She drove the tractor wildly.

Suddenly, she turned off the road and onto the desert, and the whole tractor bounced up, making Reporter Guo grip the motor in fear, not daring to let go.

The tractor jumped and jolted, almost throwing Reporter Guo off.

The vast fields stretched before them, with workers all tilling the soil, but as soon as Chen Lina passed by, they all stopped their work and waved at her.

“You probably think they’ve been brainwashed, just like in the 1950s and ‘60s, talking about launching satellites and dreaming of a ten-thousand-jin per acre harvest. You think they’re doing meaningless work in this desert, right?”

The sound of the tractor was so loud that Reporter Guo couldn’t hear her clearly.

Finally, they reached the edge of the farm, where there was a huge canal that Reporter Guo had never seen before.

The color of the water in the canal was completely different from the color of the soil outside. When he touched it, it was all white alkali.

“This is the alkali drainage ditch. First, we let the river water into the fields, and through natural flow, all the alkali in the soil will drain into this ditch.”

They walked on, passing by some of the workers.

Chen Lina picked up a handful of wheat and planted it. Then she pulled another handful from her pocket and asked, “Reporter Guo, do you see the difference between the wheat grains?”

One handful was slightly rounder, the other slightly longer.

They were both wheat, but only by careful observation could you see the difference.

“Do you know how many varieties of wheat there are? And do you know where each should be planted?” Chen Lina asked, tossing aside the wheat in her hand and getting back on the tractor, signaling for Reporter Guo to follow.

Ahead was her most important field of the year—the corn field covered with plastic film.

Because it was planted early, the corn had already sprouted, with each plant standing tall like soldiers in formation.

Looking out across the field was a truly breathtaking sight.

Chen Lina stopped for a moment and said, “This is a fifty-mu corn field. We used a new type of corn planter, and with just fifty people, it took only five days to plant it all. If we had used manual labor, two hundred people working for fifteen days might not have finished.”

“Director Chen, I don’t understand. What are you trying to say by showing me all this?”

“I thought that, as a reporter from Beijing, you would at least observe how our workers labor here.

After all, in this desert, more than a thousand people rely solely on this barren alkali land to survive the whole year.

That’s not easy.

I thought you would learn from our advanced methods and write about it in the newspaper, telling the whole country to use efficient farming techniques like ours.

This is the only way to reduce labor and increase food production.

Because, whether inside or outside the system, people can only survive on food.”

“I also thought you would at least ask me seriously about what types of soil are best for which crops, why we can achieve 900 jin per acre while others can only manage 600 jin.

But no, you’ve been snooping around, looking for some gossip about my personal life. You’ve probably already privately asked about my background, right?”

Under the intense, sharp, and probing gaze of Manager Chen, who had young and fierce eyes,
Reporter Guo’s face turned red immediately.

He raised a finger and said, “I just asked quietly, that’s all.”

“I will responsibly tell you that I am a ‘stinky old nine’ (a derogatory term used for intellectuals during the Cultural Revolution), and most of the people here are ‘stinky old nines.’

But strawberries, tomatoes, mulberries, the melons and cucumbers I served you, even the cabbages—all our fresh fruits and vegetables are grown in soil-film greenhouses.

However, due to the severe climate at the border, a large portion of our greenhouses have been destroyed. If the province, or even the central government, would give me some money, and also allocate funds to the plastic factory for developing new products, by next year, I won’t just be planting samples. We could mass-produce them.”

“The people developing these seeds and improving genes are also ‘stinky old nines,’ just like me. Look, where are they?”

With that, Chen Lina extended her hand and pointed.

It was Saturday, which should have been a rest day for the experts and professors, but they hadn’t gone far.

Tian Jin had taken everyone to the cornfields to watch Professor Qiu Hua grafting plants.

“Uncle, Uncle!” Reporter Guo looked for a while and suddenly ran over. “Uncle, I thought you were dead! I didn’t expect to find you here.”

Old Tian stood up, rubbed his eyes, and said, “Is that you, Xiao Bin? I didn’t expect you’d grown so big.”

“So, Old Tian, this guy who comes hiding in the young intellectuals’ den, making the reporters act like the Japanese invading the village, turns out to be your big nephew?”

Old Tian laughed: “Yes, yes, he’s my nephew, but he probably doesn’t recognize me. I was one of the first to be sent down to the countryside, back in 1960. I started in Yan’an, then went to the Greater Khingan Range, and later to Ili. Thirteen years in total. The children there still remember me.”

“Yes, not only does he not remember you, but he’s even forgotten his roots,” Chen Lina teased.

Reuniting after a long time, Old Tian, once a proud, brilliant student from Peking University before the Liberation, had graying hair.

When he left, his nephew was still in middle school, and now the nephew was a reporter.

However, despite being relatives, their class status was different.

Old Tian’s sister had declared to the outside world that Old Tian had died in a cow shed during the labor reform, to protect the Guo family from being implicated.

When family members meet, there should be a drink.

That evening, Chen Lina told Wang Hongbing to prepare a few extra dishes, and by the way, arranged for Reporter Guo to stay in Old Tian’s den.

After dinner, the temperature outside had dropped below freezing.

The farm workers were still busy protecting the newly sprouted corn from the frost.

A bonfire rose in front of the den, and the idle workers gathered around.

The enthusiasm of the borderland was infectious—there was singing, chatting, and some even tried to get Guo to dance.

“What’s wrong, Reporter Guo, do you still hold deep prejudice against us, people with a ‘problematic’ background?” Chen Lina joked.

“No, no, no, Manager Chen, what you said was so profound.

The experience I’ve had here has been so shocking.

I haven’t even processed it all yet. I really don’t feel that there’s anything wrong with your background.”

Reporter Guo felt deeply ashamed.

He had never imagined that such a young, beautiful manager could speak so articulately.

Moreover, the farm she led had achieved self-sufficiency in just a year or two.

What struck him the most was hearing from the older generation how much she respected and protected intellectuals.

But that wasn’t the end of it.

As Chen Lina prepared to leave, she stood up and said, “I have to tell you, if you go back and say that I’m just seeking glory, claiming I’m leading a Great Leap Forward, you should know I’ve been to Beijing, and I know where Xin Qingbao is. Come autumn, I’ll personally go to Beijing, grab your ear, and drag you back here to the border. I want you to see if the cotton has yielded abundantly and if the wheat has reached 900 pounds per mu.”

“Manager Chen, can I just scrap the report and rewrite it?” Reporter Guo asked urgently.

When he first arrived, he thought this place was too harsh, and, of course, it was cold.

But surrounded by the young intellectuals and local girls dancing around the bonfire, with music playing, despite the hardship, this place had a kind of pure joy that he hadn’t felt in the city for a long time.

“What’s this, have you cast aside your prejudice?” Chen Lina walked ahead, preparing to drive.

Reaching the car, Guo reporter scratched his head. “How about this, Manager Chen, you work overtime tonight? We can chat all night at my uncle’s den and write the report together. How about it? I can develop the photos for you in advance. Want to see them?”

He patted the red-flagged car, saying, “This thing is too old. I have a brand-new Jipu youth model. When you go to Beijing, I’ll take you for a ride.”

“Reporter Guo, I don’t have time to discuss the report with you, and I don’t want to go for a ride with you. Also, you need to use my draft.

My draft clearly details the significance of soil-film for crops, the soil suitable for each type of wheat, and the necessary care after planting.

And I hope you’ll call on people in the mainland who are struggling to fill their stomachs to come and work in the borderlands.

Because once the borderlands can achieve mass production, we can feed three to four times more people than we can now.

Since 1958 and 1959, our country has had a population of over 400 million, especially in major provinces like Henan, Sichuan, and Hongyan, where the population explosion has made it impossible to feed all the hungry children.

The borderlands offer vast potential to help them feed their families and thrive.”

“If you want to publish this, it will take up a whole page in your newspaper. Either you overcome all obstacles and publish it in Xin Qingbao, or…”

“Or what?”

The tough and decisive Manager Chen looked like she might eat someone alive.

“Or you walk thirty miles to Base One and hitch a ride from there. I’m not sending you to Urumqi,” Chen Lina said as she slapped a stack of draft papers into his hands.

“This person, signed as Nie Bozhao, could he be the advanced worker, Engineer Nie from our country?” Reporter Guo asked, holding the manuscript while trailing behind the young director Chen Lina.

“Yes.”

“He understands agriculture?”

“He is my husband,” Chen Lina said, then got into the car.

The young boy probably thought that being young made him special, and that having a jeep and knowing how to develop photos made him impressive.

Chen Lina whistled in her mind and thought, My husband, now there’s a man who no one can compare to. With him around, who would be interested in you young fellows?

By the time she returned to the base, it was almost eleven o’clock. Having worked on the farm for over a year, this was the first time Chen Lina had come home so late.

Moreover, the gas station had already closed, so she had to park the car outside and walk home.

Liu Xiaohong stayed at the farm today, so the house was just occupied by Engineer Nie and his three sons.

Nie Guozhu had already been staying at her house for five days, and his wife, Gong Hongxing, still hadn’t arrived.

He had been following Nie Bozhao around like a shadow.

Today, Nie Bozhao had gone to the farm in the morning and rushed back to the laboratory in the afternoon.

Nie Guozhu, on the other hand, had stayed at the farm very late.

After all, He Lan’er was his aunt, and he had to chat with her for a while.

Chen Lina wasn’t sure if he was back yet.

“Potato, potato, I’m a sweet potato, there’s something, there’s something!” Late at night, just as Chen Lina entered the residential area, ready to open the front gate, she heard a child’s voice.

Well, it was obvious who it was—it was Nie Weimin’s voice.

“Weimin?”

“Ah, Mom! You’re back early?!”

What a rare event—Nie Weimin actually called her “Mom” voluntarily.

“What’s that behind you? Let me see.” With a stretch of her hand, her motherly authority came through.

“It’s… it’s nothing,” Nie Weimin tried to hide it, but Chen Lina snatched it away from him.

“This is my water cup, it’s a black, thick porcelain one, and it cost me five cents. Nie Weimin, why did you drill a hole in it? Oh, and there’s copper wire. Tell me, what are you making here?” Chen Lina tugged at it, and the copper wire was quite long. When she pulled one side, the other side tugged back.

“Uh, it’s… it’s nothing. Just a toy, really. Ah, Little Chen, you go ahead, I’ve got to run!” Nie Weimin attempted to escape.

But she quickly grabbed him—her eight-year-old son, who was almost as tall as her shoulder.

“Ah, little spy, do you think I don’t understand? This is a phone, isn’t it? I bet one end is by the big gate, and the other is here at home. Now tell me, what trouble are you and your brothers getting into?” she asked, holding him.

“You know this too?”