Zhuang Jiaxiong got off the *kang* [heated brick bed], put on his shoes, and walked around the open space outside the meeting room. However, after being on the *kang*, the overwhelming urge to just lie down and sleep grew stronger, and he yawned several times in a row. But the winter outside the pass was no joke; after a few yawns, a huge shiver ran through him. Zhuang Jiaxiong felt his sleepiness vanish completely, and his mind cleared up.

Returning indoors, he didn't dare get on the *kang* again. Zhuang Jiaxiong pulled a stool and sat by the edge of the *kang*, leaning his feet against the warm side, feeling both warm and alert.

The town's Tax and Commerce Officer, Han Haitao, kept a straight face as he asked the village cadres subordinate to the town, "Apart from the two villages that signed up, are the other villages really not going to make collar badges?"

The village cadres all looked troubled. At this time, one person spoke up: "My wife is willing to do it; give my family some."

"Captain Li, is anyone from your wife's maiden family willing to do it together? Just one person is enough," Han Haitao asked.

Militia Captain Li Zhengqing agreed immediately. "If you only need one person, I can find one."

Zhuang Jiaxiong listened quietly while observing the other village cadres. As a Southerner, even after studying at the Tangshan Railway Academy for three years, he couldn't adapt to the local accent completely right after arriving outside the pass. Moreover, there were still things Zhuang Jiaxiong didn't understand. The government's subcontracting of collar badges to the villages this time was stated clearly and plainly: grain would be given as remuneration according to quantity.

Making collar badges wasn't difficult. Zhuang Jiaxiong originally thought the cadres would eagerly compete for the quota. However, the scene before him was that the villages outside the pass had no enthusiasm at all, making excuses to avoid it. Did they think the pay for sewing collar badges was too low?

Facing such indifference, Officer Han Haitao didn't force it, only asking the cadres of the three villages to implement the agreement quickly.

When the meeting ended, Zhuang Jiaxiong found an opportunity to chat with Han Haitao and voiced his doubts.

Han Haitao didn't answer immediately. He asked with a smile, "Comrade Zhuang, listening to your accent, are you from Fujian?"

"You can hear it?" Zhuang Jiaxiong was delighted. Northerners didn't know much about the South; knowing he was from Fujian just by listening to his accent showed that this Officer Han was quite knowledgeable.

After chatting for a few more sentences and learning that Officer Han used to run a teahouse business and came to Siping from the capital, Zhuang Jiaxiong understood the reason. He praised, "Which street is Officer Han's teahouse on in Siping? I must go for a cup of tea when I return to Siping. To be honest with Officer Han, my family grows tea in Fujian; I don't know where the teahouses in Siping get their tea from."

"Hehe, since I decided to follow Governor He, I closed the teahouse. The house has been lent to the government as a police substation."

Zhuang Jiaxiong knew the Siping government required public servants not to engage in business, but he didn't expect Officer Han to be so free and easy. Just as he wanted to praise him, he heard Officer Han Haitao say, "Comrade Zhuang, you asked earlier why the villagers didn't fight to make collar badges. It's not that the villagers don't want to make money, but that they are afraid the government wants to levy forced contributions, so they dare not participate in these things."

Zhuang Jiaxiong understood the meaning of a levy, but became even more puzzled. "The government distributed land to the villagers; do the villagers still not trust the government?"

"I originally thought so too. After asking the cadres and villagers, I learned that this is *our* way of thinking. The villagers feel that the government distributed land and standardized taxes. Since everyone has already received such big benefits, the government must definitely want to extract benefits from the villagers."

"Hehe." Zhuang Jiaxiong was amused. Laughing only once, Zhuang Jiaxiong couldn't laugh anymore, feeling a burst of unease in his heart.

But he heard Han Haitao laugh. "The previous government was like this; the common people weren't wrong to think so. Mayor Wu told the town that we only need to do our own work well, and the common people will gradually understand that the government in Siping has changed. Comrade Zhuang, you escort the grain to the villages under the town. When you get there, you don't need to make the villagers trust the government; just ensure the villagers know the rules set by the government now."

Zhuang Jiaxiong didn't expect Han Haitao to be so broad-minded and couldn't help asking, "Really no need?"

On the way to escort the grain to the countryside, Zhuang Jiaxiong thought about this matter all the way; even the snow scene couldn't arouse his interest anymore. Before this trip, his classmate Wu Youping hadn't mentioned the issue of villagers distrusting the government in the villages and towns, which made Zhuang Jiaxiong a bit annoyed.

The road on a snowy day wasn't easy to walk. Zhuang Jiaxiong got more and more tired as he walked. Looking around, there was nothing but white snow. Apart from the sun in the sky providing direction and the road with wheel tracks and footprints proving someone had passed, he actually had no idea where he was.

The small squad traveled through this vast snowy plain. Zhuang Jiaxiong was already very careful, yet he still slipped and fell several times. Now, the unhappiness in his heart faded more and more, and new thoughts gradually emerged. Living in such a place, how could one not be cautious, and how could one blame others for being too cautious?

When the squad arrived at the destination, Zhuang Jiaxiong couldn't help but stop being dissatisfied with the villagers' choice, and even began to understand his classmate Wu Youping's thoughts. Some things can only be known through personal experience. Just like this time, if Wu Youping had criticized the villagers right from the start, Zhuang Jiaxiong would only have considered how unreliable the villagers were and probably wouldn't have his current mood.

At night, everyone stayed at Village Head Zhang Qingshan's house. Zhang Qingshan enthusiastically asked when the training class would be held. Zhuang Jiaxiong knew nothing about this, so he listened attentively and gradually got the gist of it.

In the past, for spring plowing, each family prepared the crops they wanted to plant and arranged their own farm work. Now after land distribution, the Village Heads had to prepare for farming before spring plowing, holding a spring plowing mobilization meeting to let everyone start spring plowing work as early as possible.

Besides this, there were water conservancy, seed arrangements, and other related village work. Just listening made Zhuang Jiaxiong, who had no farming experience, feel that the rural area outside the pass wasn't simply vast land with few people.

The next morning, the Village Head gathered the villagers together. Zhang Qingshan jumped onto the earthen platform in the village and shouted loudly, "Folks, I ask you one more time today: do the women in your families want to make collar badges? Don't talk nonsense, just be straightforward. Those willing to do it, come forward."

The villagers seemed to have made up their minds long ago; not a single person moved. Zhang Qingshan sighed. "Alas, such a good thing, why is everyone unwilling to do it? Since everyone won't do it, only Brother Li Zhengqing's wife is willing to make collar badges in our village. We said before, twenty collar badges for one *jin* of grain. Sister Li, how many can you make in half a month?"

A middle-aged woman wearing a heavy old cotton jacket and a headscarf walked out of the ranks and answered crisply, "Three hundred."

Zhang Qingshan uncovered the sackcloth beside him, revealing the yellow-orange corn grits inside. He ordered the cadre beside him, "Bring the measure; weigh 15 *jin* of corn grits for Sister Li."

The corn grits were put into a bag. Zhang Qingshan took three rolls of cloth and a box of needles and thread, but didn't hand them to Li Zhengqing's wife immediately. Instead, he said loudly, "Sister, I ask again. Can you make them according to the appearance of the collar badge? If the collar badges made are different from the sample, or if something happens and the collar badges aren't finished, I'll have to go to your house to take the corn grits back. As for the cloth and thread given, I'll have to deduct it from the wages the government gives Captain Li. Don't say then that I didn't make it clear at the beginning and cheated you instead."

Sister Li laughed heartily. "Qingshan, you just talk too much. Afraid of this, afraid of that. If you are really afraid, you should be afraid of something else."

Zhang Qingshan laughed. "What do you think I should be afraid of?"

"You should be afraid that I make them too fast, and after finishing, I want to make even more collar badges. That little bit of grain of yours won't be enough for wages."

The villagers roared with laughter. "That's right, how much is that little bit of grain? Is it enough for wages?"

Zhang Qingshan didn't get angry; instead, he laughed. "Haha. Sister is straightforward. I also put my words here: as long as the collar badges made are the same as the sample and delivered on time—however many you want to make, I will issue that much to you."

Sister Li didn't respond to this. She picked up the cloth, thread, and grain, and shouted to the women in the crowd, "Sisters, young and old, time for literacy class. Let's go to class, listen to the lesson while doing work."

The women followed Sister Li to a room. Zhang Qingshan beckoned the others to walk to another room to attend the rural literacy study class. Zhuang Jiaxiong looked at the back of the Militia Captain's wife, feeling that things might be very interesting later. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Zhuang Jiaxiong really wouldn't have imagined there was such a spirited woman in the village.