Huang Youqing sat in the house smoking his pipe. A year had passed, and life in their village had improved.

It was much better than other production teams, but this year was another year of poor harvest.

Who could have imagined that this year would be another year affected by disaster? All the grain they handed in was for the quota.

Although this year is much better than the years when the disaster was more severe.

But production has still decreased this year.

The amount of grain distributed to each person was not much; each person received only 280 jin of grain.

Last year, with the help of educated youth from Jiang, they secured many orders, which made life much better for each family.

Many families in the village even repaired their houses, which is why their village was not severely affected by last year's snow disaster.

But this year is different. After Jiang Tiecheng left, it became much harder for them to sign contracts with the supply and marketing cooperative.

Even if other villages have orders, they still need to prioritize other villages.

Although their production brigade also had a chance to get a share, the amount was much smaller.

When winter came, Section Chief Xu told them that there were hardly any orders this year, so their village had completely stopped operating.

Everyone is eagerly anticipating the New Year; who doesn't want to have a good one?

But even as the production team leader, he had no connections.

But Huang Youqing also knew that this was not something he could accomplish on his own.

He could only sit on the edge of the field, worrying.

This year has been like a rollercoaster ride, soaring to the sky one moment and plummeting to the bottom the next, and now another cold winter is upon us.

How are we going to get through this winter?

Let alone other families, even the production team leader's family was struggling to make ends meet, not to mention the ordinary members of the commune.

Huang Youqing was so anxious that he developed blisters on his lips over the past two days.

He was engrossed in smoking his pipe when he unexpectedly heard his wife's voice.

"Honey, honey, look who's here!"

Huang Youqing said impatiently.

"Hey, why are you making such a fuss?"

Who could possibly come?

Hopefully, there won't be too much snow this winter. If there is, the village will suffer a disaster, and there won't be any subsidies to get through the year.

Before he could even stand up, he saw his wife burst in, lifting the curtain.

They picked him up in one swift motion.

"Xiao Jiang is back!"

He was so excited to see his wife that he acted as if his own father had come to visit.

"who?"

Huang Youqing shuddered. Could he be dreaming?

Tie Cheng became a security officer at the county's machinery factory, and had nothing to do with their village anymore.

How could they possibly go back to their Red Flag Brigade?

"Iron City, Jiang Tiecheng."

As they were talking, they saw someone lift the curtain and come in.

Jiang Tiecheng chuckled and brushed the dirt off his body.

"Captain Huang!"

"I, Jiang Tiecheng, have come back to see everyone."

Upon seeing Jiang Tiecheng, Huang Youqing immediately perked up and rushed over to warmly grasp Jiang Tiecheng's hand.

"Oh, Xiao Jiang, you're finally back! You haven't come back even once in the past six months."

The villagers all miss you.

You're finally back, kid.

The child's mother should quickly go and pour some sugar water for Xiao Jiang.

I'm getting ready to kill another chicken; I'm going to have a good drink with Xiao Jiang today.

Huang Youqing was racking his brains trying to figure out where to start when he saw Jiang Tiecheng, and it was like seeing a savior.

Sister-in-law Huang quickly agreed.

"Okay, you guys sit down, I'll go get some water."

Jiang Tiecheng hurriedly said,

"Sister-in-law, don't bother, don't kill the chicken. I have a roast chicken and two pounds of pork belly on my bicycle."

My sister-in-law will make some braised pork, and the team leader and I will have a couple of drinks.

Huang Youqing pulled him to sit on the kang (a heated brick bed).

"You're being too polite, Xiao Jiang. We're from the same brigade, why are you taking things from my house?"

What am I supposed to say to you!

"You're being too polite. Don't you consider me your older brother?"

"Captain, even though he's the eldest brother, there's no reason for him to go empty-handed to someone else's house."

Besides, I'm currently a security guard at a machinery factory, so at least I have a stable job.

There are quite a few tickets each month.

"I know perfectly well what's going on in our village. Why would I come back to cause trouble for Captain Huang?"

The two sat down at the kang table, and Jiang Tiecheng took out a filtered cigarette from his pocket and offered it to him.

"The captain hit me, this is Daqianmen."

Huang Youqing took it and said with a smile,

"You're something else, kid. You've been doing pretty well these past few months, now you've even switched to Daqianmen."

"Sigh, you have no idea, you've gone to the county to enjoy a life of luxury."

It's all thanks to you leaving, otherwise you would be a sent-down youth in our brigade.

We're definitely going to go hungry this year.

"Captain, what's going on? Didn't we hear that this year's harvest is about the same as in previous years, maybe only 10% less?"

Jiang Tiecheng was an advisor.

The number of orders from Section Chief Xu was deliberately reduced by him, and Xu Fengtian obeyed his every word.

Huang Youqing looked at Jiang Tiecheng and hurriedly recounted what had happened in the village over the past year.

“Xiao Jiang, look, now that you’re gone, our village has lost all its orders. This year is going to be tough.”

Look at our village now, there aren't many houses with chimneys emitting white smoke anymore. Although this year's harvest wasn't too bad.

But it's not much better.

"You know perfectly well that meager rations are hardly enough to fill your stomach."

"I'm so worried, look at these blisters on my lips."

There's really no way around it; the end of the year is tough, and this winter is especially cold.

You see, even though it hasn't snowed, the old folks who checked the weather forecast all say that this year's snow will be heavier than last year's.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!