PCJ – Chapter 290 The Trick Played by Fat Cat

Wu Tong’an and Tu Chunlin continued to walk around the field endlessly. It was evident that they were utterly exhausted, but they seemed to be driven by something, forcing themselves to keep going. Their shoes were nowhere to be seen, and their socks were almost falling off. Wu Tong’an still had one sock on, though it was partially torn and covered in mud. It flapped around as he moved. Tu Chunlin had lost both of his socks long ago. They looked thoroughly disheveled.

“Secretary Wu, Officer Tu!” Liu Qianwang called out as he approached. At that moment, a fat cat stealthily slipped into the woods nearby, unnoticed by everyone but Zhang Jiaohua. If it weren’t for Zhang Jiaohua’s ability to sense the fat cat’s presence through its spirit, the cat might have gone undetected, as it had a peculiar knack for such things.

Wu Tong’an and Tu Chunlin stopped abruptly, looking around in confusion. It was clear that their surroundings seemed to have changed.

“I’m so tired!” Wu Tong’an exclaimed as he collapsed onto the ground. After walking all night, who wouldn’t be exhausted? They were used to sitting in the village office, reading newspapers, and drinking tea, not enduring such hardship.

Tu Chunlin slumped sideways, using his hands to support himself as he fell. Once on the ground, he decided to lie still. “Yeah, I’m exhausted. We’ve been running all night.”

The two officials hadn’t fully regained their senses yet. Seeing someone approaching and realizing the immediate danger had passed, they relaxed completely, not realizing that their running had been in vain. They hadn’t noticed that the bicycle hadn’t had any issues, and there were no steep slopes.

“What should we do now? We still need to deliver the grain,” Zhang Manyin frowned.

“Uncle Manyin, why don’t we lift them onto the truck and drop them off at the town government when we get there? It’s on the way, so it won’t take much time,” Liu Qianwang suggested.

“Jiaohua, do you think they’ve run into some sort of supernatural trap?” Zhang Yuanbao couldn’t help but ask.

“Who knows?” Zhang Jiaohua knew it was the fat cat’s doing but wasn’t sure why the cat had caused them so much trouble. It was likely related to something they had said or done.

Zhang Manyin nodded, “What else can we do? We can’t just ignore them.”

It wouldn’t be right to leave them in such a state. Even though Zhang Manyin was concerned about the delay in delivering the grain, he wouldn’t prioritize the grain over people’s lives.

The group worked together to get Wu Tong’an and Tu Chunlin onto the truck. Despite the truck being full of grain, there was still enough room for them. They also secured the two bicycles onto the truck.

Liu Qianwang started the truck and drove off, moving quickly to make up for lost time.

The town government thought the two officials had stayed overnight in Meizi’ao village to oversee the grain delivery, not realizing the trouble they had encountered.

“Master Liu, thank you so much. Once Secretary Wu and Officer Tu are well, we’ll come to Meizi’ao to thank you in person,” said Li Maoyuan, the township party secretary. If something had happened to his subordinates on the road, it would have been a major issue for him, especially with the grain collection underway. Thankfully, everyone was safe.

The truck had been delayed by about half an hour, but Liu Qianwang drove fast on the remaining road, which was now smooth asphalt. Although he drove quickly, the ride was much smoother than before.

Everyone had similar thoughts to Zhang Manyin’s. Even though it was just the beginning of the grain collection, many had already come to deliver their grain. The grain station’s warehouse area had formed a queue of trucks.

“Uncle Manyin, there are quite a few clever people in this world. Everyone seems to be thinking the same way you are,” Liu Qianwang joked.

Zhang Manyin chuckled, “Well, last year we had to queue all the way to the grain station’s gate. Why don’t you find a suitable spot to park the truck so we can unload the grain? I don’t want to take up too much of your time.”

“Don’t worry, Uncle Manyin. I wouldn’t just let you unload the grain anywhere. If it’s too far from the warehouse, it would take forever to move all this grain. Even if you’re willing to take your time, the grain station’s weighers might not be so patient. There are only three adults to do the work, and the kids can only help so much,” Liu Qianwang shook his head. It would be impossible to make a second trip with the current situation. The grain station was busy, and even weighing all the grain currently in line would take until the afternoon. Trucks with grain continued to arrive.

The grain station had its procedures: the quality of the grain was inspected by a quality inspector, who was highly regarded and often offered cigarettes. Although the warehouse had a prominent sign saying “No Smoking,” both the staff and the farmers delivering grain were frequently seen smoking. The quality inspector assigned grades to the grain, and if you knew the inspector, even the worst grain could get a good grade. Otherwise, they might downgrade it or even make you sort it on-site.

After passing the quality inspection, the grain had to be weighed. The weighing staff would provide a receipt with the total weight. The work wasn’t over yet; the grain had to be moved into the warehouse, and the grain station staff wouldn’t do this for you.

Once the truck was finally able to park close to the warehouse entrance, Zhang Manyin and Zhang Youlian hurried to unload the grain, while Hu Xiaoqing also pitched in. Although she was a woman, she worked as hard as anyone else.

Zhang Jiaohua stood on the truck, helping to hand off the bags of grain to the adults. He knew better than to let Jin Hu and the others help; he remembered his mother’s advice not to do such things in front of others.

The grain from the three households was sorted mainly by the characters written on the snake-skin bags: Zhang Manyin’s grain was marked with “Yin,” Zhang Youlian’s with “Lian,” and Zhang Jiaohua’s with “Ping.” They were stacked in three separate areas for later distribution.