Chapter 69

Chapter 69

Director Liao didn't believe Shen Guoqiang, thinking he was just bored and messing around for fun. After hanging up, he even told his colleagues about it as a joke.

Who would've thought that a few days later, Shen Guoqiang showed up with a Senior Engineer from their factory. The two of them tinkered around on the three piles of scrap metal in the storage room, and finally made a request: they wanted to dismantle the machines, taking the front section, the cargo bed, and the tires from each.

Director Liao initially said no. The two had eagle eyes, picking out all the best parts from the three machines—though "best" was relative, meaning simply less "waste." But if they stripped them like that, the leftovers would be even more useless, really only fit for the scrapyard.

Shen Guoqiang was an honest man, not good with smooth talk. The Senior Engineer who came with him, though a technical guy, was very articulate. Putting on a sincere front, he said, "These were junk that couldn't be fixed anyway. They're just taking up space. If you dismantle them to piece together something half-decent, at least you can get a few bucks for it. Otherwise, if you keep them any longer, the parts will rust away and be worth even less. We've checked, and the rest is completely useless. Don't keep them taking up space—sell them off quick."

At the end of the day, it was like they were doing him a huge favor by dismantling the machines.

But Director Liao, completely clueless, couldn't find a single word to argue. After hesitating for a while, he nodded, torn between reluctance and relief—

After all, they were brother units; they couldn't be flat-out lying. That meant a pro had appraised this junk, and maybe they could even fix one up.

So the "pro" started haggling with Director Liao. After a bit of haggling, the Senior Engineer said, "We're not buying this for ourselves. It's for a bunch of young buds of the motherland who are into scientific research. If it can be fixed, it might help support a brigade's production. That's very meaningful. If the farm can lower the price a bit, it'd be encouraging the kids and supporting rural construction."

Director Liao never imagined a pile of scrap could have such lofty significance. On a whim, he agreed to the price of six hundred yuan.

Then he came to his senses and thought it was off. Who in their right mind would spend that much on research for a bunch of kids?

He glared at Shen Guoqiang. "You guys at Jiangcheng Machinery Factory get paid that well?"

Shen Guoqiang opened his mouth to say something, wanting to say the kids had their own money, but that would be even harder to explain. How could a few rural kids have so much savings? That was even stranger. After struggling for a while, he steeled himself and said, "Not bad."

Director Liao: "..."

Was it too late for him to switch careers and become a factory worker?

Six hundred yuan—an average worker would need nearly two years of saving every penny to accumulate that much. It was a lot, no doubt about it, but for a tractor that originally cost several thousand, six hundred was actually very low. Especially since they had picked the best parts from the three machines; asking for eight or nine hundred or even a thousand wasn't really out of line.

The two of them did the work themselves, dismantled the machines, then reassembled them, and added a transport fee to the farm's bill, asking them to use their Jiefang truck to deliver the tractor to Xiaodun Brigade.

Over at Xiaodun Brigade, the commune members were having a field day with the new plow. Two oxen weren't enough to keep them busy, and some people started eyeing the wooden plows again. Shen Banyue and Lin Mian, on their way to and from school every day, would always run into people asking if they could modify other farm tools for the brigade too. Like this wooden plow, the plowshare part could be made sharper, or a small plowshare could be added.

Basically, overnight, the commune members' enthusiasm for modifying tools went through the roof. Some even thought that if a few kids could succeed, they might be able to do it too. So during work hours, their work enthusiasm dropped noticeably, and they were way more into talking about tool mods.

Fortunately, the busy farming season had passed. Shen Zhenxing, seeing this trend was unstoppable, simply looked the other way and let them do whatever they wanted.

Old Liu suddenly became the man of the hour. Commune members lined up to ask him to take them to the blacksmith's to make tools. Before long, the village was filled with all sorts of weird-looking tools—like double-headed hoes, three-pronged shovels, you name it. But soon, everyone realized that "invention and creation" wasn't that easy. While the oddly shaped plow they had invented greatly improved efficiency, the things they made only made things harder for themselves.

So the commune members lined up again to ask Old Liu to take them to the blacksmith's to get their weird tools fixed back to normal.

With all this back and forth, the blacksmith's shop, which usually had average business, now had jobs backed up for days. People got curious and started asking around, and found out it was because folks from Xiaodun Brigade kept coming to modify their tools. Then others found Xiaodun Brigade members to ask what was going on.

They found out after asking around that a few kids from the brigade had modified a brand-new plow. It had more plowshares, so it turned the soil faster and deeper, and the best part was, it was easy to use and didn't tire out the oxen. When the news spread to other brigades, they were skeptical, thinking Xiaodun Brigade was talking big.

Only Dadun Brigade, being close by, took a bamboo raft over. They went to the fields, saw the thing, and thought it looked good. They shamelessly asked the Xiaodun folks to let them try it. Once they tried it, they wouldn't let it go.

This thing was really useful!

Light, effortless, and capable of doing a day's work in just one morning.

The Dadun Brigade members wanted to just carry the plow away, but the Xiaodun Brigade members were watching them like hawks, not giving them a chance.

As soon as these people returned to their village, they rushed to the brigade headquarters, grabbed a few brigade cadres, and howled at them to learn this good thing from across the river. Even if not now, during the busy season, it would save them so much trouble!

The brigade cadres were half-convinced. Brigade leader Zhao Chenggong, puffing on a cigarette, frowned and said, "That can't be right. If there really was such a good thing, wouldn't Shen Zhenxing be showing it off?"

Militia Captain Xue Xingwang glanced at him and said matter-of-factly, "Shen Zhenxing isn't the type to show off. Back when he went to the county to receive an award, if the commune hadn't brought it up later, we wouldn't have known either."

Zhao Chenggong spat and muttered, "Pretentious." Xue Xingwang pretended not to hear and said, "Maybe we should go take a look. We'll know if it's real or fake once we see it."

Xiaodun Brigade had originally split off from Dadun Brigade and couldn't compare in any aspect. Zhao Chenggong, who prided himself on being the top brigade in Yunling Commune, found it hard to swallow his pride and go learn from Xiaodun Brigade. So he dragged his feet for a few more days.

A few days later, annoyed by the commune members' constant nagging, he called Xue Xingwang to go to Xiaodun Brigade. On the way, he was still complaining that the commune members must be crazy from wanting to slack off, believing that a few kids could come up with anything good.

Xue Xingwang reminded him that those commune members had already been to Xiaodun Brigade. Zhao Chenggong's expression stiffened, but he insisted, "So what? They must have been fooled by those Xiaodun people."

Xue Xingwang didn't respond. Where there's smoke, there's fire. Besides, he knew his own people. They liked to join in the fun and were lazy, but being fooled or fooling others was unlikely.

Zhao Chenggong was just too arrogant.

Back when he heard that Shen Zhenxing had gone to the county to receive an award, he had muttered behind his back, "Raising a few kids and getting an award? The county's awards are too casual..." But the fact was, Shen Zhenxing had actively cooperated with the county and commune's work.

The two didn't take the water route but rode their bikes around through the commune.

Their village had a large population, fertile land, and good sideline businesses. Conditions were better than other brigades. The brigade headquarters had one bike, and the brigade leader and accountant each had one. The number of bikes once led the entire commune.

But two years ago, when the towel factory recruited workers, Xiaodun Brigade got three in at once. Plus, the two Shen family members working in Jiangcheng and the county, the number of workers in Xiaodun Brigade suddenly led the surrounding areas. Bikes gradually increased by two more.

Having been the leader for so long, Zhao Chenggong couldn't stand the thought of being overtaken. He always looked at Xiaodun Brigade with disdain.

Xue Xingwang knew Zhao Chenggong's temper and kept quiet along the way. When they reached the entrance of Xiaodun Brigade, they were about to ask where Shen Zhenxing was when a woman basking in the sun by the big banyan tree pointed to the western fields and said, "You're looking for the brigade leader to see the new plow, right? Everyone's over there."

Zhao Chenggong and Xue Xingwang exchanged a glance, both confused.

They had come to Xiaodun Brigade on a whim today, without notifying Shen Zhenxing. How did the woman at the village entrance know they were here to see the plow?

And what did "everyone" mean? Who else was there?

The two pushed their bikes eastward. Before they could figure it out, they saw six or seven bikes parked by the roadside. In the distant fields, a crowd was gathered around two oxen, and they could faintly hear someone shouting, "Amazing!" Their hearts sank with a bad feeling. They quickly parked their bikes and hurried toward the crowd over the turned-up soil.

As they got closer, Xue Xingwang recognized the people walking beside the oxen—weren't those the brigade leaders from Yangliu Brigade, Fengshan Brigade, Shanxia Brigade, Shanglin Brigade, and others?

"Old Shen, we've been friends for years. Before liberation, we risked our lives together for those capitalist bastards. Back then, we shared a piece of flatbread half and half. Now that you've got something good, you can't forget your old brother, can you?" Hong Li, the brigade leader of Shanglin Brigade, spoke in a booming voice, hooking his arm around Shen Zhenxing like they were best buddies.

Yang Anfu, the brigade leader of Shanxia Brigade, immediately chimed in, "Old Hong, that's ancient history. We're in a new era now. Don't bring up those pre-liberation troubles. Old Shen, I was the first to arrive, wasn't I? The first to say we want this thing. There has to be a first-come, first-served rule, right?"

He Fuguo, the brigade leader of Fengshan Brigade, disagreed. "Old Yang, you were the first, but only by a hair. We basically arrived at the same time. That argument doesn't hold water. Our brigade has a small population and poor soil. The land is hard to plow. We urgently need this new plow. Your conditions are good, so let us go first, okay?"

Liu Jianming, the brigade leader of Yangliu Brigade, saw these people playing all sorts of tricks—some calling on old friendships, others playing the sympathy card. If he didn't speak up, he'd clearly lose out. So he quickly said, "Old Shen, I'm not asking to be first. Second will do. My cousin married into your village. We're practically relatives!"

That was a stretch. His cousin married into Xiaodun, not him. How could that make them relatives? So shameless.

Didn't other villages have women married into Xiaodun?

He Fuguo immediately retorted, "I know your cousin. She's that matchmaker, right? Oh, the match she set up for Old Shen's nephew was terrible. You've got some nerve bringing that up."

But Liu Jianming's words gave him an idea. "Speaking of relatives, Old Shen and I are relatives. My cousin's daughter, He Yingyu, married Old Shen's younger brother." Even if the cousin was a distant one, they were still connected. Strictly speaking, he and Shen Zhenxing could be considered relatives.

Liu Jianming never expected He Fuguo to not only trip him up but also shamelessly steal his idea of claiming kinship. He was so angry he stuttered, blurting out, "People from your brigade tried to buy a child and deceive a soldier. You lost the child and hid it from him for so long. Your brigade is no good."

Arguments are like that. When calm, people can reason, but once they get heated, personal attacks start. The Fengshan Brigade incident was widely criticized. Even though years had passed, whenever the topic of biased parents came up, people in the surrounding areas would bring up this shocking story.

This spread like wildfire. Back then, the human trafficking incident had implicated many brigades. For example, Shanxia Brigade had villagers who were part of the trafficking ring, and Shanglin Brigade had people who bought women from traffickers. Seeing that a chaotic fight was about to break out, Shen Zhenxing, who had been frowning silently, hoping they would sort things out themselves, sighed and said, "Stop arguing. Let's go by Old Yang's rule—first come, first served."

Zhao Chenggong, who had been listening nearby, looked grim. Even if he still had doubts, as long as he had a shred of reason, he knew it was impossible for so many brigade leaders to be fooled by Shen Zhenxing, all scrambling to have him make this new plow. It could only mean the thing was genuinely good.

They were the closest to Xiaodun Village and got the news first, yet now they had to line up behind the other brigades and beg Shen Zhenxing to make this thing for them. Zhao Chenggong just couldn't swallow his pride.

Xue Xingwang, though, didn't have as big a hang-up about it as Zhao Chenggong. He glanced at Zhao, knowing Old Zhao's temperament—asking him to talk to Shen Zhenxing would probably be easier to kill him. So he stepped forward and said with a smile, "Looks like we, who live closest, aren't as quick on the uptake as those farther away. Old Shen, how about we put our brigade right behind theirs?"

Shen Zhenxing nodded, somewhat helplessly, and said, "Actually, I don't have the final say on this. I need to ask the kids when they're free, and make sure it doesn't mess with their schoolwork."

The brigade leaders couldn't help but twitch their mouths. They knew Shen Zhenxing wasn't one to talk nonsense, but the idea that a few kids made this thing was just too hard to swallow.

Since they were already there, Zhao Chenggong and Xue Xingwang naturally wanted to give it a try themselves.

After trying it out, Zhao Chenggong got even quieter, while Xue Xingwang went on and on about how great the plow was and even took the chance to pick the brains of the old-timers in Xiaodun Village.

Zhao Chenggong hung back from the crowd, pulled He Fuguo aside, handed him a cigarette, and asked in a low voice, "This thing doesn't look complicated. Can't we just get a blacksmith to make one ourselves?"

He Fuguo pulled him off to the side and whispered, "You think I haven't asked the blacksmith? Not just me—I reckon Old Yang, Old Liu, and the others have all asked too. The blacksmith said that when this plow was first made, the folks from Xiaodun Village came to the shop themselves to forge it. They didn't handle it, so they don't know some of the tricky parts."

He paused, then added, "Also, I heard there's a little girl in Xiaodun Village who's freakishly strong. The blacksmith said even their master of decades couldn't match her strength. The stuff she makes is tougher and sharper than theirs."

Zhao Chenggong's eyes went wide. He wanted to say that couldn't be true, but when he met He Fuguo's gaze, he knew the man wasn't joking.

He Fuguo patted Zhao Chenggong on the shoulder and said seriously, "Old Zhao, I know you're not convinced. To be honest, neither am I. But Shen Zhenxing is just lucky, and we gotta keep our heads down. We've all tried it, and we know how much time this thing saves during the busy season. Even outside of that, doesn't it make reclaiming wasteland a lot easier? Let me be straight with you—with this thing, I'm planning to bump up our brigade's land reclamation target by twenty percent next year."

Zhao Chenggong was silent for a few seconds, then nodded.

"What a coincidence, we all showed up on the same day." He Fuguo chuckled and said, "You mark my words, more brigades are gonna come, maybe even from other communes. We're lucky to be in the first batch. Since Shen Zhenxing agreed, it's probably somewhat reliable. But the ones after us? Hard to say. I heard those kids are either in middle school or elementary school. Tsk, once they get busy, who knows when they'll just drop everything."

Comparing stuff makes you want to toss yours; comparing people just drives you nuts. Looking at other brigades' kids, then thinking about the little brats in their own... tsk.

The brigade leaders tested the plow in the fields for a long time. By then, the members of Xiaodun Village naturally knew what was going on. Their new plow was good, but they never expected it to draw such a crowd from so many brigades.

One member ran from the fields to the village entrance, grinning from ear to ear, and reported to the aunties by the camphor tree: "Those brigade leaders almost came to blows in the fields, fighting over who gets to be first to order this plow from us. Oh my, listening to them rack their brains to suck up to our brigade leader—man, that felt good!"

This member was quite entertaining, vividly mimicking what the brigade leaders had said, making the aunties burst into laughter. They all marveled at how Xiaodun Village had really made it, becoming the hot commodity for miles around.

"Oh dear, Xiao Yue and the others are still in school. Don't let the kids get too worn out," said Little Potato's grandmother. She didn't care whether other brigades wanted the new plow; Xiao Yue was such a good kid, and they couldn't let her overwork herself.

"If it comes to it, let Old Liu do more work, or have the brigade leader turn them down. We can't let the kids get exhausted," Auntie Qin said. Suddenly, she slapped her thigh. "Oh, that means your family's going to be busy too, doesn't it?"

Carpenter Song's wife, Auntie Cai, chuckled and said, "That'd be great. With the field work slowing down, doing some carpentry at home can earn us a few more work points."

Since it was a skilled trade, no one begrudged them earning more work points.

As they were chatting and laughing, a group of brigade leaders pushed their bicycles over. It had to be said, Xiaodun Village had never seen so many bicycles at once. The adults and kids alike found it novel, sneaking glances and comparing which bicycle looked newer and which had a better brand.

Shen Zhenxing personally escorted them to the village entrance, said goodbye to each one, and watched them ride off on their bicycles. He couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.

At first, when people started coming to the village to "inspect" the plow, Shen Zhenxing was quite pleased. Having the kids' work recognized by others made him happy and proud.

But as more and more people came to "inspect," Shen Zhenxing finally understood the saying "fame is as troublesome as being a fat pig." Day after day, it was exhausting. Especially today, with so many brigade cadres showing up at once, listening to them all chatter away gave him a headache.

If it weren't for the chance to develop a sideline for the brigade, he really wouldn't want to deal with these old foxes.

Shen Zhenxing, having experienced the difficulty of "reception work," was about to head home and rest when he suddenly heard a strange noise, and a member shouted, "Hey, why are those people coming back?"

Shen Zhenxing looked up. Sure enough, the people who had just ridden off on their bicycles were now riding back in a line, pedaling furiously, seemingly shouting something.

But Shen Zhenxing soon forgot about them, because he suddenly noticed that not far behind these people, a military-green Jiefang truck was slowly following.

He had seen this truck in front of the towel factory and in Shanxi County town, but he never thought he'd see it on the road outside the village entrance.

The road was bumpy and full of potholes, so the Jiefang truck had to drive carefully, even slower than the cyclists. He wondered what precious cargo it was carrying... and more importantly, why was a Jiefang truck coming to their village?!

Hong Li was the first to ride up to the village entrance. He slammed on the brakes, panting heavily, and shouted, "Old Shen, you really know how to pull off something big! A tractor! You've gone and gotten yourself a tractor! Damn it, how are we supposed to compete with that?!"

Shen Zhenxing's face went from confused to wide-eyed, and then his eyes bulged like they were about to pop out. He yelled back, even louder than Hong Li, "What did you say? A tractor?!"