As time went by, the weather became colder and colder. Wang Zhong sent a few old and weak people over to the blast furnace to watch and pretend. He, Niu Dangdang and others led the rest of the villagers to do winter irrigation and pulled stone rollers to suppress the growth. Nice wheat seedlings.
Entering the twelfth lunar month, the north wind like a knife was blowing loudly. The weather was getting colder and colder, and the work on the reservoir was also suspended. On the eighth night of the twelfth lunar month, a light snow fell in the middle of the night, but only a small amount of snow fell. It lasted for half the night and then ended.
Early the next morning, Wang Zhong took a bag of pancakes from the ginger red fruit stall, carried a kettle on his back, and carried a bow and arrow into the mountain.
"Big Chong, are you going into the mountain?" Wang Zhong just went out when he met Niu DaDang.
"I've been fine lately, haven't I? I'm thinking about going into the mountains to see if I can hit anything." Wang Zhong said.
Niu DaDang looked curiously at the quiver on Wang Zhong's back and asked, "Aren't all your arrows used to make steel? How can you shoot them?" Wang Zhong took out one and handed it to Niu DaDang.
"Is this? Made of bones?" Niu DaDang looked at the white arrow in surprise. Wang Zhong smiled and said: "Yes, it took me a lot of effort!"
"Hey!" Niu boldly sighed and returned the lost arrow to Wang Zhong: "Be careful when you go into the mountains alone. I heard that wolves have appeared in the mountains in recent years."
"Don't worry, I'm very familiar with the mountains!" Wang Zhong left for three days and two nights. When he came back, it was already the third night.
"Who is it?" Hearing the noise coming from the backyard, Han Chunmei immediately sat up from the kang, stood on the edge of the kang, and shouted loudly toward the backyard.
"Me!" Along with Wang Zhong's voice, Big Red and Two Red also barked "woof woof woof" a few times. Wang Zhong scolded them a few times, and the two dogs whimpered twice and got into the kennel in the corner.
Jiang Hongguo couldn't wait to open the door and walk through the passage to the backyard. Looking at Jiang Hongguo, who was wearing a military coat, Wang Zhong hurriedly asked: "Why did you come out! It's so cold outside." In the darkness, Jiang Hongguo came to pick it up and smiled: "Why did you come back so late?"
"Come into the house and say it! Come into the room and say it!" After entering the room, Jiang Hongguo saw clearly that Wang Zhong was actually carrying two gray wolves on his burden.
"Master, did you encounter a wolf? Are you injured anywhere?" Jiang Hongguo grabbed Wang Zhong's clothes nervously and looked around Wang Zhong up and down.
"Don't worry!" Wang Zhong grabbed Jiang Hongguo's wrist and said with a smile, "I'm fine. Not to mention a few wolves, I'll take care of even tigers and lions."
"Bah, bah, bah!" Seeing that Wang Zhong was fine, Jiang Hongguo breathed a sigh of relief and said angrily, "It's still a tiger!" Then his expression changed, and he looked at Wang Zhong, with a hint of pleading in his voice: "Master, why don't we go into the mountains in the future!"
"Where can we get meat if we don't go into the mountains?" Wang Zhong said, "I walked deeper this time before I met these wolves, but I have already taken care of them."
"How many?" Jiang Hongguo's beautiful eyes widened and her childlike eyes shrank.
"There are only five of them in total, and I have taken care of them all. In the past few days, Dahongerhong and I ate one, and I hid the other two and will bring them back tomorrow."
"In the worst case, I won't go deep in the future. I'll just stay on the outside and catch some pheasants and rabbits, okay?"
"That's fine!" Jiang Hongguo said, "I'll add some firewood and heat up the water so you can take a bath."
"Yeah!" Wang Zhong smiled and took out the knife and skinned the two wolves with skillful movements. After taking a bath, having a chat with Jiang Hongguo, and Liao Wei's longing for each other after not seeing each other for a few days, the two fell into a deep sleep.
Early the next morning, the news that Wang Zhong had shot two wolves spread throughout Maixiang Village. This was also the first time for most of the villagers to see a wolf. On that day, many people came to Wang Zhong with food and money to trade for wolf meat.
As for wolves entering the water, they are all big red and two red. The wolf meat of the remaining two wolves was made into dried meat by Wang Zhong, and the ginger red fruit was put into the cellar. The wolf skin was peeled off by Wang Zhong, and the wolf meat was prepared, and the ginger red fruit was prepared to be made into several pieces. Wolfskin jacket, and then use the scraps to make some hats and gloves.
In the blink of an eye, it was early summer of 1959, and the trend of exaggeration became more and more serious. In May, as the weather was getting hotter and hotter, someone from the commune came and said it was Wang Wanchun who asked Wang Zhong to come over.
Wang Zhong knew very well what Wang Wanchun had asked him to do. When they arrived at the place, Wang Wanchun served tea and poured water with a smile on his face and a bit of flattery. After asking Wang Zhong a few symbolic questions, he was interrupted by Wang Zhong and asked him to get to the point.
"Starting at ten thousand?" Wang Zhong smiled and said, "Secretary Wang, you might as well ask me to pick the stars from the sky for you."
"All they want is a number, and they don't care if you ask for food." Wang Wanchun said.
"You can't say that even if you don't want food. Isn't this deceiving the country and the government? Secretary Wang, we can't do this kind of thing." Wang Zhong said with a serious face.
"Big bug, this wind has been released. The county has asked every commune to send people to our commune to hold a lively on-site property valuation meeting. You can help me and get this done. Let's The faces above are also pretty." Wang Zhong said: "The faces above are pretty, but what about the members of our brigade? What if the higher-ups levy public grains based on an output of 10,000 kilograms per mu? Where can we find so much grain to pay? Go up?"
"No!" Wang Wanchun said, "This is just a formality."
"Secretary Wang, we are our own people, and you also came out of our brigade. If you mess with children like this, just talk about it. Let's report this number today. If tomorrow the county will send someone to press What should we do if we use this number to pay for the public rations? Do you have to let the members of our brigade sell their goods to hand over the public rations?"
"No, we have nothing left to smash now. During the steel smelting last year, anyone in the village who had anything to do with iron would smash everything they could."
"Let me tell you the truth. I am the one who said this. At this time, you can't dismantle me!" Wang Wanchun said.
"Secretary Wang, it's not that I'm trying to defeat you, but that I really can't do anything about it! The yield per mu is ten thousand catties, and if you take my more than one hundred catties into it, it's not that much."
"Da Chong, you are a powerful person in our Maixiangling Commune. You have contributed greatly to our commune's bumper harvests in recent years. You also said just now that I also came out of our brigade. Now I am riding a tiger and it is difficult to get off. You You can't just ignore it!" Wang Zhong's attitude was still very firm: "Secretary Wang, if you can help me, I won't hesitate if you ask me, but I really can't help you with this matter."
"If you want a yield of 5,600 per mu, I can give you some ideas, but this is 10,000 kilograms, so I can't promise you!"
"The pregnancy assessment meeting will be in a few days. If you don't help me, I will really..."
"Secretary Wang!" Wang Zhongye said with a stern face: "Let me ask you a question. You said that the yield per mu is 10,000 catties. What if the government actually collects public grain according to this number? Do you want me to take the villagers with me? Do they refuse to hand over public food?"
"I..." Wang Wanchun was speechless when asked by Wang Zhong, not knowing how to answer.
"Don't say this is about our Maixiang Brigade. Think about it for yourself. Among the dozens of brigades in Maixiang Ridge, which one dares to agree to this?"
"Secretary Wang, just think of me as begging you, please, don't embarrass me. Food is the lifeblood of our people. Do we have to put our lives on the line just for the sake of temporary motivation?" "Wang Wanchun looked at Wang Zhong who spoke earnestly and with a sincere face. He was stunned for a moment. He staggered back a few steps and sat down on the chair. His cracked and white mouth opened, but no sound came out. , his eyes were distracted, as if he had lost his soul.
After a while, Wang Wanchun came back to his senses, grabbed Wang Zhong's wrist tightly, looked up at Wang Zhong, and asked with a worried look: "Then what should I do now? There will be an on-site pregnancy evaluation meeting in a few days." Wang Zhong sat back opposite Wang Wanchun and said: "A lie often needs countless lies to cover it up, but there is a price to pay for lying and bragging."
"Is it more important to help you cover up your lie, or is it more important for a large team to feed hundreds of people and survive?" Wang Wanchun was speechless, with a look of confusion and regret on his face.
Wang Zhong continued: "If you really want me to say, the most important thing is to stop the loss in time now. If we make mistakes and correct them in time, we will still have a chance in the future. But if the people lose their hearts and push the villagers to the opposite side, then it will be ······" Wang Wanchun suddenly shrank and became more and more nervous. He grabbed Wang Zhong like a drowning man grabbing a life-saving straw: "Then what should I do now?" Wang Zhong said: "I I suggest you go directly to the county, go to Secretary Zhou to admit your mistake, admit it face to face, and ask Secretary Zhou for help. You and Secretary Zhou have such a good relationship. As long as you admit your mistakes sincerely, given Secretary Zhou’s temperament, you should not Will sit back and ignore it." Wang Wanchun's eyes suddenly lit up: "Yes, yes, yes, I can find Secretary Zhou, I can also find Secretary Zhou." When he returned to the village from the commune, Wang Zhong immediately called Ma Renlian and Niu Dadan went to a meeting and told everyone about Wang Wanchun.
"A yield of ten thousand catties per mu?" After hearing this, several people were shocked.
"Even if you plant grass, you don't have 10,000 kilograms of grass!" Niu Da boldly grinned and stared at the cow.
"That's right!" Everyone agreed.
"This is too much to brag about!" Zhao Youtian and Ma Renlian were also frightened.
"This is not the most important thing. What is important is that if the higher-ups really believe that we can produce ten thousand kilograms per mu and collect public grain according to this figure, what will we do then?" As soon as these words came out, several people's expressions changed.
"No way!" Ma Renlian said with a frown.
"It's better to believe that this kind of thing exists than to believe that it doesn't exist." Wang Zhongdao: "The more lies you tell, the more people will believe it. Now in newspapers and magazines, the yield per mu is several thousand kilograms, and the output of a pig is several thousand kilograms. Are there many examples of tens of thousands of pounds?"
"How do the leaders above understand the lives of our people? Isn't it just through the numbers we reported and the articles reported by reporters!" Zhao Youtian said: "The big bug is right, don't be afraid of ten thousand, be afraid of ten thousand One, we can't risk our lives." The remaining people immediately united the front with the two.
Wang Zhong said again: "I have rejected Secretary Wan Chun, stated my interests to him, and suggested that he go directly to Secretary Zhou, admit his mistakes, and stop losses in time, but I am afraid that he will not be willing to accept it. If he is determined to promote this, If I come to you about something, you should know what to say, right?" Facts have proved that Wang Wanchun still remained rational and was not completely dazzled by the exaggeration. That night, Wang Zhong, Ma Renlian, and Niu Daring, Zhao Youtian and the four others were called to a meeting in the commune. Secretary Zhou Yihu and Zhang Defu, the deputy county chief in charge of production, attended the meeting in person. Both of them had dark faces the whole time.
First, Wang Wanchun was severely reprimanded. Zhang Defu also took advantage of the situation and scolded Wang Wanchun. Finally, in front of everyone, he announced Wang Wanchun's punishment, deducting his salary and demeriting him. Fortunately, he kept his position. Well, Secretary Zhou took this opportunity to criticize this exaggeration unceremoniously.
After the meeting, Wang Wanchun called Wang Zhong alone and went to his office. At this time, Wang Wanchun could not feel the slightest discomfort of being criticized and punished. Instead, he seemed somewhat relaxed and comfortable.
"Try it, the authentic West Lake Longjing is different from the ones you get at Renli Lake." Wang Wanchun poured hot tea for several people.
"How can those top students from Ma Renli compare with West Lake Longjing!" Wang Zhong also said with a smile: "They are not on the same level at all!" After taking a sip, Wang Zhong couldn't help but nodded, and then said shamelessly: "Secretary Wang, you are so good Tea, do you want me to order it? Let me take it back and give it to my family to have a taste too?"
"Go, go, go, I only have a little bit left, and I'm about to be wiped out by you! No way, no way." Wang Wanchun said angrily.
"I'm talking about Secretary Wang, you are the secretary of our commune. I have helped you so much, but you are not happy even if you order tea!" Wang Zhong joked: "You clearly want the horse to run away, but also Don't you want to feed the horse grass?" Wang Wanchun was stunned for a moment, pointed at Wang Zhong and shook his head helplessly: "Your kid is a monkey!" Even so, he still took out a piece of oil paper from the drawer with a pained look on his face. The bag was handed to Wang Zhong: "Take it quickly!"
"Don't feel bad. After finishing the summer harvest, I will go into the mountains to hunt a pheasant and return it to your head office!"
"That's pretty much it!" When Wang Wanchun heard that there were pheasants, a smile appeared on his face.
"Big Chong, you are right. Now I have finally figured out that when we engage in production, we still need to be down-to-earth and take it step by step. Only then will I feel comfortable."
"Just listen to those big talk about crossing the Yellow River this year and the Yangtze River next year. Don't take it to heart." Wang Wanchun said self-deprecatingly.
Not to mention anything else, Wang Wanchun's determination to correct his mistakes after he realizes them is better than many others.
"Secretary Wang, I don't agree with what you said!" Wang Zhong's voice changed. Wang Wanchun looked at Wang Zhong and said: "What?" Wang Zhong said: "Isn't this goal always necessary? Isn't it the goal of us farmers to cultivate the land to achieve a bumper harvest and achieve high yields! If it doesn't work in one year, we will do it in two years. If it doesn't work in two years, we will do it in three. Years, five years, ten years, we go step by step, accumulate experience bit by bit, and sum up lessons. One day, we will definitely be able to achieve high yields, cross the Yellow River, and cross the Yangtze River."
"We can't judge gains and losses based on temporary success or failure. Secretary Wang, our commune has so many brigades and so many team members, but we all need you to lead us to increase production, get rich, and live a good life!" Wang Wanchun sighed, He said with some worry: "If the higher-ups really collect the public grain according to the reported output, the villagers will really want to sell the iron." Although the Maixiang Brigade is walking in a solid manner, working steadily step by step, not falsely reporting, not exaggerating, but It's hard to say about other brigades in the commune. Nowadays, newspapers are full of reports of people with yields of several thousand per mu. The original healthy competition has gradually turned into exaggerated comparisons, and Wang Wanchun himself has suffered greatly.
Thinking of the feeling when he was standing at the top of the county's production summary meeting that day and speaking those unrealistic lies, Wang Wanchun felt as if he was in a dream.
"You have to hit the south wall to know the pain!" Wang Zhong said. Hearing this, Wang Wanchun couldn't help but sigh, with a bit of worry in his eyes.
Within a few days, the wheat in the field was ripe. When it was time to harvest the wheat, those who usually cheated and played around were no longer lazy at this time. They worked hard to harvest the wheat in the field. There was also a holiday at the reservoir, and Ma Renli and dozens of young men working on the reservoir rushed back to the brigade to help harvest wheat.
The nearly 1,000 acres of wheat fields in Maixiang Village and nearly 200 people were collected in just five or six days. They were left to dry in the barn for another three or four days before being collected into the village's grain depot. .
Watching sack after sack of sun-dried wheat being weighed, they were moved into the warehouse. Zhao Youtian, the deputy captain, was responsible for weighing and counting. Ma Renli and Ma Renlian were responsible for recording, and the other was counting next to them. Niu Da boldly Directing the villagers to put wheat into the warehouse.
The faces of the villagers who were watching were full of expectation, but also a bit nervous. As the last sack of wheat was placed on the scale, Zhao Youtian played with the weights and cursors quantitatively. After confirming the number, he shouted loudly: "One hundred and six pounds and four taels!" Hearing this number, the folks from the eighth team were shocked. We count them in our minds.
There are a total of eight teams under the Maixiang Brigade. Each team has seven or eight households, and the number of people is about 20. There is not much difference.
"Have the statistics of Renlian and Renli been calculated?" Wang Zhong asked.
"Come out!" Ma Renli said, and Ma Renlian hurriedly handed the notebook in his hand to Wang Zhong. Wang Zhong flipped through it carefully, his eyes scanning all the data one by one, and his brain began to work quickly. There were only a few hundred data, which was easy for Wang Zhong. In just a moment, he was sure that there was nothing wrong.
"Folks, the results are out!" Wang Zhong held a loudspeaker in his hand and shouted loudly: "The first team harvested 36,223 kilograms of wheat, and the second team harvested 37,800 kilograms of wheat. Sixty-two kilograms, three teams harvested thirty-five thousand six hundred and forty-six kilograms of wheat..."
"This year our Maixiang Village has harvested a total of 280,000 wheat..., and the average yield per mu has reached 280 kilograms. Among them, the highest yield is still the second team, and the biggest improvement is the seventh team, the second team and the seventh team. Each team member will be awarded one hundred work points."
"Why is it the second team again!"
"There's nothing we can do about it. Who told us, Brother Chong, to be in the second team?"
"We have changed the fields several times, but the second team has the highest output every year. How can you explain this?" Folks, you look at each other and say something. Although there are regrets, the joy and smiles on the faces cannot be hidden at all. live.
Since the establishment of the senior cooperative, the land in the village has been divided into eight areas according to the direction. It used to be eight groups, but now it is eight production teams. The planting is rotated every year, but no matter which piece of land the second team is assigned, The output is the highest every year.
Wang Zhong stood at the door of the warehouse, holding a loudspeaker in his hand, and said loudly: "It's still the same old rules. Today we go to the commune to hand over the public grains. Renlian and Renli will take the statistics. At six o'clock tomorrow morning, everyone will come and gather. Share the food.”
"Brother Big Chong, can you give us more food this year?" He shouted with a shy smile on his face.
"What you think is pretty beautiful!" Wang Zhong also said with a smile: "You have a beautiful wife and live a beautiful life, so don't think too much!"
"Hahaha!"... Early the next morning, villagers pushing carts and carrying burdens gathered outside the warehouse. Ma Renlian took the account book and read loudly one by one, Niu Bingdao He and Zhao Youtian led the militia to distribute food to the villagers.
The faces that were tanned by the sun were filled with bright smiles that came from the heart. The only one who couldn't eat enough was eating a few small meals, with a somewhat bitter smile on his face.
"Ma Renli, Caibaozi, have you made a miscalculation? How come we and I only have so little work points?" Listening to Ma Renli's figures, he looked at Ma Renli next to him unwillingly because he was not full.
Ma Renli said: "Yes, Renlian and I have calculated it three times, and the branch secretary has also checked it. That's it! No problem." Ma Renlian also said: "It's indeed no problem, that's it."
"But..." He was not full and wanted to say something else. As soon as he started speaking, he was interrupted by Niu DaDang, who was responsible for distributing food.
"If you don't have enough to eat, you guys, don't mess around here. I don't see you working more diligently. If you really want to get more food, work harder in the future. Stop cheating and earn more work points." Isn’t this food already available?”
"Brother Bold, I..." I was interrupted again when I wasn't full, this time it was Wang Zhong: "Okay, the people behind are still waiting, so don't waste everyone's time."
"That's it!" The folks queuing up behind them all said impatiently.
"You don't have the nerve to bother me even if you don't have enough to eat!"
"Usually, you two are the ones who do the most slacking off..." The two of you have bright eyes, you are a pair of people who are not full, and you are lazy and can't straighten your muscles. In the past, when we were in the mutual aid group and the junior club, , they could still be lazy, but since they established the senior cooperative, Wang Zhong became the branch secretary, and implemented the work point system of more work, more reward, the couple can no longer be lazy.
Listening to everyone's busy discussion, Xiao Zhuan felt like his face was on fire. He was so embarrassed that he wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl in. The toes hidden in his cloth shoes could dig out three large rooms. .
He raised his hand and beat Xianfeng several times: "What are you doing here! Leave quickly!" Fengfeng knew that he was in the wrong. After suffering two blows, he let Xiao Zhuan pull him away.
