Siheyuan: Starting from Building a Village

In the morning, some people play cards, and some people play chess.

Of course the children have to study. We do not plan to give them a holiday. They should use this time to make up for the lessons and try their best to catch up with the teaching progress of mainstream schools. Anyway, they have enough food and drink, they are not required to work, and there is heating in the classroom. It would be unreasonable if they did not study hard under such good conditions.

In Liu Guozheng's plan, these children must at least graduate from junior high school. Those who can pass the entrance exam to technical secondary school or university will continue to study and serve the motherland. Those who fail the entrance exam will be arranged to learn a craft, such as cooking, carpentry, etc. As long as they can learn a craft, they will not starve to death at any time and can rely on this skill to support the whole family. Even in the 21st century, shooting videos doing carpentry work can make you famous.

For lunch, there was a big stew, steamed buns made of two-grain flour, and pork rib soup.

Simple, time-saving, trouble-free, and delicious.

Xu Damao was so satisfied with the meal that any little resentment in his heart completely disappeared.

After lunch, Yang Youde and a few elderly people came over and said that they were bored being idle all day. They felt uncomfortable without working for a day and insisted that Liu Guozheng arrange some work for them.

Yang Youde is fine, he can continue to do carpentry work, but the students' desks are not yet complete.

The same cannot be said for others.

It's really difficult to find a job in the middle of winter.

Finally, we decided to continue picking up stones and clearing the fields (planning for planting). All the gravel and broken stones were cleared to the south side of the central street. When the weather warms up next year, they can be used to build roads. The broken stones can be directly spread on the ground. The large stones were transported to the entrance of the village and a simple half-person-high wall was built.

The third brother and the others also need to learn.

Usually, Li Dabao taught them. Although Li Dabao was not well educated and only graduated from primary school, he was qualified to teach Erlang and the others. The requirements were not high. They had to learn to write their own names, common characters in daily life, and some basic arithmetic.

The students include Erlang, Laosan, Zhang Hongying (Li Xiangdong’s wife, a country girl), and Li Xiangdong.

Even though Li Xiangdong used to be a deputy director, he could only write his own name. In fact, more than 70 percent of people in the 1950s and 1960s could do that.

There is a big test every three days and a small test every five days.

Those who do not perform well in the exam will be punished, and those who perform well in the exam will be rewarded.

The punishment was to dig holes in the fields. As we all know, the fields will freeze in the cold winter, especially the land where no crops can grow. Digging holes in frozen soil is not an easy job.

The rewards were simple, an apple, or a piece of yellow peach from a can of yellow peaches, or some candy, which were the most popular things in the 1950s and 1960s.

Someone asked where he got it from. It must have been from the black market in downtown Beijing.

In the winter in the north, it is basically dark at around four o'clock.

Dinner was also early.

After finishing dinner early, the movie started. Although I had seen it yesterday, my enthusiasm was still as high as ever.

After the movie, several young people went to where Liu Guozheng lived (some of the caves at the beginning had already started a second renovation, with the area, ventilation and lighting conditions being improved, as well as reinforcement) to drink.

Xu Damao performed his unique skills: bragging, persuading people to drink, and getting drunk. This is between friends.

There are also three steps to drinking with the leader: flattering him, persuading yourself to drink, and finally getting drunk.

Flattery: Before starting to drink, Xu Damao would first compliment the leader, expressing his honor to have a meal with the leader and the importance of the leader.

Persuading himself to drink: After flattering his superiors, Xu Damao would start persuading himself to drink and explain his own drinking rules, such as "one big and three small, two, five and ten", which means that if the leader drinks one glass, he has to drink three glasses.

Eventually Get Drunk: Due to Xu Damao's drinking rules and excessive self-admonition, he will eventually get drunk.

This is the first time for him to drink in Hope New Village, and it will definitely be what Xu Damao wants.

Erlang did not attend. On a wedding day, it was the time for couples to be affectionate and romantic, so he would naturally not accompany these bachelors to drink.

The third brother, Li Dabao, and Li Xiangdong, these three guys can drink more than the other.

Of course, what we drink is rice wine.

Since I started making wine in the Second World, I haven't bought wine outside.

Among all the rice wines, especially the southern rice wine, in winter, cut some ginger and drink it hot. Not only can it satisfy the taste buds, but it can also help to sweat and dispel the cold, prevent winter colds, and promote blood circulation.

This rice wine is not only drunk by young people. Yang Youde and Master Yuan also drink it together in the evening. Wenxiu, Zhang Hongying and several other female comrades also drink it.

After three rounds, Xu Damao simply crawled under the table to gain strength.

Although the alcohol content of this rice wine is not high and it tastes somewhat sweet, it has a strong aftertaste. People who do not drink it often, especially if it is drunk hot with shredded ginger, are more likely to get drunk.

Carry Xu Damao to the bed and prepare hot water at the bedside.

They continued drinking.

Anyway, there are enough rooms (caves) here, so you can just sleep when you drink too much.

After drinking for another half an hour, Lao San and Li Dabao went to rest.

"Guo Zheng."

"this..."

Li Xiangdong walked back and forth, rubbing his hands from time to time, seeming to want to say something, his face red. No one knew if it was because of the alcohol or because he was too embarrassed to talk about something.

"Brother Li, what's wrong?"

Liu Guozheng was shocked. Can you imagine how "terrible" it would be if a usually rough and sturdy man suddenly looked embarrassed after drinking?

"Brother, this...this..."

Li Xiangdong came up and wanted to grab Liu Guozheng's hand, which frightened Liu Guozheng so much that his anus tightened. He hurriedly said, "Brother Li, you must control yourself. You must control your emotions."

"Your sister-in-law will be sad if you change like this."

Seeing Liu Guozheng's expression, Li Xiangdong also realized that he had caused a misunderstanding, and hurriedly explained: "Hey, brother, you misunderstood. I want to ask you for help, but I don't know how to start."

"call.."

Liu Guozheng breathed a sigh of relief and felt relieved.

"Damn it, Brother Li, you are responsible for this."

"If you have something to say, just tell me. If your brother Li has something to say, I will do my best to help you."

Li Xiangdong calmed down, took a sip of water, and said, "Brother, this..."

This is still a little difficult to talk about.

Considering Li Xiangdong's age, Liu Guozheng seemed to have thought of the reason why he was reluctant to talk about it.