The morning mist had not yet dissipated, but Chen Changyuan was already standing on the wasteland at the east end of the village, carrying a shovel.

A dozen villagers were following him to clear the weeds, and the sound of iron clashing startled the quails in the grass.

"In the long run, how deep should this ditch be dug?"

Ergouzi wiped his sweat and stuck the shovel into the freshly turned red soil.

"It needs to be able to bury three bamboo tubes."

Chen Changyuan squatted down and drew a cross-grid pattern on the mud. "Once the mountain spring water is brought in, every piece of land will be thoroughly watered."

Behind the slope not far away, Zhou Dazhu was grabbing Li Laonian by the collar.

His sleeves were stained with stale wine, and he was spitting. "Your wife just gave birth, and you're starving like that with Chen Changyuan? Do you believe I can have the health center cut off your food aid?"

Li Laonian's hand, which was holding the membership agreement, was shaking, and five greasy fingerprints were left on the corner of the paper.

Zhou Dazhu suddenly smiled and stuffed a bag of Daqianmen into his pocket: "If you ask me, you can earn 80 cents a day moving bricks in a brick kiln."

At noon, Wang Fugui appeared at the construction site with two people wearing red armbands.

He kicked a piece of dirt with the tip of his leather shoe and said sarcastically, "Changyuan, this land is where the village holds weddings and funerals. Did you ask the villagers before digging the ditch and breaking the ground?"

Chen Changyuan dug his shovel into the ground, splashing mud onto Wang Fugui's trouser legs. "Last year, there was a flood, and this place was soaked for half a month, and no one came to repair it. How about we hold a meeting and let the villagers decide whether this land should be used?"

"you!"

The flesh on Wang Fugui's cheeks trembled, and he was about to explode when he heard Lao Yuantou's booming voice from a distance: "The experts from the county have said that this medicinal material base is a key support project!"

Three white-haired old men followed behind Old Yuantou, and the one in front was Old Man Zhao, who was holding a jujube wood cane.

When the famine broke out, he led the entire village to dig wild vegetables to survive the cold winter. Although he is now on crutches, his eyes are still as sharp as an eagle.

"Wealth,"

Old Master Zhao coughed twice and said, "I heard you were going to hold a meeting? It's just right. I, an old man, want to come and listen."

Suddenly, in the morning mist, there was the crisp sound of a shovel hitting the ground.

Li Laonian backed away with his back hunched, and the membership agreement floated into the mud like a dead leaf.

"Brother Dazhu, these...these medicinal herb seedlings are very valuable..."

Before he could finish his words, Zhou Dazhu grabbed his collar and dragged him to the back of the slope.

Er Gouzi was about to chase after him when Chen Changyuan grabbed his shoulder and said, "Let him go."

The midday sun was scorching the construction site, and the first batch of astragalus seedlings sent from the county lay drooping in the bamboo basket.

Fang Suxia squatted on the edge of the field, gently fiddling with the young sprouts with her calloused fingers. "Changyuan, these seedlings need to be planted quickly. The roots are already turning yellow."

"Wait until the mountain spring water is brought in and then go to the fields."

Chen Changyuan wiped his sweat and suddenly caught a glimpse of Zhou Dazhui humming a tune as he came out from the slope, with fresh mud marks on his trouser legs.

His heart skipped a beat and he grabbed a shovel and ran towards the water channel.

Old Yuan was squatting by the ditch, smoking his pipe. Seeing Chen Changyuan's expression was off, he knocked his pipe against the sole of his shoe and asked, "What's going on?"

"Uncle Yuan, please take some people to guard the medicinal seedlings."

Chen Changyuan rushed to the water inlet in two steps and stuck the shovel into the mud. The bamboo pipe mouth that should have been gurgling with water was blocked by a ball of smelly rotten fish intestines.

"Chen Changyuan! Explain it clearly to the villagers!"

Wang Fugui suddenly gathered around with a dozen villagers, holding a piece of paper with a red stamp. "The county document clearly states that the medicinal material base must guarantee a yield of 800 kilograms per mu! Now you can't even provide water, aren't you cheating us?"

A shrill voice emerged from the crowd: "I told you this educated youth kid is unreliable!"

Wang Cuifen squeezed to the front and deliberately ran over the newly emerged medicinal seedlings with the soles of her shoes. "Look at how wilted these seedlings are!"

Chen Changyuan's veins bulged in his hand as he gripped the shovel, and suddenly he heard Fang Suxia coughing outside the crowd.

He turned around and saw his mother bending over to pick up the trampled seedlings, with large sweat stains on the back of her gray cloth shirt.

"Village Chief Wang,"

Chen Changyuan suddenly smiled and took out an oil-paper bag from his pocket. "This is the test report sent by the County Agricultural Bureau this morning. Can you give me the third line?"

The flesh on Wang Fugui's face twitched, and as soon as he opened the paper package, a document with a stamp on it fell out.

Under the scorching sun, the official document with a bright red seal rustled in the wind.

Wang Fugui's thick fingers trembled as he pinched the corner of the paper, beads of sweat trickling down his chin. "Tests have shown that the soil on the west slope of Qingshui Village contains humus..."

"Is Village Chief Wang's eyesight not good?"

Chen Changyuan suddenly raised his voice, startling the sparrows in the treetops and sending them flying. "Then let me read it to you—the humus content in the soil here exceeds the standard by three times. It needs to be diluted with mountain spring water!"

The crowd exploded.

Old Master Zhao pounded the ground with his cane. "Fugui, your nephew dumped pig manure here last month. Do you think I'm blind?"

Lao Yuantou took the opportunity to tear out the rotten fish intestines at the water inlet, and the turbid mountain spring water with a fishy smell sprayed all over Wang Fugui's face.

"Ouch!"

Wang Cuifen screamed and dodged backwards, her embroidered shoes stuck in the mud and she couldn't pull them out.

Just as Zhou Dazhu was about to slip away, his collar was suddenly grabbed by a pair of iron-like hands - Chen Changyuan had gotten behind him at some point, with a shiny fish scale stuck between his fingers.

"Brother Dazhu's trouser legs are covered in mud,"

Chen Changyuan's voice was as light as a mountain breeze. "Why does it smell like Qinglongtan?"

Li Laonian, who was watching, suddenly shivered. He clearly saw Zhou Dazhu cutting fish by the pond at noon.

Fang Suxia suddenly coughed violently, and the front of her gray cloth shirt stained dark red.

Chen Changyuan's pupils suddenly shrank, and the image of his mother coughing up blood in his previous life flashed through his mind like lightning.

He shook off Zhou Dazhu and was about to charge forward, but Wang Fugui stepped in and stopped him: "Chen Changyuan! How dare you attack your fellow villagers?"

“Get out of the way!”

Chen Changyuan picked up the shovel and was about to chop it.

The scorching sun made the shovel blade hot, and the bloodshot eyes of Chen Changyuan glowed scarlet in the sunlight.

Wang Fugui’s fat body blocked his way, and the sour smell of sweat mixed with the stench of rotten fish hit him in the face.

“Get out of the way!”

The shovel brushed past Wang Fugui's ear and cut off half of his protruding ear.

The pig-killing howl scared away all the sparrows in the locust tree forest. Blood splashed on the back of Chen Changyuan's hand with bulging veins, burning him and making him shiver.

The crowd suddenly opened up a gap in the road, and a female villager stepped through the mud.

In her arms was something wrapped in red silk.

"Comrades from the County Revolutionary Committee got lost at the village entrance."

Her voice was as crisp as a mountain stream. Her fingertips gently lifted a corner of the red silk, revealing a shiny bicycle bell. "Village Chief Wang, do you want to go and greet us?"

Wang Fugui's hands, which were covering his ears, froze in mid-air.

He recognized the Phoenix 28-inch truck, which was worthy of the title of the only one in the entire county who could own it, the director of the Revolutionary Committee.

Zhou Dazhu suddenly let out a strange cry, and dark water stains appeared on his crotch - Lao Yuantou had pressed the tip of the shovel against his tailbone at some point.

"long!"

Fang Suxia's cough sounded like a broken bellows.

When Chen Changyuan turned around, a fishy wind blew up, and the dark red spot on his gray cloth shirt made his eyes sore.