Bai Fumei in the 70’s

Gu Huaijin was rescued by Wu Yong.10

When he woke up, it was already dark. Hu Xianzhi chewed on some smelly grass and applied it to his scalded arm. His big eyes flashed with a glimmer of joy.

"How do you feel, teacher?"

He patted the younger brother next to him and said, "This time, you were fortunate to have Little Yong. He carried the teacher back."

Gu Huaijin glanced at his hands that had been slightly bandaged, and was silent.

Hu Xianzhi said again, "That educated youth Zhao was here and gave the teacher some crucian carp soup."

"Come and drink it while it's hot."

These days, fresh fish was not readily available. Other people caught the fishes sold in the store, and they were fishy and smelly. If you want to eat fresh fish, you could only wait until the brigade casts a net to catch the fish.

Hu Xianzhi lived in the bullpen of the He family for a few months, and he has been greedy for a long time, but he could not get a meal. Only the kind He girl sometimes left him some leftovers, some vegetables and sauce for him to eat with rice. He listened to Gu Huaijin inhaling the soup, and his stomach, which was usually determined, gurgling thunderously.

Gu Huaijin was holding the boiling hot soup, a fish head soup with milky white tofu. It was delicious and smooth; the tofu broke when it was slurped, and the taste was light and fragrant. It was warm and filled his stomach, so that his scared and turbulent heart found a solace.

He chewed the soft stewed fish bones and swallowed all the brittle bones. Gu Huaijin ate and ate. Unknowingly, the large bowl was almost finished. He raised his head and saw Hu Xianzhi staring at his bowl greedily.

"What happened to Wu Yong?"

He put the bowl down and stopped eating. He left the remaining crucian carp soup for Hu Xianzhi to drink.

Hu Xianzhi drank it excitedly, and the long-lost flavor occupies all his tastebuds. The milky tofu was white and smooth, and the soup was creamy and light, like the aroma from the fish marrow was absorbed into the soup. His mouth was full of fish flavor, but there is no smell at all. It was clean and fragrant. It's more delicious than letting him eat pork!

Hu Xianzhi finally understands why his stern and serious teacher would counts on educated youth Zhao for his meal every day. If it were him, he would think about eating in his dreams. It was not only a sense of satisfaction from eating meat. It was a sense of happiness, and the whole body was warm and comfortable after drinking.

After eating, he said, "Little Yong took Teacher back to the bullpen and left. His feet were burned so badly that he should go to the clinic to apply medicine."

As he said that, he put the smelly grass on Gu Huaijin's hand.

"Today, he had suffered to bring Teacher back from the mountain. Please don't blame him anymore. His life is very hard!"

...

When Zhao Lanxiang came back from the pig farm, she heard that Gu Huaijin was almost burnt to death on the mountain. She was also shocked. She went to visit the poor old man.

While visiting Teacher Gu, she also saw Engineer Wu. He was a gaunt white man, like a bamboo pole, who wore a pair of glasses and had a strong cultural temperament.

He silently pierced a row of bubbles on his feet that was scorched by the fire, and did not wait for Gu Huaijin wake up. He just went back in silence. The flesh on his leg that was turned upside down by the fire was so painful to watch, but Engineer Wu was calm and silent.

Hu Xianzhi took a rag for Gu Huaijin to wipe his hands and feet, and naggingly said, "He is afraid that the teacher will not be happy to see him. Ai! He has a very big opinion on the teacher from the bottom of his heart."

"My third junior brother was not very good. He couldn't go to university before. He was studying to become a teacher first, and then something happened at home. His parents had a bad life..."

Zhao Lanxiang responded.

She instructed Hu Xianzhi, "Go pick some stinky grass and apply it to him. I'll cook some soup for him."

Soon, Zhao Lanxiang boiled a pot of fish soup and it was boiled with milk. The most nutritious fish head was left for Gu Huaijin with some fish belly meat. The part of the fishtail was left to He Songbai, who wanted to eat fish from a long time ago.

...

This evening He Songbai tasted a delicious meal of fish, even if it was the latter half of the fish, he didn't dislike it.

He was curious about where the fish came from. Zhao Lanxiang glanced at him and said, "Li Zhong ask Tiezhu to bring it."

Zhao Lanxiang went to look at Teacher Gu again. After Gu Huaijin was full and rested for a while, his mood was very stable.

When he saw Zhao Lanxiang, he thanked her for the crucian carp soup.

"It's delicious. You rarely gave so much meat this time." He smiled uncontrollably, and his thick black thumb pulled out a 10-yuan banknote from his pocket.

"I haven't paid for food for a long time, and my skin is not thick enough to eat and drink for free."

Zhao Lanxiang was surprised, "The one hundred yuan you gave can still last a long time, it was not so much."

Gu Huaijin expressed his wish to add breakfast. All soup, dumplings, vermicelli, and rice noodles made by Zhao Lanxiang were tantalizingly delicious. Even the white-steamed buns were so fragrant and made him greedy.

Gu Huaijin snorted and said, "Now I am also a salary earner, Zhao girl, please don't be polite."

Zhao Lanxiang didn't take his money, but asked him in a low voice, "I heard that Mr. Gu is a teacher of engineering degree. I don't know if you know any students friends?"

"I want to buy some books to read."

Gu Huaijin heard the words and was interested. He sent Hu Xianzhi to the river to wash clothes.

"What book?"

He always treats people who were hungry for knowledge exceptionally. This Zhao girl's brain was very flexible. He flipped through his notes and looked at them bluntly.

Zhao Lanxiang whispered, "The kind of books such as "Pig Raising Red Banner Bearer," "Scientific Pig Raising Technology," and "Practical Pig Raising Technology" will work."

Gu Huaijin let out a long sigh, "Is it for He's second to use? Why didn't he come to me and ask you to come instead? He doesn't come to ask me about his business. He has no sincerity."

He murmured in dissatisfaction.

Zhao Lanxiang glanced at him, and she was anxious.

Gu Huaijin saw that Miss Zhao was staring at him anxiously, and then said, "Okay, I will write a letter for you to ask. Are you in a hurry? If you are in a hurry, I also have a friend in the X province. It is the nearest."

Zhao Lanxiang nodded.

"The sooner, the better. The books will cover the food costs."

Gu Huaijin patted his head, dug a paper and pen from his tattered belongings, and scribbled a few lines of beautiful characters fluently and quickly.

Zhao Lanxiang held this hot letter and sincerely thanked him.

The next day, she carried the letter of introduction and went to the unit where Teacher Gu's friends worked.

It was a university in province X. The men and women in the university are the workers, peasants, and soldiers who have been selected and recommended from all over the country. They are both old and young, dressed in plain clothes. The figures coming and going on the boulevard are full of the positive and vigorous temperament that university students should have.

The journey was unexpectedly smooth. Gu Huaijin's introduction was handy. Zhao Lanxiang used the letter to exchange three or four thick books from an old teacher.

The old professor held his glasses, which was as thick as the bottom of a bottle and said, "Go slow, remember it within a month, this is precious learning material, please cherish it."

Zhao Lanxiang nodded vigorously.

She spent five yuan to photocopy the three books. She held a black, slightly scorching copy, and touched the large, obscure cover with her hand, and her heart was full. She immediately returned the book to the old professor and returned to the village that night.

She gave the photocopied information to He Songbai. He Songbai read it himself. It was easy to see that he was confused. What pig diseases, vaccine prevention, and control, the circle of English symbols, even the pig feed ratios were not regular. He had studied it for a long time, read it with difficulties, but he didn't want to misunderstand every line of the book.

He took it and showed it to his grandmother. Grandma put on her worn glasses, turned the book over, and looked at it for a long time.

"You need to pay attention to this. The piglets have to be vaccinated. You can buy some medicine, and I will dispense it for you."

She paused for a moment and then said, "You can get pig feed according to what it says, and the piglets can be slaughtered after the spring. The pig feed has to be done like this..."

The old woman taught her grandchild in a hoarse voice, turning page after page to read with him. The old and the young, the gray and the black heads read together. Time seemed to go back to more than ten years ago when she also taught him to read and write.3

Her hair is still gray, but her little grandchild is now taller and stronger than her.

But her energy was not as good as before. After reading for a few hours and drank a glass of malted milk, her old eyes had been too tired to see anything.

Upon seeing this, He Songbai asked his grandmother to rest. " Look at it tomorrow. Don't worry. I will change the pig feed first. For the others, I will take my time."

He was taken aback by surprise. The densely packed rules didn't look like pig farming anymore. Instead, it looked like they were like serving ancestors.7

The grandmother looked at her grandson in an annoyed manner and said earnestly, "Since so much work has been done to raise these pigs, we must try our best to raise them."

"You have to read books and learn things, but remember not to be superstitious about textbooks, but do it while learning."2

He Songbai nodded and put Grandma back to bed, letting her rest and sleep.

He warmed her cold hands and feet with his hands and rubbed while saying, "When I earn money, I will get you a wheelchair."

Grandma narrowed her eyes with a smile, and a little light leaked from her tired eyes.

"Little Bai, you're a good one. Grandma is about to enter the earth, so why would you do with such flashy things."

He Songbai paused and said, "Even if I don't make money, I have to give you a wheelchair."