Section 111: The Ox Yoke

The other party’s shouting really worked. A vivid image immediately surfaced in Li Zhan’s mind: a sloppy, unkempt man, one hand on his hip as if his kidneys were failing, the other clutching a receiver, screaming wildly into the phone with spit flying everywhere. The reason this image was so realistic was that Li Zhan had personally witnessed this sloppy man perform this exact act countless times.

This man was none other than Li Zhan’s closest friend, Zhao Guoqing—a name with a very rustic, easy-to-remember ring to it.

The two had played together since preschool, remaining friends through college graduation and into their professional lives, often getting together for small hangouts. Unlike Li Zhan, who had been a steady business manager for three years, Zhao Guoqing had spent those three years job-hopping like a revolving door. As he put it, if only he changed girlfriends as frequently as he changed jobs, how wonderful that would be. In truth, Zhao Guoqing wasn't exactly aiming too high; it was mostly because his company leaders were left with a "deep impression" of him. For instance, he was too blunt and tactless, refused to yield to his superiors, and his unkempt appearance tarnished the company’s image—the list went on.

These "deep impressions" always led the company leaders to feel that Zhao Guoqing was overqualified for their firm and deserved a better environment to flourish. Consequently, Zhao Guoqing was frequently and politely, yet firmly, shown the door.

Every time he was "invited" out of a company, Zhao Guoqing would buy a phone card, march onto the street in a fury, find a public phone, dial the leader’s direct line, and start screaming with his hands on his hips. Once the leader hung up, he would move to another public phone, repeating the cycle until the card ran dry. Afterward, he would seek out Li Zhan, and after three drinks, he would start railing against the world, denouncing all bosses as stupid pigs. He’d claim their eyes were covered in gunk, unable to see that he was a massive piece of gold—no, a diamond—right in front of them.

Hearing Zhao Guoqing’s familiar tone, Li Zhan knew at once that this kid had been "shown the door" by another company. Sure enough, after a round of yelling, Zhao Guoqing added yet another boss to his list of "stupid pigs."

As always, Zhao Guoqing wanted Li Zhan to go out for a drink. Li Zhan was so sleepy his eyelids were fighting to stay open, and while he considered declining, it felt wrong. When a friend was going through a rough patch, he should go and offer some support, however exhausted he might be. After agreeing over the phone, Li Zhan hung up, closed the refrigerator, tidied up a bit, and headed out to the address Zhao Guoqing had given him.

At a small snack shop, Li Zhan found Zhao Guoqing, who had been waiting for a long time. His hair was a chaotic mess, as if he’d been struck by lightning. He had one foot propped on a stool, cheeks bulging as he shoved steamed buns into his mouth, looking oblivious to the surprised stares of the other patrons. Seeing Li Zhan arrive, Zhao Guoqing gestured to the seat beside him, his mouth too full to speak.

The two ordered a few bottles of beer and some stir-fried dishes. They ate and chatted; in reality, nine out of ten sentences were spoken by Zhao Guoqing, while Li Zhan served as a mere listener. When only two glasses of beer remained, and Zhao Guoqing had finished recounting his grievances against his bosses in a slow, steady stream, the now bleary-eyed and slurring Zhao Guoqing raised his glass to toast Li Zhan, insisting on a "deep bond, one gulp down." He swayed so much that they missed each other several times, and eventually, Li Zhan had to use his other hand to steady Zhao Guoqing’s glass to finally make them clink.

After downing the drink, Zhao Guoqing slurred, "Old Li... I’ve been talking... about myself the whole time... Old Li, are you... still working as a... business manager?"

Li Zhan was just about to say he had been squeezed out of the company by the "Old Fox," when he heard a *thud*, followed by a clattering sound—Zhao Guoqing’s head had hit the table, then slid under it, sending plates and bowls crashing to the floor.

Li Zhan was already used to this. The clerk calculated the cost of the meal and the broken dishes, and Li Zhan swiped his card. After taking the credit card back, Li Zhan and the clerk helped Zhao Guoqing out of the shop and into a taxi.

Like Li Zhan, Zhao Guoqing lived away from his parents. However, Li Zhan was now so exhausted he could barely stand. He didn't have the energy to take him back to his place, so he had to bring him home and get some sleep himself.

After finally getting Zhao Guoqing onto the bed, Li Zhan rubbed his aching shoulders and looked at his friend snoring away. "Whether those bosses are stupid pigs, I don't know," he muttered, "but if anyone called you a dead pig right now, I certainly wouldn't disagree."

Yawning, Li Zhan walked to the living room, picked up the *Empire Weekly*, and collapsed onto the sofa. Before he could turn two pages, his hand dropped, and he was already asleep.

***

By two in the afternoon, Li Zhan woke up. He went to the bedroom first to check on Zhao Guoqing, who was still sleeping like a dead pig; judging by his posture, he wouldn't wake up even if a magnitude-100 earthquake hit. He went to the kitchen, grabbed a bite to eat, and returned to the bedroom to adjust Zhao Guoqing’s rather indecent sleeping position to something more gentlemanly. Then, with great effort, Li Zhan moved a single sofa from the living room to his computer; there was no helping it, as the bed was occupied by the "dead pig," so he had to curl up on the sofa to log in.

As the scenery before him became clear, Li Zhan logged in beside the newly completed schoolhouse. According to Ruoyan’s idea, the schoolhouse would open to villagers after dinner every day to provide advanced skill training, with rewards offered by the village; villagers were not charged for this instruction. It was currently the villagers' working hours, so the school was quiet.

Li Zhan walked to the pavilion in front of the school, looked around with a satisfied smile, and strolled inside.

The layout of the lecture hall was similar to a real-world classroom: spacious, with a podium at the front and dozens of double-desks, accommodating about sixty people at a time. After inspecting the lecture hall, Li Zhan went to the research lab, where villagers with advanced skills gathered to study technologies related to production.

As he pushed the door open, he saw Ruoyan and five female cotton farmers discussing something. Aside from two who had been growing cotton in the village all along, the other three were technical experts Li Zhan had dispatched to five tribes, including the Waiwai tribe. Having completed their mission of training a batch of qualified cotton farmers for those tribes—enabling them to develop their cotton cultivation independently—they had been personally sent back by their respective tribal chiefs.

Seeing Li Zhan enter, the cotton farmers stood up to greet him. Ruoyan said happily, "You’ve come at the perfect time. The cotton farmers are about to succeed in their research. Come and take a look."

Curious, Li Zhan walked over quickly, gesturing for them to continue. Ruoyan stepped aside, and Li Zhan crouched down next to her, watching as the farmers used dry twigs to draw in the sand, debating with each other from time to time.

Ten minutes later, a V-shaped pattern was drawn in the sand, and the five farmers nodded in unison, satisfied with their "research." Li Zhan frowned, studying the design for a long time without understanding it, so he asked one of the farmers. The woman smiled and said, "Master Mayor, you may not know this, but when we plow the fields, the oxen and the wooden plow are just crudely tied together. Because we couldn't find a proper load-bearing point on the oxen, they always felt like they couldn't exert their full strength when pulling the plow. After some exploration, we discovered that an ox's neck has a very high load-bearing capacity and can handle a lot of force. However, the rope is only as thick as a finger, so we needed something to prevent it from digging into the ox's flesh under tension. After half a day of study, we came up with this: a blunt-angled wooden frame to sit on the ox's neck, with a hole drilled through it to thread the rope. This way, we can fully utilize the ox's strength while preventing the rope from cutting into its skin."

Li Zhan only half-understood; having lived in the city his whole life, he had no concept of agricultural tools. He looked at Ruoyan, who appeared equally bewildered. With a wry smile, Li Zhan asked, "Does this thing you’ve researched have a name?"

The woman consulted with her four companions, nodded, and turned back to Li Zhan. "We’ve decided to call it a 'Niu Yang' (Ox Yoke)."

**Ox Yoke:**
**Description:** A tool placed on the neck of an ox to help it pull loads.
**Effect:** Increases plowing efficiency by 20%.
**Research Cost:** 300 Food, 150 Wood (Standard).
**Production Cost:** 1 Wood.

Li Zhan nodded blankly. "Oh, an Ox Yoke. Alright, go to the joint workshop and have Wang Hui and the others produce this... Ox Yoke. Start with fifteen."

The villagers acknowledged and walked out of the research lab toward the joint workshop.

Turning back, Li Zhan saw Ruoyan still frowning at the diagram in the sand. He laughed. "Alright, stop racking your brain over it. Once the—whatever-it-is—is produced and fitted onto the ox's neck, we’ll both understand how it works. By the way, how much did this research cost?"

Ruoyan sighed helplessly; the first piece of research she had presided over ended with her not even understanding what it was, which was quite a letdown. Hearing Li Zhan, she opened her deputy mayor’s menu and checked. "176 Food, 92 Wood."

Li Zhan nodded; it was much cheaper than standard research. Seeing Ruoyan’s weary expression, he remembered she hadn't logged off to rest. A thought crossed his mind, and a smile played on his lips. He suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Oh my, why are there such deep crow's feet at the corners of your eyes?"

Ruoyan jumped up, frantically touching the corners of her eyes in a panic. "Really? Where?"

Li Zhan had wanted to keep pointing and saying, "Here, and here... oh my, there are so many," but seeing her flustered, anxious expression, he couldn't bear to continue the joke. He chuckled, "I'm just teasing you. But if you don't log off and get some rest, those crow's feet might really start to show."