Chapter 741 Report to the Commune
"When the clinic is completed, we will build a medicine bed under the pharmacy window and use sawdust to simmer it. This way, the angelica and astragalus will not freeze."
Wang Jianguo tied the bandage tightly, and his voice was muffled by his cotton hat.
"We have to set off some firecrackers and bury a jar of liquor under the foundation. The older generation said this is called 'rooting liquor' and that after drinking this liquor, people are tied to the land."
Yang Huaixi looked at the burning cave in the brick factory. The firelight reflected in his eyes and overlapped with the rising sun in the sky.
Suddenly, I felt the pain in the wound turn into a slight itch, as if something was breaking out from deep within my flesh and trying to take root in this black soil.
The kiln fire of the brick factory gradually shrank into a small orange dot behind him. Yang Huaixi's injured arm began to ache slightly, and with every step he took, the wound under the bandage felt like it was being pricked by a fine needle.
When Wang Jianguo turned around, he happened to see him quietly pressing his elbow with his left hand. The snow reflected the sweat on his forehead, which condensed into ice crystals on his temples.
"Take a break?"
Wang Jianguo put his pipe on his waist and pointed to the thatched hut on the slope ahead.
"That's the farmkeeper's shack. Can you go in and warm yourself by the fire?"
Yang Huaiqing had already jumped to the middle of the road, his cotton shoes crushed a piece of ice, startling two sparrows hiding in the dry grass:
"Brother Wang, didn't you say we were going to the supply and marketing cooperative?"
The boy's eyes were as bright as falling stars, and his hand in the pocket of his cotton-padded jacket was repeatedly stroking a piece of candy wrapper that he had saved for a long time.
Yang Huaixi looked at his brother's nose which was red from the cold, but he was still thinking about the supply and marketing cooperative. Suddenly he remembered that in the black market, Douzi gave his only slingshot to the child at the grain station in order to exchange it for half a sweet potato.
He suppressed the pain in his arm and waved his hand towards Wang Jianguo:
"It's okay, let's go to the supply and marketing cooperative first."
Before he finished speaking, Yang Huaiqing had grabbed Wang Jianguo's sleeve and pulled him towards the adobe house with a lantern on.
When the wooden door of the supply and marketing cooperative was pushed open, warm yellow light came out, mixed with the smell of kerosene, soap and saccharin.
Yang Huaiqing's cotton shoes rubbed against the door sill again and again, but his eyes were already attracted by the glass jars on the shelf - they were filled with amber crabapple candies, glowing alluringly under the lantern.
"Did you see that?"
Wang Jianguo knocked on the glass jar with his pipe, and the candies made a crisp sound.
"You can exchange it with food stamps. It's more transparent than the black market."
Yang Huaixi leaned against the counter, gasping for breath, his injured arm hanging at his side, the bandage softened by sweat.
Old Zhang from the supply and marketing cooperative poked his head out from behind the counter, his reading glasses sliding down to the tip of his nose:
"Jianguo brought new people here again?"
He handed over a coarse porcelain bowl with steam rising from the hot water inside.
"Can you give the child two pieces of the new crabapple candy that arrived yesterday?"
As soon as Yang Huaiqing's finger touched the candy wrapper, he retracted it as if he had been electrocuted and turned to look at Yang Huaixi.
"Take it."
Yang Huaixi took out a cloth bag from his cotton-padded jacket, which contained several crumpled food coupons.
"Change for two."
Wang Jianguo took out his ticket first:
"Count it on me!"
When the candy was stuffed into Yang Huaiqing's hand, the warmth from the boy's palm instantly softened the edge of the candy wrapper.
"This is clam oil, it's the best for preventing chapped hands."
Wang Jianguo picked up an iron box and stuffed it into Yang Huaixi's hand, then pointed to the enamel jar on the top shelf.
"That one is from Shanghai. Once the clinic is built, we'll give each of you one."
Yang Huaixi stroked the clam patterns on the iron box, and recalled the thick calluses on He Yushui's fingertips when she changed their dressings.
Yang Huaiqing suddenly pointed at the bamboo basket in the corner:
"what is that?"
There are some brown particles inside, giving off a faint burnt aroma.
"This is burnt corn kernels,"
Old Zhang smiled and reached into his pocket.
"It can fill your stomach when you are hungry, no need for tickets."
The boy held the corn kernels in his palms. It felt warm, like a handful of sunshine.
The snow started falling outside the window again, rustling against the glass.
Yang Huaixi drank hot water and watched Yang Huaiqing carefully put the crabapple candy into the candy wrapper, then took it out, looked at it, and then wrapped it up.
Wang Jianguo was chatting with Old Zhang about the brick factory, and the sparks from his pipe flickered in the twilight.
The pain in the injured arm seemed to be relieved a little, warmed by the hot water and the smell of sugar, just like the lights in the supply and marketing cooperative at this moment, although dim, they made the shadows of the three people real.
"Let's go, it's time to go to the commune."
Wang Jianguo patted Yang Huaiqing on the shoulder, and the boy looked at the glass jar reluctantly. Yang Huaixi put the clam oil in his pocket, and the coolness of the iron box was still on his fingertips.
When they walked out of the supply and marketing cooperative, Yang Huaiqing suddenly broke off half of the crabapple candy in his hand and stuffed it into Yang Huaixi's mouth:
"Brother, that's so sweet."
The sugar melts on the tip of your tongue, with a hint of orange flavor.
Yang Huaixi looked at the sugar residue on the corner of his brother's mouth, then looked at the lights of the commune office in the distance, and suddenly felt that the fatigue in his arms was dissipated a little by the sweetness.
The snow fell on the cotton-padded jacket and melted quickly, just like those hard days of wandering in the black market. At this moment, in the warm light of the supply and marketing cooperative and the sweetness of a piece of crabapple candy, it slowly melted into warmth that could be held in the palm of the hand.
The ice flowers on the wooden lattice windows of the supply and marketing cooperative melted into thin streams under the warm light. Yang Huaixi drank the last sip of hot water in the enamel cup, and the stinging pain in his injured arm dissipated along his throat.
Wang Jianguo knocked the ice on the edge of the counter with his pipe:
"What do you think? Old Zhang's enamel pot is more useful than herbal soup, right?"
Yang Huaiqing stuffed the crumpled Begonia candy wrapper into the inner pocket of his cotton-padded jacket. When he heard the word "commune", his cotton-padded shoes rolled out two semicircles on the snow.
The five-pointed star on the commune's red brick wall shone brightly in the snow, and snow particles hanging from the icicles at the base of the wall fell down.
As soon as Yang Huaixi stepped onto the third step, he saw Yang Huaiqing rushing forward like a dandelion blown by the wind, the soles of his cotton shoes sliding on the icy stone steps.
"beans!"
He grabbed his brother by the back of the collar, the rough bandage making a noise in his sleeves, but he still pulled the boy to his side.
“Look at the ice under your feet!”
The boy held half a piece of roasted corn in his mouth, his cheeks puffed up like a little squirrel, but his finger pointed at the red five-pointed star on the door lintel:
"Brother, look at the stars..."
Yang Huaixi squatted down to brush off the snow on his hat brim, and touched the frostbite scab on his brother's earlobe with his fingertips:
"When you see Director Song in the room, don't jump around all the time. Think for three seconds before you speak."
He straightened Yang Huaiqing's crooked collar.
"Remember, we are here to take on the responsibility."
"Know it!"
Yang Huaiqing spat the corn kernel into his palm, deliberately straightened his thin chest, rubbed the soles of his boots against the ice edges of the steps, and followed Yang Huaixi step by step.
When Wang Jianguo pushed open the wooden door, the icy edges on the lintel crashed onto the snow, startling the sparrows pecking at food on the windowsill.
Director Song was bending over the table to revise the blueprints. He looked up when he heard the noise. His reading glasses had slipped to the tip of his nose, and there was a stain of ink on the lenses:
"Jianguo is back? Hurry and bring the guests in!"
Just as Yang Huaiqing was about to take off his cotton-padded jacket because of the warmth from the coal stove in the room, Yang Huaixi gently nudged him with his elbow.