, which is slightly farther away from the Korean pine forest. Each of Li Mengwei handed out an axe and led the way up the mountain. Now that the twelfth lunar month is fast approaching, it is the coldest time. The road leading to the Korean pine forest is full of thick snow, and I stepped on it without reaching the root of my thigh. The educated youths walked for nearly two hours for the distance of ten miles before they reached the mountain.

Li Mengwei beckoned, called everyone to his side, and shouted in his loudest voice: "We need to find that kind of small tree with a diameter of about fifteen centimeters in diameter, cut it down and carry it back to the youth point. The number of people cut is counted as work points.”

As soon as the words fell, everyone had a bitter face, let alone the other side, it would take almost two hours to walk back on foot, and I had to carry a log. No matter how I thought about it, I felt that this task was impossible. Ming Bei was dragging firewood from the mountains as a child, and he had some experience in carrying wood. He patted the birch tree next to him, and couldn't help but ask, "Why do you want such a small trunk? If you don't make enough furniture, it will be wasted as firewood."

Li Mengwei glanced at him and explained patiently: "When we use the tractor to pull the wood out, we need to use small poles to fix the wood around to prevent the wood from rolling off the car, so everyone's task is very important."

"Do I have to chop down trees here all year round?" Wang Qiang asked Mingbei's question, but he was not answered.

Li Mengwei glanced at him and was a little impatient: "There is nothing else to do in winter, so I will let you chop wood. After the spring, plant pine trees and open up wasteland. A lot of work is waiting for you. Okay, hurry up now. Work, if you can’t complete the task, you will have to deduct work points.”

When it was said that the work points would be deducted, these educated youths were anxious. With such a low salary for a month, they didn’t know if they were enough to eat. If the work points were deducted again, they would be hungry.

Mingbei was chopping down trees on the mountain. Wang Sufen was somewhat worried at home. She walked around the kitchen a few times and couldn't help but ask Mrs. Li, "Mother, we don't bring food to Mingbei, can you bring some? Pickles, Gada, etc., it's good to have a taste when you eat."

Mrs. Li nodded helplessly: "It's okay to bring some pickles, but let's agree, if he wants steamed buns and biscuits, he is not allowed to get them. Aren't these educated youths earning wages or something? Let him have the money to buy it himself. If you don't make money, you don't know how hard it is to make money. Hmph, I gave away all the pens for the sake of a broken position..." When Mrs. Li thought of the pen, her heart ached, and she tapped the cigarette bag and the pot angrily. Knock on the edge of the kang, I feel very uncomfortable.

When Wang Sufen heard the pen, she immediately threw out her thoughts of wanting to fry some pork sauce for Mingbei, and immediately echoed: "It's not a bad thing, let him buy it himself, and he won't make it for him when he gets home. Let him eat big scum porridge."

Mrs. Li laughed and threw the cigarette bag and pot on the kang, feeling that the room was quiet, she couldn't help rubbing her head: "When did Zhen Zhen run out again?"

Wang Sufen tried her best to think about it: "I said it after breakfast, I said to show Mingnan's wedding dress."

"Oh, this girl in my family is really a life to worry about." Mrs. Li shook her head: "She has to be involved in everything."

Zhen Zhen was queuing up at the Renmin Road shopping mall in the imperial capital at this time. This era is very busy all year round, but during the New Year, it was a little more leisurely, and various materials were abundant. After a hard year, every household also had some spare money. Therefore, there are many people who come to the mall to buy things. Zhen Zhen touched the money and all kinds of messy tickets in her pocket, and looked around at the things on the shelves. In recent years, people in the mountains have occasionally asked Zhen Zhen to help buy some meat, or food, etc. They all give money and bills according to the price, Zhen Zhen has saved a lot of things over the years.

At the place where the cloth was sold, Zhen Zhen stopped, she came to the imperial capital mainly to buy materials for Meng Xiaoxi's wedding clothes. In fact, there are all kinds of woolen fabrics in Zhen Zhen's space, so she is looking at summer clothes and fabrics, and it happens that there are not many such clothes at this time. Not a lot. At this time, it was only a few years after the exercise started, and when the limelight was still in the limelight, the clothing materials were still mainly blue, basket, and gray.

She ordered at the counter and said to the waiter, "I just saw a red and dark flower material underneath, can you show it to me?"

"Red dark flower?" The waiter looked down for a long time, pulled out a piece and threw it on the counter: "Is this?"

Zhen Zhen shook it off, stretched it out and looked at it, although the blue florals were a bit darker, they looked much better than the plain ones above. Zhen Zhen put down the cloth and said crisply: "Please bring me three feet, and the red towel, red bed sheet, and red pillow towel over there for me to get two each."

The waiter looked up at her and asked, "Did you bring money and cloth tickets? Does your family know that you came out to buy cloth?"

"I know!" Zhen Zhen smiled sweetly: "My mother helped my brother make the quilt at home, and can't come out."

The waiter handed the ticket to Zhen Zhen and couldn't help muttering: "It's a big heart for a parent to let a child do such a big thing." Seeing that Zhen Zhen didn't respond, she couldn't help but say something : "It's popular to wear military uniforms for marriage now. This red dress material hasn't been sold for three years. Are you sure you want to buy it?"

Zhen Zhen looked at the other colors and nodded firmly.

After paying the money, Zhen Zhen took a big paper bag and walked out, and when she turned into a small alley, when there was no one on either side, she hurriedly carried her things into the space and put them together with the woolen material she had chosen earlier. Seeing that it was still early, she was not in a hurry to go home, but appeared at the foot of the mountain in the suburbs.

After crossing the long and hidden path, Zhen Zhen came to the place where everyone was hiding. At this time, the sun was at its best. Although the temperature was a bit low, everyone came out of the mansion. One was to bask in the sun. The other one can move the waist, too. Peking Opera master Xie Shurang and his senior sister Yan Baozhu stood next to the mansion and sang "A Dream in the Garden".

Seeing Zhen Zhen coming, everyone gathered around and laughed and said, "You are here, I haven't seen you for more than half a month."

Zhen Zhen rubbed her face and said with a smile: "My third brother is getting married next year, and the family is busy with his affairs, so sometimes I have to follow along."

At this dull time, everyone's eyes lit up when they heard a happy event like marriage: "This is a big happy event, and it should have been a gift, but we don't have anything worth taking out right now."

Zhen Zhen smiled and said, "You guys say that a good relationship for a hundred years is the best gift. If you give something away, it will be vulgar."

The master of calligraphy and painting Su Weiran said half-jokingly and half-seriously: "I originally wanted to give you a painting as a gift, but you said that it was customary to give something, so I just hid it and didn't give it."

Zhen Zhen was anxious when she heard it, Su Weiran is a national treasure-level painting master. In later generations, his works were sold for hundreds of millions at auctions. Such a gift must be accepted. She immediately stood over, with both hands He Shi made a gesture of begging: "The vulgar is the elegant, so sometimes it's better for us to be vulgar. Teacher Su, look at the painting that you sent me."

Su Weiran was amused by Zhen Zhen's flattering appearance, he walked into the house with Zhen Zhen and said, "Recently, I painted a painting of "The Elegant Residence in the Mountains", which is the scene here, and it is just right for you."

Zhen Zhen couldn't wait to nod her head and followed: "Then I have to see if there is me."

The study room on the second floor has always been shared by several people, but because he stayed here for the longest time, he had the most books and papers. Su Weiran put the half-read book on the bookshelf and couldn't help but ask, "Is there anything in the newspaper about forgetting myself and winning the Nobel Prize?"

Zhen Zhen shook her head: "I have been following this news recently, but no major newspapers mentioned it."

Su Weiran sat in the chair thoughtfully: "It is estimated that the results of whether to announce this matter have not been discussed yet."