After eating, the three of us still had to go work for the production team. I hadn't slept a wink the night before, so I was definitely feeling sluggish when I went to the fields.
The village's work-point recorder was Qiao Lili. She was Qiao Xin's little sister, and she relied on her family name, Qiao, to walk around the village with her nose in the air.
When work was over, I glanced at the record book and immediately flared up. "Qiao Lili, how come everyone else gets ten points for the same work, but you only gave me eight?"
Qiao Lili shot me a sideways glance. "And what were you doing last night? You were listless all day. It was obvious you were slacking off. I was being generous giving you eight points. If you don't like it, go ahead and report me to the township."
A few of the burly laborers from the Qiao family started laughing and deliberately whistled at me. I didn't say a word, but I sneered to myself. This Qiao Lili had been unpopular in the village for a long time. She had docked points from plenty of people who weren't from her family.
On the way home, I fell in beside Yang Shan. Yang Shan is old Mrs. Yang's son. He's a teacher, and his wife, Chen Shuhong, is an educated woman. She used to be one of the educated youth.
"Brother Yang, I've seen your wife's skill with numbers. She's a hundred times better than Qiao Lili. This job of point recorder, it's supposed to go to whoever can read and write. Why should someone who didn't even finish primary school get to keep it?"
Yang Shan paused for a moment, scratching his head. "But our family name is Yang. We can't win against the Qiaos."
"That's not necessarily true. Today, Qiao Lili didn't just dock my points. She also shorted your wife two points from the day before yesterday. As long as all the families with other surnames stick together, she won't be able to hold on to that position."
I lowered my voice and gave Yang Shan an idea, told him to go home and plant the idea in his mother's head. Even though old Mrs. Yang is awful, when it comes to protecting her own family's interests, she's willing to fight to the death.
Sure enough, the next day, old Mrs. Yang started a brawl with Qiao Lili at the brigade headquarters over the work points. Hair pulling, face slapping. It was a complete chaotic mess.
Taking advantage of the chaos, I fanned the flames from the sidelines, getting all the other long-suffering villagers to finally turn on her. In the end, Qiao Xin had no choice. To calm everyone down, he had to temporarily suspend Qiao Lili from her post, saying they would hold a new selection.
When night fell, I borrowed a donkey from Wang Jun, the militia platoon leader. Wang Jun is a righteous man. I gave him five jin of rice, and without a second thought, he handed me the donkey. "Be extra careful when you go out now. The red guards are causing a lot of trouble in the county town."
"Don't worry, Brother Jun. I've got this."
This time, Dad and I knew the route well. With the donkey cart, transporting the fish was much less work. We pulled another net from the hidden river. This time, we only picked the big ones, weighing over three hundred jin in total.
Just as we were approaching the black market, the sky suddenly turned gloomy. A cold wind was blowing.
I had just set up the stall when that girl in the red scarf appeared again. She was truly eye-catching. Her almond-shaped eyes sparkled in the dark as if they could speak. "Boss, give me two of your biggest. My grandpa is sick and he's craving some fresh soup." Her voice was clear and crisp, laced with a sense of urgency.
I didn't waste any words. I picked out the two fattest catfish for her, weighing over thirty jin. "Here you go. These fish have a special vitality. Eating them is guaranteed to make him healthy," I joked.
The girl looked at me, a hint of a smile in her eyes. "Thank you. My name is Lin Ruan. If you have more fish this good, save them for me next time."
I watched her follow a tall, thin man and disappear behind a pile of scrap. I felt a strange stirring in my heart.
This entire batch of fish sold out. My money pouch was much heavier.
Before leaving, in a quiet corner of the scrapyard, I saw an old woman guarding a bamboo basket and wiping her tears. The basket was full of fluffy little chicks, all chirping away.
"Ma'am, how much are these chicks?"
"Thirty cents each. Son, I'm begging you, please buy a few. We've truly run out of food at home."
I saw how pitiful she looked. The cracks on her hands were frighteningly deep. I simply waved my hand. "I'll take them all. Twenty-five of them. Here's seven yuan and fifty cents for you. You can keep the change."
The old woman was so grateful she nearly knelt before me.
On the way back from the city, the donkey cart was loaded with two hundred jin of grain and twenty-five little chicks, along with a large pile of cotton cloth, oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar.
As Luo Wenxin drove the donkey, he began to lecture me. "You're too soft-hearted, kid. In times like these, we can barely take care of ourselves, yet you buy so many chickens. Think of how much grain they'll eat later."
I smiled and didn't argue back. Only I knew that even though this drought would last a while longer, a hidden underground river had plenty of water. The backyard would soon be able to grow vegetables. Then the chickens will have insects to eat, and we will have meat to eat. Life will only get better and better.
As we neared home, the eastern sky was already showing the first light of dawn. I looked at Qiaojia Village gradually coming into view in the distance and silently said to myself, Mom, Dad, in this lifetime, our family will never be treated like beasts of burden again.