Chapter 25.1: Director Zhao swings a stick

Commune members don’t fight, the director doesn’t step in.

If there’s no big issue, Zhao Ke only needs to stay home and leisurely eat melon seeds.

Plus, with the meddlesome Comrade Yu Xiulan and the gossip-loving Zhao Yunyun, she could always keep up with the progress between the two families.

If parents aren’t assertive enough, it’s usually hard to stop their children.

Dong Ni’er was wholeheartedly set on liking Wang Xiangping and insisted on being with him. Uncle Sun and Aunt Sun had hit and scolded her, their home was in constant chaos, but they couldn’t make Dong Ni’er change her mind.

In the end, the couple could only grudgingly compromise.

As for Aunt Dong’s family, it was actually quite difficult to find a wife for her son.

Dong Ni’er caused enough commotion to get her family to agree to her and Wang Xiangping’s matter. Logically speaking, the match should have been made quickly, and everyone should have been happy. The Wang family should’ve hurried to finalize things.

But Aunt Dong had indeed been hit right on the mark by Zhao Ke’s comment—her son was despised by the disagreeable Aunt Sun. She was stewing with anger and took it out on Dong Ni’er.

She relied on the fact that Dong Ni’er was eager to be with Si Erzi^[1]Fourth son and acted high and mighty toward the Sun family.

Aunt Sun was also furious, insisting on a bride price of twenty yuan and a new set of clothes. Wang Xiangping’s room also needed to be refurbished, or she wouldn’t agree to the engagement.

At Zhao Ke’s house—

Yu Xiulan shook her head. “This Lu Dongmei is really unreasonable. A matter that could’ve been settled with a good discussion is bound to be ruined by her.”

Zhao Ke didn’t comment and took a bite of the crispy coarse-grain flatbread.

Comrade Yu Xiulan had been slightly more well-off recently and was finally willing to add a few extra drops of oil. Although it was just a few drops, the taste was significantly different.

“I’m telling you, you two mustn’t be like Dong Ni’er, insisting on being with someone your parents don’t approve of.” Yu Xiulan cast a sidelong glance at her two children. “Wang Yinghui is a perfect negative example.”

Zhao Ke looked up. “Then you also can’t be like some parents and force us to marry someone we don’t like.”

Zhao Feng: “Exactly, exactly.”

Yu Xiulan got angry and scolded Zhao Feng first, “Are you just an echo?”

Then she turned her firepower back to Zhao Ke. “I say one thing, and you have ten things ready to go against me. Is that it?”

There weren’t ten things—she was just being unreasonable.

Zhao Ke said to her father, “Dad, make some calming tea for Mom. She’s too irritable.”

“Who’s irritable?”

Yu Xiulan was fuming.

Zhao Ke gave her father a look, see? She’s practically a firecracker now.

Zhao Jianguo sighed helplessly. “Xiulan, if work isn’t going well, don’t bring it home.”

Yu Xiulan also knew she was too hot-tempered but couldn’t control herself. “What do you know? I went to Zhao Xinwei’s house at noon. He asked me to talk to the brigade and Principal Gu about waiving his grandson’s tuition.”

The money to run the Production Team’s elementary school was half covered by the brigade, with the remaining half borne by the Commune members. Tuition was fifty cents per semester for one child, and even with additional fees, it wasn’t more than a yuan.

Only in the higher grades would there be a slight increase in textbook fees.

Yu Xiulan was exasperated. “If his is waived, other commune members will also clamor for waivers. What am I supposed to do?”

Her home visits were not going well. When she wasn’t attending school, there were always various excuses for not going, with poverty being the main reason.

Yu Xiulan rambled on with a lot of complaints. After venting a little, her mood improved slightly, and she straightened up, full of fighting spirit, and went out.

Zhao Ke watched her, inexplicably feeling that the coarse grain pancake in her hand didn’t smell as good anymore.

·

In the blink of an eye, it was the day of the wedding of Wang Xiangquan, the third son of the Wang family.

The new bride was about to enter the door, and Aunt Dong finally had a smiling face. She went from house to house to notify everyone to come to her house for the banquet.

All the members of the Production Team secretly talked about her: with her stinginess, what kind of banquet could there be, it would be a rarity if they could even find bits of meat in it.

After all, it was still to collect wedding gifts.

But since they were all from the same Production Team, for a joyous occasion like a wedding, almost every family would contribute a little money, bringing their entire family along to the banquet.

Of course, they couldn’t be idle.

The day before, Aunt Dong’s family had already arranged with each household to borrow tables, bowls, and chopsticks.

Early today, after finishing their own breakfast, Zhao Feng carried their family’s tables and stools to Aunt Dong’s house.

Zhao Ke also carried bowls and dishes, following behind Zhao Feng.

On the way, everyone was like this, their shoulders and bodies full of items. One person was even carrying a pot.

There were also a few men carrying water buckets towards the big yard, since they would need a lot of water today, and it couldn’t be cut off.

As Zhao Feng walked, a few boys of similar age gathered around him, carrying things but still laughing and chatting.

Two girls also joined Zhao Ke’s side—Zhao Pingping and her younger sister Zhao Xiaocao.

Zhao Pingping was carrying a chopping board and knife, and her younger sister was holding bowls and dishes.

“Zhao Ke, how much is your family contributing ah?”

Zhao Ke shook her head. “My mom is contributing. It should be about the same as everyone else.”

Zhao Pingping laughed and said, “Recently, I’ve seen the adults and kids from Aunt Dong’s house going to the mountain to dig for vegetables. I heard that one day, they were lucky, and Wang Da Ge caught a wild chicken, and Wang Si Ge even picked up a few wild duck eggs.”

Zhao Xiaocao curled her lip. “Aunt Dong is so stingy, we won’t get to eat any of that.”

“You little child, what nonsense are you talking?” Zhao Pingping scolded her, then turned to Zhao Ke and said, “I heard that because Si Ge hid a wild duck egg for Dong Ni’er, Aunt Dong scolded him for it.”

“How do you know that?”

“I heard it.” Zhao Xiaocao squeezed between the two, looking up at Zhao Ke excitedly and said, “Aunt Dong was in her yard talking behind someone’s back, and Fourth Brother kept stopping her, telling her not to say anything.”

As Zhao Xiaocao said this, she pouted, and the eldest child unhappily said, “My mom says if you don’t have a son, you get bullied. She says if Aunt Sun’s belly had been strong and she’d had a son, Aunt Dong wouldn’t dare do this.”

Sons are the most important, so they adopted Shuan Zhu’er in their family.

Zhao Ke looked at her, “And you, what do you think?”

Zhao Xiaocao said, “I’m no worse than a son. In the future, I’ll make them regret it.”

Zhao Pingping said to her, “What nonsense are you talking?”

Zhao Ke, however, smiled and encouraged her, “You have ambition, study well, you’ll definitely do well.”

Zhao Xiaocao linked her arm with Zhao Ke’s, raised her chin at her older sister, and then enviously said, “I wish I were Third Aunt’s child.”

Zhao Pingping freed her hand and hit her, “Aren’t Mom and Dad good to you? They even let you go to school, why say such ungrateful things?”

“That’s because I caused a fuss. If I hadn’t, they wouldn’t have let me go to school.”

Zhao Pingping had no way to argue, but still said, “But Shuan Zhu’er supports you too?”

That was true, but Zhao Xiaocao wasn’t grateful. “When he speaks, Mom and Dad listen…”

Zhao Ke rubbed her yellow hair, “You can use a difficult environment to motivate yourself, but you can’t harbor resentment toward others’ kindness. Even if Shuan Zhu’er Ge doesn’t support you, no one will blame him.”

Zhao Xiaocao pouted, “Fine~”

Zhao Pingping helplessly said, “She doesn’t listen to anyone, only you don’t argue back.”

“That’s because Zhao Ke Jiejie is amazing!”

“See, it’s like you really wish you were her real sister.” Zhao Pingping’s tone was a little sour.

Zhao Ke said, “Being my younger brother or sister isn’t easy, I boss them around, they have to do everything.”

Ahead, Zhao Feng put down the stool, jogged back, took the bowl and plate from her hand with one hand, and casually grabbed Zhao Pingping’s cutting board, tucking it under his arm.

“I can do it too.”

Zhao Xiaocao’s eyes blazed with fury at Zhao Feng.

Zhao Feng, confused, said, “Yellow-haired girl,” and was chased by Zhao Xiaocao.

Zhao Ke and Zhao Pingping watched them laugh.

The yard at Aunt Dong’s house, both inside and outside, was already full of people. Several nearby families had brought out their brooms to sweep the road clean in front of the house, and the boys began setting up tables and chairs.

Zhao Pingping went inside to help the women. They were washing and cutting vegetables, all of them quick and efficient.

Zhao Ke, avoiding the crowd, wandered inside slowly.

Aunt Dong was busy, sweat pouring down her face, and chased her off, saying, “A student girl can’t do this, you don’t need to be here.”

Comrade Yu Xiulan, the real mother, was even more direct, “Go to the side, don’t get in the way here.”

Zhao Ke: “…”

Fine.

Zhao Ke could only leave.

Everyone was busy, and she, the only one of her age just standing around, felt out of place. Even the half-grown kids in the village were washing dishes.

Zhao Ke went over to get the bowls and chopsticks, planning to set them on the table.

However, even the kids looked down on her for not knowing how to work. “Zhao Ke Jiejie, we can’t set the table yet, it’ll get dirty when the fireworks go off later.”

Another kid nearby said, “My mom said you don’t know how to work, you should go sit on the side.”

Zhao Ke: “…”

In the past, for village-wide events like this, either she was too young and led the kids who were about the same age to play elsewhere until mealtime, or she was at the commune studying and couldn’t make it.

She never expected that after becoming an adult and staying in the Production Team, she’d still be so useless.

Luckily, Zhao Yunyun arrived, and it wasn’t so awkward anymore.

Zhao Yunyun naturally handed her a handful of sunflower seeds, cracking them as she spoke, “My mom asked my Saozi to roast these for me, they’re so fragrant.”

Zhao Ke cracked one, and it was indeed fragrant.

The Wang family was busy, with Aunt Sun poking her head out of her own yard. After a while, she reluctantly walked into the Wang family’s yard, rolled up her sleeves, and reached out to help.

Aunt Dong saw her, snorted, and didn’t say anything.

It was a joyous day, so no one could afford to fight, and besides, she was too busy to pay attention to Aunt Sun.

In the countryside, it was always like this—yesterday’s argument might have been chaotic, but when it came to business, every household would still send people to help.

And the host family would just be even busier.

In the vegetable washing area, Zhao Pingping noticed that Wang’s second daughter-in-law, Zhou Xiuli, didn’t look well, so she asked, “Er Sao^[2]Second sister-in-law. Sao is shortened from Saozi, are you feeling unwell?”

Zhou Xiuli said, “Maybe it’s because my little days are coming, my stomach doesn’t feel too well.”

When Zhao Pingping heard this, she pulled her hand away, “Your hands are cold, sit for a while, we can do the work.”

Several women nearby were talking:

“These young wives are really delicate.”

“When we were young, we had to wash with cold water in the winter. What couldn’t we do?”

“Didn’t you see those two girls from the Zhao family? They’re so busy, and they’re just sitting there eating sunflower seeds. Which family’s daughters are like them?”

“Lazy girls like them, who would want to marry them and have them as ancestors…”

Yu Xiulan heard them and snorted, “Stop talking about my girls, as if you could find a man to marry you.”

The women laughed and asked, “Didn’t Fifth Aunt introduce a match for your second daughter?”

Yu Xiulan said, “My Lao Er is still young.”

“They’re already grown, still young? The older they get, the harder it is to find someone. Isn’t your family in a hurry?”

“In a hurry? The emperor isn’t in a hurry, but the eunuchs are.”

The women continued to chat back and forth.

Zhao Yunyun’s mother, Li Cuihua, came over. Yu Xiulan pointed at the women and said, “These women are saying our girls are lazy. Can you stand it?”

Li Cuihua glanced at them, “So what if they’re lazy? Are they eating your family’s rice?”

The women laughed again, “Sooner or later, they’ll have to eat other people’s rice.”

“Then you don’t need to worry about it…”

The two main characters of the conversation—Zhao Ke and Zhao Yunyun—had already changed from standing to sitting.

One by one, people started arriving, and the men gradually became less busy, sitting together chatting.

The women weren’t idle, even Zhao Er Nai and Zhao Wu Nai were helping in the yard. The two girls stood out particularly.

Zhao Si Ye^[3]Fourth Grandpa and Zhao Wu Ye^[4]Fifth Grandpa were the only two male elders of the Zhao family.

Zhao Si Ye’s son was Zhao Xinwei, who asked Yu Xiulan to get the tuition fees waived. Wang Jia’s eldest daughter-in-law, Zhao Huahua, was also from their family.

Zhao Wu Ye and Zhao Wu Nai were one family.

Zhao Si Ye was a strict man. Seeing Zhao Ke and Zhao Yunyun, he furrowed his brows and scolded, “How can you sit still? If girls aren’t diligent, when they get married, their in-laws will look down on them.”

Elders have authority, and even the team leader, Zhao Xianshan, had to show respect.

Especially because he was always serious, Zhao Yunyun felt a little nervous, sitting uneasily.

Zhao Ke sat steadily.

If it had been before, everyone would be working, and she wouldn’t be doing anything, she’d feel embarrassed.

Now, she just sat there, not moving.

She didn’t move, and neither did Zhao Yunyun, but she wasn’t as relaxed as her and was even being careful while eating sunflower seeds.

Zhao Si Ye was even more dissatisfied.

The male members of the Production Team were all looking at the two of them, not knowing what to say.

On the open ground, a few boys gathered in a circle, pushing the taller boy in the middle like a ball.

“Oooh—”

“Sha Gen’er, hahahah…”

The boy called “Sha Gen’er^[5]Sha – Foolish” smiled foolishly, thinking they were playing with him.

A younger boy, not careful, picked up a clod of earth from the ground and threw it at him.

The others followed suit, throwing clods of earth at him, some even picked up stones.

Sha Gen’er was hit and shrank his shoulders in pain, still standing foolishly in the middle, letting them throw at him.

The male members of the Production Team ignored them, continuing their chatting.

Zhao Ke stood up, stuffed some sunflower seeds into Zhao Yunyun’s hand, picked up a thin stick from the roadside, and angrily walked over, swinging it at one of the bad boys’ buttocks.

“Hey!”

“She’s hitting people~”

“Mom—”

Continuous cries rang out, and Zhao Ke swung the thin stick with full force, “You little rascal, stand there! Try running again…”

Not far away, the lazy Chen San’er, squatting alone at the roadside, put down the fist-sized clod of earth in his hand, remembering how she swung the firewood stick, and retracted his head, shrinking back.

The boys obviously didn’t stand still to get hit, running around and shouting for help.

The chatterers stopped as well.

Among them were some of the boys’ parents, who were unhappy, “Zhao Ke, what are you doing hitting people!”

Zhao Yunyun, embodying the style of the Production Team women, spat out a sunflower seed shell and sarcastically said, “So your eyes aren’t blind, huh? They bully Shu Gen’er^[6]His actual name which means tree root., but someone teaches them a lesson and that’s not okay?”

A parent, furious, shouted, “What kind of little girl talks so harshly?!”

Zhao Ke slapped each one of the boys lightly. Now that she couldn’t catch any, she didn’t bother, bringing the thin stick back, heading straight for the male members of the Production Team who had issues with her.

She stood in front of Zhao Yunyun, hands on her hips, and fiercely asked, “Do you have any reason left?”

Zhao Yunyun peeked out from behind her, with a face full of “keep being mad, it’ll drive you crazy.”

“Chasing boys around and hitting them… A girl, why is she so tough? I’m not going to argue with a woman…” One of the male members muttered, turning around and slapping his own child, “Why are your hands so restless? Don’t you know to stay away? Don’t you worry about getting infected with stupidity from Liu’s fool!”

Zhao Ke glared, “What did you just say? Say it again!”

“I didn’t say anything, nothing at all, alright?” That member slapped his own child in frustration, even harder than before, “I told you, stop being so restless!”

The mischievous boy didn’t dare to retort.

Zhao Ke, valuing peace, finally dropped the thin stick and sat back down.

Zhao Si Ye looked at her for a moment, worried that she might act too tough in front of so many people and lose face, so he didn’t continue scolding them.

Zhao Yunyun reached into her pocket, grabbed another handful of sunflower seeds, and handed them to her, smiling and giving her a wink.

Zhao Ke took it and cracked it.

Still, not many women were idle; the two of them sat there, still out of place.

The silly boy, Shu Gen’er, came over, wanting to tug on Zhao Ke’s sleeve. When he stretched out his hand, he realized it was dirty and quickly withdrew it.

Zhao Yunyun said to him, “You kid, why didn’t you wash your hands? You’ll get dirty when it’s time to eat.”

Shu Gen’er just grinned foolishly.

“Really silly~” Zhao Yunyun urged, “There’s water in the yard, go wash your hands.”

Zhao Ke saw that he seemed too shy to go in, so she said to Zhao Yunyun, “You take him there.”

Zhao Yunyun stood up, clapped her hands, and said, “Let’s go.”

Shu Gen’er obediently followed her.

After a while, Zhao Yunyun brought him back.

Wang Laosan, Wang Xiangquan’s bride-to-be, was from the Pan Village Production Team, several miles away. In the morning, after Zhao Feng and the others finished setting up the tables and benches, it was about time, so they all followed to the Pan Village Production Team to greet the bride.

They took the team’s ox cart and even rode Zhao Ke’s two bicycles, setting off in style.

The sun had risen high, and it seemed like they would be returning soon.

Wang Family’s patriarch, Wang Changhe, called the village’s respected elders and the team committee officials to sit at the large table in the yard.

The so-called “officials” were certainly Team Leader, Zhao Xianshan, Deputy Team Leader Xu, and Accountant Niu.

Even though Zhao Xianshan didn’t come, they still saved him a seat.

Zhao Ke gave the remaining sunflower seeds in her hand to Shu Gen’er, then walked over and stood at the lowest position. Politely smiling, she said, “I’m of a lower rank, I’ll just sit here.”

The others exchanged glances.

Wang Changhe also felt a bit awkward.

Zhao Si Ye’s mouth naturally turned down, so when he wasn’t showing any expression, his face looked stern. Now, he looked even more intimidating.

Outside the yard, Zhao Yunyun didn’t expect herself to be so brave and quietly bared her teeth.

Zhao Ke played innocent, “What’s wrong? Didn’t they say to invite the Production Team’s officials? Can’t I sit here?”

Accountant Niu smoothed things over, “Zhao Ke is our Production Team’s Women’s Director, she should sit here. Go ahead, sit.”

Deputy Team Leader Xu also nodded, “Exactly, after the election, the team committee hasn’t had a chance to sit down and eat together. Zhao Ke, go ahead and sit.”

When the two spoke up, no one else dared to oppose them. They all sat down, and the atmosphere returned to being harmonious.

Zhao Ke waited for everyone else to sit before she too sat down.

Being young and naïve was really a good excuse.

Zhao Ke wasn’t planning to be a long-term fixture, but she could still mix in. However, the people in the production team didn’t regard her highly, and it wasn’t okay for them to casually lecture her, saying “young girls should do this and that,” especially when she was outside.

Moreover, Zhao Ke subconsciously felt that she couldn’t start by giving up her rightful power, otherwise, things wouldn’t go well for her.

On the women’s side, when Yu Xiulan saw that Zhao Ke had actually sat at the main table, she was shocked. She walked over and leaned in to whisper in Zhao Ke’s ear, “How come you’re sitting here?”

Zhao Ke responded at a normal volume, “Mom, could you bring my bowl and chopsticks over? I’m used to using my own.”

Her bowl and chopsticks weren’t they at home, who could move her things… Yu Xiulan didn’t know what her daughter was up to again and impatiently agreed, “You’re such a hassle, I’ll go get them for you.”

Ten minutes later, Zhao Ke got her exclusive bowl and chopsticks from her mother.

In the past, Yu Xiulan couldn’t even sit at the main table. Now, a little girl like Zhao Ke was sitting among a group of men, and everyone couldn’t help but take a second glance.

Zhao Xianshan came over, saw where she was sitting, paused for a moment, but didn’t say anything.

After all, looking wouldn’t hurt anyone, and Zhao Ke took advantage of the fact that no one could say anything in this situation, sitting there very comfortably.

Half an hour later, Aunt Dong began to get anxious, “Why haven’t they arrived yet?”

Wang Laohan ordered his eldest grandson to go check at the village entrance.

Wang’s eldest grandson ran out and came back, “I’ve been to the main road, but didn’t see anyone.”

Everyone started murmuring: What’s going on?

Meanwhile, in the Pan Village production team, a farce was unfolding.