The two chain saws worked together. Today they were cutting down a forest of black birch trees. The two ends of the black birch trees were about the same thickness, tall and hard, suitable for making beams and beams. They quickly fell one section, and the others were responsible for knocking off the branches, and then The trees were lifted onto sledges. These sledges were all freshly made and loaded with harvested wood. When the camp sent people over, they would pull the wood down the mountain together and load it onto trucks and take it away.
During the lunch break, they got together in twos and threes to talk. He Siwei gave the noodles to Lao Shen and Tang Shuang. Tang Shuang didn't want them. She said she couldn't take advantage of them all the time. He Siwei said he treated them as borrowed and would pay them back later. , both of them knew that these were just polite words, so Tang Shuang accepted it.
Divide a box of boiled noodles into three parts, pour some hot water into it, stir it together and eat until your stomach is warm. Noodles are good for the stomach. The cornstarch in the morning will not make you hungry, but now there is something in your stomach. , I just feel comfortable all over my body.
The snow on the mountain has almost melted. When the sun is high enough at noon and the temperature is high, the mud on the ground will also thaw a layer. Your shoes will be stuck in the mud. When you lift the tree, the mud on the trunk will also stick to your body. All day long. After the work, I was covered in mud from head to toe.
The snow has almost melted now, and there is little water near the camp. The people responsible for cooking have to go to the stream to fetch water every day.
After Teng Fengqin and Sun Xianghong packed up, they did not leave in a hurry. Instead, they discussed where they would go to find food this week.
Teng Fengqin's idea was to use He Siwei's method. Nowadays, fish are easy to find, and the river water has not yet been cultivated. Fish can be caught by digging through the ice.
Sun Xianghong raised her eyes and glanced at her, "He Siwei didn't tell you where they found the fish?"
Teng Fengqin said, "They were looking for them at the foot of the mountain, so we can just go to the foot of the mountain."
Sun Xianghong said, "The place at the foot of the mountain is so big that it is so easy to find fish. You don't know the situation here. There are many swamps at the foot of the mountain and I have never seen any small rivers. There will be some blisters in the swamp after the spring comes and the flowers bloom. There is no certainty where fish can be found." It’s not easy to find fish in places like this. Based on your relationship with He Siwei, I thought she would tell you.”
Sun Xianghong spoke normally, but Teng Fengqin felt uncomfortable after hearing it. She didn't know if she was too sensitive, but she always felt that Sun Xianghong meant something.
He Siwei was alienated from her. Everyone had known about it since that time when they met the smoke cannon on the mountain. Now Sun Xianghong mentioned that she and He Siwei had a bad relationship, as if he was exposing her scars again and again.
Teng Fengqin did not want to embarrass herself in front of others and did not answer the topic about He Siwei. She only said, "Since there are blisters in the swamp, there must be fish there. Let's go there and give it a try."
Sun Xianghong stood up and said, "That's all I can do. I'll go find the axe."
The two of them went down the mountain with baskets and axes on their backs. After going down the mountain, they went directly to the swamp. The ground thawed a layer at noon. When they stepped on it, their feet fell directly into the mud. When the feet were pulled out, the mud seemed to be stretched. Teng Fengqin saw that her clean rubber cotton shoes were soaked with mud. The cold and sticky feeling on her feet made her freeze in place.
Sun Xianghong urged her from behind, "Why are you dazed? If you keep grinding, it will get dark."
Teng Fengqin could only walk forward. In the swamp, she finally found a place with water. There was a layer of ice on top. Sun Xianghong handed the ax to Teng Fengqin and asked her to cut away the ice. Only a layer of floating ice was left on it. The ax cut down. The ice layer shook suddenly, and only a white spot was carved out, but the ice layer did not break.
Sun Xianghong said, "Stronger."
Teng Fengqin dug hard for the second time, and the ice layer broke. She used too much force, and the force of the muddy water below also collapsed Teng Fengqin's face, and her clothes were not spared.
Teng Fengqin remained in the position of cutting ice and froze on the spot.
Sun Xianghong stood a few steps away from her. Except for the muddy water on her feet and trouser legs from walking in the swamp, her whole body was clean.
On the contrary, Teng Fengqin covered herself in mud in just a moment.
Sun Xianghong took a step forward, took the ax in her hand, used the ax to peel off the ice, and stirred up the mud below. During the stirring, she could see the fish wrapped in the mud and frozen to death.
She murmured, "That's how it is to work down there. How can it be better to do medical care in the battalion headquarters? Now is not the dirtiest and most tiring time. After the soil is completely thawed, everyone will be working in the mud when they open up wasteland." Crawling in the ground, each one is made like a mud monkey. Tell me, you are not very old and you are a nurse. You should have a good place, but why did you end up down there?"
Teng Fengqin pursed her lips and said nothing. She stiffly picked up the mud fish that Sun Xianghong dug out. The feeling of her hands catching on the mud made her feel sick. The fish wrapped in mud was like ice cubes wrapped in mud. After a few times, her hands were frozen. No consciousness.
Sun Xianghong's clothes were also covered in mud from digging in the mud with an axe. She kept moving her hands, "As someone who has experienced this, I would like to advise you, if you can return to the camp headquarters, you should find a way to work as a nurse there." , don’t suffer this fate.”
After going to the countryside for so long, Teng Fengqin encountered too many things. Sun Xianghong was the first person to talk to her like this from the bottom of his heart.
The embarrassment at this time and the sudden concern made Teng Fengqin so aggrieved that she could no longer hold it in and burst into tears.
Sun Xianghong said, "Cry, cry, you will feel better if you cry. Everyone knows little about what happened between you and He Siwei. If you don't talk about it, I will just say that you two are from the same place, and We are neighbors, and there is no need to act like enemies. Forget it, I can’t say too much about you. If I say too much, it will seem like I am provoking you. I still say the same thing, you have the ability to make your life better. , it’s better to think of a way to return to the battalion headquarters for development.”
There were not many fish in this puddle, so the two of them dug out a few more puddles one after another until they were covered in mud before filling the baskets on their backs.
It was getting late, and the two of them did not dare to rest. They stood in the cold wind next to the well, washed the fish, put on their shoes and briefly dealt with the mud on their bodies, and then walked up the mountain.
The weather was still 17 to 18 degrees below zero at this time. After the sun turned west, the temperature suddenly dropped, and the shoes filled with mud became harder and harder.
Sun Xianghong said, "Let's go quickly, otherwise our shoes will get cold and it will be bad for our feet."
Teng Fengqin has not spoken since she cried. She lowered her head silently and didn't know what she was thinking.
The two returned to the mountain, changed out of their dirty clothes, washed their feet with hot water on the stove and put on clean shoes.
Sun Xianghong said, "There is not much water. These dirty clothes cannot be washed today. Tomorrow we have to carry water first. We have to walk several miles to carry the water back. Let's just take the clothes there and wash them."
Then he asked Teng Fengqin, "Do you still have a change of shoes and clothes? Look at the two of us getting covered in mud while looking for food. They worked in the mountains and were covered in mud from head to toe at the end of the day. It's cold now and we don't like to dry our clothes. You can make do with it if you don't wash it if it's dirty, but not the shoes. Put them on when they're not dry. When you go outside, the wind will blow through them, and it's no different from stepping on ice."
She waved her hand, "Forget it, let's not mention this. You have the skills at your disposal, so you should find a way to return to the camp headquarters."
Sun Xianghong acted quickly. After changing, he said he would get dinner first and went out, leaving Teng Fengqin alone in the shack.
