CTF 0020

After a few seconds of stunned silence, the villagers began to talk about Xu Yin in amazement. They said, “Who is that girl? She’s really capable!”

“I take back what I said just now. She’s not here to bother anyone. She’s really here to help us with the double harvest.”

“That’s right. At this rate, my family will be able to fertilize our fields tomorrow.”

“I reckon my family will be able to water the fields in a couple of days!”

The other experienced tractor drivers: “…”

They thought, ‘Hold on a minute! Don’t include our progress in this! We can’t plough this fast!’

After consulting with Xu Yin and getting her approval, Instructor Yu cheerfully suggested an idea to them.

“Why don’t you all talk to her and have her do the ploughing for you? She doesn’t want money or ration coupons. I’m giving her some pork, but you don’t have to. She just asked to  borrow a tractor for a couple of days, but I don’t think she’ll need another tractor now.”

The experienced tractor drivers pondered it in their mind. That could work, they thought.

They had originally estimated that they’d be able to finish their work in ten days. However, Xu Yin could probably finish in just three or four days.

Even if they let her borrow their tractor for a couple of days, they’d still be able to go home two or three days in advance without decreasing their income. Wait! If they went back early, they might even be able to make some extra money from another gig. Indeed, they might even increase their income!

In return, they could just give her their meat coupons. Where else could they come upon such a good opportunity?

“Deal!”

 

---

 

During the dog days of summer, the cicadas chirped loudly, and the scorching sun beat down, making the ground feel like a steaming pot.

Mother Xu was all prepared. She headed to the fields to deliver water. On her way, she met another village woman who was also on her way to provide water for her family.

“Jinhua, isn’t your daughter, Yinyin, on summer break? Why haven’t I seen her around?” 

The woman asking the question was Li Laogen’s daughter-in-law. She and Li Qiaohong were neighbours, and during their usual conversations, Li Qiaohong often mentioned the Xu family’s young daughter. She was a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl who, according to Li Qiaohong, never cared about her family and also never helped them with the farm work during farming seasons.

How could Mother Xu not detect the sarcasm in her words? She slung her basket over her shoulder and retorted, “Whether our Yinyin is on summer break or at home is none of your business! Are you poking your nose into other people’s business because you’ve eaten too much food and have nothing else to do?”

“You!” Li Laogen’s young daughter-in-law turned red with anger.

“Hey, hey, enough already. Maybe Yinyin is studying at home for next year’s college entrance exams,” another village woman, who was standing next to them, quickly intervened to defuse the situation.

“Jinhua, how’s the rice harvest going for your family? My father has been quite worried these past few days. There’s been a lot of sunlight lately, and now it’s windy. It might rain soon. The grains haven’t fully dried yet, and the fields haven’t been ploughed. If it rains, what will we do?”

“That’s right!” Talking about this made Mother Xu couldn’t help but worry. “We’ve nearly finished harvesting our rice; we should be able to get it done today. The problem is when we’ll get the land ploughed. There are only a few oxen shared among everyone. It might be another three to five days until it’s our turn. After we’re done ploughing, we still need to fertilise and release water. I don’t know if we’ll have enough time. Let’s hope the rain holds off until we start irrigating…”

Just as she was speaking, the sound of a tractor engine came from the village entrance.

Everyone turned to look.

“Is it the commune’s tractor? Are they here to help us plough the fields?”

“No. I heard from my family that the commune’s tractor was recently sent to the county to transport bricks for extra money and hasn’t returned yet.”

“Then what was that?”

As they were talking, the tractor drove closer to them.

Xu Yin poked her head out and waved at her mother. “Mom, can I do the ploughing? I borrowed a tractor for our family. We can plough the fields as soon as we finish harvesting the rice.”

“…?”

Mother Xu was a bit bewildered. “You borrowed it?”

“That’s right!” Xu Yin mischievously grinned at her mother. “I helped my old instructors from the farm to plough for three days. As a thank-you, they agreed to lend us a tractor for two days without charge, but we’ll have to cover the diesel expenses ourselves. Mom, please don’t think I’m squandering our money.”

“Of course not!” Mother Xu was overjoyed. With her daughter’s help, she climbed into the tractor’s passenger seat, and they drove off toward their own fields.

Xu Yin also handed the meat coupons that she received from the experienced tractor drivers, whom she also called her instructors, to her mother. The meat coupons would allow them to get eight pounds of meat.

Mother Xu beamed with joy. She said, “My daughter is so capable!”

Then, as if she suddenly remembered something, Mother Xu turned her head and glared towards Li Laogen’s daughter-in-law, who was still standing there looking silly. She raised her voice and called out: “Someone was curious about what my daughter was doing on her summer break, right? Now you know, right? Hmph!”

Li Laogen’s daughter-in-law was both annoyed and embarrassed. She stomped her foot, saying, “What a show-off!”

The other village women nearby paid her no attention. They were thinking about what Xu Yin had just mentioned. Xu Yin had borrowed the farm’s tractors for a couple of days. Ploughing the Xu family’s land wouldn’t take that long. What if…?

They glanced at each other and hurried after Xu Yin and her mother.

“Hey! Guys!”

Li Laogen’s daughter-in-law watched them walk away without looking back, and she kicked a pebble in frustration.

The Xu family’s fields were now crowded with people who had come to see the tractor.

“Old Xu, your daughter is really remarkable!”

An old man, whose fields were next to the Xu family’s, gave Father Xu a thumbs up.

Father Xu was delighted and couldn’t contain his happiness. He rubbed his hands together and chuckled, “She’s really grown up now!”

Some people gathered around Mother Xu to inquire about where the tractor had come from. When they heard it was borrowed from a farm, they felt relieved.

“Jinhua, your land won’t take more than half a day to plough, right? Can we borrow the tractor afterward?”

“Borrow it? Can your family even operate this thing?”

Mother Xu was very straightforward.

“Ah, about that… Can we ask Yinyin to do it as well? Can we pay you with money or food?”

Mother Xu had hit the nail on the head with her question.

Ploughing the fields was a very exhausting task. A tractor ploughed deeper than an ox could, bringing up richer and darker soil. Because of this, most people preferred to pay some money or offer food in exchange for a tractor’s ploughing for their fields.

If it weren’t for the fact that there was only one tractor in the commune, and it had gone somewhere else to earn extra income, they would have already lined up to use that tractor.

“Alright, I’ll talk to Yinyin about it.”

Mother Xu reluctantly agreed.

She did not realise that it was what Xu Yin wanted in the first place.

In reality, Xu Yin had helped Instructor Yu and the other tractor drivers to plough the fields for three days straight. As a result, she already unlocked the Intermediate Tractor-Driving Skill, earned a bunch of energy points, and received a reward in the form of a popular “Little Potato” civilian car¹As far as I know, this term refers to small, affordable, and ordinary cars (not luxurious or high-end cars). Please correct me if I’m wrong, though. from the early 1980s. 

Unfortunately, it ran on gasoline.

However, when she unlocked the Intermediate Cycling Skill, she received an electric bicycle that converted solar energy into electricity as a reward. So, with a bit more effort, perhaps she could unlock a driving skill that would allow her to obtain an electric car as well.

Thinking of this made Xu Yin’s heart light up with enthusiasm. She wished to plough the fields of the entire village.

The next morning, she spent two hours ploughing her family’s fields. Then, she rode her electric bicycle to the farm and returned with three catties of meat.

Mother Xu was in a good mood and prepared a delicious meal. She braised two catties of the pounds and used the remaining pork to make a dish of steamed pork with pickles. Then, they invited their relatives, who had helped them out during the past few days, for a satisfying feast and even gave each of them a large watermelon to bring home.

After that, Xu Yin began to plough the land for the villagers.

Mother Xu repeatedly reminded her not to overexert herself.

“You plough much faster than an ox. Not just that, even if the best tractor driver from the commune were here, they wouldn’t be able to keep up with us. If you get tired, you can rest. We’re not competing with anyone, anyway, so there’s no need to push yourself so hard.”

“Don’t worry, Mom. I’ve got it under control.”

Having said that, Xu Yin still strived very hard to gain the S grade each time she ploughed, even breaking records several times. Her energy points multiplied by a lot. She was so happy that she nearly jumped on top of the tractor’s hood to dance on it.