I couldn't help but take a closer look at the old horse. The old horse in front of me was tall and tall, a bit taller than me, black and strong, with a beard and thick eyebrows. Then I looked at the other workers, and I felt that they were similar to me.

Like Lao Ma, he should be a Yi man.

In fact, our Datang Township and other towns in Xigui County are similar. The Yi people are the majority. The Han people are the "minorities" in the minority areas here. There are also some Hui and Tibetan people.

In my heart, I was in awe of Secretary Ma, who brought other Yi brothers to build the fort. Because my previous impression was that they were not very hardworking. It seems this is a prejudice.

I don’t know why, but I suddenly asked Secretary Ma if Hu Bayao owed them wages. However, when I was about to say the words, I felt it was really inappropriate, so I suppressed it. I changed it to: "Secretary Ma, we are...

The water for the rice fields in Tangcun is brought down from your ditch."

Secretary Ma smiled and said, "Yes. Why did you suddenly say this? Was it because you were intercepted by someone with a black bag before?"

As soon as I heard this, I felt that Secretary Ma was indeed very smart.

Me: "That's right. When I was a child, I once went to divert water with the villagers in the middle of the night. We diverted the water from the entrance of the big river in Dama Township. We worked all night. At dawn, we diverted the water. We went home to eat.

I thought that after dinner, I would come back and see that the water in the field should be full. But when I came back after dinner, there was no poop. Then I searched and searched until I found the boundary of the black bag, and found that the water was intercepted halfway.

I quickly blocked the hole, and then went back to the field to wait for water. After seven or eight waits, there was still no water. When I went to look, I was intercepted again. At that time, I was very angry. I couldn't find anyone. I guess there was no one there.

Hiding somewhere nearby, just out of sight. Very angry."

Secretary Ma and Tie Zhu both burst out laughing.

Tie Zhu: "Then you have found an enemy today. Take good care of Secretary Hama."

Me: "How dare I deal with Secretary Ma? It's all in the past."

Secretary Ma: "Yes. It's all in the past. In the past, the country's economy was not good, and there was not much investment in rural areas. Many ditches were mud ditches. If they were broken, everyone put in work and labor to repair them. It won't take long to repair them.

It's broken again. The conflict of releasing water is really big. Fortunately, the people you meet know how to run and hide. If you don't hide, there is no guarantee that everyone will quarrel and fight when they meet."

Everyone said yes, yes. Nowadays, the "lower stone field" and "three-sided light" have been built, and some places even have "U-shaped cement troughs", which has indeed solved the problem of difficulty in draining water.

There was a younger guy in the crowd who took over the conversation and said in Tuanjiehua (Chinese with a Yi accent, a bit less standard Mandarin): "It's good, it's just that I can't catch a fish."

It’s hard to catch fish.”

Another person took over: "Mu Xia, you are not right. The fish in the ditch are not caused by 'Xiaoshitian'. Look at that fish pond or a cement pond. How come there are so many fish there? Let me tell you."

In other words, it was the sulfur water in the mountains that poisoned the fish."

Mu Xia: "Laha, you are the only one who is smart. I also said that he was electrocuted to death by a fish electrician and poisoned by pesticides."

Seeing them saying something like this, I couldn't stop talking. Secretary Ma quickly said: "If you don't work anymore, you just want to be lazy."

Mu Xia and La Ha stopped talking when Secretary Ma said this. The two of them hit each other with mud, and then slowly went to pick up stones to build the fort.

Secretary Ma: "These two are my nephews. They are very naughty and like to be lazy."

I think Secretary Ma is only about thirty years old, and his two nephews are also seventeen or eighteen years old, so I feel a little confused.

"Secretary Ma, Mu Xia and Laha are really your nephews?" I asked with a smile.

"Well, I am from the third brother's family. Our family has seven sisters. I am the three older brothers and the third older sister. I am the youngest." Secretary Ma briefly introduced the situation of his family.

I took a closer look at the work they were doing. I saw that the older ones had to work more seriously. When they saw that the gaps between the big rocks were big, they would pick up some small stones to tighten them. Then they would still fill in some.

The mud and sand should be compacted with your feet. Laha and the others were a bit sneaky and slippery, so the work they did was a lot rougher. Especially the cement mortar they mixed felt wrong. I guess it was because they added too much water and it felt too thin.

Because they saw that there was no iron pillar and the mixture was dry. When the iron pillar was applied, it stuck together. The iron pillar here was still dripping after it was applied.

It was such a pity that the cement mortar flowed to the foot of the fort ridge. I thought about what Ba Yao said, don’t talk about the problem when you see it, go back and tell him. But I felt that it would be bad not to talk, and it would be a waste of cement.

It is a pity to spread sand and waste everyone's labor.

I quietly grabbed the iron pillar and pointed at the cement mortar they had mixed.

Tie Zhu understood what I meant at a glance. Maybe he also felt that it was difficult for me to speak, so he spoke for me.

Tie Zhu: "Old Ma, I think you are a bit extravagant."

Lao Ma: "What's going on, Lao Tie?"

Tie Zhu took a look at the cement mortar on the ground.

Lao Ma understood it at a glance and hurriedly yelled: "What did I tell you? Cement, sand, and water should be mixed in proportion, just like mixing noodles. Did you ask you to mix them into a thin soup?"

Is it just to be lazy and put in less effort?"

After cursing for a while, they quickly cut two more bags of cement and started mixing it with the sand.

Tie Zhu saw that the cement mortar they mixed was really not good enough, so he couldn't help but go up and give some guidance. After they basically finished mixing the cement mortar, we left because we had to rush to the bridge to see some things.

.

On the way, I asked Tiezhu: "Why is this Secretary Ma still here to repair Fort Kaner?"

Tiezhu: "Don't think that a village branch secretary is a big official. In fact, they are basically not out of work."

I didn't know what "off-the-job" meant, so I continued to ask Tiezhu.

"'Off-the-job' refers to those cadres of the township government. Secretary Ma and others can at best be considered 'semi-off-the-job', not even semi-off-the-job. Because their positions cannot bring them any income. Those who are 'barefoot'

Doctors', they are considered semi-off-the-job. First, the state will pay them some money, which is called 'salary', but you think it's only a hundred or ten yuan a month, what do you do? At best, it's a 'subsidy'

. But they can help others diagnose the diseases of pigs, cows, horses and sheep, sell some veterinary drugs, and perform some pig gelding (castration) operations, and they can also earn a considerable income."

"I understand when you say it like this. 'Free from production' means that the country will pay you a salary, and your salary is your only income. 'Semi-free from work' means that although the country will pay you a symbolic 'salary',

But this little money is not enough for your life, you still need to earn some more money yourself. Right?" I said to Tiezhu, explaining my understanding.
Chapter completed!