CTF 0022

One of the young men beside Xu Jianjun exclaimed, “Jianjun, isn’t this your third grand-uncle’s daughter?”

Xu Jianjun took a closer look and indeed found that it was Xu Yin. When did she learn to operate a tractor?

“Maybe she learned how to drive a tractor at school. My little brother’s school also offered tractor training last semester, but he didn’t sign up for it,” another young man commented.

Xu Jianjun clicked his tongue and said, “She’s just a pampered little girl. Can she even handle the tractor, let alone drive it to the county town?”

His words had just fallen when he heard noises from the tractor.

Xu Jianjun watched as Xu Yan confidently started the tractor. She raised an eyebrow towards his position.

“Jianjun, this girl is provoking you!” one of his young companions exclaimed.

“I noticed,” Xu Jianjun replied in annoyance.

“Shouldn’t you show her who’s boss?”

“What’s there to show? We share the same surname. We’re family,” Xu Jianjun retorted.

“…”

His young friend didn’t say anything anymore. However, inside his heart, he was grumbling. He had never seen Jianjun have so much affection for his family before!

“Little Yinyin, do you want to bet with me?”

Xu Jianjun approached Xu Yin. He sounded a bit mischievous as he spoke.

Initially, he had good intentions.

He believed that his cousin must have only learned some basic tractor operation at school. At most, she was probably capable enough to plough a small piece of land in the vast fields.

However, to deliver the grains to the county town, she would need to manoeuvre through a crowded area and pass by a lot of other vehicles, including tractors from other villages that were also delivering grain.

He believed that her previous experiences probably only had her manoeuvring around an ox cart, or at most, a motorbike. She might be able to drive there, but could she drive back? He didn’t believe that Xu Yin had the skills necessary.

That was why he wanted to help her. However, he didn’t articulate his meaning well enough, and his words sounded more provoking than anything else. All of his friends, who listened to it, all shuffled in confusion.

Xu Yin pursed her mouth and smiled. “Sure, let’s make a bet. If I can complete the grain delivery without your help today, you have to come over to my place and help us plant the rice seedlings until everything is done.”

Xu Jianjun agreed without even thinking about it. “Deal!”

He never thought that he would lose.

For the past few years, he had always been the one who went to deliver the village’s grain.

He also wasn’t exaggerating about the road that Xu Yin would have to pass. Unless one had more than three years of experience driving a tractor, one might not be able to get in or out of the county town.

Unless that was, one waited until nightfall, when the road would become less crowded.

However, if Xu Yin did that, the rest of the grain would have to be delivered tomorrow. That would mean that she failed to win the bet.

Xu Yin swung her braided hair back and set off.

Vroom, vroom…

The tractor seemed to have a spirit of its own to sit with her on the wheels. The tractor went smoothly wherever the road led.

Xu Jianjun and a few others followed after her using their vehicles. 

The villagers who were sitting on the tractor body to help unload the grains later couldn’t help joking when they saw them. One quipped, “Jianjun, didn’t you say that you were too tired to deliver the grains? Why are you following us now?”

Xu Jianjun: “…”

F*ck! He forgot the excuse that he’d told them earlier.

Xu Yin successfully drove to the county capital town. 

When they entered the town gate, the traffic began to jam.

Just as Xu Jianjun had mentioned, people from the other villages and towns were also coming to deliver their grain around this time. There were carts pulled by oxen and by people. There were even a few tractors. They hadn’t even reached the grain collection station yet, but everyone was already crowded together in chaos.

Xu Yin took out a small whistle and a small, homemade red flag. She stood on the grain bag in the rear body of the tractor. She blew the whistle and began giving out commands. 

“Uncles, Aunties! Blocking the road like this won’t make you get ahead. If we block the road for too long, the oxen will become impatient and cause an accident. If you trust me, let’s do it my way. Form two lines! One for the carts that are pulled by people, and another for the ones that are drawn by oxen. Tractors are larger, so they’ll have to give in and queue up behind the two lines. As long as we proceed in an orderly manner, we’ll finish delivering our grain quickly. Don’t worry!”

Most of the people who were sent by the villages to deliver the grains were honest and lawful men. They were also, at this point, a little flustered and panicked. They were worried that it’d rain and the bags of grain that they were bringing would become wet. When they heard someone giving out commands, they all quickly cooperated.

The two lines were created very neatly in front of the grain collection station. For the previous couple of days, the grain collection station had been in chaos. Individual villages nearly got into fights to get ahead in line. The grain collection officers had even had to step in to break them up. It was quite a headache.

“Station Manager, I’ve asked around. A young girl from the Xu family village is using a whistle and a flag to maintain order out there,” one of the officers ran over and said.

“Show me who it is when it’s her turn,” the station manager replied.

By the time it was Xu Yin’s turn, a couple of hours had already passed. 

Still, compared to how it was—when there was a chaotic pile-up and no one would yield to anyone else—this pace was already considered fast.

Xu Jianjun, who followed behind them, clicked his tongue in admiration. She truly deserved to be a high school student; she was indeed really smart. He couldn’t help feeling a bit insecure because of it.

He had come to this place many times over the last few years and had gotten stuck for a long time every time. Back then, because he was tall, imposing, and had a loud voice, he managed to deter quite a few people from cutting in line. Smaller and more timid folks might need to wait until nightfall before they finally got their turn.

Xu Yin watched her fellow villagers unload and weigh the grain in an orderly manner. After totaling the amount, she signed the account book on behalf of her village and then breathed a sigh of relief.

“Does your village still have another load to bring here?”

The station manager of the grain collection station walked over, smiling, and handed Xu Yin a paper-wrapped package.

“These malt candy blocks were homemade. Thank you for today; if it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have been able to finish collecting so much in the first half of the day.”

Collection in the previous days hadn’t nearly been as orderly. They even had to step in to mediate between some people, who were bickering

Xu Yin initially refused to accept the gift, so he placed it on the driver’s seat of her tractor.

One of the station manager’s co-workers who had come along smiled and said, “Take it. Thanks to you, we were able to finish so quickly today. We’ve never finished this quickly before.”

Xu Jianjun and the others: “…”

This was embarrassing.

In the previous years, they worked very hard, too! However, who would have thought about giving out commands to maintain order? They just prioritised getting themselves to the head of the line.

However, since everyone thought the same way, all that occurred was chaos and no one ended up getting ahead.

Xu Yin made two round trips and successfully delivered her village’s grains to the grain collection station this year on the same day.

The village officials unanimously selected her as this year’s Labour Model, to be honoured at the township level on next year’s Labour Day.

Although she would only become the Labour Model at the village level, it was still quite a remarkable achievement. 

Mother Xu proudly brought home an iron-clad red Double Happiness hot water kettle and an enamel cup imprinted with ‘Labour is Most Glorious’. Her daughter’s dowry now had two more items in it.

Each year, only two people from the entire village were chosen as a labour model.

In the previous years, for the sake of fairness, they drew lots among a group of old people,  who had been farming for years. Whoever got picked was the chosen one, but they couldn’t be selected again within five years. If someone got picked more than once within that time frame, they would have to redraw.

So far, Father Xu had never been chosen, not even once. 

His daughter, however, had driven two tractors and took home such an honour. He couldn’t help but think: ‘How could she be such a remarkable daughter?’

Xu Jianjun lost a bet and, in good sportsmanship, agreed to help the Xu family with planting rice seedlings.

His father was relatively fine with it. After all, both of their families descended from the same ancestor. Even without the bet, helping each other out among relatives was considered normal.

However, his mother didn’t have a pleasant expression on her face when she heard of this. She felt that their family was put at a loss by this.

She didn’t even let his precious young baby go to plant rice for her own family. How dare that old man’s family make her son go there?

“Why do you bother with this nonsense? If you don’t want to go, then don’t. Who would force you if you don’t go?”

Xu Jianjun shook his head. “‘I wanted to make the bet myself. It is only fair that I accept the consequences when I lose. Otherwise, people will say I can’t handle losing.”

“You rascal…”

“Alright, Mom. Third Granduncle’s family doesn’t have much land anyway. We’ll be done in a day. I won’t talk to you about it anymore. I’m going!”

Xu Jianjun left his house and went straight to Xu Yin’s house.

He wanted to go because he wanted to be a good sport and honour his bet. However, when he got there, he found another agenda.

“Yinyin, could I borrow your bicycle for a bit?”