Sweet Rebirth: The Little Healer

It was truly touching that everyone could still be so friendly and helpful to each other in the countryside.

”Alright, no matter what kind of opportunity it is, we have to do our best. Everyone, eat up. We have to get to work.” Yang Guanghui was a big man and got hungry easily, so he couldn’t help but hurry them along.

After they finished eating, Zhao Nuanyue took her younger brother and went to work with everyone else. However, Zhao Nuanyue’s mind was a mess; she was still worried about Hua Yusen in the county town.

’I wonder what the situation is now,’ she thought. ’Is he doing okay?’

Old Sir Qian and Old Madam Qian worked with even more vigor. Sun Haoran and He Qiang also helped out on the side, and they managed to complete their tasks for the day as well.

Meanwhile, Hua Yusen had gone to the county town with Miao Cunzheng. On the way, Miao Dahai grew very curious about Hua Yusen’s trip and asked, ”I didn’t hear you were going to the county town yesterday. If you need anything, you could’ve just told me. I could have brought it back for you, saving you the trip and a day’s wages.”

Hua Yusen drove the oxcart, letting Miao Dahai and Wu Dazhu sit in the back. He answered without turning around, ”I wasn’t planning on it yesterday. I only decided this morning. A friend of mine isn’t well, so I’m going to the county town to visit him.”

”Oh?” Miao Dahai was taken aback. ’So Mr. Hua has friends in Labor County.’ ”Well, you should definitely go see him. Is it convenient for you to say what kind of friend? If not, just forget I asked.”

Miao Dahai paid close attention to everything that happened in Nianqiao Village, so he couldn’t resist asking.

Hua Yusen knew what Miao Cunzheng was thinking and replied with a smile, ”I saved his life once. He works for the county’s propaganda team, and he used to screen movies in the various villages. Before the New Year, he was traveling at night and ran into a pack of wolves. I saved him, but he was already injured when I found him. He doesn’t screen movies anymore; he works in the county now. I think he’s a decent guy, and I wanted to ask him for some news from the county. It’s much better than us going in blind.”

”Ah?” Miao Dahai said in surprise. ”Wow, you have a connection like that?”

”Haha, yes. It was fate,” Hua Yusen said with a laugh. In truth, his ’meeting’ with Zhou Jian Country had been a show staged for others to see, which was why he could now introduce him to Miao Dahai so openly. ’There’s strength in numbers,’ he thought. ’When people with a common goal pool their strength, they can often achieve twice the result with half the effort.’

Hearing this, Wu Dazhu praised him, saying, ”No wonder they say a capable person can make friends and get by anywhere. Look at Xiaohua—you’ve handled all your relationships here in Nianqiao Village so well, and we all have a great impression of you. I never expected that you’d be able to make a friend like this so soon after arriving in Labor County.”

”Indeed, you have a wide circle of friends!” Miao Dahai laughed. ”By the way, what’s his name? Tell me, I might even know him!”

”Zhou Jian Country! The one who used to go around all the villages screening movies,” Hua Yusen explained. ”Uncle Miao, you two should know him, right?”

Zhou Jian Country, the movie projectionist?

Hearing this, Miao Dahai’s eyes lit up, and he said with a hint of pleasant surprise, ”Well, I’ll be! If it’s that Zhou Jian Country, the one who screens movies, then I really do know him. He’s a good man, worth getting to know. He even had a meal at my house once when he came to Nianqiao Village to show a film.”

”A movie projectionist has that much influence? Can we really get information from him?” Although Wu Dazhu also knew of Zhou Jian Country, the projectionist, and had seen him a few times, he didn’t know him well and had no idea about his background.

Miao Dahai chuckled and said, ”Zhou Jian Country himself might not have much clout, but his older brother is someone who really has a say in our county town!”

”Wow, so he has powerful connections,” Wu Dazhu said, astonished. ”But if his brother is so influential, why would he let him be just a movie projectionist?”

”That’s where you don’t understand,” Miao Cunzheng said with a slow smile. ”Being a projectionist might not be the most respectable job, but it’s an official one. It’s hard work, but it serves a very important purpose: he can travel frequently between all the villages in the county and gather information. Otherwise, do you think his brother, Zhou Jianmin, could have risen so quickly and become more and more influential?”

Wu Dazhu was dumbfounded. ’So that’s how it works!’

’No wonder I’m just a minor village cadre, always worried about being kicked out of my position. I can’t even begin to compare to their level of thinking.’

”Yes. I saved his life, so I believe he’ll tell me the truth,” Hua Yusen said. ”Miao Dahai, if there’s anything you need to know, you can tell me, or I can take you to meet him and you can ask him directly.”

Miao Cunzheng’s eyes showed his delight as he nodded repeatedly. ”That’s great! Take me to see Zhou Jian Country, and if we can meet Zhou Jianmin, that would be even better. Zhou Jianmin is a local official with a certain amount of power in the county. Unlike officials transferred from elsewhere, he’s a local. So while he may want a promotion, he’s more invested in keeping Labor County stable. He doesn’t want outside forces to come in and stir up chaos in Labor County, because in the end, it’s the local people who suffer.”

Miao Dahai had a high opinion of Zhou Jianmin, just like Hua Yusen.

After their investigation, they had recruited Zhou Jianmin and Zhou Jian Country precisely because they also didn’t want chaos in Labor County and hoped for it to remain peaceful and stable.

”He sounds like a good man,” Hua Yusen praised. ”In that case, Uncle Miao, the report you wrote should align with Zhou Jianmin’s views. We can definitely get some good information if we go find Zhou Jian Country, and we might even be able to secure Zhou Jianmin as a powerful backer! Then we won’t have to worry about the person behind Wang Dadan and Li Siming.”

Miao Cunzheng sneered and said, ”Wang Dadan and Li Siming have never been a real threat. I’m not even worried about Wang Dadan’s cousin-in-law, Zheng Delin. The one behind Fu Qiang, however, might be Zhao Liqiang, who was transferred here last year.”

”What makes you say that?” Hua Yusen asked curiously. ’How does Miao Dahai know this? Does he really have connections in the county town?’

”Hmph!” Miao Dahai snorted, clearly displeased. ”I can’t be certain; it’s just my guess. After that Zhao Liqiang arrived, he made all the village officials attend meetings in the county, hammering his points home again and again. Zhou Jian Country is a local, his family and neighbors are all from here, and he doesn’t want to see this sort of situation. He’s put in a lot of effort, but the results have been mediocre. He’s only managed to hold his own against Zhao Liqiang; he can’t seem to gain any more ground.”