Before enrolling in the program to be sent to the countryside, Tao Nanfeng’s father, Tao Shouxin, had mapped out a precise plan for her future.
She was to start with two years of work in the library of the architecture department at Jiangcheng University of Architecture.
Under his guidance, she would self-study architectural theory, and once she had built a solid foundation, she would join the research and teaching staff.
Starting as a draftsman, she would then be recommended for the university’s architecture program, eventually staying on as a faculty member after graduation.
Tao Nanfeng was meticulous, steady-handed, and possessed a remarkable memory. Her father had carefully groomed her to follow in his footsteps.
She had already read every professional book in his study. When she encountered texts too advanced for her level, she had forced herself to memorize them by rote. Now, facing her first major responsibility, she quickly scoured her memory for the knowledge she needed.
“What materials should we use? Let me think,” Nanfeng said, her gaze meeting Qiao Yadong’s as she fell into deep thought.
The surrounding educated youth began to murmur anxiously.
“Why isn’t Tao Nanfeng saying anything? Is there a problem?”
“I don’t know anything about architecture, but even I know a skilled cook can’t make a meal without ingredients. If we only have thatch and timber from the mountains, aren’t we just going to end up with another thatched hut?”
“You need experience to build a proper house. Can Tao Nanfeng actually do this?”
Hearing the last remark, Li Huilan and Qiao Yadong both glared at the speaker and snapped in unison, “If you’re so capable, why don’t you do it?”
The man shrunk his neck, cowed into silence. Li Huilan and Qiao Yadong exchanged a knowing smile.
Tao Nanfeng had always been deeply focused when lost in thought, oblivious to everything else. Amidst the buzzing whispers, she seemed to reach a breakthrough.
Erasing a few lines, she picked up her pencil and continued drawing.
A single-story, five-room temporary shelter. Tao Nanfeng finished the first draft of the floor plan in just one hour.
More than half of the educated youth had already lost patience. They had scattered to the next room to pack their belongings—washing and hanging laundry, filling the hallway of the farm headquarters office with basins, buckets, and shoes, a cluttered yet colorful array of necessities.
Only three of the girls and Qiao Yadong remained, waiting quietly by her side. When Tao Nanfeng finally looked up, they all let out a long breath of relief.
She shook her head, seemingly dissatisfied. The conditions were too limited; she wished she had technical pens to trace the lines properly.
Seeing her move, Xiao Aiyun ventured closer. She leaned in to examine the lines on the grid paper, her eyes wide with curiosity. “Is this a blueprint? Just a bunch of squares, horizontal lines, and vertical lines… some thick, some thin. It looks nice, but it doesn’t look like a house at all.”
Tao Nanfeng offered a faint smile. “This is a floor plan. See? These two lines are the walls. The three lines on them represent the windows, and this curved line is the door…”
The others crowded in, their heads bunched together as they followed her finger. They nodded in unison, their heads bobbing like chickens pecking at grain.
“Is this the hallway?”
“And this is the toilet… the kitchen… oh, and the shower room!”
“Tao Nanfeng, your handwriting is beautiful! It’s so slender and upright—it looks like it was engraved.”
The compliment made Tao Nanfeng smile a bit shyly. Her father had always told her that engineering lettering—the standardized script used in technical drawing—was a designer’s face, and one must write it perfectly.
Noticing that the girls were too absorbed in praising her handwriting, Qiao Yadong cleared his throat to get her attention. “Um, Tao Nanfeng, have you decided on the building materials?”
Tao Nanfeng nodded.
“What will we use?” Qiao Yadong asked, visibly relieved.
Tao Nanfeng recalled the essence of rural architecture she’d read about: harmony with nature, adaptation to local conditions, and the use of readily available materials.
Her eyes shimmered as she spoke, her gaze bright with a starlit intensity. “Mount Xiufeng is rich in stone and yellow earth. We’ll use the stone for the foundation and the earth to make bricks for the walls.”
Though her words were few, they seemed to clear the fog for Qiao Yadong, who leapt up in excitement.
“Exactly! Apart from wood and straw, Mount Xiufeng is full of stone and earth,” Qiao Yadong exclaimed. “We can’t buy cement or red bricks, but we can quarry stone for the foundation and make earthen bricks for the walls.”
Tao Nanfeng carefully peeled the tape from the edges of the floor plan, rolling the paper into a neat cylinder.
She gave it a playful wave. “Let’s go to the site.”
In the hallway, other educated youth were packing their things. Seeing Tao Nanfeng surrounded by Li Huilan and the others, they hurried over, their faces alight with hope. “Are the plans finished? Can we start building?”
“The floor plan is done,” Tao Nanfeng explained. “Now I need to see the site.”
Qiao Yadong’s admiration had bordering on awe. “Tao Nanfeng says we’re building an earthen brick house. It’ll keep out the winter chill! Come on, let’s all go to the Zhiqing Settlement!”
A cheer erupted from the group. “Let’s go! Ten days of hard work for a big house!”
“Ten days won’t be enough,” Tao Nanfeng said. “We need to mix the wet earth, mold the bricks, let them dry, and then lay them. It’ll take much longer than ten days.”
“That’s fine,” they replied. “We’ll take our time.”
Their unconditional trust and support warmed her heart, and she gave a slight nod of thanks. A mountain breeze swept by, carrying a hint of moisture. A stray lock of hair fluttered from her forehead, dancing playfully around her ear.
Her eyes shimmered, calm and clear as still water.
The Tao Nanfeng everyone had once dismissed as aloof and delicate now radiated a commanding presence that drew every gaze.
A jolt of electricity seemed to strike Qiao Yadong, rooting him to the spot. In his eyes, she stood silent and serene, like a snow-white epiphyllum slowly unfurling in the night.
The moonlight spilled over her, gilding her petals with a golden glow that was almost blinding in its beauty.
The girls giggled behind their hands at Qiao Yadong’s stunned expression. The sound snapped him back to reality, and his face instantly flushed crimson—a blush that spread all the way to the tips of his ears.
He cleared his throat awkwardly, his gaze darting to the washbasins lined up in the hallway. “I… uh… do we need basins for the wet mud?”
A young man’s heart is always full of poetry, but Tao Nanfeng was completely oblivious to his fluttering pulse. Her mind was already occupied with the logistics of earth and brick.
“No,” she replied simply.
The open ground east of the Zhiqing Settlement was a wetland, kept moist by a constant spring. It was the perfect spot to dig a pit and mix the soil right in front of the house. They could mold the bricks there, and if the weather held, they would dry in two days.
As for the stones… the road construction team blasted a fair amount of rock from the mountain every day. They just needed to borrow a wheelbarrow and haul the stones over to the settlement’s clearing.
With a plan in place, Tao Nanfeng addressed the group. “We’ll start by leveling the ground. Then we’ll mark the lines, dig the trenches, and lay the foundation.”
Level the ground? Mark lines? Dig trenches? Lay the foundation?
Professional. Absolutely professional.
The educated youth were now thoroughly convinced. Hearing her use actual construction terminology, their excitement surged.
“Tao Nanfeng, we’re with you!”
“You just give the orders, Nanfeng. We’ll do the rest!”
Met with a dozen eager gazes, Tao Nanfeng felt a surge of responsibility. She straightened her back, the light in her eyes growing even brighter. “Let’s go!”
The dirt path, slick and muddy from the recent rain, was a challenge, but she marched forward with the crowd surrounding her like stars orbiting the moon.
Arriving at Educated Youth Post No. 6, the group sprang into action under Qiao Yadong’s direction. They cleared the site—gathering thatch, moving roof beams, and shifting clods of earth. The atmosphere was electric with focused energy as they began the preliminary preparations.
Huang Xingwu arrived with two men from the Infrastructure Department, and his pupils constricted as he took in the scene. The twenty educated youth were working with such seamless efficiency that he couldn’t help but wonder—did they actually know what they were doing?
He paced the perimeter, hands clasped behind his back, his gaze darting from one task to another.
The rest ignored him. Wei Min and his companions, hoisting a broken roof beam, deliberately swayed in Huang Xingwu’s direction.
Having suffered at his hands before, Huang flinched and scrambled aside. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Wei Min let out a harsh laugh. “Chief Huang, aren’t you too busy repairing the other settlements? How did you find the time in your hectic schedule to grace us with an inspection?”
Huang Xingwu’s eyes darted around. “I’m the Head of the Infrastructure Department. All construction on the farm falls under my jurisdiction. Your settlement is half-collapsed—you’re completely dependent on us. If you’d just improve your attitude, say a few soft words, and buy a few packs of cigarettes for the workers… well, we could build you a brick-and-tile house, let alone a thatched hut.”
Buy cigarettes? A few packs?
The farm was built into the mountains, with the terrain sloping down from west to east. At the base, a supply and marketing cooperative sold staples like oil, salt, vinegar, and sewing supplies.
Because the mountain paths were so rugged, trips down were rare, making luxury items like processed foods, cigarettes, and alcohol the most precious commodities here.
The cheapest Flying Horse brand cigarettes cost thirty cents a pack. The high-end Daqianmen brand fetched a steep one yuan.
Wei Min’s blood boiled. “What’s that supposed to mean? We’re all poor—we can’t afford cigarettes! You’re the Infrastructure Department; this is your job. Why do we have to beg you and pay bribes?”
Ye Qin’s jaw tightened. She remembered being assigned to the pig farm because the farm leadership wanted to “show their authority”—a tactic designed to force everyone to submit and offer bribes.
“He’s right!” she shot back, her voice laced with indignation.
“Do you even know this is corruption?” Ye Qin shot back. “You could go to jail for this!”
Her family worked at the Agriculture Bureau, and her father, a section chief, was a man of unimpeachable integrity. He loathed backstabbing and crooked dealings, and growing up in his shadow had left Ye Qin with zero tolerance for Huang Xingwu’s blatant extortion.
Huang Xingwu’s face flushed with rage. “Watch your mouth, you little brat! What do you know about the world? The workers are exhausted. What’s wrong with a few cigarettes to keep them going? Since when is that corruption?”
As they argued, Qiao Yadong turned to Tao Nanfeng and asked softly, “Can we really build if we clear the site today? The ground is still damp.”
Tao Nanfeng walked to the eastern edge of the site where spring water seeped from the earth, pointing to a lush, marshy patch of ground. “We’ll dig the soil first.”
“Can you figure out how much soil we need and how many bricks we can make from the blueprints?” Qiao Yadong asked.
Tao Nanfeng spread the drawings across her lap, falling silent as she mentally calculated the wall’s volume.
The moment Huang Xingwu caught a glimpse of the architectural plans, his interest was piqued. He ignored Wei Min and Ye Qin, strode toward Tao Nanfeng, and reached out to snatch the drawings from her hands.
A sudden gust of wind swept past, and Tao Nanfeng, reacting with a start, flinched back just in time to evade his grasp.
A sharp glint flashed in Huang Xingwu’s eyes. “Where did you steal these drawings? Give them back to me, now!”
Qiao Yadong stepped forward, shielding Tao Nanfeng. “Who stole what? Tao Nanfeng drew these herself.”
Huang Xingwu, a head shorter than Qiao Yadong, scoffed. “She drew these? Impossible! I was only gone from the headquarters for a moment. How could she have produced a full architectural plan in that time?”
Seeing Tao Nanfeng being bullied, the other educated youth closed in.
“Why are you picking on her?”
“We watched her draw it! Why are you accusing her of stealing?”
“Do you think your Infrastructure Department has a monopoly on blueprints? Pfft—”
Huang Xingwu hadn’t expected the Jiangcheng youth to be so united.
His triangular eyes bulged as he blustered, though his voice betrayed his nerves. “Don’t start trouble! Can’t I just ask about the floor plan if I see it?”
Still seething after his failed attempt to extort cigarettes from Wei Min and Ye Qin, Huang Xingwu had been looking for a target. Tao Nanfeng, with her delicate and refined air, seemed like an easy mark.
“Such arrogance from a little girl!” he spat. “I was kind enough to offer my help with the repairs, only for her to complain that the house wouldn’t be warm enough for winter. Now, despite her insults, I’ve come back to help, and she’s somehow produced a drawing to pretend she’s an expert.”
“Move, move! Let me see this nonsense,” Huang Xingwu sneered. “You bunch of pampered intellectuals think a single drawing is all it takes to build a house? Ridiculous!”
He leaned in for a closer look and abruptly choked up, speechless.
Behind him, two workers from the Infrastructure Department craned their necks to see. “This architectural drawing is impressive…” one of them muttered.
Huang Xingwu shoved them aside. “What are you two gawking at? Get lost!”
He glared at Tao Nanfeng, his eyes narrowing. “Don’t think a single sheet of paper makes you an expert. This is just a floor plan! Where’s the foundation plan? The detailed foundation drawings? The elevations? The cross-sections? You don’t even have a complete set of blueprints, yet you dare to talk about building a house?”
He jabbed a finger at the black lines representing the walls. “Brick walls? Purlins on a gable wall? Do you even know how much a single red brick costs? Do you have any idea what the labor costs to transport them up this mountain? How much time it would take? At this rate, you won’t even finish the shell by New Year’s!”
The torrent of technical questions was a blatant display of his professional authority.
The mood among the group plummeted. They dropped their tools and turned to Tao Nanfeng, their faces grim as they waited for her answer.