Period: I Win Hearts on the Frontier with My Tractor

In 1976, at a mountain village on the frontier, I was plowing the fields on a smoking tractor, my throat parched. Sister-in-law Cuihua brought me some iced tea mixed with niujiaocao, and one sip was even more refreshing than cola. Just as I handed her the earthenware jar, she whispered, “Meet me tonight under the old locust tree at the village entrance.”