Ling Chengyan patted her shoulder and said, "Xiao Xing likes the television, huh? Then mom and dad will work hard to earn and save money. Once we’ve saved enough, we’ll buy one too."
"Yay, great!" Xiao Xing cheered and ran ho. At the front gate, she saw Wang Liansheng coming to greet them and imdiately ran over to share the good news.
"Dad, mom said that once our family saves enough money, we’ll buy a television."
Wang Liansheng looked up at his wife, but the night was dark without lights, and he couldn’t see her expression clearly. Yet, he seed to sense the teasing smile in her eyes, as if saying: Work hard to make money, Comrade Wang Liansheng!
Wang Liansheng suddenly curled the corners of his mouth into a smile, "Alright, we’ll save money to buy a television."
The next morning, Ling Chengyan arrived at the garage with a new assignnt.
Veterans and new recruits had just returned from practice and were having breakfast in the ss hall. The garage was just a few dozen ters away from the ss hall.
Before long, everyone finished eating, lined up, and reported their numbers until it was confird that everyone was present. Ling Chengyan ca to the front of the lineup with the dispatch sheet to announce the transportation plan: "We have a total of twenty-five vehicles. Except for three undergoing major repairs, the remaining twenty-two will depart today to load supplies at the transfer warehouse and transport them to the provincial capital."
When the task was assigned, Ling Chengyan directly ordered the dismissal. After the veterans and new recruits had practiced together the day before, their lineup was no longer clearly divided.
At this ti, they huddled in small groups, whispering about what kind of supplies would need so many vehicles for transport.
Ling Chengyan ignored them, quietly preparing the vehicles. Bringing Ma Dajun along, she got into the car and led the convoy out of the compound. Following them, twenty-one large trucks drove out in succession, forming a long line that caught the attention of many pedestrians on the road.
These people were probably also curious about what major operation the military district was undertaking to deploy so many vehicles.
Upon reaching the transfer warehouse, Ling Chengyan and those participating in the transport mission saw the vast warehouse filled to the brim with supplies, military supplies.
Ling Chengyan observed more carefully than the others, noting with sensitivity that there were many clothing items among the supplies, but all were sumr garnts.
Transporting sumr clothing in the dead of winter only ant one thing: the place where these supplies were needed was not cold enough to require winter clothing such as cotton-padded garnts.
Loading the vehicles proceeded quickly. Once a vehicle was loaded, it would set off imdiately without waiting. Ling Chengyan kept a close watch on the new recruits, ensuring that the veterans took charge of the supplies, which absolutely could not be lost.
Ling Chengyan’s vehicle was the last. After loading, she glanced at the still mountains of supplies left in the transfer warehouse, then silently started her vehicle.
As it turned out, these supplies far exceeded what Ling Chengyan saw on the first day. Their convoy worked at full capacity, transporting continuously for twelve days.
When all the supplies had been transported, it was already February of ’79.
Closely following the changing circumstances, Ling Chengyan was among the first to welco the ’79 Spring Festival, sending off the year of the Horse at noon and welcoming the upcoming year of the Sheep.
The units and military divisions held gala parties one after another. After watching two parties consecutively, Xiao Shitou was beyond excited.
The most exciting part for him was seeing his mom participate in the choir. Among many people, his mom stood right in the middle of the front row, and she looked the best!
On the surface, there was an air of harmony, songs, and dances, but both Ling Chengyan and everyone in the military district knew that this was only superficial. In truth, the entire unit system, and even the whole country, were quietly tightening up, preparing for sothing underneath the looseness.
Signs of a gathering storm lood over the scene.
On New Year’s Eve, Ling Chengyan still went to the ss hall to make dumplings with the soldiers to celebrate.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the convoy set off as usual for their assignnts.
The goods at the transfer station were transported before the year-end, and they received a new assignnt to transport a batch of supplies from Zhili Province. This ti, instead of heading south, they were tasked to go north.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Ling Chengyan looked at the highway map in her hands and then focused her gaze toward the northernmost part. Their destination for transporting supplies was there as well.
Even though the Spring Festival had passed, there was no sign of warmth returning. Instead, a cold wave had just approached, pushing temperatures even lower. The temperature in Huicheng District dropped to minus eighteen degrees. Ling Chengyan paid special attention to the weather forecast on the radio, discovering that the temperatures at their northern destination could reach below minus thirty degrees.
Minus eighteen degrees ant that water turned to ice instantly, and temperatures below minus thirty degrees would be a test for both vehicles and people.
Ma Dajun, simple-minded as he was, noticed nothing unusual and said happily, "Master, did you hear? Zhao Guangrong filed for retirent, but the company commander rejected it."
Ling Chengyan slightly raised her brows, thinking that applying for retirent at this ti...would hardly get approved.
"I listened to the weather forecast. Further ahead, there was light snow yesterday, which might lead to icy roads."
As they moved north, things went as expected for Ling Chengyan. Not only were there snow-covered icy roads, but upon reaching ng Province, they encountered a snowstorm, locally known as a big ’smoke bubble.’ The fierce winds, carrying a dense flurry of snow, obscured everything. There was no way to see the road or directions, making it impossible to move forward.
Thankfully, Ling Chengyan brought along a small radio, consistently keeping track of the weather forecast. This allowed the convoy to reach a military post before encountering the snowstorm, avoiding the nasty weather on the road.
The storm persisted for a day and two nights, and when it finally stopped, the roads were completely covered.
Thankfully, comrades at the military post were familiar with the roads, leading the convoy carefully with the first vehicle. The vehicles slowly traversed an expanse of ice and snow, doubling the originally planned week’s journey. It took the convoy thirteen days to reach the destination.
Once the supplies were unloaded from the vehicles, Ling Chengyan indeed saw the stockpile of military supplies inside the warehouse.
The return journey did not encounter extre weather, taking ten days.
Even before they returned to Huicheng, Ling Chengyan heard the news on the radio: on the 17th, the counterattack had begun.
Ma Dajun naively asked, "What does that an? Aren’t they all socialist countries?"
Ling Chengyan lowered her eyes, switching off the radio that had finished broadcasting the news.
Countries, families, and people are actually no different. There’s no such thing as eternal alliances or friendships anywhere!
"I rember you’re the only son, right?" Ling Chengyan asked instead of answering.
Ma Dajun nodded simply, "I have five sisters, and my mother gave birth to at thirty-seven."
Ling Chengyan nodded slightly, indicating that she understood.
On the 18th, Ling Chengyan and her team returned to Huicheng.
They barely had any rest ti. The convoy returned at night and imdiately received a new task that night. The entire Automobile Company was mobilized to transport supplies.
The next day, when Ling Chengyan led the convoy to load supplies, she realized that the task load for each squad had significantly increased. Pigs that previously had to weigh at least one hundred and twenty jin to be collected now only needed to weigh ninety jin. Moreover, it was required that all pigs eting the ninety-jin minimum be sent to the collection center.
This was the country’s collective effort to support the front and aid the war.
Since it involved frozen pork, there was a risk of spoilage, making railway transportation impractical. The supplies were instead transported directly by trucks.
Of course, these weren’t sent straight to the front lines but to various canning factories. There, the frozen pork was processed into canned pork, then sent to the front lines.
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