Chapter 117: A Strange Trend Spread Across the Hongqi Commune

Because of the impressive fish harvest on the first day, the villagers’ enthusiasm for ice fishing grew over the following days.

Liu Laosan drove his horse-drawn sled, taking turns bringing different families to their designated fishing spots at Liujiawan. Each time he returned, someone would give him a fish or two, leaving him with quite a generous haul.

Being rather cunning, he sought out Ming Dai and asked her to help him cure the fish. He offered to provide all the necessary seasonings and ingredients, even purchasing anything that was missing.

In previous years, Aunt Huang had always helped him cure fish, but the result was always overwhelmingly salty—so salty that he thought it would be better to leave the fish outside to freeze rather than eat them.

However, after tasting Ming Dai’s cooking, his opinion changed completely.

Sure enough, Ming Dai did not disappoint him. The freshly pickled fish was delicious, and after being air-dried for a year, it still retained its delicate flavor when steamed—not bitter, not harsh, just incredibly tasty!

Perhaps because of the baiting they had done earlier, the designated fishing spots at Liujiawan produced the highest fish yields. Nearby villages grew envious.

Gradually, more and more people started coming to fish near Liujiawan. Eventually, word even reached the commune, and quite a few people skated over from Yudai River just to try their luck at fishing.

Liujiawan became increasingly lively. The ice was filled with people fishing, playing ice games, and skating. Children, especially, didn’t mind the distance and eagerly ran toward Yudai River.

Because of Tiedan and Goudan’s bragging, more children started following them to play with Zhou Sinian. Every day, they would wait in the alley near the educated youth quarters, eager to play with him.

This left the other educated youths feeling frustrated. They couldn’t understand how, in just a few short months, Zhou Sinian had become so popular in the village.

After all, the villagers had always warned their children to stay away from the educated youth.

Zhou Sinian found these little kids annoying—especially the ones who were dirty. But since Ming Dai wanted him to interact with people more, he reluctantly played with them.

Ming Dai: “Don’t think I haven’t noticed how your smile reaches your ears every time you come back!”

That day, as usual, there was a knock on the door outside the educated youth quarters. Zhou Sinian, knitting a sweater, got up to answer it.

It was none other than Tiedan and his gang. About ten children stood at the door, and as soon as they saw Zhou Sinian, they greeted him in unison, “Big Brother, hello!”

Zhou Sinian scanned the group, noting with satisfaction that none of them had runny noses. He gave an approving nod.

“Come in first. I’ll finish knitting the sweater before we go out.”

After saying this, Zhou Sinian turned and led the way into his room. The children followed closely behind, with Tiedan staying back to latch the door shut.

They had been to their big brother’s house twice before, and each time, they were astonished by how neat and tidy his room was. It was so clean that they felt too cautious to climb onto the heated brick bed.

Zhou Sinian, of course, paid them no mind. He simply climbed onto the kang and continued knitting his sweater.

When Ming Dai entered with a small basket in hand, she was greeted by the sight of ten little “potatoes” lined up at the edge of the kang, watching Zhou Sinian knit with fascination. They looked just like children queuing up for a treat.

Noticing her arrival, the children turned their heads and, following Tiedan’s lead, greeted her, “Auntie!”

The family hierarchy was all over the place!

Ming Dai smiled, greeted them back, and handed the small basket to Tiedan. Inside were boiled chestnuts—unsweetened, specially prepared for entertaining Zhou Sinian’s friends.

Tiedan took the basket and, after thanking her along with the other children, distributed three chestnuts to each of them. Everyone ate quietly, not daring to disturb Zhou Sinian.

Ming Dai glanced at the sweater in Zhou Sinian’s hands. He was already finishing up the neckline—it would be done soon.

This one was for himself. The base color was bright red, with white heart-shaped patterns woven in. The design was larger than the one on Ming Dai’s sweater, arranged according to Zhou Sinian’s own aesthetic. What remained unchanged was how eye-catchingly red it was.

Ten minutes later, the sweater was finally complete.

Zhou Sinian carefully set aside his knitting needles, lifted the sweater, and examined it with satisfaction. He even picked up a mirror to check how it looked on him, becoming more pleased the longer he looked.

Ming Dai also thought it looked good. The high collar made his complexion appear even better.

The children, on the other hand, found it especially intriguing and began whispering among themselves.

After all, in their understanding, only brides wore red.

A younger child quietly asked Tiedan, “Tiedan-gege, is Big Brother getting married?”

Tiedan quickly covered the child’s mouth, stole a glance at Zhou Sinian—who was still admiring himself in the mirror—and solemnly shook his head, signaling for the child to keep quiet.

In the end, Zhou Sinian couldn’t wait to wash the sweater before wearing it.

Ming Dai didn’t stop him either—he still had an undershirt on anyway.

Everyone stared at Zhou Sinian expectantly, waiting for him to change into his new sweater. Their eager gazes made him feel embarrassed.

He glanced at the children sitting on the floor and, with a proud expression, announced, “I’m going to change now. Women, out! Men, stay!”

Ming Dai’s lips twitched. She looked down at the three little girls sitting on the floor—Xiao Tao, Xiao Xing, and Pang Ya. None of them were even tall enough to reach the kang, and Pang Ya was still wearing open-crotch pants.

In the end, under Zhou Sinian’s firm insistence, Ming Dai took the so-called “women” to her room.

The wooden walls were thin, and every sound from the other side was crystal clear.

First came Zhou Sinian’s smug bragging, followed by a round of enthusiastic flattery from his little followers.

Among them, Goudan’s crisp, childish voice stood out the most. Although he was the youngest, his bootlicking skills were top-notch. He even borrowed phrases from comic books, mixing them awkwardly, but Zhou Sinian seemed quite pleased and gave him special praise.

As Ming Dai listened, she suddenly realized the conversation had shifted. Zhou Sinian had started holding an impromptu knitting lesson, teaching the children how to knit sweaters.

She had to put an end to this.

“Zhou Sinian, are we going ice skating or not?!”

The chatter from the other room instantly stopped. Zhou Sinian responded with a short acknowledgment and began changing his clothes.

Ming Dai tidied up, then took the girls outside to wait at the door.

Before long, Zhou Sinian emerged. He had wrapped his red headscarf around his head and wore a military coat, with his chin tucked into the red sweater’s collar. The bright red fabric made his complexion appear even fairer—it actually suited him quite well.

Behind him followed a group of little followers, with the smallest, Goudan, dragging a wooden board. It was a special ice sled that Zhou Sinian had made for skating. Tiedan carried the wooden sticks used to propel it.

Near the entrance, there was also a pile of wooden boards and sticks—brought by the other children for their own ice sleds.

Once everyone had their equipment, the children instinctively lined up behind Zhou Sinian according to height, as if it was an established routine.

Zhou Sinian stood to the side, overseeing the formation with a serious expression. Clearly, he had trained them before.

After the group finished counting off in order, Ming Dai thought they were finally about to leave.

But in the next moment, she was stunned by what she saw.

Each child reached into their pocket and pulled out a piece of red cloth.

They were red headscarves, clearly borrowed from their mothers or grandmothers.

At Zhou Sinian’s command, “Put them on!”

In perfect unison, every child tied the red headscarf around their head.

The children raised their hands high, their expressions solemn as they carefully placed the red scarves over their hats.

What was happening?!

While Ming Dai stood there in confusion, Zhou Sinian was clearly satisfied.

He even went down the line to inspect whether each scarf was tied properly, adjusting them if necessary and helping those who couldn’t tie knots by securing their scarves with neat little bows.

Ming Dai glanced at one child, then another, and finally realized—she was the only one who didn’t fit in.

She was wearing a knitted hat.

Before she could fully process what was happening, the Red Scarf Squad of Liujiawan set off!

Leading the group, of course, was Zhou Sinian, marching forward with his head held high. Behind him, the little red-scarved followers chanted a synchronized march: “One, two! One, two!”

As they passed by the educated youth quarters, Fang Rou happened to be stepping out.

She frowned slightly when she saw Zhou Sinian and hesitated, planning to wait for him to pass.

But when she caught sight of the troop of red-scarved children following behind him, she was utterly stunned.

Ming Dai swore that Fang Rou’s mouth had dropped open wide enough to fit a fist inside.

The journey felt especially long today. Zhou Sinian led his little squad with pride, drawing the attention of everyone along the way.

At one point, an entire village got so distracted watching them that someone steered a horse-drawn sled straight into a ditch, sending the whole cartload of people tumbling into the snow.

Ming Dai wanted to lag behind and pretend she had nothing to do with them.

But every time she slowed down, Zhou Sinian would stop and wait for her, and the children would enthusiastically call out to her.

“Auntie Xiao Ming, come on, come on!”

That only made them stand out even more!

To avoid drawing even more attention, Ming Dai had no choice but to walk alongside them, feeling utterly uncomfortable the entire way.

By the time they reached the fishing spot, the Red Scarf Squad of Liujiawan had become famous.

Many villagers began to wonder—was wearing red headscarves the latest trend?

Fashion-conscious individuals wasted no time. As soon as they got home, they rushed to the commune’s supply and marketing cooperative to buy red headscarves—not just for their children, but for themselves as well.

Before long, the entire commune was filled with people of all ages wearing red headscarves. Men, women, the elderly, and children alike took pride in owning one.

A strange new trend had taken over Hongqi Commune.

The supply and marketing cooperative quickly sold out of red headscarves, forcing them to restock from the county.

After seeing so many people wearing them, even Ming Dai eventually got used to it. She no longer batted an eye when she ran into Liu Dazhu, Liu Qingmin, or Liu Guoqiang in the village, all proudly sporting red headscarves. She even managed to greet them with a straight face.

Was this what they called:

First, you question the madness.
Then, you understand the madness.
And in the end, you become the madness?

This world was truly fascinating!