Since the birth of his son, Kaitian had felt more responsibility on his shoulders. He would always sigh in front of Nuannuan: "The income of a farmer is too petty. I just hope my luck would come and I can get a job in the government. I'd settle for the Leader's position, then I can support both of you with the money."
Nuannuan smiled: "Money won't come just because you wished hard. You need to find other ways."
After that, when he was not working in the fields, Kaitian began seeking opportunities to earn more money. One month after childbirth, Nuannuan had her mother-in-law take care of the baby, and resumed her farm work. One day the couple was working in their contracted farmland by the Red Lake. A motorcycle stopped in front of them. A young man of Kaitian's age jumped off and called out: "Big brother! You want some weedkiller for your leafy crops? These are all imported from America. I've got 3 tons but now only 3 boxes are left. I don't want to run around anymore. So if you want these, I'll give you a discount. You can sell the extra to others and earn some pocket money!"
Kaitian looked at him in surprise. He knew that weed-killer is of good use: farmers in the village used them since last autumn on the green beans and saved much effort; green beans grew healthily and no one needed to worry about digging out weeds in the field anymore. He looked at Nuannuan, then turned to ask: "Imported from America?"
"I'm not lying to you!" The young man took a bag of weedkiller out of the case on his motorcycle: "Look at the trademark, it's in English! Here, take my name card: Representative, China International Agriculture Limited, I'm in charge of Juxiang Street. Here's my number. If you find anything wrong with it, just call me and I guarantee a full refund!"
"How much for a bag?"
Kaitian looked at Nuannuan again as she stepped up and took the bag.
"The market price in Nanfu and the provincial city is between 3.50 yuan and 4 yuan. But I'll give you 1.5 yuan a bag. If you sell them to other people, you can make a profit of 2 to 2.50 yuan per bag, how good is that? I only give you this special offer because I see you as a friend. So many fields in the village, yet I chose yours to park my ride. Why? I trusted you at first sight!"
Kaitian nodded in satisfaction. One year ago he bought some weedkiller from a shop at 4 yuan a bag. This price was a lot better, and he could see a profit. "How many bags are there in three boxes?"
"30 bags a box, so it's 90 bags in total. Put one bag in water and it'll cover one acre. In total it kills weeds in 90 acres. As for the money, just give me 135 yuan." The young man summed up quickly.
"Are we taking that?" Kaitian wanted to know what Nuannuan thought.
Only a fool would reject this special offer. Nuannuan said: "Take it. Even the richest earned his wealth penny by penny. Even a small profit is better than nothing."
The young couple led the man to their house and Nuannuan entered to get the money. She passed the cash one by one. When the amount reached 130 yuan, the man waved his hand and said: "It's fine, I'll leave you the 5 yuan. Friends don't dispute on small money."
That made Nuannuan quite happy. She saw the man off with a smile.
Kaitian was humming a happy tune when he returned to the field that day. The road was winding and he was staggering. But it did not affect his humming. 2 yuan from every bag, and he had 90 bags. That foretold an effortless profit of more than 100 yuan in no time. Of course he was happy. Nuannuan, following his steps, said to him: "We'll keep 2 bags for ourselves and sell the rest as soon as possible."
Kaitian nodded. That day after working in the farm, he stood in front of the yard and shouted: "Weedkiller for leafy crops! Imported from America! Only 3.50 yuan a bag!"
People in the village, who benefited from weedkiller before, all came over for the imported product and its low price. Kaitian sold 86 bags in a short time. It was a clean sweep, except for the two bags Nuannuan saved for herself, and the other two bags for Shallot. In autumn, everyone used the weedkiller on there green beans. It was very effective: not even a sight of weed could be seen. However, the green beans were killed, too. The first to wither was the leaves on the sprouts; in the end, the farmers got nothing but the stems.
All the green beans ruined! 90 acres including Kaitian's own fields, with no sprout left. Things like this never happened in Chu Wang Village. It was the biggest shock ever. Before people came over to complain, the couple hastened to the village committee office and called the number on the name card. The number did not exist. By then they finally realized that it was a scam. Losing a season's harvest was more than serious. People who bought from Kaitian forced him to look at their ruined fields, and gathered outside his house to demand a solution. Kaitian had never been through anything like this. Nuannuan was stunned, too. She held her breath and hid behind the door. The crowd was overwhelmed by anger. Spotty Laosi called out: "Fuck your sister! Even a rabbit doesn't foul his own hole, yet you are so rotten to trick your own people!"
Zhan Tongfang, the tofu maker in his fifties, stepped into the yard and cursed: "You bastard! You ruined all the fields in the village for some money! You don't have a heart! You are killing us all!"
Zhan Datong, the pig-castrater, showed his fist and rolled up his sleeves, yelled in an agitating tone: "Boys, let's go and beat that scum to death!"
The Kuangs had never made many friends in the village as immigrants to Chu Wang Village. Therefore, at that moment, no one would help them. Kaitian had to apologize, so he went out and spoke in a small voice: "I'm a victim, too! I trusted a stranger, it was all my fault! I'm the asshole!"
Yet the crowd would not be appeased. Finally Kaitian's dad walked out with his cane and knelt down: "Neighbours! Friends! My stupid son Kaitian, he was tricked into this abomination! It's my bad, I didn't raise my son well! Here I kneel down and apologize to you all. I beg you, please, go find the liar and he must pay for what he did …"
The crowd slowly left upon his words. Shallot, who stood away and watched in silence, came close and said: "Nuannuan, you must go find that bad guy who sold you the weedkiller and make him pay."
Nuannuan answered in guilt: "Sorry to make you a victim, too."
Shallot shook her head: "I never believed that you wanted to hurt us."
Kaitian rode the bike with Nuannuan to Juxiang Street, hoping to find the man. But where could they go? The information on the name card was fake, and no one had heard of the man before. They had no address or his motorcycle plate number, so they had to visit every shop and house in Juxiang Street. But they got nothing close to the Representative Person of China International Agriculture. Maybe he was not from here? At that thought, the couple went to two neighbouring villages and towns, but the search was a needle in the haystack; everything was in vain. At sunset three days later, Kaitian and Nuannuan, both exhausted, had to go home. When they arrived in the village, Kaitian threw himself to the ground, too scared to face everyone he harmed. He covered his face with both hands and cried: "You fucking liar! Fuck you and your ancestors! What have I done to deserve this?! …"
Nuannuan was leaning against a tree, gazing emptily into the lake slowly falling into the dark night. It took her a while to speak out: "Let's go. What happened had happened. There is no use hiding."
Nuannuan held Kaitian's hand and led him home. They told the parents about their useless efforts. Before dinner was served, people in the village knew about their return and made a crowd outside their house again. Kaitian was trapped inside. Cautiously, he offered everyone a seat, and stammered to tell his search in vain. People listened, looking grim. Spotty Laosi interrupted before Kaitian finished: "Cut your bullshit! I don't care if you've found him, I need a solution. If you can't make us happy, we won't let you go tonight! …"
As the crowd shouted and cursed, some motorcycles made a loud noise outside the yard, and several policemen ran inside. They asked about Kaitian and quickly put a pair of handcuffs on his wrists. One policeman took out a paper and said: "You are under arrest! We suspect that you sold fake weedkiller and purposefully sabotaged agricultural production!"
They tried to push Kaitian out. Dangen and Kaitian's parents started crying. Nuannuan, also in tears, wanted to stop the arrest. But she was pushed away by the police. Kaitian was scared, too. He walked and cried: "I didn't mean to …"
But his cry faded away with the noise of the motorcycles.
"Go home everyone. The man is arrested. Money is not as important as him!" Shallot, who entered without acknowledging anyone, spoke out in front of the crowd. People stiffened at her words and started to leave in silence.
"Shallot —" Nuannuan threw herself into Shallot's arms and started crying loudly.
Shallot patted her back and sighed: "How did this get so serious? Who told the police?"
"Maybe someone decided to report and sue us." Nuannuan choked. "I was so blind to trust that man! Kaitian asked me if we should buy those weedkiller, and I said yes without even thinking about it! I hate myself!"
"Crying won't solve the problem. You have to do something about it," said Shallot. "I'm afraid you have to go to the village heads. The Party Secretary was too old to help, lying in his bed all day. You have to go to Zhan Shideng. He's the Leader, he'll be able to get Kaitian out."
Nuannuan nodded and wiped her tears. She passed Dangen to her mother-in-law and said: "Dad, Mom, stay at home. I'll go beg the Leader to help."
On the way to Zhan Shideng's house, Nuannuan paused and hesitated several times, feeling embarrassed about refusing to marry his little brother. But what else can she do? She must go beg for his help …