On January 29, 1967, the State Council issued a notice to the whole country that there would be no holiday for the 1967 Spring Festival.
The theme of the revolutionary Spring Festival was "grasping revolution and promoting production". Not only did they not rest, but they also required everyone to work overtime with the spirit of "revolution and hard work". Many factories and mines organized a Spring Festival campaign, offering big gifts for a good start, not going home on New Year's Eve, and working non-stop on the first day of the new year.
This was true in cities, and in rural areas as well. Under the slogan of "Learn from Dazhai in Agriculture", water conservancy projects were overhauled and terraces were built. The construction sites were filled with red flags and people, and became a revolutionary "farmhouse" that was widely publicized in newspapers and on the radio.
The Wangjia Village production team had a bumper harvest this year, and several cadres wanted to celebrate. They organized a general meeting for the members, and asked every household to perform a program. But who would have thought that this would happen, and everyone's plan was immediately ruined. Everyone lost interest for a while.
In the cold winter, the wind was howling and the big trees were shaking in the wind. The dead branches that had lost their leaves long ago fell to the ground one after another under the swaying of the strong wind.
The snow on the branches was blown down by the wind and hit people on the head, making them shiver.
On the canal, many men wrapped in thick, worn cotton jackets would stop to rub their hands and stamp their feet after digging in the mud for a while.
The men in Lao Wang's family all stayed in the county town to work overtime and were unable to come back.
Qian Shulan brought Xiao Min to the old house early in the morning and directed several daughters-in-law to make bread and dumplings.
The starter was soaked last night. It was steamed in warm water on the stove overnight and had already been soaked.
The dumplings were stuffed with pork and cabbage. The pork was distributed to the members after the pigs raised by the team were slaughtered. Each person got two kilograms of pork, so Qian Shulan asked them to take out one-third of it. The rest was left for them to eat on a daily basis.
The meat Qian Shulan took out was from the space, and it tasted better. Mixed together, it was not conspicuous.
Several children were playing and fighting in the main room. Qian Shulan occasionally glanced at them, and seeing that they were not fighting, she turned around and continued to wrap.
Qian Shulan urged them as she wrapped the food, "Let's wrap it quickly and send it to them right away. It's Chinese New Year, how can we not have a good meal?"
Sun Daqin quickly responded, "Yes, mother!"
As he said this, he put the dumplings he had just wrapped into a round winnowing basket sprinkled with flour.
Li Chunhua came out of the kitchen and walked towards the kitchen holding a round dustpan.
After a while, the dumplings were out of the pot.
Li Chunhua put the dumplings on a bamboo sieve to cool down. She turned them over every few minutes to make sure they didn't stick to the sieve.
Several people worked for more than three hours to finish wrapping the dumplings.
Qian Shulan glanced at the treetops whistling in the cold wind and said, "Xuemei, Chunhua and I will go to the county town to deliver the dumplings. Daqin, you go to the town to deliver them to Zhengkang."
Sun Daqin nodded.
The four of them began to put the dumplings into aluminum lunch boxes. Before leaving, Qian Shulan reminded Wang Danzhi, "You must take good care of the children and don't let them fight."
Wang Danzhi quickly agreed.
There was a lot of snow on the road outside, making it impossible to drive a tractor, so Qian Shulan could only borrow the team's horse-drawn carriage.
The journey that was supposed to take two hours took nearly four hours because of the snow.
It was already past two in the afternoon when we arrived at the county town.
They had to rush back as they also had work to do in the countryside. Qian Shulan was worried that it would be dark when they returned, so they decided to split up into three groups.
Zhou Xuemei went to deliver dumplings to Wang Shouli and Jiang Yuying, Li Chunhua went to deliver dumplings to Wang Shouyi and Liu Fangming, and Qian Shulan was responsible for delivering dumplings to Wang Shouzhi and Xiao Maolu.
Qian Shulan first went to the nearby steel plant, and the little donkey was quite free.
Because he was an accountant, all the accounts were calculated at the end of the year. New Year's Eve was only the first day of the year. He was forced to work overtime, but he had no extra work to do, so he could only take out the old account book and calculate it again.
When the guard said his grandmother was here, the little donkey rushed out of the house.
His eyes sparkled, "Grandma, why are you here?"
Qian Shulan had parked her carriage outside, so she naturally had no time to chat with him. She handed him the dumplings she had brought and said, "Go back and blanch them in hot water before eating."
The little donkey was touched and distressed when he saw his grandma braving the cold wind just to bring him dumplings. He took Qian Shulan's hand and asked her to come in and rest.
Qian Shulan waved her hand and pointed to the carriage behind her, "I have to send it to your fifth uncle quickly. I have to rush back later. The snow is too thick and blinding. The horse may not be able to recognize the way back."
After hearing this, the little donkey couldn't keep her any longer, but still said, "Grandma, wait for me."
After saying that, he ran to his dormitory holding the aluminum lunch box.
After a while, the man came back with something in his hand, "This is a little welfare for the New Year, grandma, you can take it back and eat it."
Qian Shulan looked at the small bag of things and asked, "What about you?"
The little donkey smiled and said, "I'll keep it."
Qian Shulan nodded, "Okay!"
As he said this, he put the bag on his back. I guess half of the bag was filled with sweet potatoes.
Nowadays, sweet potatoes are not allowed to be grown in private plots in rural areas, so people can only grow soybeans, vegetables and the like.
The little donkey must have been worried that Wang Danzhi wouldn't have enough food, so he asked her to take care of it.
Qian Shulan drove the horse-drawn carriage to the Water Conservancy Bureau.
Wang Shouzhi's work is easier than a donkey.
He was a well digger, but in this cold winter, he couldn't dig through the ice, so he could only stay in the office and do clerical work.
For example, we need to count the well-drilling situations of each production team. This work is usually done in the first ten days of spring. Now we do it ahead of time, which means that the work that used to take ten days will be completed in twenty days.
So everyone works for a while, then stops to rest for a while, no matter how slow you go. You can't just finish the work now and then sit around doing nothing later.
When Qian Shulan came over, Wang Shouzhi's speed was almost as fast as a donkey.
After saying hello to everyone else, he took her mother to the Jiang family's yard.
When Wang Shouzhi returned home, he was so excited when he heard his mother say that she was here to deliver dumplings.
Although department stores do not have to close for Chinese New Year this year, the items they supply have not increased. Meat is still a popular product and not much can be bought.
Qian Shulan parked the carriage and called twice in the main hall but no one showed up. She felt a little strange and went to the kitchen to ask Wang Shouzhi, "Where is Xiaodie?"
Wang Shouzhi smiled and said, "She should have gone to work with Yuying, right?"
Qian Shulan leaned against the door. Xiaodie had always liked Yuying very much, so she was not surprised. She just didn't expect that a girl who was only thirteen or fourteen years old didn't like to stay in bed, but instead wanted to go with her to sell goods.
Wang Shouzhi smiled and looked back, "She doesn't have to go to school now, so she has nothing to do at home every day. She just wants to go to the North City Grain and Oil Store to play. Director Chen's children will also be there, so she can just play with them."
Xiaodie is also a junior high school student. Since last year, the school has been suspended, so she has been staying at home.
Qian Shulan nodded and asked with a smile, "How are you and Yuying getting along?"
When Wang Shouzhi mentioned this, the smile on his face faded a little. He pursed his lips tightly, broke the firewood in his hand into two halves, and then stuffed them into the stove.
He used the fire stick to stir the fire to make it burn more vigorously, then turned back to Qian Shulan and said, "Mom, how can I make Yuying like me?"
Although Yuying agreed to try to accept him, he always felt that Yuying still treated him as an outsider. Every time he served Yuying a meal or washed her clothes, Yuying would thank him.
Only if he didn't accept it would he thank him. A real couple wouldn't be so distant and polite.
He wanted to express his goodness, but every time he felt powerless.
When it comes to this matter, Qian Shulan has a lot to say.
Last time she taught Zhengguo the magic technique of picking up girls, the boy listened to it and took it seriously at first. But when it came to sweet talk, he said he couldn't stand it after just two sentences, and said it was an eyesore. It made her depressed.
Seeing Wang Shouzhi humbly asking for advice, Qian Shulan immediately became interested.
She first ran to close the door, and then began to talk to Wang Shouzhi about the magic skills of picking up girls.
Who would have thought that after hearing this, Wang Shouzhi's face flushed red, and he even forgot to put more firewood in the stove. He looked at Qian Shulan blankly, "Mom, isn't this just being a hooligan?"
It was not known whether he was embarrassed or because of the contrast of the firewood, but Wang Shouzhi's face was so red that it seemed like blood was about to drip out, and even his ears were not spared.
Qian Shulan pouted, "How can you be considered a hooligan if you close the door in your own home?" She paused and said, "Besides, it's you who likes her, not her. Do you expect Yuying to confess to you first?"
Even so, Wang Shouzhi still hesitated, "But this is too shameless!"
Qian Shulan rolled her eyes at him and said unhappily, "Do you want face or a wife?"
This successfully provoked Wang Shouzhi, "Of course I want a wife!"
"If you want a wife, listen to me!" She then talked about the importance of sweet words.
Qian Shulan discovered that this kid was even more shy than Zhengguo! After all, he was also a second-hand man, how could he be so shy
Qian Shulan was speechless. Finally, she said something shocking, "The last point is that a man should please a woman both verbally and in bed. The latter is more important than the former."
Wang Shouzhi almost fell off the bench, "Mom, you, you..."
Seeing that he was stuttering, Qian Shulan secretly laughed in her heart, "I didn't ask you to do anything to Yuying, why are you so anxious! What I mean is that when you two are really together, you must please her in bed. You have to make her feel comfortable from heart to body, and then she will follow you wholeheartedly."
Although she said so, she was a single person in her previous life and had no experience to pass on to him. But even if she knew, she couldn't bring herself to teach her son who was so old! How shameful and embarrassing!
Hearing this, Wang Shouzhi breathed a sigh of relief. So that's how it was. It almost scared him to death.
If he did that without Yuying's consent, she would be angry and she might not care about him in the future. How dare he!
Seeing that he had been thinking with his head down, Qian Shulan hurriedly reminded him, "Hurry up and add more firewood, the fire is about to go out."
Wang Shouzhi didn't have time to think about it and started to make fire again.
The water was boiling, but Wang Shouzhi only put half of the dumplings in. Qian Shulan guessed that he might want to eat them in two meals, so she didn't say anything.
The dumplings were heated up in a short while. Qian Shulan saw that he didn't put them in the bowl, but put them in the aluminum lunch box instead, and immediately understood his thoughts, he wanted to send them to Yuying and Xiaodie.
Qian Shulan hurriedly said, "Your fourth sister-in-law has already gone to deliver it. Eat it quickly. It will be cold soon."
Wang Shouzhi felt a little disappointed, but he didn't know what to say.
After he finished eating the dumplings, Qian Shulan gave him the meat she had brought with her, "This is distributed by our production team. You can have some too."
Wang Shouzhi quickly declined, "Mom, our county has a supply every month, you can eat it yourself."
Qian Shulan waved her hand, "No need! We can eat chicken!"
Their production team now sells not only roosters but also hens.
Generally speaking, the number of eggs a hen lays will decrease year by year when it reaches its fourth year.
Every once in a while Qian Shulan would produce a batch of hens.
The rotation of new and old ones has increased the income a lot.
Wang Shouzhi gave the welfare benefits he had received to Qian Shulan, and saw that he had tied them up well.
This should be what he had planned to bring back a long time ago. Unfortunately, he failed to do so because he didn't have a holiday.
The two talked for a while, and then Wang Shouzhi went back to work.
Qian Shulan stayed at Jiang's house and continued to wait for Zhou Xuemei and Li Chunhua.
It was not until after four o'clock that the two finally arrived. Seeing them running out of breath, I knew they were running here to save money on the bus fare.
The sky is already very dark. Judging from the thick clouds in the sky, it might rain or snow soon.
So Qian Shulan locked the door of Jiang's house and took the two of them back.
After walking for half an hour, snow started falling from the sky and their pace slowed down a lot. When they were halfway there, it was completely dark.
Qian Shulan had no choice but to take out the flashlight.
It was not until after eight o'clock in the evening that they arrived at the production team.
Early the next morning, several daughters-in-law in the family began to post couplets.
Don't think that couplets are a tradition passed down for thousands of years and are one of the "Four Olds" that will be criticized and persecuted by the authorities. In fact, it is not.
Because the couplets of this era are slogans and propaganda, they can serve as a warning to everyone.
Therefore, the commune specially called the secretaries of each production team to hold a meeting for the purpose of pasting the couplets.
They were asked to post couplets that were in line with the current political atmosphere and to get rid of the old and welcome the new.
After Wang Shouquan came back, he convened a meeting of all team members to let everyone brainstorm, and in the end everyone came up with several couplets.
For example: "Fight against selfishness and criticize revisionism, new ideas for the new year; break the old and establish the new and work hard for the great revolution", "Don't stop fighting on the 30th, and keep working on the first day", "Change the customs and habits to celebrate the Spring Festival, and don't stop working on New Year's Eve", "Work until the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, and start again on the morning of the first day of the new year".
Compared with previous couplets, except for the fact that the paper used for this couplet is red, Qian Shulan really doesn't think that this couplet has any flavor of bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new. It tastes bitter no matter how you look at it.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the commune held a special meeting of 10,000 people and asked them to start working officially on the second day of the Lunar New Year.
The most speechless thing is that in order to express their determination to fight against the four olds to the higher-ups, the Zhaojia Village Production Team ingeniously asked the team members to carry manure on the first day of the Lunar New Year to show that they were "going against" the old traditions.
The author has something to say: Advance notice: The twins will appear in the next chapter.
Let me first give you some basic knowledge. The large-scale movement to go to the countryside took place in 1969, but the earliest educated youth went to the countryside in 1950, so they went to the countryside in 1967, which is in line with historical laws.