Chapter 965: Chapter 838: Heard There’s Going to Be an Account Audit

On the other side of the field ridge, Mr. Zhang looked at the rice seedlings growing strong in each seedbed, and his heart filled with a joy he couldn’t put into words. For an old farmer, nothing is more exciting than a good harvest.

It wouldn’t be long before the fragrance of rice flowers drifted through the air, the ears of rice forming and filling; when autumn came, the sweet, fragrant rice would arrive with it.

Uncle Zhang raised his head and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He saw his second younger brother up ahead, bent over, grinning foolishly as he stroked the rice ears, and couldn’t help rolling his eyes. Really had nothing better to do.

"What are you giggling for? There’s none of it for you."

Mr. Zhang straightened his back and walked toward him with a chuckling "hey hey."

"Did you come looking for me this morning? What’s up?"

"Nothing big, just haven’t seen you in days, wanted the three of us brothers to have a chat. Big brother, when we knock off, you and the youngest come over to my place."

"Didn’t wear that red armband of yours to patrol the streets today?"

"Hahaha... a man’s got to rest sometimes." Mr. Zhang couldn’t stand the sour tone in his voice. He looked ahead and immediately quickened his pace. "I’ll go find the Old Captain first, we’ll talk later."

The Old Captain had already heard their loud voices from afar. Seeing him hurrying over, he walked a few steps to meet him and said with a smile, "What happy event is it this time?" 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

You couldn’t blame the Old Captain for asking like that.

In Zhang the Second’s family, happy events never seemed to stop. Ever since his three sons went to the county, it was either sons and daughters‑in‑law getting into university, or grandsons going to university; when other people had a son, their family had twins; when other households got rated advanced by the commune, their place would be beating gongs and drums for a first‑class merit.

Mr. Zhang glanced around. "Nothing big. Looks like it’s another bumper harvest this year."

The Old Captain looked into the distance and nodded happily. "Should be enough to let everyone fill their bellies. What’s wrong? Don’t feel like eating state grain anymore?"

Mr. Zhang smiled and said nothing.

"Has Xiao Wu written?"

"No. He’s still in military academy for further training. These days it’s our Jiao Jiao who writes back."

What a blessed life! The Old Captain laughed and said, "Are you going over there this year, or are they coming back?"

"Hard to say. The young couple keeps urging me and his mother to go over, but how can outside compare with our own hometown? We’ll see if they can get leave first. Those twins of Xiao Wu still haven’t come back to pay respects at my father’s grave."

The Old Captain shook his head, still smiling. People really were impossible to predict. Who’d have thought that Zhang the Second, who had spent his life with his face to the earth and his back to the sky, would see a day like this.

"If it’s convenient, better let them come back for a trip. This year I’m planning to tear down those thatched huts in the village, build new courtyards along the village entrance, give the whole village a proper tidying up, and turn all the freed‑up land into fields."

Mr. Zhang wasn’t the least bit surprised by the Old Captain’s idea. With the beverage factory up and running, the team account had quite a bit of cash. Once the busy farming season passed and the money was handed out, every household would get a decent share.

Thinking of this, he pulled the Old Captain to walk farther away.

The Old Captain understood at once that something was up, but he didn’t say anything. After the two of them found a spot, he quietly waited for him to speak.

"I’ve heard some talk, and I don’t know if it’s true or not." Mr. Zhang mulled it over for a while and still decided not to mention his brother Zhao Chuan Guang by name.

"Tell me what you’ve heard."

Mr. Zhang gave him a look. "Heard they’re planning to go through the accounts."

"Oh, that." The Old Captain laughed. "No problem, our accounts here are crystal clear with Shi Tou keeping them."

If only it were that simple. Mr. Zhang was thinking further than the Old Captain. Other production teams were going hungry, yet your books still showed a surplus—if someone with bad intentions came along, they’d even find a way to pin something on you.

The Old Captain saw he had more to say. "Is there something else? Our family’s been poor for generations, nothing to be afraid of."

"Ai... you’re not wrong." Mr. Zhang thought it over and decided not to bring up the accounts again, but he still stressed his tone. "Aside from you, I don’t plan to mention this to anyone else."

So it was to be kept quiet. The Old Captain promised himself he wouldn’t be spreading this around.

After Mr. Zhang left, he took out his long pipe, squatted down, packed in tobacco and lit it, taking a deep drag as he looked out at the members bent over in the paddy fields, hands moving non‑stop to pull out weeds.

Just now, in front of Mr. Zhang, the Old Captain hadn’t shown a hint of surprise, but inside he was already irritated as hell. What kind of man was Zhang Dayou?

How could he not know!

For Zhang Dayou to come back in person just to say a few words like that... he knew perfectly well this was no longer just a "rumor"; chances were the matter was quite serious.

Ai... after all the tossing back and forth, they’d finally managed to get a good harvest year. Hopefully they wouldn’t start in again with that "ten thousand jin per mu" nonsense. You just couldn’t let the books show a surplus.

In the distance, Uncle Zhang rinsed his hands and looked at his second brother going over to help their youngest brother, frowning a little. At that age, and still didn’t know how to take it easy.

He strolled over toward the Old Captain and asked in a low voice, "Second brother giving you a hard problem?"

The Old Captain shook his head with a smile, secretly glad he hadn’t rushed back to the team office to check the accounts just now. He was the captain; he couldn’t lose his composure. Whatever happened, only if he stayed steady could everyone else feel at ease.

Uncle Zhang looked at him suspiciously.

"Don’t go guessing wild. What could his family possibly need a mud‑leg like me to help with? Your second brother, never mind the commune, even up in the county he’s doing just fine."

"Besides, you know his temper. Laughs all day long, doesn’t like making enemies. Getting us to round up men to fight for him? Not going to happen."

Uncle Zhang burst out laughing at that. "You might as well just say second brother’s a coward."

Cowardly? The Old Captain smiled, unconvinced. As the saying goes, "The eldest is simple, the second is sly, the third is the sharp one." Even if Zhang the Second wasn’t sly, he had plenty in that belly of his.

"When my father was alive, he always said my second brother’s too mild‑tempered. I think it’s good. All his kids take after him. If he were hot‑tempered, wouldn’t they be fighting every day?"

Over there, with his business taken care of, Mr. Zhang also felt more at ease. He sidled up to Uncle Zhang. "Third brother, have a drink of water first. I’ll work for a while."

Uncle Zhang looked at him with amusement. "Is that really necessary?"

"Quit talking nonsense! Look at you, sweating all over. Come to my place for lunch, your second sister‑in‑law’s cooking catfish stewed with eggplant. How about the three brothers have a drink together?"

"Sure, why not go when it’s something that good." Uncle Zhang didn’t stand on ceremony. Seeing his second brother had already started working, he bent back down to continue too.

"When are you heading back this time?"

"I’ll leave when it’s getting dark."

"Then what are you doing out here? Just wearing yourself out for nothing." Uncle Zhang said, then glanced around and lowered his voice. "No matter how much you do, they’re not giving you any grain."

"You don’t get it. With my feet in the mud like this, my heart feels easy."

Hearing that, Uncle Zhang raised his head to look at the red sun on the horizon and shook his head.

He really couldn’t understand. What kind of people were these?

In another hour or so, under that blazing sun, they’d be soaked in sweat, drenched as if in a downpour—what was so "easy" about that? Sweat running into your eyes, stinging them; your arms and back burning from the sun—how was that comfortable?

"Third brother, when you see a whole stretch of crops, don’t you feel happy? That’s how I feel. With a good harvest year, it’s not just you whose days get better; everyone’s days will improve."

"Now, there are no more devils coming to loot us, no more bandits coming down from the hills to grab grain. As long as they don’t over‑collect the quotas, all this belongs to us common folk."