“Exactly. This is just a floor plan. The floor plan is what best defines a building’s function. Why not start by staking out the foundation? We can draw the rest as we go—any objections?”
Tao Nanfeng’s voice was a torrent of anger. “It’s a single-story mud-brick house with a timber-framed roof and tiles. We’re building it ourselves, so we save on labor. We’re using local materials to keep costs down. Why do we even need elevations or cross-sections?”
Her words came out in a rush, her eyes flashing. She was an architect, and she refused to be looked down upon.
“We are just ordinary educated youth,” she continued, her tone scathing. “We’ve been forced to build our own homes because the Infrastructure Department is utterly useless. As the Head of that very department, how do you have the nerve to stand here and criticize us without even a blush on your face?”
Qiao Yadong and Xiao Aiyun moved to her side, shielding her. Caught up in her fury, they turned on Huang Xingwu.
“You’re the one who said your department wouldn’t help,” Qiao Yadong snarled. “You forced us to figure this out ourselves. So what’s with the snide remarks and the verbal abuse now?”
“A house is for shelter—to keep out the wind, rain, and cold,” Huang Xingwu spat, grinding his teeth.
He raised a finger, pointing accusingly at her. “But all you want is the easy way out, to throw up a thatched hut that’ll collapse in the first storm. Even our own design, no matter how shoddy, will be better than yours!”
“You’re a little girl playing architect with a single drawing,” he sneered, his voice dripping with contempt. “How do you think you’re going to lead everyone in building a house? What a joke! If any high school graduate could design and build a house, they wouldn’t need a Head of the Infrastructure Department.”
Huang Xingwu, a Worker-Peasant-Soldier university graduate with an associate degree in Industrial and Civil Architecture, considered himself a professional.
He could not stomach Tao Nanfeng stealing his spotlight with a mere floor plan.
Wei Min burst into laughter. “Perfect! If they actually manage to build a proper house, Tao Nanfeng should become the Head of the Infrastructure Department!”
The other educated youth erupted in a chorus of cheers.
“Great idea! Let’s have a competition!”
“If we can build our own house here at Post No. 6, you’ll have to step down as Department Head!”
“A bet! A bet! Tao Nanfeng, we’re with you—let’s do this!”
Their gazes locked over the surging crowd. Tao Nanfeng’s calm only fueled Huang Xingwu’s agitation, and he raised his voice to a shout.
“Tao Nanfeng, don’t think you’re so special just because you can draw! Let’s make a bet. If you can lead these educated youth to build a proper house within ten days, I’ll step down and give you my position as Head of the Infrastructure Department.”
He paused, a sneer twisting his lips. “But… if you fail, you’re banned from ever drawing or doing any more infrastructure work. Ever.”
His voice grew louder with each word, as if he were purging his rage. Back in the provincial capital, during his days at the college, he had pursued a beautiful girl in his class.
She’d rejected him utterly, shredding his love letters and tossing them in the trash. The humiliation had left him with a festering hatred for any woman who resembled her.
Tao Nanfeng was beautiful and talented at drafting—she bore a striking resemblance to the girl he’d lost. Huang Xingwu wanted nothing more than to trample her into the mud, ensuring she’d never rise again.
Dark-skinned, lean, and short, his face contorted with fury, his nostrils flaring. In his rage, he looked truly menacing.
The educated youth had been cheering for the bet, but at the stakes—that she would be banned from drafting and infrastructure work if she lost—a heavy silence fell over the crowd.
Tao Nanfeng raised her eyes to the distant Mount Xiufeng. Its peaks rolled endlessly into the horizon, blanketed in lush vegetation. Stone and clay were everywhere. With such an abundance of materials, how could they not build a shelter?
She had read so many books and helped her father draft so many blueprints. She was confident she could build a simple brick-and-tile house. But ten days? That was impossible.
Huang Xingwu glared at her. “What’s the matter? Are you too afraid to bet?”
“Ten days isn’t enough,” Tao Nanfeng said.
She’s taken the bait!
Huang Xingwu’s face lit up. “Ten days isn’t enough? Fine, twenty. I wouldn’t want you to say I was bullying you.”
Twenty days? Tao Nanfeng fell silent, calculating.
Desperate to seal the deal, Huang Xingwu upped the stakes again. “Thirty days! That has to be enough, surely?”
After estimating the construction schedule, Tao Nanfeng slowly nodded.
Huang Xingwu let out a triumphant laugh. “It’s a deal, then! I’ll give you thirty days. If your house isn’t up by the end of the month, you’re finished with infrastructure work forever!”
Before Tao Nanfeng could even speak, Xiao Aiyun intervened, her voice tinged with anxiety. “Nanfeng, you love architecture so much. How could you gamble your entire future on a bet with Chief Huang?”
Ye Qin chimed in, “She’s right. He can’t just appoint someone to a section chief position—that has to go through the farm leadership meeting. Besides, what if he refuses to honor the deal?”
Qiao Yadong, well aware of Tao Nanfeng’s passion for building, also spoke up. “Don’t fall for his tricks. We’re building the house ourselves; we don’t need his help. Why should we have to bet with him at all?”
The voices of her friends swirled around her, and in that moment, Tao Nanfeng recalled her father’s words: A gentleman knows what to do, and what not to do.
She glanced at the concerned faces around her and smiled. “It’s alright. I know what I’m doing.”
Planting her feet firmly on the dusty ground, she turned to Huang Xingwu. “If we build it, you step down and let Engineer Yang become the Head of the Infrastructure Department.”
“Engineer Yang?” Huang Xingwu sneered at the mention of Yang Xianyong, the honest, unassuming man from the road construction team. “Sensible of you to admit you can’t handle this responsibility yourself!”
Their gazes locked, and they nodded in unison.
The bet was struck.
The other educated youth stared at Tao Nanfeng, their gazes fixed. The old Nanfeng had been like a fragile seedling, tentatively peeking out at a strange new world. But now, she radiated a sharp, unfamiliar confidence.
It was as if stepping into the realm of construction had given her a new-found strength and courage.
Xiang Bei, Mao Peng, and Yang Xianyong approached from the farm headquarters. The moment the youth saw Xiang Bei, they found their footing and eagerly recounted the bet.
Xiang Bei glanced at Tao Nanfeng, surprised by her audacity.
The girl has some nerve, gambling with Huang Xingwu, he thought.
Mao Peng reached out and grabbed Huang Xingwu’s arm. “Chief Huang, are you really willing to bet your position? If you lose…”
The road construction team members were all powerfully built. Huang Xingwu struggled to break free, but Mao Peng’s grip was iron. He could only force a smile. “A bet is a bet. I’ll accept the loss if I lose.”
How could I possibly lose? he thought. Tao Nanfeng is so full of herself.
The stones on Mount Xiufeng were massive and hard. Just digging the foundation trenches would take over ten days, let alone buying and hauling bricks for the walls. How would they get all those materials up the mountain? Even if they gave these scholars two months, they wouldn’t be able to carry it all up.
“We’ll be the witnesses,” Mao Peng declared. “If Chief Huang tries to back out… heh heh!”
The low chuckle sent a shiver down Huang Xingwu’s spine.
The other educated youth chimed in, their voices rising in unison. “A bet’s a bet! If Chief Huang tries to wriggle out of this, we’re reporting him!”
The chorus of a dozen energetic young voices echoed through the valley, startling a few mountain sparrows that fluttered over their heads.
Even Xiang Bei seemed swept up in the mood. The usual languor in his posture vanished, and his voice took on a grave tone. “I’ll be the witness.”
Huang Xingwu nodded vigorously. “My word is my bond! I’ll honor the bet!”
Only then did Mao Peng release his grip. Huang Xingwu discreetly rotated his wrist, glancing as if to say a few more words. But under Xiang Bei’s piercing gaze, he dared not speak another syllable and slunk away.
Once he was gone, the youth crowded around Tao Nanfeng.
“Tao Nanfeng, you’ve got guts!”
“Can we really build a brick-and-tile house in just one month?”
“What do we do now? We need to get started immediately—no time to waste!”
“We have to win! We’ll make Chief Huang get lost!”
Tao Nanfeng offered a faint smile, her voice as gentle as a breeze over the hills. “Don’t worry. If we all work together, we can get it built in a month.”
Xiang Bei watched her, his gaze tinged with a new, strange interest. This girl, who had been with the road construction team for only half a month, was unlike anyone he’d met.
He’d first taken her for a fragile young lady, yet she possessed a surprising, innate strength, gritting her teeth to work alongside the rest without a single complaint. Then he’d assumed she was timid, only to find her leading the other educated youth in a gamble with Huang Xingwu, staking her own future on the line.
Suddenly, he found himself wanting to see just how far she could go.
***
The reconstruction of the Zhiqing Settlement officially began.
Architect: Tao Nanfeng
Site Manager: Qiao Yadong
Tool and Equipment Manager: Wei Min
Procurement Manager: Chen Zhilu
Chen Zhilu was of average height and lean build, but as a former track and field athlete, he was quick and agile. The son of the Jiangcheng Fertilizer Plant’s procurement manager and nephew of the head of its Infrastructure Department, he was a man who couldn’t stand to be idle.
He loved nothing more than roaming the streets and alleys, and the isolation of this remote farm was driving him stir-crazy. The moment he heard they could go down the mountain to buy building materials, he immediately volunteered to lead the procurement team.
The weather held, and the sun shone brightly for days on end.
Tao Nanfeng led the group to level the site, then borrowed a tape measure from the road construction team to mark the boundary. She scattered lime on the ground to outline the building’s footprint.
Straightening her back, she told Wei Min, “Start digging.”
Wei Min came from a large family. With a mother who managed the household and a father who served as the sole breadwinner, life had always been a struggle. He’d grown accustomed to hard labor—making coal briquettes, weeding, and planting vegetables were tasks he’d mastered.
At Tao Nanfeng’s command, Wei Min spat into his palm, raised his hoe high, and drove it fiercely into the earth along the lime line.
Clang!
The iron blade struck stone, sending a jarring vibration through his arms. He cleared away the surface soil, revealing a gray-brown boulder the size of a grinding stone, its surface hard and unyielding.
If the entire site was riddled with rock like this, it was no wonder Huang Xingwu was so certain they couldn’t finish the house in thirty days.
Tao Nanfeng paused, her mind racing. “Don’t dig where you hit rock. Just excavate the soil and let me see what we’re dealing with.”
Wei Min and a few other sturdy young men set to work. They grunted and strained, digging out the soil along the white line. After half a day’s toil, the true nature of the foundation trench was revealed.
The ratio of rock to soil was a stubborn one-to-one.
Half rock, half yellow earth—the mixture was a nightmare to dig. A strip foundation would be essential for the earthen brick walls, but excavating it would be a grueling task.
Tao Nanfeng’s brow furrowed, only to be met with Huang Xingwu’s mocking drawl. “Scholars’ zeal, arm-chair tactics… how utterly laughable!”
Wei Min glared at him. “Keep your smart remarks to yourself.”
A few men from the Infrastructure Department trudged past, lugging a freshly felled log. Huang Xingwu, supervising their efforts, took a gloating delight in the exposed rocks.
“All educated youth, yet such a vast difference between you all,” he sneered.
“The groups from De County and Nan County weren’t half as delicate. They’re doing just fine in their thatched huts, and I haven’t heard a single complaint. But not you—you Jiangcheng youth are too precious for that, insisting on brick and tile.”
There were six zhiqing settlements in all. When the Infrastructure Department had built the first five, they’d at least put some thought into it, nestling them in a south-facing hollow shielded from the wind.
Those structures featured sturdy frames of wooden pillars and beams, their wattle-and-daub walls—woven bamboo and branches plastered with mud—providing a reliable defense against the elements.
Though thatched, the roofs were woven tight and reinforced regularly, held down by clever wooden slats that kept the straw from blowing away in a gale.
Perhaps it was because the educated youth were so compliant, but the Infrastructure Department had grown increasingly negligent. By the time they reached the twenty youth from Jiangcheng, they’d thrown the main frames together haphazardly and picked a site that faced the wind head-on.
Chen Zhilu, whose uncle was the head of the Infrastructure Department, knew a thing or two about construction from years of listening to him talk. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and raised his voice.
“May I ask how much funding was allocated for the settlements? How much went into the buildings, and how much went into cigarettes, liquor, and tea?”
The question struck Huang Xingwu right where it hurt. His expression soured, and he snarled, “That’s for the leadership to worry about! What do you know, you bunch of students? Just get back to building your houses!”
With that, he didn’t dare mock Tao Nanfeng again. He threw them a contemptuous glare and stormed off.
Chen Zhilu watched his retreating back and sneered, “Look at him. Doesn’t he look like a weasel scurrying through the bamboo grove in broad daylight?”
Wei Min burst into laughter, unable to catch his breath. “You know what? He really does! Remember that one we tried to catch in the bamboo grove? The scrawny little thing that ran so fast?”
The other youth joined in, their laughter echoing. “His surname is Huang, too. From now on, we’ll call him Weasel!”
And so, Huang Xingwu earned a nickname: Weasel.
Hearing the waves of laughter behind him, Huang Xingwu clenched his jaw, his face twisting with rage. It was the same mockery he had faced years ago, when the Construction Management Department’s beauty—his own goddess, Fan Yajun—had rejected his confession.
He stopped dead in his tracks and turned to glare at Tao Nanfeng. She was bent over, examining the rocky soil they had just unearthed, her fair neck glowing like jade and her figure as slender as bamboo.
Huang Xingwu sneered.
The whole mountain is covered in these boulders, he thought. Manual excavation will take at least two months. When I worked on the farm headquarters’ office building, a single day of stone-breaking left my arms so sore I couldn’t even lift them the next morning.
Let’s see how you build your house this time!
No matter how pretty your blueprints are, they’re useless without a real-world plan. You’re just fighting a war on paper.
Satisfied with his inner curse, Huang Xingwu led his workers up the mountain.
Tao Nanfeng remained unfazed by his departure. She walked straight to the makeshift tool shed—a crude shelter of tree trunks, thatch, and tarpaulin—and retrieved a metal rod and a hammer.
Xiao Aiyun followed close behind, her curiosity piqued. “Tao Nanfeng, what are you doing?”
Tao Nanfeng’s gaze flickered to the back of her left hand. A dark, jagged bite mark had once marred the skin, but now it was gone, leaving no scar behind.
In her dreams, a zombie had bitten her, and that bite had left her a gift: superhuman strength, heightened senses, and a body in peak condition. At first, the change had terrified her. She feared people would treat her like a monster.
But none of her fears had materialized.
When she had shattered a boulder with a single strike in the road construction team, Xiang Bei had simply said, “You’re strong. The road crew is the perfect place for you.”
The rest of the team—men who spent their days blasting rock and felling trees—had just shrugged. They were used to raw power.
And when she’d helped her roommate move, carrying a mountain of backpacks on her shoulders during a torrential downpour, the others had only felt relieved. Thank goodness we have you, Tao Nanfeng.
If no one feared her strength, what was there to be afraid of?
Tao Nanfeng looked at Xiao Aiyun. “I’m going to break the rock.”
Xiao Aiyun’s eyes lit up. She turned excitedly to Wei Min. “Move aside, move aside! Let Tao Nanfeng do it.”
The crowd parted, clearing a path as Tao Nanfeng approached the boulder Wei Min had first struck with his pick.
Xiao Aiyun and Tao Nanfeng worked in perfect sync. With a practiced eagerness, Xiao Aiyun helped her roll up her sleeve before stepping back three paces. She raised a hand to direct the others.
“Everyone, spread out! Watch out for flying rock shards!”
Tao Nanfeng’s eyes gleamed with focus as she stared at the millstone-sized gray rock.
She lifted her left hand, setting the chisel upright against the stone. Her right hand raised the hammer high before bringing it down in a crushing blow.
The ever-growing torrent of heat within her surged from her right arm and into the steel.
Clang!
The force traveled from her arm to the hammer, from the hammer to the chisel, and finally into the stone.
She shifted the chisel three inches and repeated the motion.
Clang!
Clang—
After the third strike, Tao Nanfeng stood straight.
A stunned silence fell over the group. The other Educated Youth stared, mesmerized by her fluid, powerful grace.
Each swing had looked effortless—almost weightless—until the moment of impact, when it struck with the force of thunder.
Lightning fast. Heavy as a thousand catties.
The hammer struck the chisel with a deafening roar, yet the chisel remained immovable. It didn’t sink a fraction of an inch or shift a millimeter, silently absorbing the blow.
The hammer blurred in the air, sparking as it sliced through the wind, yet the chisel never budged. How much strength could she possibly be channeling?
Xiao Aiyun stepped forward, her face alight with smug satisfaction.
She looked at Wei Min. “What are you still standing there for? Get moving and clear these rocks!”
“Huh?” Wei Min stammered, completely bewildered.
Xiao Aiyun grinned. “Tao Nanfeng’s the strongest one on the road construction team. She handles the splitting, everyone else handles the hauling.”
“Three strikes? That was enough?” Wei Min finally found his voice, pointing at the boulder.
He’d seen the laborers at the stone yard sweat and strain for hours, their endless clang-clang-clanging echoing through the site. How could it be this easy?
“Three was enough,” Tao Nanfeng said, leaning down. She pressed her palms onto the rock and gave a gentle push.
Crack! Crack! CRACK—
A series of sharp pops rang out, like handfuls of soybeans being tossed in a wok. The massive boulder, which would have taken two people to hug, suddenly shattered into a dozen small pieces, each about twenty centimeters across and nearly uniform in shape.
“Ohhh—”
After a moment’s stunned silence, the site erupted in a roar of cheers.
Wei Min’s lips trembled. My god… what kind of obscene strength was this?
Tao Nanfeng had broken the boulder into a dozen pieces with three casual strikes. Others might not have grasped the magnitude of her feat, but Wei Min had worked as a day laborer at the stone yard. He knew exactly how impossible this was.
Even the strongest, most seasoned workers couldn’t have done it.
When Xiao Aiyun had mentioned that Tao Nanfeng once smashed Luo Xuan’s office desk with a single blow, he’d dismissed it as an exaggeration. But seeing it now, he knew the truth: if anything, she had been underselling it.
This wasn’t just strength. This was divine power.
Tao Nanfeng turned, her gaze sharp as lightning. As Wei Min met her eyes, his knees grew weak. He clamped his mouth shut, unable to utter another word.
Who would dare call her a delicate young lady now?
Delicate? My ass. She’s a powerhouse.
“Stack the stones over there,” Tao Nanfeng said, her voice calm. “Clear the trench for the rubble foundation.”
Wei Min snapped back to his senses. He gestured to his companions to wheel over the carts and began hauling the stones, one load after another, following in Tao Nanfeng’s wake.
Whether she was a god or a celestial being, her strength was an asset.
Tao Nanfeng smashed the stones in front, and Wei Min and the rest cleared them from behind, the team working in perfect harmony.
Cling! Cling! Clang!
The crisp sound of stone breaking echoed in their hearts.
“How is Tao Nanfeng so strong?” Wei Min whispered to Xiao Aiyun. “She looks so delicate.”
Xiao Aiyun shot him a sidelong glance. “She’s just always been that strong. She just keeps it under wraps.”
The other educated youth’s eyes widened in shock.
“Wow, you really can’t judge a book by its cover.”
“Thank god I never challenged her to an arm-wrestling match.”
“Look at those slender arms. Who’d guess she has such explosive power? If she entered weightlifting, she’d be a world champion!”
“If that weasel dares to mess with us again, Tao Nanfeng can just slap him into next week! Haha…”
The more they talked, the more fired-up they became, working with even greater vigor.
Under Tao Nanfeng’s leadership, the educated youth finished digging the trenches in just two days.
They gazed at the resulting pile of stones—a small mountain of their hard work—their faces glowing with joy.
Strength in numbers, truly, they thought. Working together, they had achieved incredible efficiency.
The thrill of their success forged a deeper bond of trust between the youth and Tao Nanfeng.
“Tao Nanfeng, what’s next?” they asked in unison.
She looked at the trenches they had dug, their straight lines tracing the rough outline of the future brick-and-tile house. A faint smile touched her lips. A sense of accomplishment swelled within her.
With a slender finger, she pointed toward the wetlands to the east.
Dig pits. Extract soil. Make bricks.