"Haichao, I'm serious. How about introducing me to your fourth sister? I've got working hands and feet, and I can provide for a family..." Xiaoqiang whispered as they walked, doing his best to plead his case.
Chen Haichao clenched his fist and waved it in front of him. "You want to be my brother-in-law?"
"I can butter up my little brother-in-law!"
He thought it over. In his previous life, this guy hadn't seemed to beat his wife, either. He was a hard worker and treated his wife and children fairly well. Apart from smoking, drinking, and not having much money, he didn't have any bad habits.
He lowered his fist. "My sister has to choose her own happiness. You'd better not damage her reputation, or I'll beat you to death."
"I definitely won't."
Chen Haichao said no more. In any case, this guy definitely didn't stand a chance. Once this busy spell was over, he would talk to his parents and have his fourth sister try this year's college entrance exam again.
Since she had never stopped studying and still had the spirit for it, she might as well try again, so she wouldn't carry the regret for the rest of her life.
She had kept it bottled up and never said a word, surely because she didn't dare try again after failing twice, feeling she had let her family's expectations down. After all, the family hadn't made her work while she studied, letting her focus entirely on her books and review.
Chen Haichao pushed the handcart toward the production brigade, chatting and laughing with his friends along the way.
It was nearly noon, and the rising temperature made it a little hot to walk. Smoke was drifting from every household's chimney. When they reached the production team's compound, only the old accountant was still there, sitting at the entrance and basking in the sun.
"I don't think it's your turn to work today. Why aren't you at home? What brings you to the team?" the old accountant asked slowly.
He went up to greet him with a smile. "Uncle Wang, we're here to borrow something from the team. We found a big log on the beach and wanted to borrow two rollers and a bundle of thick hemp rope to move it home. We'll return them as soon as we're done, and we definitely won't hold up the team's work."
"Is it heavy? You even need rollers?"
"Very heavy. I reckon it weighs six or seven hundred jin."
Accountant Wang stood and led them into the production team's compound. "That's no small log. If it isn't rotten, you've had a good bit of luck."
"Our luck was pretty good, so we came to borrow the rollers."
"Borrowing them is fine. Just remember to bring them back promptly when you're done."
As he walked farther in, Accountant Wang pulled out a large bunch of keys hanging at his waist and unlocked the tool shed beside the storeroom.
It was a simple shelter with a wooden door, used specifically to store the production brigade's assorted tools.
"The rollers are in that corner, and the hemp rope is over there. Carry them out yourselves. When you come out, sign your names to show you've borrowed them, then sign again when you bring them back to clear the record."
"Got it. Thanks, Uncle Wang."
Three old fir logs, each as thick as the mouth of a bowl, had served as rollers for years, placed under heavy objects so they could be rolled along. They had been worn pitted and uneven, but were especially sturdy and hefty.
The four young, strong men worked together to lift all three logs onto the handcart. They arranged them properly, secured them with rope, and headed back to the beach.
Uncle Chen and his three sons had already reached the beach ahead of them and were talking with Chen Haichao's father around the piece of bogwood.
They rocked it back and forth, testing its weight, but it wouldn't budge an inch.
When Chen Haichao's father saw him coming with the handcart, he called out, "The rollers are here! Without logs underneath, this thing really is hard to move."
Chen Haichao's mother and Chen Pandi gathered a little more from the last of the tide, then came ashore and called it a day.
Everyone's eyes were fixed on the smooth, glossy, dark brown log lying on the beach.
When Uncle Chen and the others had arrived, they had praised the fine wood over and over, and Chen Haichao's friends praised it all over again when they got there.
Chen Haichao's father called for everyone to help first. "Take the rollers down and try putting them underneath. Otherwise, there's no way to move it."
Chen Haichao and his three friends lifted the rollers back down.
Several of the young men took the thick hemp rope and wound and knotted it tightly around both ends of the bogwood, fastening it securely so it wouldn't roll away, slip, or come loose.
Chen Haichao's father crouched on either side of the log to check the positions and directed them. "Careful. Place two rollers beneath the log's center of gravity, one in front and one behind, with even spacing. Don't let them go crooked. If they do, they'll easily get stuck in the sand and send the whole thing toppling."
They did as he said, working in pairs to shift the rollers bit by bit to the side of the log.
The heavy bogwood pressed firmly into the beach, sunk into a shallow pit in the sand. Manpower alone couldn't shift it in the slightest, nor could they pry it up.
Chen Haichao's father and Uncle Chen each took a thick wooden pole Uncle Chen had brought, wedged it beneath the bogwood, and used it as a lever.
"One, two, three, lift..."
The two strained at once, teeth clenched and faces flushed. The thick poles bent slightly under the pressure, and the bogwood finally lifted clear of the beach, opening a gap.
"Quick, roll a roller in!"
Chen Haichao urged them on, swiftly slipping the first roller securely into the gap and adjusting its position.
Next, his father and Uncle Chen moved to another position and strained again, letting the second roller slide smoothly beneath the bogwood, followed by the third.
When they let up, both men breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
Chen Haichao checked the positions of the ropes and rollers again, as well as whether the ropes were securely fastened to the bogwood. Once he was sure everything was in order, he immediately assigned everyone a job.
"Four people in front pull the rope, and four in back push the log. Mom and Uncle, stay on either side to steady it and keep it going straight, so the rollers don't go crooked. Keep taking a roller from the middle and moving it to the front. Everyone, keep in step and take it slowly. Dad, Uncle, does that arrangement work? Pandi can push the handcart home. If Dad gets tired, he can switch places with Uncle."
His father nodded and said with relief, "All right, we'll do as you say."
Uncle Chen agreed. "Then I'll push from the back. You young folks decide among yourselves who goes in front and who goes behind. You can switch around later."
The others didn't mind either way. They all had to put their backs into it, and if anyone got tired, they could just switch halfway.
Chen Haichao went to the front and took hold of the hemp rope. Everyone else got into position too, those in front gripping the rope and those behind bracing against the log, ready to push at any moment.
"Ready?"
"Ready!"
Everyone answered in turn.
"Go..."
Chen Haichao gave a low shout, and everyone immediately strained together.
The hemp rope across their shoulders pulled taut at once. It took a while for the fir rollers underneath to start turning, and the log slowly moved toward the shore.
It worked!
Getting started was the hardest part. Once the rollers underneath began turning, the people at both ends immediately had an easier time.
Still, nobody let up. They all worked together to move it ashore, and once they reached the dry, hard ground, it became even easier. The sand on the beach was soft, after all, and took more effort.
After they entered the village, plenty of people saw them. Everyone was curious and asked about it.
"Oh? Where did such a big log come from?"
"What kind of wood is that? Where did you get it?"
Walking alongside the log with a hand against it, Chen Haichao's mother gave a casual answer. "I don't know what kind it is. We picked it up on the beach and thought it would be a waste to leave it, so we're pushing it home. We can pay someone a bit to make a table, chairs, or stools out of it."
People gathered to watch all along the way, and Chen Haichao's mother gave them all the same answer.
Once they had pushed the log to her front door, she immediately moved the dried shrimp she had laid out there to dry and found a corner farther in for everyone to leave it. Then she warmly invited them.
"Thank you for all your hard work, putting in so much effort to help push it home from the beach. Stay for lunch. I'll go cook right now."
Chen Haichao's friends repeatedly waved their hands.
"No need. It was just a small favor. We'll go home and eat. Our families have already cooked, so don't go to the trouble."
"Yeah, it was only a small favor. We had nothing to do anyway."
Uncle Chen said, "We're family, not strangers. There's no need to be so polite. We only lent a hand."
Chen Haichao's eldest cousin, Chen Haiyang, shook out his arms and said with a smile, "I'm going home to eat too. Call me if you need anything. Abao's been looking more grown-up lately, huh?"
"Have I? If you think I'm grown-up, stop calling me Abao. Call me by my full name."
"All right, we'll be going then. We need to get home for lunch too."
Xiaoqiang said, "I'll leave you to take the rollers back to the production brigade, all right? I'm going home to eat too."
"Sure."
After everyone dispersed, only a bunch of curious neighborhood children remained at the front door, circling the log and occasionally reaching out to touch it.
Chen Haichao's mother chased them all away, including her own boy-and-girl twins, then brought out a piece of waterproof nylon sheeting.
"Let's cover it first, so it doesn't get rained on. It's too big to get inside, so we'll just cover it and leave it by the door for now. After the New Year, we'll get a carpenter to have a look."
Chen Sidi came out of the house and exclaimed repeatedly at the sight of the enormous log. "You really did push it back! It's so big. Does it weigh several hundred jin, six or seven hundred?"
Chen Haichao walked around the log and touched it again. "Probably seven or eight hundred jin? It was hard to move before because it was buried in the sand."
He also gave his mother a hand covering it, weighing down the edges and corners with large stones.
Even after looking at it all the way home, he still wasn't sure whether it was bogwood, so he would just assume it was for now. He wasn't an expert, and it didn't look as though anyone else recognized its value, so he left it by the door. No one could carry it away anyway. Later, he would have a carpenter come and see what it would be good for making.
He already had the shapes of a tea table and tea chairs in mind.