Chapter 166 Delivering Food
Tomorrow we have to pay the public grain tax, which is a big deal for the team. The team only has one ox cart, so Shen Erzhu and Shen Shuyu's bicycles have to be requisitioned. The bicycles can at least carry two bags of grain.
The rest had to be carried to the commune by human labor, and all the strong men in the team had to go to the battle.
The men in the Shen family were no exception, including Shen Shuyu, who was born strong and was also dragged by Shen Erzhu to serve as a soldier.
Their brigade is neither far nor close to the commune. It takes two hours to walk there.
Shen Shuyu returned home and played pebbles with Gu Jiandong in the yard for a while. After taking a shower, she blew her hair dry.
She read the picture book to Gu Jiandong for half an hour, and before nine o'clock, she went back to her room to sleep.
At around two o'clock, Shen Qiu came over and knocked on the door, "Big sister, wake up. It's time to get up."
Shen Shuyu squinted her eyes and got off the kang to open the door. Shen Qiu went into the room to get her towel, wet it in the water tank, and then Dada ran back to wipe Shen Shuyu's face with the wet towel.
After wiping her face back and forth with the cold towel, Shen Shuyu was finally able to open her eyes.
She looked up at the sky. It was still dark, but the moon was hanging high in the sky. The moon was very bright tonight.
The moonlight shines down, and the ground can be seen clearly.
Uncle Shen, Shen Jiabao and others got up, scooped a bucket of water, washed their faces casually, and went out.
Gu Jiandong got up earlier than Shen Shuyu. He was hungry, so he took out some flour and baked a few pancakes.
The pancakes were ready. Seeing that she had gotten up, he took a comb and a hair band and skillfully helped Shen Shuyu braid her hair.
Shen Qiu was always envious when she saw this scene. She even acted like a spoiled child with her brother and asked him to braid her hair.
Shen Jiaguo was a rough man, how could he help his sister braid her hair? Either he pulled Shen Qiu's hair too hard and it hurt, or he couldn't pull all her hair.
My hair is so loose that I can’t even braid it in half a day!
After Shen Shuyu finished braiding her hair, the three of them went out. Old Man Shen and Old Lady Shen had already arrived at the threshing ground.
Seeing them, the old couple waved and said, "My dear, you will load the sacks onto the oxcart later. When the oxcart is full, you can sit on it and go to the commune with the oxcart.
Jiandong, later you will take the shoulder pole and carry the grain to the commune with everyone else.
Xiaoqiu, play here for a while and then go home to sleep. You are not needed here."
Carrying grain is a strenuous job, and Shen Qiu was not able to help at all. She walked around the grain drying ground.
Seeing that there was really no need for me, I went home and had a good sleep.
The oxcart arrived, and Shen Shuyu lifted the bags of grain onto the oxcart with one hand. Everyone was amazed to see how easily she could lift a bag of grain weighing more than 200 yuan.
"Shu Yu girl is really strong!"
"That's right. I wish I could be as strong as her."
The cart was full, Shen Shuyu climbed onto the cart and sat on top of the grain. She shouted, "Uncle, we can go now."
When Uncle Shen heard his niece's voice, he cracked his whip and the ox cart started moving slowly.
The people carrying the food on the shoulder poles followed the ox carts in a line. It took so long, and the food was so heavy, that if people didn't change in the middle of the journey, they would be exhausted.
Fortunately, their team doesn't have much else but a lot of strong laborers. If someone gets tired, they can always replace him.
Shen Jiabao saw that Jiandong had been choosing for a long time, so he hurried over to take his place, "Jiandong, you take a break, let me choose."
Gu Jiandong shook his head, "I'm not tired! Go and switch with someone else."
In the past few days, Gu Jiandong's mind kept flashing some fragments. In the fragments, he was very quiet.
He always has a sour face, and everyone calls him Gu Tuan. He seems to be very powerful. He always likes to run when he has nothing to do, and he even carries a heavy load on his back when he runs...
Therefore, it was nothing for him to carry this little bit of food now, so he could let Shen Jiabao help others.
Gu Jiandong raised his head and smiled at Shen Shuyu who was sitting on the ox cart.
Gu Jiandong loves to laugh now. When he laughs, Shen Shuyu laughs with him. It seems that there is only each other in their eyes.
Today was the day to pay public grain. Not only did the people from Shenjiaba Brigade set out in the dark, but on the way out, Shen Shuyu saw many people from other brigades.
Some teams even set out earlier, at around one o'clock, because they had too much food to carry in one trip.
When the ox cart arrived at the commune, it had to go back and pull the food again. The second time, there was no need for manpower to carry the food, as the ox cart could load it all at once.
Gu Jiandong wanted to stay with Shen Shuyu, so when he went back to pull the second ox cart, it was Gu Jiandong who drove the ox cart. At first, Uncle Shen was quite worried.
This kid is capable, but his brain is a little naive. If he is asked to drive a bullock cart to transport grain, what if he doesn't know how to drive it, and the bullock suddenly runs away and the cart overturns?
Any loss of cattle and food would be a huge loss to their team.
He was worried, so when Gu Jiandong drove the ox cart, he even got on and followed for a while.
Seeing that he was driving the ox cart in good working order, the eldest niece vowed to take good care of Jiandong.
Uncle Shen let it go, after all, his niece was very reliable most of the time.
When the ox cart arrived at the commune again, Uncle Shen saw that the food and the oxen were safe and sound, and the worry in his heart disappeared.
Several brigades set out earlier than them, and some even had tractors.
All the food can be transported in one trip, without any need for human labor. The team with tractors is ranked first.
Their Shenjiaba Brigade was ranked fifth, which was considered to be in the front.
Shen Erzhu thought that they would be at the end of the line because they started late.
If you are at the end of the line and have to wait for a long time, it will be a real pain.
You know, the staff who work for the government are all arrogant nowadays. The longer they work, the more impatient they become. They feel angry.
They would just make up a random excuse that the grain did not meet the acceptance standards and take it back, and the entire team would have to start all over again.
It was just dawn and still early. The staff at the grain station didn't come to work so early, so we had to wait for two hours.
Shen Erzhu was squatting at the entrance of the commune, holding a pipe and chatting with other brigade leaders.
Uncle Shen and his friends gathered in groups of three or four to chat.
Shen Shuyu and Gu Jiandong were sitting on the ox cart. Gu Jiandong was a little sleepy and was nodding his head.
He kept dozing off, so Shen Shuyu asked him to climb onto the back of the ox cart and sleep on top of the bags filled with grain.
Gu Jiandong was so sleepy that he couldn't open his eyes. After going to the countryside, he was like a good baby. He went to bed on time and his sleep time was very stable.
He had to get up not long after sleeping last night and has been busy until now. It would be strange if Gu Jiandong was not sleepy.
Gu Jiandong climbed up obediently, and before going to sleep, he said to Shen Shuyu, "Shuyu, the people at the grain station have come to work, remember to wake me up, you must wake me up,
Don’t hand me over to the grain station along with the grain. If you hand me over to the grain station, you will have no Gu Jiandong.”
Shen Shuyu sat next to him and rubbed his head. "Okay, I'll wake you up. Gu Jiandong is so good, I can't bear to hand you over to the grain station."