Han Haitao arrived at the town, where a tax office had already been prepared. A group of tax collectors was undergoing training for collecting taxes in the countryside. Han Haitao felt this knowledge was rather too shallow, so he wasn't paying much attention to the class.

After class, the instructor responsible for the town's work invited Han Haitao over. "Does Comrade Han feel there are any deficiencies in the currently formulated regulations?"

Looking at the sincere expression of the young man opposite him, Han Haitao didn't know what to say. These young men had all come with He Rui from Beijing and Tianjin. The officers were twenty-two or twenty-three, and the oldest ones from Tianjin were only twenty. Han Haitao was nearly forty, and he hadn't married early either; his eldest son was already ten.

Being asked so sincerely by such a young superior, Han Haitao felt a bit awkward.

He thought for a while before answering, "I don't think there are deficiencies in the regulations, but I feel one must understand the key points when executing these regulations. If it's not clear, it's easy to be taken advantage of."

The young instructor opposite him immediately showed joy. "Comrade Han, I think so too. It's just that I was transferred to lecture shortly after starting work. I'm really not familiar with the application. Please take a look at this, Comrade Han."

After speaking, the young instructor took out a stack of documents. Han Haitao took them and read a few pages, greatly shaken in his heart. This stack of content was entirely explanations for each tax regulation during specific execution. Han Haitao's view on current tax execution wasn't unique to him; there were people in the Tax Bureau who held the same view.

Therefore, the outline of this specific explanation stated clearly that this was not the final interpretation. Tax personnel needed to continuously improve and correct errors during execution, and regular summaries and reports were required.

Seeing there were sensible people in the Tax Bureau, Han Haitao answered sincerely, "It was I who didn't listen carefully in class."

The young lecturer waved his hand hurriedly. "Comrade Han, don't say that. What we need are experienced comrades like Comrade Han. How about this: please go to the village first, Comrade Han, to see the specific situation and talk to the villagers about tax collection. If you have any ideas, write them directly into a report. This way, we will also have more case studies to discuss in class."

Although Han Haitao wanted to refuse, he finally agreed. Even now, Han Haitao wasn't quite sure if he really wanted to continue working with He Rui. His old age was indeed a very bad point, and Han Haitao really didn't know what He Rui had actually done in the Siping countryside. It wasn't bad to go and see first. If he really felt it wouldn't work, he would inform Chen Deli at the Tax Bureau early so as not to waste everyone's time.

Just as the town Tax Bureau was sending a batch of study materials and tax receipts to the village, Han Haitao joined the escort team and headed straight for Zhangjiatun.

At this time in Zhangjiatun, Zhang Qingshan, one of the six rural cadres, was harvesting in the fields. The motion of swinging the sickle made him feel exhausted, yet he couldn't stop. Just one heavy rain or a gust of strong wind could make the mature crops lodge [fall over]. Lodged crops easily rotted and spoiled. This would not only cause half a year of hard work to go down the drain but also leave next year's food supply uncertain.

Not only Zhang Qingshan, but all villagers were the same. When those half-grown children who weren't used to this intensity of labor stopped their hands, they would immediately be scolded by their parents. The children felt wronged, but the parents were truly angry.

The harvest days continued like this.

Early morning. Zhang Qingshan woke up from his dream after harvesting all day yesterday. The fatigue and pain in his body hadn't completely disappeared, but there was no time to sleep in. Zhang Qingshan got up, tidied up, ate, and was ready to go to the fields when he discovered his sickle was missing.

Did a thief enter the house? For a moment, Zhang Qingshan was both shocked and angry. While searching everywhere, he saw a wooden tag with a string hanging in the place where the sickle was kept. Written on the wooden tag was the number '56' he had learned in the rural cadre training class.

Zhang Qingshan breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the wooden tag, and rushed to the blacksmith shop at the entrance of the village. The knife-sharpener assigned to the village was working. The sound of sickles moving back and forth on the whetstone was somewhat piercing, but to Zhang Qingshan's ears, it had a rhythm close to aesthetic beauty. Having done farm work for nearly ten years, Zhang Qingshan never expected that one day he could use a sickle sharpened by a sharpener every day during the harvest season.

Using the hand tag to retrieve his sickle from the Militia Captain responsible for management, Zhang Qingshan examined it carefully. The blade edge was ground very sharp, while the blade body had no extra polishing. This craftsmanship was much more brilliant than his own.

Just as he was preparing to go to the fields with other villagers, he heard a commotion nearby. "That is my sickle! Would I lie? I just forgot to bring the hand tag. I'll bring the hand tag to you when I come back from the fields!"

Zhang Qingshan had studied the regulations in the training class; exchanging tags for sickles was the rule. But he could also understand everyone's urgent mood. If a storm came, this year's harvest would suffer losses. Although home was just a few steps away, he was anxious inside and just didn't want to go back.

The Militia Captain responsible for hand tags didn't give an inch. Following the training content from the class, the Militia Captain kept a straight face and said, "Exchanging tags for sickles is the rule. Go back and get the tag now; it's only a few steps. In the time you spent arguing, you would have brought it back already."

Being a Militia Captain, his physique was naturally good. Looking at the Militia Captain's sturdy build and sharp eyes, the villager who forgot the hand tag could only turn and leave resentfully, cursing under his breath, "I'll take the sickle home tonight and sharpen it myself. Can't I sharpen a knife without you?"

Han Haitao, who had arrived in the village, watched what happened silently. The villagers' reaction wasn't strange. Having run a teahouse for these few years, Han Haitao had seen things more outrageous than this and people more unbearable than the villagers.

When the villagers going to the fields had all gone, the Militia Captain organized all the tags and sickles, then turned and headed for the temporary nursery.

After walking a few steps, the Militia Captain turned to look at Han Haitao who had followed him out. The Militia Captain had a sturdy build, his muscles stretching his unlined garment into a fit outline. He must have practiced martial arts.

Although he looked fierce, the Militia Captain spoke very gently. "Tax Collector Han, are you going to the nursery with me?"

Han Haitao answered frankly, "I saw Captain Li doing things capably; I just wanted to follow Captain Li and see."

Militia Captain Li didn't say much and just invited Han Haitao to go along. Han Haitao asked with interest, "I saw Captain Li going to the nursery several times a day for consecutive days. It seems you don't trust those people."

The nursery contained the little babies of each family, looked after collectively by good-tempered women and elderly people in the village. This saved the villagers a lot of worry. Although some lazy women still used childcare as an excuse not to go to the fields, most women still saved a lot of time to help their families with work within their capacity. Besides delivering meals, they could even find time to go to the fields and do some work.

Captain Li hadn't expected Han Haitao to see some tricks in this. He looked at Han Haitao with a bit of surprise but didn't hide it. "Does Tax Collector Han think I look fiendish every time I go?"

Han Haitao shook his head. "Captain Li works diligently; I admire that very much. You have absolutely no malice; where does the talk of being fiendish come from?"

Captain Li looked at Han Haitao for a moment before sighing. "To be honest with Tax Collector Han. Many of the people with good tempers just want others to think they have good tempers; in fact, they aren't serious when doing things. But these children are the flesh and blood of their families. If they get bumped or hurt, it would betray people's trust. I go there often to walk around, also to make those people get serious."

Han Haitao nodded repeatedly. He greatly admired that He Rui's subordinates could accurately find someone like Captain Li among the villagers. Han Haitao always believed: *fear not the lack of good things, but the lack of good people*. With someone like Captain Li as the Militia Captain maintaining order in the village, the village's peace could truly be kept.