Chapter 7: She Sent Them to Mine Coal

She muttered to herself, “Why is there no sound?”

She pressed her ear against the wall for five minutes before finally withdrawing it and going to sleep.

Ye Qinglan also retracted her gaze. Her X-ray vision hadn’t improved.

It seemed that the trash was indeed unrecoverable.

~~

The next day.

When Ye Qinglan woke up, she saw Ye Jiao half-awake, reluctant to leave the warmth of her blanket. With a swift motion, she lifted the blanket and pulled the child out.

Ye Jiao was startled awake!

She turned her head to look at Ye Qinglan, then at her suspended position. What was she doing? Lifting a chick?

“Sister?”

Ye Qinglan glanced at her, “Get dressed. Didn’t you say you wanted to train with me?”

She put Ye Jiao down. Ye Jiao, ignoring the shock of her sister’s immense strength, quickly put on her clothes.

Five minutes later, the sisters went out.

Looking at the slightly brightening sky, Ye Jiao shivered. She had a little regret about training.

Ye Qinglan looked at her, “If you can’t do it, go back.”

“No! If you can do it, I can do it! We’re sisters, I can’t be a coward just because you’re awesome.”

“Then keep up.”

Ye Jiao chased after her, but she talked too much. She would say things like, “Sister, can we make a deal? Don’t lift me like a chicken next time, okay?” or “Sister, if I become really good at long distance running, can you teach me how to fight?” “…”

Ye Qinglan looked at her. How come kids nowadays are so noisy?

When they actually started running, Ye Jiao stopped talking. She was slow and panting, so Ye Qinglan occasionally stopped to wait for her, considering that she was just starting to train and hadn’t run that far.

Fortunately, even though she was exhausted and panting like a dog, she didn’t give up. She was quiet on the way back.

When they got home, Yang Wenying had already bought breakfast and groceries. Ye Qinglan washed up and went out after breakfast.

After she left, Ye Jiao told Yang Wenying, “Mom, my sister is amazing. She ran so far and didn’t even break a sweat.”

“I know she’s great. You should just follow her and learn a little from her. If you can learn even a little bit from her, I won’t worry about your safety wherever you go.”

Ye Qinglan hadn’t told Yang Wenying where she had been for the past few years and didn’t allow her to ask. Because they weren’t close, she didn’t allow her to ask, and Yang Wenying didn’t dare to ask.

But Yang Wenying guessed that she was probably in the army because the young man who came to deliver money to the house once came at night and was wearing a military uniform.

Knowing that she wasn’t doing anything bad, Yang Wenying felt relieved.

“As long as she’s willing to teach me, I’ll definitely learn well.”

“Eat quickly, then go to school. You’re going to be late.”

Ye Jiao stuffed the last bun into her mouth, finished her soy milk in one gulp, and ran out with her schoolbag, not forgetting to call out to her friends on the third floor.

Wang Auntie next door also called Yang Wenying to go to work together.

Speaking of Ye Qinglan, she went to the post office first and made a phone call to Beijing.

The person on the other end of the line, after hearing her request, immediately said, “Since they’re your uncle and cousin, we must take good care of them. I’ll definitely find them two good jobs. What’s their educational background?”

He was genuinely trying to arrange jobs for Ye Qinglan’s family, but he heard her say:

“I’ve already chosen. One will go to the west to build roads, and the other will go to the north to mine coal. Young people need to endure hardship and labor to understand the hard-won prosperity we enjoy today.”

The other person: “…”

He suddenly doubted that his thoughts might be different from hers, so he tentatively asked, “Then, how about arranging them as cooks in the mine?”

“How can that be? My relatives have the same high level of ideological awareness as me. They are willing to dedicate themselves to the country. If you arrange things too well for them, they will be unhappy. They should go down the mine. The same goes for the road construction workers. Send them to the highest altitude and coldest place in the west, to do the hardest work and get the least pay. Only then can they embody their patriotic spirit.”

The other person: “…” After a while, he asked, “What’s the time limit?”

“Besides traitors, whose patriotic spirit has a time limit?”

“Understood.”

“You don’t owe me anything anymore. Goodbye.”

“Hey, little—”

The sound of the phone hanging up made the other person shake his head. He wanted to say that there was no need to use favors for such a small matter. He also wanted to ask when she was coming to Beijing.

This little girl could be considered half a doctor. Years ago, the people from the Lingcheng Military District sent her to Beijing for testing. Who would have thought that she would glance at him and point at him, saying, “Your stomach is different from others, you have an extra tumor.”

Upon examination, it was indeed true.

Recalling his thoughts, he immediately arranged for the matter.

Ye Qinglan also went to return the car.

~~

Daniu Village.

After Ye Qinglan left last night, the Ye family had a big fight.

But this morning, the whole family was surprisingly reconciled. The reason was simple. After Ye Shujuan woke up, she mentioned: The most urgent matter was to find a way to get back the money Ye Qinglan had taken, instead of fighting among themselves.

Her words made everyone calm down and they started discussing how to do it. After much deliberation, they decided to go to the police.

Although they hadn’t been able to get the house after borrowing it, they wanted to take the mother and daughter back to the countryside, but who heard them? Even if someone heard them, they were just asking their granddaughter and daughter-in-law to go back to their hometown, the police couldn’t do anything to them. On the other hand, Ye Qinglan had beaten them up, and the injuries on their faces were the best evidence.

However, before they could leave, a young man in a Male comrade suit and glasses arrived with the village cadre, bringing them news: Ye Song had been spotted by the Dongliao Coal Mine in Shuocheng in the north, and Ye Rukun had been spotted by the road construction team in the Lacheng area in the west, becoming temporary miners and temporary road construction workers respectively.

Immediately, Ye Rukun and his son were struck by lightning.

“Comrade! Comrade! Did you get it wrong? There are more than one people named Ye Song in our Lingcheng, are you sure it’s me who’s going to mine coal? I didn’t sign up, I didn’t even know there was recruitment, how did you spot me?”

Ye Song was about to explode.

Mining work sounds good, there’s a salary, but it’s so hard! So dangerous! You could die in there if you’re not careful, and if you don’t die, you’ll get sick. He wants to be a worker, but he definitely doesn’t want to be a miner, especially a temporary miner, the kind with the lowest salary in the mine! He’d rather stay home and farm!

Ye Rukun was also going crazy.

He had never been to Lacheng, but he had heard people say that many people got sick there because they couldn’t adapt. Besides, he didn’t even know how to farm properly, yet they were asking him to go across half the country to build roads, wasn’t that crazy?

“Comrade, you got it wrong, you definitely got it wrong!”

The man in the Male comrade suit who came to deliver the notice looked at the booklet in his hand, “No mistake, Ye Rukun from Daniu Village, currently forty-three years old, graduated from elementary school second grade. Ye Song from Daniu Village, currently twenty-two years old, junior high school education.”

Ye Song: “Impossible! I didn’t sign up at all, did someone frame us? Who, who framed us?”

The villagers looked at Ye Rukun and his son with a look of amusement.

Coal mine work is not easy.

The man in the Male comrade suit who came to deliver the notice was unhappy when he heard this, “How come your ideological awareness is so poor? Sending you to mine coal is for the construction of our country. Over the years, countless intellectuals have gone to mine coal, and no one has said anything. Why are you making a fuss about it?

Also, no one framed you, it’s because your old man knew our leader when he was young, and our leader remembers the old days and specially arranged this for you. He originally wanted to arrange you in Lingcheng, but there are not enough jobs right now. You can only be arranged further away for now. You can go there for two months, and our leader will find a way to bring you back.”

The male comrade prayed as he spoke. What a sin! He didn’t lie on purpose. He was just following orders.

After he said this, the Ye family looked at each other.

The next second, Ye Rukun and his son rushed to his side and repeatedly confirmed with him whether it was true or not. After he repeatedly assured them, Ye Rukun and his son laughed!

The surrounding neighbors were envious again.

Old Lady Ye stepped forward and asked, “Who is your leader? Can you find a job for Ye Shujuan?”

The man in the Male comrade suit shook his head, “Why are you so greedy? It’s good enough to arrange two, do you want a third? Don’t be too greedy, or you might end up with none. Who is our leader? I can’t tell you.”

Old Lady Ye didn’t say anything, but she had already started calculating in her mind. After Ye Song and the others returned, she would ask them to give up one of their jobs for Shujuan.

Ye Rukun saw the look in her eyes and knew what she was thinking.

He said to the man, “Comrade, don’t listen to my mother’s nonsense, she’s senile. Thank you for today’s matter.”

“It’s okay. Gather at the Transportation Management Bureau entrance on Tuesday morning, I’ll take you there. Get your luggage ready in the next two days.”

The man in the Male comrade suit finished speaking and rode his bicycle back to report.

The villagers came up to congratulate the two, the Ye family was really different now, they were a real worker family!

Back then, when Ye Lao Er got a job at the textile factory, they were already envious. Now, the Ye family was even more enviable, with two workers at once!

The envious looks of the villagers made Ye Rukun and his son feel very proud.

Because time was tight, it was already Friday, and the father and son didn’t go to the police. The police would definitely investigate, what if it delayed their work?

But they could not go to the police, they couldn’t not arrange Ye Shujuan’s marriage. Ye Song had already agreed with the other party, just waiting to pay the bride price and get married.

In the following days, Ye Rukun and Ye Song were busy preparing luggage and Ye Shujuan’s wedding.

Tuesday came in a blink of an eye.

After midnight, Ye Rukun, his wife, and his son, taking advantage of Old Lady Ye’s sleep, quietly packed their luggage and left. That’s right, Ye Rukun’s wife also followed, she was determined to follow Ye Rukun to Lacheng and refused to stay in the old house to serve the old woman.

The three of them arrived at the entrance of the Transportation Management Bureau before dawn, waiting until seven o’clock, and several other people with luggage arrived one after another.

Seeing this, Ye Song’s nervous heart calmed down.

Around eight o’clock, the man in the Male comrade suit who had gone to Daniu Village to deliver the notice arrived. He nodded in satisfaction when he saw Ye Rukun and his family!

How could he not be satisfied? He “bought” two and got one for free!

The Ye family was also very satisfied. They thought that with one more person, they wouldn’t agree, but no one cared at all.

At 8:30, a truck drove out from the bureau, and the waiting people got on one after another. This was to take them to the train station.

At 9:30, Ye Song stepped onto the northbound train with anticipation! From now on, he would be a great worker! All those who had looked down on him for having no money and no job, like Afang and Xiao Li, would no longer be able to climb up to him! When he returned, he would definitely marry a girl from a leader’s family in the city!

Because of his anticipation, he had no parting sorrow, only his mother waving goodbye to him with tears in her eyes.

At 10:00, Ye Rukun and his wife boarded the westbound train!

As the train door closed, Ye Rukun seemed to see Ye Qinglan! He quickly wiped his eyes and looked back at the platform, but there was nothing there.