I Overhear Animals' Thoughts to Feed My Family

The time spent together these past few days had brought the children endless joy.

"Goodbye, Brother Manku! Goodbye, Sister Cuicui! Come back and visit when you have time!"

Although Little Tuanzi was sad to see them go, she was well-behaved and waved goodbye. Shitou, on the other hand, was too heartbroken and stood to the side, silently crying.

Zhao Wendong walked over and gave him a pat. "Alright, stop with the waterworks. Your grandaunt’s home isn’t that far. In the future, when every village has a road and cars, you can go to Dahei Mountain whenever you want."

"Really?"

Zhao Shitou looked at Zhao Wendong in surprise. What his third uncle was saying sounded too good to be true.

"Of course, it’s true. Not only will every village have big paved roads and cars in the future, but they’ll all have electric lights too!"

"That would be amazing!"

Everyone was captivated by the future Zhao Wendong described. Lin Huaimin and Wang Lulu exchanged a look. The thing they admired most about Zhao Wendong was that he possessed a foresight most farmers lacked. He always had his own predictions and insights about future development, and they sounded both highly possible and reliable.

Since they were only reporting to the prefecture today and the meeting wasn’t until tomorrow, Zhao Wendong and the others weren’t in a hurry. Everyone said their goodbyes for a while longer before Zhao Yinhua’s family finally left, taking with them the seaweed Zhao Wendong had given them. It was great for making soup, and more importantly, there was a lot of it. Every household had gathered a large amount during the last spring tide.

Niu Guizhi and Zhao Ergou also came, carrying bags of all sizes. Today was the day Niu Yuesheng was picking them up, as they had scheduled the bride’s homecoming visit for today. Seeing the loving couple and how well his own sister looked, Niu Yuesheng was very pleased. He smiled and ushered his sister and brother-in-law onto the truck.

The cab was still reserved for the elderly and children, while the rest sat in the truck bed. After bidding farewell to their families, the large truck slowly pulled away from Dragon King Pond. It stopped for a moment at the Commune to pick up Liangzi.

Liangzi’s mother was still worried. She anxiously instructed Zhao Wendong, "Dongzi, Liangzi only has older sisters and no brothers at home to help him out. I’ll have to trouble you to look after him. No matter what Huang Xiaomei’s situation is, you have to help your auntie and keep an eye on Liangzi!"

"Don’t worry, Auntie. Liangzi’s business is my business. The two of us are mostly just going to the prefecture to look around and see a bigger city."

Seeing his mother was still uneasy, Liangzi waved his hand impatiently. "Alright, alright, you can go back now. We’re leaving."

In the truck bed, Liangzi’s face was full of excitement and anticipation. "Dongzi, do you think Xiaomei will be excited to see me?"

"Yeah, she will!"

"Do you think she hasn’t written because she’s busy with her studies, or for some other reason?"

Zhao Wendong looked at his childhood friend, his gaze sweeping over that face full of anticipation again and again. In the end, he couldn’t bring himself to crush his hopes just yet.

"She’s probably sick!"

"Ah, right, how could I not have thought of that! She must be sick. I just wonder what kind of sickness... I hope it’s not too serious!"

Zhao Ergou and Zhao Wendong looked over, their eyes full of confusion. It was as if they were thinking, ’Brother Liangzi isn’t usually like this. Is he lovesick or something?’ Zhao Wendong just smiled at Ergou. His life had been too hard; he could never understand the self-delusion of a simp.

Meanwhile, the prefecture had already selected the five model workers for the year, with Zhao Wendong as their representative. They were busy arranging and deploying resources for tomorrow’s regional conference centered on this. Zhao Wendong, however, knew nothing about it. He and Liangzi got off the truck at the county committee office and went straight inside to find Jiang Weimin, while Niu Yuesheng drove on to drop off the remaining passengers.

"Dongzi, remember to come visit your aunt when you have time!"

Zhao Yinhua stuck her head out of the cab and shouted to Zhao Wendong. He smiled and waved back, letting her know he’d heard.

Zhao Wendong was now so well-known at the county committee compound that his face was his pass. When Jiang Weimin saw him arrive, he said with a smile,

"Hang on, we’ll be leaving shortly. By the way, Comrade Wendong, about that cousin of yours you mentioned last time—I’ve spoken with Yin County. He can transfer his household registration over. They won’t pursue the matter any further."

"Okay. Thank you, Secretary Jiang."

"Hahaha, no need to be so formal with me. Anyway, this trip to the prefecture is for you to receive the Model Worker medal. You’ll also have to give a speech. Do you want to prepare something in advance, or should we have the people at the prefecture write a draft for you?"

"Heh, what’s a rough country fellow like me going to prepare? Whatever they write for us, we’ll just read it, right?"

"Alright then. We’ll have the prefecture staff coordinate with you on the script."

After speaking, Jiang Weimin looked at Zhao Wendong and smiled again. "It’s not just the prefecture. You’re also one of the county’s Model Workers this year. You and Old Wang both. The appointments and rewards for the others will also be announced soon, like the one for Comrade Zhang Liang here. Comrade Wendong, are you really sure you want to just be a Civilian Militia Captain in Dragon King Pond? Why don’t you come to the county first and be the Chief Civilian Militia Captain?"

This showed how much Jiang Weimin truly valued Zhao Wendong. The offer was tantamount to single-handedly pulling him into the leadership ranks. Zhao Wendong was touched but firmly refused. He could do more by staying in Dragon King Pond. "Haha, thank you for the high praise, Secretary Jiang. I’m really not cut out for that kind of role. I wouldn’t want to come here and embarrass you!"

Standing to the side, Liangzi couldn’t hide his joy. Secretary Jiang had said it himself, which meant his appointment as the director of the Commune’s supply and marketing cooperative was a sure thing. He suddenly felt an urgent need to find Huang Xiaomei in the prefecture and share the good news.

The four-story, red-brick building of the prefectural administration office stood in the city center. The stone lions in front of its vermilion gates exuded an air of majesty, a world apart from the adobe houses and snowy fields of Dragon King Pond. This was the former Erhu Building, where the award ceremony and meeting would officially be held tomorrow. The jeep drove past the administration office and stopped at the two-story prefectural guesthouse not far away.