Chapter 22: Drought Resistance

Caiyun’s remarks about Wang Hongbing leading the way in excessive feasting and refusing to turn in public grain struck a deep chord with him. He began to reflect, realizing that since becoming the production team leader, his indulgence in extravagant eating and drinking had been far too frequent, leading to excessive expenses and serious waste.

He decided to shift from being reactive to proactive, vowing to correct these behaviors immediately to avoid bringing trouble upon himself. He sought out the accountant and the storekeeper for a comprehensive audit of the grain reserves and the members' rations. They discovered that the rations were severely overdrawn and that the team’s supply of salted pork was nearly depleted.

To address this, shortly after the Spring Festival, Wang Hongbing secretly further compressed the ration standards for those eating at the canteen, strictly instructing the accountant and storekeeper to keep it quiet. The canteen staff noticed the reduction in grain, but the accountant and storekeeper denied it in unison.

Faced with the reality of grain shortages, the team organized members to forage for wild vegetables and pick tree leaves to stave off hunger. However, because the "Great Leap Forward" in steel production had already stripped the West Mountain bare, and trees near the village were plucked clean as soon as they sprouted, the plan to rely on leaves proved unfeasible; the primary focus remained on wild vegetables. Members brought back shepherd’s purse, purslane, lamb’s quarters, Indian aster, and alfalfa. The canteen staff would wash and mince these, add a little grain and bran, and boil them into a vegetable gruel to distribute to everyone.

During these days, Yulan began visiting Qingying more frequently. Qingying found her too gluttonous and struggled to keep up with her demands, eventually resorting to giving her only a few biscuits or candies each day. Yet, Yulan continued to call her "Mom" affectionately, which filled Qingying with joy.

One day, Fafu discovered this secret and asked Qingying, "I heard Yulan calling you 'Mom.' What is going on?"

"When did you hear that?"

"Don't change the subject, answer me!"

Qingying had no choice but to tell the truth.

"This is madness! If Caiyun finds out, do you think she will spare you?"

"I don't care. I just want to adopt Yulan."

"Caiyun doesn't agree, so how can you adopt her?"

"When the day comes that Yulan cannot live without me, I will have her talk to her mother. We’ll see if she agrees then!"

"Stop this right now, or I’m going to tell Caiyun immediately."

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Just watch me. I'm going to find Caiyun right now."

Fafu started to walk away, but Qingying grabbed him. "Are you insane? I just have the thought; I don't necessarily have to act on it. I just love the child so much, and hearing her call me 'Mom' is enough for me."

"She’s probably called you that more than once. Shouldn't you be satisfied? Don't do this again."

"Fine. Being married to a man like you is truly tiresome. You can't get anything done, and you won't let anyone else try, either."

As the busy farming season approached, Facai and other laborers returned from the water conservancy construction site to begin spring plowing and sowing. Caiyun discussed with Facai the idea of performing a ritual to "ward off evil" for Yujun. Facai dismissed it as superstition and refused, and Caiyun did not insist.

One noon, Facai, hungry and unable to bear it, arrived at the canteen early to queue for food. He thought that if the grain wasn't enough to fill them, the vegetable gruel should be. He brought his bowl to be served, only to be frustrated by the meager two-spoon portion. Caiyun came over to explain that the vegetables looked plentiful, but once chopped and boiled, there was very little left.

Facai brought his bowl of gruel to Wang Hongbing and asked, "Look at this little bit of gruel the canteen is giving us for lunch. What good is this?"

Wang Hongbing replied, "These are difficult times. Please, just bear with it for now."

This life continued for over two months. Many villagers became sallow and thin, staggering as they walked. Sometimes, members would suddenly collapse while working in the fields, and much of the farm work could not proceed normally. It was not until the summer harvest that the canteen’s food improved significantly, allowing the members' health and spirits to gradually recover.

While Yulan was herding cattle, she saw Youtao approaching and shouted from afar, "Brother Youtao, come here quickly!"

Hearing her, Youtao ran over. "Yulan, I waited for you here for a long time yesterday, but you never showed up."

"I went to gather pigweed and got back late." Yulan jumped off the cow’s back and pulled a piece of scorched rice crust from her pocket, handing it to Youtao. "Brother, here for you!"

"Where did you get this crust?" Youtao asked.

"My little uncle gave it to me. I couldn't bear to eat it myself, so I saved it for you."

"I don't want it. You keep it and eat it."

"If you don't take it, I won't talk to you anymore."

"Fine, I'll take it. But tell me, who is your little uncle? Since we are all eating at the communal canteen, where does he get rice crust?"

"He is our production team leader, Wang Hongbing. He likes me very much and often gives me good things. Every time he gives me something, he is very mysterious about it—he tells me not to talk about it or ask questions."

"What else has he given you?"

"Candies, biscuits, peanuts, and more. But you can't tell my brother. My parents don't let me take things from others."

"I think that's for the best, too."

"I know, but I just love eating these things."

Youtao pinched Yulan’s ear, laughing, "You really are a little glutton."

After becoming team leader, Wang Hongbing felt his authority had not been properly established. He believed there were two main reasons: first, he lacked convincing achievements, and second, he had not gained the appreciation of his superiors, particularly the commune leadership.

He decided to tackle both issues to consolidate his position. He focused on the commune's vigorous implementation of the county’s decision to convert dry land into paddy fields—a transition from crops like corn, sorghum, and soybeans to rice.

Progress was slow; every production team was hesitant, reluctant to destroy the healthy dry crops. Wang Hongbing saw this as his golden opportunity.

On the first day of the conversion, as Caiyun and others were cutting down corn stalks, she looked up to see two men walking toward them. Wang Hongbing, carrying a shovel, went to greet them. She said to Liu Dazui beside her, "Look, Wang Hongbing has invited the brigade and commune leaders here."

Liu Dazui asked, "How do you know?"

"Look at those two men—one with hands on his hips, the other with a satchel. Isn't it obvious?"

"They say, 'Commune cadres carry satchels, brigade cadres put hands on hips, and production team leaders carry shovels.' It seems that saying is true."

Wang Hongbing had invited both Secretary Yang of the brigade and Secretary Zhou of the commune to witness how he led the team in converting the dry land. He chose a cornfield as the demonstration plot. From cutting the stalks to plowing, flooding, and planting seedlings, the work was finished in one go. The cornfield the leaders saw upon arrival had become a rice paddy full of seedlings by the time they left. They praised him for setting a good example.

The following morning, the commune broadcast station aired a report on the advanced deeds of Wang Hongbing, leader of the Wangjiayu production team, for his efforts in promoting the conversion of dry land to rice. They called on all teams to learn from them and ignite a new wave of land conversion.

Some teams that had been hesitant immediately followed suit. However, nature did not cooperate. From May to August, a hundred-day drought struck. Especially in July and August, the sun hung in the sky like a fireball drenched in oil, radiating scorching heat.

The water in the paddies gradually evaporated, leaving only a little warm water in low-lying areas, where small fish and shrimp were forced to huddle and suffer. Although the members were enthusiastic about fighting the drought, the conversion of so much land meant there was too little water to go around. With nearby ponds dried up and water sources exhausted, the disaster relief efforts fell into a stalemate.

The short-sighted Wang Hongbing was at his wit's end. Treating a dead horse as if it were still alive, he devolved the drought-relief responsibilities to each individual household.

This measure turned every member into a decision-maker and responsible party for the relief efforts. Some pulled carts to the Hongze Reservoir over ten miles away to fetch water; some dug wells on the spot; others adopted a strategy of "protecting the vital and sacrificing the trivial," focusing water on the rice that was in the crucial stages of heading and grain filling, or using dippers to water the roots of dry crops after sunset. These water-saving measures allowed some of the rice to recover to a normal state.

Even some dry crops on higher ground that couldn't be converted to rice showed good growth, and the relief efforts achieved notable success.

When the commune learned of this, they deemed the approach a "regressive" act, accusing it of undermining the county's water conservancy construction, sabotaging the collective, and harming the People's Commune. They demanded the brigade deal with the matter severely. The wells dug by individual families were mockingly labeled "husband-and-wife wells" by the commune, ordered to be filled in, and all the "miraculous" drought-relief methods were rejected, forcing the effort back into the rigid, inefficient, and unified collective model.