Chapter 4: Going to the Market to Buy a Donkey, the Village Chief
The next day, at the break of dawn, Second Brother woke up and dug up a large amount of well-fermented manure from the dung pit. He spread a thin layer over the surface of the heated brick beds in the eastern and main rooms, sprinkled water, and planted soybeans.
Meanwhile, Big Brother, who had stayed outside, added water to the earthen stove, lit the firewood, and pumped the bellows. In no time, the large heated brick bed that spanned the eastern and main rooms was steaming hot, emitting a strange smell.
Yu Yang sobered up.
He was momentarily stunned. He had intended to warm up the leftover meat buns from yesterday, but surrounded by the odd odor, he suddenly lost his appetite.
Big Brother, however, ate heartily, then took a quick trip to Sixth Uncle’s place—clocking in and out in less than fifteen minutes. A monthly salary of a thousand yuan sure afforded him an easygoing life.
Yu Yang squatted beside the stove, studying the interface of his home again.
Last night, while building farmland at Sixth Uncle’s house, a series of prompts suddenly appeared in his field of vision.
[You have occupied a house.]
[Farmer limit +1; farmland limit +1 unit (66.6 square meters).]
[You have recruited 1 farmer.]
Farmers: 3/3, one of whom is on the way.
Farmland: each farmer holds 1 unit of land (66.6 square meters); currently, 0.04 units built.
“So occupying a house can also increase the population limit,” Yu Yang murmured to himself, his gaze shifting toward his neighbor on the west side—the Second Granny’s house.
Second Granny’s children worked away from home and rarely returned, leaving her as a solitary elder.
As fellow villagers, juniors, and exemplary youth of the new era, they had to take care of her.
Yu Yang called Big Brother and Second Brother, rushed into Second Granny’s house, and carefully carried the old lady, who was still asleep, along with her bed to the earthen stove by the eastern room of their own house. He also handed her a soft steamed meat bun distilled to perfection.
“Please eat this first.”
Then, inside Second Granny’s house, they repaired the heated brick bed and built farmland.
[You have occupied a house.]
[Farmer limit +1.]
[You have recruited 1 farmer, who is on the way.]
“Occupying a house increases one population limit,” Yu Yang realized.
“The upper limit determines how many farmers can be recruited automatically.”
He turned and instructed Big Brother and Second Brother to carry the still-unwarmed Third Grandfather from outside the village gate back home.
Then they rushed into Third Grandfather’s house.
[You have occupied a house.]
[Farmer limit +1.]
[You have recruited 1 farmer, who is on the way.]
Farmers: 5/5, three of whom are on the way.
“I see now!”
Before Yu Yang could rejoice, his paternal uncle and his cousin burst into the courtyard.
“San Yuan, put my father down!”
“Get lost. I’m taking Third Grandfather to enjoy some good food and drinks.”
The next moment, the two men were beaten into a headlong retreat.
“You can’t even spare a steamed bun for Third Grandfather, and you still call yourself his grandson?”
Yu Yang was indignant. Just as he was about to continue carrying the old man, he looked up and saw that the bean sprouts had already grown, so he hurriedly called Second Brother to harvest them.
The two of them first tore the tangled soybean sprouts into small squares about 20 by 20 centimeters.
Then they laid them on the bamboo sieves Big Brother had made last night, stacking layer upon layer into large woven baskets.
After expanding the heated brick bed, the planting area tripled, and yields tripled as well.
Previously, they harvested four baskets of sprouts in the morning; now it was ten large baskets.
Second Brother tried to test his strength by carrying all ten baskets, but the newly purchased carrying pole couldn’t bear the weight.
So Yu Yang had no choice but to let Second Brother carry four baskets and left the courtyard.
They then dashed through the highway underpass, running in the opposite direction of Shiliying.
Because today was the thirteenth day of the lunar month.
---
Shiliying held markets every lunar month on the 2nd, 5th, and 8th days.
The 1st, 4th, and 7th days were the turn of Hanghai Township to the west.
The 3rd, 6th, and 9th days belonged to Fotuo Temple Township in the north.
This custom had gradually evolved over time.
...
Meanwhile,
At the Shiliying Police Station,
Big Brother Zhao Qian held Second Brother’s ID to apply for a temporary residence permit.
Shortly after he left,
Three men walked in.
“Where are you from?”
“Bashu,” “Southern Xinjiang,” “Northern Zhejiang.”
“What brings you here?”
“Delivering vegetables to Metro in the capital, but we had an accident.”
“Another accident?”
“Yes, we flipped the truck.”
“Where’s the vehicle?”
“We woke up to find even our clothes were stripped off. You tell me where the vehicle is.”
“Too brazen!”
The station chief, upon receiving the report, immediately filed a report to the county.
Since a vehicle rollover was a traffic accident, it wasn’t under Shiliying’s jurisdiction.
They needed to clarify responsibility first.
At the end, he recalled the four missing wheels from the bank incident.
“A troublesome time indeed!”
...
Yu Yang and Second Brother took over an hour to reach Hanghai Township.
The “hai” in Hanghai was pronounced not as “gai” but “hai,” meaning a kind of small mud-brick wall.
Also called “haizi moat,” “haizi ditch,” or “haizi wall,”
It was used to protect villages, towns, or large households.
Its origin was likely linked to local bandits, providing some defense against attacks.
After a thousand years of tradition, it played a significant role during the war against the Japanese, most famously with Old Five Cheng, and later evolved into tunnel warfare.
Arriving at the Hanghai market,
It was a small market, with few people and sparse stalls.
Yu Yang quickly found the perfect spot—opposite a restaurant.
This time, he slightly changed the selling pitch.
“There was a highway accident eastbound…”
“These sprouts are destined for RT-Mart in the capital, for wealthy customers…”
After a brief sales pitch,
The restaurant owner, feeling bullied, rushed over wielding a kitchen knife, intending to chase them away.
But facing Second Brother’s strong arm and a pile of bricks shattered with a single chop, he caved and bought fifty yuan worth of sprouts.
After much hustle,
Yu Yang went to the cattle market to inquire about donkey prices.
Nowadays, donkeys were cheap.
A small donkey from Guanzhong cost 450 yuan, while a large donkey from Dezhou was 780 yuan.
Unfamiliar with donkeys, Yu Yang found a cattle trader, gave him ten yuan as a tip, and asked him to bargain and check the quality.
Eventually, he bought a small Guanzhong donkey for 380 yuan.
Then he selected a set of harnesses and led the donkey to a timber factory to order an extended wooden cart.
With this, future market trips could use the donkey cart to haul sprouts to the fields, while strongmen carried them around to sell or set up stalls—saving time and effort.
“Clever me!”
---
After settling these matters,
Yu Yang saw the market thinning out and decided to roam the streets with the donkey cart, selling the remaining two baskets at five yuan per two jin.
Yes, he sold them at a higher price—after all, it was door-to-door delivery.
On the way back, he took out his notebook and checked the shopping list for Shiliying: coal, bamboo strips, plastic sheets...
He also bought a cast-iron stove on credit from the coal briquette factory.
This thing was more energy-efficient than the earthen stove, though he wasn’t sure if it would affect the farmland’s effectiveness.
Returning home by evening,
He first familiarized himself with Third, Fourth, and Fifth Brothers, then took out the large meat buns bought in Hanghai, heated them, and handed them out to everyone.
Even Second Granny and Third Grandfather enjoyed the meat filling.
After everyone was full and satisfied,
The five brothers worked together to fix the bamboo strips and plastic sheets on the rooftops.
Though plastic sheets couldn’t withstand strong winds, they could keep out cold and snow, much better than nothing.
Then they replaced the earthen stove with the cast-iron stove and burned coal.
It turned out the farmland’s effect was unaffected.
So Yu Yang took the donkey cart back to Shiliying and bought five more stoves on credit.
They installed three at home, one at Second Granny’s, and one at Third Grandfather’s.
The elders, lying by the stoves, basked in the warmth from the stove and chimney, grinning with satisfaction.
Especially since they didn’t have to stoke the fire themselves, light it, or watch over it—and it didn’t cost them a cent.
“San Yuan, you truly are a good grandson!”
When the stoves were installed, it was not yet eight in the evening.
The five strong men continued to work on occupying the entire courtyard with a massive heated brick bed.
Due to its size, they didn’t use cast-iron stoves for heating this time, but set up smoke channels underground and on both sides, built a plastic canopy on top, and dug deep pits at both ends to burn earth cellars.
For this, Yu Yang had to return to Shiliying once more, knock on the coal briquette factory’s door, and haul several carts of coal with the donkey.
That night,
The donkey ran away.
Ten minutes later,
Yu Yang, with five strong men, arrived at the village chief’s house.
“Yu Yang, what do you want?”
“My donkey was stolen by you.”
“Nonsense. Your house was raided—what donkey do you have… Ouch! You hit me!”
“I’ve never liked you. You colluded with the bank and want to take over my brick kiln. Brothers, hang him up and beat him!”
That night,
The whole village was in an uproar.
Even the Shiliying police station sent two officers.
“San Yuan, stop fighting.”
“Yeah, San Yuan, your donkey’s been found.”
“San Yuan, go home now.”
Beating the village chief had no bad consequences.
Because he deserved it.
Just like when the highway land was requisitioned, he was the most eager.
Later, while the whole village didn’t benefit from the highway, the village chief built a shabby eleven-room Western-style house near the provincial road.
Everyone was barely getting by, so how did he suddenly get rich?
Furthermore,
“My stolen stuff—where is it?”
“Especially that big color TV Old Yu bought when running the brick kiln.”