Chapter 47: Director Zhao, outstanding!

Zhao Yunyun spat in exasperation, “You just pick the softest persimmons to squeeze, and the most unripe ones to trip people up.”  

“I’m very democratic and respect women’s opinions. She thought it through herself and actively joined the cooperative’s work. If you don’t believe me, I’ll take you to see for yourself.”  

“Fine, let’s see.” Zhao Yunyun followed her into the office.  

Pan Cuilian immediately stood up nervously. “Director Zhao…”  

Zhao Ke raised a hand to motion her to sit and asked gently, “Cashier Pan, how’s the calculation coming along?”  

Cashier Pan… That sounded nice~  

Pan Cuilian couldn’t help but smile, then said shyly, “I’m too slow. I’ve only managed to calculate half of it so far.”  

Zhao Ke picked up the papers.  

Pan Cuilian watched her nervously.  

Zhao Ke flipped through them, nodding slightly as she read.  

Pan Cuilian’s tense expression relaxed a little.  

When Zhao Ke finished, she praised, “For your first time handling this, you’ve done really well.”  

Pan Cuilian was thrilled.  

“But…”  

Pan Cuilian immediately tensed up again, her fingers gripping the edge of the table.  

Watching her reaction, Zhao Yunyun nearly rolled her eyes into orbit.  

Zhao Ke reassured her gently, “San Sao, don’t be nervous. I just wanted to say, I didn’t expect your handwriting to be quite nice. If you practice more, it’ll definitely become even more beautiful in the future.”  

Pan Cuilian didn’t believe it. “My handwriting is so ugly. You don’t have to lie to me.”  

Zhao Ke looked at her disapprovingly and said seriously, “Handwriting style can be practiced, but its character is hard to cultivate. Look at yours—it lacks sharpness but is orderly, balanced yet not rigid. The strokes have the steadiness of an adult and the vibrancy of youth. If you judge handwriting solely by beauty or ugliness, that’s too narrow-minded.”  

Pan Cuilian stared blankly at her writing. Is… is that true?  

Even Zhao Yunyun leaned in for a look, but no matter how she examined it, it still seemed like a kid’s beginner handwriting to her. Maybe she just didn’t have Zhao Ke’s insight?  

Pan Cuilian swallowed. “Then… how should I practice?”  

“Find a sturdy branch and practice on the ground first.”  

“Oh… okay.” Pan Cuilian answered in a daze.  

Zhao Ke smiled encouragingly. “I believe in you, San Sao. Don’t worry about what others think.”  

Pan Cuilian hadn’t fully processed everything yet and nodded slowly.  

Zhao Ke said, “Alright, then, San Sao, you keep at it. We’re going to fetch some water.”  

As they left, Zhao Yunyun glanced back at the still-bewildered Pan Cuilian and asked, “Were you serious about all that?”  

Zhao Ke nodded. “Of course, every word.”  

Zhao Yunyun trailed behind her. “Then what about me? What do you think of me?”  

Zhao Ke stopped by the well and turned to her. “You really want to know?”  

Zhao Yunyun nodded eagerly.  

“Help me paste newspapers, and I’ll tell you later.”  

Zhao Yunyun was confused. “Why are you pasting newspapers again?”  

Zhao Ke tossed the bucket down the well. “I want to draw another map of our village and hang it on my wall. That way, every morning when I wake up, I can see our village and be inspired to work hard and fulfill my duties.”  

Zhao Yunyun twitched her lips. “Are you serious?”  

Zhao Ke held back a laugh to keep her strength while pulling up the bucket.  

“Aha! You were messing with me!” Zhao Yunyun put her hands on her hips, fuming. “And I actually believed you!”  

Zhao Ke set the bucket down and chuckled. “It’s for a good purpose. I’ve been busy, and I figured you’re experienced, meticulous with details, so I thought I’d ask for your help.”  

Zhao Yunyun puffed up proudly. “If you need my help, just ask properly. Do you think I wouldn’t help you?”  

Zhao Ke had no problem lowering her stance and sweetly coaxed, “Yunyun Jie, will you help me paste the newspapers?”  

She called me ‘Jie’~  

Zhao Yunyun instantly felt a wave of satisfaction and practically radiated joy. She agreed readily, “Alright, leave it to me!”

“How about… you help me draw the map too?”  

Zhao Yunyun patted her chest. “Hey—no problem, I’ll take care of it for you.”  

Zhao Ke looked at her sincerely. “Thanks, Yunyun Jie.”  

Oh wow, she called me that again…  

Feeling pleased, Zhao Yunyun immediately turned and headed into the office to grab the newspapers to take home for pasting.  

Zhao Ke sat by the well, resting her hand on the windlass handle, watching Yunyun’s retreating figure with a big smile.  

·  

With everyone working efficiently, the task Zhao Ke had estimated would take a full day was completed in just over half. They even managed to clean up the warehouse thoroughly.  

She gathered the five pig caretakers for a brief meeting to assign their upcoming tasks—mainly preparing feed for the pigs.  

Fresh grass needed to be cut daily. Straw could be pre-chopped with a cutter and stored. Since the village couldn’t afford to feed the pigs grain, they could supplement with earthworms, insects, and small fish—dried, ground into powder, and mixed into coarse feed.  

The brigade had already instructed the entire village to bring their household food scraps to the pig farm.  

Zhao Ke reminded the five caretakers, “Right now, the grass is easy to cut, and the piglets are still small, so they don’t eat much. Train them to eat at set times so you won’t have to watch over the pen all day. But there’s still plenty of work. Winter is harsh—try to stockpile enough feed for the season so the pigs don’t lose weight when it’s cold.”  

They had already been trained, so all five caretakers understood.  

Zhao Ke temporarily appointed Aunt Zhu, the oldest among them, as the team leader. “I’ll regularly check on the piglets’ growth and the feed storage progress, but most of the time, Da Niang, you’ll be responsible for organizing everyone.”  

Aunt Zhu readily agreed.  

Zhao Ke had them set up their own feeding shifts, then dismissed everyone except Zhao Pingping.  

“Ping Jie, I’ve been so busy lately—I just heard from Er Nai that you got introduced to someone. How’s that going?”  

Zhao Pingping replied, “I haven’t even thanked you yet.”  

“Thank me for what?”  

“I heard all about it—Er Nai and the others thought I’d be marrying out of the village and didn’t want me taking this caretaker job. But you made the final decision.”  

Zhao Ke shook her head. “I’ve always said we follow the rules. According to the criteria we set, you were eligible, so you got the job.”  

“That’s because you insisted. If it were someone else…” Zhao Pingping trailed off, then changed the subject. “Honestly, I’d rather stay in our village and continue working at the pig farm. But my mom says there aren’t any good young men here my age, so she’s pushing me to meet this guy.”  

Zhao Pingping was the same age as Zhao Mian—twenty-one.  

Their village had many people with the surname Zhao, but there weren’t many young men her age. If none of them were suitable, the only option was to look outside the village.  

But most of the time, it was a complete shot in the dark—everyone relied on matchmakers, which wasn’t much better than blind marriages.  

Only if the matchmaker was reliable did one have a better chance of finding a good match.  

Zhao Ke asked, “Was it Wu Nai who introduced him?”  

Zhao Pingping nodded. “Wu Nai said she carefully checked this time—he’s honest and hardworking, and his family is decent, so she introduced him to me.”  

“Do you like him?”  

Zhao Pingping blushed a little. “What’s this talk about liking or not liking? We barely know each other.”  

Seeing her expression, Zhao Ke understood—at least she didn’t dislike him.  

“Ping Jie, what’s his family situation like? If he’s not the eldest son, he could move to our brigade.”  

Zhao Pingping hesitated. “Wouldn’t that be considered marrying into my family?”  

“That would mean your children take your surname. You don’t have that requirement, right? You can just be upfront—tell them you don’t want to give up your work points and the collective pig farm dividends. Let them weigh their options.”  

“Then…” Zhao Pingping pondered for a moment. “If he moves to our production team, would he get a share of the pig farm dividends?”  

Zhao Ke said, “Not from this batch of pigs, but he could from the next one.”  

For this round, the earnings had already been allocated. But by the next batch, if no additional collective funds were invested, the dividends per person would likely remain the same or even increase. Whether one more person—or even a few more—joined wouldn’t really matter.  

What mattered was labor.  

If the village wanted to grow, having more laborers was never a bad thing.

Zhao Pingping bit her lip, then shook her head. “Once I’m married, I can’t keep living at my parents’ house. His family probably doesn’t have money to build us a new home.”

“Ping Jie, you could use your work points and dividends to convince Sixth Uncle and Sixth Aunt to let you stay longer and take more time to see how things go.”

Zhao Pingping found that reasonable. “I’ll go home and discuss it with my parents.”

After sending her off, Zhao Ke checked on Pan Cuilian and Zhao Yunyun’s progress before heading to the old locust tree.

The pig farm would be finished in another seven or eight days. After drying for two or three days, the piglets could move in.

Zhao Ke walked around the old locust tree.

This open space, right at the village entrance, was about a hundred square meters. Beyond it lay a large stretch of wasteland. Originally, it was a long, deep ditch where villagers dumped useless garbage. In summer, when water accumulated, the stench became unbearable, and mosquitoes swarmed.

With the pig farm nearby, this place would only get worse. Women sitting here sewing soles? They’d basically be donating blood to mosquitoes.

Zhao Ke’s gaze shifted to the dirt excavated for the pig pens. Maybe… they could fill it in?

“That’s nonsense.”

With the pigsty cleaned daily and the courtyard fresh again, Zhao Xinshan and the other two had returned to their usual spot under the eaves, smoking and drinking water.

Tapping the table with his fingers, Zhao Xinshan dismissed the idea. “That little bit of dirt isn’t nearly enough to fill the ditch. And who’s going to do all that work? You can’t just throw out ideas on a whim.”

Zhao Ke argued, “Right now, everyone’s motivated from building the pig pens. If we organize the labor properly, the work will go fast.”

“Labor needs a clear goal, clear results, and clear rewards. That’s what keeps people motivated. Why should they fill in a ditch? What’s the benefit?”

“The land near the pigsty will be fertile after a few years. We can grow anything there. Plus, once it’s leveled, it’ll look much better.”

The three men were speechless.

Who cares about looks?

Even Accountant Niu didn’t support Zhao Ke this time. “Zhao Ke, we’re already composting the pig manure. Even if the land does become fertile, that’s far off in the future. We can’t waste labor on this.”

Zhao Xinshan was firm. “Just like Accountant Niu said, we can’t waste labor. If you want to channel the villagers’ enthusiasm, fine—find them something useful to do. But filling in a ditch isn’t it.”

Zhao Ke: “Really not an option?”

“No.”

Zhao Xinshan picked up his tea mug, determined to ignore her no matter what else she said.

But Zhao Ke simply switched gears without hesitation, grinning. “Then let’s collectively repair houses.”

The three men were caught off guard, staring at her blankly.

Zhao Ke picked up the kettle and refilled their mugs. “House repairs are important, right? The rainy season’s coming. Every year, some houses start leaking. We might as well fix them now.”

Zhao Xinshan frowned, lifting his tea too fast and burning his lip.

Deputy Team Leader Xu looked disapproving. “You’re the Women’s Director. Just focus on women’s affairs. Why meddle in village matters?”

Zhao Ke innocently replied, “That’s why I came to ask the team leader. I didn’t decide on my own.”

Zhao Xinshan put down his mug. “House repairs are important. The team can remind everyone and lead by example. If villagers want to join forces, they can. If not, they don’t have to.”

Zhao Ke obediently nodded. “Just as the team leader says. I have no objections.”

Deputy Team Leader Xu, annoyed by her feigned meekness, averted his gaze.

Zhao Ke, unfazed, returned to the office, flipped open her messy map, and cheerfully checked off [Rainproofing and House Repairs].

Altering the novel’s plot? Not so hard after all.

Fix the houses, weather the storm—this time, their village’s losses would be much smaller.

And that meant the women of Zhao Village, as part of the production team, would have a lighter burden.

Who said she was meddling?

She was an excellent Women’s Director!

She snapped the notebook shut, praising herself: Director Zhao, outstanding!