Chapter 64

Zhao Deliang returned home happily to eat, holding a large watermelon in his arms, and shouted from a distance: "Wife, I'm home."

Yue Bai went out to meet him, took the watermelon from his hands, handed him a cattail-leaf fan, and chided him: "Sit for a while, wait until your sweat dries before you go wash up. You're covered in stinking sweat."

Zhao Deliang laughed foolishly, gave Sister-in-law Yue Bai a slap on the bottom, and said: "Wife, you're still the best."

Yue Bai blushed and scolded: "You big ox, you shameless thing, is there any other woman who has ever been good to you?"

Zhao Deliang said with a grin: "How would I dare? Wife, our own sow doesn't even have bran to eat, where would I have surplus grain to feed a wild boar?"

"As long as you know it." Yue Bai rolled her eyes at him and said: "Looking at your burly frame, you'd better feed your own first." After she finished, she felt she had let something slip, her face reddened first, she glanced at me, and shyly went into the inner room.

Watching the husband and wife flirt, I truly could not describe my own state of mind. With a husband who had a build like a big ox, why did Sister-in-law Yue Bai still need to cheat? The mystery in my heart grew larger and larger, and I almost wanted to go and ask Yue Bai.

Zhao Deliang seemed to suddenly remember me at this moment, and said with a laugh: "Secretary Chen, it just so happens I have something to find you about."

I said: "What is it, Village Chief Zhao?"

Zhao Deliang fanned himself vigorously a few times and said: "When did Chairman Zhu become the Township Head? There wasn't even an election."

I said: "It's an acting Township Head; after the New Year, we'll go through the procedures to remove the word 'acting'."

"Is there something going on in the township? I haven't seen Secretary Liu for a long time. The road construction was handled entirely by Secretary Liu; him not coming makes me think it's suspicious." Zhao Deliang also held the position of a township people's representative, so he had some understanding of organizational procedures.

"There's nothing suspicious." I said: "Secretary Liu has important matters to handle."

"You cadres, the way you do things is just baffling. One moment the whole township is mobilized to build the road, the next it's completely shut down waiting for notice. Not a few days later, work starts again. With all this back and forth, the common people don't know what to do." Zhao Deliang sighed and said: "Of course I understand you cadres. But the masses don't understand. Look, you organize a Youth Shock Brigade, and before they even start shocking, you announce a work stoppage and say it's being disbanded, then suddenly you shout that work is starting."

Zhao Deliang licked his lips: "You don't know, your Sister-in-law Yue Bai spent so much effort convincing them to start work."

I smiled apologetically and said: "Village Chief Zhao, the Youth Shock Brigade was an initiative of Secretary Huang of the County Youth League Committee. His meaning is actually very simple. Look, now that the land has been divided for individual farming, everyone has their own work to do, and there aren't any policies or discipline binding everyone anymore, unlike in the past when everyone worked together collectively; times are different now. So Secretary Huang thought, let's take this opportunity to stimulate everyone's cohesion and unity."

"You people have all sorts of twists and turns in your bellies, and many crooked ideas. I can't figure it out. I only have one philosophy: whatever the superiors require, as subordinates, we resolutely complete the task." Zhao Deliang didn't miss the opportunity to express his stance.

I knew Zhao Deliang's history; this man who hadn't graduated from elementary school actually had a plan in his heart. When he was young, he went up the mountain to catch wild rabbits and down into the fields to catch loaches, and no one in Eagle Beak Village could surpass him. When he grew up, he followed his uncle, Zhao Banxian, to become a militia battalion commander, and he wouldn't let out a peep all day. When he encountered Zhao Banxian going out in the middle of the night to catch family planning targets, he would find an opportunity to notify the people first, and by the time Zhao Banxian arrived full of confidence, it would usually be a case of the chickens flying and the eggs breaking, ending in nothing.

Later, when Yue Bai came to the village to be the Women's Director, Zhao Deliang felt that life was full of sunshine everywhere. He would express himself in front of Yue Bai at every moment. Sometimes when they went to the village to handle affairs together, he would suddenly dart into the woods halfway there, and before Yue Bai could even understand what was happening, he would come out carrying a lively wild rabbit in his hand, smiling and giving it to Yue Bai.

At first, Yue Bai wouldn't take it, but Zhao Deliang was persistent and willful. If Yue Bai got angry, he would let the rabbit go, clap his hands, and repeat the scene the next day.

His uncle, Zhao Banxian, had long coveted Yue Bai's beauty. He had personally seen Zhao Banxian hiding by the back window of Yue Bai's house, peeping at her bathing. What was particularly hateful was that Zhao Banxian would make very lewd gestures while peeping. Seeing such ugliness, he wished he could rush up and slap his old face hard a few times.

He knew Yue Bai had a lover named Zhao Jinming, who was now at the township government's rural foundation. He compared himself with Zhao Jinming and felt that apart from Zhao Jinming eating state-supplied grain, there wasn't a single place where he could compare to him. With this comparison, his confidence swelled a lot. According to his own words, if Zhao Jinming wanted to fight him, he could knock Zhao Jinming down with one hand while touching his own testicles.

Yue Bai understood Zhao Banxian's filthy heart; she even knew about Zhao Banxian lying by her window to peep at her bathing. She just played dumb, and only when Zhao Banxian couldn't hold back and wanted to reach out with his lecherous claws would she alertly find an excuse to avoid him. Yue Bai was an ice-smart woman, and she also knew that Zhao Deliang loved her deeply, but he didn't dare to confess. Yue Bai had Zhao Jinming in her heart, and she would not be moved by any temptations from the outside world.

Until Zhao Jinming came to her house, she almost shed tears when she heard the news. But she couldn't cry; she had to show more strength in front of Zhao Jinming. After Zhao Jinming left and disappeared, the bitterly waiting Yue Bai heard the news of Zhao Jinming's marriage; the woman was the Jin family's daughter, Jin Ling.

She also knew Jin Ling; she remembered that Jin Ling was a junior high classmate two years below them. When they graduated from junior high back then, Jin Ling had just entered the school gate, still a little girl wearing a big floral shirt with a runny nose.

The desperate Yue Bai rarely spoke from then on. She began to accept Zhao Deliang's wild rabbits and began to smile at Zhao Deliang at certain moments.

Zhao Deliang cherished the hard-won smiles very much, so he readily agreed to Yue Bai's request to definitely drive his uncle out of office and make sure he never rose again.

Rural cadres were all born and raised locally. Lifestyle issues couldn't put Zhao Banxian to death; only the economic aspect was his fatal weakness.

Zhao Deliang found the village accountant and used both soft and hard tactics to make him reveal Zhao Banxian's tricks. The accountant was afraid of Zhao Deliang's muscles, and besides, it was a struggle between uncle and nephew, so he was happy to watch the outcome. He made one request: after Zhao Banxian stepped down, he still had to be the accountant, otherwise he wouldn't cooperate.

Zhao Deliang readily agreed, and the accountant told Zhao Deliang about Zhao Banxian's corruption over the years one by one. Zhao Deliang found Yue Bai, and the two of them organized the evidence and filed a complaint with Secretary Liu Quan of the township government. In less than three days, Zhao Banxian stepped down in disgrace.

Afterwards, Zhao Banxian said that if Zhao Deliang married Yue Bai as his wife, he would definitely be a cuckold.

The villagers didn't believe it and asked him for the reason with a grin. Zhao Banxian swore that someone had seen Yue Bai's pubic hair, which was as messy as thatch. A woman like that would definitely cheat.

Sister-in-law Yue Bai came out carrying the sliced watermelon, her bottom wrapped in the hem of her skirt, swaying in a way that was intoxicating.

"Eat some watermelon." She chose a large piece and handed it to me, smiling beautifully: "The Youth Shock Brigade, most of them are young women and wives, and the few young men are all there for these flashy women."

"Oh, right." She seemed to suddenly remember and said: "Secretary Huang said you are the captain of the Youth Shock Brigade, but you haven't dealt with them yet. Secretary Chen, it's not right for a captain not to know his own subordinates." After she finished, she stared at me with a grin and said: "Why don't you go to the construction site this afternoon, meet them, and say hello?"

I waved my hand and said: "This doesn't count. Secretary Huang was joking, how can I take it seriously?"

Yue Bai said angrily: "Cadres shouldn't joke around. When I was looking for them, I already said you were the Shock Brigade Captain."

I smiled helplessly and said: "Sister-in-law Yue Bai, I really cannot be this captain."

"Actually, it's fine." Zhao Deliang took a bite of the watermelon and said: "You're just holding the title. We'll still do the work. Besides, there are wages now, so it's no different from working outside. It's just a name."

I firmly waved my hand in refusal. The situation was unclear now; in the county, Huang Qishan hadn't told me about this either. Suddenly starting work and dragging in the Shock Brigade, there must be a problem here.

"Township Head Zhu said that the Youth Shock Brigade is the new spiritual outlook of Suxi Township and represents a banner of Suxi Township. We must hold this banner high to be worthy of the leaders of the County Youth League Committee." Zhao Deliang had been a village chief for several years, and his way of speaking was quite impressive, making people look at him with new eyes.

His words made me alert. Why did Zhu Shizhen suddenly pay attention to the County Youth League Committee? In their eyes, an initiative from a Youth League Committee Secretary was actually worth nothing.