Wild 1979: From Fishing and Hunting to Becoming a Literary Master

Chapter 19 The Treatment of Troublemakers

"Chen Tuo, don't worry! I'll stamp the envelope again to make sure it won't get lost in transit!"

Hearing Hong Ye's assurance, they walked out of Songling Post Office together with Sun Changkui.

After agreeing to be Hongye's first reader.

Besides a piece of writing paper, the chubby girl also gave him a notebook, a fountain pen, ink, and a pencil.

The fountain pen belonged to Hong Ye himself, while the ink and pencils were office supplies from the post office.

The notebooks were taken out of a drawer by several employees.

"Xiao Chen, most of the people around here are soldiers and their families. Although the farm can't solve your food problem, don't worry, we're here!"

Sun the Cripple, as described by Wu Laowai, was warm-hearted and genuine.

Thinking of the brand-new cotton coat Dr. Hu had given him, Chen Tuo gritted his teeth before hesitatingly speaking:

"Brother-in-law Sun, what about Sister Lingzi...?"

Given the shrewdness and calculating nature Chen Tuo had developed during his time as a beast of burden, he shouldn't have said those words.

But compared to Wu Laowai pulling him back from the snow, Dr. Hu's cotton-padded coat seemed more sincere.

If Wu Laowai hadn't switched his mind and traded chickens and rabbits for the ginseng scraps, Chen Tuo would have kept those words to himself.

"If someone's eyeing my wife, it means she's good-looking. Don't worry, Xiao Chen, your sister Lingzi isn't that kind of person!"

Chen Tuo hesitated before speaking, and Sun Changkui knew what he was going to say.

Wu Laowai's longing for his wife, Da Lingzi, is nothing new.

In the Songling area, there were more than just one or two people who had their eyes on the pretty doctor Hu Yuling.

But as Sun Changkui once said, the surrounding forest areas are inhabited only by forestry engineers and railway soldiers.

Some things are not about being bold, but about not being able to bear the consequences.

In Songling, few people dared to mess with Wu Laowai.

It's also related to Hu Yuling.

But those events are in the past, and the price those people paid for their injuries and disabilities was too high.

As the victor, Sun Changkui could no longer be mentioned.

Once they reached the main road, Sun Changkui remembered what Wu Laowai had said: Chen Tuo couldn't recall some things from the past.

"My name is Sun Changkui. I'm in charge of the security section of the armed forces department in Songling Town, and I also manage the horse stables. Your sister Lingzi's name is Hu Yuling. She's a doctor at the Forestry Bureau."

"Go back and get some rest. I'll have someone send you some firewood later."

"By the way, I saw a pile of burlap sacks outside your place. Are they full of tattered cotton-padded coats?"

Sun Changkui not only did not dislike Chen Tuo, but also had a good impression of him because of Hu Yuling.

As for protecting Chu Maolin, aside from personal favors, it was because Chen Tuo's actions were too heavy-handed and had too wide an impact.

Nobody wants to go through another torrent, right?

"Yes! These are all cotton-padded clothes and trousers left to me by the educated youth."

He looked at his own thin cotton-padded jacket, then at Sun Changkui's sheepskin military overcoat.

Chen Tuo was also somewhat astonished by the efficacy of ginseng.

From last night until now, he has not only not felt cold, but has hardly sweated at all.

I was agitated all night, but I didn't feel any physical discomfort.

I felt exceptionally good, and my energy was exceptionally high.

"Okay! You go back first. I'll ask the logistics department at the bureau if they can arrange or relocate you. You'll have your own place, so be sure to keep warm!"

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Brother-in-law Sun..."

After the two separated, Chen Tuo looked in the direction of the post office and then let out a long sigh of relief.

I didn't sleep a wink all night, busy with just the four basic necessities of life: food, clothing, shelter, and transportation.

The living conditions in the Xingan Mountains are too harsh, and there is no guarantee of a livelihood, so it is useless for him to recite a lot of modern poems.

Walking back to the former educated youth settlement, Chen Tuo was also thinking about whether or not to leave Songling after saving up his royalties.

A winter that lasts seven months can be really tough.

Before we even reached the educated youth settlement, the mist in the Hetao region had dissipated, revealing a stunning expanse of rime ice.

The rime ice resembled a dragon, stretching and undulating along the river.

Chen Tuo's heart was also cleansed and turned pure white.

Back then, the Greater Khingan Mountains did have trees, but they were less than a fraction of what they are now.

The stunning rime ice, with its golden canopy towering over the snow-covered plains, can only be seen by aerial photography using a drone.

Now, all you can see is a stunning forest.

For such breathtaking scenery, one should live in the Greater Khingan Mountains for a few years...

Chen Tuo wanted to see the mountain scenery and rime ice again.

But the little red-haired puppy hanging on his chest started whimpering and complaining of being hungry.

Back at the gatehouse where they were temporarily staying, they fed Red Hair a fish soup.

The sound of a tractor chugging along could also be heard outside the educated youth settlement.

"Chen, I've brought you firewood for the winter. This is a truckload of tree stumps that the bureau's boiler room has ready. I'll bring you a truckload of branches later."

The power of words was something that Chen Tuo witnessed firsthand.

Sun Changkui, Wei Juncheng, Chu Mingshan, and others had witnessed how terrifying it was more than a decade ago.

The tree stump, which takes at least two people to encircle, is not firewood from the Songling Forestry Bureau.

Instead, it was harvested and then brought down from the mountain specifically for reforestation.

The last truckload wasn't unloaded; it was simply placed next to the hangar.

To put Chen Tuo's mind at ease, they sent it over as firewood first.

Before Chen Tuo could arrange the venue, the few people who got off the tractor opened the gate as if they knew the way well.

The truckload of tree stumps was overturned and placed directly next to the pine firewood pile.

Chen Tuo wanted to offer a cigarette as a courtesy, but he didn't have any in his pocket.

If you want someone to stay for a drink of hot water, you have to boil it fresh.

Fortunately, the people from the forestry bureau didn't want to linger. After exchanging a few polite words, they left the educated youth settlement.

After feeding the puppies, Chen Tuo searched around the educated youth settlement for a long time but couldn't find a kettle to boil water.

There wasn't even a kettle, let alone a water cup or a teacup.

Some of them were just broken and cracked porcelain bowls and plates, and not many of them.

I washed a cooking pot and boiled water.

Just as Chen Tuo was debating whether or not to buy a pack of cigarettes, the sound of a tractor rang out again.

"Xiao Chen, come here. This is Xiao Kai, the head of the logistics department. Let him estimate what you can exchange your stuff for."

The replacement point that Sun Changkui mentioned had already been arranged by the bureau before he arrived, and it was even on the tractor.

There was a sheepskin coat, big-headed shoes, a dog-tail hat, quilts, pots and pans, and a bag of rice.

In short, the standard for replacement is to ensure that Chen Tuo will not freeze to death or starve to death in the near future!

After Sun Changkui finished speaking, Xiao Kai, who got out of the car to inspect the replacement supplies, was in a dilemma.

Because of the different pioneers and the different living environments in the Xingan Mountains.

In the forest farms surrounding Songling, the clothes and bedding for both permanent and temporary workers have always been old military uniforms and supplies allocated by the logistics department.

If clothes and bedding are torn or worn out, they can be replaced within the appropriate conditions and timeframes, which also serves as a guarantee for the safety of the pioneers.

Elsewhere, ragged clothes don't matter.

The Xingan Mountains are different, and the Xingan Mountains forest area is also different.

In the frigid winter, when temperatures are minus 20 or 30 degrees Celsius, or even lower, logging and transportation can be extremely dangerous if clothing and bedding are not warm enough; people could freeze to death.

The supply of educated youth sent to the countryside was initially the responsibility of the local area.

Later, he was transferred to the place where he was assigned to work in the countryside.

Therefore, their supply systems do not overlap.

Previously, the Green Water Farm only provided winter clothing to the educated youth on an irregular basis, and there was no such thing as replacing worn-out clothes.

There are at least dozens of worn-out cotton-padded clothes piled up outside the Xiaoyangqi educated youth settlement.

If replaced according to the standards for cold regions, winter work clothes can be sheepskin or rabbit skin cotton-padded jackets and trousers.

If this exchange were to happen, Chen Tuo could make a fortune without lifting a finger...