After Wen Yan spoke, everyone turned to look at her.
The soldier who had overturned the sled was none other than Zhao, the one who had driven it yesterday. Seeing it was Wen Yan, he frowned, disliking her tendency to boast.
But he couldn’t just stand by and let Wen Yan embarrass Battalion Commander Jiang.
“Comrade Wen, where are you going? I’ll show you the way.”
Zhao blocked Wen Yan’s path, giving her a meaningful look: Hurry up and leave.
Wen Yan had no idea about the convoluted thoughts running through Zhao’s mind. Concerned, she asked, “Did something get in your eye?”
Zhao replied awkwardly, gritting his teeth, “No!”
“Oh, maybe you’re lacking vitamins.”
Wen Yan walked past Zhao, leaving him fuming with frustration. As she moved past him, she began introducing herself.
“I’m Wen Yan, Jiang Baizhou’s wife. We had an argument before, but we’ve made up now. We’re not getting divorced, and my military relocation procedures have been finalized. We’re ready to settle down and live well together.”
Everyone: Did we even ask?
Wen Yan crouched down to inspect the sled and continued calmly, “Everyone was asking on the way here, so I thought I’d just say it upfront to save you the curiosity.”
The crowd chuckled, thinking in unison: Battalion Commander Jiang’s wife sure has a personality.
They were indeed curious, but a group of grown men gossiping wouldn’t be appropriate.
Zhu, the half-carpenter, took the lead in greeting Wen Yan. He didn’t stop her from examining the sled, giving Battalion Commander Jiang some face.
Meanwhile, Zhao, who had intended to stop Wen Yan, furrowed his brows, trying to figure out how to get her away. Just as he was about to turn around, he heard Zhu exclaim in surprise.
Zhu: “You really know your stuff! You can actually do this?”
It turned out that after crouching down, Wen Yan had deftly dismantled several wooden pieces from the sled.
Whether someone had skill or not was clear as soon as they got to work.
Wen Yan set down the dismantled sled crossbeam and raised an eyebrow slightly. “Of course. If I say I can do it, I can.”
“The structure of this sled isn’t the problem—it’s just unevenly balanced. In plain terms, it’s tilted. A slight adjustment will fix it.”
Surrounded by the group, Wen Yan swiftly dismantled the crossbeam and used a simple carving knife to make a few wooden wedges, clinking and clanking as she worked.
Zhao’s furrowed brows relaxed a little.
Zhu’s eyes lit up with excitement. “You know how to do mortise and tenon joints?”
Wen Yan pointed to the repaired sled. “Yes, I do. I can’t lift it myself. Could someone give me a hand to flip it over?”
The next moment, three soldiers flipped the sled over. Zhu stood beside Wen Yan and pressed further, “Do you know how to make a plow?”
Wen Yan affirmed again, “Yes, I do.”
Zhao, who had just relaxed his frown, couldn’t help but worry again. “Do you know what kind of plow to make?”
If she didn’t know and just agreed, what would she do when she couldn’t deliver?
Wen Yan looked at Zhao, who was frantically signaling her. Thinking she understood, he nodded slightly, conveying the message: Hurry up and leave! I’ll cover for you!
But then he heard Wen Yan say, “I can make any kind.”
Zhao: “…”
He was worrying for nothing. Fine, he wouldn’t bother anymore!
Yet when Wen Yan started making the plow on the spot, his feet disobediently carried him over.
Zhao: I’m just keeping an eye on her to make sure she doesn’t cause trouble for Battalion Commander Jiang! That’s all!
Wen Yan was completely unaware of Zhao’s inner turmoil. While selecting wood, she asked many questions.
She learned that when the reclamation team first arrived last year, they had no tools at all.
They would poke a hole in the ground with a tree branch, drop a soybean seed inside, and call it farming.
Of course, with such a small area under cultivation, the harvest was naturally meager.
Last year, their main force had been focused on land reclamation, with only a small portion of people retained to build houses, fell trees, and produce basic farming tools and handle logistical work.
As for machinery, there were a few units provided by their big sister Susu, but with over fifty farming regiments, they couldn’t even get a turn to use them.
Moreover, with nationwide resource shortages, it was necessary to conserve steel and iron wherever possible. The mortise-and-tenon structure happened to be perfectly suited for the task.
It was now March. Here, sowing would begin in late April or early May. Before that, their logistics department wanted to produce more plows and farming tools to facilitate spring planting.
However, they were all former soldiers. Although they had some basic carpentry skills, they were limited to making simple items like tables and chairs.
Their capabilities for more complex tasks were limited, and the things they produced weren’t particularly effective.
After selecting the wood, Wen Yan analyzed the information she had gathered and looked at Zhu. “I’ll teach you how to make plows and farming tools now.”
Zhu couldn’t quite follow her train of thought.
Zhu: “You’ll teach… us? Now?”
Wen Yan thought he was afraid of not being able to learn. In her previous life, many students panicked when starting new projects, reluctant to step out of their comfort zones.
Wen Yan’s fair, smiling face turned completely serious, adopting the authoritative demeanor of a teacher. “Don’t worry, it’s not difficult. Besides, I’m a good teacher. You’ll definitely learn.”
Zhu opened his mouth and closed it again, feeling somewhat amused and exasperated. In the end, he didn’t say, “I don’t believe you can do it.”
After pondering for a few seconds, the mature Commander Zhu tactfully said, “I just think… isn’t this a bit too fast?”
From the time Wen Yan arrived until now, it had been at most half an hour.
Wen Yan’s stern expression relaxed slightly as she asked, puzzled, “Don’t you want to make more plows?”
Zhu immediately shook his head. “Of course we do!”
Wen Yan said matter-of-factly, “You want to make them, I know how to make them, and I’ll teach you. What’s wrong with that?”
Zhu opened his mouth, letting the cold wind rush into his stomach. It seemed there was nothing wrong.
It just felt inexplicably off.
Usually, people would first get familiar, discuss things slowly, and even formally apprentice themselves. In short, things never moved this fast.
But Zhu was a straightforward person. What harm was there in trying?
At worst, they’d waste a few pieces of wood, which could still be used as firewood. But if they succeeded, it would be a major boon for farming.
“Right! No problem!”
Seeing Zhu agree, Wen Yan naturally took charge.
“Commander Zhu, gather soldiers with basic carpentry skills. I’ll teach them each step of making the plow, with each person specializing in one component. We’ll assemble them at the end to speed things up.”
“We also need more wood. Squad Leader Zhang, you’re responsible for coordinating with the logging team.”
“And… does this need to be reported and approved?”
Wen Yan’s serious expression vanished in an instant. She pursed her lips and looked intently at Commander Zhu.
Commander Zhu had a feeling something was about to happen.
“Commander Zhu, could you go and submit the application report to the regiment commander? I can tell you’re someone who gets things done—definitely more capable than me!”
Commander Zhu’s mouth twitched. If you toned down the blatant unwillingness to do it yourself, it might be more convincing.
But when he met Wen Yan’s bright, expectant eyes, he couldn’t bring himself to refuse.
The more he looked, the more he wanted to laugh.
Did Battalion Commander Jiang know his wife was so… adaptable?
Still, Wen Yan wasn’t wrong. This matter did need to be reported, and it made sense for him to go.
Provided they actually produced something.
“Alright! Let’s make the plows first. Once they’re done, I’ll go report it!”
Wen Yan immediately beamed with a smile, not minding at all that Commander Zhu didn’t fully trust her.
After all, he didn’t know her—it was already quite remarkable that he had gone this far.
“Alright, I’ll make one first.”
She enjoyed hands-on work and disliked paperwork. In her past life, she had even died from overwork while staying up late revising her thesis.
Next, everyone witnessed Wen Yan’s extraordinary efficiency.
She got straight to work without a single unnecessary word, her small face tense as if she were commanding a decisive battle.
Those around her unconsciously tensed up as well.
Zhao, who had always been a die-hard fan of Jiang Baizhou and had planned to find an excuse to leave if Wen Yan proved incompetent—lest she embarrass Commander Jiang—was now stunned.
This… Comrade Wen Yan seemed quite capable.
Could it be that Commander Jiang had been wrong… No! How could he even think that? Commander Jiang was the hero in his heart.
Zhao shook his head, determined to defend his idol, and hurried off with the sled.
A few hundred meters later, Zhao cracked his whip on the smooth, bump-free sled and exclaimed, “Damn! It’s really fixed!”
At the same time, Jiang Baizhou had scoured the reclaimed wasteland and finally found the most talkative Commander Zhang.
Commander Zhang was startled when he saw Jiang Baizhou.
“Holy shit! What are you doing here?”