Under the fist

Chapter 4 The Forest Farm, Strange

The newcomer's one eye darted around, sizing up the boy in front of him. "Don't expect any special treatment here. You'll have to do what others do. If you dare to cheat or try to shirk your duties, I'll teach you a lesson."

Lian Youming was on the verge of tears, but without the slightest hesitation, he said in a deep voice, "Don't worry, I'll do it even if it's digging up manure and composting fertilizer."

Unexpectedly, the man raised an eyebrow and said, "Digging manure and composting fertilizer are jobs that female educated youth do. Who would give you that opportunity?"

Aunt Shen couldn't stand it anymore. "Old Qin, what are you doing? Don't scare the child."

It turned out that this man was Aunt Shen's husband, Qin Yuhu, a veteran who had participated in the Korean War.

"You're scared already? Is he a coward? Come on. I heard this kid dares to fight seven or eight thugs with knives all by himself." Qin Yuhu had a stern face, but he laughed as he spoke. "Good lad, you're not a wasted big guy."

Patting Lian Youming on the shoulder, Qin Yuhu said in a deep voice, "Alright, enough nonsense. I'll take you there after you finish eating. You're so slow even when you're cutting in line. Your dad hasn't trained you enough."

Lian Youming, with a bitter face, quickly stuffed the still-warm dumplings into his mouth, then gulped down a mouthful of meat broth and swallowed it all whole.

"What an impatient bunch!" Shen Qinghong was both amused and exasperated. She simply said nothing more, only giving a few instructions: "Drive carefully on the road. If you want to eat anything, come over during your rest period. I'll cook all kinds of delicacies for you."

After saying that, he turned around and went into the inner room, where he brought out a pile of food and a quilt.

Lian Youming quickly waved his hand in refusal.

Qin Yuhu, however, kept a straight face and said, "Take them all with you. Once winter comes, it will be terribly cold. Remember to take good care of yourself over there, don't act recklessly, and follow the organization's arrangements."

Lian Youming gave a helpless bitter smile, "Uncle, don't worry, I know everything."

Outside the door, there was a military green sidecar motorcycle.

After handing over the procedures for joining the queue, Lian Youming simply put his luggage on the table and sat down.

But as soon as he got on the bus, he regretted it.

Sitting in the sidecar with the cold wind blowing in my face, I almost got blown into a fool.

The wind was so strong, it felt like being sliced ​​into a thousand pieces. The wind blew so hard that people's mouths were crooked, their eyes were distorted, and their whole faces were numb.

Seeing Qin Yuhu charging forward relentlessly, Lian Youming, his face almost frozen by the scarf, felt extremely uneasy.

Qin Yuhu had amazing hearing and a loud voice. He talked non-stop the whole way, asking about Lian Youming's family.

Lian Youming initially thought Qin Yuhu was a tough guy who wasn't afraid of the cold, but as he listened, he noticed that the man's tongue was slurred and he couldn't speak clearly. It turned out that he was also cold.

The car didn't stop until it had driven for more than ten or twenty miles.

Lian Youming huddled in the sidecar, his lips twitching, the wind almost making him cry.

That guy surnamed Qin is too ruthless.

Qin Yuhu wasn't having an easy time either; his lips twitched from the cold, but he still kept a straight face.

When Lian Youming glanced to the side with his luggage, his heart sank.

On the plains, a dozen or twenty low earthen and thatched houses are scattered about, with front yards and back rooms, and smoke rising from the chimneys.

Several educated youths were covered in dust and had snot running down their noses. They were holding hoes and shovels. Some were piling up manure, some were digging in the soil, and some were being tumbled and crawled by the donkeys that were running around. They were shouting something and crying out in pain.

An old man with a pipe in his hand, wrapped in a cotton coat, and missing front teeth came out when he heard the noise.

The old man is the village's Party Secretary.

Qin Yuhu first spoke a few words to the old man, then instructed Lian Youming: "Remember, once you're on the mountain, you must obey orders, don't cause trouble, and learn to share weal and woe with your comrades."

He left with those words and then hurriedly rode off on his motorcycle.

Without much idle chatter, Lian Youming moved into a mud house at the east end of the village, arranged by the old Party Secretary. This house had been previously reserved for intellectuals who had made mistakes and were sent to the countryside for reform, but it had now been given to these educated youth.

Along with Lian Youming, there were four other people who were sent to the countryside in Kaoshantun, all from big cities. There were two men and two women. The two men were named Wu Kui and Liu Dabiao; the former was from Shanghai, and the latter was from Tianjin. The other two were two women from Beijing, one surnamed Zhao and the other surnamed Xu.

However, what they thought would be a momentous and momentous undertaking turned into a farce for these educated youths, who had only been sent to the countryside for a few days.

First, the female educated youth couldn't distinguish between grains, not even wheat and rice. They pulled up vegetable seedlings thinking they were weeds, and were chased by several geese, crying and screaming for their parents.

Then there were the male educated youth. Ever since Wu Kui and Liu Dabiao learned that there were dairy cows in the village, they had been thinking about drinking milk day and night. But what was outrageous was that they couldn't even tell the difference between male and female cows. In the middle of the night, they ran around and grabbed the testicles of a big black cow and rubbed them for a while. They almost got kicked to death.

Lian Youming was also restless. Although he could eat his fill, there was no oil or fat in the food. His mouth was so bland that he was practically starving. He spent his days shooting sparrows with a slingshot and always wanted to go into the mountains.

The poor old Party Secretary is so old and worried that he's almost bald. Even the way he looks at them is disgusted, as if he's looking at a few troublemakers. He sighs and complains all day long.

Life in the countryside was also tough.

The female educated youth were basically doing things like shoveling manure, composting fertilizer, and tending vegetable gardens, which made the young women in Beijing complain endlessly.

The male educated youth had it even harder. They had to chop wood, carry water, do the autumn harvest, dig the ground, and finally train donkeys and mules. In short, they were put to the test by all kinds of physical labor, leaving them with aching backs and sore waists that they felt like dying.

At the end of the day, male educated youth were paid ten work points, and female educated youth were paid eight. Ten work points were worth one yuan.

Lian Youming was still thinking about studying, but what's the point of studying now?

But when he thought of his family, he took out paper and pen from his bag after work, thinking of sending a letter home, since he had been here for some time.

But while organizing the books I brought, an old book suddenly fell out.

It was the book that Sun Duhe gave him on the train.

Lian Youming didn't look at it much. He picked it up casually and was about to put it back when he suddenly exclaimed "Eh!" as his right hand was halfway out. His eyes were fixed on the yellow book.

I don't know where it was bumped, but I noticed that a corner of the old book's cover was curled up.

Lian Youming raised his eyebrows, as if he had seen something unexpected, and leaned closer to take a closer look.

There seems to be something stuck in here...

He took a deep breath and lifted the book cover along the raised part, and sure enough, there was a hidden compartment underneath, with a piece of brocade the size of a handkerchief stuffed inside.

As soon as the brocade letter was carefully unfolded, Lian Youming's pupils contracted sharply, then his eyes slowly widened again.

My gaze settled, and the first few small characters caught my eye—they were…

"Twelve Barriers Golden Bell Cover".

"This is... a martial arts manual?"

His gaze sharpened, his heart filled with doubt and uncertainty. He tried to calm his racing emotions while quickly scanning the small print on the paper.

But the further he looked, the less joy Lian Youming showed on his face, and the surprise in his eyes faded, replaced by confusion and bewilderment.

half an hour.

"What kind of rubbish is this?"

Looking at those characters, Lian Youming could recognize each one individually, but when put together, he could only stare blankly.

Not only were there words, but also some extremely exquisite human figures, marked with the skeletal structure and muscle lines of the human body, totaling twelve images. Although they looked incredibly mysterious, to him they were like celestial script.

"Ok?"

Just as Lian Youming was looking through it, he discovered that there was also a handwritten text on the back of the brocade.

"A tiger devours the world to bolster its strength."

Upon closer inspection, he discovered that the text was even stranger, as it was actually a method of dietary therapy.

Moreover, the food he ate was incredibly diverse, including things like Solomon's seal, Polygonum multiflorum, Ganoderma lucidum, wild ginseng, tiger bone, and bear bile—there were at least forty or fifty kinds. Some of these things he had never even seen in his past life, let alone in this one. Furthermore, some of the things recorded on it were not only hard to find, but also impossible to buy even if you had the money.

Not only that, these ingredients are also combined to form five recipes based on the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.

There is also a paragraph at the very bottom of the recipe.

"A person's life is like that of grass and trees in autumn, withering and flourishing in turn, all changing with the 'qi' (vital energy). Old age is the result of weakened qi and fatigue, leading to a lack of stamina and the physical signs of aging. My method is to nourish the qi of the five internal organs through food. When qi is abundant, essence and blood are sufficient. When essence and blood are sufficient, tendons and bones are strong. Furthermore, by supplementing this with the method of swallowing qi, one can build a foundation of the five elements, and thus become a tiger by eating tigers, a dragon by drinking dragons, and possess the qi to swallow the world."

Lian Youming was increasingly astonished as he looked at it, but at least he understood it.

But at the very end, there are four inconspicuous words.

"A person surnamed Chen stayed?"

He suppressed his confusion and glanced very carefully at the words and images on the brocade.

"The method of absorbing qi?"

However, no matter how he looked at Lian Youming, he couldn't find any method for swallowing qi.

"Is it that there isn't one? Or is it that I don't understand that method?"

He looked thoughtful, then turned around and took out the yellow book again.

The old book's cover is divided into two parts, one in front and one behind. The former contains the brocade, but could the latter also contain something?
With this in mind, Lian Youming did not hesitate. He used his fingertips to pry open the book cover through the seam, and to his surprise, he actually managed to open it.

Inside, there was also a piece of brocade.

Upon closer inspection, it was indeed true.

"Three Yin Earthly Fiend Force".

"Internal martial arts are nothing more than 'attack and defense,' and the path to attack lies in 'qi.' The heart and lungs thrive because of qi, blood surges because of qi, and the hands and feet are alive because of qi. Therefore, qi is the foundation for controlling the physical body; without qi, there is no strength, and without qi, there is no life." "However, the strength cultivated here is not the strength of muscles and bones, but rather the pursuit of internal strength. Ordinary people, no matter how rare or precious the food they eat, cannot fully absorb its essence, because the qi of the five internal organs is difficult to control, and is often deficient or damaged." This method of swallowing qi, however, can control the five qi to form strength. Once mastered, it not only makes dietary supplements twice as effective, but also allows the five qi to circulate, transforming all ingested food into essence and qi to replenish the body in a very short time.

Lian Youming frowned slightly as he read this, pondering to himself.

According to what is recorded here, ordinary people can never fully absorb the nutrients in anything they eat; there will always be some loss. However, if one practices this skill, one can greatly improve their digestive power and speed, thereby maximizing the absorption of nutrients from food to replenish their body.

"But what are the Five Qi? And what about absorbing Qi to form power..."

He subconsciously exhaled a light breath, and suddenly recalled the strange scene of that person breathing in and out in the carriage earlier.

"Could that person be swallowing air?"

Lian Youming turned his gaze back to the brocade, his eyes moving downwards, where he immediately saw the incantation: "Tongue against the palate, cheeks puffing out, saliva inhaled, breath entering the throat and tongue, spirit wandering through the three yin..."

He subconsciously thought of giving it a try, but as soon as he took a breath, he felt a cold wind enter his throat as if it were cutting him with a knife, and a mouthful of saliva got stuck in his throat, almost making him faint.

"Cough cough..."

In an instant, Lian Youming's violent coughing had extinguished all his thoughts.

He swallowed again, and surprisingly, there was a fishy, ​​sweet taste.

Blood was clearly visible.

Lian Youming was somewhat alarmed, "Does it have to be this bizarre?"

……

By chance, Lian Youming obtained a martial arts manual, which naturally delighted him and brought new life to his life as a sent-down youth.

More than half a month has passed in the blink of an eye, and it's almost October. The weather is turning cold quickly, and there's less to do in the village.

This place relies on the mountains and rivers for its livelihood. Except for the busy spring and summer seasons, most of the able-bodied men in the village work in the forests on the mountains or go hunting in the mountains. Men and women, except for children, can basically handle guns, and every household has a homemade gun, as do the neighboring villages.

Lian Youming worked during the day and spent his nights huddled in his bedding, burning the midnight oil to study martial arts manuals.

That day, it happened to be the day when supplies were delivered to the forest farm every few days, so the old Party Secretary asked Lian Youming and Wu Kui to go up.

There's no other reason than that they're the best at training mules in the Netherworld.

Tahe is located in northern Xinjiang. In winter, water freezes instantly when you pour it, and no other means of transportation works except for donkey carts and mule carts.

Lian Youming had lived in the countryside before, and his father grew up eating food from many families in a village. The old men and women in the village were all his elders, and he had even driven donkey carts and mule carts.

This mule is just like a donkey—stubborn. You can't force it; it might even turn around and bite you. Practicing the Netherworld is like fishing. Hold a stick with two vegetable leaves hanging in front of it, and the mule will run on its own without you whipping it.

The forest farm is not far from Kaoshantun. Even if you rush, it only takes two or three hours on foot.

Every year after spring plowing, villagers from nearby villages and educated youth would go up the mountain to work as loggers, eating and sleeping there until a few days before the heavy snow closed the mountain. Therefore, people from the foot of the mountain had to deliver essential supplies to them.

It was autumn, and the vegetation had withered and faded.

They said that it was already midday when the two of them delivered the goods, so they planned to have lunch at the forest farm.

The forest farm wasn't very big, but it wasn't small either. Many of the villagers who were logging hadn't returned from work yet, so it looked rather deserted.

Seeing that no one was around, Lian Youming chose a secluded spot to practice his martial arts for a while. In addition to some combat and grappling techniques from the military, he also struck a few poses based on the portrait on the brocade.

As he was setting things out, he caught a glimpse of a figure flashing past a window behind the dining hall, and heard two barks from afar.

Lian Youming immediately stopped his punches and kicks, and followed the sound to find that there was actually an open space hidden behind the wooden house where the cooking was done, with six dilapidated mud houses and four nameless graves standing on the edge.

"Brother Lian, dinner's ready!"

Before he could take a closer look, Wu Kui's shouts drifted over from afar. Lian Youming turned around, responded, and then left.

After finishing their meal, the two of them immediately went down the mountain.

As the weather grew colder, the lumberjacks came down from the mountains in early October. These people were busy with winter famine relief, hunting in the mountains, and stockpiling food. In addition, there was not much to do in the village as the weather turned cold, so when it was the turn of these educated youths to go into the mountains, they had to tidy up the lumberjacks' stalls, repair leaks in the houses, or move some of the felled timber.

So, more than twenty educated youths from several nearby villages gathered together and, escorted by militiamen, went up the mountain in a grand procession, following several mule carts loaded with supplies.

No sooner had the group arrived at the forest farm than snowflakes began to fall from the sky. At first, it was just a light drizzle, but in the blink of an eye, it became a blanket of snow with an overwhelming force.

Without any delay, everyone quickly found their dormitories: two rooms for the women and four rooms for the men.

Lian Youming, Wu Kui, Liu Dabiao, and two other male educated youths were grouped together. By the time they finished cleaning, exhausted, it was already completely dark. Fortunately, the earthen beds were already heated.

Exhausted to the point of not even having the strength to speak, everyone collapsed into bed and fell asleep immediately.

……

The next day, as dawn broke.

In the dormitory, as soon as Lian Youming opened his eyes, he heard a urinating sound coming from the corner.

"Oh my god, I told you you can't pee outside, it smells so bad!"

Some people were complaining.

"You think I don't want to? But look outside, the snow is so thick it's up to my knees... Besides, there's a chamber pot in here."

As soon as the words left his mouth, someone immediately threw off his bedding and sat up abruptly, cursing angrily, "Damn it, that's a water bucket! Did you just ignore what those militiamen said last night? They told us to fetch our own water, or it would freeze."

"You can't blame me for this. It's too cold outside. Even pee can freeze into icicles. I don't want it to freeze before I finish peeing."

"What about urination?"

"What's wrong with taking a dump? Dude, just take a dump, don't pretend to be a cultured person. Why don't you take a stick with you, so if it freezes, you can tap it and hear a sound. By the way, where are you guys from? My brother and I are both from Beijing. My name is Yu Wen, and my brother's name is Yu Wu."

"Shanghai, Wu Kui."

"Tianjin, Liu Dabiao."

……

Hearing the noise around him, Lian Youming closed his eyes with a sense of helplessness.

After a few people chatted idly for a while, someone asked, "What's the last one?"

When it was his turn, Lian Youming responded, "Xijing, Lian Youming."

Seeing that he couldn't sleep any longer, he simply got out of bed quickly, folded the blankets, packed his luggage, and then went out.

Looking around, the sky was gray and the land was covered in ice and snow.

The snow was several feet thick, and the surrounding area was deathly still.

Before dawn, Lian Youming found a shovel and carefully shoveled the snow outside the door.

"Brother Lian, can I ask you for a favor?"

Suddenly, a head popped out of the dormitory. It was a thin young man wearing thick black-rimmed glasses. He looked delicate and fair-skinned, like a young scholar.

This person was Wu Kui.

"what happened?"

Wu Kui said somewhat embarrassedly, "I need to relieve myself, could you come with me?"

"Row."

Lian Youming did not refuse. In fact, he was a few years younger than Wu Kui, but he was tall and strong, standing at 1.8 meters, making him stand out from the crowd.

Upon hearing this, Wu Kui was overjoyed and quickly dressed, squeezing out through the crack in the door.

As the two walked toward the toilet, Lian Youming suddenly saw a hunchbacked old man practicing Tai Chi in the snow in a clearing in the forest. His hands moved slowly and gracefully, like pushing a millstone.

"Are there other people here besides us?"

Wu Kui, with his hands tucked into his sleeves and his neck hunched, followed Lian Youming's gaze and couldn't help but say, "Ignore him, just stay away from those people."

"What?" Lian Youming asked, somewhat puzzled.

Wu Kui seemed to know some inside information, and said hesitantly, "Don't you know? Some farms are reform farms, and some people there may have been here decades ago with unclear identities. Anyway, we just need to do our own jobs well."

Lian Youming suddenly realized.

"This looks like Tai Chi?"

He glanced at the old man a few more times.

Wu Kui also took a look and saw that the old man's boxing was weak and listless. He scoffed and said, "What kind of kung fu is this? I think he'd have trouble even swatting a mosquito."

The old man had white hair and beard, and was dressed in old clothes: a black coat, black trousers, black shoes, and black socks, all in black from head to toe. He had a long face, bald eyebrows, an eagle nose, and sharp eyes, giving him a naturally fierce appearance.

But as Lian Youming watched the other man's hands sometimes loosely embracing and sometimes reaching out, he found it increasingly strange. It was cold now; their breath turned to frost as they spoke, and white vapor billowed from their mouths and noses, yet the old man seemed not to be breathing at all.

"Huh? Something's strange."

(End of this chapter)