The howling wind whipped snow and sharp ice particles across the crossroads just outside the gates of the Red Star Commune.
Right in the middle of the intersection, a mud-splattered Dongfanghong tractor had broken down and stalled.
“Hey, Tomboy Xu, can you handle it or what?”
Under a nearby straw shelter that provided a bit of cover from the wind, a few idle men wearing dog-skin caps stood with their hands tucked into their sleeves, shouting and laughing mockingly.
“Why is a woman driving a tractor anyway? Hurry up and go home to nurse some babies!”
“Exactly! You can’t even turn the starting hand crank! Don’t go throwing your back out!”
Xu Ling wore a tattered, old cotton coat that gaped at the seams, exposing tufts of blackened cotton stuffing. Her face was smeared with streaks of dark grease and dirt.
She spat on the ground, pointed at the idle onlookers, and cursed at them fiercely.
“Get the hell out of here, the lot of you!”
“When I was driving tractors in the fields, you bastards were still lying dead on your warm kang beds!”
Xu Ling wiped the sweat from her forehead, her grip on the wrench tightening until her knuckles creaked.
The men smirked lazily, stepping on discarded sunflower seed shells. Not a single one had any intention of lending a hand.
“Xu Ling.”
A clear, gentle voice cut through the sound of the wind and snow.
Xu Ling turned her head and saw Lin Wanshuang standing at the intersection, wrapped in a gray scarf.
Lin Wanshuang adjusted her shoulder bag, walked over to the tractor, and pulled out half a pork bun made of refined white flour—neatly wrapped in clean greaseproof paper—from her pocket, handing it over.
“Eat something to line your stomach.”
The pork bun was still steaming, and the rich scent of lard and scallions instantly dispersed into the frigid wind.
Xu Ling’s throat bobbed. Flustered, she wiped her greasy hands on her pant legs before reaching out.
“Sister Wanshuang, what brings you here?”
“I’m heading to the Supply and Marketing Co-op to hand over the accounts.”
Lin Wanshuang stuffed the bun directly into Xu Ling’s hands.
“Take it. Eat it while it’s hot.”
One of the nearby men stretched his neck, muttering sourly:
“Well, well, big girl… giving a white flour meat bun to a tomboy like her? Isn’t that just throwing good stuff away?”
“Yeah, how about sharing a piece with us brothers to sample?”
Lin Wanshuang cast a cold glance at the men, completely ignoring them.
Xu Ling took a huge bite of the bun. The savory meat juices burst in her mouth, so scalding hot that she gasped for air.
She stared at Lin Wanshuang, her eyes prickling with warmth.
In this commune, everyone called her a tomboy or a crazy bitch, despising her for not acting like a proper woman. Even her own parents wished she would drop dead somewhere far away.
Only Lin Wanshuang called her by her actual name every time they met, and even shared her precious refined grain rations with her.
Xu Ling swore in her heart that if Lin Wanshuang ever asked her to break the commune’s windows, she wouldn’t hesitate for a second.
“Sister Wanshuang, the tractor’s fuel nozzle is clogged. I’ll have it fixed in a minute, and then I’ll drive you to the Supply and Marketing Co-op.”
Lin Wanshuang shook her head, her gaze drifting toward a wooden utility pole at the roadside.
The wooden pole was quite old; its base was already rotting, swaying slightly in the strong wind and snow. The thick black electrical wires attached to it ran directly into the distribution box inside the commune compound.
“No need to drive me,” Lin Wanshuang said, pointing at the wooden pole with a slight frown. “Look at that power pole. Its base is completely rotted out. With the wind blowing this hard today, if it falls and hits someone, or snaps the commune’s power line, that would be dangerous.”
Xu Ling followed Lin Wanshuang’s finger, her eyes flickering.
The power lines for the commune compound?
If that pole collapsed, power to both the commune compound and the adjacent Supply and Marketing Co-op would be completely cut off.
Without electricity, the lights in the commune offices wouldn’t work, and all official seals and registration duties would definitely come to a standstill.
Xu Ling took another bite of the bun, asking around a mouthful:
“Sister Wanshuang, if that power pole falls, does that mean the commune won’t be able to conduct any business today?”
“Naturally. Without power, they won’t even be able to make calls from the Armed Forces Department. Director Wang and the others will definitely have to focus on fixing the power lines first.”
Lin Wanshuang sighed, her tone full of fake concern.
“Especially on a snowy day like this, when the road is so slick. If some unskilled driver isn’t careful and bumps into it, that would be a terrible accident.”
Looking at Lin Wanshuang’s calm side profile, a flash of realization lit up inside Xu Ling’s mind like a lantern.
Sister Wanshuang is dropping a hint!
She had long heard that Lin Wanshuang’s biased mother was planning to steal Wanshuang’s job and hand it over to that useless coward, Lin Baozong. She was coming to the commune this very afternoon to get the official seal stamped.
If the power went out, there was no way that stamp was getting pressed today.
“Sister Wanshuang, don’t worry. The road is extremely slippery today—driving a tractor out here really makes it easy to skid.”
Xu Ling swallowed the last bite of the bun, a ruthless glint in her eyes.
“With my sloppy skills, my hands might just slip in a moment.”
Lin Wanshuang patted Xu Ling’s shoulder gently.
“Stay safe, don’t get yourself hurt. I’ll head to the Co-op now.”
“Got it, Sister! Walk carefully!”
Xu Ling watched Lin Wanshuang’s figure disappear into the swirling snow. Turning around, she strode over to the front of the tractor and picked up the heavy starting crank from the ground.
The idle men nearby were still making sarcastic comments.
“Hey, Tomboy, can you even turn that thing? Want your big brothers to give you a hand?”
Xu Ling ignored them completely. Grasping the crank with both hands, she cranked it violently.
Chug, chug, chug!
A plume of black smoke belched from the tractor as it vibrated violently. The roar of the engine instantly drowned out the howling wind and snow.
Xu Ling swung herself up into the driver’s seat, her hands gripping the steering wheel tight.
She turned her head, her gaze cutting through the thick snow toward the main road leading to the commune.
Down the main road, two heavily bundled figures were trudging awkwardly toward the commune gates.
It was Zhao Cuifeng and Lin Baozong.
As Zhao Cuifeng walked, she clutched her chest tightly, her face filled with urgency. Lin Baozong hunched his neck behind her, muttering curses under his breath.
Xu Ling let out a cold laugh, the malice in her eyes nearly overflowing.
Trying to steal Sister Wanshuang’s job?
In your wildest dreams!
Taking a deep breath, she violently slammed the gear shift forward into the highest gear.
The tractor let out a deafening roar. The heavy wheels spun wildly in the slushy mud, hurling huge sprays of dark slush as the vehicle lurched straight toward the rickety power pole by the road!
“Hey! Tomboy Xu! Where the hell are you driving?!”
“Stop! You’re gonna crash!”
The men at the roadside turned pale with fright, scrambling backward on all fours in terror.
Xu Ling didn’t listen at all. Gripping the wheel firmly, her eyes remained fixed on the wooden pole.
“Down you go, motherfucker!”
She roared. A split second before impact, she threw her body to the side and rolled straight off the driver’s seat into the snow.
BANG!
A tremendous crash echoed through the air.
The heavy front frame of the tractor slammed violently into the utility pole.
The wooden pole snapped clean at the base with a sharp crack, falling toward the ground with a screeching roar.
CRACKLE! SPARK!
Several thick black wires snapped instantly, unleashing a cascade of brilliant blue sparks and sharp popping sounds in midair.
Inside the commune compound, the few dim, yellow electric lights flickered once and instantly went dark.
The entire commune compound—along with the Supply and Marketing Co-op next door—was plunged into pitch darkness in an instant.
“Oh, sweet Jesus!”
Terrified by the sudden explosion-like noise, Zhao Cuifeng collapsed onto her butt in the snow, her face as white as a sheet.
Lin Baozong crouched down with his hands over his head, screaming wildly:
“What happened?! Did a bomb go off?!”
Xu Ling pushed herself up from the snow and patted the white frost off her clothes. Looking at the fallen pole blocking the commune gates entirely, a cold, satisfied smirk curled on her lips.
Now let’s see how you two get inside to get that stamp.
Meanwhile, inside the main hall of the Supply and Marketing Co-op…
The sudden blackout silenced the noisy counter for a brief second.
“Why’d the power go out?”
“In this pitch dark, how are we supposed to buy anything?”
Customers immediately began to complain.
Lin Wanshuang had already stepped through the back door of the Supply and Marketing Co-op.
Standing in the dark hallway, listening to the commotion up front, she slowly exhaled a plume of white vapor.
The timing is perfect.
She raised her wrist to check her old wristwatch.
3:10 PM.
There were only 35 minutes left before the chemical ink on that transfer agreement completely vanished.
Out by the counter, a crowd of villagers was gathered to buy goods for the New Year. Without electric lights, the room was dimly lit, reliant solely on the faint gray snow light filtering through the windows.
Lin Wanshuang straightened her clothes and walked up to the counter with an expressionless face.
“What is everyone shouting about?”
Lin Wanshuang’s voice wasn’t loud, but it carried an undeniable tone of cold authority.
“Even with the power out, we follow the rules. Line up properly and register one by one.”
Outside the counter, an overbearing woman wearing a red headscarf slammed her hand against the wooden counter, her spit flying everywhere.
“Register what?! My grain coupons are about to expire, hurry up and redeem them for me!”
Lin Wanshuang looked at her coldly, her hand already reaching for the abacus on the counter.
The real show was just getting started.