After lunch, Secretary Che personally took the helm and sent Wang Shichuan to Huahuaping with the motorized boat of the brigade.

A few years ago, an old Red Army soldier who went out from Hongshi Bay returned to his hometown to visit his relatives and lamented the isolation of his hometown. I paid out of my own pocket to buy this diesel-powered wooden paddle as a means of transportation for the villagers to get out of the mountains.

Today, it has become the most important collective property of the brigade, and it travels between Redstone Bay and Huahuaping once a day.

The people from the inner mountains went to the mountains to study, see a doctor, and catch up with the market to do trades, and the postmen, cadres from the countryside, and mountain goods dealers from outside the mountains came to Hongshi Bay, and it was the closest to enter and exit from the waterways in the reservoir area.

If you go to the nearest county road by land, not to mention the mountain road that you have walked dozens of miles over the mountains and mountains, you will accidentally drill the wrong mountain and run to the direction of Yingshan or Hubei.

Wang Shichuan came to Hongshi Bay several times, and he rode this kind of wooden paddle.

returned to the oil mill production team and talked to his daughter-in-law Wei Lan, so he shook out all the family resources.

The total is less than 4,000 yuan, which is still far from the goal of 10,000 households.

"That's it, you look at the disaster! Toss this and that all year round, and you don't let our mother have a few days of peace!"

Although it was a consensus reached by the couple a long time ago, such a large amount of foreign envoy money still made Wei Lan's heart like a knife.

The cautious eyes of the rural women came out again, and they splashed unreasonably at their husbands.

"Hehe, I want to be a 10,000 yuan household and don't want to spend money, how can there be such a good thing! 1,000 catties of Hongshiwan new tea for your 4,000 yuan, you girl has made a lot of money!"

Wang Shichuan carefully put the banknotes into his purse and teased his daughter-in-law.

In fact, this farmer himself is also beating the drum in his heart, but now he is ready to send it.

It's the first time I've made such a big move when I'm so big, and if the tea can't be sold, I'll smash the pot.

"But you said it! If you can't bring back so much new tea when the time comes, don't talk about me turning my face with you, don't even think about entering this house!"

Wei Lan pushed her husband and his bicycle out of the yard with red eyes, and she could still figure out which was more important, a thousand catties of new tea in Hongshiwan and a 4,000 yuan bill.

Wang Shichuan no longer entangled with his daughter-in-law, went to his eldest brother's house to call his nephew Wang Jiajun, and the uncle and nephew went straight to the county seat with a bicycle.

Things were messy in Redstone Bay, and he couldn't delay his efforts at home for a moment.

I ran more than a dozen streets in the county, individual hardware stores, and white iron shops, and I was lucky, and the white iron barrels containing tea all had ready-made supplies.

Wang Shichuan didn't care if it was a hundred catties or fifty catties, he bought sixteen or seventeen in one go, until the front beam and back seat of the two bicycles could not be hung up.

"Hurry up, we have to hurry after eating!"

At a food stall on Sanli Street, he casually asked for two bowls of fried rice, and Wang Shichuan gulped it up, urging his nephew.

"The second eldest (the meaning of the second uncle), it's four o'clock and you have to hurry? Stay in the city for a night and take a bath, and you won't be delayed to leave tomorrow morning!"

Junzi is not yet twenty years old, which is the age of playfulness, and every time he comes to the county seat, he doesn't want to leave.

"Hundreds of catties of new tea are still piled up in the open air, and the eggs will be smashed when it rains! Your father will definitely be calling, can't be meat! We rushed to Huahuaping for the night, and hired a boat to go to Neishan tomorrow morning!"

"Do you want to please your wife? I invited more than 20 tea-picking girls, all of whom are beautiful girls! If you have a picture tomorrow, I will ask the car teacher to introduce you! Hahaha!"

After settling the account with the boss, seeing that Junzi was still reluctantly sitting in place, Wang Shichuan patted his nephew on the shoulder and encouraged him.

"Erda! You have to count when you speak!"

I heard that there were a lot of tea-picking girls, and the army came to the spirit, raised his head and drank the coarse tea in the bowl and asked his uncle excitedly.

"It must count! The girls in the mountains all want to marry outside the mountains, so I'm afraid that you will be dazzled by the time!"

Wang Shichuan had already stepped on the bicycle, and he had to ride more than 60 miles of county road mountain roads to Huahuaping, so he simply gave his eldest nephew enough bait.

"I don't pick it up! As long as a girl takes a fancy to me, don't have too much dowry!"

The momentum of the young man finally came up, and he rode in front of Wang Shichuan with a smile. The foreign iron tea barrels tied in tandem with hemp rope in the back seat are also like the percussion band of the country flower drum opera, jingling all the way.

When the uncle and nephew arrived at Huahuaping, it was already dark, and this small mountain street was backed by a reservoir, with only a dozen households and a Taoist class.

There are no hostels, not even a carriage and horse shop for pedestrians.

The mountain people who were in the courtyard were very enthusiastic, and lent them bamboo beds, pillows and sheets to keep them warm.

Fortunately, in early summer, there were not many mosquitoes at night in the mountains, and the two of them were already exhausted from the bumps along the way.

So I didn't pay much attention to it, I poured it on the bamboo bed and wrapped it in a sheet, and snored loudly, dreamless all night until dawn.

When he woke up early in the morning, the sheets on his body had been soaked with dew, Wang Shichuan felt dizzy and painful, probably because he was cold at night.

Junzi is still thinking about the girl who picks tea, hoping to leave a good impression on them. I specially borrowed a wooden comb from a farmer and cleaned and combed it inside and out with the mountain spring water on the side of the road.

"Erda, how do you see me?"

After tidying up his clothes, Junzi called his second uncle Wang Shichuan to give him an overall evaluation.

"Pomp!"

Wang Shichuan knocked on the stinging skull, nibbled on the cold bun used as breakfast, and gave a very pertinent evaluation.

Da Junzi's nephew went into the mountains to carry trees at the age of fourteen or fifteen to do a side job, he was tough, capable, enthusiastic and kind, and he could endure all the hardships of the world, which girl could marry him and pick up a treasure.

The fog at the ferry had not yet lifted, and the long and narrow motor boat was quietly docked on the shore.

There are not many passengers today, a rural postman who went to various brigades in the inner mountains to deliver letters and newspapers, and two little daughters-in-law who returned to their parents' homes, each carrying a baby about a year old.

Wang Shichuan's uncle and nephew first sent more than a dozen tea barrels into the cabin, and then turned around to carry the bicycle, and the waterline of the wooden boat instantly sank a lot.

"Little master, you tea barrels take up too much space, you have to calculate the fare for three people! Plus two wheeled carts, you two adults, a total of five yuan! If you promise me, you will sail the boat!"

The boatman was already familiar with Wang Shichuan, and knew that he went to Hongshi Bay, which was more than forty miles away from this Huaping wharf.

"Five yuan is five yuan! I will often take this trip in the future! Master Liu, you should charge cheaper!"

Wang Shichuan was in a hurry to leave, and directly agreed to the boatman's asking price.

"It's not cheap, brother! Eighty miles back and forth by water, if I only take the two of you, I won't even have enough diesel money!"

The boatman bowed down with the rocking handle and struggled to start the diesel tractor head.

"Poof! Poof! Boom!"

With a puff of black smoke that smelled of diesel, the nose finally started.

The boatman put the iron crank back in its place, and the wooden paddle powered by the head of the tractor slowly left the dock and cruined along the edge of the reservoir towards the depths of the mountains.

The fog on the water surface is rippling, the green hills on both sides of the bank are like daisies, and the wooden boat is like an old divine beast, stumbling into this boundless fairyland.

"Yours from the tea house?"

The postman uncle handed over the cigarette and asked Wang Shichuan curiously.

"Oh!

Wang Shichuan was flattered and took the paper cigarette and hurriedly replied, the postman is a state cadre, and it is also a profession that he, a farmer, respects very much.

"Didn't you hear there's a tea farm in Redstone Bay?"

"The school-run tea farm of Hongshiwan Primary School has just opened!"

"You're going to Redstone Bay Elementary School, that's great! Please bring these newspapers and letters and give them to Principal Wang!"

The postman happily took out a stack of newspapers and letters from the mail bag, handed them to Wang Shichuan, and turned back to call the boatman.

"Master Liu, I won't go to Hongshi Bay this time, put me down at Ding Chong's brigade!"

"Got it!" Master Liu replied loudly and stopped talking, quietly looking ahead for the place called Ding Chong.

Wang Shichuan also took off his shirt, carefully wrapped the mail, and put it in the tea barrel.

At that time, there was still a lot of trust between people, and the postman uncle entrusted him with these mails without asking Wang Shichuan's name, and he was not afraid that this stranger would intercept things halfway.

"Two little brothers!

The postman went ashore with the parcel on his shoulder, and turned around and waved happily to Wang Shichuan's uncle and nephew to thank him.

"Comrade, don't worry! That Principal Wang is my old father!

Wang Shichuan also learned the name of the people in the city, and called the postman uncle comrade.

"Iron! Hahaha! Great! Xiao Wang! Don't call me "comrade" in the future! Call me Uncle Xiao! I am the same age as your old father!"

Hearing that Wang Shichuan was the son of President Wang, the old postman comrade was very happy, stood on the shore and waved to them from afar, and did not forget to humor a little.

The motor boat went farther and farther, and Uncle Xiao, a postman in a blue cloth uniform, slowly disappeared into the jungle in the mountains.

When I went ashore at noon, the fragrance of green tea wafted everywhere in the bay.

Master bricklayers were carrying materials for building houses, and the flat meadow where wildflowers were once blooming was already filled with reddish-brown pebbles. The freshly sawed bamboos and fir sticks were also piled up horizontally and vertically.

"Boss Wang is back!"

Seeing Wang Shichuan's uncle and nephew from a distance, the foreman Lao Cao put down his shoulder and greeted him enthusiastically.

"You're back, Master Cao, you're almost ready, and you'll be able to build a house tomorrow, right?"

Wang Shichuan was very satisfied with the progress of the construction, and took out a cigarette and scattered one for each of the surrounding masters.

"Can you still do your own work with energy? Principal Wang and I discussed that we would prepare all the materials except for the roof tiles, and the construction period would be 20 days, a total of 2,000 yuan!

Master Cao smiled honestly, and lit a cigarette with Wang Shichuan's cigarette butt.

Wang Shichuan already has a bottom in his heart, and it is cost-effective to arrange both ends in this way.

Master Cao and his 20 workers earned an average of 100 yuan in less than a month, which was not a small amount in the early summer of 1980.

As long as Wang Shichuan prepares the roof tiles, he doesn't have to worry about other things.

It's good to rely on the mountain and eat the mountain!

If you put it on a post outside the mountain and build such a house with stone walls and tile roofs of about 200 square meters, all the bamboo, wood, and stone will be purchased by yourself, plus labor costs, and you will not be able to get 10,000 yuan.