Chapter 6: The Hoe's Troubles

“Comrade, hello, is there a ticket to Jianghai County?” Zhao Guoyang strode up to the ticket window and called out in a clear voice.

The young lady at the ticket booth couldn’t help but brighten when she saw the tall and handsome Zhao Guoyang standing before her. With a smile, she replied, “Jianghai County? Yes, there is one. The bus leaves in ten minutes—you’ve arrived just in time.”

Zhao Guoyang paid for his ticket, thanked the girl at the window, and hurried toward the boarding gate.

“Eight-thirty in the morning, that’s right. Go on in,” drawled the middle-aged woman at the gate, a red armband on her sleeve, after glancing at Zhao Guoyang’s ticket.

Past the gate, an old, battered minibus stood in front of Zhao Guoyang. In these times, this was about the best transport available between county-level cities.

He climbed aboard in a rush and found four or five empty seats. He picked one by the window and gazed out at the busy throng of people picking up and dropping off passengers.

A clatter by the door drew Zhao Guoyang’s attention. He looked over to see a middle-aged man in a Mao suit standing ramrod straight near the entrance, looking troubled as he spoke with the driver.

Though the man’s Mao suit had faded from many washes, it was immaculately kept. There was even a pen clipped to his breast pocket—clearly, he was an intellectual. Zhao Guoyang couldn’t help but look at him a few more times.

Listening closely, Zhao Guoyang quickly understood why the man was being stopped. His name was Hu Ping, the deputy manager of the supply and marketing cooperative in Jiangyu Town, under Jianghai County.

Their cooperative had previously purchased a batch of hoes from Ninghai City, but there had been some issues with them. Yesterday, he’d brought the hoes to the manufacturer to resolve the problem.

However, when Hu Ping arrived in Ninghai City, he discovered that the manufacturer had already gone out of business—the factory was completely deserted.

Left with no choice, he had to head back early this morning to the cooperative and figure things out from there.

But after buying his ticket, the driver refused to let him bring the hoes on board.

The reason was simple: this bus picked up passengers along the way, and if dozens of hoes took up all the interior space, how could any more passengers fit?

“Comrade, how about I buy another ticket? Would you let me bring these hoes on board then?” Hu Ping pleaded earnestly.

“One more ticket? What good would that do?” the driver scoffed.

“Look at this bus. Even if I gave you two seats, could you fit all those hoes?”

Seeing the situation at a stalemate, Zhao Guoyang stood up and said, “Driver, how about this? Let this comrade buy another ticket, and I’ll sit with him in the back row. That way, his hoes can fit without taking up too much space.”

The driver, perhaps weary of the back-and-forth, nodded rather indifferently after a moment’s thought. “Alright, that’ll do. Get another ticket, and the four seats at the back are for you two.”

Hu Ping nodded repeatedly at the driver’s words. “Alright, thank you. I’ll buy another ticket right away…”

After Hu Ping had bought the extra ticket, Zhao Guoyang helped him carry more than a dozen hoes to the minibus’s last row, placing them on the floor.

When it was all done, the middle-aged man thanked Zhao Guoyang profusely and introduced himself.

Upon hearing that Hu Ping was the deputy manager of the supply and marketing cooperative in Jiangyu Town, Zhao Guoyang’s interest was piqued.

Jiangyu Town was one of the more prosperous towns in Jianghai County, and its cooperative was one of only three directly managed by the county branch, with its own purchasing authority.

In this era, when many goods were still in short supply, having purchasing authority meant being allocated ration coupons for grain and other commodities.

For instance, coupons to buy bicycles or televisions were assigned to the cooperatives—a remarkable power for ordinary people in those days.

Since his rebirth, Zhao Guoyang had many ambitions, but for now, the most pressing and practical was to improve life for himself and his family.

To that end, getting to know the cooperative’s deputy manager was undoubtedly a valuable opportunity.

With Zhao Guoyang intentionally cultivating the acquaintance, he and Hu Ping soon became familiar with each other.

While helping move the hoes earlier, Zhao Guoyang had already noticed the curled edges on them.

Now, he feigned ignorance and asked, “Brother Hu, why are you hauling so many hoes back and forth? It’s a lot of work for not much gain…”

Hu Ping sighed deeply. “Ah, Brother Zhao, you don’t know. Our cooperative spent over a hundred yuan at the Haifeng Farm Machinery Factory in Ninghai City for these hoes.”

“Who would’ve thought that, within a month, they’d all develop cracks and become completely useless? I called them, but couldn’t get through, so I had to come in person. And who would have guessed…”

“The factory’s closed down, hasn’t it?” Zhao Guoyang ventured.

“Yes, Brother Zhao, you’re right!” Hu Ping heaved another sigh.

“Yesterday, when I brought these hoes to Haifeng Farm Machinery Factory, I found the gates locked and not a soul inside.”

“Indeed, many small machinery factories in Ninghai City have closed in the past couple of years. I’ve heard of Haifeng Farm Machinery Factory—it just went under recently. If you’re looking for them, Brother Hu, I’m afraid you’ll have no luck,” Zhao Guoyang said matter-of-factly.

“Isn’t that the truth? It’s such a pity that all these hoes our cooperative bought have gone to waste,” Hu Ping said, full of indignation.

“You don’t know, Brother, this is just a small part of what our cooperative purchased. There are still over a hundred hoes back at the cooperative with similar problems. Now that I’m returning empty-handed, how will I explain this to our members…”

Hearing Hu Ping’s frustrated and resentful words, Zhao Guoyang’s eyes brightened with an idea. With a smile, he said, “Brother Hu, to be honest, I work in mechanical processing myself. If you don’t mind, let me take a good look—maybe I can help you find a way to repair them.”

“Oh? I wouldn’t have guessed you’re an expert in mechanical processing!” Hu Ping stared at Zhao Guoyang in disbelief.

Zhao Guoyang replied modestly, “Expert is too much, but hoes aren’t exactly high-tech. Their principle is simple, and I think I have some confidence.”

“Then what are we waiting for, Brother? Please take a look!” Hu Ping said eagerly.

Zhao Guoyang nodded, picked up a hoe, and examined it closely. He quickly understood the issue.

These hoes had clearly suffered problems during the heat treatment process at the blade end. Excessive internal stress during quenching had reduced their strength.

To solve this, a simple reheat treatment would suffice—it wasn’t a difficult problem.

As for those with severe cracks, Zhao Guoyang thought that some copper welding would be needed—a bit more troublesome, but still far better than buying new ones.

After his inspection, Zhao Guoyang relayed his findings to Hu Ping in detail.