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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 Hujiazhuang 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 had managed to equip themselves with a harvester, plow, and trailer all at once.
Since finishing the wheat harvest around the Dragon Boat Festival, Hu Ruoyun's father and Second Uncle had been working tirelessly, delivering bricks 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, they couldn't afford to waste a single day.
In these three months, their family had saved nearly 1,000 yuan! As autumn approached, although they were reluctant to stop hauling bricks, the brick factory had also shut down for the holiday.
Life had taken an unexpected turn for brothers Hu Qihua and Hu Zhenhua; they never imagined they would reach this point. With a renewed spirit came boundless energy, and the brothers swung their hoes to chop down corn stalks as if they were unaware of fatigue.
To prepare for the harvest and celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, both families went to Lao Gu Market and bought ten jin of pork, splitting it in half—one portion sent to their children's grandmother and grandfather's house while keeping the other half for themselves. The fatty meat was rendered into lard for storage, and when stir-fried with loofah, winter melon, radish, and cabbage, it was simply delicious.
With spirits high, work was done efficiently. 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 to gather corn while Hu Ruoyun and his father along with Second Uncle used hoes to chop corn stalks.
Among these tasks, chopping corn stalks was the most labor-intensive. By day's end, their palms were blistered and sore from the effort. Fortunately, this year Hu Ruoyun had bought over ten pairs of protective gloves from the supply cooperative—something he hadn’t been willing to do in previous years—which made things much better.
Brother Jie came to help out; not just him but also Sister Jie along with her brother and younger brother joined in. With three extra strong hands on board, work became significantly easier for both families.
At this busy time of year, Hu Qihua and Hu Zhenhua had to remind Brother Jie that they weren’t working for free. Brother Jie replied, “You two uncles, we’re not just working for nothing! Once we finish our two families’ work, you both still need to help us plow our fields with our iron tools!”
What could they say? They just got on with it! Everyone understood that this wasn’t merely a labor exchange; it was about building goodwill.
For lunch, there was stewed pork with winter melon served alongside steamed buns—a satisfying meal. Sister Jie hesitated to come over with her three children; Second Aunt brought over a full basin of food in an enamel bowl so she wouldn’t have to fuss about it again.
For dinner, they lit up the firewood stove and simmered freshly ground wheat kernels in a large pot. After half an hour of cooking with buns on top, the aroma of wheat wafted through the air. The buns were soft and steaming hot while in another pot meat was stewed with cabbage and vermicelli served in a large basin at the center of the table.
Everyone enjoyed their meal together amidst laughter and chatter.
While other families were still finishing their corn stalks, Hu Ruoyun's land was already being plowed. The iron plowshares were mounted at the center of the hand-pulled tractor and could be adjusted freely during operation using a lever.
With double plowshares working together, their efficiency doubled compared to single ones. The 12-horsepower diesel engine was more powerful than three oxen combined and could plow deeper than traditional walking plows.
By day’s end, Hu Ruoyun’s and Hu Zhenhua’s fields were fully plowed and weeded; next up were Brother Jie’s family’s fields as well as Sister Jie’s maternal family’s land.
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 the Seventh High School in Annan County, sharing the same grade as Hu Ruoyun, although it was said that his academic performance was average.
Despite the Woodzi couple's questionable character, their three children were quite sensible. During this holiday, Wu Mingliang and Hu Ruoyun caught up and chatted about their respective schools.
Seventh High School in Annan County was located in Qiliying Township. Although it was generally better than Eight Middle School in Annan County, it still lagged behind high schools in the county town in terms of faculty and facilities. Additionally, it was rumored that Qiliying Township had produced notorious bandits before liberation, and even today, the local customs were quite fierce. Children from nearby villages often bullied students from other towns, feeling entitled on their own turf.
Hu Ruoyun asked Wu Mingliang, “Have you ever been bullied?”
Wu Mingliang's face flushed red. “In my first two years of high school, local students often demanded meal tickets from me. 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?”
With a helpless sigh, Wu Mingliang replied, “If anyone reports to the teachers, those students will have local toughs retaliate…”
He then asked Hu Ruoyun, “When you were a freshman last year, 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 stood up and showcased his martial arts skills, impressing many. Later on, after making a name for himself with his work that caught attention from the police station without any repercussions for him, local troublemakers didn’t dare to provoke him easily. In fact, a group of mischievous kids led by Hu Jiakai from West Street in Gaoqiao Town even tried to befriend him.
In his envisioned future, even if Hu Ruoyun hadn’t experienced it firsthand, he 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 quench the thirst for making money. After finishing the farm work at home, Hu Qihua thought about checking on the Brick Factory in the Township to see if it had started operations yet. However, before he could leave the house, 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 charges for plowing like we do—eighteen yuan per mu—and he’ll pay us that too!”
What else was there to say? They got to work!
Ding Shunhe had five and a half mu of land and paid them ninety yuan in total. After deducting diesel costs, they made over seventy yuan profit!
With one job completed successfully, 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 sowed wheat seeds in the fields, the two brothers tallied their earnings. In less than a month, their gross income approached three thousand yuan (at this time without considering labor costs or equipment depreciation)!
The brothers dreamed about what this time next year would look like.
Only Hu Ruoyun understood that in the days to come, as people witnessed the convenience of tractors and life improved overall, there would be more tractors in their village.
To make money, they needed to change their mindset and approach.
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