Tao Nanfeng and Xiao Aiyun followed the man from the Infrastructure Department along a narrow mountain path. After walking for over half an hour, they finally emerged onto a broad, open slope.
Today, everything felt strange and new.
Chirp, chirp… Birds darted through the valley.
Drip, drip… Spring water trickled down rock walls and seeped through crevices.
Clang, clang, clang— A few men were striking the stone.
Every sound entered Tao Nanfeng’s ears and wove together a vivid, dynamic picture in her mind. The world seemed to tear away its thin veil, revealing a clarity and vibrancy she had never known. Without realizing it, her steps grew light, and she began walking faster than usual.
On the hillside, seven or eight sturdy, shirtless men were at work. Some were adjusting orange-yellow surveying equipment; others were hauling scrap wood and broken stone.
Seeing the bare backs of the men, Tao Nanfeng and Xiao Aiyun turned to each other, their cheeks flushing crimson.
Startled by the sudden appearance of young women, the men scrambled to pull their shirts off the tree branches.
“Old Huang!” a man in a red undershirt grumbled. “What’s this all about? We’re a road construction crew. Why the hell did you bring female comrades here?”
Old Huang, a man in his forties from the Infrastructure Department, merely chuckled at the complaint. He turned to a man in a white long-sleeved shirt and dark green military trousers, his tone laced with a hint of deference.
“Captain Xiang, these are the Jiangcheng educated youth assigned by Luo Xuan today—Tao Nanfeng and Xiao Aiyun. They’ll be joining your road construction team from now on.”
Captain Xiang stood tall and straight, his posture so imposing that even with his back turned, he radiated a fierce, formidable aura. “What’s Luo Xuan’s angle?”
Old Huang offered a wry smile.
“He said it was Farm Director Jiao’s orders. ‘Mix the men and women,’ he said, ‘and the work won’t feel so hard.'”
Xiao Aiyun had already felt her future was bleak the moment she was assigned to the road crew. The walk under the blazing sun had left her face flushed and her back soaked with sweat.
Seeing Captain Xiang’s apparent displeasure with the headquarters’ arrangement, she grew anxious.
She grabbed Tao Nanfeng’s arm, her whole body trembling.
“What if… what if they won’t take us?” she whispered. “What will happen to our ten work points?”
If the road crew rejected them, they would have to return to the farm headquarters and wait indefinitely for new assignments. They had already eaten most of the rations they’d brought; if this continued, they would be reduced to drinking cold water and starving to death.
Captain Xiang remained silent, his back still straight and rigid.
After a long silence, Tao Nanfeng stole a glance at him before quickly lowering her gaze.
His shoulders were broad, his legs long, and his physique powerful. In the sun, his skin glowed like burnished bronze, and he stood as straight and unyielding as a mountain pine.
Tao Nanfeng had never encountered a man like this before; a strange, fluttery anxiety stirred in her chest.
A lean man—Deputy Captain Mao—approached Captain Xiang’s side and tugged Old Huang away to whisper.
“One’s a bean sprout, the other’s a hothouse flower,” Mao muttered. “How could these two ever work on a road crew? Take them back, Old Huang. Get them a lighter assignment.”
“The higher-ups give the orders,” Old Huang countered with a sigh. “What am I supposed to do? The assignment list came down from the top.”
“Damn it, that bastard Luo! The road crew asked for men who can lift and haul, not delicate little girls… They’d be in the way like a couple of decorative vases. With them around, the men won’t even be able to strip their shirts in this heat. It’ll be a nightmare to get any work done.”
“Deputy Captain Mao, you know Director Luo—he’s a real miser with the rations,” Old Huang pleaded. “If they don’t earn their work points, they won’t get food. They just arrived yesterday after traveling over a thousand kilometers from Jiangcheng. They didn’t even stop to catch their breath before being sent here. They’re just spoiled kids from the city, Mao. Have a heart and just take them in for now.”
Every word of Deputy Captain Mao’s conversation with Old Huang sank in, leaving Tao Nanfeng with a bitter, stifling lump in her throat.
Bean sprout. Hothouse flower. Decorative vase. Delicate little girls… The insults piled up, a mixture of anger and shame. She had never been so utterly despised. Today was an education.
“Women are nothing but trouble,” Deputy Captain Mao grumbled.
Just as Tao Nanfeng’s heart ached with humiliation, a low, slightly lazy voice sounded beside her ear. “Let them stay.”
She snapped her head up, her gaze meeting the towering figure before her.
The sun beat down mercilessly, the heat so oppressive it stole the breath from her lungs. Yet his long-sleeved shirt was buttoned to the collar, his posture impeccable, his appearance disciplined.
His hair was cut short, the strands standing on end. Sweat steamed from the tips of his hair before trickling down his forehead. His eyes were small, his gaze calm, yet they held an innate authority—like a dozing tiger, peaceful but brimming with latent power.
A jagged scar sliced across his face, running from the base of his left ear to the corner of his mouth. It looked as if it had been carved by a knife or an axe; just looking at it sent a dull ache through her own heart.
Tao Nanfeng lowered her head, feeling that even a single glance was an intrusion.
Old Huang sighed in relief and smiled at the two women. “Captain Xiang has taken you in. You’d better thank him properly.”
Xiao Aiyun, realizing their dinner was now secure, straightened her back and puffed out her chest. “Thank you, Captain Xiang!” she announced loudly.
“Thank you,” Tao Nanfeng murmured. Her voice was soft and low, like the gentle flow of a clear stream, drawing a second glance from the captain.
“My name is Xiang Bei.”
He reached up, took two straw hats from a tree branch, and held them out to Xiao Aiyun and Tao Nanfeng.
Tao Nanfeng looked up instinctively and reached out to take her hat. As she did, a faint, searing heat pulsed from the bite mark on her hand, as if reminding her of something.
She quickly covered her left hand with her right, the straw hat perfectly concealing the red gauze wrapped around her wrist.
Xiang Bei pointed to a large rock in the distance. “Put on your hats and sit over there.”
With that, he turned away without another look at the women, directing the rest of the crew to continue the survey. He immediately threw himself back into his work.
His words had been so curt that Tao Nanfeng and Xiao Aiyun exchanged a confused glance, unsure of what he actually meant.
Tao Nanfeng looked in the direction he had pointed. A massive rock, half-buried in the mountainside, left only a small ledge exposed. A towering pine tree, its branches a vibrant, ancient green, cast a wide expanse of shade over the stone.
All we have to do is put on the hats and sit here? she wondered. How’s that possible?
Xiao Aiyun, already gasping for breath in the heat, cheered and rushed forward. She plopped down on the rock, using her straw hat to fan herself.
Tao Nanfeng surveyed their surroundings.
This was a newly cut road, a narrow path of yellow clay barely wide enough for two people. Along its edges, wild grass grew unchecked, punctuated by the gnarled, sprawling roots of trees.
Judging by the soil’s color, it was a heavy, cohesive clay—the kind with high bearing capacity that could serve as a natural foundation without the need for artificial reinforcement.
Whenever her father had a moment of respite, he would take Tao Nanfeng to the field, teaching her to sketch and observe the site. Half of her architectural knowledge came from his direct instruction, the other half from the professional tomes in his study.
Her father’s gaunt face surfaced in her mind. Tao Nanfeng shook her head, forcing the memory away, and walked toward Xiao Aiyun. The moment her body touched the cool surface of the rock, a wave of relief washed over her.
Xiao Aiyun leaned in close to Tao Nanfeng’s ear and giggled. “The stone’s so cool. Come on, sit down and take a break.”
Tao Nanfeng smoothed her clothes and lowered herself to sit. She rested her left hand against the rock for balance—
BOOM!
The stone split in two right at the base of her palm.
“Ah!” Xiao Aiyun shrieked, tumbling off the rock and onto the dirt. She scrambled up, staring at Tao Nanfeng in disbelief.
The moment Nanfeng’s hand had made contact, a surge of heat had erupted from her fingertips. The rock had shattered, and her own momentum sent her sprawling forward.
She felt no pain. Flustered and disoriented, she scrambled to her feet and leaned against a sturdy, stunted chinaberry tree for support.
CRACK!
The tree snapped in two. The break was clean and smooth, the stump as wide as a bowl.
Only this time did she manage to catch her balance. Otherwise, she would have tumbled right down the hillside.
Tao Nanfeng stared dumbly at her left hand, wrapped in its gauze bandage. *Shattering stone. Snapping trees.* What kind of power was this? What was that heat?
Xiao Aiyun scrambled to her feet and rushed over, heedless of the grass and leaves clinging to her braid.
Her voice trembled with a hint of panic. “Tao Nanfeng! What’s wrong? What just happened?”
The commotion drew the attention of the road construction crew. They dropped their tools and gathered around, examining the shattered rock and the snapped tree with astonishment.
“The crack in the stone is perfectly smooth,” one worker remarked. “It looks like it was sliced clean by an axe.”
“If it were a pulling force, the cut would be at a forty-five-degree angle,” another added.
“Looking at the break, this was clearly caused by an immense shearing force.”
“The chinaberry tree has loose wood, sure, but this one is as thick as a bowl’s rim,” a third chimed in. “No adult could snap it with a single push.”
“And it’s a horizontal break. Shearing force again.”
Among the crew was Yang Xianyong, a civil engineer who frequently lectured them on mechanics. His influence showed; the workers analyzed the scene with a level of technical precision that would have impressed a professor.
Once their discussion concluded, every eye turned to Tao Nanfeng, their gazes filled with curiosity.
Yang Xianyong, a man in his forties with a kind face and a white hard hat, stepped forward. “Did you do this?” he asked gently.
“I don’t know,” Tao Nanfeng replied, her face pale.
Shattering stone with a palm, snapping trees with a punch.
She had woken up feeling stronger, but she never imagined this kind of strength. Could it be because of that dream?
Though she said nothing, Tao Nanfeng stood there like a painting—her skin luminous, her features delicate—evoking a sudden, protective instinct in all who looked upon her.
“How could she have done it?”
“The rock probably split long ago.”
“The chinaberry tree must have been rotten inside, easy to snap.”
“Look at her. She can’t even lift a laundry basket. How could she have that kind of strength?”
As the whispers swirled around her, Tao Nanfeng felt a surge of heat where the bite mark on the back of her hand burned.
It felt like a reservoir that had filled to the brim after days of torrential rain, a powerful force within her body desperate for release.
She took a half-step back, her calf brushing against a half-buried rock by the roadside.
“Ah—!”
The crew gasped in unison. The thousand-pound boulder, nudged by Tao Nanfeng’s gentle touch, plunged over the cliff’s edge.
CRASH… BOOM… BOOM!
The massive stone careened down into the valley, the impact shaking the very earth.
Gulp.
The sound of a dozen men swallowing hard echoed through the silence.
My God…she really did split the rock and snap the tree!
A mountain breeze swept past, lifting the bangs from Tao Nanfeng’s forehead to reveal her willow-leaf brows and eyes that shone like stars.
Who would have ever guessed that such a delicate, soft-spoken beauty could be a hidden titan of strength?