In January, Wenpu County, in the southwest, people were still immersed in the joyful atmosphere of the New Year.

As a small county town in a mountainous area in the southwest, Wenpu in the past did not have much cultural life. In the past, the supplies in the county were better than those in the surrounding villages, and occasionally one or two opera troupes or variety shows would come, but in the end, it was only an enjoyment for a few wealthy families in the county.

It has been more than two years since the Huaxia Army unified the southwest. This year, the cultural troupe developed from Zhuji finally took this place into consideration. Around the New Year, a group toured Wenpu County and nearby villages, and the free performance with almost no tickets ignited the enthusiasm of the county and nearby people. A large number of people chased the opera troupe and watched several days of crowded operas. With the development of this kind of public entertainment activities, families with a little extra money near the county also spent more money. In the past, most families closed their doors and ate a few meals during the New Year, but now the sound of firecrackers was several times louder.

The Lantern Festival had not yet passed, and most of the production activities in the city had not yet resumed. Children ran around in the streets with snot running down their faces, shouting lines they had heard in the opera a few days ago, such as "Zong Han, you have this day too" and "I'll hit you with the Fantian Seal in one move". Local people with more relatives were still visiting each other for the New Year, and only some work that guaranteed people's livelihood had only been slightly suspended on the 30th and the first day of the new year, and then resumed in an orderly manner.

The night soil women still got up every day before dawn and collected the night soil buckets from each household before dawn. In the night soil station, which was affiliated to the "Huaxia Army 223 Agricultural Research Institute," Tang Minjie also collected a large cart of night soil every morning without fail.

During the New Year, the "223 Agricultural Research Institute" actually had a few days of winter vacation, but even without research tasks, the operation of the night soil station ensured the normal operation of Wenpu County's livelihood. Therefore, after applying, Tang Minjie became the last member of the research institute to stay at his post. Although Director Chen Ci Rang said to him, "If no one collects the night soil, the night soil women will naturally drop it into the river. It doesn't matter if the water washes it away." However, Tang Minjie couldn't stand being idle, and he also let the night soil women earn a few more days of money by selling night soil.

The total workload has decreased after all.

When he was free, he also followed the gathering crowds to listen to a few operas. The Huaxia Army was short of manpower, and the troupe sent to a small place like Wenpu was obviously some rookies. They were not very experienced in the rules and regulations of the opera. As a former chubby boy who had been a landlord's son near Damingfu, Tang Minjie could see the problems, but the ordinary audience didn't care about those things. People smiled in the gathering, and in the rising fire, in the sound of firecrackers, everyone's faces were filled with unspeakable joy. Even the beggar who was shivering aside in his clothes showed his half-missing teeth and participated in this grand event.

Everything was like a world away.

When the past New Year arrived, he was still in the north, watching countless starving and freezing Han slaves and serfs, even worrying about firewood in the winter. The Jurchens who occupied the hilltops did not even allow others to pull the weeds on the mountains.

And Wanyan Xiyin had the face to say to him, "... Originally, I wanted to make the lives of the Han slaves better."

He regretted that it was impossible to personally execute every Jurchen in the north by slow slicing.

In the blink of an eye, he returned to the south.

The scene happening in front of him in this remote small county town, the smiles on people's faces, he had never even seen when he was in the prosperous Damingfu.

The swallows that once graced the halls of the Wangs and Xies now fly into the homes of ordinary people.

Although some of the unruly opera lyrics had some playful meaning of teasing the teacher, he understood the problem of the overly vernacular lyrics for most people who "understood opera" as soon as he heard it. He even felt a soul-stirring greatness in the young actors' hoarse performances, which was many times greater than the exquisiteness of the lyrics and music and the elegance of the steps.

So, while the surging crowd watched the opera, Tang Minjie sat far away, either in the sound of firecrackers during the day or in the swaying firelight at night, quietly watching the liveliness presented on these smiling faces.

For him, this was the celebration of the New Year.

On the fourth day of the New Year, in the evening, amidst the surging crowds like a market, he met several night soil women from Wenpu. He Qing, the young woman they wanted to introduce to him, was also among them with her child.

Generally speaking, the personalities of night soil women are relatively two extremes, either extremely quiet and inferior, or extremely enthusiastic and outgoing. The few he met this time naturally included outgoing ones. A group of people clamored for Tang Minjie and He Qing to "spend some time together." Helpless, the two walked a while in the crowd with the child. After finding a good seat in the front row for the child, the woman, who didn't have much to talk about but obviously didn't have a bad impression of Tang Minjie, took the initiative to ask him about the land distribution issue.

"I heard that land is being distributed to people who don't have land..."

"Yes, everyone should be allocated land in the future."

"I heard... that even people without husbands are allocated land."

"Yes, it's stated in the newspaper that as long as you register your household, everyone will have it."

"I heard... that there will be exams..."

"Don't worry, it shouldn't be difficult."

"I haven't taken any exams, and my child hasn't either... I'm illiterate, and so is my child..."

"Someone will teach you in advance and give you lessons."

"Then what if... after learning, we don't pass the exam? Tang... Brother Tang, you... you've studied, haven't you? Do you know what they'll teach..."

The news about land reform and land distribution had been the focus of the Huaxia Army's work before the New Year, and there was a lot of publicity in the newspapers, but it had not yet spread to Wenpu County. Most of the people who heard about it were uneasy and skeptical. At this time, He Qing wanted to say something, and Tang Minjie gradually understood.

"I don't know the details of what the land reform work team teaches for the time being, but I can guess some. For more details... I have to ask."

"Then... can you teach us when you have time? Even... just teach me, and after I learn it... I'll teach it to my child..."

Among the many night soil women, He Qing, who was twenty-seven years old, was considered to have some beauty. When she said this, she didn't know what she was thinking, but she had a particularly forceful feeling. Tang Minjie was used to reading people's expressions, so he naturally knew what the other party meant. He didn't care, but thought about it seriously.

"I need to consider it."

The other party thought he was rejecting her.

He thought about it carefully for several days.

A few days later, another outgoing night soil woman asked him about the Huaxia Army's land distribution. The whole thing sounded like a fantasy in front of this small place, but who didn't have a bit of expectation in their heart?

A few more days passed, and the research institute officially went to work. When Director Chen Ci Rang asked Tang Minjie to talk about work, Tang Minjie told him some of the thoughts in his heart, which startled Chen Ci Rang. The 223 Research Institute was considered an extremely unpopular place among the various institutions of the Huaxia Army. Except for Director Chen Ci Rang, who used to be a reading scholar, the others in the institute, although some had come down from the battlefield, were mostly in a state similar to "retirement." Basically, a few backbones supported the institute, and the others didn't have many ideas and just muddled along.

Even in such an environment, collecting night soil was still the lowest-level job among all the employees. Therefore, even though Chen Ci Rang had long realized that Tang Minjie might have some background, he never expected that he would want to do some strange things in such a position.

He naturally encouraged him verbally, and chatted with Tang Minjie about a lot of miscellaneous things. After discovering that he couldn't ask any meaningful clues from the other party's mouth, Chen Ci Rang secretly asked people about the other party's origins: How could such a thoughtful young man be assigned to him?

This was not the first time he had inquired, and of course he still gained nothing.

As for Tang Minjie, he naturally understood the director's feelings, but he didn't need to care too much. After obtaining permission, on the tenth day of the first month, Tang Minjie had a dialogue with a group of women in the night soil station. When he mentioned the land reform, he said that he could hold a small study class for everyone every morning. A group of night soil women could participate, and if there were adults in the family, or children who had not yet attended school, they could also come. He could give everyone some elementary education, including the recognition of some numbers that would be used in the land reform and land distribution exam, and the writing of Huaxia Army and personal names, so as to make them more prepared for the upcoming land reform.

After unifying the southwest, although Ning Yi promoted a large number of children's elementary education and the education of the benevolent, it was natural that many people had not caught up with this convenience in two or three years. In particular, the main body of elementary education was mainly placed on children, and some night schools or self-study courses for adults had not yet been put on the right track at this time, let alone these night soil women's families with the lowest status among the population.

Tang Minjie made this decision after careful consideration.

A group of night soil women, either young or old, were stunned when they heard it, and asked repeatedly several times. After clarifying the matter, some people laughed and joked, "What can we learn at our age..." Some old women sat on the ground and cried out with their toothless mouths.

In this way, on the sixteenth day of the first month of this year, in the night soil station that was somewhat "insulting to scholars", or in the entire Huaxia Army, or perhaps in the thousands of years of history, the first remedial class for elementary education established for night soil women was established in a corner of this small county town of Wenpu under the promotion of Tang Minjie.

Although the families were not well-off, on the fifteenth day of the first month, a group of women and old ladies who usually dealt with filth still brought various kinds of food to the night soil station and gave them to Tang Minjie, said to be as "tuition" for the teacher. Even Tang Minjie, who had been working behind enemy lines for so many years and had seen the world, racked his brains and failed to refuse these foods.

He had no choice but to turn them into breakfast for the children from several night soil women's families in the days that followed.

The peaceful New Year passed not long after. Peng Yueyun came from outside again, bringing some food and supplies, and was scolded by Tang Minjie, who accepted half a bag of his wedding candy. When he heard about the study class that Tang Minjie was running at the night soil station, Peng Yueyun was stunned by his actions.

The young general stayed in Wenpu for one night, and the next morning, he collected night soil with Tang Minjie, and hid aside to listen to this brief early class that taught numbers and names. On the way back to Xiaoye Village dragging the dung bucket, he tentatively said, "This can be used for publicity."

Tang Minjie seriously said to him, "Don't make trouble."

Peng Yueyun nodded, "... Okay."

"You have to promise, and you're not allowed to tell Lin Jingmei either."

This time, Peng Yueyun was silent for a long time before nodding, "... Okay."

During the time that Tang Minjie had been home, Peng Yueyun had been wanting to make him better in some way, but this time, until he returned to Xiaoye Village, finished dealing with the night soil, and Peng Yueyun was about to leave, he pulled on Tang's sleeve and said, "... Brother, I understand you."

"..." Tang Minjie looked at him.

"After occupying the southwest and Chengdu's great development, the dazzling flowers are gradually becoming charming, and some people are different from before. I also see a lot of things, but today, Brother... I understand you. You are the same kind of person as the teacher. You are the closest to him. Don't worry, I'll do whatever you say."

At this time, holding Tang Minjie's sleeve, this soldier, who might have been promoted to major general soon if he hadn't married Lin Jingmei, had slightly reddened eyes: "But... a person like you, like this... I feel uncomfortable..."

Tang Minjie hesitated for a moment, and put his arm around his shoulders, just like the cruel and murderous senior, hugging the young comrade he had saved.

"It's nothing, don't be influenced by me..." he said, "You guys live a good life."