Chapter 74

Chapter 74

The atmosphere in Xiaodun Brigade was akin to the New Year; every commune member was beaming with joy. Those who had previously made sarcastic remarks were so shut down they didn't dare speak, shrinking to the back of the crowd, their eyes still eagerly fixed on the tractor being chased by everyone.

They had a tractor in their brigade now. From now on, among all the villages for miles around, they'd have the stiffest backs. Being scolded a bit was nothing—even if someone slapped them twice, they'd take it willingly!

The children squealed and hollered as they ran after the tractor, eventually all chanting in unison, "Xiao Yue the Great Hero, Xiao Mian the Great Hero!" The adults joined in the clamor, and at the village entrance, a chorus of "Great Hero" rose and fell.

Just then, Hong Li, the captain of Shanglin Brigade, rode his bicycle over to find Shen Zhenxing. He was stunned by the sight on the main road, gaping for a long moment before slapping his thigh: "Damn it, how does that old Shen Zhenxing get so damn lucky!"

A few years ago, during the crackdown on human traffickers, many brigades in the commune had had a hand in it—either some members had acted as intermediaries in the gangs, or some had bought women and children. Only Xiaodun Brigade had no one involved in buying or selling. Their members had helped catch the first trafficker, adopted the trafficked child, and were later commended by the county.

That alone had been enough to make the other brigades, struggling with their own troubles, envious. And now, three or four years later, that adopted child had pulled off something huge again—first the new plow, then the tractor. At this rate, it feels like they're not far from building rockets!

Hong Li's heart was sour as hell. When he finally spotted Shen Zhenxing in the crowd, he just let loose: "You old bastard, do you secretly burn incense and set off firecrackers at your ancestors' graves every year? How come all the good stuff lands on your head?"

Shen Zhenxing wanted to look all calm and cool, but he couldn't wipe the grin off his face—it was practically splitting his face. Still, no matter how happy he was, he couldn't let Hong Li's words slide. He quickly said, "Old Hong, cool it, will you? Don't talk nonsense in front of Cadre Xiao Ding."

Hong Li then noticed Cadre Xiao Ding standing nearby. He chuckled sheepishly and said, "Cadre Xiao Ding, pretend you didn't hear that. I'm just jealous—jealous that this old guy gets all the good breaks. It's not about feudal superstition. Tell me, comparing people just drives you crazy, doesn't it? We have to beg and plead just to get a new plow, and they're already driving a tractor."

Cadre Xiao Ding smiled. "The members of Xiaodun Brigade dare to think and dare to act. The members of Shanglin Brigade aren't bad either. Things will get better for everyone."

Hong Li laughed heartily. "Cadre Xiao Ding sure knows how to talk."

Having witnessed the tractor start up, Cadre Xiao Ding hurried back to report to his superiors and soon took his leave. Shen Zhenxing, still grinning, finally turned his attention back to Hong Li. "What brings you here today?"

Hong Li sighed. "With all this going on, I'm almost embarrassed to bring it up."

Shen Zhenxing raised an eyebrow. "With a face as thick as yours, there's something you're embarrassed about?"

Hong Li looked utterly speechless. He wanted to argue but knew Shen Zhenxing was right. Helplessly, he handed over a brown paper package. "We finished clearing a patch of land in our brigade. To celebrate, we slaughtered a pig. I got some meat and innards for you and the kids."

Before Shen Zhenxing could refuse, Hong Li added, "Don't be polite with me. I'm just buttering you up, hoping that when you come up with something new, you'll think of Shanglin Brigade first."

Shen Zhenxing thought for a moment and took the package. "Alright, if that's how it is, I'll thank you on behalf of the kids. They've been working hard lately, so this'll make a good stew."

Hong Li looked at the tractor in the distance and pulled Shen Zhenxing aside. "Old Shen, what do you think about me finding a broken-down tractor somewhere and asking the kids to fix it?"

Shen Zhenxing yanked his arm away. "No way! They've been burning the midnight oil as it is. It's too hard. Easy for you to say, they're not your kids, so you don't care."

Hong Li protested, "Old Shen, don't be like that. It's not that serious! I'm not in a rush—they can take their time..."

No matter how Hong Li smooth-talked, Shen Zhenxing remained unmoved. When the tractor drove back from the other end of the road, he bellowed at the top of his lungs, "Yong Jun, stop it now! You'll burn through the oil!" Today, with the tractor just fixed, the commune had let them scrounge a barrel of diesel, but that wouldn't happen again. This stuff requires quotas to get—it wasn't something you could just buy with money, and besides, their brigade didn't have much money anyway.

Zhao Yongjun drove the tractor back to the cowshed and told Nie Yuanbai and the others to take good care of it. This was the brigade's most important asset... well, no, for now, it wasn't the brigade's property—it belonged to the kids.

Shen Zhenxing, carrying the meat Hong Li had given him, nodded at Zhao Yongjun, and the two of them walked in tacit agreement toward the Shen family's brick house.

Shen Banyue and Lin Mian had already gone home. Each was lounging lazily in a wooden armchair under the eaves, leisurely eating oranges. Wang Guizhi and Shen Dechang were busy cooking in the kitchen, the aroma of stewed chicken filling the entire yard.

As soon as Shen Zhenxing and Zhao Yongjun entered, they couldn't help swallowing in unison.

Zhao Yongjun thought to himself, no wonder people say Wang Guizhi dotes on the kids—it's true.

Shen Zhenxing went into the kitchen first and handed the meat to Wang Guizhi. She opened it, smiled, and said, "You two stay for dinner. I'll fry up a couple of brown sugar pancakes."

Shen Zhenxing came out of the kitchen, grabbed a stool, and sat down next to Shen Banyue.

Shen Banyue picked two oranges from the bamboo basket and handed them to him. He took one, sat down, peeled it, and ate a couple of segments before speaking. "The brigade will give you work points for the new plow—double the full points every day. As for the tractor, how about we say a thousand yuan for the materials and labor? But our brigade's foundation is weak. Whatever little money we save each year has to go toward buying seeds and piglets next spring. It's only been in the last couple of years, with the ducks and this year's new plow, that we've managed to scrape together a bit of a nest egg. To be honest with you, the brigade can come up with a thousand yuan, but if we take that out, it'll be hard to do anything else next year."

Zhao Yongjun ate his orange in silence, thinking that the brigade captain was so used to crying poverty to the commune leaders that he was now doing it to the kids.

But then again, they really were poor.

Lin Mian grabbed an orange from the basket, peeled it carefully, removed every bit of pith, and handed it to Shen Banyue.

She took half of it from his hand and ate it as she spoke. "Grandpa Shen, don't cry poverty to a kid like me. Even if you do, I won't give you any money."

Shen Zhenxing: "..."

Shen Banyue grinned. "Just kidding! I'm fine with the tractor being valued at a thousand yuan. If the brigade can't come up with that much cash, you can pay with something else."

Zhao Yongjun couldn't help asking, "What else?" He racked his brain but couldn't think of anything the brigade had that was worth that much.

Shen Banyue thought for a moment and said, "Give us half in cash, and for the other half, count it as five years' worth of work points for my grandparents. From now on, they won't have to work in the fields, but the brigade should still record work points for them as usual. Consider it as the tractor working on their behalf." Five years later, the household contract responsibility system would come into effect, and work points would become a thing of the past. Of course, Shen Zhenxing and the others didn't know that—they just thought Shen Banyue was calculating based on her grandparents' age, figuring they'd be too old to work in five years anyway.

Neither Shen Zhenxing nor Zhao Yongjun had expected Shen Banyue to make such a request. They fell silent for a moment, both sighing inwardly. The old couple's love for the kids wasn't wasted—the kids were doing everything they could to lighten their burden.

Five hundred yuan for five years of work points for the old couple—it was a fair deal. Neither side would lose out, and in fact, the brigade came out slightly ahead, since the old couple could still work if needed. But for the brigade to suddenly fork over that much money would really hurt.

Technically, buying work points with money wasn't allowed, but Wang Guizhi and Shen Dechang were getting on in years. Besides, it wasn't a blatant cash-for-points exchange—the tractor was the excuse. Using the tractor to cover the work points was a bit of a stretch, but if people turned a blind eye, it could pass.

Shen Zhenxing and Zhao Yongjun exchanged a glance. They didn't agree on the spot but said, "This needs to be decided at a meeting of all brigade cadres."

That very night, Shen Zhenxing called all the brigade cadres back to the office for a meeting.

Everyone knew what a tractor was worth. Even an old one, a thousand yuan was a bargain. And five hundred yuan could be paid in work points—who wouldn't jump at that?

Besides, with the new plow and the tractor, what did it matter if two people stopped working?

Even Accountant Zhao, whose son Zhao Jinshun had always had a grudge against Shen Dechang's family, didn't dare find fault with this.

In the past, they wouldn't have dared to dream of such a thing. But now that they actually had a tractor, if anyone tried to mess this up, they'd better watch out—the brigade members would line up to dump manure on their doorstep.

The next day, Shen Zhenxing handed five hundred yuan to Shen Banyue, along with a note signed by all the brigade cadres, stating that from a certain date onward, the work of Wang Guizhi and Shen Dechang would be covered by the tractor, with each day counted as full work points.

Wang Guizhi and Shen Dechang hadn't known about this beforehand. When they received the note, the old couple was stunned. After a long silence, Wang Guizhi's eyes reddened as she gently patted Shen Banyue. "Oh, you two kids."

Then she ruffled Lin Mian's hair. "Your grandpa and I aren't old yet. Even five more years—ten, even—wouldn't be a problem."

Shen Dechang wiped the corner of his eye and said softly, "That's right."

Shen Banyue smiled. "If you're bored, you can still go work in the fields. The brigade captain won't stop you, right?"

Shen Zhenxing waved his hand. "No, I won't stop you. I'll even record extra work points for you. Happy?"

Shen Banyue gave him a thumbs-up.

"Alright, the brigade is slaughtering a pig tomorrow. If you're free, you can help Uncle Da Niu hold down the pig's feet," Shen Zhenxing said with a smile.

Shanglin Brigade had cleared some land and slaughtered a pig to celebrate. Now that they had a tractor, shouldn't they celebrate even more?

Shen Zhenxing was about to leave when Shen Banyue suddenly reminded him, "Captain, have you forgotten something?"

Lin Mian glanced at Shen Banyue and recited Shen Zhenxing's earlier words verbatim: "If you can really manage to build a tractor, forget building irrigation channels or waterwheels—even if you want to fly to the sky, the members will carry you up there."

Word for word.

The corner of Shen Zhenxing's mouth twitched. He had to admit, with everything going on and his excitement, he had indeed forgotten about that.

But even if he'd completely forgotten it, hearing Lin Mian repeat his own words verbatim, he'd definitely remember.

He didn't get why these two kids were pushing him to build dikes and dig canals for the village, but the kids had a point. With the new plow and tractor, the village's farmwork had gotten a lot lighter. Plus, winter naturally had less farmwork, so taking this time to raise the dikes a bit higher and dig a few sections of canals was indeed feasible.

Shen Zhenxing thought it over, gave a casual reply, and left.

She'd spent six hundred and only got back five hundred, but Shen Banyue was still pretty happy. She wasn't gonna keep all five hundred for herself. After setting aside a hundred for Lin Mian, she put aside another two hundred to cover the wages for Nie Yuanbai, Lv Fang, Shen Wendong, and Zhao Xuehai.

No need to split hairs over who did what—fifty for each person would do.

After dark, she headed to the cowshed and handed a hundred yuan to Nie Yuanbai.

The two of them crouched in the weeds by the mountain stream, and Nie Yuanbai said, a bit surprised, "I never thought I'd be getting paid by you. We didn't do all that much, did we?"

Shen Banyue grinned slyly. "This money ain't that easy to earn. The brigade's about to start building dikes and canals, and we'll need you and Uncle Lv to help take a look."

Nie Yuanbai frowned slightly. "Neither of us is a pro at that."

Shen Banyue said flatly, "Well, nobody in the village is a pro either. You two have the highest education—who else are we supposed to turn to? The capable do more."

Nie Yuanbai shook his head, laughing. "You little scamp."

Which meant he was in.

It was freezing, and Shen Banyue didn't feel like hanging around in the cold night air. Money handed over, business done, she got up and took off.

As she walked along the village path, she suddenly heard a fierce argument coming from the direction of the old Shen family home. Her sharp ears caught Liu Tingting and Shen Aimin going at it.

Liu Tingting had a son last year, and it was said she'd been bossing everyone around at home ever since, always bragging about giving the Shen family its first grandson, which even made Shen Ailin lose his place in the family.

Shen Guoxing really cared about this "first grandson." The kid had just learned to walk, but he was already itching to send him to school—

Shen Ailin had been in elementary school for years, proving he was a total slacker. Shen Guoxing could only put his hopes on the grandkid, dreaming he might get into high school and later land a job in Jiangcheng or the county seat, bringing honor to the family and wiping out the shame of being outshone by his two half-brothers.

Hu Huaihua, of course, spoiled her own son and often stirred him up against his wife. Combined with Shen Aimin's growing disgust at Liu Tingting's attitude—"If I'd known you'd be split off from the family, I'd never have settled for you"—the couple fought every other day, with huge fights every few days.

Shen Banyue didn't slow down, but the arguing didn't die down. The two were practically screaming their heads off, with a kid crying in between. Then there was a loud bang. Shen Banyue looked back and saw someone dash out from the old house and run toward the road out of the village.

The next morning, Shen Banyue slept in till she woke up on her own. After breakfast, she and Lin Mian wandered over to the threshing ground.

Just then, Wang Daniu and a few commune members came over hauling a fat pig. When he spotted Shen Banyue, his eyes lit up, and he pointed at a smaller guy. "You swap with Xiao Yue. This girl's got some muscle."

The guy didn't mind; he grinned and said, "Xiao Yue, your turn."

This wasn't Shen Banyue's first time helping hold down a pig's leg. She and Wang Daniu hoisted the fat pig onto the plank table, and standing beside Wang Daniu, she reached out and pinned the front leg.

Sensing its fate, the pig began to shriek pitifully and thrash wildly. But no matter how its hind legs kicked, the front leg held by Shen Banyue barely budged.

Wang Daniu had been slaughtering pigs for years and never felt any "sympathy" for them, but every time he saw Shen Banyue hold a pig's leg, he got the odd impression that the pig seemed "weak and helpless." He joked, "Xiao Yue, your hands are steady. How about I teach you to slaughter pigs?"

Auntie Qin, watching from the sidelines, immediately chimed in, "Wang Daniu, what a lousy idea! A young girl learning to slaughter pigs?"

Wang Daniu laughed. "Xiao Yue's been holding pig legs for years, and I can see she's not scared. With her strength, slaughtering a pig would be a breeze."

Shen Banyue blinked innocently. "Uncle Daniu, I was scared the first time, but after seeing it so many times, I'm not anymore."

Wang Daniu was about to say, "If you're scared, forget it," when the girl added, "But more skills don't hurt, right? Slaughtering pigs isn't something just anyone can do. How about you teach me, and I'll give it a try?"

Wang Daniu, who had only been joking offhand, suddenly got excited. The others holding the pig legs started egging them on, so he shoved the slaughter knife into Shen Banyue's hand and began explaining the process, pointing at the squealing pig.

Lin Mian, standing a few steps away, hurried closer when he heard Shen Banyue wanted to learn, listening to Wang Daniu's instructions.

Auntie Qin said exasperatedly, "You're just taking advantage of Guizhi not being here. If she finds out you're teaching her kid to slaughter pigs, just wait for her to chew you out!"

Wang Daniu chuckled without responding, but glanced at Lin Mian and asked, "Xiao Mian, want to learn too?"

Shen Banyue laughed. "Uncle Daniu, spare him. If he slaughtered a pig, he'd have nightmares for a week. He's just jotting down your tips so he can remind me if I forget."

Lin Mian curved his lips and said, "I'm just watching closely how you, Uncle Daniu, are tricking Sister Yue into slaughtering pigs, so I can tell my grandma later."

Wang Daniu snorted. "You little rascal!"

Slaughtering a pig was hardly harder than hacking zombies or mutated monsters. Shen Banyue's hands were steady, her movements quick, and with her strength, one stab silenced the fat pig almost instantly, leaving even the seasoned butcher Wang Daniu stunned.

The member holding the pig leg noted that the pig barely struggled when the knife went in, making it much easier to hold than in previous years. He teased Wang Daniu, saying his teaching skills were better than his slaughtering skills—he'd trained someone better than himself.

Wang Daniu laughed heartily. "Great! From now on, I won't have to lift a finger during the New Year pig slaughter—just wait for my share of the meat."

Slaughtering was just the knife going in and coming out red; the real skill came afterward. With nothing else to do, Shen Banyue crouched nearby to watch Wang Daniu "dismantle the pig." Lin Mian, though not particularly interested in slaughtering, saw Shen Banyue engrossed and, with his typical scholar's mindset that "any knowledge is useful," crouched down too, watching intently.

More and more commune members gathered. Once the pig was done, the children were allowed to come closer. The little kids crowded around the plank table, loudly slurping their saliva.

"Is it New Year already? We get to eat meat!"

"My mom says New Year's still far off. The brigade slaughtered the pig to celebrate getting the tractor—thanks to Xiao Yue the Hero and Xiao Mian the Hero."

"My dad says no other brigade has a tractor, only ours. Our brigade is the best in the whole commune!"

"When New Year comes, I'll take my cousin to see the tractor and tell him our brigade is the best!"

...

The kids chattered away, drooling, making the adults nearby laugh. But the children weren't wrong—their brigade was now the best. Every brigade for miles around was coming to them for plows, and now they had a tractor too. The members felt that from now on, when they went to the commune market, they'd have to hold their chins at least a few centimeters higher, or it wouldn't match their status.

Once the pork was finally divided up clearly, Wang Daniu looked around and noticed Accountant Zhao hadn't arrived yet, nor had Shen Zhenxing or Zhao Yongjun. He was about to send someone to the brigade office to call them when a commotion arose from the village path. Looking up, he saw the brigade cadres accompanying a few people walking this way.

Little Potato and Little Pumpkin, the two cousins, ran over first to report: "Sister Yue, those reporters are here—from the provincial capital!"

The commune members all gasped.

They'd seen newspapers in the brigade office, and some had even asked for old ones to paste on their walls, but that was it. Reporters and newspapers were like people and things from another world—they'd never imagined it would involve them.

Their brigade was going to be in the newspaper?!

Oh my, how rare!

Two people came from the Provincial Daily: a woman and a man. The woman, surnamed Yu, was in her early thirties, wearing a crisp Liberation-style outfit, short hair, glasses, with a delicate face and sharp eyes. The man, in his twenties, surnamed Ying, looked like a fresh-faced rookie just starting work.

Director Gong from the commune accompanied them personally, along with Cadre Xiao Ding.

Reporter Yu looked serious but spoke gently: "Captain Shen, go ahead and distribute the meat, do what you need to do. Don't mind us. We're here to report, not to disrupt the farmers' work and life."

Shen Zhenxing was visibly nervous, his expression eighty times more serious than usual. After struggling for a moment, he managed a stiff smile. "No disruption, no disruption. We've just finished slaughtering the pig and haven't started dividing it yet."

He signaled Accountant Zhao with a glance. "Youliang, distribute the meat to everyone."

Reporter Yu turned and whispered to Reporter Ying, "Take a few photos of the meat distribution."

Reporter Ying had a camera hanging around his neck; he nodded immediately and moved off to find a good angle.

Reporter Yu scanned the kids in the room and asked Shen Zhenxing, "Which two kids?"

Shen Zhenxing said sternly, "Xiaoyue, Xiaomian, come here." Once Shen Banyue and Lin Mian came over, he said seriously, "This is Reporter Yu from the Provincial Daily. She has some questions for you. Answer them properly."

Reporter Yu couldn't help but laugh at him. "Captain Shen, relax. I'm just chatting with the kids. This is a positive story, a good thing—not here to cause trouble."

Reporter Yu meant to crack a joke to lighten things up, but her serious face and obvious lack of practice joking around made Shen Zhenxing even more tense instead.

Worried Shen Zhenxing's weak heart might give out if this continued, Shen Banyue quickly looked up and smiled, asking Reporter Yu, "Sister Yu, what do you want to ask us?"

Reporter Yu smiled. "Would you two take a walk with me around the village?"

The kid was really good-looking and super composed—whether it was because she was too young to be scared or just naturally brave, she looked way more chill than the village officials.

Then Shen Banyue and Lin Mian actually took Reporter Yu around the village. Shen Zhenxing tried to tag along, but Reporter Yu sent him away, and Director Gong calmed him down with a "Take it easy."

The reporter had a point—this was a positive story. Whether at the commune or brigade level, being too uptight might make people think something's off.

After all, it was already wild that a bunch of teenagers designed a new plow and repaired a tractor. If people got the wrong idea that Xiaodun Brigade was "faking results," it would be hard to clarify.

What Director Gong didn't realize was that Reporter Yu hadn't planned to come for an interview this soon. She had her own sources and had been watching Xiaodun Brigade, so she quickly learned about the tractor repair.

A new plow and a tractor—even with all her experience, Reporter Yu couldn't believe that a bunch of teenagers had pulled this off, especially since the kid leading it was only thirteen and hadn't even finished elementary school!

If it was true, it'd make a great feel-good news story. If false, Reporter Yu wanted to get to the bottom of it.

She had arrived with doubts.

But after talking to the two kids, her doubts faded fast.

She found that these two kids were truly different from ordinary children. The girl was so sharp she barely seemed like a kid, talking with clear logic and perfect precision, like she knew exactly what doubts Reporter Yu had and explained everything thoroughly.

The boy was super smart—a genius with a photographic memory. When it came to the tractor, he could describe every part's location in detail and casually drop technical terms, sounding less like a twelve-year-old and more like a well-grounded technician.

Before the conversation, Reporter Yu thought it was far-fetched for teenagers to design a new plow and repair a tractor. Afterward, she felt a surge of excitement—if the country had such successors, scientific and technological development was surely in good hands.

Later, Reporter Yu interviewed some villagers and kids. She was surprised to find that these two children, adopted after being trafficked, had no barriers with the locals and were remarkably popular.

When mentioning the two, other kids invariably called them "great heroes," and villagers would enviously say they wished their own children were as well-behaved.

Of course, not all comments were praise. Some said the girl was a ringleader, bold enough to beat up kids several years older, but those who said so often looked shifty, as if afraid other villagers might overhear and give them a beating.

Reporter Yu made her own judgment—clearly, these were parents whose kids had been disciplined by Xiaoyue.

The more she interviewed, the more she found to explore, so she kept expanding her pool of interviewees. Eventually, she accepted the locals' warm invitation to stay for a pork feast.

Shen Wendong and Zhao Xuehai were called back from school, catching the interview and the feast, and even squeezed into a corner spot for a photo in front of the tractor with the new plow.

A few days later, this photo appeared at the bottom of the front page of the Provincial Daily.

There was a minor incident that Shen Banyue and the others didn't know about.

After leaving Xiaodun Brigade, Reporter Yu and her colleague spent a day in Yunling Commune, interviewing blacksmiths at the forge and villagers from Shanlin and Fengshan Brigades. During that time, she received an anonymous letter at the guesthouse, accusing Xiaodun Brigade of involving re-educated personnel in the new plow design and tractor repair, falsely attributing the achievements to the kids.

The kids had actually mentioned the involvement of re-educated personnel to her. Whether it was fraudulent, Reporter Yu had already judged through her interviews. Given the overall public opinion climate, she had initially planned to gloss over their involvement. But with the accusation, she couldn't just brush it aside.

Reporter Yu asked the commune to bring Shen Zhenxing in for a detailed interview on the matter. In the end, she added a line to her report: "It is understood that, whether in designing the new plow or repairing the tractor, re-educated personnel in the cowshed provided the kids with knowledge support and technical guidance."

Soon after, the Provincial Daily launched a new column discussing whether re-educated personnel should be allowed to participate in repairing and building agricultural machinery, and whether labor reform could let them contribute their skills to rural development.

By then, Shen Banyue and Lin Mian had already sent copies of the newspaper featuring their "glorious image" to friends far and wide.

Far away in S Province, Zhao Jie received the letter and excitedly showed the newspaper to his parents. "Look, Xiaoyue and Xiaomian built a new plow and a tractor!"

Zhao's father leaned in and chuckled wryly. "They repaired a tractor—building one isn't that easy. Still, these kids are impressive, making it into T Province's newspaper at such a young age. You should learn from them."

Zhao Jie: "..."