Chapter 26.1: Benefiting Others and Oneself

The next morning, Ye Fan returned from the market and noticed that the roses Liao Miaomiao had planted were thriving. An idea popped into his head. It might not be useful for the next ten or twenty years, but wasn’t there a saying: “One generation plants the trees, the next enjoys the shade”?

When Ye Fan entered the house, he saw Dabao and Erbao leaning over the bench, whispering to each other. He called Geng Zhiyé to start the fire.

Geng Zhiyé had just finished washing clothes. Dabao looked up and said, “Mom, Dad is tired.”

“Good son!” Geng Zhiyé happily patted his son’s little head. “Starting the fire just means sitting and watching it. Dad’s not tired. Go play.”

Dabao asked his sister to teach him Russian, and in return, he would teach her Tai Chi.

Three minutes later, the siblings decided to call a truce — no need to make things hard for each other.

Hearing the commotion, Ye Fan glanced toward the living room, speechless but amused. “They really know their limits.”

Geng Zhiyé noticed the porridge cooking on the stove and asked, “Cooking so early in the morning?”

“No stir-fry. Just some pickled vegetables. I couldn’t get any chicken or duck eggs, so let’s boil a pound of shrimp.” She added water to the clay stove and told Geng Zhiyé to start the fire while she washed the scallions and ginger. Then she took a bowl, scooped some pickled vegetables, and drizzled sesame oil over them. “Not everyone has to be on high alert right now. What are the ones not patrolling or on duty doing?”

Geng Zhiyé replied, “Us? Training.”

Ye Fan asked again, “What about the discarded guns and other old equipment — how do you deal with them?”

Geng Zhiyé frowned slightly. “Are you trying to gather military intelligence?”

Ye Fan: “Can’t you tell me?”

Geng Zhiyé nodded. “This I can. But not much more. It depends — if using them poses a danger, they’re destroyed. If they’re just outdated, we hand them over to the relevant departments.”

Ye Fan asked curiously, “Don’t any regions want them?”

Geng Zhiyé shook his head. “They don’t think our stuff is good enough. They find it outdated — like it’s just been dug out of the ground.”

Ye Fan noticed that Geng Zhiyé looked uncomfortable whenever firepower was mentioned, so he quickly switched to the main topic: “Blasting the mountain to quarry stone — is it to help the fishermen pave the roads?” He added another line to show this wasn’t just a passing thought: “It doesn’t have to be as smooth as a national highway. Just use the stones to fill in the potholes. In the future, it’ll be easier for you to buy fruits, vegetables, chicken, fish, and eggs, and the fishermen won’t be stranded every time it rains.”

Geng Zhiyé pondered for a moment. He could submit a report — the higher-ups probably wouldn’t object — but the real issue was that he, like Ye Fan, found the commune secretary annoying. Besides, if you offer help without being asked, it can come off as suspicious. More importantly, the commune secretary was the “parent official” of Hengshan Island, so it should be the leadership of Hengshan Commune approaching him for cooperation, not the other way around.

Geng Zhiyé said, “The people’s soldiers are meant to help the people. But suddenly showing up and offering help — doesn’t that seem a bit like being overly eager for no reason?”

Ye Fan asked, “Haven’t the drivers ever complained about how bad the mountain roads are?”

Geng Zhiyé didn’t know. Before the New Year, he had been busy arranging patrols and training. After the holiday, there hadn’t been a chance to relax — the death of Tuozi had only made things more tense. Geng Zhiyé barely had time to come back for a quick lunch at noon, and at night, he slept in the duty room, wishing he could keep one eye open at all times.

Geng Zhiyé asked, “And then?”

Ye Fan replied, “Next time the driver goes to the village to pick up waxberries or something else, go with him. If the road is full of potholes, take the chance to ask the team leader if they want to fix it.”

Geng Zhiyé narrowed his eyes. “Who put this idea in your head?”

Ye Fan shook his head. “The higher-ups told you to guard the island — are you just going to stare at the sea all day?”

Compared to his comrades at headquarters, life on the island was peaceful — almost too peaceful. Geng Zhiyé wasn’t used to it. Even with the constant shifts and training, there was a lingering sense that he was wasting time. If he stayed on this island for years without doing anything meaningful, he was sure he’d fall out of step with the main force.

But Geng Zhiyé never mentioned the monotony of island life to anyone. Sometimes, he even envied his fellow soldiers who grew their own vegetables and raised pigs — at least they were self-sufficient.

“A few quiet years — not a bad thing,” Geng Zhiyé said on purpose.

Ye Fan looked surprised. “Do you really think that?”

Geng Zhiyé deliberately said, “We’ve been married for years but have always lived apart. Do you know what I’ve been thinking?”

Ye Fan shook his head. “My gut tells me you’re not happy with the situation.”

Geng Zhiyé finally couldn’t help but smile.

Ye Fan stepped on his foot. “Is it fun teasing me?”

Geng Zhiyé jumped. “Attempted murder of your own husband!”

“Hurts, doesn’t it?” Ye Fan asked. “Good — that means you’ll think twice before teasing me again. But speaking of which, do you think Commissar Liao and Commander Niu will agree to this?”

Geng Zhiyé pondered for a moment. “Old Niu shouldn’t be a problem. A few days ago, when he heard Baldy died, he got all excited and immediately asked me how many weapons we had and if we could adapt to the situation. If I hadn’t stopped him, he would’ve driven a warship to the island that very day to pay his ‘respects.’ But at that time, Baldy’s son was definitely on guard against us—”

He suddenly realized why it had been so quiet over there. Turns out both sides had been too busy watching each other, afraid the other would take the opportunity to stir up trouble.

Ye Fan noticed that Geng Zhiyé suddenly stopped mid-sentence and couldn’t help but ask, “So, is this doable?”

Geng Zhiyé replied, “It should be, but it won’t happen that quickly.”

Ye Fan nodded. “I know. It’s not like we can make it rain just by saying so.”

Geng Zhiyé agreed. “I’ll talk to the driver about it another day.”

Though he said that, after dinner, when they returned to the base, Geng Zhiyé took a few steps toward the mess hall and spotted two transport trucks. His steps faltered. He stood there for a few seconds, appearing lost in thought from a distance, then headed toward the trucks.

At the back of the truck, the cooks unloading vegetables and seafood hastily stood at attention and saluted. Geng Zhiyé returned the salute, signaling for them to continue, then turned to the driver and asked, “I heard the mountain roads are tricky — one slip and the truck could overturn?”

The driver was stunned for a moment before realizing the commander was showing concern. Not wanting to cause trouble for him, the driver quickly replied that his skills were solid — driving over mountains and rough terrain was no problem.

Geng Zhiyé immediately thought about how the army drivers were all top-notch — transferring them to a local factory would be a waste of their skills. So he asked, “What about on rainy days?”

The driver instantly recalled the saying, “During the plum rain season, every household sees rain,” and figured the commander must be worried about continuous rain in the coming days cutting off the mess hall’s food supply. That’s a commander for you — always thinking ahead. While the driver was confident the weather wouldn’t stop him, he did worry that the bumpy roads might ruin the food. So he mentioned that there were two particularly tricky sections of the route.

Seizing the moment, Geng Zhiyé said he’d go check it out with him sometime, reminded him to get some rest, and then headed toward the training ground.

Before Geng Zhiyé had even walked far, the driver couldn’t help but turn to the cook and say, “The commander’s really thoughtful.”

The cook replied, “He’s only thirty-four this year. If the higher-ups trust him to take charge here, there must be something special about him.”

The driver nodded. “I used to think the only reason he could outshine Commander Niu was because of his higher education and the fact that his parents were old revolutionaries.”

The cook scoffed, “You’ve been listening to those gossiping women again? If it were just because of that, do you think someone as hot-tempered as Commander Niu would follow his lead without question?”

The driver suddenly realized. “Now that you mention it… I think it was just the other day — or maybe the day before — that I saw Commander Niu driving a three-wheeler, giving the commander and the commissar a lift home.”

The cook asked, “Wasn’t the chief of staff with them?”

Just then, the old squad leader noticed them chatting outside and couldn’t help but shout, “Get back to unloading!”

The driver quickly responded, “He’s on leave. It was just a few days ago. I was in the village picking up groceries when I heard a fisherman say the chief of staff left by boat.” With that, he handed a basket of vegetables to the cook.

The old squad leader grabbed a basket and warned, “Don’t talk about military matters in public. Just because outsiders can’t get in doesn’t mean everyone on the island can be trusted.”

Everyone hurriedly promised they hadn’t said anything sensitive — they all knew there were ill-intentioned people everywhere.

Meanwhile, Geng Zhiyé returned to his office and saw Deputy Commander Niu. He deliberately asked, “Where’s the commissar?”

Hearing that, Deputy Commander Niu immediately realized Geng Zhiyé was looking for the commissar for something important. Curious, he pressed, “What’s the matter? Tell me.”

Commander Niu was a very traditional man — he believed women should stay home, cook, and raise children, not meddle in men’s affairs. Geng Zhiyé knew this well, so he avoided mentioning Ye Fan. Instead, he said, “The driver told me some of the mountain roads are hard to navigate. I was thinking of discussing it with the commissar — maybe we could request approval from higher-ups for a joint military-civilian effort to repair the roads. It’d be convenient for both the locals and us.”

Commander Niu didn’t hesitate. “Great idea! I’ll go find the commissar.”

Commissar Liao thought Geng Zhiyé always acted on impulse, but he had to admit — this plan really would benefit both the locals and the troops. Since he had no objections, Geng Zhiyé immediately drafted a report. Once it was done, he asked the commissar — known for his sharp writing — to polish it before submitting it.

A few days later, it drizzled. Geng Zhiyé went out with the driver delivering groceries. There was one stretch of road that was particularly rough — it felt like hitting a massive wave at sea. Even though Geng Zhiyé had mentally prepared himself, he still found his heart pounding once they made it through.

He asked the driver if he ever worried about the tires getting stuck. The driver recalled an incident from last year, after a typhoon, when the road was flooded. Fortunately, the truck was empty at the time, and some fishermen returning from gathering shellfish helped — piling rocks and pushing the truck until it got free.

Geng Zhiyé nodded thoughtfully but didn’t say anything.

When they reached the village, the squad leader weighed the goods, and the farmers helped load the truck. Geng Zhiyé took the opportunity to complain to the village head about the narrow, difficult road.

The village head gave a helpless smile. “We never thought about widening the road before — there were no transport trucks on the island back then. The biggest vehicle we had was a hand-pulled tractor.”

Then, after some thought, he added, “Luckily, the farmers are free now that the planting season’s over. I’ll gather everyone to fix the road.”

After a moment of contemplation, Geng Zhiyé asked which mountain could be blasted — the military would provide the explosives and even assign a company to help transport rocks and gravel for the village.

Where could you find such a good deal? It was like a pie falling from the sky! The village head grasped Geng Zhiyé’s hands with both of his, expressing his heartfelt thanks.

Geng Zhiyé gave a slight shake of his head. “It’s a win-win,” he replied.

The village head stubbornly repeated his thanks a few more times before finally letting go.

On the way back, the driver asked, “Commander, did you plan to suggest fixing the road with the villagers before you came?”

Geng Zhiyé nodded. “Yes, but I couldn’t bring it up directly. Even though they walk this road every day and we only use it every few days, if we suggested fixing it first, some people would still think we’re just getting the road paved for our own benefit.”

The driver didn’t quite understand, but remembering how excited the village head had been, he found himself trusting Geng Zhiyé’s judgment.

Less than five days later, the commune’s leadership approached the military, requesting more explosives — there were several other roads in the area that were impassable for vehicles. Recently, transporting seafood to the food processing plant had relied entirely on manual labor or bicycles. But bicycles were expensive — a brigade might have only one or two — and the wear and tear was too much to handle.

Geng Zhiyé didn’t step forward himself but had Political Commissar Liao handle the commune leaders with a bit of verbal sparring. He figured that once the road was fixed, the entire Hengshan Island would be grateful to the military for the next five years — only then did Political Commissar Liao agree to help.

After sending off the Hengshan commune leadership, Liao went straight to Geng Zhiyé’s office and asked why he had deliberately made things difficult for them.

Geng Zhiyé replied, “If something comes too easily, people don’t value it. Who knows — today they’ll thank us for fixing the road, but tomorrow they might claim the credit for themselves. That’s not even the worst-case scenario. What if they turn around and accuse us of forcing their men to work for free?”

Liao thought for a moment, recalling how plainly dressed the commune leaders were. “Would they really go that far?”

Geng Zhiyé shot him a look. “A favor of a pound of rice breeds gratitude; a favor of a bushel of rice breeds resentment. You think the ancestors said that for fun? Honestly, if it were anyone else, I wouldn’t have asked you to step in. But when it comes to that commune secretary, I couldn’t take any chances.”

Liao raised an eyebrow. “Because Accountant Ye tried to help him set up a factory, and he just brushed it off, thinking Ye was a young man causing trouble?”

Geng Zhiyé looked stunned. “How did you know?”

Liao sat down and took a sip of water. “There are no secrets on this island. Your sister-in-law heard it from a worker at the market. Apparently, Su Yuanhang and his father nearly got into a fistfight over it. Or is that just a rumor?”