Wang Youmu has been coming to Honggou Coal Mine for more than two months, and several of the new workers who came with him can't stand this kind of life, but Wang Youmu thinks it's very good, except for missing his wife Xu Qiuli, he feels very satisfied.

Their new workers took the induction exam a month ago, and the test questions were very simple, what is a pillar, what are the signs of high gas, what is the harm of gas to the mine, etc., and there is a way to talk about how to become an excellent coal miner and how to make greater contributions to the coal mine.

These questions are usually talked about, Wang Youmu has been studying very seriously, and after studying, he has carefully memorized some knowledge that must be mastered, so the exam is really not difficult for Wang Youmu.

Two days later, the Ministry of Mines announced the results on the front of the gate, Wang Youmu's score was 98 points, the first place among all the new workers who took the exam, and the day after the results were announced, the work area notified them to go down to work.

On the day of going down to work, at the routine pre-shift meeting in the work area, Wang Youmu unexpectedly sat on a stool with Zhao Wenbin, Zhao Wenbin still looked so haggard, his face was a little pale and unnatural, Wang Youmu knew that this was caused by long-term malnutrition and working underground.

He was assigned to the first class of coal mining, and coincidentally he was in a team with Zhao Wenbin, and the squad leader of the first class was called Feng Jianjian, who was a famous axe hand in the Quanhonggou Coal Mine

"Yo! Lao Tzu has become the master of the champion!"

Wang Youmu smiled and said, "Master Feng, I will learn from you well." ”

Feng Jianshe smiled and didn't say a word, just patted Wang Youmu's shoulder with his big strong hand.

In the underground face of the tunnel, there are seven or eight coal stubbles in each shift, and the master worker is the stubble length, and generally two coal workers follow an axe worker, Wang Youmu and Zhao Xuebin are coal workers.

After each stubble cannon is released, it is necessary to quickly hang the stubble shed, this time is the most critical, the action must be fast, otherwise it will cause the roof, the consequences will be unimaginable, the axe worker picked up the heavy steel beam, quickly hung on the old stubble, Wang Youmu and Zhao Xuebin are like nurses in the operating room who handed the instruments to the chief surgeon, nervously and quickly handed the thorn fence and the pickling stick on the roof to Feng Jianjian, and also made a hand to cut open the coal pile, find the bottom plate, plant the steel column, raise the column stamen, buckle the beam stubble, let Feng Jianshe lock the pillar with an ax in the shortest possible time, all of this must be accurate, there must not be a little bit of difference, only the broken empty shed is erected, safety can be guaranteed。

In the morning, Wang Youmu came to the work area as usual to prepare for the routine pre-shift meeting, and suddenly Li Laifu, the head of the work area, shouted to Wang Youmu, "Wang Youmu, you come to my office." ”

Wang Youmu followed Li Laifu into the office, Li Laifu looked at Wang Youmu and said with a smile

"Wang Youmu can be, he has become the champion. ”

Wang Youmu just smiled, looking a little shy, and Li Laifu continued

"Even if I looked away, I thought you were a backdoor worker, but I didn't expect to perform well in the underground this month, and I got a top prize in the job exam, what I promised you, I will honor it now. ”

As he spoke, he took out a key from the drawer of his desk,

"This is the key to your new house, although you are married, but you are not a regular worker, you don't have a house, but you are doing well, I will not be a bad person. ”

As soon as he heard that he had a house, Wang Youmu smiled on his face, and hurriedly said to Li Laifu

"Thank you, district chief, thank you!"

Li Laifu looked at him and said with a smile

"Don't thank me, I don't have so much power, your house is specially approved by the mine manager, you kid doesn't know whose back door it is, the background is very deep, I know the location of the house is good, and it is not far from the work area." ”

Hearing that it was the mine manager again, Wang Youmu still didn't understand what was going on, but he wanted to wait until his salary was paid to buy a cigarette, thank you for the mine manager's care, Li Laifu continued

"You go to the Ministry of Mines to find a phone call to your family, see when they have time to come over as soon as possible, I won't give you the key now, you go down to work in the mine with peace of mind after you make the call, I will arrange someone to clean up the house for you, and you will come to me to get the key after work." ”

Wang Youmu excitedly ran to the Ministry of Mines to call his brother's office, telling him to inform his wife that Xu Qiuli's house was already available and that he could come here at any time.

After getting off work, he hurriedly took a shower, changed his clothes, went directly to Li Laifu to get the key, and found his new home according to what Li Laifu said.

This is a small courtyard, as soon as you enter the courtyard there is a house on the south side, Wang Youmu saw a four or five-year-old girl playing there at the door of the house, a lump of mud in the water on the ground has become the child's toy, his new house is three small houses on the north side, he walked over and opened the door with a key, the room is seven or eight square meters, it is the largest one, the suite on the left hand is the bedroom, the right hand is the kitchen, the whole house is empty, only the middle one has an iron stove, the bedroom is against the wall of the middle room, it is a very big fire wall, and there is a stove in the other kitchen。

Wang Youmu was very satisfied, thinking that he would pay his salary just tomorrow, and he would find a way to take leave the day after tomorrow to go to the market in City C to buy all the daily necessities he needed at one time.

After work the next day, he first asked Li Laifu to tell him that he wanted to take a day off to buy things, Li Laifu agreed, and told him that he could help him find a coal car and talk about it, and help him bring everything up by the way when the empty car came up, which made Wang Youmu thank Li Laifu for a long time.

Coming out of the district mayor's office, he went straight to the financial room on the first floor, he had already calculated his salary in his heart, he was full this month, the new workers were all fourth-level workers, plus the pit fee, he should be able to receive more than 50 yuan this month, thinking in his heart, what a lot of money!

After entering the financial room, the whole room was already crowded with people, people did not need to queue, just put their private seals on the clerk's table to line up, Wang Youmu put his private seal on the table behind the long snake array, stood aside and waited quietly.

The two new workers who came with Wang Youmu in front of them, one received eleven yuan, and the other only received more than nine yuan, and Deputy District Chief Guo, who was sitting there, said to them

"What are you going to eat this month? I don't work well, my pants have to be sold for food, I don't go down the mine all day long, I either sleep with my head covered, or I wander around the ground a few times, can you have a hair, even if your father is the mine manager, you have to go hungry." ”

The two new workers lowered their heads to their waists and left in embarrassment.

At this time, the clerk picked up Wang Youmu's seal, pressed it on the salary list, and threw him a stack of money. Wang Youmu didn't even order it, and left the financial room in his arms.

He still has to go back to the dormitory to sleep today, there is nothing in his new home, when he passed by the shop next to the mine, he saw Zhao Wenbin standing there, he and Zhao Wenbin have been working together for a month, but the two of them have not spoken much, every time the scaffold, he always tries his best to help him, but that's all.

Zhao Wenbin stood at the door of the store as if hesitating about something, and finally walked in, the owner of the store was a woman in her forties, and when she saw Zhao Wenbin come in, her face immediately became gloomy, and she said to Zhao Wenbin

"You're endless, I'm a store, not a almshouse. ”

"Sister, you can do it, I really can't bear it at home, the big one is okay, and the small one hasn't stuttered for two days. Zhao Wenbin said softly

"Zhao Wenbin, what I should have said has already been said, I'm a store, and besides, isn't it a salary today?" the woman asked

"Eldest sister, you know my situation, the big one is sick, my salary is low, and I have already paid for medicine in advance. ”

"Zhao Wenbin, you don't pretend to be pitiful here at the old lady, who told you to be a ZCJJ pup, this is the end of being an enemy of the people, I told you, what I gave you on credit in front of me is that I kindly fed the wild dogs on the street, if you don't leave, I will call the people of the Revolutionary Committee." ”

Wang Youmu has been standing by and watching all this, I don't know why he suddenly had a feeling that someone was stabbing him in the heart with a knife, he took out his salary from his pocket, counted out twenty yuan, walked over and handed it to Zhao Wenbin, and said

"I almost forgot, this is the last time I borrowed your money, I paid my salary, and I paid it back to you. ”

After speaking, Wang Youmu strode out of the store, listening to Zhao Wenbin shouting from behind, "Wang Youmu, you wait!",

Instead, he quickened his pace and trotted back to his dormitory.

The next day, he went to City C as planned to buy everything he needed, and after coming back in the afternoon, he cleaned up for the afternoon, he still went back to the dormitory to sleep, he didn't want to live in a new house, he had to wait for his wife Xu Qiuli to come, and live with his wife in this new home that belongs to them.

Every day before going down the mine, he would give the key to the new house to the duty room of the mine office, tell the old man on duty to give her the key if anyone was looking for him, and give the old man a box of cigarettes every day, telling him that it was best to take his wife to his new home.

After work on the fifth day, as usual, he took a shower and changed his clothes, went to the duty room to ask, it turned out that his wife had come, and the old man personally took his wife to his new home.

Wang Youmu walked briskly towards his new home, crossed the railway, and saw from a distance that there was a curling smoke rising from the chimney of the house on the north side of his yard......