Chen Bei found another thrift store and used his household registration book to help Mu Yichen sell the Rolex watch for 100 yuan, and finally settled the matter.

Accompanied Uncle Mu home, Chen Bei also took the money to the people's shopping mall in the city center, bought a can of whole milk powder, thought about it and bought a pound of hard candy, this thing is cheap and durable, and it is the most suitable to increase nutrition for the neighbor children.

Back at the Gaotupo family home, he was making milk powder for his son, Lu Erxi from the steel factory compound next door came to visit the door with a doll, the child was two years younger than Chen Guang, four years old this year, thin and dry, two eyes staring at the milk in the glass, sticking out his tongue and lips.

Chen Guang was sick, sitting on the bed and drinking milk, the quality of the gear brand whole milk powder produced by the state-owned No. 1 Milk Powder Factory was good, and the milk that came out was thick and hung in the cup, and the milk fragrance was overflowing.

Lu Erxi was chatting with Chen Bei, saying that the child was going to go to the Yuhong class, and he should give him a name to learn from Chen Bei, Chen Bei thought about it and said: "It's liberated, it's dawning, let's call it Lu Tianming." ”

"This name is good, in the end, it is a cultural person, and the name is meaningful!" Lu Erxi was very happy, took out a cigarette and asked Chen Bei to smoke, ten years ago he was a porter in a steel factory, and he couldn't even afford to marry his daughter-in-law, and now he is the foreman of the furnace in the steel plant, married and gave birth to four children, and his wife has another in his belly.

Suddenly, Xiao Tianming pointed to the glass in Xiao Chenguang's hand, and shouted: "I want to drink, I want to drink." ”

Lu Erxi sank his face and slapped his son's buttocks, his hand was very heavy, and he snapped.

"Erxi, what are you doing!" Chen Bei grabbed Lu Erxi's slap again.

"This kid is not promising." Lu Er snorted happily, feeling that his son had lost face.

Xiao Tianming's face turned red, and then he howled and cried, and tears fell down.

Chen Bei leaned down and hugged Lu Tianming: "Baby, if you want to drink milk, I'll make you a cup." ”

Xiao Tianming was sobbing with tears, looking at his father timidly, Lu Erxi crossed Erlang's legs and smoked, not looking at his son.

Chen Bei knew that the doll was scared, so he directly brewed a glass of milk and handed it to Xiao Tianming, but the child still couldn't resist the temptation of milk, so he poured it down in two mouthfuls, with a circle of white milk foam on his mouth, and his tongue was clean.

Chen Bei looked sad, took out a large handful of hard candy from his pocket and stuffed it into the child's clothes, Lu Erxi said don't want it, but he didn't stop it.

After talking for a while, Lu Erxi took Xiao Tianming back, his family has a large population, the old lady was seriously ill, and she should have died in 1947, but she was rescued by the medical team brought by Chen Yan, and she has lived until now, and the more she lives, the more tough he is, he married his daughter-in-law and gave birth to a large group of children, his daughter-in-law is pregnant, and the seven mouths in the family need to eat, and his salary alone is not enough.

Suddenly, I smelled a fragrance wafting from the kitchen, and then my daughter-in-law brought a plate of fragrant bean dregs cake and said, "Eat it, it's fragrant with lard residue." ”

Lu Erxi said: "Where did you get it?" ”

The daughter-in-law said: "I heard that Changfeng Bean Products Factory will pour out bean dregs at half past four every morning, so I went with someone to pick up a pot and came back, washed away the smell of beans with water, and added the vegetable leaves picked up in the vegetable market to make cakes, which have higher nutritional value than ginseng and deer antlers." ”

Lu Erxi frowned and said: "I know this, it is the production waste of the soybean products factory, and the farmers in the suburbs pulled it back to feed the pigs, how can you do this, don't you lose my people, I am also a squad leader." ”

The daughter-in-law said, "Then what do you say?" The food plan is not enough to eat, and the children are so hungry that they are swollen, and I feel distressed to look at it. ”

Lu Erxi is hard-mouthed and uncomfortable, his daughter-in-law has no culture, but she is kind-hearted and hardworking, and she still touches and eats everywhere with a big belly, but she is the squad leader of the steel plant, how can she do this kind of thing of digging the corner of socialism.

"Don't go in the future, I'll find a way." Lu Erxi said, picked up the bean cake and took a bite, it was indeed very fragrant, but he only took this bite, and the rest never moved.

After eating, Lu Erxi went out to talk to his colleagues again, Xiao Tianming took out hard candy from his pocket to share with his younger brothers and sisters, and gave one to his mother.

"It's so sweet." The mother made an exaggerated posture of eating candy, which made Xiao Tianming laugh, but in fact, she didn't even peel off the candy paper.

Today, Lu Tianming worked the night shift, and went to work at eleven o'clock in the night, and at four o'clock in the morning, his daughter-in-law got up, and Xiao Tianming also got up, stared at his little eyes and asked, "Mother, why are you going?" ”

My mother took a steel pot and said, "My mother is going to grab the bean dregs and make cakes for you to eat." ”

"Mother, I'll go too."

"Okay, let's grab it together when the time comes."

The daughter-in-law is holding a steel pot, Xiao Tianming is holding a small enamel bowl, and the two of them came to the back door of Changfeng Bean Products Factory near the stars and moons, where a large group of people have gathered, it seems that the secret of the bean dregs is spreading very quickly, and today I am afraid that it will take greater efforts to grab the bean dregs.

At about half past four, two workers carried a large pot of steaming bean dregs out, poured it on the ground, and as soon as they entered the door, the people who had been waiting nearby immediately rushed up, Tianming Niang also ran over with a big belly with a pot, and was accidentally knocked over, and the people behind couldn't hold their feet and stepped directly on her stomach.

With a terrible scream, Tianming Niang lay on the ground, blood spreading from her trouser legs.

"Someone's killed!" There was ** shouting, but this did not delay them from grabbing the bean dregs, Lu Tianming cried and walked over, his mother was already dying, and she couldn't raise her head.

"Mother, if you eat sugar, it won't hurt if you eat it." Xiao Tianming peeled off a hard candy and stuffed it into his mother's mouth.

"It's so sweet, my mother doesn't hurt anymore, good." The mother tilted her head to look at Tianming, and her pupils gradually dilated.

……

In the family courtyard of Gaotupo Iron and Steel Plant, a few wreaths were placed alone, the cry was mixed with the laughter of children, and three dirty children were playing by the wreath under the leadership of Xiao Tianming.

Chen Bei and Ma Chunhua came to condole, and when they saw the carefree child, Ma Chunhua's eyes turned red, and she asked Chen Bei in a low voice: "Burn more." ”

"You have an idea." Chen Beidao has a strong family foundation, and the husband and wife have high wages, so they are much more financially prosperous than these workers.

"This is my mother's wreath." Xiao Tianming proudly pointed to the wreath and said to the relatives and friends who were mourning.

Lu Erxi's daughter-in-law died, one corpse and two lives, the law does not blame the public, he did not get any compensation, and the days to come will be even more sad, he is almost a night white, squatting in the yard in canvas overalls full of holes, with empty eyes and a pile of cigarette butts on the ground.

The neighbors, aunts, and sisters-in-law all sighed, and the second happy lady cried, Chen Bei took out all the ten yuan and five yuan tickets in his wallet and put them in a white paper bag, and silently put them on the table.

A group of people walked in, it was the workshop director and the chairman of the trade union of the steel plant, and when they saw the people from the organization, Lu Erxi, who had been holding back, finally cried, and pounced on him to kneel and kowtow to the workshop director, but was pulled by the director and said sadly: "Erxi, I'm late." ”

"Director, how am I doing these days?" Lu Erxi is a man who beats iron, he is crying like a child at the moment, no wonder he is worried, feeding his mother is not counted, he also has to feed four children, he has to work in three shifts, how can he have time, energy, and food.

"Erxi, your difficulties are already known to the organization, the child will be placed in the nursery, and you will be given some more subsidies every month." said the chairman of the union.

"Thank you to the party, to the leadership, to the organization. The party's kindness will not be forgotten in the Lu family's era! In next month's steel competition, I will not be left behind, and strive for the championship! Lu Erxi suddenly became excited, patted his chest and swore an oath.

"Let's go." Chen Bei said to Ma Chunhua.

Ma Chunhua's eyes flashed with crystal, and she said movingly: "Comrade Erxi is really worthy of the working class cultivated by the party, and he has a will like steel." ”

……

Yang Shugen, secretary of the Nantai County Party Committee, stood in front of the counter of the third state-owned thrift store in Jiangbei, looking at a beautiful Rolex watch, the salesman was a little impatient, after the public-private partnership, the pawnshop boys who were exploited in the past became workers who ate the country's food, and their social status rose rapidly, especially the thrift store, which has oil and water, and they are a head taller than others when they go outside.

But the salesman did not dare to express his displeasure, the old society that little bit of the ability to see people put down the dishes is still handy, although the customer in front of him is not in his thirties, but he is neatly dressed, no calluses on his hands, no mud on his feet, indicating that he is not a manual laborer, wearing a piece of Innag on his wrist, indicating that he is a person who pays attention to the taste of life, there is a county license plate Gasjeep parked on the road outside, this year is qualified to take a special car, at least thirteen cadres, this person may be the deputy county magistrate of the county and the like, How dare a thrift store clerk open his name.

"Comrade, this watch is a German Rolex, the quality is very good, his former owner used it very carefully, the box is in good condition, only one hundred and twenty yuan, and the price is also very fair." The salesperson introduced.

Yang Shugen nodded, although he was born in the proletariat, he worked as a gardener in Chen Zikun's house, saw the decadent lifestyle of the bourgeoisie, and was very interested in things like watches, as the secretary of the county party committee, a thirteenth-level cadre, with a monthly salary of more than 100 yuan, and there were not too many families to support, it was more than enough to buy a watch.

"Take it out and have a look." Poplar root said, Rolex in hand, twist the clockwork, listen to the sound, yes, that's it.

"I want it." Poplar roots did not make a counteroffer.

"Okay." The salesman quickly wrote a slip and hung it on a wire hanging on the roof beam, and with a bang, the iron clip was drawn to the cash register, and Yang Shugen went to pay the bill, and the cash register flew the receipt again, and the watch belonged to Yang Shugen from then on.

Yang Shugen came to the prefectural committee for a meeting, and the district conveyed the opinions of the province, asking them whether they needed to return grain to the poor harvest and relief grain.

Yang Shugen, the first secretary of the Nantai County Party Committee, was the first to express his position, no matter how hard it was, he would not reach out to the country to ask for a grain or a penny.

Leaders of other counties are not far behind, saying that they do not need relief food.