The Xiaojinchuan Forestry Station was nearby, just a half-hour ride on a motorized cart to reach Jinchuan Forestry Station.
Yet when Secretary Qian arrived, he ran into someone else—a man who had just stepped out of the station office as Secretary Qian was about to enter. The moment their eyes met, both knew why the other was there.
The man simply waved at him. "You came at the right time. Old Lang is up in the mountains. Let’s take the same motorized cart up."
What was Secretary Lang doing in the mountains?
Of course, he was there to see whether Qi Fang’s repaired Jicai-50 tractor could actually function.
Though the machine had already been tested at the base, there was a difference between flat ground and mountainous terrain, between running empty and hauling a full load.
By the time the two arrived, a Jicai-50 was tightening its steel cable, dragging a log—thick end inward, narrow end scraping the ground—toward the downhill path.
After a glance, they quickly spotted Secretary Lang not far away. "Is this the one you repaired yourselves?"
"Not exactly a repair. Qi Fang added a component to the hydraulic system, said it could reduce wear on a critical part. We’re testing it now."
Hearing this, the two finally noticed the others standing beside Secretary Lang, scanning them one by one.
Director Yu was an old acquaintance, but the two middle-aged men were unfamiliar. One wore the uniform of the small repair shop, stained with engine oil—likely the head of Jinchuan’s repair facility. The other wore a woven hat, probably the production dispatcher.
Apart from them, there was only one tall young man, strikingly handsome, his demeanor as cool as the frost-covered snow around them.
The two visitors were taken aback by his youth and looks. "Isn’t this the male lead reciter from your station?"
Secretary Lang chuckled. "That’s him." Then, seeing their surprise, he added, "The female lead is his wife."
So all the good looks and talent were concentrated in one family, huh? They were momentarily speechless.
But they hadn’t come to admire people. Soon, their attention returned to the Jicai-50 working downhill. "How long has it been running?"
"Most of the day. It was brought up this morning." Secretary Lang and the others had waited until afternoon to come up.
After standing for a while, the tractor climbed back over the rugged terrain.
Seeing their impatience, Secretary Lang waved to Zhang Dawei above. "That’s enough. Let’s check the wear on the part."
Qi Fang moved to act, but Xu Wenli was already scrambling forward. Soon, he removed a component. "Looks unchanged. Must be working."
Everyone crowded around to inspect it. Previously, the part had needed replacement every few days, the wear visible to the naked eye.
The production dispatcher, who had been on the mountain since morning, was more certain than the others. "No noticeable wear at all."
That settled it—the fix worked. Secretary Qian and the other man exchanged a glance before turning to Secretary Lang. "How many of these parts have you made? We need ours repaired too."
"Right. We’re sister stations. Now that you’ve got the solution, don’t leave us behind."
Some appealed to reason, others to camaraderie—all with the same goal: to pressure Jinchuan into repairing their Jicai-50s too.
But Secretary Lang wasn’t the one to decide. He turned to Qi Fang first. "How many more of those parts do you have?"
"One just finished, meant for another tractor here."
Qi Fang paused, glancing at the others. "This only slows the wear. It’s best not to run at full horsepower."
Wu Xingde’s system design had inherent flaws. A full overhaul wasn’t feasible now—this was just a temporary patch.
The others understood. Given the short time, even slowing the damage was impressive. The town’s repair shop still hadn’t figured out a solution.
"Then it’s settled. We’ll bring our machines over. See if you can fix them ASAP."
The two visiting secretaries wouldn’t take no for an answer. After settling terms with Secretary Lang, they shook Qi Fang’s hand. "Youth means potential. Our Jicai-50s are in your hands."
As they prepared to leave, another group arrived—evidently, word had spread about Jinchuan’s solution, though they were from farther away.
Now, two waiting stations became three, and Jinchuan still had its own tractors to fix. The group quickened their pace downhill, eager to arrange deliveries and secure their spot in line.
Of course, they’d keep the news quiet—no need for more competitors cutting ahead.
Watching the scramble, Secretary Lang couldn’t help but laugh. The production dispatcher exhaled deeply in relief.
Others might not feel it as keenly, but he’d been watching unmet production quotas pile up daily, his stress boiling over into blisters at the corners of his mouth.
"Since this is working, let’s convene a meeting," Secretary Lang said, eyeing Director Yu and the dispatcher. "We need to discuss how to report this up the chain."
Other stations might try to keep it under wraps, but Jinchuan couldn’t withhold a solution from the town’s forestry bureau.
Whatever the bureau decided, Jinchuan—and Qi Fang—would surely be commended.
Even Director Yu, who usually clashed with Qi Fang, allowed himself a smile. But when Secretary Lang proposed transferring Qi Fang to a new role, that smile froze.
"That might be difficult. The repair shop’s roster is full."
Transfers weren’t like temporary assignments. Staff quotas were set by higher authorities, beyond their control.
Even getting Yu Yongzhi into the security team had required pulling strings through his uncle—and that was only possible because security was understaffed.
Secretary Lang seemed prepared for the objection. "What if this reaches the county? They’ll ask why the solution came from a lumberjack in the logging team, not an engineer."
It would reflect poorly—both as a failure to value talent (Qi Fang wasn’t even a tractor driver, just a saw assistant) and as an embarrassment to the engineers outperformed by a logger.
"I support requesting an additional position," Xu Wenli said. "We’ve added four tractors and multiple chainsaws this year. We’re short-handed anyway."
The logic was sound. Nods spread through the group—even reluctant ones, given how impressively Qi Fang had delivered.
Secretary Lang nodded too. "In terms of qualifications, Qi Fang is young, but his results speak for themselves. His dedication is clear—he’s volunteered often, even designed and built the heated wall in our office."
That left no room for objection. Everyone had benefited from that wall’s warmth.
Director Yu fell silent. He’d been caught napping against it once and had no desire to revisit the topic.
The matter was settled just like that. Before long, Secretary Lang adjusted the motorcycle and personally took the prepared application and report to the town.
When he arrived at the town’s Forestry Bureau, Qu Mingli was on the phone in his office. "Who authorized the replacement of these logging machines? Half the forest farms in the entire county are at a standstill now. This isn’t just our town’s problem anymore..."
Secretary Lang didn’t rush in. He waited outside and happened to see Director Liu standing at the door of his own office, holding an enamel mug.
There was a hint of schadenfreude in the air. After all, if it weren’t for the newly appointed secretary from above, Director Liu would have been promoted, and he’d be the one dealing with this mess now.
After waiting outside for a while, the call inside finally ended.
Secretary Lang knocked on the door, and Qu Mingli had already composed himself. "Come in."
This new secretary had decent self-restraint and didn’t take his frustration out on others, which put Secretary Lang somewhat at ease. He entered and explained his purpose.
"You’re saying Qi Fang from your forest farm came up with a solution?" Qu Mingli was genuinely surprised. "Qi Fang, the one who led the recitation at the social gathering?"
Seeing that Qu Mingli still remembered Qi Fang, Secretary Lang felt even more confident about what he was about to propose. "That’s him. He was transferred from the town’s machinery repair factory and has excellent technical skills."
Qu Mingli was desperate for a solution, so he didn’t waste time. After clarifying the situation, he called the town’s machinery repair factory. "Have you figured out a solution yet? Still waiting for word from the county? Well, you don’t need to wait anymore. Bring your people over—someone from the forest farm below has come up with one."
Seeing that even the county couldn’t solve the problem, Chen Jizhong from the town’s repair factory wasn’t in a hurry anymore. He went home, got a good night’s sleep, and only returned to the factory the next day.
When he got back, he saw an old logging machine being hauled onto a transport locomotive with a broken new one tied to it with wire. He couldn’t help but be surprised. "They’re not fixing it anymore?"
"They said they couldn’t get it serviced here, so they’re taking it back to figure something out themselves," said a worker from the repair factory who was helping with the loading.
This only confused Chen Jizhong further. "If even the county can’t fix it, what can they possibly do on their own?"
Just as he was puzzling over this, another person from a forest farm arrived, saying they were taking their logging machine back too—they weren’t going to repair it here anymore.
One case might have been a coincidence, but after several in a row, it was impossible not to suspect something was up.
Chen Jizhong told himself it couldn’t be, but he couldn’t shake his unease. Not long after returning to his office, he came out again to ask, "Has the logging machine from Jinchuan Forest Farm been taken back yet?"
"They never even brought it over, did they?" The person in charge of records flipped through the logbook. "No, they didn’t. They contacted us too late, and we didn’t have space left."
But Chen Jizhong’s gut told him otherwise. Jinchuan Forest Farm had been unusually passive—something was off. And Jinchuan Forest Farm had Qi Fang...
Qu Mingli’s call came right then. After the factory director finished the call, he immediately gathered the technical staff. "Everyone, come with me to the bureau. Secretary Qu says someone from a forest farm has come up with a solution."
Chen Jizhong’s heart sank. "Who came up with it?"
The factory director hadn’t even asked. "Don’t know yet. Let’s go see first."
And then Chen Jizhong saw the familiar handwriting on the design sketches—Qi Fang’s handwriting.
"Secretary Lang Zhongting from Jinchuan Forest Farm says they’ve already tested it, and it works. Take a look and see if you can replicate it," Secretary Qu told them.
Chen Jizhong stayed silent, but the most experienced senior technician at the factory pondered for a moment. "It does look feasible, but we can’t say for sure without seeing the actual thing."
They were a repair factory, not a manufacturing plant. While they could produce some parts, they didn’t have the capability to design new components from scratch.
Then Chen Jizhong watched as Qu Mingli thought for a moment and said, "Then let’s all go to Jinchuan Forest Farm and take a look." He arranged for motorcycles and personally led the group there.
No one had expected Secretary Lang’s trip to town would result in bringing back so many people—one of them being the newly appointed secretary of the town’s Forestry Bureau.
The motorcycles stopped by the narrow-gauge railway, and the group didn’t even go to the administrative office, heading straight for the small repair workshop. Before they even reached it, they saw the line of logging machines parked outside.
The workshop had a proper building and a yard, yet the machines were parked outside—meaning the inside was already full, and likely not just with Jinchuan Forest Farm’s own equipment.
Qu Mingli took it in stride, but the faces of the repair factory staff darkened, especially Chen Jizhong’s.
What a slap in the face. Machines they couldn’t fix had been taken back and brought here—to a small repair workshop in a forest farm.
As they went further inside, Chen Jizhong spotted a familiar face—the director of Naoshan’s small repair workshop, whom he had once snapped at when the man came to the factory to hurry them along.
The director was assisting Qi Fang, installing the parts Qi Fang had made, and when he saw the group, his expression remained completely unbothered.
But his lack of embarrassment only made the repair factory staff even more uncomfortable. Every one of them was secretly hoping Qi Fang’s solution wouldn’t work.
Unfortunately for them, the opposite was true. Before long, the logging machine was fully assembled, and Naoshan’s tractor operator tested it—it worked perfectly.
The group inspected it, then went up the mountain to see the two machines that had already been in use for several days. They had no choice but to admit Qi Fang’s solution was viable.
If it worked, they had to implement it quickly to get the forest farms back in operation before the county or the original manufacturers came up with something better. Qu Mingli initially wanted to temporarily transfer Qi Fang to the town but then remembered Secretary Lang mentioning Qi Fang had been transferred from the town’s repair factory to Jinchuan. He paused.
Even the county’s machinery factory hadn’t found a solution, yet Qi Fang had. And yet, someone with such skill had been demoted to a forest farm...
Qu Mingli scrutinized everyone present and quickly noticed the repair factory staff were visibly uneasy around Qi Fang—especially the youngest among them.
He changed what he was about to say. "Time is tight, and the task is urgent. The repair factory staff should stay here and learn how this is done."
Their faces immediately twisted as if they’d swallowed bitter herbs—unable to speak, but equally unable to hide their discomfort.
Chen Jizhong had been the one behind Qi Fang’s demotion. But the others weren’t innocent either—even if they hadn’t joined in, they had turned a blind eye.
Back then, things had been chaotic. Most people were too worried about themselves to care whether some young newcomer was treated unfairly.
And now, just three years later, they were the ones assisting Qi Fang and learning from him...
Chen Jizhong clenched his jaw, fists tightening under his sleeves to keep himself from snapping at Qu Mingli and declaring he wouldn’t learn from some cast-off dog.
In technical roles, skill spoke for itself. Senior technicians with high ratings could even disregard the factory director’s authority, and Chen Jizhong had dared to snap at people from the forest farms when they annoyed him. But Secretary Qu was different.
He had been sent from above, and rumors said he had deep connections. Chen Jizhong didn’t have the standing to challenge him—whereas Qi Fang now held all the advantages.
How could there be someone so naturally gifted in the world? Even after being sent to the logging team as a lumberjack, he still found a way to climb his way back.
Leaving behind the bitter-faced and even more bitter-hearted workers at the town’s machinery repair plant, Qu Mingli followed Secretary Lang to the forestry station to check on this year’s work progress before riding back on a motor cart.
Before leaving, he didn’t forget Secretary Lang’s request to add positions to the small repair plant, promising to handle it as soon as he returned and asking Secretary Lang to relay the message to Qi Fang so he could focus on his work.
With this assurance, Secretary Lang was completely at ease. He later found an opportunity to tell Qi Fang, "No wonder you weren’t worried about the training. With your skills, you really don’t need to be a saw operator."
Knowing the matter would be resolved, Qi Fang didn’t say much, simply thanking him sincerely before returning to work.
The workers at the town’s repair plant had assumed Qi Fang would gloat now that he had the upper hand—even if he didn’t deliberately make things difficult for them, he certainly wouldn’t be friendly. But Qi Fang acted as if he had never worked at the town’s repair plant and didn’t even know them, teaching and directing them as usual.
It was unclear whether he was too busy to bother or simply didn’t care, but his attitude made them feel like petty-minded fools for assuming the worst.
The more they saw how Qi Fang worked, the more they had to admit his talent—some people just had a natural knack for this kind of thing.
Many things seemed obvious once he explained them, but they would never have figured them out on their own, no matter how hard they racked their brains.
And this young man wasn’t just clever—his hands were steady, and he worked with complete focus. Watching him sometimes felt like observing a precision machine in constant motion.
It wasn’t until nearly nine at night, when the forestry station was about to cut power, that the "machine" glanced at his watch and said, "My wife is waiting for me at home."
After washing up and changing clothes, he told them to return at six the next morning and strode off toward home.
Such normal behavior was oddly unsettling for the others, who paused for a moment before also washing up and heading back to the guesthouse arranged by the forestry station.
Lying in bed, they couldn’t sleep, and their conversation soon turned to Qi Fang.
"He really is skilled. I think he might’ve been a college student."
"No way? How old was he when he came to the repair plant? Could he really have been in college already?"
"Then how else do you explain his abilities? Even the county machinery factory hasn’t figured some of this stuff out."
That was a fair point, and the other man fell silent. After a while, someone muttered, "What a waste of such talent."
Chen Jizhong, unable to sleep, stepped out to use the restroom. When he returned and overheard this, he grew even more restless.
Instead of going back inside, he wandered out of the guesthouse, letting the cold wind and snow clear his head as he pondered his next move.
Qi Fang had just made a huge impression. What if the bureau decided to transfer him back to town? All Chen’s scheming would have been for nothing.
But the bureau needed Qi Fang right now, making it impossible to act against him. The more Chen thought about it, the more frustrated he became—until he spotted a man relieving himself against a wall up ahead.
Men could pee anywhere—Chen had done it himself—but in his foul mood, he stormed over. "What kind of manners do you people have here? Pissing wherever you please? Have you no decency?"
The man, likely drunk, was slow to react before his temper flared. "I’ll piss wherever the hell I want! Who are you to tell me what to do?"
Meanwhile, Qi Fang paid no mind to the town’s repair plant workers. After returning home, he washed up quietly and prepared for bed.
The moment the door closed, a soft murmur came from the bed. "You’re back?" A small figure shifted under the blankets.
Qi Fang checked his hands—still chilly—so he didn’t reach out to embrace her, simply answering, "Mhm," before climbing into bed on the other side. "Not asleep yet?"
"How could I sleep soundly with the door unlocked?" Yan Xue yawned, instinctively scooting closer to him.
Without thinking, Qi Fang pulled her into his arms, pausing only after he’d already done so. "Next time, I’ll come back earlier."
Yan Xue hummed in agreement, nestling comfortably against him.
The soft, warm weight of her in his arms dispelled the lingering cold from his walk back from the repair plant.
Qi Fang pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Secretary Qu said he’d arrange my transfer to the small repair plant as soon as he gets back."
"So you won’t have to go up the mountain anymore?"
"Mhm."
Yan Xue was silent for a moment, her emotions unreadable. "Aren’t you tired after working all day?"
"Not really." Qi Fang answered reflexively before amending, "A little."
"Then why are you so… energetic?" Yan Xue was genuinely exasperated. Who got frisky the second they got home?
Qi Fang clearly understood what kind of "energy" she meant. After a pause, he brought his lips to her ear. "I wasn’t even thinking about it."
If he was already reacting like this without trying, what would happen if he actually tried?
Yan Xue pushed at him. "Do you know what time it is? Put your ‘weapon’ away, Great Sage."
This time, he nipped at her ear. "Where do you even learn these phrases?"
"You taught me." She said without a hint of guilt. "You’re the one who started telling me stories about the female general and her sword-bearing guard."
But even then, most people wouldn’t know about "sword-bearing guards."
Qi Fang still couldn’t figure out where Yan Xue picked up some of her knowledge. Whenever he asked, she claimed she’d heard or seen it before.
But how much could a girl raised in the countryside, with only a middle school education, have possibly heard or seen? Unless her biological father had been someone unusual?
Even so, Yan Xue had been young when her mother remarried. Even if she remembered things, how much could she have retained?
His curiosity was piqued, but before he could ask, their dogs suddenly started barking, followed by shouting outside.
"Stay here. I’ll check." He quickly pulled on his clothes and shoes.
When he returned, even Second Old Lady had been woken, standing in her doorway in a robe and whispering, "What’s going on?"
"Nothing serious. Just a drunken argument near the station."
After reassuring her, Qi Fang went back inside and told Yan Xue, "Yu Yongzhi got into a fight with Chen Jizhong."
Chen Jizhong and Yu Yongzhi?
Yan Xue was genuinely surprised. "How did those two even cross paths? Doesn’t Director Yu keep his son on a tight leash whenever officials visit?"
After past incidents, Director Yu had developed a habit of restraining his son whenever higher-ups were around to prevent trouble.
Qi Fang only said flatly, "Secretary Qu left this afternoon."
Fair point. The town’s repair plant had no authority over the forestry station, so Yu Yongzhi’s future wasn’t at risk. Director Yu couldn’t keep his son tethered to him twenty-four hours a day.
Still, one was sly, the other reckless—who knew who’d come out on top if they clashed?
Just as Yan Xue was about to lie back down, a deafening blast shattered the quiet of the night.
Her face paled. Qi Fang’s gaze darkened instantly.
"That was a gunshot."
Someone fired a shot.
Qi Fang: I hadn’t even loaded my bullet yet—how did the gun go off?
