When they arrived, Senior Lu was driving a mule cart, transporting sun-dried sweet potato stalks back to the granary. He was dressed in old military clothes, washed to a faded white and patched up. He had a sweat-soaked white towel draped across his neck.
"Comrade Lu Zhiyuan!" Cheng Baoguo greeted, clasping Lu’s hand the moment he approached.
Having been received with such enthusiasm—unusual enthusiasm, even—Senior Lu was taken aback. He glanced at the letter and remittance bill that Cheng Baoguo had placed in his hand, barely taking it in before he asked, "Are these from Ajiang and Xiaoxue? It hasn’t been a month since I last received a letter and money from them, right? I told them they didn’t need to send anything."
Cheng Baoguo was almost choked by his words, "Elder brother, you should read the contents before you speak!"
Lu was even more perplexed. Cheng Baoguo was calling him elder brother in front of so many people? Such a thing had never happened before. After Qingxue and Xibao married into the military and stopped visiting, there had been no reason for Cheng Baoguo to visit often.
"From your tone, it appears I really need to look closer. This must be an important letter for you to be delivering it yourself."
As Senior Lu thought, he looked at the contents of the envelope. Seeing it, his hands started shaking, "Is this letter from the leader? Why would the leader write to me?"
No one dared to impersonate the leader’s name to write a letter, and very few people could imitate the leader’s handwriting.
The Lu Family had kept the loan notes and thank-you letters from several decades ago. Senior Lu recognized the leader’s handwriting with just a glance. But compared to the previous loan notes and thank you letters, the writing in this letter was much more rounded and at least ten times better.
"Yes!" Cheng Baoguo said, "You should see what instructions the leader has given in the letter. We’re all here, let’s understand it together. The government has also received a telegram directive from the leader before this, asking us to take good care of your old age. We were discussing this matter, still undecided when the leader’s letter to you arrived."
This was the main reason why they came right away after receiving the report from the post office.
A letter merely from the leader? It was not possible to make so many people take action. Because, many laboring people, especially the leader’s old folk, lived a hard life and could not make ends meet. They would write letters to the leader for help, and every time the leader would send them living expenses. Over time, this act had become expected, and no one thought it strange anymore.
A thought struck Senior Lu’s mind, "Let me open it and look."
He thought for a moment, had Cheng Baoguo hold the letter, washed his hands in the river, came back and dried them with a towel before carefully unpacking the letter. Every action of his showed his deep respect for the leader.
"What did the leader say?" Cheng Baoguo asked after Senior Lu finished reading the rather thick letter.
Senior Lu was excited internally but feigned composed on the surface, "The leader mentioned several things. First, he thanked us for the money and goods we d to the soldiers during the war. As I didn’t cash in the promise note from the government, the leader felt guilty and specially sent me three hundred dollars as living expenses. The second thing is the leader mentioned Xiaoxue and Xibao, who were fortunate enough to be received by the leader personally. Through them, he learned about the living conditions of our Wanglou Brigade and expressed high praise for our secretary."
Wang Zhenguo, who had heard that government officials including Cheng Baoguo were coming, hurried over after arranging the work in the field. He couldn’t believe his ears when he heard Senior Lu’s words.