Siheyuan: Pushing Huairu, the Prime Minister admits defeat

Dusk is approaching and the sky is getting dark.

The farmers of the commune were resting under a tree stump beside the bridge, chatting and fanning themselves with palm-leaf fans, looking eagerly ahead, as if welcoming distinguished guests from afar.

Until they saw the donkey cart slowly stop at the threshing ground, an old man with a dignified face and a pipe in his hand stood up and shouted: "Dashachun, did the projectionist from the city have any problems on the way?"

Upon hearing this, the old coachman named Dashachun's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot. He handed the shotgun on his shoulder to the old man and said angrily.

"Third brother, calling someone by his nickname in front of the projectionist is a joke. My name is Wei Dachun, not Dashachun."

The old man did not respond, but helped Li Weijun move the projection equipment from the donkey cart. He also patted Xu Damao on the back to wake the unfortunate guy from his coma.

"What's going on? Have we arrived yet? How come I fell asleep?"

When Xu Damao woke up, he felt dizzy and looked at Li Weijun who was pretending to be innocent beside him with a confused look on his face.

"Brother Damao, there was a bump on the road just now. You might have accidentally bumped into something."

Li Weijun lied without hesitation. He and a few militiamen who came to help him picked up the loudspeaker, got off the donkey cart, and began to look around the village.

Qinjia Village is a relatively wealthy village in the commune.

Because it is located upstream of the river, the river was blocked in advance during last year's severe drought, so the reduction in grain production was not very serious.

However, several villages in the middle and lower reaches were not so lucky and making a living was a problem.

While they were looking at each other, the old man who was the secretary enthusiastically stuffed a boiled egg into each of their hands.

"Comrade projectionist, please eat first. You see, everyone is a little anxious after finally getting to see a movie. Can we show it first and then eat?"

There is nothing wrong with Li Weijun. After all, one should be grateful to the person who has helped him. In those 61 years when supplies were scarce, the price of eggs changed every day.

In the pigeon market, they can even be sold for one cent each. I haven't tasted eggs for several months. To be honest, I even forgot whether eggs are round or square.

However, once the three-year difficult period is over, the price of eggs will fall, from being a luxury item to a mid- to high-end product.

Seeing Li Weijun nodded in agreement, the secretary looked delighted and was just about to ask a few militiamen nearby to go to the village to greet people.

Xu Damao, who woke up slowly, was unhappy. He squinted his eyes with a look of sarcasm.

"Li Weijun, why are you acting so high and mighty? If I ask you to show a movie, can you do it?"

After Xu Damao finished his disparagement, he ignored the astonished faces of the crowd and looked at the secretary in a mean way.

"Secretary Qin, we are old acquaintances. You must be aware of the rules, right?"

The so-called rules actually meant that after the projectionist arrived at the commune to show movies, he would be given good food and drink and be served comfortably before showing the movie. After the movie was over, he would be paid.

Xu Damao thought he was irreplaceable and that his job as a projectionist was a sure thing, so his attitude was inevitably arrogant.

Seeing this, Secretary Qin sighed with a complicated expression, and asked the indignant militia captain next to him to prepare the meal. He knew clearly that this so-called screening assessment was just a formality.

Some jobs, like venereal disease, can only be transmitted through blood, mother-to-child transmission, or sexual transmission...

Just when Xu Damao was preparing to have a delicious meal and then look for an opportunity to see whose young wife was prettier, Li Weijun behind him said in a flat tone.

"Secretary Qin, please ask the villagers to gather on their stools. I will show the movie."

The audit standard for this projectionist assessment task was the introduction and evaluation letter from the commune secretary. In the three villages under the Red Star Commune, each secretary would stamp a red stamp on the evaluation after the film was shown.

Xu Fugui kept his secret, and Xu Damao was sure that Li Weijun would not be able to release the movie, so he seemed fearless.

Li Weijun now has to seize the opportunity to win the favor of Secretary Qin and secure his iron rice bowl as a projectionist.

Secretary Qin hesitated when he heard this, fearing that Li Weijun's stubbornness would delay the long-awaited movie.

But looking at Li Weijun's determined eyes and the many members who were starving and thirsty beside him, he gritted his teeth and agreed.

"Dashachun, hurry up and tell everyone to come to the threshing ground to watch a movie. Bring your stools. If you come late and can't get a good seat, don't complain."

"Okay, all the men and women in Qinjia Village are here to watch a movie."

Accompanied by a loud shout like a bell, the villagers wandering around the threshing ground suddenly had their eyes brightened.

The smarter ones ran home and prepared to grab benches to grab seats, while some simply sat on the ground and looked at Li Weijun with burning eyes.

Watching a movie late at night is much more interesting than fiddling with the bed...

Xu Damao, who was left aside, froze in laughter and said sinisterly, "Li Weijun, stop teasing me. You and I can see through it at a glance. There is not even a drop of water in it. If you can show the movie, I..."

"Are you going to castrate yourself? Or are you going to exterminate your entire family?"

Li Weijun looked at Xu Damao with disdain. Without waiting for Xu Damao to reply, he walked straight to the threshing ground and began to direct several militiamen to set up the projection equipment in an orderly manner.

Qinjia Village has a reserve of kerosene generators, and with the amplifiers, loudspeakers, screens and projection equipment, an open-air movie is ready.

Seeing that Li Weijun was doing a good job, Xu Damao felt a little uneasy: "Could this bastard have stolen my skills? That doesn't make sense."

Just as he was muttering to himself, the middle-aged woman who invited him to eat handed Xu Damao a cold steamed bun and a bowl of corn porridge with an impatient look on her face.

"Eat quickly, don't delay me from grabbing a seat to watch the movie."

“Is this food for the projectionist?”

"What else? We usually eat this. No, are you going to eat it or not? If not, I'll eat it. Everyone is waiting to watch a movie, and you're just nagging."

Xu Damao was about to get angry, but when he saw the peasant woman's strong arms and fierce look on her face, he swallowed the words back.

He rubbed his rumbling stomach, took out a boiled egg from his pocket, and was about to peel it to fill his stomach when the old man Wei Dachun next to him took it away viciously.

Without waiting for Xu Damao to react, he stuffed it into his pocket.

"Eggs are for projectionists. Why should you eat eggs if you don't show a movie, grandma?"

"you……"

Xu Damao was furious and clenched his teeth, but he was smart and knew that Wei Dachun was not a good person. While driving along the way, the shotgun had scared many people who blocked the road, so he took the loss tactfully.

Drinking the corn porridge that made his throat swell, Xu Damao squatted in the threshing floor, ready to watch for Li Weijun to cause trouble.

Sure enough, not long after, a cry of surprise suddenly came from the huge crowd.