A Veteran Returns to a Fractured Village Egor reaches his brother’s crowded home to a chorus of fear, hunger, and suspicion. He dismisses empty war bravado, praises those who kept families alive, and condemns collaborators. Postwar virtues and sins blur in talk of partisans, policemen, and hard choices. The village waits to judge him by deeds, not medals.
Collective Farm Anger and a Reluctant Mandate Neighbors curse a power that shielded neither bodies nor bellies. Egor says as long as Soviet authority stands, kolkhozes stand, and there is no other road than turning earth. They ask to be left alone; he refuses and offers to lead. Responsibility is claimed amid distrust.
Cows Saved from Starvation by Sheer Will The cows lie in filth, feed and bedding gone, even roofs fed to them. Egor orders the herd to the meadow and drafts a half-deaf reed-player to draw them out. Women push and haul until the animals rise. A paralyzed barn moves because someone commands it to.
The Party Arrives, Credentials in Tow A district instructor convenes a meeting and unrolls Egor’s battle honors—Khalkhin Gol, orders, medals, party seniority. The room’s fatigue clashes with formal praise. Still, procedure opens the way for decisions. Borrowed authority buys a hearing.
Discipline, Long Days, and No More Theft Egor decrees twelve-hour days at the farm and ten in the fields, arguing that need bred thieving. He vows profit for state and members but only through iron discipline. Household plots and personal cows are lifelines, not luxuries. No more lies about easy gains—only work.
Families Split, Work Abandoned, Promises of Advance Husbands roam for wages, wives cling to city rooms, and marriage frays into absence. Egor summons them back to useful work and promises near-term advances. He warns that city comfort will not rebuild a farm. The choice is between scattering and rebuilding.
A Hard-Won Vote and a Harder Vow Egor is chosen and pledges that everyone will work—himself, staff, and older children. Pleas for exemptions and kinship favors are refused. Semyon gets no indulgence, only a night watch post. A new line is drawn in the dust.
Forging Cash from Iron A local craftsman can beat two hundred rubles a day with iron in hand; Egor proposes an artel split with the kolkhoz. Locks, hooks, and small metalwork become a cash river. Wages and funds get breath while fields catch up. Small industry props up empty bins.
A Widow’s Roof, A Boy’s Drawings Nadezhda brings Borka, who fights in dreams and draws his world by day. Partisans once hid them; the husband died in the first winter. Egor offers shelter without blurring lines. Survival needs roofs more than gossip.
Rough Justice with a Blind Edge Lament and temper tangle as a blind elder baits a savage temper and gets threatened. Egor forces order back with dogs and sticks if needed. He prides himself on sniffing out fakers and parasites. Law without trust bites like iron.
Sowing Time, Empty Manure, and Earnest Women Manure is sawdust and oats are late, while women demand the advances they were promised. Egor swears both pay and feed will come. He eats on the move and keeps tongues in check. Work begins anyway.
Old Breadmakers, New Roles Elders reject being yoked to cows and prefer their own ways. Egor offers them a house, rations, a cow by autumn, and a seat near management. He shoves slackers to night watch and names the malingerers. Authority learns when to bend and when to bite.
Drawing a Future Village With Boris, Egor sketches Konkovo ten years ahead—river bend, old elm, and each building set. School, hospital, farmyard, office, post, club, even a kolkhoz sanatorium all find their place. Not an album but a panorama so people can see the whole. They vow to show the future to everyone.
Advances, Rumors, and a Sidelined Wedding Monthly advances appear and tongues ask where the money comes from. Ironwork income splits between craftsman and kolkhoz, relieving empty pockets. A consolidated hay brigade forms; even forester and medic sign on. A brother’s short leave forces a wedding under the scythe.
Storm, Ruined Hay, and a Bitter Feast Pasha drives to finish stacks, but a squall tears them down. Egor’s scolding scorches the feast, warning that chaff won’t feed cows. Liza carries the hurt home in silence. He wants the day etched forever; the village calls it cruelty.
Spat-on Plans and Delayed Machines The grand village plan is smeared and mocked; pulling it would feel like surrender. Egor leaves it up as a witness and orders it scrubbed. The MTS stalls; he threatens to break the contract. When grain ripens, permission or not, he will cut.
Hand Harvest Against Orders With no top directive and the machine station inert, Egor launches manual reaping. District men promise consequences up to the party card. The kolkhoz finishes but tangles seed stocks, over-plan deliveries, and trudodni payouts. The harvest’s success births its scandal.
A Removal Attempt Meets a Village Vote At district review, Egor is branded coarse, willful, and lawless as a successor is floated. The hall refuses, votes him back, and accepts twelve-hour fields and fourteen on the farm. Together to communism, he warns, or not at all. Appointment is replaced by consent.
Records Are Not Bread Serdyukov parades 6000-liter cows and dazzling figures; Egor calls it show. He demands yield from the whole herd and grain from all sown acres. The task is high productivity, not awe. The room splits between parade and pantry.
A Hospital Promised, A Crisis Diverted A surgeon refuses a reeking hut and heads for Moscow; Egor promises a real hospital by New Year with equipment pledged. A child spikes to 39.7; suspected diphtheria sends them racing for city serum. Makeshift care bows to necessity. Health cannot be built from manure.
The Exile Returns with Ledgers and Scars Camp-worn Kochetkov appears with pelagra and a ban on his past. His wife remarried and daughter was told he died; he jokes of baths and bookkeeping. Egor offers him the kolkhoz ledgers and a place. A push to merge with Mayak is resisted—no riding on another’s back.
Slander in Print and a Hand Outstretched A journalist trumpets “professorial earnings,” and Egor fumes at saccharine filth done by order. The paper shrugs and moves on. His city wife arrives for money and a coat; he sends her to the station. A marriage survives only as a stamp and a lever.
A Drain of Youth in the Name of Learning Thirty youths are slated for institutes while barns and anvils stand empty. Egor interrogates motives, refuses some, and redirects others to needed trades. He signs releases but keeps the forge manned. Hope must not hollow the farm.
Grain Surrender and Saving People First The oblast presses for more deliveries, hinting at hidden stocks and liberalism. Egor yields grain, wiping out trudodni, and pays in cash, potatoes, and feed. He chooses to save the workforce; grain can be regrown—people cannot. Mayak’s leader quietly agrees.
Private Life Under a Public Gaze Gossip brands Egor a multi-wifer; he admits only a stamp and an estrangement. Nadya urges a clean divorce and a human life. He vows to settle his house and not let it be a weapon. Principle and loneliness share a bench.
A Petition for Fair Prices and Tools Egor drafts a memo arguing purchase prices mock labor and MTS power is misused. Chernov counsels facts, examples, and a turn of the screw, and readies to carry it to Moscow. The old soldier starts a new campaign. Paper becomes his next weapon.
A Denunciation and a Pawn A letter claims Egor surrounds himself with “enemies” and follows their cues. Kochetkov is named, but illness frees him while the smear aims at Egor’s post. The paper is snatched, but the poison hangs. He braces for the next blow.
Bread, Rats, and a Wry Toast Over a bachelor supper, Kochetkov jokes he ate rats for hygiene and looks older than his years. They drink to survival and to what still crushes. Egor sets his sights on Moscow for protection and change. Laughter rides beside bitterness.
The Bulletin of a Death A clinical note times a patient’s end at 2:50 as breath fails, then orders mourning flags. The village hears a state figure has died. Shock, ritual, and silence follow. Private grief must fit public rites.
Partings, Anger, and a Sudden Farewell Donya begs release to the city; Egor resists until he explodes and lets her go with curses. She leaves with a hard goodbye. Praskovya collapses and dies in the office, and flags rise again. Even harsh leaders are mortal.
A Child’s Cry After the Storm Pasha bursts in—Liza has given birth to a daughter. The news echoes like a charm across tired rooms. Life resumes its patient arithmetic. Out of grief and austerity, a new voice begins.