Chapter 117: A Strange Trend Spreads Through Red Flag Commune

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Because the first day’s catch had been so impressive, the villagers’ enthusiasm for breaking the ice and fishing soared over the following days.

Third Uncle Liu drove his horse-drawn cart, taking the families in turn to their reserved fishing spots at Liu Family Bay. Each time he returned, someone would give him one or two fish, so he ended up with quite a haul.

He had also been clever enough to seek out Ming Dai and ask her to pickle the fish for him. He would provide the seasonings—or buy whatever they did not have.

In previous years, Auntie Huang had always helped him pickle fish. They had been nothing but salty, and he felt they might as well not be pickled at all. He would simply leave them outside to freeze.

But ever since he had tasted Ming Dai’s cooking, he no longer thought that way.

Sure enough, Ming Dai did not disappoint him. The pickled fish tasted delicious when freshly cooked, and even after being hung up to dry for a year, they were still wonderfully fresh when steamed—neither bitter nor astringent, but absolutely scrumptious.

Perhaps because Ming Dai and the others had baited the waters, the reserved fishing spots at Liu Family Bay produced the most fish, making several nearby villages green with envy.

Gradually, more and more people began coming to fish near Liu Family Bay. Even the commune heard about it, and quite a few people skated across the Yudai River to fish.

Liu Family Bay grew livelier by the day. More and more people came to fish on the ice, spin ice tops, and skate, while the children ran toward the Yudai River regardless of the distance.

Thanks to the boasting of Tiedan and Goudan, more and more children followed the two of them to visit Zhou Sinian. Every day, they waited in the alley beside the educated youth station for him to come out and play.

This left the educated youths at the station deeply depressed. They could not understand how Zhou Sinian had become so popular in the village in the space of only a few months.

After all, the villagers had warned their children not to go near the educated youths.

Zhou Sinian found little brats annoying, and dirty little brats even more so. But Ming Dai hoped he would interact with more people, so he could only reluctantly take them along to play.

Ming Dai: Don’t think I haven’t noticed the way the corners of your mouth lift to the heavens every day when you come home!

That day, as usual, there came a knock at the door of the educated youth station. Zhou Sinian went to open it while knitting a sweater.

It was Tiedan and the others. When the dozen or so children saw Zhou Sinian, they chorused in unison, “Hello, Big Brother!”

Zhou Sinian surveyed them. Not a single one had a runny nose. Satisfied, he nodded.

“Come in first. I’ll finish knitting the sweater before we go out.”

He turned and led the way into his room, with the children following close behind. Tiedan stayed at the back to bolt the door again.

They had already visited Big Brother’s home twice. Each time, they were astonished by how tidy his room was and did not dare climb onto the heated brick bed, moving with extreme caution.

Zhou Sinian naturally did not invite them up. He simply climbed onto the kang and continued knitting his sweater.

By the time Ming Dai entered with a small basket, she found ten little potatoes lined up along the edge of the kang, all sprawled there watching Zhou Sinian knit with rapt attention. They looked rather like children queuing up for treats.

When they saw her come in, the children turned and called out after Tiedan, “Auntie!”

What a tangled mess of seniority!

Ming Dai smiled and greeted them, then handed the basket to Tiedan. Inside were chestnuts she had boiled without sugar, specially prepared to entertain Zhou Sinian’s friends.

Tiedan accepted the basket and led the children in thanking her. He then gave each of them three chestnuts. Everyone ate quietly, not daring to make a sound that might disturb Zhou Sinian.

Ming Dai glanced at the sweater in Zhou Sinian’s hands. He was already closing up the stitches and would soon be finished.

This one was for himself. The base was red yarn, decorated with white heart-shaped patterns. The hearts were somewhat larger than those on Ming Dai’s sweater and arranged according to Zhou Sinian’s own aesthetic. The one thing that had not changed was how dazzlingly red it was.

Ten minutes later, the sweater was finally finished.

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Zhou Sinian set down his needles, held up the sweater, and examined it with satisfaction. Then he took a mirror and looked at himself in it. The more he looked, the more pleased he became.

Ming Dai thought it looked good too. The high collar made his complexion appear much healthier.

The children found it even more fascinating and began whispering excitedly among themselves.

After all, in their understanding, only brides wore red.

One child secretly asked Tiedan, “Brother Tiedan, is Big Brother getting married?”

Tiedan hurriedly covered his mouth. He glanced at Zhou Sinian, who was still admiring himself, then solemnly shook his head to signal that he must not speak.

In the end, Zhou Sinian could not wait to wash the sweater before putting it on.

Ming Dai did not stop him. He was still wearing a thermal undershirt underneath, after all.

The others waited eagerly while Zhou Sinian changed clothes, staring at him until he grew embarrassed.

He looked at the children on the floor and declared haughtily, “I’m going to change clothes. Women out. Men stay!”

The corner of Ming Dai’s mouth twitched as she stared speechlessly at the three girls on the floor—Huang Tao, Huang Xing, and Pang Ya. None of them was even tall enough to reach the kang, and Pang Ya was still wearing split-crotch trousers.

In the end, at Zhou Sinian’s insistence, Ming Dai took the “women” to her room.

The wooden boards were very thin, and every sound from the next room came through clearly.

First came Zhou Sinian’s smug boasting, followed by the chorus of compliments from his little bootlickers.

Goudan’s particularly clear childish voice stood out most of all. Though he was the youngest, he was a master flatterer. He borrowed phrases from the picture-story books, stringing them together into a clumsy mess. Zhou Sinian seemed quite pleased to hear it and lavished special praise on him.

As Ming Dai listened, the group next door actually began holding a class on the spot, teaching one another the techniques of knitting sweaters. She had no choice but to interrupt.

“Zhou Sinian, are we going skating or not?!”

Only then did the discussion next door stop. Zhou Sinian called back that he was coming and began putting on his clothes.

Ming Dai tidied herself up, took the girls outside, and waited by the door.

Before long, Zhou Sinian emerged. He wore his red headscarf and a military greatcoat, with his chin tucked into the collar of his red sweater. The red made his face look much fairer, and he actually looked rather handsome.

Behind him came a whole procession of little bootlickers. The youngest, Goudan, was pulling a wooden board—a specially made ice sled designed by Zhou Sinian—while Tiedan carried the stick used to steer it.

There was also a pile of wooden boards and sticks by the door, the children’s own ice sleds.

Once they had collected their equipment, the children obediently lined up behind Zhou Sinian according to height.

Zhou Sinian stood to one side, arranging them with impressive seriousness. Apparently, he had drilled them before.

After the line had counted off in perfect order, Ming Dai thought they were about to set out. The next moment, however, she was stunned by the children’s perfectly synchronized movements.

Each child reached into a pocket and pulled out something red.

They were red headscarves, clearly large enough to have belonged to their mothers or grandmothers.

Zhou Sinian gave the order. “Put them on!”

The children raised both hands and, with solemn expressions, draped the scarves over their hats.

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What was going on?!

While Ming Dai stood there in bewilderment, Zhou Sinian looked utterly satisfied.

He even inspected each child to make sure the scarf was properly arranged, tying bows for those who did not know how to knot them.

Ming Dai looked from one child to the next and finally realized that she was the only one who did not fit in.

She was wearing a knitted cap.

While Ming Dai remained dazed, Liu Family Bay’s Red Headscarf Squad set off!

Naturally, Zhou Sinian led the way. Behind him marched the little red headscarves, chanting, “One, two! One, two!”

As they passed the educated youth station, Fang Rou happened to be coming outside.

When she saw Zhou Sinian, she frowned and stopped, intending to let him pass first.

But when she got a clear look at the Red Headscarf Squad following behind him, she was utterly shocked.

Ming Dai swore that her mouth had opened wide enough to fit a fist inside.

The road seemed especially long that day. Zhou Sinian led his squad forward with his head held high and his chest thrust out, attracting countless stares along the way. One group of villagers became so distracted watching them that their horse-drawn sled veered into a ditch, sending everyone aboard tumbling into a snowbank.

Ming Dai wanted to follow far behind, pretending not to know them.

But whenever she fell too far back, Zhou Sinian would stop and wait for her, while the children enthusiastically called for her to catch up.

“Auntie Ming, come on, come on!”

That only made her even more conspicuous!

To avoid becoming the center of attention, Ming Dai had no choice but to follow along awkwardly, feeling uncomfortable from head to toe.

By the time they reached the fishing grounds, Liu Family Bay’s Red Headscarf Squad had become famous.

Many villagers began wondering whether red headscarves had suddenly come back into fashion.

Those who considered themselves fashion-conscious went home and immediately headed to the commune supply cooperative to buy red headscarves. They bought them not only for their children but for themselves as well.

For some time, adults and children all over the commune could be seen wearing red headscarves. Men and women, young and old, took pride in owning one.

A strange new fashion spread throughout Red Flag Commune.

The supply cooperative’s red headscarves sold out completely, forcing them to restock from the county seat.

After seeing them so often, Ming Dai eventually became perfectly calm when she happened to run into Liu Dazhu, Liu Qingmin, and Liu Guoqiang in the village wearing red headscarves.

Did this count as:

Questioning the madman, understanding the madman, and finally becoming the madman?

This world was truly marvelous!