Chen Jianghu's previously upturned lips instantly drooped, and his face turned ugly.

He did indeed refuse to agree to Chen Songbai marrying Qi Mei, and even separated him from his family.

But at that time he felt that it wouldn't be long before he would realize how difficult his life was.

When the time comes, won't they have to come back to their parents?

He had even thought of how to ridicule his son: "Those who don't listen to their elders will suffer the consequences."

Who knew that after they went abroad, they actually made a good living.

He built his own house and got married without needing any help from his parents.

If this weren't his son, he would have praised him for his "great ambition."

He didn't like Qi Mei back then. She was a widow, and to make matters worse, she seduced his son, causing him to disown his parents.

But now, the mushroom farm is entirely under her leadership, and she taught those women how to grow mushrooms.

These days, Chen Jianghu has realized that his son alone cannot make a living.

It has to be Qi Mei; she's capable, articulate, and knows how to get along with people.

Thanks to her reminders about interpersonal relationships, Chen Songbai has achieved his current position in the brigade.

It could be said that he could command a large following simply by calling upon someone.

He built mushroom houses, and Qi Mei led the women of the brigade to plant them one crop after another.

After harvesting the produce, Chen Songbai led his men to deliver it to the Lianhua Brigade.

As the team leader, Chen Jianghu knew the situation best. In the first few months of this year, those who participated all received several tens of yuan.

In previous years, that would have taken a whole year's worth of work points to accumulate.

Qi Mei also suggested that the women grow mushrooms at home, and Chen Songbai would then help them deliver them to the Lianhua Brigade, giving them an extra source of income.

Now the couple holds a very high position in the brigade, and people don't even greet them when they meet them.

Chen Jianghu didn't want to admit it, but there was nothing he could do. The younger generation surpasses the older; his son was better than him.

As the captain, Chen Jianghu was originally very proud of the brigade's development.

After being reprimanded by Captain Niu, he felt somewhat embarrassed, as if he himself had failed to recognize someone's true worth.

"Hmph, this is my family matter. What right do you, an old man, have to comment? Are you just jealous of our brigade?"

He guessed right away: the sweet potatoes that the Bull Head Brigade delivered to the workshop were definitely not as valuable as the mushrooms.

However, sweet potatoes grow quickly and in large quantities, so the difference isn't actually that much.

Sweet potatoes are heavy, so transporting them is quite difficult.

Old Niu was just jealous that the mushrooms the other person gave him were lightweight, easy to transport, and valuable.

But he didn't realize how easy it is to grow sweet potatoes; there are so many experienced farmers in the village who are experts at it.

Mushrooms require rather demanding conditions; they won't grow much when the weather is too dry.

Each has its advantages and disadvantages.

So Chen Jianghu couldn't bear to see Old Man Niu suffer either, and they started arguing.

Captain Huang of the Dongfeng Brigade was honest and feared that the two would fight, so he kept trying to break them up.

Now the two of them have turned their attention to him again, saying that the fruit is even better, as it is more valuable and has a higher yield than sweet potatoes.

Captain Huang didn't know how to be modest, and chuckled and said, "Yes, I never thought this kind of fruit could be so good in the early years. I used to eat it all myself, and if I couldn't finish it, it would rot on the tree."

Thinking of their past, Chen Jianghu and Captain Niu both fell silent.

Life is so much better now than before; they're just being insatiable.

Chen Jianghu nodded and said, "We should be content. Think about the famine years, when we were so hungry we had to eat tree roots."

Captain Niu agreed, saying, "Now that the brigade has this additional income, everyone is eating better. I see all the kids in our brigade are chubby, and it makes me happy."

The person who felt this most deeply was Captain Huang of the Dongfeng Brigade. His brigade was the poorest one. Thinking of the children in his brigade, he smiled.

Lin Aiguo waited until they finished talking before joining them. He had no choice; they had just been arguing, and he was afraid of being pulled into taking sides if he went over.

After they finished arguing, Lin Aiguo came over and chatted with them about their recent situation.

Because of the workshop, the team leaders all respected Lin Aiguo very much.

They were also asked if they had any new plans.

Lin Aiguo also has many things to boast about, the workshop being a well-known fact.

"You don't know yet, but our workshop bought a big truck."

Today's meeting was attended by all the team leaders from Qingshan Commune. Upon hearing this, everyone gathered around.

"Wow, your workshop is making so much money, you even bought a car?"

"Then where did you get your driver?"

"Exactly, even if you have a car, you still need to know how to drive it."

Lin Aiguo proudly said, "Our brigade trained its own drivers."

This surprised everyone even more: "You guys did it yourselves? How did you do it? Where did you get a teacher to teach you?"

Lin Aiguo then told the secretary about how he had helped recruit an outside helper from the transportation team.

Lu Yunfeng hadn't said anything at first, but he listened to a group of old men boasting to each other.

I never expected that this fire would backfire on me.

The old men below looked at him, indicating that they wanted him to say a few words.

"Ahem, well, the development of the workshop will benefit our entire commune, so I will try my best to help you."

The old men finally got their chance.

"Secretary Lu, can't you help us out and give us a side business or something?"

"Old Lin and his brigades are all beaming with health and happiness, but we're still struggling. What are we going to do?"

“If this continues, I might as well quit being the captain. I’ll let down the people in my captain’s team.”

"Hey, you're right, it's our fault for being useless."

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