For a full week, this account caused a lot of chaos.

During this week, Wang Fusheng was removed from his position, and along with Liu Jiefang, was thrown into prison.

However, Chen Lina did not conduct a thorough audit of the farm’s books.

She only asked Sun Xiangnan to make up for the missing goods and money in the warehouse.

Since ancient times, when surrounded by danger, one must always leave an exit, just in case someone becomes desperate and acts recklessly.

The daylilies from Zhang County, which had been growing in the salty, alkaline land of the Gobi Desert for eight years, finally withered because of Chen Lina, a woman from Qing Shui, who had come to ruin everything.

“If I don’t settle the accounts soon, the mining district will send someone to audit my books. Mom, what should we do?” Sun Xiangnan was worried and upset.

Sun Duoyu brought a cornmeal bun to his sister, and took one for himself, eating it with difficulty, struggling to swallow.

Back in the day, Sun Jia Zhai was the dominant force on the farm, but now they were eating cornmeal buns like everyone else.

The coarse, mixed-grain buns were hard to swallow, choking her at every bite.

She pushed the daylilies away, saying, “I’ve eaten enough of this stuff in 1958. I’d rather die than eat it. I want a big white bread bun.”

At this moment, wanting a big white bread bun was an unrealistic wish.

“Do you think we had big white buns when Dabo was here?”

“What should we do? I’d rather die than bend to them. Help me up, I’ll still argue with that shameless woman. No, I’m going to take a train to Beijing and meet the leader,” Daylilies said with great passion, but her body, burning with fever, couldn’t support her.

Sun Ainan said, “Chen Lina said she’ll return the three children’s living expenses, and to protect your honor, she’ll take over the accounts. After taking over, she’ll handle the farm’s profits and losses, and as for Fusheng’s case, if we don’t agree, she could have those young intellectuals report it, and he might even get executed. Mom, you…”

“My 5,000 yuan, that’s what I saved for Dabo. That’s my lifeblood. Whoever dares to lay hands on it is playing with fire,” Daylilies screamed, her whole body sweating from the effort, nearly burning off the fever.

“Then are you going to watch me get arrested? Do you know how long they sentence corruption criminals these days?” Sun Xiangnan’s tone hardened, “Mom, it’s one thing for Jiefang to be in prison, I’ll just divorce him, but with my daughter, Qiuwu, about to go to Red Special School, if I get a criminal record, her whole future will be ruined.”

“A girl, can she compete with her uncle’s money?”

“My sister worked hard to earn her way to university, took care of everyone in Sun Jia Zhai, and raised the whole village. My Qiuwu won’t be any worse off. You have Sun Zhuanman, I have Qiuwu,” Sun Xiangnan replied.

The old woman held onto her savings book tightly. “The money I saved was for Dabo. You debt-collecting girls, don’t even think about it.”

To prevent Sun Xiangnan from stealing the money, the old woman had hidden the savings book well.

The daughters were there to pay off debts, and her grandson Dabo, who had five daughters, was her priority.

Sacrificing daughters for sons—wasn’t that natural?

After leaving her family’s house, Sun Ainan and Sun Xiangnan looked at each other. “What should we do?”

Sun Ainan wanted a lighter sentence for her husband, while Sun Xiangnan wanted to ensure her daughter’s future was unaffected.

After some thought, the two sisters agreed: “Alright, let’s steal the savings book. That’s probably the only way.”

…..

The Nie Family

It was a rare weekend, and Chen Lina was cooking for her three children.

In the large bucket in the yard, there was a big fish, about a foot long.

Erdan and Chen Tiantian were crouching beside the bucket, trying to entertain the fish.

The Baiyang River was still frozen, but when the intellectual youth were digging the canal, they found that the fish in the hidden waterway were fat and large, some almost a foot long, and they seemed blind, bumping into everything—almost like free food.

Back when Liu Jiefang was in charge, if anyone wanted fish, it was out of the question.

Fish were public property, belonging to the Republic.

He’d rather let the intellectual youth starve than allow them to catch fish, not because he was cruel, but because he was useless.

In this world, useless people, the worthless ones who became leaders, were even more frustrating than bad people.

Under Chen Lina’s leadership, however, they could have fish.

Not only did the intellectual youth and the farm workers get fish soup today, but Chen Lina also brought home a fish.

After the New Year, when supplies were low, the warehouse at Mulan Farm was filled with mice, and what little cornmeal was left was half-eaten by rodents.

Chen Lina managed to get some wheat from the warehouse, ground it into flour, and secretly shared it with the intellectuals and experts who had been a big help to her.

She couldn’t openly subsidize them, so she quietly distributed it through Sun Xiangnan’s confused bookkeeping.

The intellectual youth at the farm were used to half a year of rough vegetables and meals made from cornmeal, and the cornmeal buns were good at filling hunger.

With the rabbit plague this year, Chen Lina allowed them to hunt rabbits for food.

If they wanted to experiment with new varieties of spring wheat, dry rice, and cotton, it would cost a lot of money.

So, for now, it was all about saving money.

The base, which had enjoyed a luxurious year, was now scraping by with flour made from millet and sorghum.

Sorghum flour, considered a healthy grain, would eventually become popular, but eating too much of it caused constipation.

It was bitter, and very unpleasant to eat. But now, when there was no grass or snow in the Gobi Desert, it was the only option.

The children would cry when they saw the sorghum flour, but it was the only thing they had to eat.

What could they do?

Chen Lina had gone to Wumayi and bought some leftover crispy fried scraps from a pastry factory, mixing them with peanuts from her khaki skirt, which she had traded with her mother, and red sugar from the supply and marketing cooperative.

She traded clothes for food money and rolled it all into the sorghum flour, making a thick, greasy, sweet pancake.

While killing the fish and scraping its scales, Chen Tiantian cried as usual.

To calm her, Chen Lina had to take the fish outside to the small forest behind the yard.

The elementary school hadn’t been built yet, and the children of the base were like stray dogs.

Liu Xiaohong, with a basket on her back, was picking coal balls from the slag heap.

Seeing Chen Lina with a fish, she hurried over to help press the fish down.

What a tough life force!

The big fish was so slippery and large, it couldn’t be caught, nor could it be killed easily.

“Your mom ran off, and your dad’s been sent to labor reform. No one’s cooking, and no one’s giving you food. Why do you look so thin?” Chen Lina asked.

Liu Xiaohong replied, “The general office arranged for my brother to work as a boiler operator. We have food coupons, and the coal balls I picked are enough for heating. I’m not hungry.”

After all, the children of the workers couldn’t be allowed to starve.

Liu Xiaogang had recently stopped hitting the kids, as he was now sent to work at the boiler.

“Come to my house later, I’ll give you some special fried cake,” Chen Lina said.

Liu Xiaohong, with a single blow from a brick, smashed the fish’s head.

With a grin, she turned and ran.

Ah, the girl was a real tough one, thought Chen Lina.

But men liked women who could act spoiled.

This girl, with Chen Tiantian’s personality, would make a perfect daughter-in-law.

Chen Tiantian was still crying, and Nie Weimin kept comforting her, saying, “Alright, fish are meant to be eaten, look how beautifully my mom cut it.”

When Chen Lina turned around and smiled, as if she could see through him, his face turned red, and he immediately turned and ran away.

The blue fish had fewer bones, so it was easy to split it in half and remove the bones, then slice it thinly.

The transparent fish slices looked like thin butterflies.

As a qualified foodie with a princess complex, when the fish in hot water was ready, Chen Tiantian was the first to pick up her chopsticks. “Auntie, this is really delicious.”

Looking at her taking a big bite of the greasy millet cake, Chen Lina’s guilt grew deeper.

The oil dregs were such a delicious yet sinful food, and it was fine to give some to Liu Xiaohong for nourishment, but if Chen Tiantian had more, it would turn into chunks of millet cake.

“Director Chen, there’s a person named Sun Xiangnan looking for you outside the base,” the delivery man Xiao Chen shouted from outside before riding his bike away.

After repeatedly reminding the children to be careful with the fish bones, especially Er Dan who was a bit careless, Chen Lina placed the vinegar jar next to Nie Weimin in case anyone got a bone stuck.

She quickly washed her hands and went out.

It was indeed Sun Xiangnan, who usually wore a green liberation outfit with small arm covers, and could only be seen from the chin up as the warehouse keeper.

Today, however, he looked rather shabby.

His worn-out slippers had a foul smell of rubber, his big cotton jacket had a few patches of torn cotton, and he handed over a handkerchief containing a baozi: “Director Chen, the money for raising the three children was spent by my mother, this is all that’s left, and I took it from my mom. Please accept it, so we can consider the matter settled, alright?”

At that time, there were no hundred-yuan bills, just ten-yuan “Great Unity” bills with pictures of different ethnic groups.

A “Great Unity” bill could buy 200 kilograms of rice, 100 kilograms of pork.

Five thousand yuan would need five bundles, and wrapped in a handkerchief, could there really be 5,000 yuan?

“Sun Xiangnan, don’t try to fool me or play poor. The three children’s maintenance fees, the five thousand yuan, you got it through legitimate channels. You and your two sisters, Sun Ainang and Sun Duoyu, and your mother Huang Huacai, should bring it to me. I don’t accept this sneaky trick, and I don’t need this money.”

“Not like that, my mom won’t give it, and she’s about to die. Are you trying to force my dying mother?” Sun Xiangnan said, invoking the term “hero” again.

Chen Lina sincerely responded, “I just want to ask you, would the relatives of a hero deposit a large amount of shares in a credit cooperative?

Would they save food to feed the mice in their house?

Don’t tell me you don’t have it. The landlords from the old society were just like you, and the only reason you’re not in jail yet is because you have a dead heroic sister.”

Sun Xiangnan’s face changed immediately.

He took a deep breath, wrapped the handkerchief back up, and left.

It was true that Sun Xiangnan couldn’t get money by scheming right away, but after taking advantage of the farm, she was like a fat sheep.

She couldn’t run, and she couldn’t escape. Eventually, she would be made to spit out all the money.

On the way back from the Mulan Farm that evening, Chen Lina encountered a man with a rough face, standing in the middle of the road, staring at her car as if not afraid of getting hit.

Chen Lina always worked from 8 AM to 11:45 AM, then hurried back to the base to cook for the children, and after getting San Dan to nap, she would either deal with the kids or go to the farm with them if they were restless.

The thirty-mile journey, with no cars in sight, the sunset, snow-capped mountains, and the straight road—she drove fast, honking her horn, but the man didn’t move.

Only when she was almost at him did she slam on the brakes.

“Xiao Chen, are you driving?” she asked.

“I’m driving well. But old Nie, what happened to you?” he replied.

With his face covered in stubble, eyes bloodshot and full of anger, if it weren’t for his distinctive black-framed glasses, Chen Lina wouldn’t have recognized that it was her husband, whom she hadn’t seen in almost a month.

“You’re not driving, you’re flying a plane. The speed you’re going is like a plane taking off,” Nie Bozhao said.

“I’m hurrying back to cook for your kids,” Chen Lina replied.

“If work and life can’t be balanced, I gave you enough money to live on. You should focus on your family, not play with your life like this,” he said.

They hadn’t seen each other for two months, and instead of greeting her, no gift, he even asked her to return to the family.

Chen Lina pressed the accelerator, making the car speed even more. “Old Nie, I’m not just your wife. I’m managing the survival of over a thousand people at the farm, as well as the food supplies for ten thousand people at the mining area and three bases.

I have a military order to make the mining area self-sufficient within three years, and you want me to return to the family?”

“I don’t deny you’re capable, but driving like this is reckless.

You have a military order, you have ideals, but the road is right under your feet.

If you press the gas pedal even more, you’ll fly up into the sky,” he replied.

When they reached the base, he got out of the car and walked toward the farm.

The vast desert and a long road stretched before them.

The car wasn’t going too fast—it was flying too low. If she had wings, she could have flown straight up into the sky.