Chapter 263: Female Warrior

In the lumber mill, the major gossip about how Li Laoer beat up the family planning officials and how they personally delivered the birth permit spread quickly.

News in the lumber mill travels fast; what happened in the afternoon is usually known by half of the mill by evening.

A major role in spreading this news was played by Aunt Ma—her gossip was unstoppable.

Around three in the afternoon, after leaving Li Qing's house, Li Xian and Li You arrived at the wood chip factory.

Although the factory was an important component of the Xinlang Paper Pulp Base and was located in Li Xian's hometown, he hadn't visited the factory often since it was established.

The wood chip factory was converted from the now-abandoned Linchang Middle School.

The Eight-Nine Lumber Mill was divided into two parts: the west side, where the lumber mill's administrative area was located and where about seventy percent of the families lived, and the east side, known as Yin-Yang Village. Originally barren land, it was settled by new households who came to clear the land, and it eventually became a village with a significant population.

The wood chip factory's predecessor, Linchang Middle School, was situated at the junction of the administrative area and Yin-Yang Village.

Though the Eight-Nine Lumber Mill was not large, it was well-equipped, with facilities like a health clinic, a police station, and primary and secondary schools. However, as the population of the mill grew slowly in recent years, the middle school was closed, leaving only a primary school that provided compulsory education for the first five years.

The school had been abandoned for a short time, the buildings were old, but still impressive. There were three rows of large tile-roofed buildings, giving it a sizable appearance.

Currently, the factory had more than sixty workers, mostly locals from the lumber mill, but the management team was sent from Xinlang.

These people naturally recognized Li Xian and were delighted to see the long-missed factory manager.

Li Xian also remembered these people well, as they were his first batch of employees. He could still name the deputy factory director, Huang Jiang, a former Xinlang paper technician, and several workshop staff members.

Though Xinlang was still Li Xian's main business, he had been so busy with the brewery recently that he had neglected management. Now that he had the opportunity, he made sure to encourage and thank the staff who had relocated to work in the mill.

After exchanging pleasantries, Li Xian and Li You toured the factory.

Although Li You could be somewhat unreliable in character, he took family matters seriously.

To be honest, despite his indecision and poor stress tolerance, and his tendency to be overly inflated, Li You was an ambitious person. When he first started working, he was a nursery cultivator. Though he could read, he hadn't completed elementary school. He managed to educate himself, passed the horticultural engineering exam, and eventually became an official in the nursery.

The dedication and hard work of the older generation were not to be underestimated.

"The factory now has twenty-two wood chippers. When running at full capacity, we can produce over thirty tons of snowflakes. We compress and ship every three days, so the snowflakes are dry and ready for use, with lower transportation costs."

Normally, as the factory was a subsidiary of Xinlang Paper Pulp, the report would be between subordinate and superior. However, with the father-son relationship, things took a different turn.

Hearing this, Li Xian nodded and praised, "Dad, your skills are outstanding. We initially thought the factory could supply around twelve percent of the snowflakes needed for the paper factory each month. But now, you're managing to exceed the plan by more than double!"

Seeing his younger son's admiration, Li You felt greatly satisfied, "Of course! Little brat, I'm your father! If you can mix with the crowd outside, a tiger father won't have a dog son. How can I fall short?"

What could Li Xian say? He could only go along with it.

While father and son were chatting happily, Li Xian noticed a peculiar figure entering the playground from a distance.

The figure seemed to be carrying a bundle on their back, bending over, and dragging a board with some scrap wood and other items tied to it. They also held a sickle in hand.

His attention was caught.

As the person got closer, Li Xian realized it was a woman carrying a bundle made from rags, containing four emaciated, infant-like children.

"Dad, who is this..."

Seeing the woman, Li You sighed and quickly went to take the board from her.

"I told you before, don't bring scraps from the field to the factory. Just leave them at home and let us know when you're coming. I'll send someone to pick them up. Why are you carrying four kids and running around?"

The woman was slender, and with four children on her back, she had to bend over to avoid falling.

Hearing Li You's scolding, she bent her back and smiled. Her face was more yellowed than the children's, deeply wrinkled: "I was just cutting soybeans and picked up a few scraps on the way. This stuff isn't worth more than a couple of dimes. With the factory so busy, it's not right to make everyone run around."

Although they were both in the Eight-Nine Lumber Mill, Li Xian had never met this woman before because she was an outsider to Yin-Yang Village and he rarely came by.

From Li You's words, he identified her as Zhu Laowu's wife—Chen Guixiang, the woman who gave birth to quadruplets all boys after having two daughters previously and fled with her family on the sixteenth day of the lunar New Year.

Chen Guixiang had delivered the quadruplets herself at home without a midwife, cutting the umbilical cords with scissors and wrapping the babies before fleeing with her husband, not even taking a month's rest.

When Aunt Ma mentioned the callous family planning officials and talked about this woman, Li Xian felt a pang of sympathy.

Now that he met her, he felt even more troubled.

A woman whose husband was in prison, with no family support, managing to care for eight mu of soybeans and four infants. The house they lived in was demolished by the family planning officials, and they were now living in a half-room. In October, the temperatures in the forest area were quite cold.

It was quite a hardship.

After escorting Zhu Laowu's wife to the wood chip purchasing station and seeing her receive thirty cents and leave, Li Xian sighed.

"Dad, how long was Zhu Laowu sentenced?"

Li You also sighed, "The family has no money. It's one thousand for the first child, two thousand for the second, four thousand for the third, and eight thousand for the fourth. Adding the previous one thousand for the second daughter, the total fine was sixteen thousand, and he was sentenced to ten months. It's a pity. Who would have thought that the wife would be so strong, giving birth to four boys at once with such a small frame?"

Sixteen thousand, ten months.

Hearing these numbers, Li Xian clicked his tongue in disbelief.

For an ordinary family, facing such fines and punishment, running away would be the only option.

Now, Zhu Laowu was caught, and his wife was left to suffer.

Glancing at Li You, Li Xian thought for a moment and said, "Dad, doesn't the factory still need a night watchman?"

"What do you need a night watchman for? Xiao Huang and the others stay here at night. Besides, the factory is filled with snowflake wood chips. Who would be interested in these... hmm." Li You noticed Li Xian's gaze on Zhu Laowu's wife and stopped his sentence abruptly.

"Yes, we do need one. We could clean up the duty room at the purchasing station. It could be used for accommodation, but we need to add a stove."

Li Xian nodded, "Then you can tell Zhu Laowu's wife. I don't know her."

Li You patted his son's shoulder with a look of pride and quickly went to catch up with her.

Watching his father's departing figure, Li Xian signaled to Zhou Yong who was standing nearby, handed him two hundred yuan, and gave some instructions.

---

That evening, Chen Guixiang, with her six children, moved into the duty room that had been prepared.

The duty room was originally a warehouse for the school, with no windows and no kang (traditional heated bed), only a row of large wooden beds made from boards on the east side of the room. The bedding, apparently used by men, was soiled and worn.

A simple stove made of red bricks and oil barrels had been set up in the room.

The stove was blazing with a warm, bright flame, and the firewood crackled, emitting a piney aroma. A kettle on top of the stove was steaming.

It was warm.

After months of living in a dilapidated house with a view of the stars, this was like a paradise for her.

Chen Guixiang placed her four children on the large wooden bed. They were eight months old, and although they should be crawling around, they lay on the bed motionless, not because they were obedient, but because they were malnourished and unable to move.

The two daughters, thrilled to find a warm place, took off their shoes and burrowed into the blankets.

As Chen Guixiang lifted her shirt and rubbed her dry, scarred, and child-bitten chest in pain, her four-year-old eldest daughter suddenly screamed, "Mom, Mom! There's something in the bedding!"

Chen Guixiang was stunned. By the light of the oil lamp, she saw her daughter pulling out a large plastic bag from under the

 blanket.

The plastic bag, rustling loudly, contained two milk bottles and ten bags of milk powder.

Late at night, seeing her children, who might be having their fill of milk for the first time and finally gaining some energy, Chen Guixiang wiped away her tears.

She had cried so long that her collar was soaked.

Pulling her two daughters closer to their four brothers, Chen Guixiang choked up, "From now on, when you see Li You, call him Grandpa. On holidays, bow to him, and never accept any New Year's money, understand?"

"Got it, Mom."

The children didn't fully understand, but seeing their mother's serious demeanor, they agreed readily.