On the eve of New Year's Day, the first snow fell since the beginning of winter on the Huaibei Plain. The first snow was not heavy, and it fluttered lightly with the wind like willow catkins. However, as the northwest wind became stronger and stronger, the snow became denser and denser, covering the sky and the noise and blurring, weaving a large white net on both sides of the canal.

In the early morning, the sky was dark and the wind was raging. I pushed the bicycle out of the door and trembled. After walking two steps in the ankle-free snow, I staggered and fell into the drainage ditch on the side of the road. Fortunately, the snow was thick and my body was worn thick. I just touched a stone on my forehead, and I didn't feel any pain. I felt a numbness in the cold. I couldn't ride the bicycle anymore, so I got up, slid back to the yard step by step, put the bicycle in the west room, and went out again, walking forward with one foot deep and one foot shallow.

The blue-gray factory gate in the wind and snow is like an isolated down-and-out old man. When I and my colleagues gathered together in a mixed manner, they were nearly an hour late. People had snow dust hanging on their eyebrows, and the exhaled heat condensed into frost at the neck of the scarf. Walking on the sycamore trees with slumbers falling from the leaves, they were like warriors in white helmets and white armor, and finally scattered into the workshops on both sides.

I lifted the double-layer cotton curtain on the workshop door. The workshop was cold. Most of the motorists who used to wear single clothes were wearing cotton clothes. Half of the machines in the workshop had stopped working. The deafening sound of machines in the past stopped a lot, and there was a feeling of downturn around. I walked between two rows of machines that were moving, and I met Xiao Meihua on a big forehead.

"I haven't seen you for a long time. I thought you and Sister Hong went to the provincial capital to see the child." Xiao Meihua's face was not covered with pink, and she looked very energetic.

"We plan to go after the New Year. It's too cold now, so it's easier to go out in spring." I didn't stop, but just turned my head and looked at her.

"What's wrong with your forehead?" Xiao Meihua shouted. Although the sound was not loud, I could hear it clearly amid the noise of the machine.

"My forehead..." I raised my hand in surprise and touched it, and a stinging pain was slimy, "Oh--I fell down when I came to work and my forehead was rocked."

"Do you want to go to the factory and hospital to take a reservation?" Xiao Meihua turned to me with concern.

"It's okay, it won't be in the middle of winter, and it won't be bleeding anymore." I took out the handkerchief that Sister Hong stuffed into my pocket in the morning, pressed her swollen forehead, and turned around to leave.

"Hey... Xiao Cai, he called you okay, go to the house to play." Xiao Meihua chased me again.

"What did you say? Xiao Cai..., he asked me to go to the house to play..." I turned my face and looked at Xiao Meihua's red face, and for a moment, a little confused.

"Yes." Xiao Meihua's face showed a hint of shyness, "He told me last night."

"Last night..." I felt a little incredible and was stunned, "You..., are you talking to Senior Brother Xiao Cai... to have a partner?"

"Yeah." In the dim light and shadow refracted from the skylight, Xiao Meihua's big forehead was shining.

"This... Xiao Cai is really good. Everyone has left, and he has hooked up with someone in the factory... Oh, no, I found a partner. He is so naughty on the surface, but he is really good inside!" I didn't know how to express it, and I felt a little moved for a moment.

"Okay, I will definitely go to Xiao Cai when I have time." Looking at Xiao Meihua's embarrassing look, I couldn't help but joke, "Today, tell that kid that if he dares to bully you and bully our cotton workers, I will fold his little arm."

When I walked into the security room, people in the room were chatting around Squad Leader Xu. Seeing me pushing the door and walking in, Squad Leader Xu, who was originally dancing, shut up and everyone looked at each other, and the atmosphere was a little awkward.

"Why aren't you talking? Is there anything good? Do you have to pay the salary?" I took off my electrician's raincoat and asked casually.

"Everyone is talking nonsense." Squad leader Xu sucked his nose and smiled a little embarrassedly. "Today's special situation, many people were late and there was no work in the workshop in the morning."

"Everyone is talking about you, oh...what is wrong with your forehead?" Old Master Huang glanced at Squad Leader Xu in dissatisfaction, and wiped the newly grown stubble on his cheeks.

"It's okay, I fell down on the way here and got a little bit of skin." I want to know they are talking

I deliberately joked in a relaxed tone, "Is there something wrong with my work yesterday?"

"Master Wu, you have nothing to say about your work, why would there be a problem? We are talking about you..." A primary school apprentice was unreasonable and was stopped by Fatty Zhang just halfway through.

"Where...what do you think of me?" I felt "interested" for a moment, and turned my face and stared at Squad Leader Xu.

"I didn't say anything about you, I just talk about the past and the affairs of you and Lu Yu." Squad leader Xu showed a little embarrassment on his face, and he unnaturally made a smooth move.

"Squad Leader Xu is recalling what happened to Mr. Cui back then, and he talked about how the sponge mill was so glorious when he was the secretary in the factory." Old Master Huang waved his hand and glanced at Squad Leader Xu.

"Why do you think of talking about these things about Chen Guzi rotting sesame seeds?" I knew the relationship between Squad Leader Xu and the others and Cui Laopao. After listening to the explanation of Old Master Huang, I felt a little uncomfortable.

"Nothing, it's just nonsense. Isn't everyone okay? I heard that Lu Yu is the deputy secretary in Gulou District in the city." Squad leader Xu stood up.

"Didn't you say you are the Minister of Propaganda? Why are you the Secretary again? This... is progressing too fast..." Fatty Zhang opened his mouth and turned into the word "o".

When Team Leader Xu turned around and went out, he explained to everyone: "Let's chat again, I'll go to the workshop to see if there is any work arrangement today."

Squad leader Xu left, and no one paid attention to Fatty Zhang anymore. I walked to my own soil and sand, sat down, and was pulling out a book from the electrician's bag, Fatty Zhang moved to my side.

"Wu Ping, have you heard of it? The cotton mill is really going to contract it." Fatty Zhang whispered with a bleak face.

"Didn't the working group have already said it when they were in the last meeting?" I didn't look up and took out a collection of "Algebra" exercises. This was given to me by Teacher Yu last time.

"Last time they had to contract, we firmly opposed it, and we went to the county to report it, but it was useless, and they still had to do this." Fatty Zhang looked pale and looked worried and hurried. "Do you know how they contracted it? It is open to the public and everyone can sign up. I heard that Brother Hu Xiumei, who fought with you, has also signed up. There are also a few people who dig gypsum mines, and the leader is from your neighboring village. What do you think is going to do? How can the property of the country and the people be given to private people and to bad people?"

I was shocked when I heard that the "Erhu in the North of the City" had signed up. Fatty Zhang said that the person who dug the gypsum mine must be Sanhong's brother. I felt indescribable absurdity in my heart, and an infinite sadness surged out.

Fatty Zhang saw that I didn't reply, so he put a swollen face over: "Wu Ping, someone in your family is an official in the province, and you are Lu Yu's apprentice. It's time to look up and report the situation. Don't let them sell the yarn farm."

"Don't talk nonsense now. They are not selling the yarn mill, but contracting and operating the factory or the public." I felt uncomfortable, but looking at Fatty Zhang's gaze, I didn't want to follow his words.

The voices of both of us were getting higher and higher, and everyone around us turned their faces and raised their ears to listen carefully to our arguments. After all, this was related to everyone's destiny.

"As like this, tomorrow will be contracted, and the factory will not be sold the day after tomorrow." Fatty Zhang was dissatisfied with my answer and choked, and the cold words pierced into my heart like a dagger.

"These bastards!" I finally couldn't hold back and cursed with gritted teeth, "But... I don't have any relatives to be officials in the province. As for my master Lu Yu, do you think I can count on him?"

After I finished saying this, I lowered my head to read the book in my hand, but I couldn't read a word. Fatty Zhang saw that I didn't want to pay attention to him anymore, so he turned around and left helplessly. People around him dispersed, and several elementary apprentices left the door and started whispering. Although they had just arrived at the factory, they no longer felt like I had entered the factory.

There was nothing wrong with the whole day, and everyone sat together dejectedly, and few people talked. The daylight came in winter in Japan, and the blizzard was short. It was just after four o'clock in the afternoon, and the sky became completely dark. Fatty Zhang packed up his things and was about to go to the bathroom to take a shower. Old Master Huang called him and said that the boiler was broken and there was not enough heating during the day. How could he burn the bath water? Fatty Zhang cursed, picked up his raincoat and shook it, put it on his body and went out.

Squad Leader Xu just pushed the door and the two almost ran into each other. Fatty Zhang didn't say anything,

He left with a straightforward look, and squad leader Xu looked suspiciously and muttered in a low voice: "Isn't it time to get off work? Why are you leaving?"

Old Master Huang was also about to walk out when he heard the words of Squad Leader Xu and replied: "It's nothing, why don't you go back early? It's almost an ice cellar."
Chapter completed!