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Chapter 183: Chapter 176 Sparrow Mahjong
Li Hongjun held the letter paper tightly in his hand, his lips trembling, overwhelmed with excitement and not knowing what to do.
His wife was pregnant. She was carrying his child, and his little girl would be born in a few months.
"Commissar, what’s happening to the battalion commander? Must be some trouble at home with sister-in-law," Quan Zhu approached Wu Guoqiang and whispered worriedly.
Ever since the battalion commander read the letter, he hasn’t been himself, just standing there dazed. Never before had the battalion commander acted like this. Recalling that the battalion commander had just gotten married when he went back home this time, he was sure the letter must be from sister-in-law and that something significant had happened.
Wu Guoqiang took off his hat, used it as a fan for a few moments, and cursed the heat under his breath.
"Enough, it’s none of your business, go back to your training. And let me tell you, if any soldier in your platoon messes up during the exercises, I want you to scram to some corner of the mountains and stay there," he said before walking toward Li Hongjun.
"Tsk, I’m already in a mountain corner; where else could you possibly send me," Quan Zhu smirked at the commissar before obediently running back to the troops.
Speaking of Wu Guoqiang, he had now reached behind Li Hongjun, who still appeared to have lost his soul, and his heart sank, worried that there really might be trouble at home.
He circled around to face Li Hongjun, glanced over his hand at the letter.
"You sly dog, impressive, getting your wife pregnant just two months after getting married," Wu Guoqiang finally realized why Li Hongjun looked this way, and he thumped him on the back.
He had been just a company commander and now was promoted to battalion commander, which had made many people jealous. Now, after resting at home for three months, he was married, and a child was on the way; he had settled most of life’s big events all at once. It was no longer a matter of mere envy; it was outright jealousy.
Knowing how seldom soldiers get to spend time with their wives, with just a few days for family visits each year, many soldiers had been married for several years without having children. He was genuinely happy and admired Li Hongjun for having a child so soon after getting married.
Li Hongjun, snapped out of his daze by the slap, flashed a big grin full of large teeth at Wu Guoqiang. "Heh, Old Wu, my wife is pregnant."
"Just look at you, completely lacking composure," Wu Guoqiang understood Li Hongjun’s current mood very well as everyone had been young once and gone through their wives giving birth.
Li Hongjun carefully smoothed out the crumpled letter he had been clutching and folded it nicely back into the envelope before tucking it into the pocket closest to his heart.
Without even looking at Wu Guoqiang beside him, Li Hongjun strode toward the training field, calculating in his mind. Three months until the military exercise and his wife’s due date didn’t clash; he needed to think of a way to request a few days off to be home with his wife by then.
"Hey, where are you off to?" Wu Guoqiang watched him walk away, baffled and wondering if the surprise had overwhelmed him.
"Training."
Over at Gaijiatun, it was midday, with the sun blazing overhead at its hottest, a time when someone who should have been lying down at home to nurture her pregnancy was instead working hard under the scorching sun to earn work points.
With a whoosh, a stone shot out from a grass hut in the field, miraculously hitting a sparrow, which plummeted straight down from the sky. The incident sent the other sparrows nearby flapping their wings frantically, scattering in all directions, no longer daring to covet the grains in the field.
In the grass hut, space was limited. At the center lay a simple wooden bed made of planks laid across some blocks of wood. A thick layer of straw covered the planks and on top of that lay a small floral sheet. This makeshift bed was where Shen Yunfang was lying.
She squinted toward the outside of the hut, making sure the flock of sparrows had been scared away, indifferent to the one that had fallen in the fields. She then closed her eyes again to sleep.
Yes, this was Shen Yunfang’s current life, this was Shen Yunfang’s current job.
She was in charge of watching over a stretch of grain fields. Her working hours were the exact opposite of the other commune members: they finished as she started. From around eleven in the morning till about two in the afternoon, and then again from five till it got dark around eight.
The midday sun was precisely when the heat was most oppressive and the sun most brutal. With her own comfort in mind, Shen Yunfang had set up a simple hut at the edge of the field for some shade during normal times and somewhere to lie down at noon.
She was pregnant, and couldn’t chase after sparrows with a stick like the others, so she took up a slingshot, gathered many small stones, and whenever she saw sparrows flying towards her, she would shoot them with her slingshot. The other sparrows would be scared away, until they regrouped and came back to attack.
Shen Yunfang took a short nap in the grass shed, then heard the rustling sounds outside, her lips curved into a slight smile.
Soon, Ergouzi led a few mischievous boys to the entrance of the grass shed.
"Sister Yunfang, Sister Yunfang," a small voice called out.
"Shh, Sister Yunfang hasn’t woken up yet," another voice stopped him.
"Then what do we do?"
"Let’s put the stuff here and go look for sparrows."
"No, Sister Yunfang hasn’t agreed yet."
"Okay, okay, enough talking, let’s wait for Sister Yunfang to wake up and then ask."
"Right, there’s no rush now, let’s dig up some wild vegetables nearby. If we can gather another basket, we can get another sparrow in exchange."
"All right, let’s do that."
Lying with her eyes closed, Shen Yunfang listened as the children ran off again to dig up wild vegetables.
Ever since Shen Yunfang started working for the collective, she had to climb the mountain twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon.
To save time with the daily trips up and down the mountain, she prepared chicken feed and pig feed in advance and stored them in her space. When it was time, she would simply take it out and feed the animals.
So each morning, she had to get up at five o’clock, first make a round of her own family’s farmland, then return to feed the chickens, ducks, and pigs at home before having breakfast herself.
Once all this was settled, it was just about time to start the collective’s workday.
Shen Yunfang went up the mountain for the first time, stopping at the hillside to feed the pigs and sheep, weeded the wheat field, or watered it if needed. If there was still time, she would hastily gather pig forage and dig up wild vegetables at the edge of the mountain.
When it was nearly time, she had to quickly feed the livestock on the hillside again, before descending to feed the animals at home. She would have a quick bite to eat and then when the gong for the production team’s end of workday sounded, it was her turn to start work.
When the gong for the afternoon work sounded, it was her turn to finish. She went up the mountain for the second round, typically she’d cook pig feed on the hillside in the afternoon, cooling it down after cooking and storing it in her space. Fortunately, she had previously bought a big water jar, which came in handy now.
As the workday was coming to an end, she refilled the feeding troughs, then came down the mountain to feed the chickens and ducks at home. 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓹𝓾𝓫.𝓬ℴ𝓶
As the gong for the end of the afternoon workday sounded, she began her labor again.
Only as the sky started to darken was she able to return home.
After tidying up at home, she would prepare some food to eat for a late night snack, and she wouldn’t be able to lie down in her bed until about ten o’clock every night.
Although monitoring the farm produce earned her few work points, only five and a half points for a full day, the job was not tiring, which was quite suitable for her current condition.
Besides, she had to persevere with work to ensure her share of the grains and rice distributed by the collective each year.
