The mention of settling the score with Huang Xingwu sent a surge of excitement through the educated youth.
“Exactly!” one exclaimed. “Moving and unpacking can wait. Taking down that bastard Huang is the real priority.”
“He’s the one who sabotaged us,” another added. “The man is pure malice.”
“Engineer Yang should be the Head of the Infrastructure Department,” a third declared. “That weasel needs to get lost!”
With their luggage dropped and doors and windows carefully locked, twenty of the youth marched to the farm headquarters.
They had won the bet, and Huang Xingwu was about to lose his position as section chief.
Huang Xingwu sat steadily behind his desk, tapping his fingers on the surface.
“What’s the rush?” he asked. “You finished the house in twenty-six days? Who said you’re done?”
Qiao Yadong stepped forward, his voice booming. “Of course we’re done. We moved in today!”
Huang Xingwu rolled his eyes. “You clearly know nothing about construction. Design, build, move in—and that’s it? Wrong, utterly wrong! How do we know you didn’t cut corners? Who’s to say the building is even habitable? Who can guarantee there are no structural flaws?”
He leaned in, his voice dripping with condescension. “Without a final inspection and a professional assessment of the building’s quality, it doesn’t count as finished.”
Huang Xingwu let out a smug laugh, his gaze sweeping over the youthful, naive faces before him.
You’re out of your league, kids, he sneered inwardly.
Chen Zhilu’s uncle was a minor official in the Infrastructure Department, so Chen knew all about the inspection process.
He stepped forward, his voice ringing out. “Fine. Let’s have the inspection. Let’s do it today!”
Huang Xingwu slowly leaned back in his chair, his tone drawling. “What’s the rush? According to regulations, you need to submit a formal request first. Then the Infrastructure Department will schedule an inspection when they have the time…”
Before he could even finish, Wei Min exploded. He leaped to his feet and slammed his hand onto the desk.
“What kind of bullshit is this? You’re just stalling!” Wei Min roared. “We’ve been working our asses off for over twenty days, up at the crack of dawn and out until dark. All while having to watch our backs against those shameless bastards who tried to sabotage us! And now you want to delay the inspection? By the time you get around to it, the whole thing will have fallen apart!”
At the mention of “shameless bastards,” Huang Xingwu’s eyebrow twitched, his face stiffening.
You little shit, he thought, how dare you point the finger at me?
Huang Xingwu glared up, his patience fraying. “Wei Min, do you think being a worker’s son gives you the right to act like a lawless thug? Yelling in the farm headquarters like this? I’m following the standard construction procedure. If you don’t understand it, keep your mouth shut.”
The educated youth were scholars at heart, all book-learning and no street smarts. How could they hope to best an old fox like Huang Xingwu? They fumed and shouted, but they were utterly powerless.
Qiao Yadong swallowed his anger. “Fine. Tell us. How do we apply? How does the inspection work?”
Huang Xingwu chuckled, slid open a drawer, and pulled out a document. “Here. This is the inspection application. Fill it out quickly. We’ll organize a special team tomorrow and get the inspection done as soon as possible.”
Qiao Yadong reached for the paper, but Xiao Aiyun sprang up to stop him. “Why the hell are we doing everything he says? Our house is already built. Do twenty pairs of our eyes not count? Why does he have to be the one to inspect it?”
“We can’t let him pull our strings!” Ye Qin added. “He thinks he can bully us because we’re young and inexperienced, doesn’t he? Who’s to say he won’t just drag his feet, or fabricate some random problem to fail the inspection?”
Tao Nanfeng walked up to Huang Xingwu. Her voice was soft, yet clear and unwavering.
“Chief Huang, our bet never included an inspection.”
“Exactly,” Xiao Aiyun chimed in, her voice mocking Huang Xingwu’s earlier tone. “When you made the bet, you didn’t say a word about inspections. You said, and I quote: ‘Alright, I’ll give you thirty days. If your house isn’t built after a month, you’re banned from any more construction forever.'”
She let out a sharp snort.
“Those were your exact words to Tao Nanfeng. What does ‘built’ even mean? A three-year-old knows it means you build the house and move in. Where does an official inspection come into this? You’re deliberately making things difficult because you don’t want to honor the bet. What kind of man goes back on his word?”
Huang Xingwu sneered. “What do you mean ‘not included’? Your opinion that the house is finished is one-sided. It counts for nothing without an official sign-off.”
Tao Nanfeng closed her eyes, and when she opened them, a flicker of mockery danced in her gaze.
“Don’t mistake our ignorance for weakness. They might not know the rules, but I do.” She leaned in. “This is an internal farm construction project—a dilapidated housing renovation. There isn’t even a formal project approval process. What is there to officially inspect?”
The other educated youth finally understood.
“How shameless!” someone shouted. “If you’re going to flake on the bet, just say so! Why play these games?”
“Pah!” another sneered. “A man who gives his word and breaks it is as worthless as rusted iron!”
“What’s the point of an inspection form? Let’s go. It’s like taking a weasel’s word—it’s all just hot air.”
Every word dripped with contempt, as if Huang Xingwu were nothing more than a pathetic clown, unworthy of their time.
Huang Xingwu stared fixedly at the beautiful girl. She wore a light blue crew-neck shirt and dark blue wide-leg trousers, her two long braids coiled neatly at the back of her head.
She looked fresh, calm, and possessed the quiet air of a scholar. The corners of her lips curved into a slight smile, her posture neither arrogant nor submissive.
Yet to Huang Xingwu, every strand of her hair seemed to mock his lack of backbone.
She looks just like Fan Yajun… the girl I could never have won over in school.
Old humiliations surged in his mind. He remembered the jeers of his classmates when he’d tried to court Fan Yajun years ago. Fueled by a sudden mixture of shame and rage, he surged to his feet.
“My word is my bond!” he roared. “Fine! We’ll inspect the place right now. I can’t wait to see what kind of shack you high schoolers have managed to cobble together!”
When they arrived at the Zhiqing Settlement, Huang Xingwu froze in his tracks.
Before him stood a newly built brick-and-tile house. Solid yellow-earth bricks, gleaming dark-blue tiles, a spacious veranda, and small windows with patterned glass that let in light while shielding the interior from view.
Five dormitories, a kitchen, a restroom, and a shower room.
Twenty-six days. They’d actually finished it!
A bunch of kids who’d never touched a construction site in their lives had, under Tao Nanfeng’s command, built a proper brick-and-tile house.
Jealousy and hatred choked Huang Xingwu, a knot of rage tightening in his chest. If he didn’t let it out, he’d lose his mind.
His hands flailed wildly as he sputtered, “Impossible! You’ve never even been to college! You don’t know the first thing about architecture or structural engineering! How could you possibly build a house like this? Even if Fan Yajun herself had come, she couldn’t have done this well!”
The educated youth exchanged bewildered glances.
“Is he having a breakdown?” one whispered.
“Who’s Fan Yajun? What is he talking about?”
“Maybe he’s just pretending to be crazy because he knows he lost and is afraid of losing his job.”
Suddenly, Huang Xingwu lunged, his hand shooting out to grab Tao Nanfeng.
Tao Nanfeng reacted instantly. She stepped back, sidestepped his lunge, and seized his arm from behind. With a sudden, powerful thrust, she flung him away.
The force of the throw sent Huang Xingwu flying, his body momentarily airborne.
Thud!
He crashed to the ground like a dead fish.
The educated youth finally snapped out of their shock. “Ah!” someone cried, bending down to check on him.
Huang Xingwu lay on the ground, writhing and clutching his waist. “Ow! Ouch! Help!”
Qiao Yadong let out a breath of relief and comforted Tao Nanfeng. “It’s okay. He’s not dead.”
Xiao Aiyun, furious, planted her hands on her hips and cursed, “The absolute nerve! A thug like that deserves to be beaten to death!”
Tao Nanfeng was beautiful, yet completely devoid of pretense. With a heavy sledgehammer in her hand, she had smashed the hardest, largest rocks into rubble with just three blows. Without her leadership, they never could have finished the house in twenty-six days.
To the educated youth, she was like a goddess. And this weasel dared to lay a hand on her!
Once they were sure he was alive, their anger flared.
Wei Min stepped forward and delivered a vicious kick. “I’ll beat you to death, you bastard!”
The other educated youth joined in, landing a few kicks of their own before Huang Xingwu’s two assistants scrambled to pull him up.
Tao Nanfeng watched with cold, steady eyes, her fists clenched at her side.
Huang Xingwu, still groaning, shot a resentful glare in her direction. His frustration boiled over, once again clouding his reason.
“I don’t believe you did it!” he spat, his voice strained. “I know how much work it takes to build a house. Just digging the foundation and clearing the stone alone should take a full month! How could you possibly finish a whole brick-and-tile house in twenty-six days? I’m a trained professional, a college graduate with three years of structural engineering under my belt, and I couldn’t even do it—how could a little girl like you? You… you must have used some kind of dark magic!”
By the end of his tirade, Huang Xingwu was shrieking, the veins in his neck bulging. His face was contorted with rage.
“What the hell are you saying?!”
Luo Xuan rushed over, his voice a sharp reprimand. He clamped a hand over Huang Xingwu’s mouth and hissed a warning, “That’s feudal superstition! If someone writes an anonymous letter about this, you’re finished!”
At Luo Xuan’s intervention, Huang Xingwu immediately fell silent, cowed.
Xiang Bei and Engineer Yang, having heard the commotion, hurried over. Engineer Yang offered a bashful grin. “Tao Nanfeng, is your house really finished already? That’s incredible.”
The educated youth’s faces lit up at the sight of the two newcomers.
“Captain Xiang, Engineer Yang, you’ve come at just the right time!” one shouted. “You know about Chief Huang’s bet with Tao Nanfeng, right? He’s supposed to fulfill the wager by giving his section chief position to Engineer Yang, but now he’s trying to back out!”
Xiang Bei’s gaze sharpened as he fixed his stare on Huang Xingwu.
The smaller man shrunk back, his scalp tingling. He instinctively tried to hide behind Luo Xuan.
Luo Xuan wasted no time in taking a side. After sweeping a stern look over the crowd, he snarled, “This is absolute nonsense! Since when do you bet leadership positions on a wager? Do you think Party officials can just step up or down on a whim? What do you think the leadership committee is—a child’s game?”
Xiang Bei let out a cold laugh, a storm brewing in his eyes.
Luo Xuan nodded to Huang Xingwu to speak, but the man was completely tuned out, his mind drifting elsewhere. He didn’t even notice the gesture.
Luo Xuan gritted his teeth, his tone softening as he addressed the crowd. “We’re all part of the same farm. Chief Huang was simply using a provocation to motivate you all, to spark your initiative and enthusiasm. After all, improving our living conditions together is a good thing, isn’t it?”
He paused, then offered a compromise. “How about this… the office will provide two desks for every dormitory, and Chief Huang will give the educated youth a formal apology. After that, we’ll put this whole matter behind us. How does that sound?”
How does that sound? Like hell it does!
Motivating us? He was really painting a halo on a weasel now!
The educated youth erupted in a chorus of angry shouts, shaking their fists.
“No way! Huang Xingwu has to go!”
“We’re clueless, and we still built brick and tile houses in a month!” someone yelled. “So how did the Infrastructure Department only manage six thatched huts in several years? That’s pure incompetence!”
“How can someone that useless be the section chief?”
Useless. Useless. Useless.
The word pierced Huang Xingwu’s deep-seated insecurities. He suddenly sprang to his feet, tore a stack of receipts from his pocket, and slammed them onto the ground. He began stomping on them, his face contorted in rage.
“Who the hell would want this job?” he roared. “This godforsaken farm is in the middle of nowhere! It’s hours away from the nearest village or shop. Even the mail carrier won’t come up the mountain. I have to kiss the asses of the supply cooperative clerks just to buy a pack of cigarettes! Who would want to stay in a place like this?”
He spat on the ground. “I quit! I’ve wanted to quit for years! You can have the goddamn job! I’m done!”
“Huang Xingwu!” Luo Xuan’s face went pale.
He desperately tried to restrain the exploding man, bending down to scoop up the scattered receipts.
But Huang had completely shed his usual deference. He sneered, his eyes wild with the reckless defiance of a cornered dog. “Don’t you dare order me around. If you make me angry, I’ll spill everything I know. No one’s going to walk away clean!”
The educated youth leaned in, their ears pricked, their eyes gleaming with anticipation.
Dogs eating dogs, they thought. Perfect.