Seeing the shack built of sorghum and corn stalks covered with a layer of snow, Zhuang Jiaxiong was speechless. Even though he hadn't been outside the pass for long, he understood how cold it was. What kind of iron constitution did one need to live in such a place?

Militia Captain Li Zhengqing, as a local, lifted the "door" woven from Ula grass and corn stalks and walked into the shack.

Zhuang Jiaxiong followed him in. He saw several wooden poles erected inside as pillars. From a structural perspective, it even conformed to engineering principles to some extent. Inside the shack was a broken bed, also covered with a thick Ula grass mat and a tattered quilt.

A family of three lived inside. Seeing Li Zhengqing enter, the hostess propped up her frail body and sat up, holding the child in her arms and wrapping the tattered cotton quilt tighter.

Unexpectedly, a fire basin was lit in the room, so it wasn't as cold as Zhuang Jiaxiong had imagined. He heard Li Zhengqing persuade, "Brother Zhang, the government said people like you can go work at the state-run farm. There will be a place to live after you go."

"No, no." This Brother Zhang refused immediately. "Captain Li, you've said it several times. Going to that government farm means becoming a long-term worker for the government. Now the government has distributed land to me; I just want to stay and farm my own land."

Li Zhengqing said, "Then move to the dilapidated house to live."

The male host in the room actually had quite a temper. "I'm not going. This is the edge of my field; I'm staying here."

Seeing he couldn't be persuaded, Li Zhengqing came out. Zhuang Jiaxiong listened to the conversation and didn't know what to say for a moment. He followed Li Zhengqing and visited several other poor peasant households. No matter what Li Zhengqing said, the farmers didn't want to go to the state-run farm; they wanted to farm their own land.

Returning to Village Head Zhang Qingshan's house, several people got on the *kang*. Zhang Qingshan talked about the current situation. It was evident that everyone in the village just wanted to live their current lives well and didn't want to do anything extra. The village cadres were quite troubled.

That night, Zhuang Jiaxiong thought left and right. He clarified his thoughts on many things, but became even more confused about others. Some things he hadn't realized before suddenly popped up now. With thousands of thoughts in his head, Zhuang Jiaxiong fell asleep in a daze.

After dawn, the work team prepared to return to the town according to the plan, but they were stopped by Militia Captain Li Zhengqing, who asked everyone to wait a while longer.

Not long after finishing the morning meal, the village gathered everyone. Li Zhengqing's wife carried a basket of finished collar badges to Village Head Zhang Qingshan and asked refreshingly, "Brother Zhang, take a look and see if these will do."

Zhuang Jiaxiong was very surprised and leaned in to look. Picking up a few collar badges, he saw they were truly identical to the sample. Zhang Qingshan also looked for a while, then turned and whispered to Zhuang Jiaxiong, "Comrade Zhuang, how are they?"

It was Zhuang Jiaxiong's first time doing this kind of inspection, so he didn't dare answer immediately. He compared a few, then dug some out from the bottom of the basket to compare, finding there was really nothing bad to say. So he nodded and answered, "Made very well."

Hearing Zhuang Jiaxiong say this, Sister-in-law Li shouted refreshingly, "We want another thousand. Give us the grain."

Hearing this number, Zhuang Jiaxiong felt a bit embarrassed. On this trip to the village, they brought fabric for a total of five hundred collar badges. He thought they could all be taken, but unexpectedly, only 300 were distributed the first time.

However, this Sister-in-law Li finished 300 in two days. Where could he find 1,000 for her to make now? But she had already completed the work. Seeing other cadres stepping back, Zhuang Jiaxiong could only smile awkwardly. "Sister-in-law, we don't have 1,000, only 200. I'll give you these 200 first. Once I get back to town, I'll send the rest to you immediately."

On the way, the work group talked about this matter. It turned out that Sister-in-law Li directed the women in the village to work together while listening to the literacy class. The fast ones made a dozen a day, the slow ones made three or two. Although the speeds varied, there were many people. With twenty or thirty women, doing three here and ten there, they finished 300 collar badges in less than two days.

"It seems Sister-in-law Li has quite the prestige," Zhuang Jiaxiong praised.

"It should be because she distributes the grain quite fairly," a cadre from another work team replied.

Zhuang Jiaxiong nodded repeatedly, feeling his view of things was still not accurate enough. Prestige means convincing people; if the distribution of remuneration is unfair, where would prestige come from?

Back in town, Zhuang Jiaxiong asked Han Haitao to hurry up and issue the fabric and grain. After agreeing, Han Haitao told Zhuang Jiaxiong that he was to return to Siping immediately.

Rushing all the way back to Siping, it was already dark. Wu Youping ordered immediately, "Go to the Statistics Section. They want to question you there. Be sure to tell the truth; don't hide anything."

"Is anyone still at the Statistics Section so late?" Zhuang Jiaxiong was somewhat surprised.

"Go and you'll know. If no one is there, wait until tomorrow."

Arriving at the Statistics Section, he saw no movement in the office building. A guard stood in the wooden sentry box with a rifle on his back. After asking Zhuang Jiaxiong's purpose and checking his documents, he replied, "Please follow me."

The Statistics Section office building was very quiet. Arriving at an office, the door opened. Two candles were lit inside, making the room very bright. Two people who were writing stood up. One of them smiled. "Inviting Comrade Zhuang over so late, you've worked hard."

Zhuang Jiaxiong was quite moved. "You two waiting for me are the ones who worked hard."

In the Statistics Section, the questioners were unhurried. As they chatted, Zhuang Jiaxiong spoke about some feelings from his work at the grassroots level this time. The Statistics Section personnel even asked Zhuang Jiaxiong to talk in detail. After talking, the Statistics Section people were still unsatisfied and prepared a room, paper, and pen for Zhuang Jiaxiong to write a report.

Walking on the vast snowy ground gave plenty of time to consider problems. Zhuang Jiaxiong wrote furiously, writing down what he saw, heard, thought, and various confusions.

This trip to the countryside wasn't long, only a few days. But for Zhuang Jiaxiong, it indeed opened up a brand-new world. The relationship between the government and the grassroots was something he had never thought about or experienced before.

After finishing writing, Zhuang Jiaxiong took his leave. He saw the two staff members had no intention of leaving. Looking back while the guard escorted him out, he saw the candlelight bright in the room window; the two were still working. Zhuang Jiaxiong already had a favorable impression of Siping; at this moment, his determination to stay in Siping was even firmer.

Going to see Wu Youping the next morning, he found Wu Youping had been called to a meeting. Zhuang Jiaxiong picked up a newspaper to read and saw the headline of *Siping Daily*: *On December 25, Southern generals Tang Jiyao, Cai E, Li Liejun, and others telegraphed the whole country, announcing independence in Yunnan and sending troops to punish Yuan Shikai for restoring the monarchy.*

He hadn't expected such a big event to happen during his few days in the countryside. Those grassroots tasks could no longer attract Zhuang Jiaxiong's attention. He quickly flipped through the entire newspaper and found no other content about the war. Disappointed, he turned back to the front page, reading and savoring the not-so-long news word by word, imagining the war breaking out in his mind.