Chapter 9: The Village Chief Ran Away

The elderly men and women who often gathered at the village entrance to bask in the sun had long been familiar with Third Grandpa’s cast-iron stove. Now, when a burly man knocked on the door late at night, instead of fear, they felt joy. They grabbed their precious belongings, already prepared in advance, and left without hesitation. As for their home... it was so poor that there was nothing worth clinging to anymore. Besides, the courtyard would stay put; it wouldn’t just run away.

Before long, seven elderly women, eight elderly men, and five distant paternal uncles from the village were ushered into the warm plastic greenhouse, beds and all, and settled in the southeast corner. Because the elderly generally slept little and had been disturbed so much, none of them could fall asleep.

Yu Yang then sought out Sixth Uncle, who opened the back window of his family’s main hall, placed a large color TV there, connected a DVD player, and started the home theater system, filling the air with the grandeur of Hollywood blockbusters. Meanwhile, the burly men returned to various courtyards, swiftly renovating or constructing heated kang beds.

[You occupy one house...] x20
Farmers: 25/25, with 20 en route.

After finishing his tasks, Yu Yang saw dawn approaching. He took the soft pack of Huaxia cigarettes gifted by a vegetable vendor and went to the provincial road. He randomly stopped a cyclist, handed him a cigarette, and asked him to convey a message to Shiliying: “Deliver 100 meat-stuffed buns to the northernmost courtyard of Yujia Village. When they arrive, call out for Yu Yang. If they doubt me, tell them I bought 50 just a few days ago.”

...

On the other side, the late-night queue of vegetable vendors could not be hidden from the villagers. Those who had lost their parents, along with curious onlookers, crowded around the gate of Yu Yang’s house. Seeing such a large greenhouse and the thick smoke billowing overhead...

“Those bean sprouts definitely weren’t picked up from the highway; Sanyuan must have planted them himself.”
“I told you, I camped on the highway for three days and nights but never saw a crash. Instead, cars kept passing by. They probably thought I was a highway robber and almost ran me over.”
“Wow, so many people come here wholesale. These bean sprouts must be making good money?”
“A small patch the size of two palms probably only needs a handful of soybeans, but you can sell the sprouts for two yuan. That’s profitable, right?”
“I heard from Lame Yu that Old Six planted one kang bed and sold three hundred and twenty yuan worth of bean sprouts and baskets last night.”
“No wonder his house had stewed chicken, stewed fish, and braised beef all over again.”
“And there’s more. Old Six got drunk last night and told Lame Yu, who was keeping him company, that if you pay a 1,500 yuan technology fee, Lame Yu can also help renovate your kang bed.”
“1,500? That’s too expensive!”
“You don’t know how to do the math. Old Six plants one kang bed every three days, and after deducting baskets, he nets 300 yuan. That’s 3,000 a month. After costs and the 1,500 technology fee, you still make 1,000 a month!”
“Where are they going?”
“To get the money.”

Of course, some scoffed.
“Bean sprouts only make quick money in winter. When spring comes and it warms up, who’s going to buy that stuff?”
“Yeah, it’s expensive now, but when it’s warm, you can just grow them yourself. I wouldn’t buy it for two jiao a jin.”
“Spending 1,500 to renovate a kang bed? That’s just wasting money.”
“Besides, it’s about to get cold again. Without a kang bed, how will we get through winter?”
“Most importantly, bean sprouts need sunlight. If it snows, all that money spent on renovating the kang bed will be wasted.”

...

Returning from the provincial road, Yu Yang was momentarily stunned by the villagers’ lively chatter. When did his 1,000 yuan technical support fee suddenly become 1,500? He immediately called Sixth Uncle.

“Last night, Lame Yu drank with me and said he wanted to plant bean sprouts. I told him the monthly technical support fee was 1,500.”
“That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it?”
“You hired the technician. He asks for 1,000 a month, but all the food, supplies, and lodging costs are on us. That all costs money.”
“Makes sense!”
“Also, this profitable business isn’t something anyone can just jump into. We have to keep everyone united, pulling together. Otherwise, how can we work as one to achieve great things?”
“Ah, Sixth Uncle, where did you suddenly learn all this?”
“I stayed up all night watching mafia movies. Maybe I had an epiphany.”

Old Six whispered quietly, “So many outsiders have come to the village. Should we take advantage of the chaos and bury the village chief somewhere?”
“???”
“Tie a stone to him and throw him into the lake to the east. Just worry that if there’s a drought next year and the water level drops, he might be found.”
“……”
“Don’t worry, I’ll handle it.”

Hidden among the crowd, the village chief, spying on Yu Yang and Old Six whispering, had planned to sneak behind them to listen but overheard this and was instantly furious.

...

After recruiting 20 farmers, the population cap reached 25. Since each burly man held 0.01 hectare, the farmland limit reached 2.5 mu (about 0.17 hectares). Although the newly recruited 20 farmers had yet to arrive, the existing five burly men could already cultivate 0.5 mu of bean sprouts.

Therefore, at 10 a.m., a corner of the greenhouse was lifted. Big Brother and the others continued planting while Yu Yang brought along his two cousins—one tearing small squares, one packing the baskets, and one carrying them out.

In the eyes of the villagers, the two cousins seemed a bit simple-minded. This was also why Sixth Uncle always entrusted the two boys to Yu Yang whenever trouble arose.

But Yu Yang did not see them as foolish. Or rather, when a person is born, their mind is like a blank sheet of paper. Parents must continuously imprint, writing on it lessons of rising, crawling, walking, speaking, writing, arithmetic, and conduct. The more knowledge the parents have, the more they imprint. The less, the more blank spaces remain.

The year 1998 was an era when information rarely circulated. No TV at home, few teachers at school, and parents with little worldly experience meant children naturally knew very little.

Thus, the two cousins could farm, drive, and build walls; they were obedient and filial. But in areas they didn’t understand, they appeared confused and simple-minded. Perhaps this was a common reflection of most rural youths in the current social backdrop.

“You two still need to go to school, get out, and broaden your horizons.”
“We’ll listen to Third Brother.”
“Call me Sanyuan Ge.”
“Okay, Third Brother, when will we bury the village chief?”
“Don’t listen to your dad’s nonsense. Doing that’s illegal. You’d go to jail.”

They chatted idly as they worked.

By 11 a.m., the 20 burly men arrived one after another. Yu Yang had originally intended to tell outsiders they were technicians. But the problem was, he hadn’t called or written to anyone, nor did he know how the burly men had come.

Claiming it was another highway crash... With so many people, it must have been a big bus that overturned.

So Yu Yang planned to disguise the group as debt collectors.

“Third Brother, there was another crash on the highway last night.”
“Huh?”
“I heard someone was camping there, maybe planning a highway robbery. The bus driver couldn’t brake and hit the guardrail.”
“Is everyone on the bus okay?”
“Only the returning driver was injured—a head wound. He was taken to the clinic and should be fine. The bus was dismantled by early-morning shepherds, and the passengers were taken by the police.”
“Did they catch the robbers?”
“No.”

Yu Yang fell into thought, unsure whether to say the burly men came because of the crash or because they were debt collectors. In the end, reality was stranger than fiction. Let it be a crash.

By 2 p.m., the first batch of 750 baskets of bean sprouts was all wholesale sold. The vegetable vendors who came for goods had dwindled by more than half. Meanwhile, the 25 burly men began their second planting round.

To avoid suspicion, Yu Yang told the vendors that the other half of the greenhouse wouldn’t be ready for delivery until late afternoon.

But everyone knew bean sprouts didn’t grow overnight. Those planted tomorrow and the day after were definitely not for wholesale. At least by the day after next, vendors could return.

“We’ll have 1,500 baskets tomorrow and another 1,500 the day after. We’ll need to sell those ourselves.”
“Or perhaps expand the greenhouse area. Even if we can’t build farmland, just having it there can mask production volume.”

Thinking of the morning’s plan to increase investment and expand production, Yu Yang pocketed the day’s earnings and, with his eldest and second brothers, rushed to the village chief’s house to discuss leasing some wasteland.

The already agitated village chief, seeing this, dared not return home. Using the queued vehicles as cover, he dashed into the small villa by the provincial road, hurriedly grabbed his bankbook, took his wife and son, started his motorcycle, and sped off down the road.

“Is the village chief home?”
“Village chief?!”
“Where’s the village chief?”

Failing to find him in the village, Yu Yang went to the small villa by the provincial road. Calling out for a while with no answer, he resorted to the village’s loudspeaker.

“Hello? Hello, hello?”
“Village chief, where have you gone?”
“If you hear this, come home quickly!”

On the provincial road, hearing the echoed calls, the motorcycle sped even faster.

“Go back?”
“If I go back, Old Six will bury me!”