Chapter 50: The Women's Team Leader's "Self-Responsibility"—Easier said than done...

After Li Ming submitted the list of the new leadership team to the commune for approval, Zhong Ying officially became the women's team leader of the Tonggan production team.

After Li Ming's brief "on-the-job training," Zhong Ying roughly understood what this position required her to do.

The women's team leader, as the name suggests, is the leader who organizes and leads the women in their team. All matters related to women fall under the women's team leader's responsibility, including but not limited to assisting the production team leader in conveying work assignments to the women, supervising labor, mediating disputes among women in marriage, family, and neighborhood relations, and ensuring women's health and rights, etc.

Of course, the most important thing is to set an example and take the lead, which means that Zhong Ying can no longer be a slacker.

Zhong Ying tossed and turned in bed, wrapped in the blanket, unwilling to get up and face reality.

Moisture swirls in the air. Li Linshi appears out of thin air in the room, leaning back against the top of a wardrobe that's about the same height as Zhong Ying, resting against the back of his shoulder.

Just looking at the "large white silkworm cocoon" on the bed, Li Linshi couldn't help but smile. Sometimes he would find it unbelievable that someone could have all their joys and sorrows tied to one person, being happy when they saw her, yet always being easily annoyed by her.

Li Linshi could roughly guess Zhong Ying's thoughts. Seeing her so troubled, he couldn't help but say, "If you don't want to be a father, you can back out. Although my father looks serious, he's not that hard to talk to."

The "giant silkworm cocoon" slumped to the side, its head emerging from under the covers. Zhong Ying, with her long, messy black hair and lifeless eyes, said, "But I'm being manipulated..."

Li Linshi was puzzled, and then he saw Zhong Ying looking over and staring straight at him.

“Your father is truly a man who has been the production team leader for so many years,” Zhong Ying said with a hint of resentment. “He really knows how to hang a radish on a donkey’s head.”

Zhong Ying took a deep breath, hugged the quilt and sat up. She did have the thought of refusing later, but she couldn't resist the "temptation" placed in front of her.

Li Ming was just mentioning it casually. After explaining the duties and tasks of the women's team leader to his daughter-in-law, he remembered what Zhong Ying had asked at the dinner table earlier, so he added, "Didn't you ask Jinlong's wife if she could attend the medical training course? If you want to help with this, as the women's team leader, you can do some persuasion. If she's willing, I'll put both of their names on the list."

The management structure of the Tonggan production team was simple, and the women's team leader was also one of the village cadres, giving her a voice in the decision-making process of the production team.

Zhong Ying was thus "hooked".

If she didn't become the women's team leader, Zhong Ying could indeed continue to enjoy a leisurely life.

but……

Knowing full well that doing something is beneficial, and even anticipating its long-term positive impact.

Zhong Ying herself did not plan to have children, but there were so many women in the production team.

I thought of the blood on Fan Dani's body during childbirth, and of my aunt who became a ghost at a young age due to complications during childbirth...

Zhong Ying buried her head under the covers again.

"Taking care of oneself" is easier said than done, after all, humans are social animals with emotions.

Zhong Ying gritted her teeth and hardened her heart.

Do!

So what if she was a women's team leader? She was a diligent and conscientious worker in her modern days.

Zhong Ying crawled out from under the covers again, let out a soft breath, and after making up her mind, her eyes became clear and her face was no longer conflicted.

This rendered all the words of comfort and encouragement Li Linshi had prepared useless. "You..."

Zhong Ying also spoke up, looking at the ghost in front of her expressionlessly, "Aren't you leaving? I should get up and change my clothes."

Li Linshi immediately felt awkward and left without saying another word.

——

Like other village cadres, the women's team leader was not on leave from her job. Zhong Ying went to work as usual and participated in labor just like ordinary commune members, except that she would receive some extra work points as a subsidy at the end of the year.

As spring temperatures rise, wheat in the fields enters the "jointing stage," requiring water and fertilizer, as well as pesticides to control pests. Spring management is busy, and the workload is only slightly less than during the harvest season.

Water drawn from the Ganlin River was poured onto the roots of the green crops, instantly soaking the dry soil and absorbing the water. Black tadpoles, which had been carried out of the river, struggled on the surface of the mud, and the children who were working with their mothers excitedly went to catch them and play with them.

After a busy day, Zhong Ying finally had time to "make things happen" after finishing work in the evening.

However, the women in the production team were just as busy after work, cooking, washing clothes, and taking care of the children...

After a quick dinner, Zhong Ying went out to look for Yao Dongxiu. She went to the Nie family's house and the riverbank, and finally found Yao Dongxiu at the foot of Yingshan Mountain behind the village.

In the dim light of night, two figures, one adult and two children, appeared. The adult held a child in each hand, saying, "You've been playing too much! It's already dark and you still don't know to come home for dinner..."

Zhong Ying tentatively called out, "Sister-in-law?"

Yao Dongxiu looked closely, and was surprised when she saw clearly, "Ying Ni'er?"

It's no wonder Yao Dongxiu was surprised; Zhong Ying and she hadn't had much contact in the past, and their relationship was merely acquaintance.

Yao Dongxiu married into the Panpokou production team and was nearly ten years younger than Zhong Ying. They didn't grow up together and were of different ages, so naturally they didn't have a close relationship.

Zhong Ying's gaze fell on the two children Yao Dongxiu was holding, and she used this as a topic to break the ice: "Xiao Jun and Xiao Yong went to play in the mountains?"

“No, they wouldn’t dare. Everyone heard the tiger’s roar on the mountain earlier. Even if they had two more guts, they wouldn’t dare to run into the mountains.” Yao Dongxiu said, and the awkwardness between the two dissipated a little.

Zhong Ying had faced the White Tiger directly and was deeply impressed by it, nodding in agreement.

The two boys broke free from their mother's grasp and ran towards home, chasing each other, with Zhong Ying and Yao Dongxiu following behind them.

"Sister-in-law, you know that the commune is going to hold a cooperative medical training course, right?" Zhong Ying finally brought up the topic she wanted to talk about.

Yao Dongxiu nodded, "I know, your older brother talked to my husband about it, and he will study hard."

Zhong Ying turned her head to look at her, "What about you, sister-in-law? You also have a background in medicine, would you like to study it some more?"

Yao Dongxiu was surprised, then chuckled as if she had heard a joke, saying, "Me? I don't have any kung fu skills, these two rascals—"

She pointed to the two figures running ahead and continued, "And there are two maids at home. Four children are enough to keep me busy."

Yao Dongxiu is 31 years old this year and already has four children, the oldest being eight years old and the youngest only one and a half years old.

“Every day, the moment I open my eyes, I’m taking care of the older and the younger ones. When you have children, you’ll know what it’s like,” Yao Dongxiu wanted to say, “You’ll know when you have children.” But then she remembered that Zhong Ying was a widow who had married a master, and she probably wouldn’t have children in her life. So she quickly swallowed the rest of her sentence, not wanting to touch on the other person’s sore spot.

Zhong Ying swallowed back the words she had prepared. Talking about women's careers and life pursuits at this time would be like talking without understanding the situation.

She knew that when a person is overwhelmed by endless things, they have no energy to think about anything else.

Just like Zhong Ying, who is trapped in the 996 work schedule in modern times and no longer wants to spend time and energy on dating, just like Yao Dongxiu, who revolves around her children and family, and has talent but no time to think about self-improvement.

The two remained silent for a moment, and before they knew it, they had arrived at the Nie family's door. Nie Xiaojun and Nie Xiaoyong, the two children, had already run into the house first.

Yao Dongxiu stopped at the door. "Yingnier, I'll go home first. It's so dark, be careful on your way. Or should I come in and get you a candle?"

As she spoke, she turned to walk inside.

Zhong Ying quickly came to her senses and stopped her, "No need, sister-in-law, I can see the road clearly."

After some back and forth, Yao Dongxiu gave up.

Zhong Ying walked towards the village entrance alone, but she wasn't alone.

Li Linshi, standing next to her, opened his mouth but still asked, "Didn't you want to persuade Sister-in-law Nie and Brother Jinlong to go to the medical training course together? Why didn't you say so?"

“Because I suddenly realized that it was pointless to talk about it,” Zhong Ying said with concern. “There is a root problem here: if women don’t break free from their families, it’s very difficult for them to pursue a career.”

"Surrounded by the stove and kitchen, taking care of one child after another, and endless housework... she's already spinning like a top without end, you can't ask her to do any more."

Li Linshi remained silent, recalling his memories of his mother, Liu Hongyan. He realized that, just as Zhong Ying had said, he could hardly find any record of his mother taking a break. She tirelessly managed the household chores, mended the children's clothes, sewed shoe soles, washed clothes by the river, and worked in the fields...

How could he have turned a blind eye to these things in the past, as if it were only natural for his mother to do them?

Li Linshi pursed his lips, as if something was stuck in his throat.

After a long pause, Li Linshi finally calmed down and asked in a hoarse voice, "So, are you going to give up?"

Zhong Ying, who had been thinking, replied without hesitation, "Of course not."

She unlocked her own door with her key, and as soon as the door opened, Hongtang excitedly rushed forward to greet her.

Zhong Ying dealt with the enthusiastic big black dog, went into the yard and locked the door from the inside before continuing to talk to Li Linshi, "There should be nurseries in the city now, you know? I remember that in the past, factories would set up nurseries for their female workers so that they could work with peace of mind and take care of their children, thus relieving women of their worries about work."

Li Linshi had indeed heard of such things. "You mean..."

“I want to establish a nursery in the production team as well,” Zhong Ying said. “This way, not only Sister-in-law Nie, but other women in the production team can also breathe a sigh of relief and have time and energy to think about whether to devote themselves to production in the fields or learn a skill to do a side job, it’s all good.”

Zhong Ying acted immediately, actively starting research and developing plans. She meticulously planned and intended to present a complete scheme to the production team leader.

Nowadays, most families have several children, and the burden of raising children falls mainly on the mothers. Zhong Ying observed for a few days and saw many women carrying their children to work. Women with many children were even overwhelmed and sometimes couldn't take care of things in the fields. Women these days have a hard life.

Zhong Ying also had some ideas about the location of the nursery. Wasn't the village school vacant? It would be a good opportunity to make use of it.

She also took stock of the children in each household in the production team. Teenagers like her brother Zhongxin, who were fourteen or fifteen years old, were mature and sensible at a young age in the countryside. Children around ten years old would be taken to work in the fields as part of the labor force. Those who needed centralized care were children under ten years old. These children could be divided into two groups: the younger ones were mainly cared for, while the older ones could start learning to read...

Zhong Ying scribbled on the paper, turned the page, and wrote down the words "small class" and "large class".

By the Ganlin River, Cao Fang, having nothing to do, chatted with Li Lin. She said that the worst thing about being a ghost is that people can't see or hear you, and can't communicate.

For more than a decade, Cao Fang had been holding back her emotions and could only talk to herself. Fortunately, she was no longer the only ghost in the production team, so she could talk to other ghosts.

"You're married and still living in the river?" Cao Fang's first words pierced Li Linshi's heart like an arrow.

Then, Cao Fang looked him over, quite pleased, "Yingni'er has finally given up on dressing you in those strange clothes?"

Li Linshi's face fell, and he looked down at his clothes. He was still wearing the same gray cloth jacket and black trousers. Since that morning, Zhong Ying had not changed his clothes.

Zhong Ying has been busy with her important matters these days and has no time for anything else.

Li Linshi always felt that Cao Fang's words sounded to him like she wasn't talking about clothes, but rather about him.

Zhong Ying didn't finally give up on dressing him in those strange clothes; she gave up on him altogether.

Li Linshi couldn't help but sneer. She was probably too busy to even remember he existed.

-----------------------

Author's Note: Li Linshi (currently in a state of resentment)