Counterattack in the chronology

When Gu Lichun returned to Gujia Village, he knew that the story of Gu Dajiang had been passed on, because the villagers looked at him with pity and sympathy.

Along the way, people kept saying hello to him.

"Lichun, you're back? You know about your father..."

"Poor baby, if you want to open up more, please persuade your mother more."

……

Gu Lichun nodded in response with a serious face, he was a little perfunctory to everyone's greeting, but the more he behaved like this, the more normal he felt.

Back home, before his younger brothers and sisters finished school, he saw Tian Sanhong with disheveled hair sitting in a daze in the main room. There was a sack on the floor, which contained the clothes and personal items that Gu Dajiang wore during his lifetime.

Tian Sanhong's eyes were lost, and she murmured: "The people from the reservoir are here. They brought back your father's clothes and said they are still salvaging the body."

Gu Lichun first comforted her a few words, and then discussed with her: "It's just in time for the spring flood, and the river is full of water. I guess the body may not be found. Let's use these clothes to replace Dad's body and bury it."

Tian Sanhong wiped the corners of her eyes, nodded silently, and the two fell into a long silence.

Gu Lichun asked again: "How about Lixia Xiaoman and the others?"

Tian Sanhong thought for a while before saying: "Lixia and the others must be suffering. Although your father was messing around when he was alive, he is your real father and has lived together for so many years."

Gu Lichun thinks about it too, he and Gu Dajiang are half-way father and son, due to family reasons in the previous life, his own feelings are not very strong, but the four of them, Lixia and Lidong, are different from him after all.

After school at noon, Li Xia Li Dong and the others came back, and the three children were still in good spirits.They are sad, but they haven't reached the point where the world collapses. After all, Gu Dajiang has never been the pillar and spiritual support of the family. The children have long been accustomed to relying on their mother and elder brother.

At noon, when everyone finished work and had free time, villagers in twos and threes came to Gu's house to visit and comfort Tian Sanhong.

Gu Lichun greeted everyone, then led Lixia and Xiaoman to the kitchen to cook.

The three brothers and sisters were all silent, those who lit the fire lit the fire, those who washed the vegetables washed the vegetables.

They were cooking, and the second grandma came in with Xiao Yu in a bamboo basket.

Gu Lichun called Second Mistress, Xiao Yu ran over to cuddle beside him, Second Mistress said to Gu Lichun, "I brought the rice, you don't have to cook."

Gu Lichun saw that there were more than 20 steamed buns in the bamboo basket, as well as a dozen boiled eggs and two large bowls of vegetables, which were enough for his family to eat for two meals. He thanked him and stopped cooking. Xiaoman boiled the water in the pot, made a large pot of tea and entertained the guests.

Gu Lichun discussed with the second grandmother how to arrange a funeral for Gu Dajiang.In this era, the members of the commune were poor, and there was a slogan of breaking the old feudal customs. The funeral was relatively simple. The deceased was dressed in a shroud, and a thin coffin was prepared for burial on a selected day.Afterwards, the coffin-carrying, burial and other helpers, as well as some relatives and friends accompanying the ceremony, are invited to have a meal, and the funeral is considered to be over.

Second Mistress said: "I'll go to the commune tomorrow and call your aunt to see if she can come back."

Gu Lichun hurriedly said: "I think it's better not to fight. My aunt has to go to work, so it's not easy to ask for leave. The Agricultural Reclamation Bureau is busy at the moment, and my uncle can't come back. Besides, I just asked for three days off. I have to finish the funeral quickly." .”

Second Mistress sighed a long time: "Your father is only in his 40s, who would have thought that this would be like this, white-haired people give black-haired people."

Gu Lichun said that he didn't know what to say, so he could only respond in silence.

When the meal time came, the villagers who came to comfort Tian Sanhong went home to have dinner one after another. Gu Lichun started to eat, and everyone finished their lunch in a depressing atmosphere. Gu Lichun asked Tian Sanhong to take a nap.

After a while, he suddenly heard a car honking outside the door, and then heard the loud voices of villagers. Gu Lichun was about to go out to find out what happened, when he saw someone rushing into the yard and shouting inside. Said: "Li Chun Li Xia, your father's body is back."

Everyone in the house stayed for a while, then quickly got up and went outside, and saw an old military green Jiefang truck parked at the gate of the courtyard, and two tall and strong middle-aged men came down from it, one was tall and straight, with a bronze complexion , looks like a veteran.The other one is slightly taller and should be the driver.

The bronze-skinned man walked over, and his eyes swept over the five Gu Lichun brothers and sisters one by one. Seeing that the oldest of them was only fifteen or sixteen years old, and the youngest was only five or six years old, he couldn't help frowning.

The man walked up to Gu Lichun and said in a heavy tone: "Hello, are you Comrade Gu Lichun? My name is Zhao Zhijun, Hu Dahua's comrade-in-arms. Your father Gu Dajiang worked under me when he was alive. Last night, the workers of the reservoir His body was salvaged downstream. I came this time to send Comrade Gu Dajiang's body back for burial, and secondly, "Zhao Zhijun said here, seeing many villagers around him, he changed his tone slightly: "Secondly, Let's discuss some follow-up matters."

Gu Lichun stepped forward and shook hands with Zhao Zhijun, "Thank you both for sending my father home."

Zhao Zhijun said: "An accident happened to Gu Dajiang within the scope of my jurisdiction. I have an unshirkable responsibility. I want to say sorry to your family."

Gu Lichun said: "Comrade Zhao doesn't have to be like this."

After Zhao Zhijun finished speaking, he and the driver went to carry Gu Dajiang's coffin, and the surrounding villagers also came to help.

After carrying down the coffin, Zhao Zhijun explained: "The corpse has been soaked in the river for a few days, and it has turned white and swollen, but you can barely recognize it as Comrade Gu Dajiang himself. Our people have already put on simple clothes for him, and we bought him temporarily." A thin coffin."

Gu Lichun thanked her. At this time, Tian Sanhong ran out of the house. Zhao Zhijun opened the coffin and asked them to confirm again. Oe himself.

Tian Sanhong looked at the corpse inside in a daze for a moment, then suddenly, with a loud cry, she threw herself on the coffin and began to cry.The youngest, Xiaoyu, also cried with her mother, and the second grandmother also had red eyes.

Gu Lichun was too busy to help and appease his mother, to entertain Zhao Zhijun and the driver, and to order his two younger brothers to clean up the main room and set up a simple mourning hall.

Seeing this situation, Zhao Zhijun looked at Tian Sanhong, who was emotionally unstable, and had no choice but to say to Gu Lichun: "Comrade Gu Lichun, your mother seems to be very unstable, so I can only talk to you about the affairs behind Gu Dajiang." We discussed it. Can we talk in another room?"

Gu Lichun guessed that Zhao Zhijun wanted to discuss the pension with him, so he nodded and said, "Comrade Zhao, please follow me."

At the same time, he whispered to Xiaoman and Lixia: "Both of you, go and pour two cups of tea, and pour some tea for the driver."

Gu Lichun asked the two of them if they had eaten, and Zhao Zhijun waved his hands inadvertently: "We have eaten, let's talk about things first." In this case, they were not in the mood to eat.

Zhao Zhijun followed Gu Lichun into his room, and the two sat facing each other. Not long after, Li Xia and Xiao Man brought in two large cups of tea and put them on the writing desk.

Zhao Zhijun was indeed thirsty. He took the warm tea and drank it all in one gulp. Then he spoke: "Comrade Gu Lichun, let me talk about the pension first. Since your father is a temporary worker and got drunk accidentally You fell into the water and died. I tried my best to get you a pension of 450 yuan. I know this is far from enough, but there is nothing I can do about it.”

Gu Lichun has heard that pensions in this era are very low, not to mention the case of Gu Dajiang, even the soldiers who sacrificed are only a few hundred yuan. It is said that soldiers are paid 500 yuan, cadres are about 800 yuan, and migrant workers are paid 470 yuan. Around Yuan, Gu Dajiang was a temporary worker, and he himself fell into the river drunk and died. This price is not bad.

Gu Lichun said: "Thank you Comrade Zhao for running for our family, I understand the regulations above."

Zhao Zhijun sighed, and then said: "This is my duty, Comrade Gu, you don't have to be polite. This is the pension from the farm, and there is also my own compensation for your family. I can't give much, only 200 yuan. bucks."

After speaking, he took out two wads of money from the green army satchel and pushed them to Gu Lichun.

Gu Lichun only accepted the pension and pushed back 200 yuan: "Comrade Zhao, we cannot accept this money."

Zhao Zhijun lowered his face and said, "Don't push back and forth, accept it. I'm the only one who can compensate you."

Gu Lichun said: "Although it's not very good to say my own father, I still have to tell the truth. I know my father's character and character. This incident of falling into the river is due to the irresistible force of the spring flood, and secondly There are also his personal reasons. He often drank too much when he was at home, beat my mother and us when he was drunk, and refused to change after repeated persuasion.

He is a 40-year-old adult man, not a minor. Even if Comrade Zhao is also his superior, he is not obliged to supervise him at all times.Therefore, Comrade Zhao does not have to bear responsibilities that do not belong to him.In terms of life, I am a full-time farm worker, and I should be able to get promoted in the future. In addition to the pension, it is enough to support my younger brothers and sisters.At your age, there are old and young, and you have a big family to support. 200 yuan is not a small amount. Neither me nor my mother will feel at ease if you accept it.We accepted Comrade Zhao's wishes, but we won't accept the money. "

Zhao Zhijun stared at Gu Lichun for a while, and saw that he spoke clearly and handled things rationally and calmly.Not only did she not complain or vent her anger towards him, she even took the initiative to relieve him, and she couldn't help but feel good about him.Xin said, no wonder Hu Dahua admired him so much, even though he was not familiar with each other, he wanted to help him very generously.

Zhao Zhijun thought for a while, then withdrew the money, and then said: "Thank you for your explanation, but no matter what, negligence of duty is negligence of duty, which cannot be denied. I owe you a family, and if you have anything to do in the future, please tell me through Hu Dahua , as long as it is within my ability, I will definitely help."

Gu Lichun said: "Okay Comrade Zhao, if there is a need, I will not be polite. After all, we have never met before, and I can ask you for help through Hu Dahua, not to mention that we are already familiar with each other now."

Zhao Zhijun tugged at the corner of his mouth as a response.

Zhao Zhijun came out on leave, and he had to rush back today. After discussing the pension with Gu Lichun, he got up and left.Gu Lichun originally wanted to keep food, but thinking about the situation at home, he probably wouldn't be able to eat it either.But he came from three hundred miles away, and he definitely didn't have lunch at noon, so he couldn't let him go back hungry.

While Zhao Zhijun and the driver were comforting Tian Sanhong and Second Mistress, he hurried to the kitchen, packed six steamed buns, four steamed buns, four eggs, and a large gourd of water in a basket, and handed them to the driver for them to eat. On the way to eat, the driver took it in a daze.

Zhao Zhijun said a few more words to Tian Sanhong and Second Mistress, and then offered to leave.

Gu Lichun sent them to the door, Zhao Zhijun looked at Gu Lichun, and before leaving, he choked out another sentence: "Comrade Gu, please persuade your mother, try to divert her attention with other things, this kind of thing..." said At this point, he seemed to think of something, with a sad face, "I can only use time to dilute it. Goodbye."

Zhao Zhijun and the driver got into the car, the truck started, rolled up a cloud of dust and smoke, and slowly drove away from Gujia Village.

Seeing that Zhao Zhijun and Gu Lichun had been talking behind closed doors for so long, those surrounding villagers looked at him curiously, wanting to ask him how much he had lost, but felt that it was not a good time to ask, so they finally spoke Swallowed it back.

The next thing is to simplify the funeral process, because it is a special year, and because Gu Lichun's vacation is short, everything is simplified.

It took only two days to quickly select the cemetery, ask people to help carry the pavilion for burial, including inviting the villagers who helped and those who accompanied the ceremony to eat, and the process was completed.

When the funeral was held, most of the people in the village came, and they also had gifts, mostly for a few cents, and a few for two or three yuan.Gu Lichun's uncles, Tian Hongjun and Gu Youfu, were in charge of keeping the accounts, and the money would have to be returned in the future.

Although Gu Lichun refused to let Wu Pang and Zhao Gao follow, they still came today.As soon as Wu Fatty came, he was busy going to work, tidying up the house, and returning the table and chairs borrowed by Li Xia and Li Dong.

Zhao Gao also brought Sister Bai and the rest of the party money, everyone who knew Gu Lichun in Wuchang followed the party, adding up to more than 100 yuan, Zhao Gao also brought the account book, everyone remembers how much they follow. Clearly, Gu Lichun saw the names of Deng Chang and Secretary Zhu on it, and there were quite a lot of them, both of which were ten yuan, so he asked casually: "The two of them are back?"

Zhao Gaodao: "Secretary Zhu is back, but Deng Zhang hasn't yet. It happened that Sister Bai called him to report to him. By the way, he asked Sister Bai to help put it on."

Gu Lichun put away the ledger, and asked how the scene was going.

Zhao Gao hesitated to speak, but Gu Lichun said, "Speak directly if you have something to say, don't hesitate."

Zhao Gao had no choice but to tell the truth: "It's nothing else, but that Wang Youcheng and Section Chief Liu deliberately disgusted you. They interposed that Meng Nianqun and another person with our pig farm. What do you call this?"

Gu Lichun asked the names of the two people who were transferred, but neither of them were capable people, so it was fine to transfer them away.

He said: "This is a good thing. This Meng Nianqun has a good brain, can work, and doesn't talk much. He is a very useful labor force. I was worried that there were too few people under my command, so they hired me one."

Zhao Gao frowned, and said, "Brother Gu, this person is useful, but you two look so similar after all, I think it's better to avoid suspicion."

Gu Lichun said nonchalantly: "The more you try to avoid it, the more you can't avoid it. Let them go."

Speaking of this, he remembered that there was another person, so he asked how that person was.Zhao Gao frowned even tighter now, "It's okay if you don't mention that guy, but I'll get angry if you mention it. This guy is not a good guy, and his surname is Sun. His name is Sun Houyu, and he was nicknamed Sun Monkey. Shrewd, calculating, and loves to cause trouble. I was often plotted against by him when I was a child. His uncle, when I was eating, he coaxed me to say that there was chicken feces on the bottom of my bowl. I turned over the bottom of the bowl to look, and he held the rice The basin is below to catch my meal; during the Chinese New Year, I finally had a bag of snacks, and he tried to win me away. Do you think such a person can be angry?"

Gu Lichun comforted Zhao Gao: "It's okay, even Monkey Sun can't escape the Buddha's palm, let's talk about it when we go back."

Gu Lichun was talking to Zhao Gao when his grandmother called him outside.When Gu Lichun heard the sound and went out, Grandma Tian looked haggard, looked at Gu Lichun, and said, "Do you have to go back to the farm this afternoon?"

Gu Lichun said: "Get up early tomorrow, grandma told me to do something?"

Grandma Tian nodded, Gu Lichun followed grandma into the kitchen, he lit the fire and grandma cooked, and grandma talked to Gu Lichun while cooking.

Grandma's voice was full of worry: "Lichun, from now on, your mother will be a widow."

Gu Lichun whispered: "Grandma, don't worry, I'm still at home."

Grandma Tian put the rolled dough cakes into the pan and baked them on, and said: "But you are not always at home, you only come back once a month. Li Xia Li Dong is too young. Your father is a fool, but as long as he lives No matter how stupid you are, you are still a man. If your mother has a master, others will be jealous. He is gone, and your mother is not too old. I know how difficult it is for a widow in the countryside, and there are many disputes at the widow's door."

Gu Lichun couldn't help feeling cold when he thought of the current rural atmosphere.

Grandma Tian paused for a while, and then said: "Last time you told me that the fermented soybeans I made are delicious, and your uncle made good things. I discussed with your uncle these two days, and I think your mother's hands are also good. , She should be able to learn everything we know. Let’s talk about the future, we can’t just think about the future, we have to get through it first.”

Gu Lichun hummed, and Grandma Tian said: "I mean, can you think of a way to get your mother into the farm?"

Gu Lichun had thought about this problem after Gu Dajiang's accident. It was not difficult to get his mother into the farm as a temporary worker, but if his mother entered the farm, what would the four younger siblings do?

Gu Lichun had no choice but to say: "My mother can enter the farm, but what about Lixia Xiaoman and the four of them?"

Grandma Tian also knew that this was difficult to handle, so after thinking about it, she said, "Go to the farm and ask if the four of them can get into the school on the farm? Well, it doesn’t matter if I don’t have me at home, I can help them cook and take care of them. After a few years, they can live in school when they go to middle school.”

Gu Lichun thought for a while, then raised his head and said, "Grandma, I'm going to inquire about recruitment when I go back to the farm this time. However, I originally wanted to get my cousin in, so I can only postpone it." My uncle got in, but my uncle has a disability, so this level is not easy to pass.

Grandma Tian said: "It's okay, keep your mother close first, and we'll talk about your cousin later."

After lunch, Gu Lichun received another group of people including Ye Chao, dealt with a lot of chores, and had to find time to comfort his mother and younger siblings.It wasn't until dark that I had a chance to catch my breath.He has been busy non-stop for the past few days, and when he was free, he couldn't help falling into a deep sleep.

He didn't know how long he slept, but Gu Lichun felt a pair of bright eyes staring at him in his dream.

He woke up suddenly, facing Chen Yu's focused eyes.

"you're awake."

"Ah."

Gu Lichun originally thought that Chen Yu would comfort him like others did, but unexpectedly, he didn't say anything, and directly served a plate of fried dumplings, and thoughtfully handed over a pair of chopsticks.

"Lidong said that you went to bed without eating at night, you eat."

Gu Lichun was indeed a little hungry, so he picked up the dumplings with the chopsticks and ate them.It's stuffed with chives and eggs, not his mother's, nor the second grandma's and grandma's.

"You packed it?"

Chen Yu nodded and looked at him expectantly.

Gu Lichun said very face-saving: "The taste is quite good, and it has improved a lot compared to the Chinese New Year."

Chen Yu smiled lightly, this is what he was waiting for.

Gu Lichun ate them one by one, finishing a plate of fried dumplings.

"Are you going back to the farm tomorrow morning?"

Gu Lichun nodded: "Whatever you want to bring, I'll bring it in a while."

Chen Yu said: "I want to ask you to send some money and a letter to my aunt."

Gu Lichun agreed: "Yes."

Chen Yu thought about it, and always asked Gu Lichun to help him, and he felt sorry for it, so he said, "We are friends, the kind who help each other. From now on, I will take care of your family within the scope of my ability."

Thinking of his grandmother's worries, Gu Lichun said, "Okay, you can pay more attention to my family's situation when you have time. My mother is a widow, so she knows a lot about right and wrong. If you see someone who is not good at it, write it down for me first, and I will come back to take revenge."

Chen Yu nodded in agreement.

After the two chatted, Chen Yu stood up and said goodbye.

Gu Lichun pushed the door out and went to the main room to look for Tian Sanhong. Tian Sanhong looked tired and his eyes were a little dull.

Gu Lichun said: "Mother, my father was not good to you when he was alive. He beat or scolded you, and then he found another woman. This kind of person is not worthy of your sorrow. We five brothers still rely on you, mother, you have to Quickly cheer up."

Tian Sanhong remained silent for a long time before saying in a hoarse voice: "I have been married to your father since I was 17. It has been almost 20 years. In 20 years, even a dog will have feelings. Let me make an inappropriate analogy. It’s like a big cancer growing on my body. I know it’s not good, but if I dig it out all at once, it still hurts and bleeds. Do you understand?”

Gu Lichun imagined it, he seemed to understand a little bit, so he stopped persuading him, the cancerous tumor was dug out, and the wound would heal slowly.

Seeing that Tian Sanhong had calmed down, Gu Lichun began to discuss with her about the pension.

"Zhao Zhijun gave me a pension of 450 yuan in total, 50 yuan was spent on the funeral, and 400 yuan is left for you to use for schooling with younger siblings."

Tian Sanhong shook her head: "You take this money, take time to save it in the bank in the town, it's not safe to leave it at home, we will be orphans and widows in the future, and you are not at home, Li Xia Li Dong is young, our house is remote, I am afraid Someone made up his mind. Just wait and see, once your father's business is over, I don't know how many people will come to inquire about the pension."

Gu Lichun thought about it too, he decided to collect the money first and put it in the farm space, and wait for the next holiday, and deposit it in his mother's name with the account.

Before going to sleep, Chen Yu came again, but he didn't come in, but asked Lidong to hand over a broken schoolbag to Gu Lichun, which contained 15 yuan and a letter.

There was no dream all night, the next day, Gu Lichun, Zhao Gao and Wu Pang got up early, Second Grandma and Tian Sanhong got up before them, baked scallion pancakes, cooked porridge, and the three of them had breakfast before setting off.

Wu Pang and Zhao Gao each rode a bicycle, Zhao Gao carried the luggage, Wu Pang carried Gu Lichun, they raced together, and it took only an hour to reach the farm.

As usual, Gu Lichun gave Uncle Lu some food, and this time Uncle Lu returned the gift with two bottles of rice wine.

Gu Lichun readily accepted the rice wine: "Thank you."

Uncle Lu said: "Remember to keep a bottle, when I have free time, I will find you to drink."

Gu Lichun smiled and said, "Okay."

The three of them returned to the pig farm, and when everyone learned that Gu Lichun had returned, they immediately gathered around to ask questions.

Gu Lichun said: "It's all right, everything is in order. Everyone don't have to worry about me, and work hard. The second batch of alfalfa is about to be harvested, and the work of wheat harvest has to be prepared."

He saw two new faces in the crowd, one was Meng Nianqun, and the other was a young man in his twenties, thin and tall, not too dark, and because of his blackness, his teeth looked extraordinarily white.Zhao Gao signaled with his eyes that Gu Lichun knew that this guy was Sun Houzi.

Gu Lichun glanced at the two of them, and said, "New comrades, come to my office, one by one."

Sun Houzi rolled his eyes, looked at Meng Nianqun, and motioned him to go first.Meng Nianqun lowered his head and followed Gu Lichun into the office.