I painted an aircraft carrier on the courtyard house for Dongda University.

Each person had half a bowl of rice porridge with no visible rice, and in the middle of the table there was a plate with about four or five steamed buns, and a small plate with a pickled vegetable dumpling.

The villager frowned as he looked at the pickled vegetable dumplings and said to the person next to him, "Heizi, go borrow a kitchen knife from Aunt Liu's house. It should be there today."

These words made Zhou Weiguo feel something was wrong, and he looked at the other person hesitantly, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.

The man seemed to read his mind and said, "We usually just gnaw on pickled vegetables, but since you're here today, comrade, I'll go borrow a cleaver to chop them up."

Zhou Weiguo waved his hand and asked, "Brother, there's something I'm not sure if I should say."

The villager seemed to only then realize what was happening: "You're not going to ask me why I don't have a kitchen knife at home, are you?"

Zhou Weiguo nodded.

The villager continued, "It's all because the higher-ups made us do steelmaking, especially in our township. The township head said there was some new spirit, and then the county brigade set up some kind of blast furnace. They made every household hand over their pots and pans, plowshares, hoes, iron plows, picks, door knockers, window frames, nails, wire, and even door locks, kitchen knives, and iron pots, saying it was for steelmaking."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Weiguo's heart sank: It's only been 57 years, and it's already starting?

"My fellow villagers, how are you managing to make a living? How are you going to farm?"

The villager shook his head and said helplessly, "We didn't take them all; we kept one set for every five households."

Zhou Weiguo was furious and yelled, "Your township head is really messing things up! This will definitely delay planting next year. What if there's not enough food?"

The villager's face crumpled with bitterness, and after hesitating for a long time, he finally said, "Hey, it's never enough."

Zhou Weiguo asked curiously, "Fellow villager, what do you mean by 'not enough'?"

The villager looked at Zhou Weiguo and asked, "Comrade, what do you think the yield of millet per mu (unit of land area) is in our Baoding region?"

Zhou Weiguo's heart skipped a beat. It seemed his guess was right. But he said, "The yield of millet is not high, probably around 100 kilograms."

The villager nodded at Zhou Weiguo and then said, "Do you know how many kilograms of millet we get per mu in our village?"

Zhou Weiguo shook his head.

The villager held up one finger: "1000 kilograms. Our township head said that we will strive to achieve a yield of 10,000 kilograms per mu for millet in the second half of this year."

Zhou Weiguo looked at his fellow villager and sighed, "What is the actual yield per mu? I absolutely do not believe that millet can reach 10,000 jin, that's impossible."

The villager sighed, held up one finger, and said, "I don't think this year's harvest will be good. My few acres of land will only yield less than 100 kilograms per acre."

"hiss!!!"

Looking at his fellow villager, Zhou Weiguo said firmly, "Don't worry, I will report this matter."

The villager gave Zhou Weiguo a deep look, then nodded: "As far as I know, other villages around here have already started doing this. We people have just begun to enjoy a better life, and I'm worried... That's why I said a few more words to you, comrade. Please forgive me."

Zhou Weiguo waved his hand, drank the hot water on the table in one gulp, then turned around and got into the car, pretending to grab something from the car.

Amidst the villagers' questioning gazes, he returned to the house with a cloth bag, took out five large steamed buns, two sausages, and a small handful of sugar, and then said, "Brother, don't worry, leave this to me. I have other tasks to complete, so I'll be leaving now."

After saying that, he ignored the villagers' reactions, got into his car, and drove away.

Four hours later, Zhou Weiguo felt like his buttocks had been shaken to pieces.

He went through various checks along the way, but fortunately he had a military ID, so things went smoothly.

By the time he drove the car back to the courtyard in Nanluoguxiang, it was already 9 p.m.

He found a secluded spot, stored the jeep directly into his spatial storage, and then slipped into the yard.

Looking at the light on in his own room, and hearing the two of them whispering, he felt a little weak for some reason.

"Natasha, why didn't my husband come home for the New Year? And even if he didn't come home, why didn't he call us? Do you think he's having an affair? Does he not love us anymore? And it's strange, he doesn't call us, but why don't you let me call him? Are you secretly contacting him? Tell me!"

Upon hearing it, Zhou Weiguo recognized Tian Zao's voice.

He teleported directly to the doorway of the house, not daring to walk, for fear of being noticed by Natasha.

He activated his senses and almost had a nosebleed.

Natasha was lying on the bed, and Tian Zao was on Natasha's lap. All four of them were touching Natasha's pregnant belly. Their posture made Zhou Weiguo a little angry.

Natasha rolled her eyes at Tian Zao, then said, "When a man is out doing things, we should support him at home, not interfere with him. Don't worry, he might be out having fun, but we're different; he'll definitely come back."

Tian Zao immediately became anxious upon hearing this: "What's different? What if there are demons outside?"

Natasha smiled and tapped Tian Zao's forehead: "I was his first woman, the first woman to bear his child, and the first woman who would give her life for him. Do you think he can let go of that? Can any of the other women compare?"

Tian Zao pouted and said, "Natasha, that's too much! I was talking about both of us. You only talked about your good points, what about me? What am I supposed to do? Even though we're best friends, I don't want to be a supporting character."

Natasha laughed and said, "How could you be a supporting character? I'm my man's only legal wife, and you're saying you're a supporting character? Are you in Versailles? Remember, Tianzao, our man isn't an ordinary person. We need to give him the greatest freedom and the greatest support. That's all we can do. As long as we ensure that when our man is tired, suffering, or in pain, whenever he's unhappy, the first thing he thinks of is the two of us, is our family, that's enough, understand?"

Tian Zao pouted and said, "Fine, I'm happy with my husband anyway, so I don't want to think too much. It's just that he's been gone for so long this time, and I miss him so much."

Upon hearing this, Natasha laughed and said, "I really can't help missing him. But if you're itching to get him, I can help you scratch that itch."

After saying that, Natasha pinned Tian Zao down on the bed and started scratching her with both hands.

"Ouch! Ouch! Natasha, I'm sorry! Sister, I'm sorry! Don't bite! Mmm! Ah!!"

Watching the two playfully teasing each other, Zhou Weiguo's eyes reddened.