Su Xiangwan confidently said, “Of course it’s possible. Hurry up and go.”

Li Chengze’s face turned red. He smiled, revealing a row of perfectly straight teeth.

…

Next to the county committee office was the reservoir command center, and the Women’s Federation office was next door to the county committee.

As Su Xiangwan passed by the command center, she suddenly remembered that Song Qingshan hadn’t returned the night before.

In the yard of the command center, a group of female soldiers were running, though she hadn’t noticed when they had arrived.

“When did our county’s engineering regiment get female soldiers?” Su Xiangwan asked when she saw Officer Chen from the Women’s Federation also watching.

Officer Chen replied, “I heard they’re from the cultural troupe, came here for a performance, but somehow they ended up training the soldiers at the reservoir.”

Su Xiangwan quickly finished the last bit of her fried dough stick and squeezed into the crowd to see what was going on.

The young women from the cultural troupe had clearly been running for a while.

Their makeup was smudged, their faces flushed, and the neat braids they’d done earlier were now completely undone, tangled and messy.

And there, at the front, was Song Qingshan.

“Commander Song, we really can’t run anymore,” one of the female soldiers gasped, unable to keep going.

Liu Minli, the troupe leader, was also at the front, panting heavily.

However, she showed one thing—she never gave up.

Sweating profusely, her hair was a mess, her legs wobbly, but she kept running.

The political commissar and deputy political commissar of the regiment were also running alongside them.

“Are you still soldiers? Do you know where our County Mayor Li served in the military? Do you know that back then, he climbed walls and overcame obstacles just like the male soldiers? Get moving!” Chen Aidan shouted, “If you don’t faint, don’t stop! You came here to perform, right? Well, this is the kind of performance we need, so keep running!”

“We’re cultural soldiers!” one of the women shouted.

Chen Aidan pointed directly at her and said, “A cultural soldier is still a soldier. If you don’t run, I’ll report you and have you expelled from the Party and the army!”

The girls from the cultural troupe, none older than eighteen, were scared stiff at the harsh words from a rough, forty-something man. One of them collapsed in fear, sitting on the ground.

Liu Minli ran over and pulled her up, saying, “Run! Why aren’t you running? We’re from the cultural troupe, we can’t let these people look down on us.”

Su Xiangwan, seeing Liu Minli running well, couldn’t help but give her a bit of respect, though she hadn’t thought much of her before.

It seemed like they had been running for at least two hours, and the fact that Liu Minli could still go on proved she wasn’t one to back down.

At that moment, Song Qingshan broke off from the group and ran toward Su Xiangwan.

“Didn’t I tell you to investigate the spy case? Have you made any progress, or are you just helping the little girls with their exercises?” Su Xiangwan asked.

Song Qingshan was on his way to a meeting at the county committee and didn’t have time to chat. He just asked, “Are you sure Liu Minli would like someone like me?”

“Probably,” Su Xiangwan replied.

Song Qingshan ran back to the group and loudly called, “Another ten laps before stopping! Keep going!” As he turned to leave, he quickly added, “Not anymore.”

He waved his hand and ran toward the county committee.

Su Xiangwan thought to herself, Now that’s a mysterious confidence. But if Liu Minli really likes a guy like him, that would be a strange thing.

She wasn’t one to sit idle. She had been the same in her past life, and she was still the same in this one.

Right now, she was working to get the county committee to approve three more public kindergartens.

There was a large group of children in the city around the age of Zhi Zhi, and many of them were just staying at home.

In her previous life, children that age could already go to school.

When children could go to school, it would free up stay-at-home mothers, and those mothers would be able to contribute to society and create wealth.

Of course, once the three kindergartens were built, the county would gain several hundred women workers, and Su Xiangwan had already planned how to make money from that.

Making money legally in such a tightly regulated environment was not easy, but Su Xiangwan wanted to give it a try.

So, today, after County Mayor Li Yifan finished his work, she planned to discuss the kindergarten project with him.

Director Liu Tang had already come to accept Su Xiangwan’s competence and efficiency.

After all, any accomplishments would be credited to him, so he was happy to be a hands-off leader.

He had just lit a cigarette, preparing to smoke, when he noticed Su Xiangwan frowning and hurriedly put it out.

He knew that to keep his capable subordinate working well, it was necessary to make things a little more comfortable for her.

However, what Su Xiangwan didn’t expect was that, after she had given Liu Minli a stern warning yesterday and thought she could take a break while Song Qingshan and Song Tingxiu investigated her, Liu Minli would come up with something again today.

Of course, Liu Zaiye didn’t dig up any gold. Instead, he unearthed a grenade, and it exploded.

The explosion injured two of his key subordinates.

One can imagine how furious Liu Zaiye was in Qinzhou at that moment.

A phone call to the county guesthouse was made, and he immediately told Liu Minli to deal with Li Chengze.

Liu Minli had just woken up, and she had been sent to run drills with the women soldiers of the 307th Regiment at the reservoir.

Afterward, the entire regiment’s women were all limping back, some lying in the guesthouse, yelling in pain.

They cursed Song Qingshan, calling him a miser and a tyrant.

Liu Minli had come to Qing County with high hopes.

First, she wanted to win over Li Chengze, and second, she wanted a romantic encounter with Song Qingshan.

But after being turned away by Li Yifan and then forced to run drills by Song Qingshan first thing in the morning, her feet were sore and blistered.

When she got back to the guesthouse and received the news that her brother had nearly been blown up, she was absolutely furious.

She stormed into the school and immediately gave Li Chengze a severe reprimand.

“Do you all know? This kid, Song Chengze, in your class—he’s a thief, a robber! This belt he’s wearing, he stole it from me! And it’s not just the belt—he’s stolen my biscuits, White Rabbit candies, and plenty more!” Liu Minli yelled in front of the entire first-year class and the teacher who was in the middle of the lesson.

She yanked the belt straight off Li Chengze’s waist.

“Stealing belts as a child—what’s next when he grows up? Robbing a bank?” Liu Minli pointed at Li Chengze and declared, “He’s a thief, always a thief.”

With that, she stormed off in a huff.

The entire class of first-year students burst into an uproar, and even the teacher was so shocked that their glasses nearly fell off their nose.

Later, when Su Xiangwan went to pick up her kids in the evening, she saw Li Chengze standing listlessly at the school gate, holding up his pants with his hands.

“Did you hear? That kid’s a thief. Of all things to steal, he stole a belt! It’s ridiculous. He had to hold up his pants with his hands all day,” one student whispered.

Another added, “Yeah, imagine getting your belt pulled off in class—it’s beyond embarrassing.”

Li Chengze clutched his pants tightly, his expression stubborn as ever.

When someone slapped him on the back, he spun around, ready to grab the offender, but the classmate ran away quickly.

Li Chengze didn’t dare chase after them for fear his pants might fall down, so he stood there, angry and helpless.

Su Xiangwan didn’t ask Li Chengze directly what had happened.

Instead, she pulled aside one of his classmates to find out.

Only then did she learn about Liu Minli pulling off his belt in public.

Seeing the little troublemaker looking so dejected and defeated, Su Xiangwan couldn’t help but find the situation amusing.

Well, perhaps this time, the proud troublemaker had learned that there’s no such thing as a free lunch.

Without saying much, Su Xiangwan went to the supply store, where she spent her last two five-yuan ration tickets for the month to buy two small children’s belts.

“Two belts? That’s ten yuan! Deputy Director Su, you’re quite generous,” the store clerk remarked with admiration. “If it were me, I wouldn’t spend five yuan at once on something like this.”

Su Xiangwan handed over the tickets and silently calculated in her head.

She’d have to stretch her toothpaste, laundry detergent, and soap supplies for the rest of the month.

When she left the supply store, she saw Li Chengze still walking slowly down the road.

Normally, Li Chengze was the first to leave school and would go to the elementary school to pick up the younger two kids.

But today, the younger ones had waited in vain for their older brother and had run to the middle school gate, where they finally saw him holding up his pants.

Lu Dan, ever the generous one, immediately offered his own belt. “Brother, we didn’t steal it, so there’s nothing to be ashamed of. Don’t let this bother you, okay?”

Li Chengze refused Lu Dan’s belt and continued to clutch his pants. “I’m fine. Really, I’m fine.”

Even though his heart was heavy, and he felt terrible, he wouldn’t let go of his big-brother image.

Su Xiangwan caught up with them and asked, “Song Xiling, Song Chengze, do you both need belts?”

Gou Dan, hearing his mother’s voice, quickly turned around. “Mom, our family’s poor, and we can’t afford belts. I don’t need one, really.”

Li Chengze, embarrassed by the situation, said nothing.

He simply pressed his lips together and leaned against the wall, trying to make himself as inconspicuous as possible.

“I bought a new belt for Gou Dan today,” Su Xiangwan said, “but from now on, Gou Dan has to feed the five chickens at home every day—and clean up the chicken poop, too.”

A new belt?

Gou Dan, the only one in the family without a belt, was overjoyed. “Really, Mom?”

The belt was a child’s size, brown, and probably made of real leather given the current manufacturing standards.

Su Xiangwan pulled it out of her canvas bag and handed it to Gou Dan.

Excitedly, Gou Dan took the belt and tried to fasten it around his waist, but his nervous hands couldn’t manage the buckle.

It was Lu Dan who helped him fasten it, pulling his pants up high so that they covered his belly, just like how leaders in portraits looked.

The two brothers stood there, looking equally majestic.

Li Chengze’s head drooped even lower.

At this moment, all his pride and self-esteem in this small county had been stripped away.

But just then, a belt swung in front of him.

It was the children’s version, identical to the one he had bought from the black market.

Instinctively, Li Chengze resisted and refused to take it.

Su Xiangwan took the belt back and asked him, “Did you just give up after being humiliated?”

Li Chengze, looking just like Lu Dan from before, pushed the belt away. “Forget it, Aunt Su. Starting tomorrow, I’m not going to school anymore. I’ll just stay home and take care of Zhizi.”

Having been publicly branded a thief, the boy felt that he’d never escape that label in his life.

He didn’t see any point in studying anymore; he just wanted to stay home and be a babysitter for Zizi.

“That’s not an option,” Su Xiangwan said firmly. “If you’re going to cause trouble, you have to see it through. Besides, you didn’t steal anything. Why should you bear the name of a thief?”

Li Chengze looked up at Su Xiangwan in disbelief.

He knew clearly that he had earned the money for the belt through his drawings. But with just one accusation from Liu Minli, he was condemned as a thief.

As a child, he couldn’t imagine how he could clear his name and seek justice.

“Put it on. I’ll take care of today’s matter for you,” Su Xiangwan said.

Li Chengze took the belt and looked up at Su Xiangwan, asking, “Why, Mom?”

“Because you call me ‘Mom,’ and also because I’m the kind of person who always protects the ones I care about,” Su Xiangwan said.

Li Chengze, being a little older and more understanding, was still quite worried: “It seems like the big uncle hasn’t clearly confirmed whether she’s a spy. If she’s really someone who’s both red and expert, and has a strong background, we can’t afford to mess with her. Mom, maybe we should just let it go.”

For the sake of having a home, Li Chengze didn’t mind putting up with a lot of hardships.

As long as he could come home and see his little sister, Zhi Zhi, and his two stinky brothers, he felt that he could endure any hardship and bear any grievance.

“No matter if she’s red and expert or a spy, once she comes to Qing County, she’ll have no other choice but to do charity work,” Su Xiangwan said.

Indeed, Su Xiangwan hadn’t yet received a definite response from Song Qingshan regarding Liu Minli’s preparations.

However, when it came to bullying children, Su Xiangwan simply couldn’t tolerate it.

As for Liu Zaiye and the rest, well, as long as they came to the county, they might as well engage in charity work.

After all, she worked in the Women’s Federation, and what was most needed there were donations, efforts, and the deeds of a great philanthropist.