In the winter of 1989, after all the watermelons and vegetables were sold, the income for the year was 280,000 more than the previous year.
The village's accounts increased from 3.06 million to 5.07 million.
Village Chief Li began another major undertaking.
He planned to demolish the village committee office and build a five-story building.
The first floor would be the village committee office, and floors two, three, four, and five would be for the primary school.
Concurrently, all new homesteads in the village were to commence construction simultaneously, with each household building a two-and-a-half-story Western-style house.
"Western-style house" was a term from the eighties, and Li Zhengguo used it as such.
In reality, he intended to build them in line with future villa designs.
The villagers were already accustomed to following Li Chief's lead.
Li Chief announced that each household would fund its own construction, and the money villagers invested in the village would be used for future grand plans.
Li Chief stated, "Each household will pay ten thousand yuan first."
Li Chief added, "We'll build while waiting for this year's melon and vegetable money."
The villagers eagerly rushed home to get their money.
Li Chief hadn't waited for them to finish collecting, which was a good sign.
Ten thousand yuan, plus this year's earnings, totaling at most sixteen to seventeen thousand, could it build a two-and-a-half-story Western-style house?
They didn't worry about it; they left it to Li Chief to handle, and they focused on their planting.
Therefore, as soon as the Spring Festival ended, they began preparing for planting.
Planting in February?
It didn't matter; they would use heated kang beds and greenhouses.
After tilling and sun-drying the soil and tidying up, March would arrive, which was just right.
Before purchasing materials, Li Zhengguo insisted on auditing the accounts.
He would examine the books of the accountant and the cashier.
Last year, the new accountant, Zhou Chengbin, had caused quite a few problems for him.
Zhou Chengbin was recommended by Magistrate Ji, a recent graduate.
Young people tended to be nervous when faced with large sums of money transactions.
It was fortunate that Accountant Yang was meticulous in verifying payments and had a clear understanding of all account movements, thus preventing tens of thousands of yuan in losses.
When the village chief requested an audit, Zhou Chengbin stood nervously before the village chief's desk.
After Li Zhengguo carefully reviewed the accounts,
and then checked Accountant Yang's cash balance,
he quickly flipped through the ledger and soon pointed out an error:
"Accountant Zhou, here, there's a decimal point error again. Repeating the same mistake, I'm starting to doubt your capabilities."
With a "boom," Zhou Chengbin's face turned red. "Village Chief Li, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I, I'll fix it immediately."
Li Zhengguo pushed the ledger aside and said to Accountant Yang, "Teach him again. This kid is too shy."
Accountant Yang: "..."
Shy? He was clearly a lively young man, but in front of Li Chief, he was like a mouse facing a cat.
However, Li Chief's aura was growing stronger, which indeed made the young lad nervous.
Delayed by two days due to the accounts, it wasn't until the eighteenth day of the first lunar month that Li Zhengguo went out to procure materials.
A new batch of 108 workers arrived in the village, led by the original 108 from last year.
These didn't require Li Chief's personal management; his assistant, Zhang Shitong, could handle them.
The planting for the new year began.
The new plan also commenced.
Kushanli became busy again.
Li Min, before getting caught up in the hustle, went to see Zhang Fangcao.
During her visits in the winter of the year before last and the spring and winter of last year, Zhang Fangcao's parents had accompanied Li Min, but Zhang Fangcao had refused to see them.
This year, the elderly couple still planned to go.
Li Min didn't refuse; it was the Zhangs' parents' freedom to go, and Zhang Fangcao's freedom to see them or not.
She was too busy and could only visit once in spring and once in winter, to tell Zhang Fangcao about the village's changes.
This time, Zhang Fangcao still refused to see her parents, but upon seeing Li Min, she smiled happily.
"Li Min, I can go out."
Li Min was surprised, "Don't you still have nine years left?"
Zhang Fangcao rubbed her faintly aching abdomen, "I have stomach cancer, and I've already been granted medical parole. In a few days, I can go back and visit."
Stomach cancer?
Li Min's face turned pale, "Aren't you afraid?"
Zhang Fangcao nodded, "Who isn't afraid of death? But to languish here is worse than death. With cancer, I can at least go out and feel the sun, experience a little bit of freedom."
Li Min lowered her voice, "You? You didn't do it on purpose, did you?"
"Hehehe."
Zhang Fangcao let out a light laugh, "Li Min, you are fortunate. Only fortunate people don't grow up and remain so naive."
"Would I really get cancer just to be able to go out? This isn't a cold; you can't just catch it and get better whenever you want."
Li Min pouted, "Your attitude is too suspicious. How am I fortunate? When you go back and see our busy lives, you'll know how tired everyone is."
Zhang Fangcao's face was full of envy, and her eyes were filled with tears. "I would rather be tired than be here. I want to see a different Kushanli."
Faced with Zhang Fangcao's silent tears, Li Min surrendered, "Go, go. Not only has Kushanli changed, but the villagers of Kushanli have changed, and your family has changed too."
Zhang Fangcao shook her head, "There's no magic potion in the world. They regret it, but that doesn't mean I have to forgive them."
"Mistakes must be paid for, just like me. So, I will never forgive them in this lifetime."
...
When Tian Jing learned that Zhang Fangcao had stomach cancer, she could only sigh.
She couldn't help; Zhao Xiaofang alone was enough trouble for her.
She wasn't a savior.
While the villagers were desperately busy, Zhang Fangcao stood on the outer bank of the Ku River, greedily gazing at the familiar yet strange scenery around her.
Seeing her about to step on large stones to cross the river, the female police officer from the county who accompanied her grabbed her arm.
"Isn't there a bridge there?"
Zhang Fangcao shook her head, "If you cross that bridge, my body and my identity are not suited to use that bridge."
"Can I swim a lap in this river? Don't worry, I still want to enjoy my final freedom and sunshine."
What was the female police officer worried about? She had followed the prisoner for a few days, and this prisoner had never caused her any trouble.
However, "The weather is cold, and your body's immunity is low. A simple cold could be fatal. You should hold on and wait until the weather gets warmer before swimming."
Zhang Fangcao looked up at the sky. Could she wait until the weather got warmer?
But she couldn't ruin this hard-won, brief freedom.
So, she obediently said, "Alright, I'll be able to swim in two months."
The female police officer crossed the river with her, stepping on the large stones. "In the past, did you always enter and leave the village like this?"
"Yes."
Zhang Fangcao nodded, "If the water rose, we could only swim out of the village. But we had few changes of clothes, so we tried not to leave the village."
"Moreover, it was fifty miles to town to leave the village. What was there to do outside? Then, I just stayed in the village and became foolish."
The female police officer sighed quietly. Many prisoners truly realized their mistakes only after serving their time.
Upon entering the village, Zhang Fangcao still tried to walk along the edge of the village road.
The two-story building behind the village committee office caught her eye.
Was this the courtyard house Li Min had mentioned? The flowers on the first floor were beautiful.
The golden yellow rapeseed flowers were a symbol of spring's arrival.
Shifting her gaze, she continued westward. All the houses had their doors locked tight.
She observed these unchanged courtyards; they were so familiar. She had grown up like this, and it was still the same.
Li Min had mentioned that even with the construction of Western-style houses, these old courtyards were not being demolished urgently.
Passing by the clinic, Zhang Fangcao peeked inside and saw an unfamiliar man.
Was Doctor Yang no longer here?
As she turned to leave, she saw an old man with a basket on his back walking from the west.
She stood still, waiting for the old man to approach. "Doctor Yang."
Doctor Yang squinted and studied her. "Who are you?"
"I am Zhang Fangcao."
"Zhang Fangcao?"
Doctor Yang's eyes widened in surprise, his presbyopic eyes struggling to focus. "How did you become like this?"
"I'm sick and on medical parole."
"Sick? Come, come, let my junior nephew and disciple take a look."
Zhang Fangcao shook her head, "There's no cure."
"Nonsense, come in."
Doctor Yang reached out to pull her. "You come in here."
Zhang Fangcao refused, "Don't waste your energy. I'm dirty."
"Don't you know doctors love difficult and complicated cases? What's dirty about you?"
Doctor Yang wouldn't let her go. He called into the clinic, "Yuan Man, hurry up. I've caught you a patient."
In recent years, the villagers hadn't even had a headache or a slight fever.
Finally catching a patient who walked into the trap, how could Doctor Yang let her go?