The Accidental Martyr of Shibao
By @john1208
It started with a delivery I never asked for. A man on a bicycle handed me a heavy, red silk-wrapped box declaring me a 'Local Hero.' My grand heroic act? I was napping under a broken tractor, rolled over in my sleep, and accidentally kicked a wrench that knocked a visiting provincial director out of the path of a falling timber. The reward for my 'valor' was an immediate appointment as Head of the New Progress Initiative. It’s a literal trap: if my initiative fails, I'm shipped off to a disciplinary camp; if it succeeds, I'll be burdened with endless administrative labor. I just want to reach my twentieth birthday in six months and legally retire to my hammock! My only line of defense is Liang Bo, my relentlessly cheerful husband who thinks my chronic, sarcastic apathy is a sign of deep philosophical wisdom. He insists on doing twice the labor to pamper me, while Qiao Meilin, the ambitious educated youth next door, ruins her health trying to steal my 'glorious' position. As Liang Bo accidentally over-achieves on my behalf and the deadlines loom, can I escape this bureaucratic prison before I'm accidentally promoted to the capital?
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