The hard work is far beyond Ji Ye's imagination, before starting work, Ji Ye once semi-ironically said that Li Shouxian is more careful than a woman's heart. As soon as the actual work began, the problem of insufficient preparation for work was exposed one by one.

The bamboo forest is on the hill south of the market town, and Li Shouxian has inspected the terrain around the area since he arrived at Lijiaji. Not only Li Shouxian, but other comrades, including Ji Ye, also inspected the terrain. To Ji Ye's surprise, at dawn the next day, Li Shouxian took everyone to inspect again.

"Captain Li, haven't we been there once?" Ji Ye was puzzled by such a meaningless repetitive work.

"We went there some time ago." Li Shouxian corrected Ji Ye's words very implicitly.

"Why do you want to go now?" Ji Ye was very puzzled.

"I don't know if anything has changed recently." Li Shouxian replied.

For such a mother-in-law's behavior, Ji Ye was extremely puzzled. Even more puzzling, the team was divided into two groups, carrying ropes and sticks, and marched along two separate paths leading to the mountain. Since I had only been there not long ago, the scenery and road conditions along the way seemed to be the same as in Ji Ye's memory. Maybe it's because of the heavy luggage, Ji Ye feels that the road this time seems to be much longer than last time.

But walking on the mountain road, Ji Ye was surprised to find that there were suddenly many villagers on the originally deserted mountain. They seem to be "wandering" aimlessly on the mountain. Ji Ye immediately became alert, and what made her even more uneasy was that some people were holding some wooden sticks and ropes or something, as if they wanted to do something strange.

"Captain Lee!" Ji Ye asked Li Shouxian in a low voice.

"It's fine." Li Shouxian comforted.

The crowd on the hill also saw Li Shouxian, and they showed embarrassed expressions on their faces, or simply pretended to turn a blind eye. Li Shouxian didn't pay attention to these people at all, he turned around the mountain for a long time, and finally pointed to a large piece of bamboo and said, "Comrade Ji Ye, let's fence this bamboo forest together." ”

A large part of Ji Ye's attention was not on Li Shouxian, some of the people on the mountain sneakily followed the two of them, and some of them couldn't see it anymore. Listening to Li Shouxian's words, Ji Ye asked nervously, "Captain Li, what do they want to do?" ”

"Maybe it's up in the mountains." Li Shouxian didn't care about these things at all, he just took out a revolver and handed it to Ji Ye.

The revolver was beautiful, with a dense blue-black layer on the body. Ji Ye gritted his teeth and asked, "Do you want to fight?" ”

"What kind of battle, comrade." Li Shouxian couldn't help but smile and said, "Those folks just came up to see if we were there." If we're not there, people think we're talking nonsense, not really buying bamboo. The folks are diligent. In addition to seeing if we are there, the villagers also stopped by to see which good bamboo forest they could circle first. If they decide to participate, wouldn't it be more convenient to get closer to the bottom of the mountain? ”

"Then what are you giving me a gun for?" Ji Ye was puzzled by this.

"Don't you feel scared? Give you a gun to be brave. And you're a girl, and you look good with a gun. Li Shouxian replied while unloading the holster and handing it to Ji Ye.

The pigskin belt with the holster attached to it is indeed very good-looking, at least in Ji Ye's opinion, it is very imposing, and it also gives her a lot of security. The two of them began to surround a large bamboo forest with ropes. While they were busy, another team of comrades had already rushed over. The situation they brought was the same as here, and there were already people on the mountain.

The felled bamboo forests were identified, and the roads were identified. Leaving two comrades to guard, Ji Ye insisted on going back with Li Shouxian to lead the villagers. Being alone in the mountains made her feel uneasy. In the barren mountains and mountains, if someone plotted against ......, Ji Ye felt scared when he thought of this.

Li Shouxian walked back and said: "Comrade Ji Ye, to judge whether there is hostility or not, you must first judge what the other party is planning. Is it stopping us from cutting bamboo? Or block the road and ask for tolls? None of this is possible now. I'm not saying they can't do it. No one is leading the way in doing this kind of thing now. And for the sake of these hundred sets of farm tools, it is not worth it. ”

"You think these people are going to rob you?" Ji Ye couldn't help but ask. Her uneasiness is actually an indescribable uneasiness, and she has to specify the content of the uneasiness, which is really beyond Ji Ye's ability.

"Robbery is about efficiency, and what we rob is either what we must need, and they take it, and we are forced to buy it. There is no shortage of these 10,000 bamboos all over the mountains. If you want to close the road, this mountain forest is not for the masses. This mountain belongs to the county, and if we beat away the Manchu Qing Dynasty, it will be ours. There is no explanation for the road closure. You don't have to be afraid. Li Shouxian replied.

"Then what if someone plots to kidnap us?" Ji Ye knew that there were bandits kidnapping in the mountains.

Li Shouxian was really helpless about Ji Ye's timidity, and he smiled: "What about kidnapping us, not to mention whether these people exist or not, or whether they can be kidnapped." Even if we are kidnapped, the party and the government will definitely come to our rescue. ”

"What if ......" Ji Ye was actually frightened by Li Shouxian's possible analysis of the danger, and she felt that the gloomy bamboo forest gave her an extremely uneasy feeling.

Li Shouxian was defeated by Ji Ye, and he said helplessly: "There is nothing in case, what kind of revolution is this when you are afraid of wolves and tigers." And the kidnapping is for money, what property does our team have? Are we wearing gold and silver, silk and satin? Or do we have a bunch of luggage in big boxes and small boxes? Bandits with brains must know that it is not good to provoke us in the long run. Brainless bandits robbed us, and there was no immediate benefit. What are you afraid of? ”

"But there are always bad guys." Ji Ye became more and more uneasy when he was said.

"There are two kinds of bad guys, one is to set rules that harm people. As soon as you go to their territory, they will use this bad rule against you. We've already killed a lot of these bad guys since we arrived in Guangde County, so don't be afraid of them. The other kind of bad guy is the small profit in front of him, and can't help but reach out and get something that is not their own. Therefore, our team has nothing of value on them, and we don't give them the opportunity to do bad things. The most important thing is that now Guangde County is far from being forced to that share, and it is impossible to be full of bad people. Speaking of this, Li Shouxian's voice suddenly became low, and his face became very cold.

"Why didn't you force it to that one?" Ji Ye is just a seventeen-year-old child, and it hasn't been long since she "wandered the rivers and lakes", and when she heard what Li Shouxian said, she couldn't help but get to the bottom of it.

"Nothing! Do your job. Li Shouxian suddenly shouted angrily.

Fang Cai's gentle and reasonable exposition suddenly became full of malice, Ji Ye had never been yelled at in such a disgusting tone since she was a child, she first stopped and was stunned on the spot, and suddenly her nose was sore, and her eyes were red.

Li Shouxian took two more steps before he saw that Ji Ye hadn't followed, stopped his steps, and turned his head to look at Ji Ye. Li Shouxian let out a long sigh with a straight face, "Comrade Ji Ye, have you ever seen after the flood?" ”

Seeing that Ji Ye covered his mouth and didn't speak, Li Shouxian changed his words, "You should have seen selling children and daughters in disaster years." The poor can't live a good life, so they sell their children, firstly, because adults can live, and secondly, after the children are sold to others, they can also live. However, after the flood, it was impossible to survive by selling children and daughters. Nobody buys it. At that time, I didn't do bad things for anything else, but for myself to live one and a half days more, and rob others of two mouthfuls of food. If you rob someone to eat two mouthfuls, the person who is robbed will starve to death. At that time, there was nothing left within a radius of hundreds of miles, and Guanyin soil could not be dug up. Even if you grab a few bites to eat, that thing is something that pigs don't usually eat and dogs don't eat. ”

Li Shouxian struggled to survive in the floods of Anhui, which covered a vast area from Anhui, eastern Henan to northern Jiangsu, and caused the death of millions of people. The remnants of the family were ruthlessly destroyed by death caused by starvation, and finally managed to get to the base area of Fengtai County to survive. As soon as he thought of that tragic experience, Li Shouxian's heart felt like a thousand pounds of boulder.

This is the reason why Li Shouxian couldn't help but express malice towards Ji Ye, and that hellish experience makes people shudder when they think about it.

Ji Ye had never experienced that kind of suffering, and she couldn't imagine what that terrible scene looked like. The only thing that is certain is that Li Shouxian's malice is not aimed at himself. This made Ji Ye feel a lot better.

"There's a lot of work to do, so let's go back and prepare." Li Shouxian dropped this sentence and went in the direction of Li Jiaji without looking back.

Yesterday, with the mobilization of three groups of members of the task force, a total of 10 families came out to cut bamboo. Neither Li Shouxian nor other comrades expected that these families would be almost men, women, and children going out together. A large bamboo has a diameter of more than 10 centimeters and a height of more than 10 meters. When the bamboo and jade trees stood there in the wind, they didn't feel anything. After cutting down the bamboo with the axe provided by the team, when the bamboo was mouldered, I felt that it was really heavy. Although the comrades did not participate in the work of cutting down the moso bamboo, it did not mean that everyone stood by and watched as supervisors, helping to pile up the chopped moso bamboos together, and cut the bamboo branches on the moso bamboo with a cutter.

Everyone was working hard, and the masses did not react to the BJP's entry into labor. When it was time to eat, the People's Party brought out rice stewed with bamboo chestnuts, salted vegetables and duck eggs, and canned meat in large glass bottles to share with the people. At this time, the masses took the initiative to express their gratitude. However, without saying a few words of thanks, the bamboo chopsticks in everyone's hands ran quickly, and the meat, salted duck eggs, and vegetables rich in salt and chili peppers were put into their mouths, and then they buried their heads in eating the white rice mixed with chestnuts.

Ji Ye secretly looked at the food brought by the masses, which was mixed with wild vegetables and chestnut rice, and the green vegetable juice stained the rice ugly, and the food was not only of poor quality, but also not much in quantity. Although the team does not eat very well, they can still eat duck eggs and meat twice a week thanks to the farms near the county seat. Even if Ji Ye's family is not poor, she can't eat meat so openly. So Ji Ye couldn't help but look up at Li Shouxian, who was eating slowly with a calm face, she really couldn't imagine whether Li Shouxian had really been tortured by hunger as he said.

After the bamboo is cut, it will be transported, and the problem of road arrangement will be exposed. There is a path from the mountain to the bottom of the mountain, and even if it is a "path", it is stepped on by people. This kind of trail definitely pursues the efficiency and convenience of a single line. Dragging and carrying such heavy objects as large bamboos makes the path completely unsuitable. How to choose a road that is convenient for transportation is a big problem. The three of the men, who were not tall, carried a large bundle of bamboos and walked six or seven miles along the winding path to return to Lijiaji.

Ji Ye also tried to carry a bamboo and walked for a while, but it was okay at first. It didn't take long for her to feel the stiff bamboo pressing down on her shoulders, and as she walked, the elastic bamboo bumped up and down and even sliding, making her shoulders hurt even more. had to slow down his pace, Ji Ye walked slowly on the mountain road, and was soon left behind by the men in front.

Not only were they left behind by male labor, but those female people also carried the bamboo and walked on the mountain road, and soon Ji Ye also fell behind them. Ji Ye is a person who has been on the battlefield, the battlefield seems terrifying, and when he is really in the middle of it, everyone only knows how to shoot, roar, or run forward, or retreat. I was hit by a bullet and that's it. The frantic atmosphere of the battlefield draws everyone in, forcing you to face the battlefield and turn into beasts fighting each other on the battlefield. Because it is so close to death, it is easy to escape death by forgetting it.

But this is not the case at all when it comes to labor, the road is fixed, and the object of labor is fixed. All that is needed is inescapable exhaustion and even pain. insisted on walking for a while, and the pain in his shoulder made Ji Ye feel hot in his eyes. Six or seven miles seemed to be at the end of the road, the soles of his feet wearing straw sandals felt painful, a gust of mountain wind blew, and his sweat-soaked clothes made Ji Ye feel cold. finally carried a bamboo back to Lijiaji, Ji Ye felt as if his whole person was about to collapse. Sweat mixed with possible tears made the corners of the mouth salty. She almost collapsed on the bamboo chair and wiped the thick salty taste from the corners of her mouth with her hands, only to find that at some point, the hair on her sideburns also ran down the corners of her mouth and into her mouth.

Compared with such hard work, Ji Ye suddenly felt that the battlefield was nothing to be afraid of. At least at that time, there were still comrades who rushed to kill with Ji Ye. Not at all like now, Ji Ye can only walk alone on the long and hard road.

While wiping my sweat, I looked at the bamboo forest, and the road seemed extremely long against the background of the sky that had begun to darken. Thinking that he would have to do it again, Ji Ye couldn't help but feel very worried in his heart. Can she carry a heavy bamboo down the hill again? At this time, Ji Ye completely forgot that he had been worried about being robbed of Maozhu. If someone really robbed him, Ji Ye would not hesitate to give the big burden of Maozhu to others.

When Ji Ye left once, the women among the villagers who participated in the labor had already made two trips. The male workers, including Mr. Lee, have made three round-trips. In front of the team's residence, there was a large pile of bamboo.

"Comrade Ji Ye, you don't have to go. Count the bamboos here. Then look good. Li Shouxian dropped this sentence and walked to the other villagers again.

There were not many people who participated in the labor, but there were many people who came to watch the excitement. Li Shouxian: When they walked by with the simple and indifferent expressions peculiar to hard workers, these people were interested in not causing trouble. Seeing that Li Shouxian and the others were far away, they gathered around and talked to Ji Ye.

From where these moso bamboos are to be used to how much moso bamboo is needed. Some people are concerned about the price at which the bamboo can be sold, or where and at what price the iron tools provided by the team are obtained. There are also those who are interested in the private information of the Task Force. Ji Ye was tired to death at this time, and he was in no mood to talk nonsense with these idlers. She said coldly: "Folks, don't delay my work, I still have to count the bamboo." ”

Immediately, someone volunteered to help Ji Ye count the bamboo. The fake enthusiasm of these non-working guys made Ji Ye want to kick them away.

But finally some people behaved a lot more normally, and when they saw that someone started to cut bamboo, some villagers officially asked, if they also participate tomorrow, do they still need people here?

"Let's wait until Captain Li comes back. I can't be the master. Ji Ye replied. She was so tired now that she didn't want to talk to these people at all. Not only was he tired, but the burning pain in his shoulders was weaker, but he was soaked in sweat and his skin stinged like pins and needles. Not to mention the physical exhaustion and pain, the work of counting the bamboo has not yet been completed, Ji Ye is full of thoughts about finishing it quickly, and then resting for a while. Talk to these villagers, wait for Ji Ye to be in the mood.

After counting the bamboos, Ji Ye saw that there were more and more villagers gathered outside, and she had to deal with the villagers' questions for a while. Li Shouxian finally returned to the station with a large group of men. Wiping his sweat, Li Shouxian first checked it himself, and then asked Ji Ye about the number of bamboos. It took sixty or seventy people a day to transport more than 100 bamboos.

At this moment, a middle-aged man in his forties walked out among the villagers who participated in the labor. "Captain Li, we have discussed it. I've got a hundred bamboos, can you give us a set of farm tools first? ”

"Are the folks okay?" Li Shouxian asked loudly.

The villagers who participated in the labor expressed no opinion.

Li Shouxian strode into the house, took out a set of sickles and hoes, and seriously handed them to the middle-aged man who came out to speak. The middle-aged man's face was full of joy, and he turned around and smiled at everyone, "I just said, the comrades of the task force will not tell nonsense." ”

Ji Ye heard the joy and surprise of the crowd, and suddenly wanted to say something ugly, "Do you think we came to your poor ravine to deceive you?" With this spare time, I might as well go to the Manchu Qing Dynasty. ”

However, it is impossible to say this, and the task force has repeatedly stressed discipline and resolutely does not allow bad words to be spoken against the masses. All complaints are not allowed to be told to the masses.

But I heard Li Shouxian say loudly: "Folks, let's leave early tomorrow morning and finish cutting the bamboo as soon as possible." In my words, we people, we can only take care of three days' food. ”

"Captain Li, look at what you said, we will do it regardless of the food!" A hearty voice came from the villagers who participated in the labor. Ji Ye could hear that he was the one who ate the fastest and most when eating.

The other people who did not participate in the labor immediately asked to join the next day's labor, and Li Shouxian told the masses the idea that he hoped that every household would be given a set of farm tools. This idea was unanimously endorsed by all. There are two or three families in the village that lack men, and it is obvious that if they are involved in the cutting of moso bamboo, it is estimated that they may not be able to complete the task in half a month.

"Let's carry the bamboo all the way, and everyone will be thirsty. Either way, let the people of these families boil water, and set up drinking places on the road where the bamboo is chopped, in our collection, and on the road. These villagers will send water to everyone. Everyone is a villager, and each household cuts a few more bamboos, and this is enough for them. What do you think? Li Shouxian's voice was particularly loud in the crowd.

Li Shouxian holds the power to distribute farm tools, and the masses have to give some face no matter what. And this request is really not excessive, and the masses have agreed. Li Shouxian seems to have made a plan a long time ago, he calculated an account for everyone, and each family involved in cutting bamboo can complete the task by cutting one hundred and eight bamboos.

The masses got the exact news, and then they dispersed. The masses dispersed, but Li Shouxian did not take his comrades to rest, and he first visited the mass families who had been assigned the task of boiling water from door to door. Because these families knew that they couldn't do this job, two families didn't join in the excitement at all. Even when they heard that their neighbors had come back and "reported good news" to them. I still can't believe that such a good thing can happen. In these days, the scarcity of people means that they will be bullied, and good things will definitely not be their turn. It wasn't until Li Shouxian personally came to the door to tell them that these people knew that the neighbor was not telling a lie.

Li Shouxian agreed with them to come early in the morning and ask them to get up and boil water. The villagers said that they would not sleep tonight and boiled water overnight. Then Li Shouxian came back to organize the work of boiling water and transporting water. There is no shortage of bamboo in this place in Guangde County, and the bamboo tube is the most commonly used water container for the villagers. Filling hundreds of bamboo tubes is a heavy job. He who burns the fire, and he who carries firewood. Also prepare food for cooking. These pre-arrangements can be described as complicated, Ji Ye was sleepy and tired, and went to sleep early.

When she woke up, it was already dark, but it was close to dawn. saw Li Shouxian preparing things for the day in the light of the fire of boiling water. God knows if Li Shouxian slept last night.

"Comrade Ji Ye, you are literate. You're in charge of the bookkeeping. Li Shouxian said to Ji Ye.

Ji Ye knows a few hundred words, although it is not realistic to read the Four Books and Five Classics, but he can be regarded as an intellectual in this era. She has confidence in her bookkeeping work. Li Shouxian explained some key points, and was dragged to the mountains by the impatient villagers.

Ji Ye thought that this work was not difficult, but it was just bookkeeping, and how much bamboo could be recorded. But when he really did it, Ji Ye knew that this was a very complicated job. The villagers threw down the bamboo and prepared to hurry to get it. And Ji Ye couldn't recognize all the villagers at all, she had to drag and pull people not to go, count the number of bamboos, and then record them. Because he has no bookkeeping training, Ji Ye's account books are simply "magical".

Fortunately, when Li Shouxian came back from his first trip, he watched it again, and he couldn't hold back a smile and taught Ji Ye to keep accounts by drawing the word "positive". and helped Ji Ye check the original accounts. Finally, there was no mistake.

Everyone worked for three days in a row, and at the end, Ji Ye encountered a new problem. Nearly half of the families who cut down the bamboo did not cut enough 108 bamboos. They are all missing two or three. And when the villagers arrived at this time, they all said, "It's not bad for those ones." "I'm busy." "We've cut enough of the hundred."

Others simply say, "I'll find someone to replace me." Then he dragged over the other villagers, not knowing if they were colluding or not. They resolutely refused to admit that they had promised to cut bamboo for others. asked Ji Ye to "find that person." ”

Fortunately, Ji Ye figured it out this time, and she said, "If the quantity is not enough, we will not send you farm tools." Such a reasonable request finally makes the lazy guys have no illusion of escaping labor. But the guys said they'd bring the bamboo tomorrow.

When summarizing the work in the evening, Ji Ye reported the matter to Li Shouxian. Li Shouxian immediately ordered, "Gather a few villagers who are boiling water to come and see the scene tonight." We also take turns patrolling and keeping vigil, and no one will steal one. ”

Things turned out to be as Li Shouxian expected, and there were quite a few people who came to steal bamboo in the middle of the night. Seeing that the field where the bamboo was stacked was heavily guarded, they had no choice but to leave in a huff.

When the work of cutting down the bamboo was finally completed, the prefecture issued an order to transport the bamboo to the prefecture. Ji Ye was quite strange, why didn't he arrange this work at the beginning. If the villagers are asked to transport the bamboo to the county, these farm tools are only enough to make the villagers tempted.

"In the early days, we couldn't afford to overuse labor so much. And we also have what the masses need. Li Shouxian answered the question raised by the comrades at the work meeting.

"The next step is to organize mass cooperatives, and we are unlikely to pay a lot of money in the village. There is also no need to pay a lot of money. In our region, the main daily necessities that the masses need in the near future are iron, salt, and cloth. We are able to provide these products. ”

"Then why not just distribute it to the common people? In this way, many people will be willing to fight with us. Ji Ye was a little strange. The Liberation Society has been struggling to assemble troops. It's easier to give money and promise than to go through the trouble of raising daily necessities.

Li Shouxian was speechless, and in the mass work of the People's Party, the solution of the problems of the people's livelihood is the starting point, and it is resolute to do it first before speaking. I don't even say what I did. The way the Liberation Society works really made Li Shouxian have some ideas to say something. But the gap between the two sides is so big that they don't even know what to say.

Although I learned all kinds of training in cadre schools and party schools, it was aimed at the masses and the party members and cadres of the People's Party. The aim of the masses was to overthrow the Manchus and establish a new socialist state for a better life, which was not what the masses were pursuing. And the masses will not have any particular interest in it.

The members of the Liberation Society are different, and their needs are more politicized. This makes communication even more difficult.

After thinking about it, Li Shouxian replied: "Let's discuss the work in front of us first, and then talk about these issues." ”