I Overhear Animals' Thoughts to Feed My Family

"Yay, Third Brother is getting married!"

Little Tuanzi shouted happily, while Shitou started to get a little anxious. His eyes darted around, trying to figure out where he could find a pretty wife for himself too.

Seeing Jin Xiuying hesitate, as if she wanted to say something but was holding back, Zhao Wendong spoke to her directly.

"Second Sister-in-law, your identification is all sorted out now. We’re going to handle the paperwork tomorrow, so why don’t you and Second Brother come along and get yours done too? Then, before the New Year, we can all have our weddings together. It’ll be more lively that way!"

"Yes, of course!"

Jin Xiuying had just been wondering if bringing it up herself would make her seem too desperate. She never expected Zhao Wendong to read her mind, and she immediately nodded happily in agreement. Zhao Wenwu, on the other hand, had no awareness that he was about to get married. He was happily munching on a large steamed bun; in his mind, Jin Xiuying was already his wife. ’What was this "certificate" thing anyway?’

"Haha, I’ll definitely be there for that wedding feast!"

"That’s right, count us in!"

Jiang Weimin and Wang Defa quickly chimed in, and Zhao Wendong nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course! Secretary Jiang, you’re an honored guest. Your presence would be a great honor for me, Zhao Wendong, haha!"

Although they could handle the paperwork tomorrow, a wedding definitely required advance preparation. Besides, there was the problem of where to live. Until the new house was built, the wedding couldn’t happen if they didn’t sort out the housing situation.

"Brother Wendong, when your wife goes to the Youth Farm to handle her paperwork, do you need me to have a word with Old Qian?"

Hearing Wang Defa’s words, Zhao Wendong’s eyes instantly lit up. ’That’s it!’ he thought. ’The Youth Farm, the educated youth housing... I have a solution!’

"No need. I’m sure Farm Director Qian knows who I am."

"Hahaha, just try not to scare him to death!"

Jiang Weimin and Wang Defa had both heard the story about Farm Director Qian getting sick from fright over Li Guangming’s death, and they couldn’t help but laugh.

As the meal was ending, Zhao Wendong made a point of pulling Liangzi over to his side to introduce him to Jiang Weimin and Wang Defa.

"Secretary Jiang, Brother Wang, this is Liangzi, a childhood friend of mine. He works at our Commune’s supply and marketing cooperative. He’s diligent, hardworking, and never complains."

Brother Wang thought to himself, ’Zhao Wendong really looks out for his friends.’ He quickly chimed in to support him.

"Oh, isn’t this the fellow from the photo we took when we went fishing last time?"

"Yes, that’s me. It’s good to see you, Station Chief Wang, Secretary Jiang!"

Liangzi quickly and solemnly shook both their hands. He hadn’t had a proper chance to be introduced earlier. He was moved and delighted that Zhao Wendong had still been thinking of him at the end of it all.

"Mm, a fine young man."

Jiang Weimin shot Zhao Wendong a knowing smile, his attitude toward Liangzi exceptionally friendly.

Zhao Wendong caught Jiang Weimin’s glance and flashed him a cheeky grin, which made Jiang Weimin shake his head with a wry smile. He truly didn’t understand how Zhao Wendong had developed such nerves of steel, how he could be so audacious.

If anyone were to ask Zhao Wendong, he wouldn’t tell them, but he knew the reason: A mischievous child, a street-roaming youth, a man fortunate enough to live twice, who’d even witnessed the Russo-Ukrainian War.

It could be summed up in eight words: Indifferent to life and death, always ready for a fight!

By the time Niu Yuesheng drove Zhao Wendong and the others back that evening, it was already pitch-dark. The group was in high spirits after their day trip to the county seat. Niu Yuesheng left after they unloaded their things, promising Zhao Wendong he would come back to pick him up the next day. As for the matter concerning his sister and Er Gou, Niu Yuesheng said he would go home and have a good talk with his sister about it that night.

When Zhao Wendong returned home that night and announced he was planning to register his marriage with Lin Zhiyin—and at the same time as Zhao Wenwu—Chen Yanmei and Zhao Dashan were so overjoyed they couldn’t sleep all night.

The next morning, Chen Yanmei, sporting dark circles under her eyes, was up early making breakfast. Zhao Wendong also rose early and headed straight for the team headquarters. Lately, everyone at the headquarters, aside from him, had been full of fighting spirit, gathering early every day to organize preparations for the spring plowing. When Zhao Wendong arrived, the other four members were already there.

"Dongzi, what’s your plan for today?"

"I’m going to register my marriage today. Third Master, I need you to write a letter of introduction for marriage for me. Oh, and for my second brother and sister-in-law, too."

"Huh?"

Everyone was taken aback by the news, but then their faces broke into smiles as they all began to congratulate Zhao Wendong.

"Congratulations, Dongzi! You’ve finally won the beauty."

"I never would’ve thought! You rascal, it hasn’t even been that long, and you’re already settling down and starting a family!"

Third Master Zhao shook his head and began writing the letter of introduction. Liu Xiufen was also in a bit of a daze. It felt like just the other day that Zhao Dashan had broken his leg, and when she offered to help find a match for Zhao Wendong, Chen Yanmei had thanked her profusely. Who would have thought that in such a short time, he’d find himself such a beautiful "educated youth" on his own? Zhao Weiguo sighed to himself. His own daughter had been growing thinner and thinner lately, a fact he couldn’t ignore. ’But sometimes,’ he thought, ’that’s just fate.’

"Hah, you think that’s good news? Let me tell you some *really* good news!"

Seeing everyone looking at him with anticipation, Zhao Wendong didn’t drag out the suspense and immediately announced the deal he had struck with Jiang Weimin the day before.

"There should be twenty thousand bricks delivered this morning. Organize some people to unload the truck. Make sure to award work points to those who do the work, and give priority to the militia members and families facing severe food shortages!"

A look of joyous surprise on his face, Zhao Weiguo shot up from the kang bed into a squat, his hands trembling uncontrollably. He stared intently at Zhao Wendong and asked the question that was weighing most heavily on his mind.

"What about our village’s two thousand jin of relief grain?"

"Today or tomorrow, I’ll have it delivered and put into storage!"

The moment Zhao Wendong’s voice fell, the members of the team committee went wild. Some slammed their fists on the table, others pounded on the kang bed’s mat, every single one of them with a look of irrepressible excitement on their face.

With these two thousand jin of grain, the village team no longer had to worry about people starving to death. For a village of five or six hundred people, it came out to less than four jin per person, but this grain wasn’t meant to fill bellies—it was meant to save lives. At a critical moment, a few mouthfuls of porridge could be the difference between life and death.