Song Qingshan said, “There shouldn’t be any issue. As for the matter at the reservoir, we’ve released Zhou Duoduo and are slowly tracking down the mastermind through those fortune tellers. You don’t need to worry about that. We’ll search through all those villages.”

“Zhi Zhi, close your eyes and go to sleep early,” Song Qingshan said when he saw his daughter’s bright, curious eyes.

Zhi Zhi stubbornly refused, and with surprising maturity for her age, she said, “You can do whatever you want, don’t worry about me. Besides, Grandma said that if you have another son, you’ll send me to Aunt Li.”

Zhi Zhi was now three years old, and her speech was becoming more clever.

“Why would I send you to Aunt Li if I have a son?” Su Xiangwan asked.

Zhi Zhi replied, “Because Aunt Li likes me.”

“Don’t I like you?” Su Xiangwan replied, pulling her daughter close and tickling her ribs.

Zhi Zhi laughed non-stop. “I love you too, Mommy.”

However, it was clear that Zhi Zhi had started developing feelings for Li Yifan as well.

Su Xiangwan thought to herself, this might be a case of Stockholm Syndrome. Just like how Zhi Zhi once admired Li Chengze, now she was drawn to Li Yifan—both of them were strange and temperamental.

“My mom has been in the city for the past couple of days. She said she wants to come and stay for a while. Of course, I didn’t agree, but if she shows up unexpectedly, try not to argue with her, just talk it through. How about it?” Song Qingshan said as he lay down on the Kang.

Song Tuan was concerned, fearing that Su Xiangwan might snap at his mother.

But to his surprise, Su Xiangwan agreed readily, “If she wants to come, one night is fine, but no more than that. She can see where her son lives, but if she thinks she can stay longer—Song Qingshan, don’t even think about it.”

“By the way, I have a task in Haixi County soon. Since the kids will be on summer break, we can all go together. You can also visit your mom and Fufu. Who knows, we might even bring them back,” Song Tuan added.

Su Xiangwan’s eyes suddenly opened wide. “Song Tuan, these two sentences of yours must be connected, right? If I don’t agree to your mom coming, are you not going to take us to Haixi?”

“Well, it’s not exactly like that,” Song Tuan replied.

Su Xiangwan grabbed him by the arm, “Song Qingshan, I’ve been nothing but good to you. These children have nothing to do with me—if I raise them, that’s my business! Haven’t I agreed to everything you asked? And now you’re playing mind games with me?”

“If Su Fufu were really your brother, then you’d be my wife, and the kids would naturally be yours. If you’re not my wife, then what does Su Fufu or your mom have to do with you?” Song Qingshan said, his argument seeming somewhat reasonable.

Su Xiangwan didn’t feel like explaining further, so she slowly lay back down. “Anyway, my life is just getting better. If your mom stays for just one night, it’s fine. But if she stays longer, Song Qingshan, I think your family still doesn’t understand me well enough.”

As usual, Song Tuan intended to do some work on the Kang that night, but to his surprise, this time he secretly ignored safety measures.

Just as he was about to act, Su Xiangwan suddenly stopped him: “Song Qingshan, what’s wrong with you? Why aren’t you wearing protection?”

“There’s no protection at home,” Song Qingshan said, though in truth, he just found it uncomfortable.

Su Xiangwan was furious, yanking the light switch off. “You’re the head of the Women’s Federation, handing out protection to everyone, and now you say there’s none at home? There’s a whole stash locked in the cupboard!”

Song Qingshan was clearly trying to get her pregnant again.

“If you keep this up, I’m refusing to have sex with you in the future,” Su Xiangwan grumbled.

After some reluctance, Song Qingshan finally retrieved one.

However, in 1970, he might have been the wealthiest man in the whole country—these things were disposable, used once and thrown away. After all, the Women’s Federation had plenty of them.

The next morning, as she prepared to leave for work, Su Xiangwan seized the opportunity to stop Li Yifan.

“Leader, have you thought about the issue of the kindergarten?” Su Xiangwan asked.

Li Yifan was blunt and straightforward. “We don’t have the money.”

“Exactly because we’re poor, we need to change things. Do you know that there’s only one kindergarten in our county? And do you realize that there are hundreds of kids trying to get in, but the kindergarten can only admit thirty?” Su Xiangwan pressed.

Li Yifan was also troubled.

On one hand, she had to coordinate the nuclear power plant project; on the other, higher-ups kept urging her to solve the county’s food security problem. But with such a large county, how could she resolve it so easily?

It was 1970, and all major government units were still in shambles. What was she supposed to do?

“If I can find the money, will you approve the kindergarten?” Su Xiangwan asked.

Li Yifan replied, “Of course, but how will you find the money?”

“Don’t worry. The Women’s Federation’s responsibility is to promote women’s rights, and to do that, we need money. And there are always some wealthy people who are willing to donate,” Su Xiangwan said confidently.

Donations?

Li Yifan raised her eyebrows. “In such a poor time, you think you can get donations?”

She thought to herself, “I’d be crazy to believe you.”

Just as Su Xiangwan was about to leave, Li Yifan grabbed her arm. “Su, if I wear a white dress tomorrow, will people laugh at me?”

Li Yifan usually dressed in black. When she first arrived, she looked spirited, but after returning from the provincial capital, she clearly seemed a bit off.

Su Xiangwan immediately said, “Of course, you’ll look even prettier in white.”

“Do you think I’m pretty?” Li Yifan touched her cheek and added, “What good is being pretty? If I wear white tomorrow, you all can’t laugh at me.”

Su Xiangwan immediately sensed that something was wrong between Li Yifan and her husband, Gu Bei. But as a subordinate to her superior, she didn’t feel comfortable asking directly. So, she waved and turned to leave.

Originally, Su Xiangwan thought she would have to argue a lot to get Liu Minli to go along with the assignment.

However, to her surprise, as soon as she entered the Women’s Federation courtyard, she saw Liu Minli standing in line with over twenty girls from the Cultural Troupe.

They were neatly lined up.

Liu Minli was, of course, angry.

Her military uniform was perfectly neat, and today, she hadn’t even bothered with makeup.

Her hat was pressed low, and her head was held high.

She was leading the girls from the troupe in their formation.

“Condoms, distributed by the Provincial Women’s Federation. The purpose is to promote sexual safety for underage girls in our county and prevent too many girls from undergoing abortions that harm their bodies. Of course, we can’t hand them out to everyone directly, especially to unmarried girls. But we must visit every middle school, woolen factory, matchstick factory, and glass bottle factory to educate about the risks of premarital pregnancy and the importance of contraception,” Su Xiangwan said, holding up a condom. “Each of you has a handout with the key points I’ve outlined. You must give a separate talk at each workshop and place. Now, follow me.”

“Leader, we’re all unmarried women. How can we get married in the future if we have to talk about this?” Xiao Qin, a girl from the Cultural Troupe, raised her hand, unwilling to go along.

This wasn’t just an excuse, it was something Xiao Qin was genuinely afraid of.

Su Xiangwan, of course, had to explain to her seriously: “If a young man refuses to marry you just because you’ve talked about contraception and safe sex, that man isn’t worth marrying.”

The girls looked at this fierce Women’s Federation head and were angry but dared not speak out.

Each took a handout and a few boxes of condoms, reluctantly heading to the factories and workshops where only women worked, to give the talks about contraception.

Su Xiangwan took Liu Minli alone to the county’s Number One High School.

It was 1970, and junior and senior high schools had resumed classes, but the college entrance exam had not yet been reinstated.

County Number One High School was a combined middle and high school.

Arriving at the first-year class door, Su Xiangwan signaled Liu Minli to go in and apologize.

After all, Liu had only slapped Li Chengze with a belt yesterday, and was quite unwilling to go inside.

She pushed Su Xiangwan once and slowly walked in.

“Excuse me, teacher, may I interrupt?” As soon as her voice sounded at the door, Su Xiangwan saw Li Chengze inside suddenly raise the corners of his mouth, looking at her with a gaze that clearly sought her out.

“Yesterday, I said that Li Chengze stole my belt, but I was wrong. He didn’t steal it. That belt was his legal earnings from his own work,” Liu Minli said.

At that moment, they were having a chemistry lesson.

Li Chengze’s chemistry teacher was Wang Yong, a young, thin man with glasses.

Coincidentally, it was also Wang Yong who was teaching when Liu Minli came yesterday.

Wang pressed both hands on the desk, listened to her, and then suddenly threw a piece of chalk onto the floor. “Yesterday you said he stole it, and today you say it’s his legal earnings. What do you mean by this?” he asked.

“It means Li Chengze didn’t steal anything,” Liu Minli replied.

Teacher Wang quickly got to the point: “So you’re accusing him unjustly? Do you know how much harm this does to a child’s reputation?”

Liu Minli, who had always been sheltered under her older brother’s wings and lacked experience with such conflicts, stood there biting her lip.

After a deep breath, she finally said, “Sorry.”

Of course, she had to apologize.

She was afraid that if she didn’t, rumors of her hiding banned books would spread, which would hurt her brother’s reputation.

After all, her brother was known throughout Qinzou for being upright and incorruptible, a red warrior with a reputation for being invulnerable.

Li Chengze flashed a bright smile, raised two fingers at the window, turned around to look at the blackboard with a grin he couldn’t hide.

His desk mate, a pretty little girl, even crossed the line dividing the desks and gently tapped his wrist.

A classmate sitting behind him kicked his chair in support.

The little guy raised his fist in the air, declaring his sense of justice.

Her two big, delicate eyes were red and teary, constantly sniffing.

At County Number One High School, Su Xiangwan and Liu Minli mainly went to three senior classes to give talks about how young girls could protect themselves and the importance of not engaging in casual sex.

Of course, no condoms were handed out.

In this era, girls were still too conservative.

Things like stealing a taste of forbidden fruit were usually initiated by boys, so they didn’t have the awareness to protect themselves.

Liu Minli walked around the entire day, feeling both angry and wronged. Before they parted, because of the hot weather, Su Xiangwan even treated her to an ice cream.

Liu Minli took the ice cream and grumbled, “Deputy Director Su, have you ever left Qingshui County?”

“No, what’s so fun outside of Qingshui County?” Su Xiangwan casually asked.

Liu Minli replied, “There are people outside, and there are things beyond. Do you think Li Yifan is really impressive? Actually, his father doesn’t have power anymore, and his position in the central government is precarious. But my brother, not only is he the dominant figure in Qinzou, but he’s also influential in Beijing.”

“Then let him come to Qingshui County. I’d like to meet someone who can shake Qinzou just by stepping there. What does he look like?” Su Xiangwan responded.

Liu Minli thought to herself, this woman must either be fearless or brainless.

In any case, Liu Minli was determined to make Su Xiangwan pay for every drop of sweat and every step she had walked that day.

However, reality was harsh. She was so exhausted that she couldn’t walk any further and had to go back to the guesthouse to rest.

But Su Xiangwan wasn’t going to let her off so easily. “By the way, I heard you’ve not only hidden banned books like Dream of the Red Chamber, but also several picture magazines smuggled from Hong Kong. Today, you didn’t hide them under the bed but moved them to the Cultural Troupe’s makeup box. Is that true?”

Liu Minli was furious. “Deputy Director Su, what exactly do you want to do?”

“It’s so hot today, so move your refrigerator to the county’s first primary school and let the teachers chill some water for the kids. It’s a good idea—teachers can drink some chilled water too. I’ll commend you for this at the county’s Women’s Federation meeting, and after the kids’ summer break, you can move the refrigerator back to the guest house,” Su Xiangwan said.

Liu Minli was like Liu Bei losing Jingzhou—she felt embarrassed and lost her composure.

Fuming, she ground her teeth for a long time, then stomped her feet and walked off.

Su Xiangwan was about to wander through the alleys, hoping to find someone quietly selling vegetables from the countryside, so she could buy something to cook at home. Suddenly, someone tugged on her braid.

She turned around and saw Li Chengze standing behind her, wearing a belt that hung loosely.

The boy must have skipped his afternoon study session.

“You dare skip class?” Su Xiangwan grabbed the little troublemaker by the ear.

Li Chengze grabbed his ear and protested, “The teacher gave me special leave, okay?”

“Special leave to do what? To steal and mess around?” Su Xiangwan asked.

Li Chengze replied, “Our teacher, Mr. Wang, said he wanted two boxes of condoms but didn’t have the money, so he asked if we could get some for him for free.”

Before Su Xiangwan could react, Li Chengze grabbed two boxes of condoms, yelled “I’m gonna die!” like a wild monkey, and ran off, even biting a big chunk out of Su Xiangwan’s ice cream before he sprinted away.

By the time Su Xiangwan arrived at the elementary school gate, the students had already left for the day.

She then walked through several alleys, specifically looking for women from the countryside who might be selling vegetables.

At this time of year, various fruits and vegetables from the rural areas were in season.

Some people who lived near the city, with land they didn’t want to waste, would secretly bring their homegrown produce to sell at low prices in the county, hoping to make a few extra coins.

She did manage to find a place selling good stuff—an old lady was calling out along the street, selling well-known local snacks like Gua Gua and Liang Fen.

She had to buy some of those.

Just as she was about to head home, she saw a woman with a small basket covered with a cloth. The cloth was half uncovered, revealing several neatly arranged tender corn cobs.

The corn was just starting to mature and was sweet and tender—perfect for boiling.

She thought the kids would love it, especially the two boys, Gou Dan and Lu Dan.

Although they had grown up in the countryside, they had only ever eaten grain corn from the production team, which couldn’t be harvested until it was fully ripe.

They had never tasted the sweetness of young, tender corn.

But when Su Xiangwan asked the price, she was taken aback. “One and a half yuan per cob? Sister, that’s too expensive, isn’t it?”

Recently, Su Xiangwan’s expenses had been high, and she really couldn’t justify spending so much on corn at that price.

After all, Song Qingshan had said they were going to Haixi to visit his mother and his brother Fufu soon.

Since the travel expenses for Song Qingshan would be reimbursed, she would have to pay for the train tickets and food for herself and the kids.

She decided not to buy the corn.

Su Xiangwan kept reassuring herself, telling herself not to buy it, or she would go bankrupt.