Chapter 235 Chat

Xie Yun and Yan Guixiang chatted with them for a few more minutes before saying goodbye and heading home. After dinner, the educated youth had to go to night school. By now, except for a few stubborn ones, most of them had received their primary school diplomas, even the elderly men and women. A large number of them had received their junior high school diplomas.

But night school should still be run, and we should teach everyone about policies, documents, historical allusions, and so on. We should do everything we can to open their minds. This is to improve the overall quality of the base. If everyone improves, things will be easier. Otherwise, there will always be those who are lagging behind.

When Xie Yun returned home, Zhang Ruifeng and Xie Shen had already prepared dinner and were waiting for her.

Zhang Ruifeng asked her, "Have you met the new educated youth?"

"Yes."

"How are the people?"

"They're all fine. They're two young ladies, both in good spirits and full of energy. You'll see them tomorrow morning. They want to go with me to the commune."

"That's good. The educated youth who come here are all very nice, with good personalities and are capable. They're not pretentious at all. How rare! Every time a new educated youth arrives, I'm a little nervous, afraid they'll be difficult to get along with and disrupt our excellent work with educated youth."

Zhang Ruifeng patted his chest as he spoke. "That's why I can't be a leader. I can't handle pressure and I can't accept change. Being a leader means you have to face all kinds of emergencies, both good and bad. And I just want everything to go smoothly without any setbacks. How can that be possible?"

Xie Shen said, "How can it be impossible? We've been developing very smoothly over the past few years. We've accomplished everything we wanted to do."

"That's because you only see the surface. You don't know how much work your sister and the others have done behind the scenes."

Xie Shen nodded, "That's true."

He asked Xie Yun: "Sister, what is the biggest setback you have encountered?"

Xie Yun: “…”

It's like a reporter's interview.

She thought for a moment and said, "I haven't really encountered any setbacks. Things have been going pretty smoothly. Maybe it's because our foundation is weak and there's a lot of room for improvement. Now is a time of rapid development and we haven't reached a bottleneck yet. If I have to say anything, it's that the progress is too slow. Ah! How I wish I could become a big shot in one go!"

Zhang Ruifeng laughed and said, "How is that possible? Even though I'm uneducated, I know you can't get fat in one bite. This isn't a setback."

“Then I have no setbacks.”

Xie Shen said: "Neither have I. I feel like everything is going well."

Zhang Ruifeng pondered for a moment and said, "I don't have any. I've had a really good life these past few years. My work is going well, my daughter is capable, and my son is great. I'm probably the happiest mother in the world."

Xie Yun and Xie Shen both said, "If we can make Mom feel like the happiest mom in the world, then we must be the best children in the world."

Zhang Ruifeng said, "Of course!"

☆

The next morning, when the Liushutun Commune work team gathered at the village entrance, Ren Xiuzhen and Tao Siqi also arrived as scheduled.

Xie Yun praised: "You two are so punctual!"

Tao Siqi said: "Sister Yue Zheng told us the time. She said that if we come at this time, we will definitely not miss it."

Yan Guixiang said, "Yue Zheng has always been reliable in his work. The two of you have continued the fine traditions of our educated youth site. It really fits in well with our Liushu Village!"

Xie Yun introduced the other three people to them: "This is my mother, Comrade Zhang Ruifeng. She works at the grain store. You can call her Aunt Zhang, Aunt Feng, or Comrade Zhang Ruifeng. This is my younger brother Xie Shen. He's an expatriate technician from the Rencheng Tractor Factory, studying and practicing at the research institute. This is Hongxia. She also works at the commune."

Yan Guixiang smiled and said, "Hongxia is my daughter. She has worked in the commune longer than I have. She started working there as a clerk in early 1969. She knows everything about the commune and the team. You can always go to her if you have any questions."

"Aunt Zhang, Xie Shen, Hongxia, hello."

Zhang Ruifeng, Xie Shen and Zhao Hongxia all responded with a smile.

Xie Yun asked, "Did you guys rest well yesterday? You just arrived here, are you used to it?"

Ren Xiuzhen said, "It's very good. The straw mat on my kang is very thick. It's neither too soft nor too hard, just the right size. I slept very comfortably. Before going to bed, Sister Yue Zheng saw that I didn't have a mosquito net, so she found a spare one and gave it to me, saying that there were still mosquitoes and I should be careful not to get bitten. I forgot about it when I went to the countryside and didn't bring a mosquito net."

Zhang Ruifeng said: "The mosquitoes will be around for another month, and they are more aggressive at this time of year, so we have to be careful."

Ren Xiuzhen said, "Sister Yue Zheng said the same thing. I put up a mosquito net yesterday and didn't get bit at all. But I could hear the buzzing of mosquitoes. I was worried at first, but then I saw that they couldn't get in. I don't know why, but I felt quite happy."

I feel like I can remain unmoved no matter how windy or rainy it is outside.

It also fits her current living environment. Although this era is very special, the place where she lives is even more special, like a paradise in troubled times.

It feels great.

She slept very soundly last night.

She did not go hungry, and did not have to worry about being plotted against, bullied, deceived or exploited. She was surrounded by beautiful young ladies who were considerate, hardworking and capable. Her leaders were easy to talk to and gave her clear room for development. In such an era, with such an environment, what else could she not be satisfied with?

All she needs to do is focus on developing her career, without any other intrigue or mind-wasting things!

Ren Xiuzhen's mental state today was much better than when she first arrived yesterday, so much so that she was in the mood to chat about gossip with Xie Yun.

"When I was in the county, I met a little girl. She looked small, with a baby face and was very cute, but she was full of ambition and passion. She took the initiative to go to the countryside to do something big and asked to go to the most difficult place. I was shocked by her! Yesterday she taught me a lesson. I must learn from her."

Xie Yun asked, "Did you go to Majiagou?"

Ren Xiuzhen nodded. "Yes, yes, that's right. When you think of the most difficult place, you think of this place. It shows how difficult it is."

Xie Yun said: "It's much better than before. In recent years, the county has made great efforts to provide support and rectification. They have specially carried out legal education and crackdowns in Majiagou to let them know that this is a new society and they should not be as lawless as before.

We also specially sent a commune secretary from the county. This guy was known for his strictness. The leadership team of Majiagou Brigade was also replaced, and there was some progress.

When Qushui County was making its development plan, it organized a county-wide survey, and the problems of Majiagou were discovered at that time. The geographical environment of that place was not very good, with low mountains and hills, and the roads were too difficult to travel. It was difficult for members to enter and exit. It was very difficult to go out every year to sell pigs and pay public grain. Even a cart could not move.

Other brigades used carts to sell pigs to pay the public grain tax, and later drove tractors, but they had to carry the pigs by hand.

It is too difficult to develop on the original site, so we are now moving out in a planned and phased manner."

Majiagou Brigade is a relatively isolated place. It developed after a family surnamed Ma settled there hundreds of years ago. There are many reasons for its backwardness.

Moreover, the clan consciousness there is quite strong. Everyone has the surname Ma and has the same ancestor.

The commune secretary, who had been in office for only two years, was striking hard there.

To say he was strict would be an understatement.

This guy is a retired soldier, but you can never tell that he is a soldier. He has a very tough personality, even more brutal than a gangster.

After learning about the situation in Majiagou, the county party committee leadership was thinking about who to send to rectify the situation. It turned out that the secretary and director of Meishan Commune, to which Majiagou belonged, had too gentle a work style, and a strong person needed to be sent to take the lead.

After selecting a bunch of people, they finally chose this one. He used to work at the county public security bureau, and after the public security, procuratorial and judicial organs were merged into the political and legal team, he joined the team. His personal temperament seemed out of place with the entire team, and he didn't seem like a good person at first glance.

He was not among the candidates initially considered by the county committee. He was recommended by a comrade from the political and legal group.

The county party committee leadership team spoke with him and immediately decided that he was the one! No one was more suitable than him!

The people of Majiagou were able to meet him because of the good deeds done by their ancestors.

I heard he'd done a lot of things there in the past two years, and the members who had originally been reluctant to move had finally agreed to do so. It was just that the new houses couldn't be built all at once, so they had to move out in batches.

Ren Xiuzhen said, "I see. It seems Liu Chengjun isn't too up to date with the latest situation. But as long as she's getting better, I'm glad. Otherwise, I'd be a little worried about her. She looks so young, like a child who hasn't grown up."

Yan Guixiang praised: "Our Xiuzhen is a good comrade. She is so caring towards the young comrade she just met for the first time. It shows that she has a kind heart."

Xie Yun said, "I'll call Secretary Yun later to ask about the latest situation over there and ask him to take extra care of it. Previously, because the situation in Majiagou was a bit difficult, our county didn't send any educated youth there. It was us locals who went there and worked hard to help them.

While we also hope that educated youth can contribute to the development of Majiagou, their personal safety is our top priority. We can't just send them there to take risks. The comrade Liu Chengjun you mentioned was able to go because she strongly requested it herself, and even the educated youth office's persuasion was useless."

The construction team led by Comrade Zheng Guoqiang went to support the construction of Majiagou.

Ren Xiuzhen nodded. "Yes, she asked for it on her own initiative. She told me that she was going to the most difficult place."

Xie Yun smiled and said, "Young man, it's good to have such aspirations. Don't worry, we in Qushui County are confident in what we do and can protect her."

Ren Xiuzhen said sincerely, "Our Qushui County is really great."

Xie Yun accepted the compliment without any modesty, "Of course."