My 1979

After Li Zhaokun's first day, Wang Yulan went to cut the grass and dry it every day, from morning to night, seemingly without a break.

Occasionally the afternoon sun would be close to 40 degrees, which made Li He worried just thinking about it. He had to risk being scolded to pull her back.

There are messy weeds on both sides of the river slope, waist deep. There is no wind today, but the grass is swaying.

Li He didn't need to think twice to know that Wang Yulan was inside, and shouted, "Auntie, it's so hot, why don't you go home? I'm starving and I didn't eat in the morning."

After a long while, a head wearing a straw hat emerged from the grass. It was Wang Yulan.

She laid a handful of weeds she had just cut flat on the ground, wiped the sweat from her forehead with the hand holding the sickle, and looked at Li He.

Li He said, "Be careful with the sickle and don't cut yourself."

He looked horrified.

Wang Yulan said dissatisfied, "I'm not a child."

Li He said, "Then let's go home first and mow again in the afternoon. There will be plenty of grass and our legs won't run away."

Except for their family, no one else in the village was willing to cut the grass. They gave it to others for free, and they didn't care about it. Weeds are the least resistant to burning.

There was a shovel on the ground. He picked it up and put it on his shoulder.

Wang Yulan followed him and said again halfway down the road, "Give me the spade."

Li He looked at the poplar trees on the roadside, and then said, "I'll chop it down. You can go home and rest for a while, okay?"

I want to use a shovel to shovel the branches of the poplar tree and dry them for firewood.

Wang Yulan looked at the dazzling sun and ordered, "This is the end of shoveling."

Li He had to agree even if he didn't agree, otherwise he might be more endless. He nodded and said, "Don't worry, I'll cut as much as you want."

Under the watchful eye of my mother, he held his head high, held up the shovel, found a tree branch, and shoveled it. With three or two clicks, a tree branch as thick as a wrist drooped, hanging on to the bark.

He put down the shovel, pulled with both hands, and the branch was pulled down.

"You're so stupid." Wang Yulan muttered a few words, then turned and left.

Li He didn't dare to stop, fearing that his mother would be dissatisfied and look back, so he shoveled off two more sticks.

It wasn't until Wang Yulan was nowhere to be seen that he stood panting under the shade of the tree and had time to clear away the sweat on his forehead.

He felt that this was not the way to go. It was really exhausting on a hot day.

He simply took out his cell phone and called Pan Guangcai.

Pan Guangcai said, "I'm at home. Just come over. Do you want to come have something to drink? I'm eating right now."

Li He said, "Eat quickly. I'm cutting branches on the river slope. Please help me ask who has a chainsaw and bring a ladder. I can't shovel much even with a shovel."

The palms of my hands are burning, and I might get blisters if I rub them for a while.

What's more, the shovel becomes duller with more use.

Pan Guangcai teased, "You are so idle that you find something to do for yourself."

Li He said angrily, "Can I do it voluntarily? It's not like you don't know what my old lady's condition is now. Come on, I'll be waiting."

Just as he was about to hang up, he panicked and said, "Don't hang up in a hurry. Wait a minute. Also, bring the tractor over. I'll take it home and dry it at the door."

Pan Guangcai said, "Wait, I'll go to Fatty Chen's place. He has a chainsaw, but he still has to find diesel."

Li He said, "You go to Dazhuang's house. I saw their warehouse the day before yesterday. There are several barrels of diesel. You can just move it here."

Pan Guangcai said, "I know, just wait."

Li He hung up the phone, took off his shirt, and the shirt got wet in the water. He wiped his face with the shirt, then tossed it in the water and put it on again.

He lit a cigar and leaned against the tree trunk. Just as he was about to squint his eyes, his back hurt. He reached out and pinched his back. It was a black ant.

The ants climbed up along the trunk of the tree. When I looked down, I saw a layer of black ants on the ground, densely packed, coming in and out of the cracks in the ground.

He gave up, flicked the ant in his hand, and hid under another tree.

Pan Guangcai, Li Hui, Chen Yongqiang and others drove a walking tractor over. Also sitting in the carriage were the Sang brothers, Da Zhuang and Chu Yang.

Before the car stopped, Li He shouted, "You are crazy, so many people are coming."

Pan Guangcai parked his car on a tractor road by the side of the road and said with a smile, "If there are few people, I don't know how long it will take. It's so hot, let's finish the work early."

Li He helped Chu Yang move the ladder down and asked with a smile, "Why do you have time to come here today? Are you not busy?"

Chu Yang smiled and said, "He Laoxi has been in the provincial capital these days. I just happened to come back today and took him back on the way. As soon as I came out of his house, I saw Li Hui driving a handcart and asked him what he was doing. He said he was cutting down trees. , I just followed, it’s nothing serious anyway.”

Li He smiled and said, "Then don't leave. Let's have a meal together tonight."

Li Hui said, "I planted the poplar trees in that row. You can cut them down as you like. It will be troublesome to cut them up."

Li He said, "I can't use such thick ones. They are only needed for stewing meat. The thin branches can be burned normally. They have grown so thick. It would be a pity to cut them casually."

Chen Yongqiang, who was strong and strong, held the electric saw with one hand and climbed up the ladder. With a few strokes, the tree trunk was sawed bare from top to bottom, and five or six branches came down.

Li Hui, who was holding the ladder underneath, was almost hit by a tree branch.

He said angrily, "Slow down, scratch my head, you really have to pay for my medical expenses."

Fatty Chen said, "Are you afraid that I can't afford the compensation?"

With the roar of the chainsaw, another branch fell from one side.

After cutting off the twigs of a tree, Li Hui first stopped the chainsaw, and then slowly stepped back from the ladder.

Li He was smoking a cigar leisurely while instructing Pan Guangcai to throw branches into the carriage.

Pan Guangcai said, "No wonder you are the boss with this attitude."

Completely let go of the shopkeeper.

Li He said sheepishly, "I will be the host tonight and treat you to a good meal."

Pan Guangcai said disdainfully, "It's hard to say whether you can get food yourself."

Li He said, "Is the restaurant just a decoration? I invite you to eat out."

Li Hui said, "You can do it. I'll go to town for a meal for you. I'm going to make a fuss."

Sang Yongbo said, "Don't go to town. We will go to Lao Pan Fish Pond later to fish for an old turtle and make soup at night."

Pan Guangcai said, "Take my things as a favor for you. You are so good at calculating."

Sang Yongbo said, "It's hurtful to say such things. Who among us brothers is following whom?"

Chen Yongqiang finished sawing the branches of a tree again. After resting for a while, his arms still felt sore and he asked, "This thing is heavy, which one of you will do it?"

Sangyongbo said, "I'll do it."

As soon as he took it from Chen Yongqiang, his hands felt heavy. He couldn't hold the chainsaw with one hand and climb the ladder like Chen Yongqiang did with the other hand. He could only climb the ladder first, then take it from Li Hui's hand, and hold the chainsaw with both hands. saw.