I Overhear Animals' Thoughts to Feed My Family

"Here, Liangzi, help Guan Yonghe with her baggage."

When Liangzi and Guan Yonghe both looked over, he turned and pulled Lin Zhiyin away.

"Let’s go, honey. I’ll take you to see a big black dog. It’s so much fun."

After they had walked some distance, Lin Zhiyin looked at Zhao Wendong, amused.

"Are you trying to set them up?"

"Mhm."

"Not a chance!"

Lin Zhiyin simply shook her head.

"Huh?"

Zhao Wendong was stunned. Why was Lin Zhiyin so sure? He thought they were a great match—his brother and a beautiful woman. What a perfect pair.

"Guan Yonghe doesn’t like Liangzi."

Lin Zhiyin only told him half the story, keeping the rest to herself. A woman’s intuition told her that the way Guan Yonghe looked at Zhao Wendong was off. She didn’t like Liangzi, but she very likely had feelings for Lin Zhiyin’s husband. ’It’s best not to let Zhao Wendong know,’ she thought. ’Otherwise, he’ll get cocky.’

Zhao Wendong took Lin Zhiyin for a walk. By the time they returned to the ag-tech station, the Guan family had already settled in. The seven of them gazed at the bright and tidy room—the neat red-brick floor, the large kang bed covered with a brand-new mat. The afternoon sun streamed through the window, filling the room with warmth. It felt like they were in a dream.

"Sun Defu."

"Yes, Captain Zhao! Coming!"

Sun Defu answered verbally, but he approached Zhao Wendong cautiously, terrified of getting another beating. He couldn’t believe it. Just one month ago, this was the same peasant eating and drinking with Little Shanghai in his tiny room, and now look at him. ’If only I had known,’ he thought ruefully. ’Why did I waste my time sucking up to that loser Fatty Li? If I’d latched onto Zhao Wendong back then, I’d be soaring by now!’

"Until my brother gets back, you’re in charge of things here at the ag-tech station. You can take good care of this family for me, right?"

"Yes, yes, of course!"

Sun Defu gave a string of assurances, his head bobbing like a chicken pecking at grain. Zhao Wendong pointed to Liangzi.

"If anything comes up, go straight to my brother Liangzi. Got it?"

"Yes, got it."

"You can come find me, too. I’m right next door."

Old Zheng volunteered eagerly. Zhao Wendong shot him a glare and pushed him aside.

𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Aren’t you going back to the county for New Year’s? What good would finding you do? All of the Guan Family’s affairs are to be handled by Liangzi."

"I... I’m not going home for New Year’s."

"What the hell?"

Zhao Wendong froze, then got even more annoyed as he looked at Old Zheng. ’A grown man like him, is he trying to have some kind of pure, innocent romance with Big Sister Hua?’

Seeing that everything was pretty much settled, Yang Wenxue stood up.

"Alright, let’s head out and let them get some rest."

As everyone left the ag-tech station, Guan Yongguang’s family bid farewell to Third Master Zhao. A gaggle of children surrounded the old man, calling out "Grandpa! Grandpa!" making him look ten years younger. Zhao Wendong noticed Zhao Ergou’s eyes lingering on the station’s building with envy and clapped him on the shoulder with a smile.

"Er Gou, don’t worry," he said. "Brother San promises you, soon you’ll be living in a house just like this. You don’t blame me for not giving this great opportunity to you, do you?"

Zhao Ergou quickly shook his head.

"How could I, Brother San? I know the Commune and the county only agreed so quickly because the Guans’ situation is special. Besides, I’ve only been following you for a little over a month and I already have a wife! The future can only get better. You couldn’t drive me away if you tried. A brick-and-tile house? It’s nothing. As long as I can follow you, Brother San, I don’t want for anything else."

"Haha, that’s right. To me, the greatest happiness is having all our family and friends living together, happy and undivided. Everyone will get their houses, and soon, believe me. But the time we get to spend with the people we love is finite; every day that passes is one we can’t get back!"

Zhao Ergou nodded happily at his words, believing him completely. Not long ago, he was taking his little brother to scavenge for shells on the beach and dig up mouse holes in the fields, and the food they found was never enough to survive on; they had nearly starved. Now, the difference was like night and day. Forget just promising a future brick house—if Brother San claimed right now that he was a reincarnated god or possessed by a great ancestor, Zhao Ergou would be the first to believe it.

Just as Zhao Wendong was about to get in the truck, Guan Yongguang pulled him aside.

"Brother San," he said in a low voice, "there were too many people around earlier, so I wasn’t completely honest. I know where my dad and my uncle found those Forest Frogs. If you go into the mountains from our village and walk southeast for a full day, you’ll find a massive big-leaf poplar—so big seven or eight people couldn’t link arms around it. They said the tree really stands out; you can see it from a long way off. Once you find the tree, you’ll find a large spring. That’s where they got the frogs."

"Alright. I got it."

Zhao Wendong patted his shoulder. Whether the boy had held back because there were too many people or because he wanted to keep an ace up his sleeve, Zhao Wendong approved of his thinking. After the Zhao family members and the people from the Commune said their goodbyes, Niu Yuesheng started driving Zhao Wendong and his group back to Dragon King Pond. On his return trip, he would pick up Yang Wenxue and Li Dawei to take them back to the county for the holiday. The next time they would all see each other would be the third day of the Lunar New Year. Before the large truck even reached the entrance of Dragon King Pond Village, Niu Yuesheng’s eyes went wide.

"Holy shit, this giant snowman is fucking awesome!"

He’d arrived early that morning when the light was still dim, so he hadn’t noticed it. But now, seeing the giant snowman at the entrance to Dragon King Pond Village, he was completely blown away. You could feel the entire village’s indomitable spirit radiating from the massive figure. Zhao Wendong smiled, looking quite pleased with himself.

"Awesome, right? This is the vital spirit of us Dragon King Pond folk. When disaster strikes, we face it with a smile. When the snows come, we build a snowman. Nothing can break us."

Niu Yuesheng nodded, moved, and said no more. He’d traveled all over, seen countless communes and villages, but none had the same ambition as Dragon King Pond. Perhaps it was this uncommon spirit that could produce a man like Zhao Wendong—an ordinary farmer who was rising like a miracle. His official position was just a mere Civilian Militia Captain of a production team. His wealth, while perhaps significant in the village, was nothing to look at in the county. And yet... he shone like the sun. The more you got to know him, the more dazzling he became, until you could barely look straight at him.