The forty thousand big brooms were made across five locations. In the end, the two Corps companies under Wang Mingjun and Zhao Zongming still made the most, with a combined total of over twenty-nine thousand.
The Fourth Team made a little less, over five thousand, as did Meng Hai's side. Liang Wenyu's people made the small remainder.
Liang Wenyu still organized very few people this year. Each household made only a small number, but the money they earned was real enough.
Li Long hauled the big brooms away in five trips. By the time he took away the last load, Li Qiang and the others had also finished their cotton-picking work-study stint.
They had arrived by scheduled bus, but were going back by truck, without even a tarpaulin over it. Still, the students and even their teachers no longer cared. Getting home quickly was what mattered.
Every day, they got up at first light. There was still dew on the cotton when they entered the fields. By noon, the cotton husks pricked their hands, and the blazing sun made them miserable. By afternoon, they were already drained.
Fortunately, they were all youngsters, and a night's sleep restored their energy.
But as the days wore on, the children eventually found it hard to bear. Even though Li Qiang had actually received special treatment throughout, his competitive nature meant he mostly kept working alongside everyone else. Old Nie had suggested that he take a day off and still be credited with meeting his quota, but Li Qiang refused.
That helped him fit in with his classmates, but the side effect was that he was tanned as black as charcoal and had lost quite a bit of weight.
Li Long came over for the return trip. Seeing that he was going back by