Chapter 52.1: Director Zhao’s heart is as strong as iron

“Eh—Mom, Mom, Mom… be gentle.”

Yu Xiulan set down the bottle of medicine and smacked the back of her head. “What are you yelling for, like a pig being slaughtered!”

Zhao Yunyun covered her mouth and stifled a laugh.

Zhao Ke hissed, “It wasn’t that bad at first, but the moment you put the medicine on, it hurts like hell.”

“Serves you right for acting tough. The two of you were already making things difficult enough.”

Yu Xiulan shot Zhao Ke a fierce glare, then turned to Zhao Yunyun and said harshly, “Come here.”

Zhao Yunyun’s smile disappeared instantly. “Third Aunt, I don’t need it, right…?”

Yu Xiulan’s expression darkened. “Hurry up!”

Zhao Yunyun scrambled over and held out her hands.

Just as Yu Xiulan raised her hand, Zhao Yunyun yelped, “Aiya!” and quickly pulled her hands back.

“I haven’t even put the medicine on yet.”

Yu Xiulan glared at her, annoyed.

Zhao Yunyun let out an awkward chuckle. “Then why does it already hurt? Hehe…”

Yu Xiulan grabbed her wrist with one hand to hold her still and used the other hand to apply the medicine.

In an instant, Zhao Yunyun’s screams were even worse than Zhao Ke’s. Tears streamed down her face as she sobbed uncontrollably.

—In the next room, Zhao Feng’s room—

Zhao Feng winced at the noise and said to Zhao Rui, “Anyone who doesn’t know better would think someone just lost a limb.”

Zhao Rui remained silent.

Zhao Feng turned his head and was speechless. 

Good grief, he was sound asleep.

—Back in Zhao Ke’s room—

Zhao Yunyun cradled her hands, sniffling.

Zhao Ke, with medicine still on his palm, lightly tapped her with the back of his hand. “Stop crying, it’s not that bad.”

“How is it not?!” Zhao Yunyun wailed in misery. “It feels like my skin is being torn open over and over again…”

Zhao Ke said, “Want me to blow on it for you?”

Zhao Yunyun whimpered and held out both hands. “Mhm.”

“Hoo—hoo—”

“Hoo—hoo—”

Yu Xiulan returned to her room, only to be greeted by Zhao Jianguo’s loud snoring. The more she listened, the more annoyed she became. “How did I end up with such a useless thing?”

Unable to hold back, she smacked Zhao Jianguo straight on the face.

“Eh, eh—” Zhao Jianguo woke up in shock. “What’s wrong?”

Yu Xiulan acted like nothing had happened. “Nothing, go back to sleep.”

Zhao Jianguo immediately shut his eyes again. “Hoo—hoo—”

—

Zhao Ke and the others were digging a canal, relying solely on manual labor. It was exhausting work.

Losing just one person slowed progress significantly, but sometimes, there was no choice.

With the literacy class starting, Zhuang Lan and Su Limei had to leave the team, and even Zhao Ke had to attend on the first day.

The class was held in the courtyard of the brigade committee.

Initially, Zhao Ke had expected at least two-thirds of the village’s women to show up, but in reality, only a third came—not even all the ones who had signed up beforehand showed up.

Seeing the small turnout, Zhuang Lan and Su Limei were visibly disappointed.

Zhao Ke knew the absent women were upset with her for organizing the canal-digging work. 

But if she were afraid of upsetting people, she wouldn’t have done it in the first place.

“It’s fine, just a minor issue. Let’s proceed as planned.”

Hearing this, Zhuang Lan and Su Limei steadied their emotions, brought out the blackboard they had prepared, and began the first lesson.

The curriculum for the first phase had been set by Zhao Ke.

Eradicating illiteracy among women was certainly important, but Zhao Ke believed practical applications were necessary to maintain their interest.

Previous literacy efforts in the village had already covered signing names, basic numbers, and simple calculations. So this time, Zhao Ke structured the first phase around recognizing common household items, account books, receipts, and various agreements.

For the first lesson, Zhuang Lan focused on character recognition, which took up the entire hour. Before dismissing the class, she informed the women that the next lesson, taught by Su Limei, would cover examples of written traps and deceptive clauses.

This was genuinely useful information. The women didn’t want to leave—they clamored for more.

Following the lesson plan, Zhuang Lan told them, “That’s content for the next class. My job today is done. If you want to hear more, come back tomorrow.”

Aside from the women staying for the midwife training session, the rest had no choice but to leave.

Watching their expressions as they departed, Su Limei whispered to Zhao Ke, “Do you think more people will come tomorrow?”

“They should.”

Su Limei’s smile widened. “I’ll start the next class with a quiz on today’s material. If they don’t do well, we’ll go back to character recognition—keep them hooked.”

Zhao Ke reminded her, “Don’t push too hard, or you’ll kill their enthusiasm.”

Su Limei nodded. “Got it. I’ll make sure to include something engaging in the second half.”

After packing up, Zhuang Lan made way for Yin Zhiqing, who was teaching the midwife training session. “Let’s drop off our things at the educated youth point and head out of the village?”

Su Limei’s face was full of exhaustion, but she did not refuse. “Let’s go then.”

Zhao Ke said, “I’ll wait for you here.”

The commune’s midwife training was scheduled for mid-July. The first phase of training had already concluded, and they were currently repeating the previous training content. By the time they went to the commune for training, they should have completed the second round.

Last time Zhao Mian returned, Zhao Ke had asked her to find time to inquire at the commune’s Women’s Federation about whether additional people could join the training. She should have news when she came back this weekend.

Zhao Ke was pondering that she would have to accompany the selected candidates to the commune, meaning she would miss a day of digging the canal.

There were too few people, and progress was too slow…

“Pig…”

Her sleeve was tugged. Zhao Ke looked down and saw it was Tang Xiaowan. She crouched down and asked with a smile, “Xiaowan, what’s wrong?”

Tang Xiaowan had been running around the courtyard a lot lately, meeting many people, and had become much bolder. She directly pointed toward the warehouse and urgently called out, “Pig… Pig…”

It turned out she couldn’t find the piglets.

Zhao Ke held both of her tiny hands and patiently explained, “The piglets have moved to a new home. They don’t live in the warehouse anymore.”

Tang Xiaowan grabbed her hand and started pulling, calling out in her soft, childlike voice, “Find… Find pig!”

Zhao Ke bent slightly, following her lead toward the warehouse while coaxing, “Once your mother finishes teaching her lesson, she can take you to see the piglets’ new home, okay?”

Tang Xiaowan shook her head—she wanted Zhao Ke to go with her.

Zhao Ke still had things to do and couldn’t take her. She reached out, intending to carry her back.

But Tang Xiaowan struggled against her grip, prying at her hands with all her might, refusing to be carried.

Suddenly, she seemed to get scared, stopped struggling, and burrowed into Zhao Ke’s embrace.

Zhao Ke held the small child close, looked up—and froze for a moment—before greeting, “Team Leader…”

Zhao Xinshan didn’t even glance at her, coldly ignoring her as he strode straight into the office.

Accountant Niu, walking behind him, smiled at her reassuringly.

Zhao Ke shook her head slightly, signaling that she didn’t mind.

—

 In the Brigade Office

As soon as Zhao Xinshan entered the room, he tossed his tobacco pipe onto the table with a loud clank.

Deputy Team Leader Xu looked up and asked, “Still mad at Zhao Ke and the others? These young people don’t know any better. They think just because they’ve read a few books, they don’t have to listen to their elders anymore. They’ll learn their lesson sooner or later.”

Accountant Niu clicked his tongue in disapproval. “Lao Xu, don’t stir things up.”

Deputy Team Leader Xu scoffed, “And you can stop pretending to be a nice guy. If we had been stricter from the start, Zhao Ke wouldn’t be ignoring us old folks now.”

Accountant Niu said, “Zhao Ke is actually quite respectful to us. How many young people are as polite as she is?”

“Kicking in Lao Qian’s door—Lao Qian came to complain to me himself,” Deputy Team Leader Xu sighed helplessly. “We may not have seen it firsthand, but Zhao Ke has always been leading the village kids in mischief. Now she’s ignoring the brigade’s arrangements—it’s no surprise.”

Then he turned to Zhao Xinshan. “Lao Zhao, aren’t your son and daughter staying at Zhao Jianguo’s place now? You need to talk some sense into Zhao Jianguo—he’s not young anymore, so why is he still messing around with kids?”

Mentioning his son and daughter only made Zhao Xinshan angrier. “Back when Yu Xiulan was the Women’s Director, things were never this troublesome! Once her three-month probation is up, I’m removing her! She stirs up trouble all day long.”

Accountant Niu wanted to say a few words to ease the tension, but with Deputy Team Leader Xu fanning the flames, it wasn’t very effective.

—

 At the Educated Youth Point

Meanwhile, a dispute was also unfolding among the educated youths.

It started when Liu Xingxue sneered at the recently returned Zhuang Lan and Su Limei. “You thought sucking up would get you some benefits, huh? Too bad—the wind changed directions too fast.”

Zhuang Lan pulled Su Limei back and said, “Director Zhao is waiting for us. Let’s not waste time here.”

The two ignored Liu Xingxue, but he followed them, provoking them. “She’s a local, and no matter what happens, blood is thicker than water. Yet you two still insist on siding with her against the team leader? Be careful you don’t get yourselves caught up in trouble.”

Su Limei retorted indignantly, “Then just wait and see what kind of trouble we get into!”

Fang Jing thought they were being foolish and tried to “kindly” advise them. “Being educated youths in Zhao Village’s production team is already hard enough. You two shouldn’t waste your efforts on things that don’t benefit you—you’re just making the village dislike us even more.”

“So, in the end, you’re just afraid we’ll drag you down?” 

Zhuang Lan stepped in front of Su Limei and said sternly, “Where are the ideals you had before coming to the countryside? What about your ambitions? At the first sign of hardship, you’ve abandoned the dignity and pride of an educated youth? You’ve forgotten the passion and resolve you had when you first came here, and yet you think you have the right to criticize us?”

Su Limei haughtily lifted her chin.  

Fang Jing showed no trace of guilt and even turned the blame around. “I spoke kindly and sincerely, yet I ended up being scolded by you. Since we’re not qualified to speak, we won’t say anything in the future.”  

“If you won’t speak, I still have something to say.”  

Zhuang Lan’s gaze swept over Fang Jing, Liu Xingxue, and Deng Haixin one by one. She asked, enunciating each word, “You’ve studied. Do you not know that digging a canal prevents flooding? The villagers are stubborn and set in their ways—can’t you explain it to them over and over again?”  

Deng Haixin opened his mouth, wanting to argue.  

Zhuang Lan didn’t give him the chance. “After coming to the countryside, have you ever tried to do something for the farmers? When the village didn’t accept you, did you just give up? If you were never able to return to the city for the rest of your lives, would you spend your whole lives resenting your fate and doing nothing?”  

“We’re still young. We won’t give up so easily, and we refuse to live an aimless life. We’re going to work with Director Zhao, and we’ll do it well! Whether it’s meaningful or not isn’t up to you to decide!”  

After finishing, Zhuang Lan pulled Su Limei along and strode out of the courtyard.  

Su Limei secretly gave Zhuang Lan a thumbs-up.  

Inside the courtyard, Liu Xingxue and Deng Haixin remained silent.  

Back when they first came to the countryside, they had all been full of grand ambitions. But the hardships of rural life and the endless days of labor had worn down their passion and amplified their darker thoughts.  

It’s always easier to be calm and rational when one is riding high.  

But when someone sinks into a prolonged low, negative emotions inevitably magnify.  

Who wouldn’t want to live a life full of energy and confidence?  

Deng Haixin couldn’t help but say, “Actually, I think the drainage canal idea is feasible. It’s just that with a village this big, Director Zhao might not have enough people to dig one on a sufficient scale…”  

Liu Xingxue didn’t respond.  

Hearing Deng Haixin’s words, Fang Jing curled her lips in mockery.  

She had no intention of toiling away in the countryside forever. She wanted to go back to the city—she would go back to the city!