Siheyuan: Starting from a Truck Driver

The sacks filled with grain weighed more than 300 kilograms, pressing on their shoulders, making their muscles tense and their steps stagger.

Chu San was among them. The weight of the sacks made his face turn red and he almost suffocated. His legs began to become weak, but he still followed the workers to carry the sacks back and forth.

He saw Li Xiaodong knocking on the car door, smoking leisurely, and talking with Stationmaster Liu.

The atmosphere seemed dull and depressing.

The crooked old locust tree at the entrance of Nantai Commune Village had bare branches and was trembling in the biting cold wind.

Under the big tree, three or five members wearing worn cotton-padded clothes covered their eyes with their hands and looked into the distance.

There was silence in the distance, with only crows circling in the cold wind. A trace of loss appeared on the faces of the members.

Accountant Cui Shanmin tightened his cotton jacket and moved closer to the commune director Cui Shanhe.

"Director, the autumn crops were almost all destroyed by hail. No family has any food left. Even the wild persimmons behind the mountain have been picked by the women. How are we going to survive in the future?"

"Mountain folks, you need to improve your ideological awareness. Hasn't the steel mill already allocated grain? Once the grain arrives, our commune will be able to survive the cold winter, and life will get better."

Cui Shanhe knocked the pipe hard, feeling anxious. His family had no food at noon today.

However, as the commune secretary, he knew that he had to remain calm at critical moments.

"Brother Shanhe, I am really anxious. We have been waiting here for four or five days, but we haven't seen a single person."

Cui Shanmin curled his lips and said, "Who knows if the people in the city will forget about us? If this continues, I think even the pigs in our commune will become the New Year's Eve dinner."

Cui Shanhe glared, his face dark as ink: "Mountain folks, don't think I really don't know. Was it your nephew Cui Dake who lost the cow we lost seven or eight years ago? This fat pig is going to be sent to the machinery factory. We still want them to repair farm machinery. Don't have any bad ideas, or I'll teach you a lesson!"

Cui Shanhe, as the director of Nantai Commune, led villagers to deliver food to soldiers during the war, and his prestige stems from that bravery. When crossing the battlefield, one of his legs was injured by a shell, and he still staggers a little.

Cui Shanmin couldn't help but feel a little scared after being scolded. He shrank his neck and said awkwardly, "The weather hasn't been very good lately. It rained for seven or eight days in a row. Looking at the weather, I'm afraid it will rain again. If the grain trucks don't come, we'll probably have to wait another four or five days."

Cui Shanhe struck the pipe with a flint and took a deep puff of smoke. His cloudy eyes flashed with determination. "How can a living person be suffocated to death? It's not like we haven't eaten tree bark before. There are several rows of elm trees behind the village. We can organize women to peel off the bark, send it to the oil mill, grind it into fine flour, mix it with bran and grass powder, and make it into steamed corn bread. It can also be used in emergencies if it is steamed."

Cui Shanmin held the small stone in his palm and said nothing.

Although elm noodle dumplings can save lives, eating too much will cause abdominal bloating and inflammation, making it difficult to defecate.

He never wanted to experience that feeling again in his life.

It seems that we have to ask Cui Dake for help. That guy has a lot of ideas and he will definitely be able to find food.

"Alas, we have waited in vain again. Let's go back and have some water!"

After waiting for a whole morning, the people delivering food from the city still hadn't arrived, so the villagers got up and prepared to leave.

At this time, a clear horn sounded from a distance.

The villagers stopped and looked in the direction where the sound came from.

They cheered when they saw a green truck approaching the road.

"Wow wow wow ~ The comrades delivering food are here!"

Li Xiaodong, who was driving the truck, naturally saw the crowd and slowly stepped on the brakes.

"Fellow villagers, is this Nanshi Commune?"

"Hello, comrade. I am Cui Shanhe, the director of Nanshi Commune. Are you here from the steel mill to deliver food?"

Cui Shanhe stood on tiptoe and looked at the front of the car. It was full of sacks, more than ten tons of grain.

He suddenly felt much more relaxed. With these grains, Nanshi Commune would be able to have a good winter this year.

"Come on, I'll take you to the warehouse. Let's drive the car to the commune's warehouse."

Cui Shanhe took out a wrinkled cigarette case from his cotton-padded jacket pocket, took out a cigarette and handed it to Li Xiaodong.

Then he hurried ahead to lead the way.

He also instructed Cui Shanmin: "Go and ring the bell quickly to notify every household to go to the warehouse to collect grain."

The dull bells echoed in the winter air, and the whole commune suddenly became lively.

The villagers walked out of their small adobe houses, holding cloth bags, carrying baskets and baskets, and formed a long line, rushing towards the warehouse.

Cui Shanhe had already arranged for someone to set up a scale at the door of the warehouse, and the literate Cui Shanmin was responsible for distributing the food.

"Everyone, don't push. Every household has a share. You can get it based on the number of people!"

Most of the members lined up neatly.

However, Li Xiaodong found a figure wearing a black cotton jacket in the crowd. He had a round head, big ears, drooping eyebrows, and was not tall. He looked no different from other simple members.

But he was chatting and laughing with several female members, and before he knew it, he was standing in the front of the line.

Li Xiaodong took a closer look and was stunned.

Isn’t this Cui Dake!

It seems that the story of "Man is Iron, Rice is Steel" has not yet unfolded, and Cui Dake has not yet gone to the machinery factory.

In the original work, Cui Dake is a character comparable to Xu Damao.

However, he seems to be inferior to Xu Damao.

Although Xu Damao also flirted with young girls and had an affair with old ladies, he was indeed generous and never forced anything. Both parties were willing.

If it weren't for his later betrayal of the Lou family, Xu Damao would not be considered a complete villain.

Cui Dake was different. In order to stay in the machinery factory, he got the doctor Ding Qiunan drunk and raped her.

In this era, chastity is regarded as the greatest shame and suffering for women, and means enduring strange looks from relatives, friends, and neighbors.

Cui Dake is undoubtedly a person of bad character.

Niu Meng saw that Li Xiaodong was frowning, and asked with concern: "Master, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

"Nothing, just ran into an old friend and remembered some funny things."

"Old friend?"

Niu Meng was a little confused. His master had a wide network of friends and he could even run into acquaintances in mountain villages far away from the capital.

...

Cui Shanhe felt relieved when he saw the members starting to receive food.

He gave Cui Shanmin some instructions and then walked towards Li Xiaodong.

"Comrade driver, let's go to the commune and take a rest. It's almost noon now. I'll ask my wife to make you two bowls of noodle dumpling soup to fill your stomach."

Li Xiaodong did not refuse. His task was not only to transport grain, but also to ensure that every household in the cooperative received some grain.

There are a lot of people in Nanshi Commune, and it will probably be afternoon before the food is distributed.

...

Noodle dumpling soup is a thick soup made with noodle dumplings. It is thicker than porridge. For Nanshi Commune, it is considered a delicacy for entertaining guests.

I don’t know where Mrs. Cui got the tiny chopped green onions from, but there are thin layers of oil floating on them, with emerald green leaves dotted in between. The soup is clear and tastes mellow!

Li Xiaodong was busy all morning and was already hungry. He blew away the heat, scooped a bowl of dumpling soup into his palm, took a few sips, and the bowl was empty in an instant.

He even scraped up the little bit of soup that dripped from the edge of the bowl silently and sucked it quickly into his mouth.

As a driver, how can you be as useless as Niu Meng and lick the bottom of the bowl!

With food as a base, Li Xiaodong felt warm. He stood up unsteadily and planned to check the food distribution situation.

"Squeak", the dilapidated wooden door was pushed open from the outside, and a member rushed in holding a cigarette.

"I am Cui Dake, Comrade Li Xiaodong, Cui is..."

Cui Dake learned from his cousin Cui Shanmin that comrades from the steel rolling mill would come to the commune to deliver grain, which gave him an idea.

His biggest wish is to change from a countryman to a city dweller.

Although the driver is not a leader, his influence cannot be ignored. If he can say a word through the driver, he may have a chance to enter the city.

For Cui Dake, who is good at opportunism, as long as there is the slightest possibility, he will do his best to climb up.

In order to attract the driver's attention, Cui Dake deliberately used that classic opening line.

What he didn't expect was that Li Xiaodong took the cigarette and said with a smile: "Cui Dake, Cui means to urge life, there is no single person, Da means to be unfilial, and Ke here means to be able to, right?"

"This……"

Cui Dake was speechless for a moment.

However, Cui Dake was a man with thicker skin than a city wall. He chuckled and began to compliment him: "Hey, leader, your insight is amazing! You seem to have foreseen my thoughts, which is really admirable!"

He smiled and bowed, struck a match, and carefully lit a cigarette for Li Xiaodong: "If you were born in ancient times, you would undoubtedly be the living Zhuge Liang!"

Although Cui Dake's behavior was not good, his eloquence was indeed extraordinary. If Li Xiaodong did not know his background, he would have mistakenly thought that he had a new fan.

"Comrade Cui Dake, Zhuge Liang is a symbol of the old era. Your awareness needs to be improved," Li Xiaodong reminded.

Cui Dake was stunned for a moment, then he slapped his cheek in self-mockery: "Oh, I am talking nonsense, I deserve to be punished, I deserve to be punished."

After saying this, he took the opportunity to admit his mistake: "I made a big mistake and I deserve to be punished. Here, this is a bottle of Lao Fen Liquor, comrade driver, please have a taste."

Cui Dake pulled out a wine bottle from his arms like a magic trick. The granary of Nanshi Commune was empty, but he was able to get Lao Fen Liquor. His skills were indeed extraordinary.

Li Xiaodong did not refuse, and took the bottle and put it into his cotton-padded jacket pocket. "Ignorance is not a crime, Comrade Cui, you are a very compatible person!" He praised.

Cui Dake was even more excited to see that he had become closer to the driver. He knew the driver's special status in the factory and thought that he might be able to take him to the city.

The connection was established inadvertently, and with deliberate efforts, the two quickly became familiar with each other. At this time, there was a rustling sound from the roof.

Li Xiaodong's expression changed. He quickly walked to the door, opened it and saw heavy rain outside. The raindrops hit the mud, splashing water.

Niu Meng looked at the gloomy sky and said worriedly: "Master, if it rains like this for another hour, we may not be able to go back."

Li Xiaodong nodded. The dirt road from Nanshi Commune to the national highway, which was more than ten miles long, was soaked by rain and the truck could not drive at all. At this time, Cui Shanhe, the director of the commune, rushed in with a broken umbrella.