*Chapter 31: The Reputation of Bravery (Part 3)*
Being called "Uncle" by a girl of no more than ten years old made Hou Weidong suddenly feel a surge of maturity. He puffed out his chest and said, "I'm here to buy an electric wok. Is Sister Chen not around?"
The girl was born and raised in Shangqinglin, intimately familiar with every person and object in the old market town. She suddenly recalled her mother mentioning that a college graduate had been assigned to the mountain area. "Are you the new college graduate, Uncle?" she asked. Upon receiving a nod of confirmation, the little girl’s face lit up. "Uncle, I’m doing my summer homework. I keep getting the English questions wrong. Could you explain them to me?"
Hou Weidong had always been strong in English. He had passed the CET-4 exam during his university years and had even spent some time studying intensively when he considered pursuing a master’s degree. Judging by the girl’s age, she was likely in either the third year of junior high or the first year of senior high. Confident in his abilities, he said, "Let me take a look." He then asked, "Which grade are you in?"
"First year of senior high."
Hearing this, Hou Weidong felt even more at ease. He took the thick exercise book from her and saw question marks scribbled next to several multiple-choice questions. It was a tense grammar question, quite simple. He picked out the key points and explained them briefly.
The girl nodded continuously.
"Do you understand?"
"I understand."
The little girl’s thin face flushed red with shyness. "Uncle, there are three more questions above. I got them all wrong."
"These four questions are of the same type. It seems you haven’t fully grasped this particular knowledge point. Let me explain it to you." After clarifying the concept, Hou Weidong turned to another page, found a similar multiple-choice question, and asked the girl to solve it.
Based on Hou Weidong’s explanation, the girl didn’t need to think hard and selected an answer. Immediately after, she hurriedly flipped to the back of the book to check the answer key. "I got it right this time!" she exclaimed excitedly.
Hou Weidong had her try a few more similar problems, and she got them all correct. The girl’s face beamed with excitement. "Uncle, do you live in the township government compound? Can I come ask you English questions in the future?" Her eyes were bright and clear, blinking rapidly, her face full of hope.
The girl was smart and quick to learn, able to apply what she had learned to new situations, but her foundation was weak. Hou Weidong asked, "Where do you study?"
"At Yiyang County No. 1 Middle School."
"No. 1 Middle School?" Hou Weidong was somewhat surprised to hear she attended Yiyang No. 1. It was the best middle school in the county, sending several students to Peking University and Tsinghua University every year. Many people from Shazhou sent their children there to study.
The girl sensed the surprise in Hou Weidong’s tone and blushed. "My English isn’t good, but my other grades are okay."
Having failed to get the electric wok, Hou Weidong carried his leafy vegetables, meat, and eggs, wandering back to his small courtyard.
He sat on the broken bamboo sofa and emptied all his loose change. He had brought five hundred yuan to start his job, but had already spent over three hundred. Only a little over one hundred yuan remained in his pocket. Unsure when the Qinglin township government would issue salaries, Hou Weidong calculated for a moment, then took out forty yuan and placed it under his pillow. This was his strategic reserve, kept for emergencies.
Although the market town was on the mountain, the weather remained stiflingly hot. Cicadas on the large trees called tirelessly, reminding everyone that it was the height of summer.
Without the electric wok, he couldn’t cook. If Sister Chen didn’t bring the wok back, the meat would surely rot and smell in such hot weather after just two hours. An hour passed, then another. Hou Weidong leaned in to sniff the piece of meat. Besides the raw meat odor, an indescribable smell was beginning to fester.
Unable to resist, Hou Weidong ran back to the Qinglin Primary School store.
The little girl was still doing her homework. Seeing Hou Weidong enter, she immediately said, "Uncle, Mom hasn’t come back yet."
At noon, Hou Weidong visited the store again. He glanced from afar on the bluestone street and saw the same little girl, still focused on her studies. He went to the tofu pudding shop where he had eaten breakfast and resolved his lunch there. Upon returning, he threw the piece of meat into the garbage pile. Soon, two dirty yellow dogs ran out from some corner, fiercely competing for the rotting meat.
Back in the small courtyard, he noticed the ground-floor office door was unexpectedly open. It was empty inside. Hou Weidong walked in and saw People’s Daily and Shazhou Daily on the newspaper rack. He was overjoyed. Having studied for over ten years, he was accustomed to a life filled with books and words. Being in Shangqinglin Township for a day and a night without seeing a single newspaper or book had made him very uncomfortable.
He turned on the ceiling fan and began his proactive political study.
The latest People’s Daily was dated July 1st, the same day he had left school. From page one to page four, every section of the newspaper felt exceptionally precious. Hou Weidong deliberately slowed his reading speed. Even the editorials of People’s Daily, which he had never bothered to read before, he read carefully this time.
"Xiao Hou, reading the paper?" Township Mayor Gao came down from upstairs. Seeing Hou Weidong reading, he greeted him. Hou Weidong turned, saw it was Mayor Gao, put down the newspaper, and stood up. "Hello, Mayor Gao."
"Secretary Zhao told me. For now, you will follow the members of the working group to various villages to familiarize yourself with the situation."
"Here are the keys to the office. When you have free time, you can come here to read newspapers. When villagers come to the working group, you are responsible for receiving them. Also, the Shangqinglin market days are on the 3rd, 5th, and 7th. Various government departments will send people up to handle business. You open the conference room, boil some water, and clean up."
These were the miscellaneous tasks usually handled by the agency’s support staff. Previously, Sister Yang was responsible for these duties in the working group. However, Sister Yang often had to go out to stock goods, which caused delays. Moreover, Sister Yang was set to become an agent for the post office.
Mayor Gao handed Sister Yang’s duties to Hou Weidong for two reasons. First, although Hou Weidong belonged to the Qinglin government, he was not assigned to any specific department and had no concrete tasks, and the young man appeared diligent. Second, Sister Yang’s family was indeed in difficult circumstances; relieving her of these duties was a form of care for her.
Seeing that Hou Weidong agreed to the arrangement, Mayor Gao stood at the door and called out to the backyard, "Yang Xinchun, come here for a moment."
"Coming." Yang Xinchun responded with a long drawl and entered the room. She was smiling broadly and placed two keys on the table. "This one is for the office, and this is for the conference room." Since cleaning and such tasks were originally her responsibility, she felt somewhat guilty handing them over. She explained, "The Qinglin Post Office wants to set up an agency point on the mountain, and I will be in charge. I’ll handle all mail delivery and collection. They are coming tomorrow to install the telephone."
Hou Weidong’s eyes lit up. He thought, It will be convenient to send letters and make phone calls to Xiaojia in the future. The figure of Sister Yang as a postal agent seemed to grow taller in his eyes. He smiled and said, "Sister Yang, I’ll be troubling you a lot in the future."
"We’re all in the same courtyard, what trouble is that?" Yang Xinchun replied cheerfully and went back.
"Mayor Gao, what are the usual working hours?"
"The government works from 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM, and from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM. The working group’s schedule is more flexible. We mainly run around the villages, so there’s no need to sit in the office."
Although these were miscellaneous tasks, it was something to do, which was better than nothing. Hou Weidong did not refuse and took over Sister Yang’s chores.
Mayor Gao, seeing that the young man was smart and sensible, wondered privately, This young man Hou Weidong looks fine. He was openly recruited as a party and government cadre by Yiyang City. Why did the town place him in Shangqinglin?
The morning passed by in this manner. In the afternoon, Hou Weidong woke up on time and read newspapers in the ground-floor office.
He sat in the office for over two hours. Aside from the occasional rat scurrying by and the noisy cicadas, there wasn’t a soul in sight.
Hou Weidong wondered, The party and government cadres openly selected by Yiyang County, so-called reserve cadres, are we just here to clean up in this godforsaken place that touches neither heaven nor earth? If I had known this, why didn’t I apply to the Wu Hai County Public Security Bureau back then?
"When Heaven is about to confer a great responsibility on a man, it first exercises his mind with suffering, his sinews and bones with toil, his body with hunger, and his person with poverty. It upsets all his endeavors, so as to stimulate his mind, harden his nature, and strengthen his abilities." Hou Weidong quickly interrupted the unhealthy emotions rising in his heart by reciting this inspirational quote.
After adjusting his mindset, he felt much better. Thinking about the operation organized by Director Qin tomorrow, he went back to the Qinglin Primary School store to buy a pair of military rubber boots.
This time, Sister Chen finally appeared in the store. Seeing Hou Weidong, she warmly took the electric wok and said, "The electric woks in the Xiaqinglin Supply and Marketing Cooperative sold out. I got this one from Yiyang County town, which is why I’m back late."
Hou Weidong hadn’t expected Sister Chen to go all the way to Yiyang County town for an electric wok. "Ah, you went all the way to Yiyang County for me. Thank you so much. Can I pay for your fare?" Sister Chen smiled. "I had planned to go to Yiyang to stock up anyway. Buying the electric wok was just on the way."
Carrying the electric wok, military rubber boots, and a large rolling pin used only by the mess hall, Hou Weidong returned to his简陋 home. The electric wok was his tool for future meals, while the military rubber boots and rolling pin were his weapons for tomorrow’s roundup operation.
*Life in Qinglin*