“No, we respect the workers. We honor labor as the most glorious thing. This year, our mining district’s labor model is Helanshan, not Chen Lina. I even danced eight dances with Helanshan. Why don’t you mention that? You’re obviously trying to sabotage our work.” With a loud thud, Gao Dayong slammed his gun onto the table. “Gong Hongxing, if you keep messing around, I’ll shoot you.”

“Alright, Hongxing, just go. Lao Gao has a bad temper. Even I can’t stand it when he gets angry.”

“Wu Jie, I… I just don’t believe I can’t find a real revolutionary fighter in this mining district,” Gong Hongxing said, getting scolded and turning to leave.

“Hai Liang, aren’t you going to work?”

“Going, going! I’ll go right now.” Zhu Hailiang had no idea who he had offended, so he quickly ran off.

The first person to bring the news of Gong Hongxing’s revolutionary group to Chen Lina on the farm was Xiao Chen.

Recently, Xiao Chen had been worried that the attention around the revolutionary group might catch up to him, so he stopped driving his jeep and started taking the tractor back and forth from the mining district.

“Comrade Chen, Minister Gao said, whoever dares to stir up revolution in the mining district will have to walk by the walls from now on.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because he carries bricks. As soon as he hears any rumors, he’ll smash anyone with a brick,” Xiao Chen said.

“Are you leaving soon?” Chen Lina asked Xiao Chen.

He was the only child in his family.

To make sure he could return to Shanghai, his father even got himself medically discharged.

Now, in 1973, thanks to the premier’s persistent efforts, the “hat removal” project had already begun.

If Xiao Chen left now, it would be a legitimate excuse.

Plus, there was a good chance that once he got back to Shanghai, he would be working at a car factory, a great job that many could only dream of.

“I used to try to help Anna get her hat removed so she could go back with me, but now I’m more worried about you, Little Chen. The revolutionary group doesn’t seem to care much about the old professors anymore. Their focus has shifted to you. You’re in danger now.”

“No, Comrade Xiao Chen, we can’t look at it that way. When Gong Hongxing’s group wanted to target a whole bunch of people, I had to be cautious, but if they’re just targeting me, I’ll say it—the farm is safe, the old professors are safe, and I’m not that easy to deal with.” Chen Lina said, hopping on the tractor, preparing to go out for the spring planting.

Turning around, she saw Nie Weimin sitting on the tractor.

She asked, “Why don’t you go play with the other kids?”

“They’re too small. It’s not fun.”

“Then you should follow Nie Guozhu. Didn’t he go to Baiyanghe to run the tractor?”

“I understand now. He has no brains at all. As long as he spends some time with my dad, he’ll understand what my dad’s work is about—win without fighting. Your real enemy hasn’t come yet.”

“Kid, what do you know about winning without fighting?” Chen Lina couldn’t help but laugh. “So, what should I do when the real enemy comes?”

She sat on the tractor, which Chen Lina was driving, rumbling through the farm, feeling quite proud.

“I don’t know,” Nie Weimin replied bluntly.

“Kid, have you heard of borrowing arrows with straw boats? We just need to wait for the east wind. I’m taking you to borrow the east wind, how about it?” Chen Lina asked.

“Where’s that from?” Nie Weimin asked.

“Romance of the Three Kingdoms, have you read it?”

“My family used to have a copy. I only knew the three words at the time, but later, my grandma used it to clean Erdan’s butt. It was all torn up, what a shame.” Nie Weimin clenched his fists in frustration.

Looking back, Nie Bozhao’s study had all sorts of books, but unfortunately, they were all ruined.

“However, I remember Gao Jie’s family has a copy. When we get to the mining district next time, I’ll ask her for it.”

“Little Nie, I’ll ask you a serious question. Do you think Tiantian is pretty, or do you think my little Hong is prettier, or Gao Xiaobing is more beautiful?” Chen Lina asked.

Nie Weimin wasn’t fooled: “Why is Liu Xiaohong yours? If she was really yours, why didn’t you adopt her back then?”

“Because you’re good with everyone except her. If I adopted her, you would bully her to death.” Chen Lina retorted.

Nie Weimin bit his lip and thought for a moment.

It seemed like that might be true.

Tiantian was his little sister, right?

But he always felt like it was okay to just make her happy and play with her.

But Liu Xiaohong wasn’t the same.

Whenever he saw her, if her eyes weren’t on him, he always wanted to tease her.

Why? Maybe he just wanted her to notice him.

“Her fate isn’t good. Her family background is poor, and she’s very self-conscious. If she really came to our family, you’d bully her. Also, kid, do you know that distance makes the heart grow fonder? She needs time to grow and build confidence. You need to work on controlling your bad temper. Don’t hurt her heart from the start.” Chen Lina advised.

“You’re trying to trap me! You can’t teach kids these things,” Nie Weimin said angrily, “I won’t talk to you anymore.”

“Looks like you understand what I mean, huh?” Chen Lina laughed heartily.

“Kid, I’m not encouraging you to fall in love at a young age. I just want you to know—if you want to borrow books from Gao Jie’s house, that’s fine. But Gao and his wife are really keen on you becoming their son-in-law. If you want to, that’s okay, but if not, don’t let this kind of thing cause a rift between our families.” Chen Lina said.

Otherwise, someone like Gao Feng, so smooth and calculating, would never let Liu Xiaohong go to someone like Nie Weimin.

Nie Weimin, enraged, stretched his neck and suddenly bumped into Chen Lina’s head.

The child who loved to read was pondering where to find a copy of The Three Kingdoms.

As he passed by the warehouse, Liu Xiaohong was standing in front, teaching Er Dan how to braid wheat straw.

Nie Weimin couldn’t tell who had braided her hair, but it was all little braids, and flowers were braided into them.

He curled his lip, thinking it was really tacky.

Okay, it was both tacky and beautiful.

“What’s this, Reporter Gu? Yesterday you said you didn’t want to stay for another day and were about to leave. Why today are you going out to work in the fields? Has our farm life infected you, and now you want to keep working?”

When they reached Tian Lao’s farmland, the tractor stopped, and Chen Lina got off.

Reporter Gu had washed his hair this morning and changed into a corduroy shirt from Tian Lao.

Finally, he looked like the refined big journalist he was supposed to be.

“To be honest, Director Chen, at night, listening to the wind howl like ghosts and wolves, the shack was cold, and there was no electricity. I felt an impulse to run away right then and there. But in the morning, the sky was so blue, and the sunlight was so intense on the horizon. Hearing the children’s clear singing, the birds chirping, and the scent of flowers made me not want to leave.”

The frontier, a place where one wants to escape at night but feels reluctant to leave in the morning.

“Well, since you’re here, why not stay a few more days, help us work in the fields, and let you, the son of a high-ranking official, experience the life here? I think when you return to the capital, your thoughts will be elevated, your writing will have more depth, and you’ll be a more refined person overall.”

“Do you know who my father is?” Reporter Gu asked, slightly curious, as he leaned against the tractor, trying to look cool.

Chen Lina smiled, “If you can look up information on me, why can’t I check on you?”

There weren’t many high-ranking officials, and only one Gu could become the editor of Xinqing News, given his age.

She could roughly guess who his family was.

“Alright then, I’ll let you hold my little brother, and we’ll sit in the back.”

“This is my mom, I’m her son.” Nie Weimin said unhappily, deliberately standing on his tiptoes to emphasize his height.

Reporter Gu was dumbfounded: “Director Chen, you actually have such a big son?”

“By the way, Reporter Gu, do you know if there’s water on Mercury?”

“You young man, that question can’t stump me. Mercury is the closest planet to the sun, it’s already been dried up by the sun. Not only is there no water, but the atmosphere has been stripped away too.”

“Mom, the uncle from Beijing knows so much. He’s really learned and knowledgeable. Let him stay a few more days, I think we really get along.” Nie Weimin said seriously.

Gu Bin also thought the kid had potential: “You like astronomy? I’ll tell you, Uncle even has a telescope. April is the most active month for the Lyrid and Perseid meteor showers. Tonight, let’s watch the meteor shower together, what do you think?”

“Uncle, tonight, let’s sleep together.” Nei Weimin replied.

“Sure, as long as you’re willing to sleep in the shack.”

Hmm, sometimes the right person can break through obstacles.

Nie Weimin thought the uncle wasn’t bad, and he planned to sacrifice himself to help his mom win this battle.

The son of a high-ranking official from Beijing, Gu Bin, was just the person who could help Chen Lina handle Gong Hongxing, the turning point.

“Nie Weimin, can you at least pretend a little? My tooth hurts.” Chen Lina said.

“I really like him. This uncle is much more interesting than Nie Guozhu.” Nie Weimin replied.

In the vast, velvet-like wheat fields, Nie Bozhao stood with one hand on his waist, directing Nie Guozhu to repair the tilling machine.

His wife threw him a flirtatious look from afar, and he quickly coughed and avoided her fiery gaze.

The busy spring planting season had begun. It required a lot of labor to plant the new hundred hectares of wheat and many hands to repair the constantly breaking tilling machines.

There were also people needed to oil and maintain the machines.

In the entire mining area, if the armed department’s vehicle broke down, they’d call Nie Gong.

If the jack on the oil well broke, they’d call Nie Bozhao.

Even if the refinery’s equipment had issues, of course, it was Nie Bozhao they called. It was always Nie Bozhao.

Busy, he almost wished he had eight arms.

Recently, he was faced with an awful new problem—this time, it was the farm’s tilling machines that had broken down, and, once again, it was Nie Bozhao they turned to.

At home, besides eating, Nie Guozhu would keep a close eye on him as if watching an enemy.

Nie Bozhao wasn’t afraid of his clumsy son picking on him during work, but his jealous temper was hard to deal with, and he couldn’t easily fight back.

So, on the weekend, he decided to bring Nie Guozhu to the farm to help fix the machines.

After all, the kid had plenty of strength, so it made sense to put it to use.

His beautiful little princess, his Miss Chen, was gathering all available resources for a beautiful spring planting battle.

In times of peace, every place was a battlefield, and their family was bound to be the one who sacrificed the most and had the greatest chance of victory in this war.