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墨書 Inktalez
The time had come for the fifteenth day of the Lunar August, coinciding with the National Day holiday. Schools in Annan County had given students an Autumn Break to harvest corn and beans, followed by plowing the fields for winter wheat.
In Hu Jia Zhuang Village, Zhao Manyin's family owned a hand-pulled tractor, while the Yongshun family on the back street and the Red Flag family on the front street had tractors as well. However, only Hu Ruoyun's family in the middle street was fully equipped with a harvester, plow, and trailer.
Since finishing the wheat harvest around the Dragon Boat Festival, Hu Ruoyun's father and Second Uncle had been working tirelessly to deliver bricks and tiles to the township's brick factory. With hard work, he could earn about 10 to 15 yuan a day. Aside from spraying pesticides and watering the fields, he couldn't afford to waste a single day.
In just three months, they had managed to save nearly 1,000 yuan! As autumn approached, although he was reluctant to stop hauling bricks and tiles, the brick factory also closed for the holiday.
Life had turned out better than Hu Qihua and Hu Zhenhua had ever imagined! With a renewed spirit, the two brothers swung their hoes to chop corn stalks as if they didn't feel tired at all.
To prepare for the Mid-Autumn Festival and to keep up with their work, both families went to Lao Gu Market and bought ten jin of pork. They split it in half, sending one portion to their children's grandmother and keeping the other half for themselves. The fatty meat was rendered into lard for storage, while the lean meat was stir-fried with loofah, winter melon, radish, and cabbage—delicious!
With their spirits lifted, their work became more efficient. The two families worked together; mothers and Second Aunt took care of younger siblings Xiao Hu and Xiao Feng along with Second Uncle's cousin Shangyun and younger cousin Shuangyun who helped with harvesting corn. Meanwhile, Hu Ruoyun and his father worked alongside Second Uncle chopping corn stalks.
Chopping corn stalks was particularly exhausting; by day's end, their palms were blistered and sore. Fortunately, this year Hu Ruoyun had bought over ten pairs of protective gloves from the local supply store—something he hadn't been willing to do in previous years—which made things much easier.
Brother Jie came to help; not just him but also Sister Jie’s brother and younger brother joined in. With three strong hands added to their efforts, both families found their workload significantly lighter.
At this busy time of year, Hu Qihua and Hu Zhenhua had to stop Brother Jie from overworking. Brother Jie said, “You two uncles, we’re not working for free! Once we finish our two families’ work, you both will need to help us plow our fields with our iron tools!”
What else could they say? They got back to work! Everyone understood that this wasn’t just about exchanging labor; it was about building goodwill.
For lunch, they had pork stew with winter melon served with steamed buns—plenty for everyone. Sister Jie hesitated to come over with her three children, so Second Aunt brought a full basin of food over to save her the trouble.
For dinner, they lit up the stove and simmered freshly ground wheat kernels in a large pot. After half an hour of cooking with buns on top, the aroma filled the air; the buns were soft and steaming hot while meat slices were stewed with cabbage and vermicelli in another pot placed in the center of the table.
Everyone enjoyed a lively meal together.
While other families were still busy chopping corn stalks, Hu Ruoyun's family had already begun plowing their fields.
The iron plowshares were mounted at the center of the hand-pulled tractor and could be adjusted freely during operation using a lever.
With two plowshares working together, they were twice as efficient as a single share. The power from their 12-horsepower diesel engine surpassed that of three draft animals and could plow deeper than traditional walking plows.
By day's end, Hu Ruoyun's family along with Hu Zhenhua’s had finished plowing their fields and weeding them out next; then it would be Brother Jie's family’s turn followed by Sister Jie’s maternal family.
The Woodzi family had three sons. The eldest, Wu Mingyang, was twenty years old and was set to marry this Spring Festival. The second son, Wu Minghui, was eighteen and had also arranged a marriage with a girl from Gedaying. The youngest, Wu Mingliang, was a year older than Hu Ruoyun and attended high school in Qizhong, Annan County, where he was in the same grade as Hu Ruoyun. It was said that his academic performance was average.
Although the Woodzi couple were not particularly virtuous, their three children were quite sensible. During this holiday, Wu Mingliang and Hu Ruoyun chatted about their respective schools.
Qizhong in Annan County was located in Qiliying Township. Although it was generally better than Eight Middle School in Annan County, it still fell short compared to high schools in the county town in terms of teaching quality and facilities. Additionally, it was rumored that Qiliying Township had been home to notorious bandits before liberation, and even today, the local children had a fierce reputation. They often bullied students from other towns, feeling superior on their own turf.
Hu Ruoyun asked Wu Mingliang, “Have you ever been bullied?”
Wu Mingliang's face turned red. “In my first and second years of high school, I was often asked for meal tickets by local students. Now that I’m in my third year and know more people, it’s mostly stopped. But first and second-year students still get bullied regularly.”
Hu Ruoyun pressed on, “Don’t the teachers or the school do anything about it?”
Wu Mingliang sighed helplessly. “If someone reports it to the teachers, those students will have local tough guys retaliate…”
He then asked Hu Ruoyun, “Last year when you were a freshman, didn’t anyone bully you?”
Hu Ruoyun knew that similar situations existed at Eight Middle School in Annan County. However, during the opening ceremony, he had showcased a set of martial arts that impressed many people. Later on, when his work caused a stir and the police came to the school without taking any action against him, the local bullies didn’t dare to provoke him easily. In fact, a group of troublemakers led by Hu Jiakai from Gaoqiao Town even tried to befriend him.
In his envisioned future, Hu Ruoyun had seen plenty of news about school bullying and societal oppression. He understood that some things couldn’t be avoided; one could only strive to become stronger or rely on those who were strong.
Nothing could stop the desire to earn money. After finishing the farm work at home, Hu Qihua thought about checking if the brick factory in Township had started operations yet. However, before he could leave, Hu Ruoyun's second uncle arrived: “Brother, the brick factory hasn’t opened yet… Ding Shunhe from the back street wants us to plow his land. He said he checked around and found out that the Farm Machinery Station also has machines for plowing like ours. He’ll pay us 18 yuan per mu!”
What else was there to say? They got to work!
Ding Shunhe had five and a half mu of land and paid them 90 yuan in total; after deducting fuel costs, they made over seventy yuan!
With one job completed, more followed—Chen Shengwei’s six mu from the back street and Hu Qiusheng’s four and a half mu from the middle street…
By the time they finished plowing and sowing wheat, the two brothers tallied up their earnings: within less than a month, their gross income had reached nearly three thousand yuan (at this time, they hadn’t yet considered labor costs or equipment wear)!
The brothers dreamed about what next year’s harvest season would look like.
Only Hu Ruoyun understood that in the days to come, as people realized how convenient tractors were and as life improved, there would be more tractors in the village.
To make money, they needed to change their mindset and approach.
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