No matter how late he slept at night, the keeper Heng Lao Ba was scheduled to wake up at five o'clock. When I woke up, I mixed the grass and added the fodder, and fed the first trough of hay of the day in the morning, so that the livestock could go to the set.

He woke up and it was dark in the room. The lights in the breeding room were usually kept out all night, but in the middle of the night the power went out? The room was very quiet, and there was no sound of chains without reins hitting the cement troughs, no noise of mules and horses kicking, and no sound of cows grinding their teeth as they chewed. On the other side of the kang, the thunderous snoring of Yang San, the partner who feeds the cows, is gone, only the sound of rats squirming on the wooden building where the wheat grass is stored.

When Heng Laoba sat up, he suddenly remembered that after yesterday, the team had already raised livestock to the households. The two troughs of mules, horses, cows and donkeys have now been scattered to the homes of the members of the club to raise. He slept here last night, and the captain had sent him to guard the farm tools, forage, and sundries that he had not had time to remove, for fear that someone might steal them at night.

The eight old men turned on the electric light and stood in front of the trough. The cattle pens that used to be crowded by cattle and horses were empty. The bottom of the cement trough, which has been licked and polished by the mouths and tongues of cows and horses, remains of wheat straw and grain stalks gnawed by livestock. The feces in the circle were frozen hard, and the water tank was covered with a layer of thin ice.

What are you doing when you're busy getting up? It's dark outside the window, and there is a faint rooster crow, so you can sleep a little more. There was no fire in the house, it was cold. He went into the bed again, turned out the light, lay down in his clothes, closed his eyes, but could not fall asleep again......

The numbered pieces of paper, stamped with the captain's personal seal, were crumpled into a ball, mixed with many blank pieces of paper kneaded into a ball of paper, and put together in a bowl, shaking and stirring. The captain took the bowl and walked up to the head of each farmer's household, and they picked one out at random...... The person who caught the blank paper ball sighed loudly, and even cursed that he was unlucky, and his hands were too smelly! An ox, a mule, and a horse were drawn out of the gate, and walked over the field where the grass was piled up in the fall, and went down the downhill path into the village.

The team checked the price of the livestock, which was much lower than the price of the livestock trading market, and it was paid off in three years. Who doesn't want to catch a horse, even if it's a cow! If you can catch a cow, you will have a calf next year, and after three years, you will earn a cow for nothing......

I don't know which dynasty left the magic method of drawing lots, which has always been the only magic weapon for the old captain of Yangzhuang to deal with the shortage of materials. In the past, the sows in the team gave birth to cubs and drew lots. Occasionally, the superiors assigned bicycles, sewing machines, or wood to draw lots. Divide the land reserved for themselves, the field of responsibility, and draw lots. A recruitment quota that has not been encountered in ten years is still being drawn. Whether it is fair or not, only the lot knows. Many disputes can be resolved authoritatively. The good old man was the captain, and in order to avoid being scolded and angry, he grabbed lots and helped. Although he didn't get a single livestock, Heng Laoba didn't complain about the captain. The captain himself didn't catch it!

"Old eight, you ...... tonight Sleep another night in the vivarium. "After dividing the livestock," said the captain.

"What are you sleeping here?" Heng Lao Ba looked at the cow and went to the empty feeding shed.

"Guarding the property. ”

"You send someone else!" suddenly thought of what it would be like to sleep at night in a breeding room without livestock!

"Your bedding is still there, save others trouble......

After dinner, the eighth child, as usual, walked along the path to the feedlot far away from the village under the dim starlight. He sat on the kang, smoking pot after pot of dry tobacco, hoping that someone would come here and gossip, until he undressed and fell on his pillow, and no one came to knock on the door. In the old days, the vivarium was a gossip station in the village. Only the son of his partner Yang San hurriedly came in, took his old son's roll, and turned around and left without stopping. Yang San caught a good cow in his hand, and he must be busy in the house at the moment to clean up the sheds and forage, and take care of his precious livestock!

The cow that Yang San caught was bred by a local cow and a purebred Qinchuan bull, with a large skeleton, thick legs and a short neck, and a large plough pulled by himself...... The eight old men had already prayed in their hearts that it would be nice if they could catch this cow, but it was a pity...... When the cow arrived at Yang San's house, it was scheduled to be fat, and next year it was scheduled to give birth to a calf. What kind of vigorous style should be in someone's courtyard...... He was jealous that Yang San was coming.

Yang San only fed livestock for two years, but caught a good cow. Heng Lao Ba has been feeding livestock for 19 years. In the year of "Melon and Vegetable Generation", most of the livestock in the team died, and in order to save the remaining seven or eight heads, the captain privately distributed them to the members' homes for maintenance. The raising is good, but the superior is not allowed to divide, and it is immediately called the groove. The crowd unanimously elected him as a breeder. After the discussion of the cadres and members, in order to make it easier to fertilize the fields on the original slope, they gritted their teeth and moved the farm from the village to the slope.

From the newly built farm to the small Yangzhuang, there are two miles of slopes. On the grassy ground, he trodden a narrow path. The rain softened the path, and the mud was scattered. The wind had dried the path again, hardened, and the foothills had been trampled flat again. Day and night, the sound of cows and horses chewing grass is as harmonious and pleasant as music. The smell of cow and horse feces and forage penetrated into the nostrils and into the cloth eyes of clothes and trousers......

This life is over today! From tomorrow onwards, he will have to work in his own field of responsibility. For nineteen years, he slept in this breeding room on the original slope, and in the summer he slept on the flat field outside the door, often hearing the cries of wolves and foxes in the ravine of the hillside. Thinking about it, he felt that there was no place to be sorry for the members. The seven or eight animals that were gathered together have become twenty now, and the mules and calves that were sold are impossible to remember. It's a pity that I didn't catch one......

In the cracks of the straw curtains hanging from the wooden lattice windows, a faint light shines. There was a heavy squeaking sound in the mountains, accompanied by the creaking of wheels, and it resounded on the path behind the house. Who got up so early to work?

As soon as he heard others working, Heng Laoba couldn't lie down. He turned on the electric light, slipped off the kang, and walked to the door with the cloth belt around his waist. He pulled the latch open, and a cold wind of early winter rushed in his face, shivered, and walked out the door. The grass spread out on the field was covered with frost. The elm and tsubaki trees on the ground also bear a thick layer of hoarfrost on the branches that have lost their leaves. The gray mist permeated the slopes and ditches, and the treetops of the village were not visible above the ridge of the roof, and on the path leading from the village to the original slope, there were people bowing their waists and pushing wheelbarrows, and in front of them there were mothers-in-law or daughters with ropes hanging from their shoulders. That's Yang Yunshan! Dog thing, the No. 1 lazy person in Yangzhuang, an expert in mixed labor division, just a package of production to the household, the sky is unknown, and the dung is pushed uphill. The diligent people are not conspicuous, and the lazy people are more active than the average farmer. Good!

The eight old men watched with disdain until the lazy man and his mother-in-law turned into a terraced field. He wanted to laugh and scold the kid a few words, but he didn't open his mouth when he thought about it. When anyone is the captain, the lazy people can earn the first share of the whole team, and the effort is the least. The most prosperous years for lazy people were the period when singing and dancing began to work in the countryside...... Okay! When a package of production arrives at the household, the lazy people can no longer find a gap in the division of mixed labor! Look, that kid is really working, and he is full of energy! Since the lazy people have hurried to apply winter fertilizer to the responsible fields, can a serious cropper like Heng Laoba still be able to stop? Go back, go back quickly. "Gold in winter, silver on wax, and dung on the first month is coaxing. "If it snows again, the dung won't get into the ground.

Heng Lao Ba turned around and walked back to the house, rolled up the quilt, tucked it under his armpit, walked through the narrow aisle between the fire kang and the trough gang, and after fulfilling the duty of guarding the breeding room for the last night, he was about to say goodbye forever. Looking back, the ground was sprinkled with grass clippings, and the dirt and pieces of paper that had been thrown away from the feet of the crowd during the ballot of livestock yesterday were so uncomfortable. The old man turned around, threw the quilt onto the kang, scooped up the bamboo broom in the corner of the wall, swept the grass left in the livestock trough, and then swept it from the west end to the door. He put down his broom and scooped up his shovel to shovel out the pile. As soon as he bent down, his shoulder was struck so hard that the shovel fell to the ground—a red horse, with his head raised, rushed through the door and into the circle.

Heng Lao Ba stood in place in a daze, staring at the red horse breaking into the circle, running straight to the No. 3 slot where it was usually tethered, sticking his head into the trough, swaying from side to side, looking for forage, snorting, and raising his head suddenly, looking at Lao Ba, probably complaining about why he didn't add grass to it.

The old man's nose was sour, he couldn't move his feet, and stood dumbfounded. The red horse ran out of the circle disappointed, dragging the reins under his hooves, standing in front of the eight, putting his hairy head against his shoulders, arching his hands with his warm mouth, and kicking on the ground with his four hooves.

The eight old men looked at the broad cheeks of the red horse, slowly bent down, picked up the reins that were dragged on the ground, and quietly wiped away the tears that had welled up in his eyes. When the red horse was born, the old horse died, and he was fed it with his own goat's milk (the team decided to pay him five dimes a day). This mare has already given birth to three mules for the Yangzhuang production team.

"Ha, I expected it to be here!" As soon as the eighth old man looked up, Yang Dahai, the owner of the red horse, walked in from the door and said with a smile.

"It's been a whole night. Hey, yes, I couldn't close my eyes all night. Uncle Ba, what do you think, eight hundred yuan, can I sleep?" Yang Dahai grinned and said with emotion, "At dawn, I fed it a scoop of material, and when it settled down, I lay down." As soon as the doll opened the street door when it went to school, it broke the reins and ran straight here!"

"Hmm!" Heng Lao Ba heard this, and a sour thing surged in his heart. The red horse is probably not used to spending the sun and the moon in the narrow living room of the sea family, the horse is very emotional!

Yang Dahai said that he was close to stroking the mane of the red horse draped around his neck. The red horse shook his head vigilantly, refusing to move the sea. The sea laughed and said, "It kisses you! ”

"Feed the horses better, and slowly get used to it!" Heng Lao Ba handed the reins to the sea and said, "Go back!"

"Alas, if only I could catch a cow!" said the sea, taking the reins, "'eight hundred pieces' are tied to the pen, and I am worried when I go out." People say that horses are like embroidery. I can't go out because I have my hands and feet tied! The woman's family is okay with feeding the cows, and it is difficult for the tall goods to serve......"

The words are the truth, the words of the eight old Han believe in the sea. Dahai is a carpenter, who builds houses in other villages all the year round to do work, and is mostly away from home, and a woman in the house wants to raise a horse, which is enough to choke. In case of poor care, the loss is not three or two.

"If only you could catch this red horse, that would be great. You don't go out all year round, and you're a livestock. What is the income of a foal a year?" said the sea, "but it caught me again." ”

Lie! The eight old men affirmed in their hearts. Yesterday, as soon as the sea caught the red horse, he didn't even stop for a single step and pulled it back to the house. Even if he really didn't want to raise it, he wouldn't transfer the horse to someone else for fear of delaying his way to build a house and earn money. Dare to say that a first-class livestock like a red horse, as soon as it is listed, it will be sold for more than 1,000 and 2, and the net fish will be 400, is the sea stupid?

"That'...... You transfer the old uncle's raising!" The eighth deliberately wanted to test the shrewd sea, "What's the matter?"

"Hey, hey, hey!" the sea laughed, stopped talking, and said after a while, "I'll make do for the time being." Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey......"

"Let's go, we're both busy. ”

Watching the sea pull the red horse, out of the door, scolding the staggering red horse, down the slope, he turned around, locked the door with a bang, carried the quilt, and walked out of the compound of the feedlot.

It was dawning, and the gray fog that was common in early winter mornings seemed to be thicker. On the dirt road leading from the village to the terraced fields of the plain slope, men and women are already shuttling back and forth with carts to carry the burdens. The land is under the households, and the cadres are idle. No need to ring the bell or urge, look at the crazy energy on the legs and feet of men and women!

Heng Lao Ba went downhill, and just arrived at the entrance of the village, his wife came to him: "Don't you take a look, everyone gives dung on the wheat field, you are good, sleep until this time!"

"Let's go too!" said the eighth child, "and we'll do it when we go back." ”

My wife is wise, and she doesn't talk anymore, she turns around and leaves.

"Eighth uncle-" Yuqin ran and shouted, blocking in front of her, "My scalper, don't eat grass, you go and take a look-"

Heng Laoba looked at Yuqin's scattered hair, his panicked look, and his heart softened. The man works in the county supply and marketing cooperative, and she and her mother-in-law dragged the two dolls, but fortunately they had to raise cattle. A middle-aged daughter-in-law in her early thirties has probably never fed livestock!

Without waiting for the eighth child to speak, the eighth aunt turned around: "Each family has planted its own land, and the sun and moon of each family have passed." He went to your house to see a cow sick, who will give him a credit for work?"

"You-" Lao Ba glared, staring at his wife, such a heartless word, he could actually say it, and said that she was virtuous!

"Good Aunt Eight, Uncle Eight Treats Cows, Delay the work, I-" Yuqin said embarrassedly, "I'll give you the sole of your shoes--top mile!"

"Clean nonsense!" the old man shook his head and waved his hand, "where did the words go?" ”

"Hey, I'm joking!" the eighth aunt smiled reluctantly, and turned to leave.

In the bright room in the middle of the three large houses, one bright and two dark, it used to be a place to entertain visitors, but now the big oxen are tied, the hay is temporarily stirred in the wooden basin for washing the grain, and the feces and urine of the ox are piled on the ground.

Yuqin's mother-in-law stood in the courtyard and complained to her daughter-in-law in a panic: "I said that we don't have male laborers in our family, and we can't raise cattle." The grass is in a circle, the grass is mixed in the middle of the night, you are in a house, how can you afford it! Yuqin didn't listen, so she had to catch lots. Look at it, it's ...... good now."

"You muttered to me first, and let the eighth uncle show the cow. Yuqin confronted her mother-in-law, "If your son can earn back seventy or eighty in a month, I won't like this trouble!"

The old woman pouted and stood silent.

Yuqin's man worked in the county supply and marketing cooperative, earning forty or fifty yuan. The old ones in the house, the small ones, are overdrawn by more than 100 every year. This strong daughter-in-law, raising pigs and chickens at home, working to earn points, is more difficult than a man. Looking at the fact that others are rushing to catch lots, she knows that the price of cattle and horses is cheaper than that in the market, and she also catches a cow as soon as she catches it. The eighth uncle is very much in favor of this pungent and hard-working young daughter-in-law. He didn't want to participate in the dispute between his mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, so he walked straight to the scalper.

Lao Bayi grabbed the cow's nose plug, pulled out the cow's tongue with one hand, looked at the color, let go, pinched the cow's belly again, touched the ears, turned around, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law stood there stunned, with no atmosphere. He took a cloth clip from his waist, drew a three-edged needle, grabbed the ox's ear, bled it, and ordered: "Take two rotten soles and light a fire." ”

Lao Ba took the soles handed by Yuqin, roasted them on the wheat straw fire lit by the old woman, until the soles were hot, and then pressed them on the belly of the yellow cow, rubbing them back and forth.

"You do what I do, and you iron it like that. Lao Ba told Yuqin, "When it's time for breakfast, I'll come back and have a look, and it'll be fine." If not, pull it to the veterinarian station. ”

"You go, Eighth Uncle-" Yuqin said worriedly, "I'm afraid-"

"I'm afraid, it's okay. The eighth smiled and said with relief, "Niu suffered a little cold at night and was not seriously ill." Clean up the house in the back. ”

"It's okay. "The old woman came from the stove with a bowl, "You have something to eat." ”

"What are you talking about!" Lao Ba glanced at the bowl handed to his chest, calmly three poached eggs, and loudly declined. How many times he healed the minor injuries and illnesses of cattle and horses in the breeding room, that's all it takes. Performing a small operation on the livestock of the members of the club was treated like this, which really made the eight old men sigh with emotion. He exclaimed, "Give it to the doll!" I'm an old man, what are I doing with eggs?"

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law couldn't keep it, so they followed on the left and right, saying words of gratitude to Dade and sent them to the door. The eight old men received such a sincere send-off, but felt awkward, as soon as they went out of the street, they didn't look back, only waved their hands, and strode away.

Heng Laoba walked with his hands behind his back and in the streets of Yangzhuang. Walking to the gate of Yang Shewa's courtyard, he saw Yang Da Lao, who was nearly seventy years old, coming out of the door with a pair of cages. Yang Shewa, who had no conscience, threw the lonely Lao Tzu in the old house, and led her mother-in-law and son to live in the three new houses newly built. How did the old man Yang go in and out of his son's new house? Didn't he shout at his son in the streets of Yangzhuang for being a "mongrel"?

Yang Da threw down the cage and beckoned to the eighth.

"You see if the dog is a ghost!" Yang Da said, "Yesterday he caught a cow and ran over before it got dark, pulled me over, and asked me to live with him!"

"Hmm!" the eighth was really unexpected.

"You want us to be a groom for him!" the boss pointed out sharply, "You should be that kid's conscience to find out!"

"Then why are you coming?" asked the old man with a smile.

"Alas, it's always our seed!" said the boss rudely, "and we can't get over it when we see that he can't handle the livestock." Besides, the baby bowed her head and admitted that she was wrong, and the mother-in-law was also ...... Alas, what are you angry with your children!"

"Yes, yes, yes!" said the eighth in agreement, "always my own flesh and blood!"

"He wants someone to take care of the livestock, and I want to have a hot meal. The boss said, "It's a fool to die!"

The boss's tone was pleasant, and the eighth could hear and see that this was really a piece of news in Yangzhuang! Everyone was vying for work, and the eighth felt an unusual atmosphere floating in the alleys of Yangzhuang Village.

"Just now, Secretary Zheng of the commune met me at the door and asked you how you are!" said the boss, "maybe I am waiting for you in your house right now." ”

"Secretary Zheng, what are you looking for me to do?" said the eighth child, "What else do you have to do now?"

Lao Ba knocked the ashes and walked towards the west end of the village, and saw Secretary Zheng standing in front of the dung heap at the door of his house, helping his wife break the frozen dung lumps, and talking about something with a smile. As a model breeder, Secretary Zheng has worn flowers and issued awards to him, and he is still pasted on the front wall of the house. Now, the land has been planted separately, the livestock has been raised separately, and Secretary Zheng has come to the village, what else can he do?

"Lao Yang, listening to the sea, you saw the red horse and shed tears?" Secretary Zheng laughed, "Really?"

The eighth grinned and smiled embarrassedly.

"I believe it, you have worked hard for those four-legged legs, and you have feelings!" Secretary Zheng squatted down and took out his cigarette pouch, "I think, can you Yangzhuang not distinguish between livestock? Those teams that have been divided into slots have advantages and disadvantages." The good thing is that everyone is well managed, and the livestock will definitely be able to be raised. The downside is that there are a lot of troubles for every family, especially those who don't have a male worker. If you don't raise livestock, the land is not easy to grow; raising it, it's very troublesome and laborious! I would like to try it in Yangzhuang, is it better to raise livestock collectively? Here, with you as an old model, other teams can't compare. ”

"It's already divided. The eighth said, "It's good to divide it." ”

"I'm a step late. Secretary Zheng said, "Forget it." ”

"The land is not divided into households, and the livestock are not divided!" said the eighth child, "It is not easy to use and distribute." ”

He gave Secretary Zheng an example-

Last year, the team selected two calves of livestock for the members to plant their own land. When it was Yang Chuanke's turn, the guy pulled away the livestock for some reason, and he didn't see it until midnight and sent it back, so anxious that the eight old men rushed to the ground, God, the old ox was so tired that he couldn't get up in the furrow, Yang Chuanchuan held the whip in his hand, and the cow burst out of the meat beam after whipping, and there was a foot-long saliva in his mouth, and he was soaked.

"If you think about it, now that the land is down, every household has more land. Can't you do it if you don't divide it?" Lao Ba recounted this incident that made him sad, and told Secretary Zheng angrily, "The day before yesterday, the captain asked my opinion and asked if the livestock were divided. If you divide your own family, you know how to cherish livestock, otherwise, there will be more than a few miles of fighting!"

Secretary Zheng nodded and agreed with Lao Ba's opinion: "This is the main reason why each team divides livestock. ”

"The problem is that many young people in their thirties don't feed livestock, especially tall goods (mules and horses). Secretary Zheng added, "The problem is very common. I came today and would like to invite you to our commune radio station to talk about the Ox and Horse Sutra. ”

"I can't speak......" Lao Ba was really panicked.

"Many people have asked you to talk about it!" Secretary Zheng said, "I still want to set up an amateur agricultural school! The land is contracted to the households, and the members of the society are eager to ask for scientific farming! In the past, they earned unworried jobs and planted crops in a daze, and once the land was distributed to the households, many young people could not even grasp the thinning of the seedlings, and they said that the yield was high. ”

"It's the truth!" said the eighth.

"I still have to find the captain to help the members arrange the livestock sheds, and I can't just leave it alone. Secretary Zheng said, "A word is a certainty, come to the commune tomorrow night, and I will wait for you at the radio station." Two dollars an hour of lectures, pay according to the professorial level!"

The sun had risen to the blue sky, the fog had cleared, the winter sun was warm and brilliant, the firewood piles in the streets, the earthen walls of the houses, the red or blue house tiles, and the bare branches of the trees were all bathed in a brilliant morning light.

"I'll discuss something with you. Walking into the room, Heng Lao Ba squatted in front of the stove, lit a dry cigarette against the flame that put out the stove, and said to his wife, "We have to buy cows." ”

"Where's the money?" the wife stopped pulling the bellows.

"Isn't it?"

"That's for the baby to get married. ”

"Half a year. The eighth said, "Buy cattle first." The farmer doesn't raise cattle, so what do you catch?"

"That's a lump of money!"

"Hold on for now. One calf is raised in one year, and it turns over in two years. At present, the production is contracted everywhere, and the price of cattle is rising month by month. The eighth said, "Don't worry, I don't have the ability to do it, feed the cow, hey ......."

The wife stood up from under the stove, opened the lid of the pot, took out a bowl of poached eggs, and put it in front of the eighth child.

"Eat! Eat energetically, and then run all over the village to show the cattle and horses......"

The eighth child smiled and narrowed his eyes like a child.

It was rescheduled to Yan'an on May 15, 1982