I Overhear Animals' Thoughts to Feed My Family

Chapter 109: Chapter 108: Sharing a Kang

’This is going to be harder than I thought,’ Zhao Wendong mused. He wasn’t afraid of the man making exorbitant demands; in fact, the pile of goods on his sled was prepared just for that. The real fear was that he was too principled. And these days, cadres like that weren’t exactly rare.

”You never know, maybe you two will hit it off,” Wang Defa said. ”Besides, they got some of the fish you caught. You know what they say, ’a full mouth can’t talk back.’ I refuse to believe this Liu Haisheng is so above it all he’s immune to a little favor.”

”Oh, right, about those fish. The county kept some and reported the rest up the chain. There should be news soon. You just wait, kid. You’re in for a commendation and a reward!”

Zhao Wendong scratched his head and gave a wry smile.

”Ah, I’m just a common man. All I’m thinking about right now is getting things sorted out for my future mother-in-law and father-in-law. I can’t even dream of commendations or rewards.”

After saying this, Zhao Wendong remembered something else. He took out the production team’s resold grain coupon.

”Our team has a coupon for two thousand catties of resold grain. Brother Wang, do you think there’s any way to redeem it?”

”No way!”

Wang Defa’s answer was blunt.

”Things are extremely tight at the grain station right now. We can’t even meet the daily quotas. Don’t spread this around—I’m only telling you, so just keep it to yourself. If we open the floodgates for resold grain, the county will run out of food in an instant. The entire city would starve.”

”Ah, but what can we do? People in the village are going to starve too!”

”You’ll have to figure something out on your own. Don’t count on the county.”

Wang Defa was truly being open with Zhao Wendong, every word a hard truth straight from the heart. Zhao Wendong was touched, and his favorable impression of the man grew even more.

By the time they finished eating and came out, the sky was already dimming. Soon the sun would set, and it would be completely dark. Wang Defa knew Zhao Wendong and Lin Zhiyin couldn’t possibly travel through the night, so he grabbed his arm and asked with concern.

”Wendong, do you have a place to stay tonight?”

”Not yet. We were planning to find somewhere to make do for the night.”

Zhao Wendong shook his head.

Wang Defa pulled him along. ”Hey! Come on, come on, stay at my place! My west room is empty.”

”Ah? Is that okay?”

”What’s not okay about it? Let’s go! No need to be so polite with Brother Wang!”

Wang Defa grabbed Zhao Wendong’s arm and tugged hard, his sincerity obvious. Seeing this, Zhao Wendong had no choice but to head toward the warehouse first, saying he needed to get something.

Wang Defa said, amused.

”What in the world is on that sled of yours that you’re guarding it so closely? We’ve got all sorts of valuable things in the purchasing station’s warehouse. Your stuff is perfectly safe!”

Zhao Wendong didn’t answer him. When Wang Defa saw him pull out a wild pheasant and a wild rabbit after saying he was coming over, he grew a little flustered.

”Wendong, I can’t accept this! I feel guilty taking these. You should have just come as you are, you didn’t need to bring anything.”

”Hey now, Brother Wang, don’t argue with me. This is for the kids, not for you! How could I show up for the first time empty-handed? If you keep refusing, we’ll just go sleep on the street!”

”Alright, alright, alright!”

Wang Defa could only nod with a smile. ’This Zhao Wendong really knows how things work,’ he thought. ’He’s not like an ordinary farmer at all. How would an ordinary farmer understand all these social nuances?’ He was smiling so wide his eyes were nearly shut. Since Zhao Wendong had put it that way, he could only accept with delight.

Zhao Wendong fed the Golden Roc, covered its cage, and placed it in the grain station’s warehouse. Lin Zhiyin was still clutching the jar, refusing to let go.

”What’s that? Pickled vegetables?”

”Since you’re asking, Brother Wang, I won’t hide it from you.”

Zhao Wendong leaned in and whispered a few words into Wang Defa’s ear. Wang Defa’s eyes went wide, and he shot Zhao Wendong another thumbs-up.

”Damn, little brother, you’re really something else. To think you could dig up something so badass.”

The three of them walked outside. As they passed the warehouse entrance, Zhao Wendong stopped. He noticed a stack of red bricks next to the warehouse, piled into a square as tall as a person.

”Brother Wang, are all of those bricks?”

”Yup. All red bricks produced this year. The county brick factory is storing them here so they don’t get stolen. There’s an even bigger pile on the other side of the warehouse—tens of thousands of them!”

Zhao Wendong’s eyes lit up. This was exactly what he was missing for the house he was so set on building!

But there was no way they would give something like this to a private individual. An idea flashed in Zhao Wendong’s mind.

”Brother Wang, do you think the county would agree if I offered to trade the resold grain coupon for these red bricks?”

Wang Defa froze for a moment, but he quickly understood.

”You want these bricks?”

”Yes!”

Wang Defa paced back and forth a couple of steps, then said after a moment of thought.

”It’s not impossible. These bricks aren’t really needed right now anyway. They’ll produce new ones next year, and the county’s construction needs aren’t as high as they were a few years ago. The brick factory has always produced more than what’s used.”

”But for something like this, you have to be careful that there are no procedural problems. The official story has to be that your village has no use for the red bricks and proactively came to you to request a trade for some grain. Understand?”

”Yes, okay, I understand!”

Zhao Wendong nodded, a little excited. ’This should be easy,’ he thought. ’As long as the team committee gets grain, they won’t care how they got it.’

That evening at Wang Defa’s house, thanks to the pheasant and rabbit paving the way, Wang Defa’s wife was exceptionally welcoming. She heated the kang in the west room until it was hot enough to burn their backsides. Zhao Wendong and Lin Zhiyin had originally planned to sleep at opposite ends of the heated brick bed, but Lin Zhiyin couldn’t stand the heat. She slowly scooted over bit by bit, until she was lying side-by-side with Zhao Wendong at the cooler end.

Although Wang Defa’s home was also an adobe house, it was well-built and even had glass windows. The light of the crescent moon spilled through the window onto the kang, draping the two of them in a white veil.

Both Zhao Wendong’s and Lin Zhiyin’s eyes were wide open. They silently gazed at the starry sky outside, feeling no sleepiness at all. They were each covered by their own cotton quilts—the same ones they had used to wrap themselves against the cold on the sled, both newly purchased by Zhao Wendong.

”You want to build a house?”

Lin Zhiyin recalled how Zhao Wendong had been eyeing those red bricks earlier and couldn’t help but ask about his plans. She knew it wasn’t quite right, as if she were already some part of his life, yet her subconscious pushed her to ask the question anyway. It felt as though she was meant to be a part of Zhao Wendong’s future.

”Mhm. A brick-and-tile house, with bright glass windows like these. And when the village gets electricity someday, we’ll install a big, bright electric lamp.”

Lin Zhiyin imagined the life he described and felt that it would be incredibly happy—perhaps even happier than her own childhood. She found herself looking forward to it as well.

An unknown amount of time passed. Lin Zhiyin, still looking at the starry sky, suddenly asked a very strange question.

”Zhao Wendong, do you think people really become stars in the sky when they die?”

Zhao Wendong knew she was worried about not being able to get past the hurdle with Liu Haisheng, which was making her pessimistic. He didn’t answer right away but remained silent for a long time—so long that Lin Zhiyin thought he had fallen asleep. She couldn’t help but turn her head to look at him, only to meet his bright, clear eyes.

”When a loved one dies, it’s like you’re at home sleeping while they’re out working in the fields.”

”You go to the fields to find them, but they’ve gone up the mountain to hunt.”

”You go up the mountain to find them, but they’ve already returned home.”

”They never truly leave. They’re always here. It’s just that our worlds brush past each other now, and we can never quite meet again.”

Lin Zhiyin was stunned. Looking at Zhao Wendong’s glistening, tear-filled eyes, she was completely and utterly shaken.

She couldn’t understand how someone as young as Zhao Wendong could express such a profound understanding. It was as if he wasn’t just giving an answer, but telling a true story—a story that had happened to him.