The hens at Aunt Wang's house next door started laying eggs, and Ping An received two. The other party reiterated their old suggestion, asking Zhou Jiao to plant some vegetables and fruits in the flowerbed and even gave her some vegetable seeds.
Zhou Jiao couldn't say that she had planted a lot of crops in her own yard in the village. Given the other party's intention, she had to listen to his advice. Soon, she took Ping'an with her, and the mother and son were idle on the small plot of land.
Zhang Guoqing plowed the soil and let the mother and son play. After all, a small harvest in the future would be a pleasant surprise. It would also help the children understand the difficulties of farm work.
With this in mind, the family tidied up the small plot of land. When everything was fine, Ping An would walk on his two little legs to the small vegetable garden to observe if there were any sprouts.
As the days passed, new shoots began to sprout from the soil. Mother and son carefully weeded, fertilized, and tended the crops until the harvest.
Ping An counted the days on his fingers every day, but even the smartest child couldn't figure out when the fruit would be ready. Zhou Jiao answered his questions three times a day by taking a bottle and dropping coins into it, asking him to take one out every day. When there were no more coins in the bottle, it would be harvest time.
As the coins were safely retrieved, a sudden frost struck in the middle of the night. The temperature plummeted in the night, and the family, who had been sleeping soundly, fell into a deep sleep, unaware of the situation.
When Zhang Guoqing woke up early in the morning and left the living room, he began to notice something was amiss. He went outside and saw frost. He didn't think much of it and went out for exercise.
As he ran, he accidentally glanced at the weeds on the ground. Finally, he remembered that his family had a large backyard with open-air fruits and vegetables, and there was also a large area in the village.
Coming to his senses, Zhang Guoqing ran home. As soon as he entered the yard, he rushed to check on his son's vegetable garden. It would have been fine if he hadn't looked, but the sight gave him a headache. All the newly sprouted leaves and buds had been frozen to death.
Sneaking into the master bedroom, Zhang Guoqing nudged Zhou Jiao and told her that it was frost and he had to rush to the village to check on his backyard. He asked her to find a way to comfort her son.
Zhou Jiao mumbled a drowsy "oh" and went back to sleep. Soon, she felt something was wrong. If she remembered correctly, even the late spring cold snap in the south hadn't killed plants. Yes, she was in the north now. With a start, she stood up, threw on her clothes, and ran out, only to find that Zhang Guoqing had already hurried away.
Ping'an's vegetable garden—her backyard—had yielded nothing, the crops the village had just planted. Many things, if you don't dwell on them, don't feel fear. Looking at the frozen seedlings, Zhou Jiao felt a pang of sadness. She didn't know if she was sad for the hard work of mother and son, or for something else.
Standing in the yard, Zhou Jiao recalled Zhang's mother's proud look a few days ago as she imagined a bumper harvest in the garden, Lin Juhua's hope for the harvest, and the old captain's gradually revealed smile.
She finally understood what it meant to rely on the weather for a living. Ultimately, the poorest and most miserable people were still the common people. Thinking of this, she felt she should do her bit.
Meanwhile, Zhang Guoqing hurriedly rode his bicycle towards Zhangjia Village. Daylight was beginning to break. Along the way, he passed several fields where people squatted. Thanks to his excellent hearing, he could clearly hear sobbing. What kind of sobbing was that? It wasn't as loud as a woman's wailing, not as loud as a child's. It was the suppressed frustration of the man of the household, venting his frustration about the future.
Zhang Guoqing fought back tears, trying to ignore it. Not far ahead lay his home and his people; he had no idea what lay ahead.
There was a piece of land in the east of the village. In the early morning, a group of villagers gathered around it. Men, women, old and young, some were squatting, some were sitting on the ground, but everyone's eyes were fixed on the old man in the middle.
The old captain was everyone's hope. For decades, they had been accustomed to obeying his orders. Even when the land was individually owned, they waited for his notifications and arrangements. Now, facing this sudden disaster, the village united, waiting for the old captain to speak.
The old captain sighed inwardly. He knew he couldn't lose heart at this moment. The head of the family had to remain calm! If he lost his composure, the people below would become even more panicked.
"Luckily, the tribe leader and the others warned us before. Unfortunately, who would have thought the weather would drop so low so quickly? I don't think many people have frozen to death. Everyone should still go about their business. Don't sleep too much at night these days, stay out and keep an eye on things. Also, everyone should work harder these few days so we can replant as soon as possible."
Zhang Guoqing heard the old captain's words from a distance and felt relieved. He was about to leave when the old captain spotted him.
The old captain took him back to the office and handed him the inventory list. He had just said something nice to comfort the villagers, but there was a limit to the amount of seeds needed for replanting, especially since their village also had additional fertile fields in the valley. Where were the seeds?
Zhang Guoqing frowned and looked at the ground. He had the seed in his hand, but he couldn't open his mouth. Some things were related to Zhou Jiao's safety. He didn't dare! He couldn't!
The only way is to find Mr. Huang, Li Aiguo, Zhang Zhifeng, and Old Chen, but he can't show up for many things, and things will become serious if he shows up.
Who dares to be individualistic? Zhang Guoqing pondered this question: Is replanting really worth it? No one understood better than him what it meant to be a severe drought followed by a severe flood. What percentage of the harvest would be achieved after replanting? The entire county's harvest—this responsibility would make Li Aiguo and his team go from heaven to hell overnight.
Zhang Guoqing made some lip service to the idea, and after passing the college entrance exams this summer, he walked away. But how could he possibly live with the burden of responsibility that fell on the elders who had taken care of him?
Zhang Guoqing finally sighed. He could only ask the old captain to report the situation to the township first. He would go through a series of procedures and see what the township would decide.
After bidding farewell to the disappointed captain, Zhang Guoqing returned to his backyard and took a look. With the exception of a few cold-resistant crops, almost everything was frozen to death. He didn't feel like tidying up any more and hurried back to the county town.
At work, colleagues were all talking about the frost. Aside from a few older colleagues with more life experience who understood the magnitude of the situation, the younger colleagues paid little attention except to the fact that the grocery store was running low.
Before leaving work, Zhao Dashan called a meeting. The meeting stated that no one was allowed to take leave during this period, and all existing holidays would be postponed. Everyone was urged to be ready to support agriculture in the countryside at any time.
Zhang Guoqing breathed a sigh of relief. Apparently, the re-issuance of seeds had been approved. That was good. The higher-ups had the final say on how much to re-issue. He didn't need to feel guilty about this anymore.
After work, Zhang Guoqing returned home. To his surprise, Ping An didn't cry. He was sticking his butt out and shoveling away dead seedlings with a shovel. He looked at Zhou Jiao.
Zhou Jiao smiled. She had just given the child a lesson—a philosophy lesson. This was also her first time teaching a philosophy lesson to a child. She wasn't sure how much the child would understand, but she thought it would be effective.
Stupidity isn't to be feared; the only thing to be feared is a child's ignorance. No matter what the circumstances, the best strategy is to go with the flow. Just like now, she and Zhang Guoqing had agreed that even if they were to secretly deliver food, they absolutely couldn't show up.
The human heart is unpredictable; a favor today can be a vengeance tomorrow. How many people in this world will ever truly repay a favor? The Gu family's main wife is a living example, a warning to future generations.
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