Chapter 51 The Wind Stirs the Heart: Is this the smallest river in the world? ...
Those who have been successful in their careers will relentlessly pursue their goals once they set their minds on something.
Taking advantage of the break before dinner, Zhong Ying approached Li Ming, "Captain Li, I have something I want to talk to you about."
At that moment, Li Ming was sitting on a small stool at the gate of the courtyard, putting tobacco into his pipe. When he heard Zhong Ying's words, he lifted his eyelids to look at her. "Not calling me 'Dad,' but 'Captain Li,' means you're talking about serious business."
Zhong Ying nodded, "Yes."
Li Ming stood up, holding his unlit pipe, and said, "Let's talk in the main room."
Li Gangshi, who was standing to the side, felt that he should be included in this important matter, so he followed the two into the house.
Once inside the house and everyone sat down, Zhong Ying spoke seriously, “I want to set up a nursery in the production team to organize and care for children under ten years old, so that the women can free up time to work.”
Li Ming hadn't reacted yet, but Li Gang, who was listening in, laughed first.
“Sister-in-law, what are you doing? Women have always been meant to take care of children. Why do you need to set up a separate daycare?” Li Gangshi genuinely found it amusing. “I can understand that you’re trying to make a big splash as a new official, but it’s unnecessary. This is really unnecessary.”
Zhong Ying gritted her teeth. When she looked at Li Gang, she was getting angry. How could they be brothers, yet the one in front of her was so annoying?
However, she hadn't finished explaining the situation and didn't have time to argue with Li Gang.
Zhong Ying tried to ignore him and continued, "Women like my eldest sister-in-law and second sister-in-law, whose children are still young, are not very efficient at working while taking care of their children. Father, you know that they can only do a few work points a day."
As the production team leader, Li Ming naturally knew the whole story.
"So, if we help women reduce the pressure of childcare, allowing them to have more time and energy to devote to production and construction." Just like Li Ming suddenly hanging a radish on her head, Zhong Ying thought about it and returned the favor with "a radish."
Li Ming's eyes flickered slightly, as if he had been tickled. How to improve production and how to make production better was his lifelong goal.
Zhong Ying continued to add fuel to the fire, saying, "Women hold up half the sky. Liberating women's productivity is beneficial and harmless. Women's power is not just a few scattered bits and pieces, and should not be underestimated."
Unlike his eldest son, Li Ming was not short-sighted and disregarded women. When he went to meetings at the commune, the team leaders from different production teams would exchange ideas. They would mention which production team had formed a women's shock brigade to carry sand and level the land, performing just as well as the men. Or they would mention which production team's newly appointed team leader was a young girl in her teens, but she had achieved remarkable results, with a harvest unlike any they had ever had before.
"What are your plans for this daycare center?" Li Ming asked.
Zhong Ying was delighted and quickly replied, "Children under ten years old are divided into two classes based on age: a small class and a large class. The small class mainly focuses on care, supplemented by storytelling and singing; the large class can introduce literacy and arithmetic..."
Li Ming didn't say anything, but asked again, "Where do we do it? Who will take care of the child?"
“The village school has been idle since it was closed the year before last. It can be reused after some cleaning. I want to have Aunt San and Chen, the educated youth, take charge of the small class, and Yang, the educated youth, take charge of the large class, and record work points according to the same labor force.” Zhong Ying said clearly and logically. She never fights a battle unprepared.
“Third Aunt is old and can’t do much work in the fields every day, but she is old and experienced, so she can tell stories to the children. The two female educated youths are not good at farm work, but Chen speaks gently and can soothe the younger children, while Yang is serious and meticulous, so she can keep the older children in check.”
In Zhong Ying's view, sometimes people who are disliked can shine just as brightly if placed in the right position.
Li Gangshi watched from the side and saw his father and Zhong Ying talking back and forth. Although his father did not say he agreed, his attitude had already shown that he agreed to let Zhong Ying run a nursery.
“Wait a minute, this is too ridiculous…” Li Gangshi interjected.
Li Ming glanced at his eldest son and sighed inwardly. No one knows a child better than his parents. He knew that his son was eyeing the position of production team leader, waiting for him to step down and take over. But his brain was far inferior to his younger brother's. He was rigid and inflexible, not even as good as Li Ming, who was over fifty years old.
Li Gangshi was given a glance by his father, who hadn't said a single harsh word, but he wisely kept quiet.
Li Ming then turned to Zhong Ying and said, "You take the lead in handling this matter."
Zhong Ying's eyes sparkled, and she responded loudly, "Yes!"
——
When Zhong Ying was up to something, her family members came to help without hesitation. Deng Xia, Zhong Chunsheng, and Miao Suyun busied themselves cleaning the village school buildings, while Zhong Ying's brother, Zhong Xin, brought a ladder from home to repair the roof...
As for the issue of student enrollment, Zhong Ying did not go door-to-door to do ideological work. She only sent her mother, Deng Xia, to inquire and chat with Hu. Within a few days, the old and young women of the production team all knew about the team's plan to set up a nursery.
With only about a month left until the busy farming season in June, it's really hard to take care of the children when the fields are busy. It would be a good thing to have a place where you can drop off your child and go to work with peace of mind. Anyone who doesn't send their child to daycare is a fool.
Even so, Zhong Ying had many things to do: she needed to develop management rules for the daycare center and talk to the talents she had her eye on one by one...
Third Aunt liked to spend time with the children, and when Zhong Ying asked her to tell the children stories every day, she quickly agreed.
Chen Lina already found fieldwork somewhat strenuous and needed help from others, so when she was offered a lighter job like taking care of children, she was naturally happy to agree.
Being unmarried and childless makes you easy to fool. Zhong Ying felt a pang of conscience. Chen Lina now finds taking care of children easy, but taking care of a whole class of children... Zhong Ying was really afraid that she would cry in the future.
"You can't go back on your word, no matter what. You have to stick to it," Zhong Ying confirmed.
Chen Lina nodded firmly, "I won't go back on my word, but you shouldn't either."
With both parties fearing the other might back out, they happily reached an agreement.
However, Zhong Ying encountered a setback with another female educated youth.
"A childcare worker?" Yang Meijuan frowned. "No, I went to the countryside to get my hands dirty in the mud and forge a loyal heart where the country and the people need me most, not to take care of children. That's slacking off!"
Zhong Ying was exasperated by her stubbornness and wanted to tell her bluntly: Sister, you're not cut out for farming. You don't have an earth elemental root.
If Chen Lina is the parasitic weed type, then Yang Meijuan is the type who suffers more the harder she tries. She didn't grow up in the countryside, doesn't know how to farm, and is less skilled than the local villagers. She insists on doing things she's not good at.
“This isn’t being lazy; it’s making good use of resources,” Zhong Ying retorted. “You can read and write, and now that you have the opportunity, you should use your strengths instead of stubbornly focusing on your weaknesses.”
Yang Meijuan hesitated for a moment, but quickly reiterated firmly, "No, the more difficult it is, the more we must move forward!"
Zhong Ying: ...
She died without illness, and as darkness fell, Zhong Ying had no choice but to give up temporarily and hurriedly went home to wash up and rest.
When she lay in bed, Zhong Ying felt like she had forgotten something, but there had been so many things happening these past few days that she couldn't remember anything. Her thoughts drifted back to Yang Meijuan.
Zhong Ying closed her eyes, thinking about what she should say when she went to talk to Yang Meijuan the next day. As she thought, she fell asleep without realizing it.
Rights come with responsibilities, and Zhong Ying was exhausted.
The room was pitch black, and both the person and the dog were fast asleep when Li Linshi, whom Zhong Ying had forgotten, appeared silently.
Li Linshi stood by the bed, quietly watching the person on it.
As the weather warmed up, Zhong Ying no longer huddled tightly under the covers like she did on winter nights. She lay on her side with her head on the pillow, her hands sticking out of the blanket, oblivious to the cold, piercing gazes falling upon her.
His lean, upright body was damp from the river, yet his chest remained perfectly still.
The night was quiet, with only the soft rustling of the wind through the branches outside the window.
Li Linshi couldn't understand it.
He was furious and resentful when Zhong Ying only used him.
But when she stopped asking him to help with the dishes and no longer needed him, the relief she expected didn't come; instead, she felt panic and confusion.
besides……
Li Linshi was furious and embarrassed after being teased and manipulated by Zhong Ying and forced to wear those strange clothes.
But when she actually stopped doing that, Li Linshi wasn't as happy as he had imagined.
He was unhappy.
"Why did you stop playing...?"
In the darkness, a question, almost a murmur, was very soft, like a ripple on the surface of water, yet it concealed a multitude of suppressed emotions.
It's no use anymore; the icy river water can no longer work as it used to, no matter how long Li Linshi stays in it.
Li Linshi bent down and squatted down, his slender, fair wrist lying flat on the bed was within reach. His dark, dull eyes cast his gaze over it, ignoring the darkness of the night, and stared intently at the winding blue veins beneath the fair skin.
Long, slender, cool fingers slowly rested on it, and one could clearly feel the blood flowing within.
Is this the smallest river in the world?
Li Linshi couldn't contain his emotions and pressed his forehead against the river. He was thinking... he wanted to stay in this river.
It flows through her body and becomes one with her.
Does that mean we can be together all the time?
As the "river" beneath his fingers pulsed with vibrant energy, Li Lin felt a sense of déjà vu, as if his once still heart was now resonating with its rhythm.
Li Linshi took a deep breath, raised his head, and quietly looked at the person sleeping soundly on the bed. His gaze seemed to leave watermarks as it swept over the contours of her face, her delicate eyebrows and eyes, her round and slightly upturned nose, and her full lips, which opened and closed almost imperceptibly with her long breaths.
His gaze froze.
A desire akin to appetite revived.
After Li Linshi died, those basic human needs ceased to exist; he no longer needed to sleep, eat, or drink...
But now, he feels an "appetite".
As if bewitched, Li Linshi's gaze remained fixed.
He had actually tried it.
That night, in the Ganlin River.
Li Linshi threw Zhong Ying into the river as revenge for her pulling him into the water.
He watched coldly at the time, never expecting her to cling to him.
Because of the shock and surprise, Li Linshi still clearly remembers the warm breath that came from his lips.
His gaze seemed to take on a temperature, gradually warming up.
While asleep, Zhong Ying felt a little cold and tried to pull her hands back under the covers, but she couldn't. She opened her eyes in surprise.
The presence of a male ghost beside her bed no longer frightened Zhong Ying. She was so sleepy that she could barely keep her eyes open. With her eyes half-closed and still drowsy, she frowned slightly and said, "Do you really have to try to take the room from me at this time?"
Zhong Ying thought Li Linshi's appearance meant he wanted the main house again, and she was fine with staying in any room. But now Zhong Ying was half asleep and half awake, so sleepy that she didn't want to get up and change rooms at all.
Her dormant brain gave way, and a vague idea popped into Zhong Ying's head. She scooted further into the bed to make room for herself, "You can stay here for now, and I'll move to the next room when I wake up tomorrow..."
By the end, her words were almost a murmur, indicating that Zhong Ying had fallen asleep again.
Li Linshi stood up and looked at the bed, which was mostly empty.
After a long while, the figure, which had been like a stone sculpture, finally moved and accepted her invitation.
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Author's note: Sharing a bed is here!
Research revealed that many women in that era also strived for success. Female production team leaders, and even very young female leaders under twenty, were real people. Women have always been strong!
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