Su Xiaotian, seeing her brothers studying diligently, left with satisfaction.
She was going to the fields to find her grandfather and see how the crops were growing.
Initial estimates suggested that this year's harvest would be much higher than last year's. It was crucial to pay close attention at this critical time.
However, the higher authorities had ordered the construction of a river channel and had assigned a seven-person work team to stay in the brigade and supervise the members in their river channel work.
What remained in the fields were mostly the old, weak, women, and children. Most of the young and strong men had gone to the river channel.
It had been five or six days, and she hadn't seen them accomplish anything.
Under the leadership of the work team, the young and strong members were digging here and there, and no one understood what they were doing!
Wasn't this just causing trouble?
But Su Xiaotian only thought about it in her heart and dared not say it out loud.
If anyone overheard such words, she didn't know what kind of trouble it would cause.
Su Xiaotian, while complaining in her heart, headed towards the fields where Grandpa Su and the others were working that day.
Not long after she started, before she even found her grandfather, she saw the brigade leader.
The brigade leader was walking in a hurry, looking like he had something urgent to attend to.
Su Xiaotian plastered a smile on her face and waved at the brigade leader from afar.
"Uncle Brigade Leader, hello!" Su Xiaotian greeted him politely.
"Xiaotian, where are you going?" Su Changjiu's face lit up with a smile when he saw Su Xiaotian.
"Uncle Brigade Leader, I'm going to find my grandfather."
"Isn't your grandfather working in the twelve mu field? Your grandmother is there too!"
The brigade leader felt a pang of sadness when he said this.
To build the river channel, all the young labor in the brigade had been mobilized, and the work in the fields was now contracted out to households.
The three daughters-in-law of the old Su family were not there, so only the elderly couple and a few older grandchildren could do the work.
What kind of work team was this? Why didn't they just go back to the city and waste their time?
If they continued to stay in Hongxin Brigade, no one knew if the members would have enough to eat this year.
"Yes, Uncle Brigade Leader, I'm going to find them. Goodbye!" Su Xiaotian said, skipping away.
But Su Changjiu grabbed her arm.
Su Xiaotian had no choice but to stop and ask blankly, "Uncle Brigade Leader, why are you stopping me?"
"Xiaotian, Uncle has something to ask of you. Can you help Uncle out?" Su Changjiu looked at Su Xiaotian with a fawning expression.
Su Xiaotian shivered. Why would the brigade leader ask her, a child, for help instead of the adults in the brigade?
Su Xiaotian said politely, "Uncle, you smiling like that makes you look like you're going to abduct a child!"
Su Changjiu looked at Su Xiaotian's half-smile, half-grin expression and almost spat out a mouthful of blood. What was this little girl thinking?
He didn't know how the Su brothers had raised their children. This little girl was so clever and mischievous!
"How could that be? Uncle Brigade Leader watched you grow up, how could he abduct you?" Su Changjiu thought that Su Xiaotian was just a child and tried his best to explain.
Su Xiaotian nodded solemnly and said, "I'm just saying, I heard that several children were abducted in the county town recently!"
Su Changjiu was speechless. Just because children were abducted in the county town, he thought he was going to abduct them?
Never mind, the little girl was very vigilant, which was a good thing.
"Everyone in our brigade knows each other, so no one would come here to abduct children. Besides, our Xiaotian is so beautiful, the kidnappers wouldn't bear to abduct her!"
Su Xiaotian glared at Su Changjiu with disdain and said seriously, "Uncle Brigade Leader, what you said is wrong. It's precisely because I'm beautiful that kidnappers would want to abduct me!"
"If they're not beautiful, kidnappers won't want them. What if they can't sell them?"
Looking at the little girl's serious expression, Su Changjiu was about to cry. What kind of logic was this?
No, no, this was going off track.
The topic wasn't this at all, so why had it veered off to kidnappers?
"Xiaotian, Uncle needs your help with something. Are you willing?"
Su Xiaotian heard the topic return and was truly speechless. She had finally managed to steer the conversation away, and the brigade leader hadn't forgotten?
Then she could only play dumb. Anyway, she was just a child, a child who knew nothing.
"Brigade Leader, I'm just a child, I don't know anything!"
Su Xiaotian's expression clearly conveyed: I'm just a baby, a baby less than ten years old!
Su Changjiu looked at the smiling little girl with a curved smile and felt very annoyed.
Did this child really think she could hide anything from him, the brigade leader?
She was becoming less and less likable!
"Xiaotian, do you really think I don't understand anything? Let me tell you, these eyes of mine are very sharp." Su Changjiu glared at Su Xiaotian and said slowly.
Su Xiaotian smiled sheepishly but didn't know what to say.
In her heart, she was already considering where she had been exposed.
She felt she had been quite cautious. Apart from her family, no one else should have noticed anything unusual.
Forget it, she wouldn't think about it anymore, it was too tiring!
Anyway, in this situation, anything she said would probably be wrong.
It was better to say nothing and wait for the brigade leader to speak.
No matter what the brigade leader said, playing dumb was the right approach!
It was like standing firm in the center, regardless of the wind from the east or west!
"In the past two years, you've done quite a few significant things. You dare say you didn't contribute to the increase in our crop yield?"
"Brigade Leader, the increase in crop yield is due to Grandpa Du's efforts and the collective efforts of the members of our brigade."
Su Xiaotian's meaning was clear: this had nothing to do with me!
Su Changjiu glared at her and continued, "The chickens in the chicken farm are growing well. Didn't you contribute?"
"Uncle Brigade Leader, you're mistaken. I really didn't do anything. The chickens in the chicken farm are well-raised thanks to my aunt and the others. Our brigade has been doing well these past two years, I was just playing along!"
It was normal for a child to just play along!
However, Su Changjiu had come prepared today and couldn't let Su Xiaotian slip away so easily.
"Alright, from now on, you'll play with me every day!"
Looking at Su Changjiu, who was like an old fox, Su Xiaotian was truly speechless. What was fun about following an old man?
No, that wasn't the point. The point was, what was the brigade leader going to do with her by the river channel?
"Brigade Leader, as you say, you're busy repairing the river channel lately, how can you have time to play with me! I'd rather play with my brothers!" Su Xiaotian tried to change the subject.
"Hmph, if it weren't for the river channel, I wouldn't take you to play."
This little girl dared to play mind games with him. Didn't she realize that he was also a thousand-year-old fox?
Su Xiaotian said with a bitter face, "Repairing the river channel isn't fun!"
Whoever wanted to play could play, but she didn't want to go. It was meaningless, and it was better to go to the fields to plant crops!
"Xiaotian, look, our river is so nice. Many children are playing by the river, and some have even caught fish!"
Su Changjiu continued to strongly tempt Su Xiaotian.
He didn't believe that a child could resist such temptation.
Catching fish?
Su Xiaotian had thought about this, but fishing in the river was too dangerous.
Her family had repeatedly warned her brothers not to play by the river.
Naturally, she wouldn't go either.
Although fish meat was good, in this era, it wasn't as good as pork!
"Uncle Brigade Leader, Grandpa said the riverbank is too dangerous and he's afraid I'll fall in, so he told me to walk around it."
As the two of them were talking, Su Shouwen ran over in a hurry.
"Shouwen, what's wrong?" Su Changjiu immediately asked seriously.
"It's Comrade Li again, he's scolding people again. He also said that since you're not here, our brigade doesn't take them seriously."
Su Shouwen spoke while cautiously glancing at Su Changjiu, fearing he would get angry.
Su Changjiu said angrily, "That Comrade Li is just incompetent and has a bad temper!"
If it weren't for the work team from the county, he would have kicked him in the backside.
Su Xiaotian, standing nearby, was almost rolling her eyes.
Brigade Leader, is it appropriate for you to talk about the work team members in front of a child?
Aren't you afraid that I, a child, can't keep a secret and might blab it out?
"Brigade Leader, you should go over quickly!" Su Shouwen also felt that the brigade leader was wrong to talk about the work team members like that.
It wasn't that Su Shouwen agreed with the work team's actions, but he felt that some things should be kept to oneself.
Dealing with people like this every day was too tiring, and he really didn't know how to handle it.
If he continued to scold them, the members of the brigade might become agitated, and if someone with a bad temper started a fight, it would be troublesome.
Su Changjiu looked at Su Xiaotian and said again, "Xiaotian, let's go. From now on, you'll follow Uncle. Don't worry, Uncle will watch you by the river."
This left Su Xiaotian no room to refuse.
Su Shouwen was confused. He looked at the brigade leader and then at Su Xiaotian.
Why did the brigade leader want Xiaotian to go to the river?
Ever since Xiaotian fell into the water before, Grandpa had explicitly said that he had to watch Xiaotian and absolutely not let her go near the river.
"Brigade Leader, we're so busy, how can we have time to watch Xiaotian? I'll have Xiaowu and Xiaoliu watch Xiaotian!" Su Shouwen, remembering his grandfather's words, quickly tried to persuade Su Changjiu.
"No, no. From today onwards, I'll watch Xiaotian during the day and make sure she's alright!"
Su Changjiu grabbed Su Xiaotian's hand without further ado and was about to leave.
Su Shouwen was completely bewildered. What was going on? Could it be that Grandpa and Grandma had asked the brigade leader?
But that shouldn't be the case. The brigade leader was so busy with the river channel project lately, how could he bother him?
Besides, even in the fields, Grandpa and Grandma found it too hot and didn't let Xiaotian go, only taking Ci Liang and San Gong to help when they were overwhelmed.
Su Xiaotian looked at her elder brother with pleading eyes, hoping he would say something to help her avoid going to the river channel.
Repairing the river channel was not a good thing, and she didn't want to go!
A little girl should be beautiful. Going to the river channel would turn her into a mud monkey!
Su Changjiu didn't understand the little girl's thoughts and dragged Su Xiaotian towards the riverbank.
"Big Brother!" Su Xiaotian whined and acted spoiled.
Su Shouwen felt heartbroken. He thought about how strong the sun was by the river. What if Xiaotian, who was so fair-skinned, got tanned?
If Grandpa and Grandma found out that he had watched the brigade leader drag Xiaotian to the river channel and didn't dare to confront the brigade leader, they would definitely confront him.
Would his legs still be able to walk tomorrow?
No, no, he absolutely had to save Xiaotian.
But the brigade leader was his superior!
"Brigade Leader, Xiaotian is a little girl, it's not good for her to go to the river channel. How about I take her home first?"
"I have the final say. Don't worry about this. I'll talk to your grandfather later!"
How could the brigade leader not know what this little girl, Su Xiaotian, was thinking?
But now, there was no other way. That Comrade Li was incompetent but always causing trouble.
If he was allowed to oversee the river channel repair, it would probably be washed away by heavy rain, and it still wouldn't be repaired.
Moreover, he didn't know much about river channels, so he didn't even know how to express his opinions.
Su Changjiu had been so anxious about this matter for the past few days that he felt like he was going to smoke.
After thinking about it, he felt that Su Xiaotian, this little girl, might understand.
She was a child taught by those important figures in the cowshed.
Su Xiaotian didn't want to go and started to act stubborn, wanting to sit on the ground, not even caring if her pants got dirty.
"Xiaotian, Uncle Brigade Leader wouldn't have to find you if there was no other way. Just consider it helping Uncle. When Uncle goes to the county for a meeting, I'll buy you White Rabbit milk candy."
Su Changjiu felt that if this continued, the little girl wouldn't cry, but he would!
"Brigade Leader, why?" Su Shouwen asked.
"That Li Xiang is from the county. We can't let him see the professors in our cowshed. Xiaotian is taught by them!" Su Changjiu said helplessly to Su Shouwen, pulling Su Xiaotian. The helplessness in his tone was almost palpable.
Su Shouwen fell silent. The brigade leader was right. If the old professors appeared in front of the work team, it would probably cause trouble.
Xiaotian might really understand, but...
"You're really useless. Why do those old professors only favor Xiaotian? If they had taken a liking to you, and you learned something, I wouldn't have to find Xiaotian!"
Among the many boys in the brigade, especially the old Su family, with eight or nine boys, why couldn't they compare to a little sister?
Su Shouwen was instantly speechless. Why was he always the one getting hurt?
Didn't his second brother also get noticed by Professor Chi? But what he taught wasn't useful, it was all drawing and the like, all useless!
He decided that when he got home, he would definitely discipline those useless younger brothers.
Su Changjiu added, "I really had no choice, otherwise I wouldn't have focused my attention on a little girl."
Being a brigade leader was a heartbreaking job. The times had been bad for so many years, and he didn't know when things would be rectified.
These work team members came as if they were ancestors. m..oΓg
Su Xiaotian finally understood the brigade leader's intention. Fortunately, the brigade leader only thought that the professors had taught her, which was good.
Her gaze towards Su Changjiu softened considerably.
Little did Su Xiaotian know that this was actually just the brigade leader's excuse.
How could a cunning person like the brigade leader not know what Su Xiaotian was worried about!
Since the little girl was worried, he would let her rest assured.