On Friday, both of Chen Lina and Ne Bozhao were at work, leaving the Nie family yard to become a gathering place for a large group of children, which quickly turned into a children’s nest.

“Are there really devils in Devil City? Da Dan, catch two and let’s play together, okay?” Chen Tiantian trailed behind Ne Weimin, chattering nonstop.

After a while, she said, “I want to go too.”

She ran home quickly and asked her mother, “Mom, can I go to Devil City?”

“That barren place, what’s there to play with? No, you can’t go,” Wang Jie immediately refused. “Tiantian, when you go out to play, take Jinbao with you. Why are you running off alone?”

Tiantian couldn’t go with Ne Weimin and Er Dan, and she felt really sad, squatting by her little sister’s cage and crying.

“Don’t worry, when I come back, I’ll tell you how fun it was,” Ne Weimin said seriously, playing the role of the big brother, even wiping the saliva off Tiantian’s mouth.

“I’ll catch a ghost for you to play with,” Er Dan added, making a frightening gesture.

It seemed that he thought this “ghostly” face was the coolest thing.

“Alright, I’ll ask my mom to look after your bed, and I’ll protect my little sister too,” Tiantian said, lifting her rabbit cage and making the two brothers laugh.

Her voice was sweet, and she was really determined.

Her plump little sister was so resilient, surviving an entire winter.

Now it was May, and she had shed a layer of fur, looking just as round and pretty as Tiantian and Er Dan.

“Nie Weimin, Nie Weimin!” Outside the door, a young girl was calling loudly.

Nie Weimin looked out and saw Liu Xiaohong, his face turning red. “I’m not friends with you, and I don’t know you,” he said.

Liu Xiaohong bit her chapped, red lips and said, “I need to talk to your mom. Is she home?”

“My mom went to the farm to work, and she won’t be your mom,” Nie Weimin replied.

Actually, Nie Weimin’s dislike for Liu Xiaohong started when Nie Bozhao jokingly said that Liu Han wanted Chen Lina to be his children’s stepmother.

Later, Liu Xiaohong repeatedly said, “Weimin, your mom is so nice. I wish I had a stepmother like her.”

This planted a fear in Nie Weimin that his mother might leave.

“I don’t want your mom to be my mom, and I’m leaving the base.”

“Ah, where are you going?”

“My dad is working at Loulan Farm behind Devil City. He sent word for me to go live with him. I have to go.”

“Go ahead, go ahead, goodbye!” Nie Weimin secretly felt happy, thinking, “Now I don’t have to worry about my mom leaving.”

However, he was a kind child.

Since he often saw Chen Lina giving things to Liu Xiaohong, he took it upon himself to go inside, took a few pieces of biscuits from the biscuit jar, and handed them to Liu Xiaohong. “This is from my mom. Remember, only eat one piece a day. If you eat two, you’ll get cavities.”

“Thank you, Weimin.”

“Go on, goodbye, and have a safe trip,” Ne Weimin said.

“Da Dan, I want biscuits too,” Tiantian licked her lips.

Taking biscuits without asking his mom was basically stealing, but Ne Weimin still gave Tiantian two pieces.

After all, she always ate so deliciously.

Although Devil City wasn’t far from the base, it was difficult to reach because there were no paved roads.

Chen Lina’s car couldn’t drive there, so the family had to leave the car at Wumayi and catch a big truck from the oil plant.

In the frontier region, there were not only officials but also people from all walks of life.

The farm and mining areas were particularly mixed.

“Have you heard about the people who escaped to the Soviet country? What are they doing now?” someone asked on the crowded truck.

“Are you talking about the big escape in the 1960s? I heard they’re living like officials over there,” another person replied.

“Yeah, well, look at how we’re living now,” the two exchanged words.

Immediately, others joined in: “Yeah, the workers are still eating cornmeal buns. Life on the farm is even harder.

I went to visit my brother at Loulan Farm. I had a fight with my wife last night, and all I got was a steamed bun as an apology.

I couldn’t even take a can of food. But I heard the people who escaped to the Soviet country are having rice every meal and unlimited soda to drink.”

“Sigh, we’re living these poor days. Who knows when it will end?” The group sighed.

“Just remember, the things we say today can’t be spread. If anyone reports us, it’s the end for all of us,” one person warned.

Speech couldn’t be suppressed, and since the frontier was close to the Soviet Union, people’s hearts were restless.

Everyone was envious of the people who had made the tough decision to escape to the Soviet Union.

Ne Bozhao couldn’t take it anymore: “Comrades, the country’s difficulties are temporary. The Soviet Union isn’t always wealthy either.

After all, people have to produce in order to reap rewards. For example, if we grow 1,000 jin of grain this year, we’ll eat all 1,000 jin.

This solves our basic needs. But if we work harder next year and grow 1,200 jin, eating 1,000 and still having 200 left, then we can say we’ve solved our hunger.

But the Soviet Union is different. They only grow 800 jin of grain a year but have to eat 1,200. Where does the extra come from? It comes from borrowing. Let me ask you, do you feel at ease eating borrowed grain?”

Everyone looked at him: he wore a navy blue uniform, his buttons tightly fastened, and he held a clean, round-eyed, fair child in his arms.

He looked like an important person.

However, he had been squeezed to the back, and they hadn’t noticed him before.

“If the Soviet Union is borrowing food, someone must be lending it to them. If I could borrow food, I’d return it next year. But right now, I just want a full stomach. Comrade official, don’t you think I’m right?” Someone, not afraid of trouble, dared to speak up.

Nie Bozhao took off his glasses, his face slightly deformed where it touched the metal: “Comrades, the state and us individuals are different. The reason we say that the Soviet Union is a ‘revised justice’ is because, although it seems to follow Marxism-Leninism, it’s merely a surface layer.

In reality, it’s following a capitalist path. The people neither work nor produce but keep taking without giving.

This is like our New Year’s celebration, where everyone eats heartily, but afterward, we’re left with a shortage. Because it’s a country, the dying camel is bigger than the horse—it can last longer.

However, as the leader said, we should see if what we’re doing today is correct. Let’s wait thirty years. After thirty years, we’ll see the results.”

“Then why do we have to endure hardship in this borderland, being exposed to the sun and wind? What’s it all for, Comrade Cadre?” someone asked.

Nie Bozhao pointed to Nie Weimin in his arms and Chen Lina, who was also squeezed in a corner with two children hanging on her, and said, “It’s for them to have enough food in the future. It’s so they can stand tall in front of the Soviets. And, it’s for the construction of our New China.”

If you ask about the Chinese people, in fact, regardless of their nature, they tend to follow the principle of “suffer first, enjoy later.”

They believe in hard work yielding rewards, and they trust in labor to bring about fruitful results.

Although the car was silent at that moment, many were persuaded by Nie Bozhao’s words.

Someone offered a cigarette, saying, “You’re clearly a cadre, we’re used to smoking these red plums. Comrade Cadre, have one.”

Nie Bozhao waved his hand, “I don’t smoke.”

Seeing the person about to light a cigarette with a match, he immediately added, “My wife and children can’t stand the smell of smoke. Please bear with it. When we reach the Loulan Farm, you can smoke.”

With that, he freed one hand from holding Nie Weimin and pulled out a half-pack of Ashima cigarettes from his pocket. “Here, one for each of you, my treat.”

Ashima cigarettes—top-quality cigarettes.

The men in the car rushed to grab them.

Of course, they endured the wait.

No one struck matches or lit up during the ride.

“Nice, Old Nie. You really are a genius. The Soviet Union is indeed wealthy now, but in twenty years, it’ll collapse. The people who defected in the 60s will all want to come back. Too bad, it won’t be their motherland anymore.” Chen Lina said with admiration.

This, indeed, was her Old Nie from her previous life.

Handsome, elegant, fluent in both Chinese and English, his speeches impressive.

When going to Nasdaq for listing talks, he wore a white shirt, and the tie was tied by her.

With his fluent London accent, he conquered everyone in the securities commission.

“The leader’s wisdom can be summed up in four words: far-sighted. And, from an economic perspective, the Soviet Union will inevitably collapse. I’m an academic, and I’ll just use two words: rigor,” Nie Bozhao said.

Outside Loulan Farm, each person was handed an Ashima cigarette.

The person who had passed the cigarette smiled and waved at Nie Bozhao. “Comrade Cadre, my brother’s family is in Loulan Farm’s production team 2. Ask around for Gou Ercai. We’ll have a big steamed bun dinner together tonight.”

He waved the big steamed bun in his hand.

The hospitable people of the borderland—the big steamed bun would likely be eaten after Nie Bozhao arrived.

So, of course, Nie Bozhao firmly declined.

“Mom, Mom, look, that’s Liu Xiaohong. She said she’s going to Loulan Farm. How come I didn’t see her on the bus earlier? Also, I don’t recognize the people she’s with,” Liu Xiaogang said.

Chen Lina had already noticed Liu Xiaohong on the bus.

After everyone else had gotten off, Liu Xiaohong finally got off the bus.

The little flower gloves she was wearing were the ones Chen Lina had given her.

The two women accompanying her seemed somewhat familiar.

Chen Lina remembered they were both members of Loulan Farm.