“No, no, I’m just trying to work more effectively and increase my productivity. This has nothing to do with the extravagance and excess of capitalism.”

Carrying a rifle and running 30 kilometers with a heavy load, his arms really did hurt, but when Nie Bozhao thought of the feeling of taking a shower without the raincoat and not having to worry about pregnancy, his chest swelled with ambition and determination.

It was like the workers during the steel-making campaigns, who felt that just imagining it would help them launch satellites and achieve a yield of 10,000 kilograms per acre.

“Alright, if your arm really hurts, just rest. Today, your little princess has something new in store for you,” his wife said as she stopped him.

…

“What’s this, Comrade Chen?”

“This is what you call a ‘revolting serf singing a song of freedom,’ have you seen it?”

Nie Bozhao hadn’t seen it before.

He only felt that his little princess not only sang the song of freedom while riding him but had suddenly slipped down.

He let out a loud yell, waking up the horses at the neighbor’s house.

In the dead of night, the horses neighed loudly, and their sound covered up Nie Gong’s blunder.

Alright, his little princess, no, she should be called a “White Bone Demon” or a “Spider Demon,” had shown him a scene from Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio where the fox spirits devour men’s essence.

Afterward, Nie Bozhao lay in a sprawled position on the bed, thinking to himself that with just a clay kiln, he had forged steel and even launched a satellite—he had indeed sent a satellite into space.

This woman wasn’t a woman; she was a little demoness that wore him down.

“Hey, little princess, Miss Chen, can we go for another round?”

“Get lost, keep dreaming.”

---

The next morning, Nie Bozhao was still sound asleep, but by morning, he found himself thrown to the neighbor’s house.

Sant Dan, who had crawled over to his mother, didn’t allow Chen Lina to get up and insisted on sleeping in with her.

Er Dan had taken up the entire large bed, with his pants nowhere to be found.

His plump little bottom was basking in the sunlight, and he was still sound asleep.

Only Nie Weimin had woken up.

The little guy had broken his nose yesterday and couldn’t sleep due to the pain.

He got up, found a pancake from last night in the kitchen, wrapped some vegetables in it, and sat in the living room reading a book.

“Nie Bozhao’s son hit someone! Director Chen’s son hit someone! Look at my son, lying in the hospital bed, unable to walk, spending the night at the hospital with no one visiting or comforting him.

Is it because the workers at the base are inherently superior, while we farmers are inferior? Director Chen, Nie Gong, I’m here to demand justice for my son.”

A woman’s sharp voice echoed across the entire base.

“Weimin wouldn’t hit anyone. He’s a child who loves reading, always shouting about ‘not going overboard.’ How could he be the one to hit anyone?” Sister Wang was the first to disbelieve, leading her child, Jin Bao, outside.

Aunt Ha, who was feeding the horses, also said, “That’s right, he helped me carry a bucket of water yesterday. He usually doesn’t hit kids.”

“It’s strange. Look at those kids, bruised and swollen, with bandages on their heads. They clearly look like they’ve been beaten.”

Finally, Nie Family’s large iron gate slammed open, and a crowd of onlookers, along with farm members demanding justice, gathered around.

A skinny boy emerged.

“You! You’ve grown up and beat my kid to the point of lying in the hospital! Not a word of apology, not even a basket of fruit!

You think just because you have money, you’re above us?

You think throwing a few dozen yuan at us will make it alright?

Look at my son Li Daye’s head! He’ll probably never be able to go to school again, his brain’s been damaged! You need to pay up, pay up!”

Li Daye’s mother grabbed Weimin, slapping him on the head, while other parents jabbed and poked, demanding, “Pay up, call Director Chen out and have him pay.”

At first, the parents just wanted an apology, but by the time they got to the hospital, Chen Lina, who had been busy, hadn’t been able to go the night before.

After some discussion, their attitudes shifted. Nie Gong was the most important person in the entire mining area, often praised by the prime minister on the radio. Perhaps the state even gave him money. Chen Lina was also a director, driving the best car in the base. People didn’t believe they had no money.

Though Chen Lina was the director, she was fair and just. After all, being a woman, she was soft-hearted, and if they didn’t extort her now, when would they?

“Yes, pay up. A hundred yuan per child, now!”

Early in the morning, still in her pajamas and sleepy-eyed, Chen Lina came out.

The farm members, each holding one hand, tore and pushed, surrounding Wei Min, nearly wanting to tear him apart.

And Wei Min? He stood silently, head lowered, just standing there.

“Let go of my son.”

“Director Chen, you are our respected Director, but you still need to pay,” Li Ye’s mother said, releasing Wei Min.

Chen Lina then went back inside.

Just as Li Ye’s mother was about to speak at Nie’s door, a bucket of urine was thrown out.

“You’ve failed as a parent, letting your child run wild. You still have the face to show up here?”

“Sister Chen, you’re the director, but you need to maintain discipline. This is bad for your reputation,” Sister Wang, who was expecting her third child, came forward to defend Chen Lina.

Ha Mama added, “Sister Chen, you can’t be so impulsive. After all, you are the director.”

“I’m not the director anymore. I’m just a shrew now!” Chen Lina rolled up her sleeves and pointed at Li Ye’s mother. “How old is your child?”

“Eight, eight years old.”

“Stop lying! You were one of the first to move to the farm in ’64 and only reported one child. At that time, he was already eight! It’s Li Da Ye. You’ve been on the farm for eight years without having another child, so how is he eight? Who are you fooling?”

“Even if he’s fifteen, he’s still a child. Your son hit him,” Li Ye’s mother insisted.

“My son’s hit was well-deserved! He hit him perfectly. A fifteen-year-old, not going to school, wandering around all day, and on top of that, he stole our hard-grown pumpkins and ate all our grapes. Do you know how much that cost us?”

Chen Lina then pulled out a stick. “Yes, he’s still a child at fifteen, but the law doesn’t consider that. He destroyed a year’s worth of hard work, and the damage is immeasurable. I can’t lock him up in prison, but I can teach him a lesson.”

“Director Chen, you can’t just slander people. The thief who stole the pumpkins was Sun Duoyu. He’s already been sent to the police, and this has nothing to do with my Li Ye!”

Was it too late to argue now?

Chen Lina raised the stick and charged at Li Da Ye.

Li Daye was the type of kid who was best at bullying the weak and cowering in front of the strong.

When faced with someone weaker, he acted all tough, but when meeting someone stronger, he immediately became meek. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have knelt in front of Nie Weimin and given him his grandfather’s title.

Chen Lina grabbed the kid by the ear and, with a long stick in her hand, started to smack his backside.

“Farm Director, I didn’t steal it, I really didn’t steal it.”

“Didn’t steal, huh? Do you understand what footprints are? Do you know how to use the depth and size of footprints in the soil to calculate weight and height? The police have already figured it out—height 1.35 meters, weight 65 kilograms. Let’s weigh you—are you 65 kilograms?”

“Yes, yes, I stole it, Farm Director. I’m sorry, I admit my mistake.”

When the evidence was laid out before him, Li Daye quickly admitted his guilt, mainly because he didn’t want to suffer physically.

Chen Lina, who weighed barely 100 pounds, picked him up and swung him around twice. When she saw him hiding behind his mother, she shouted, “Li Daye’s mother, if you don’t teach him a lesson and let me beat him now, tomorrow you and your family can all pack up and leave the farm. Go wherever you want.”

Er Dan had already brought out the foot mold. “It’s Li Daye’s foot. My mom was right.”

Foot molds were a trendy thing nowadays.

For someone like the professor, a genius in mathematics, catching a petty thief was no problem at all.

When the other parents saw what was happening, they quickly slipped away one by one, before the Farm Director’s wrath reached them.

Li Daye’s mother couldn’t escape. Chen Lina had decided to deal with the “leader” first to set an example.

“Chen Farm Director, I’m sorry, I beg you, I’m kneeling. Please forgive my son, Daye, please?”

“Kneel if you must, but will it bring back the professors’ hard work and achievements? Originally, next year, every household in the mining area would have big pumpkins to eat, sweet grapes to eat, but because of his misdeeds, we’ll have to wait another year. Tell me, can a simple apology make up for the loss? Don’t kneel to me, kneel to the families here. Ask them if they’d rather see you bowing or have enough food to eat?”

Li Daye’s mother looked up, only to see the other families shaking their heads in anger, ignoring her.

“Li Daye, kneel to the Farm Director, kowtow to the Farm Director.”

“Get lost. Go wherever you want. My farm doesn’t raise pests.” With a slam, the Nie family’s gate was shut.

The children all walked with their heads low, sticking to the corners, afraid to breathe too loudly. Even Nie Bozhao, the usually calm one, went straight to the kitchen to start a fire.

“How come? I’m not a tigress, I’m not going to eat you.”

Nie Weimin was the most frightened. “We just… want to listen to your orders.”

But at the same time, they were afraid to anger her, especially after seeing how the big stick had forced Li Daye to kneel and call her “Grandma.”

“Weimin, fighting isn’t the worst thing. After all, if you punch me and I kick you, it’s still relatively fair. The most detestable thing is a thief, someone who sneaks around and steals other people’s hard work. I’m not hitting him out of anger; I’m doing it so everyone in the farm knows: other farms might tolerate theft, but our farm absolutely will not. A melon or a tomato can only be eaten if it’s properly distributed.”

So, Li Daye’s family was definitely out of the picture.

Armed with the foot mold, Nie Bozhao’s calculations, and the damaged grape plants as evidence, Chen Lina went directly to the mining area to report the situation to Secretary A and District Chief Gao.

The next day, under the watchful eyes of the entire farm, Li Daye’s entire family was forced to leave the farm and return to their hometown in Zhang County.

This action sent a strong message to the farm’s workers. The workers who had been unwilling to send their children to school were now eagerly sending their kids to the farm’s elementary school.

Those who had been idle and used to stealing melons and dates now kept their hands to themselves, afraid to steal again.

Of course, in this world, no matter how many years of drought there are, there are always those who don’t want it to rain. But that’s a story for another time.