Years of ruling the farm, far from the emperor’s gaze, had lulled Luo Xuan into a sense of impunity. Controlling the simple peasants and educated youth had fanned the flames of his greed until it consumed him.
He completely ignored the crowd’s commotion. Instead, he grinned and patted the desk in front of him. “Come on then. If you can make this desk wobble with a single slap, I’ll admit you’re strong.”
The desk was hewn from a single, massive birch log—an immovable beast of a table that two strong men couldn’t even lift.
A young woman like her wouldn’t just fail to move it; the impact would likely leave her palm throbbing in agony.
Luo Xuan glanced askance at Tao Nanfeng. She was stunning, as delicate and pure as a white magnolia, exuding a faint, sweet fragrance. Amidst the rowdy educated youth, she was a painting of serenity.
Any other man would have been moved by such a vision of fragile beauty, but Luo Xuan was different.
For him, money and grain were the only true treasures. What good was beauty? Could she eat it for dinner?
The thought hardened his resolve. “And if you can’t move it,” he added, “I’m docking you seven work points, and you’ll return that iron pot to the cafeteria!”
Tao Nanfeng nodded and stepped forward, coming to a halt before Luo Xuan.
“Hold me to your promise,” she said. Before he could respond, she slowly raised her right hand.
Her palm was pale and smooth, her fingers slender as spring onions.
Every eye in the room fixed on her hand. The crowd held its collective breath.
Then, as if she’d suddenly remembered something, Tao Nanfeng slowly lowered her right hand.
Luo Xuan burst into laughter. “What’s the matter? Scared? Don’t say I didn’t warn you—this desk is solid birch—”
He never finished his sentence. Tao Nanfeng’s left hand, wrapped in a red gauze scarf, shot out.
If I have to show off, she thought, I’ll use the hand the zombie bit.
A dark red blur streaked through the air.
The hand bearing those bite marks—the one that surged with a warmth that bolstered her entire body’s strength—struck. It tore through the air with a sharp whistle and smashed down.
CRACK!
The massive, heavy-timbered desk couldn’t withstand the full force of her blow. It shuddered once and instantly collapsed into a heap of splinters.
It was ruined.
Luo Xuan stared, his mouth agape. He couldn’t even find the words to speak.
Impossible! How could this delicate girl possess such strength?
But the evidence was undeniable.
Luo Xuan’s hands trembled as he reached out, pressing uselessly against the empty air. The desk that had been there a moment ago was gone.
Bending down, he saw a heap of splintered wood. The pen holder, water glass, and the papers and notebooks from the drawers lay scattered across the floor.
It was real. This was no dream.
“Ten work points?”
Xiao Aiyun puffed out her chest in triumph.
Nothing teaches a bully a lesson like a fist to the face, she thought.
One punch from Tao Nanfeng, and Director Luo—who had been so arrogant just moments ago—had completely changed his tune.
“Ten work points,” Luo Xuan stammered, his legs shaking. With strength like that, who would dare exploit her?
“And the iron pot?”
Tao Nanfeng hadn’t forgotten the pot Xiang Bei had been carrying on his shoulder. They still had to cook dinner at the Zhiqing Settlement; without a pot, what would they eat?
“The… the iron pot,” Luo Xuan repeated. If this were ancient times, he thought, she could have robbed him blind with that strength. Not just a pot—his entire life and fortune would be hers.
At his confirmation, Xiao Aiyun cheered and threw her arm around Tao Nanfeng.
They left the farm headquarters office with the rest of the group, chattering happily like a flock of sparrows all the way back.
“Tao Nanfeng, you’re so strong! We don’t have to worry about anyone bullying us anymore.”
“Did you see Director Luo’s face? He looked completely stunned!”
“Hahaha, this is so satisfying! It was bad enough that Director Luo assigned us girls to the road construction team, but to try and dock our work points? What nerve!”
Tao Nanfeng’s lips curved into a faint smile.
Thank goodness for my strength, she thought. I really have that dream to thank.
***
With the iron pot from the road construction team, a fire finally crackled to life in the earthen stove outside the Zhiqing Settlement’s thatched-roof hut.
The group sprang into action: some gathered firewood, others rinsed rice, and a few chopped vegetables and stirred-fried them in the pot.
When the steaming rice was finally ready, a wave of excitement swept through the educated youth.
The simple meal—roasted potatoes, egg soup, and white rice—was more than enough to satisfy those who had traveled a thousand miles to get here.
“This wild egg soup is amazing!”
“Wei Min, you’re eating too much! Don’t finish all the rice!”
“Hey! Stop stealing my potatoes!”
“Hahaha…”
The shared meal brought them closer, and they huddled around the earthen stove, eating and chatting long into the evening.
Ye Qin and Li Huilan, who had been assigned to the pig farm, curled their lips in disdain.
“The whole place reeks,” Ye Qin complained. “Between cutting pigweed, boiling feed, and feeding the pigs… we’re absolutely exhausted by the end of the day!”
Wei Min chimed in, “Don’t think the production team has it easy just because you’re girls. We spent the entire day in the fields harvesting corn. My arms are so stiff I can barely move them.”
One of the educated youth, known for her knack for gathering gossip, leaned in and lowered her voice conspiratorially. “I heard the leadership here at Xiufeng Mountain Farm are the absolute rulers of the place. They do whatever they want, and they won’t tolerate any dissent from the youth or the staff. This is all a ‘show of force’ to make sure the newcomers learn to obey.”
Tao Nanfeng listened, her mind racing.
So that’s why we were dumped in those thatched huts the moment we arrived, she realized.
They assigned the girls to the most grueling jobs—the road construction team and the pig farm—and sent the boys to the production team for a full day’s labor. They didn’t even give us food or money. We had to fight just to get a single iron pot.
Ye Qin and Li Huilan, city girls who had never seen a pig in their lives, exchanged a worried glance. “What are we going to do?”
What could a group of students possibly do? They were newcomers, and their only interaction with leadership so far had been with Luo Xuan—a man who was clearly not someone to get along with. All they could do was offer each other comfort.
“There’s no other way,” someone offered. “We’ve come this far. We just have to settle in and adapt.”
“Don’t be sad. We’ll get our bread, we’ll get our milk. Everything will get better.”
Xiao Aiyun didn’t hear a word of the consolation. She jumped to her feet, her face flushed with indignation. “I was wondering why Director Luo assigned Tao Nanfeng and me to the road construction team and refused to give us our ten work points. So this is what they call a ‘show of force’? Force my ass! Let me tell you, Director Luo is terrified of anyone who fights back. Tao Nanfeng didn’t just break his show of force—she annihilated it!”
As Xiao Aiyun animatedly recounted how Tao Nanfeng had smashed Director Luo’s desk with a single punch, the other educated youth broke into laughter.
“Hahaha, Tao Nanfeng, you’re amazing!”
“I never would have guessed. She looks so delicate, but she’s actually that strong?”
“Did you really smash his desk? And Director Luo didn’t even dare to say a word?”
“If that’s the case, we shouldn’t be afraid anymore. If Director Luo ever tries to bully us again, we’ll all stand up to him together!”
The students, naturally spirited and rebellious, were thrilled to hear that Tao Nanfeng had broken Director Luo’s spirit. The more they talked, the more excited they became, their gazes turning to Tao Nanfeng with growing admiration.
“I’ve always been naturally strong,” Tao Nanfeng explained with a faint smile.
The same Nightmare that had left a black bite mark on the back of her hand had, in a strange twist of fate, delivered a special gift.
With her newfound strength and vigor, the farm labor became much easier to manage.
In the days that followed, Tao Nanfeng spent her time moving between the Zhiqing Settlement, the farm headquarters, and the fields, always accompanied by Xiao Aiyun. The bite mark on the back of her hand gradually faded, and her control over her strength grew more precise.
One evening in October, as the sunset glow draped the farm headquarters, Tao Nanfeng returned from work. She handed in the tools she had signed out that morning and turned to leave.
Just then, she heard a fierce argument erupt from an office near the stairs.
One of the voices, low yet commanding, belonged to Xiang Bei.
The road construction team was managed almost entirely by its deputy captain, Mao Peng. Xiang Bei spent his days working in silence, often gazing at the distant mountains and rarely speaking to anyone.
In the month since Tao Nanfeng had joined the team, she had heard him speak fewer than ten times.
Startled by his voice, she stopped in the corridor and looked toward the office.
“Heavy rain is coming,” Xiang Bei was saying. “I warned the headquarters last week to prioritize repairing the roofs at the Zhiqing Settlement. Why has nothing been done?”
“It’s October. The weather’s dry and hot—what chance is there of heavy rain?” replied Luo Xuan, the Office Director. “You’re being overly dramatic.”
Aside from the farm director, Luo Xuan held the most power on the farm. He controlled finance, personnel, and supplies—a position with plenty of opportunities for graft.
“Look!” Xiang Bei seized Luo Xuan by the collar, dragging him out of the office and across the courtyard to the ancient locust tree. “Ants are migrating. It’s the sign of rain.”
Luo Xuan gasped, his hands flailing in the air. “Help! Someone help…”
Xiang Bei released him with a shove.
Luo Xuan landed hard on his backside, scrambling to his feet as he shrieked, “You’re not even the Head of the Infrastructure Department! Why are you sticking your nose in this?”
Xiang Bei’s eyes narrowed, a flicker of fury burning in their depths as he stared down the man in silence.
Luo Xuan’s gaze darted away, his expression turning guilty. “What business is the Zhiqing Settlement’s housing to you? Work’s over—go home and eat your dinner. Stop wasting time here.”
Hearing the commotion, Huang Xingwu, the Head of the Infrastructure Department, burst from his office. “Xiang Bei! What are you doing? Stop bullying Director Luo!”
Huang was a small, unattractive man, but his degree in industrial and civil architecture gave him a cultivated sense of superiority. He often carried himself with an insufferable arrogance, his nose perpetually turned up at others.
At the word “bullying,” Xiang Bei’s shoulders slumped slightly, his posture turning languid and utterly uninterested.
Mao Peng emerged from the tool shed and rushed to Xiang Bei’s side. “Bullying?! From where I’m standing, it looks like two leaders are ganging up on our captain. Who’s doing the bullying now?”
Huang Xingwu helped Luo Xuan to his feet. “When and how the Zhiqing Settlement is built or repaired is my concern. Whether funds are allocated for those repairs is Director Luo’s responsibility. You’re just a road construction captain, and you report to my department. Is it appropriate for you to be barking orders here?”
Luo Xuan brushed the dirt from his backside and chimed in, “Exactly. We each have our duties. I don’t interfere with your road crew, so don’t come here and interfere with my office work.”
Mao Peng had always admired Xiang Bei, treating him as his leader. Seeing him belittled by Luo Xuan and Huang Xingwu sent him into a towering rage.
“What do you mean, ‘each have our duties’? That’s just carving out fiefdoms and claiming territory! That’s pure individualism!” he roared. “We’re all revolutionary comrades. If the office is failing in its duties, can’t we offer a suggestion? Why are you pulling rank and throwing your weight around?”
It was evening, and the educated youth were returning from their work assignments. They slowed as they passed, pausing to listen to the argument and whispering among themselves.
“Who’s that guy? He’s got some nerve talking back to Director Luo.”
“One of the road crew. They’re always arrogant, never showing anyone any respect.”
“He’s got a point, though. Director Luo is all about pulling rank.”
The crowd grew, their whispers reaching the ears of the two officials. Luo Xuan, who always bullied the weak and cowered before the strong, forced a smile.
“Yes, yes, I’ll certainly take your suggestions under serious consideration,” he said, his tone patronizing. “As soon as we finish harvesting the camellia seeds in the next few days, we’ll get right on repairing the Zhiqing Settlement. Isn’t that right, Chief Huang?”
Huang Xingwu shrugged, nodding perfunctorily. “Right, right. We’ll fix it.”
Xiang Bei’s eyes flashed like lightning. “Some mistakes can be forgiven,” he said, his voice heavy. “Others cannot.”
Without another word, he turned and strode away.
On the walk back to the Zhiqing Settlement, Tao Nanfeng glanced up at the sky.
The heavens were a washed, brilliant blue, the setting sun burning like fire. Wisps of white clouds drifted halfway up the mountainside, tinged with the evening glow. It was the peak of autumn—crisp, clear, and utterly devoid of any sign of rain.
“The captain said it’s going to rain,” Tao Nanfeng said softly.
Xiao Aiyun looked up and laughed. “In this weather? How could it possibly rain? Besides, we have thatched roofs. What’s there to worry about?”
“What if there’s wind?” Tao Nanfeng pressed, her tone insistent.
Wind? Xiao Aiyun’s eyes crinkled into slits as she laughed. She swayed back and forth, mimicking the dramatic cadence of their old language teacher.
“Autumn in the eighth month, the wind howls in rage, tearing the triple-layered thatch from my roof… The bed-end leaks, no dry spot remains, and the rain falls like hemp threads, endless and unbroken. Hahahaha!”
Tao Nanfeng didn’t laugh. The Zhiqing Settlement’s thatched cottages were built with wooden posts and beams, their walls and roofs simply the dried reeds harvested from the mountains. They offered no real protection against a storm.
The memory of the cottage collapsing in her dream, drenched in torrential rain, sent a fresh shiver down her spine.
Better safe than sorry, she thought.