The game of power begins with the police officers at the local police station.

On Monday after get off work, around 7 a.m., Chen Shi, carrying a ham, arrived at Li Hong's door and gently knocked.

Li Hong's wife opened the door, and Chen Shi greeted her with a broad smile, "Sister Wang."

"Director Chen, please come in and have a seat."

Chen Shi, carrying the ham, entered the living room and, not seeing Li Hong, asked, "Isn't Li Zhen home?"

Washing dishes in the kitchen

"Li Zhen is a role model for us. Such a high-ranking leader, yet he still washes the dishes at home."

Even the highest-ranking leader needs to eat.

Li Hong came out of the kitchen, and Chen Shi quickly stood up to greet him.

Li Hong called out, "Quickly, sit down!"

Sister Wang poured Chen Shi a cup of tea and then went back to her room.

Li Hong smiled and said, "Just come and sit down, why did you bring anything?"

"Mid-Autumn Festival is coming soon, and I was thinking of what to give you. I'll be going back this weekend, and I have some ham at home. It's from our own free-range pigs, which we haven't fed any commercial feed. It tastes really good, so I'll bring it for you to try."

"Thank you."

After chatting for a while, Chen Shi got up and left, explaining that he couldn't disturb his boss's rest while visiting his home.

Li Hong saw Chen Shi out before returning.

The Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays were combined for eight days. Chen Shi went home to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival with his parents and brought back many gifts.

We sent two boxes of mooncakes to Chen Jianhua and Chen Jianyong's family.

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, Chen Shi returned to town and accompanied Wang Yanhong back to help her parents harvest their crops.

Chen Shi was unaware that after he left, more than half of the gifts he brought home were intended by Wang Xiufen to be given to her family.

Chen Yanshi was very unhappy. He said, "It's fine if you don't buy it for home, but you have to take it outside."

Chen Xing said with displeasure, "This is what Xiao Shi brought back for his parents. What kind of nonsense is it for you to take it and give it to your parents?"

Wang Xiufen held out her hand: "You don't have to take it, just give me two thousand, and I'll buy it myself."

Besides, we haven't separated yet; what we took back belongs to everyone.

"There are so many gifts, my parents can't possibly eat them all. Why don't you give some to them?"

"Didn't we usually spend a few dozen yuan to buy them two mooncakes every year?"

"Can this year be the same? We both have jobs now, and we're still buying two mooncakes. You're presentable enough to show them off."

"We've been married for several years, have you ever bought my dad a carton of cigarettes?"

"Didn't you buy them all?"

"What's it to you if I bought it?"

Chen Xing was speechless for a moment.

"Also, we're going to build houses on that vacant lot next to the highway. Don't listen to Chen Shi's nonsense; he doesn't want to build houses on that lot for us."

"Xiao Shi isn't that kind of person."

"You can't read his mind. You're not a mind reader, so how would you know what kind of person he is?"

Chen Xing didn't want to buy a house in town; he felt it would be better to build one at home.

"Xiao Shi promised to build us a house. He suggested that we buy one in town so that it would be more convenient for our children to go to school in the future."

"Chen Xing, you need to understand, I am your wife, we are a family. Don't listen to Chen Shi on everything, you need to have your own opinions."

"I didn't say I wanted to buy it in town."

"I asked Xu Hui, and she said the house is being built by his father, and construction will start after the New Year. Don't hold me back."

"Don't make the decision on your own. Compare prices from three different companies. Let me get two quotes and we'll see which one has the lowest price. That's the one we'll give the job to."

"Then hurry up and stop procrastinating. While the children are still young and your parents are still young, help us take care of them and get the house built as soon as possible."

Wang Xiufen put the gifts into her basket, filling it to the brim, and carrying six boxes in her hand, she was about to walk outside.

Chen Xing asked, "Don't you want me to go back with you?"

"If you're going, then go. Don't dawdle."

What should we do about the child?

"My mom takes care of things; taking care of a child is too much trouble."

Chen Xing didn't want to go. He went back to his room, grabbed two packs of cigarettes, took the gifts from Wang Xiufen, and went back to his parents' home.

Chen Shi hadn't done farm work in a long time, and he found it particularly interesting to go home with Wang Yanhong to harvest the crops.

Chen Shi had intended to help with the family chores for a couple of days, to relive the joys of his childhood. The family's crops had been harvested early, and the kind villagers had helped Chen Shi with the harvest, refusing to even offer him a meal.

Chen Yanshi sighed, suddenly he was surrounded by kind-hearted people.

In Wang Yanhong's family, there was no one to help. Her father had just recovered and couldn't do heavy work, so her mother had to do everything by herself, and she couldn't do much in a day.

Chen Shi and Wang Yanhong, carrying baskets on their backs, followed her parents to the field to harvest corn.

Wang Yanhong asked, "Have you ever done housework at home?"

"I did it when I was a kid, but I stopped after I went to college."

"Xu Mengmeng knew that I brought you home to work, and she said I was wasting your talent by bringing such a big leader like you home to harvest corn."

"We're all from the countryside, it's normal for us to work. We shouldn't forget our roots."

Wang Yanhong's mother chimed in: "What's wrong with rural people? The crops they grow are sold to city dwellers just the same. Without rural people, city dwellers would starve to death."

When Xiaohong was in school, I told her that when she looked for a boyfriend, she should find someone from the countryside, not someone from the city. They would come back and be all fussy and complain about this and that, which annoyed me.

"Son-in-law, as a mother-in-law, I find you increasingly pleasing to the eye. My daughter has excellent taste; in this Gaipai Village, I don't think any other son-in-law is as good-looking as you."

"Mom, if you don't know how to praise someone, don't force it. You'll offend people if you do."

"I speak my mind and I'm not afraid of offending anyone. Look at the girls in Gaipai Village, they've all married ugly girls, they're all unattractive."

However, when it comes to the girls of Gaipai Village, if my daughter says she's second, no one dares to say they're first.

She glanced at Chen Shi and said, "Son-in-law, you must cherish her. Our Xiao Hong is beautiful and well-educated. She is the first college student in Gaipai Village."

She's also very good at housework. Don't look for someone from the city; they're too delicate and won't do anything.

"Your family's ancestors must have accumulated a lot of good karma for you to be able to marry my Xiaohong."

The old man had already packed a bag of corn and called out, "You talk too much. Hurry up and get to work. Our daughter is outstanding, everyone can see that. Do you need to tell me?"

Chen Shi was both amused and exasperated. "Your daughter is the most outstanding in the whole world? Come on!"

Wang Yanhong whispered, "That's just how my parents are, don't take it to heart."

"Your aunt and uncle are right, you are indeed very outstanding, otherwise I wouldn't have chosen you."

"You're so sweet-talking," Wang Yanhong lightly slapped Chen Shi.

The old man said with dissatisfaction, "What's wrong with you two young people? You're slower than an old man like me. My bag of corn is already full, and the two of you haven't even filled one bag yet."

Wang Yanhong exclaimed, "What's the rush? We haven't worked in a long time, we need to get used to it."

"Don't rush me. My son-in-law is such a high-ranking leader. He's willing to help you with your work. What more could you ask for?"

The old man continued working, fuming.

After a day of harvesting corn, they filled twenty-five sacks. Chen Shi and Wang Yanhong's faces were flushed from being scratched by the corn leaves, which made them very uncomfortable.

Chen Shi plopped down on the ground, feeling exhausted. Farming was really tough.

"How much can I sell these corns for after they're dried?"

Wang Yanhong's mother chimed in, "It should sell for a thousand yuan."

"Four people work a day and only earn a thousand, so each person gets 250."

Wang Yanhong sat next to Chen Shi: "This doesn't even include the labor cost of planting before, or the cost of seeds and fertilizer. After deducting all that, it's less than fifty yuan a day."

The old man came out and put down another bag of corn.

"Don't sit here, hurry up and carry the corn back, it'll get dark soon."

Looking at the twenty-odd bags of corn, Chen Shi said incredulously, "We have to carry all of that back?"

"Am I, an old man, supposed to carry this?"

The old man left after saying just one sentence.

It's like the cabbage in your own garden has been eaten by a pig; seeing Chen Shi makes you feel very uncomfortable.