Chapter 021

Almost all the members who came to the meeting had arrived, and the brigade cadres had also taken their seats on the rostrum.

The reopening of Tanxi Primary School is something that needs to be emphasized today, so Liang Youtian, as the host of this meeting, announced the start of the opening ceremony.

Although the opening ceremony sounds a lot of fancy, in reality, nothing big happens.

The main process was speeches by the team leaders, followed by speeches by Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan.

When the brigade cadres were speaking, the ten educated youths below reluctantly listened to them to give the cadres face.

When Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan were talking, they began to distract themselves and whisper to each other, all of them looking like they didn't want to listen and were too lazy to listen.

After the speech, the opening ceremony also ended.

The brigade secretary asked everyone to applaud, and all the members clapped in unison. Many children also cheered, but ten educated youths did not raise their hands to clap.

As soon as the opening ceremony was over, some of them grabbed the benches beneath them, as if they were ready to leave quickly, intending to stand up immediately as soon as the stage announced the adjournment.

But after the applause ended, Liang Youtian did not announce the adjournment of the meeting.

They stopped working for half a day and called all the members to the threshing ground for a meeting, but of course it was not just about the child. No matter how important the opening of school is, it is not the business of all villagers.

Matters concerning all villagers can only be matters related to production.

Before talking about production, Liang Youtian started with a necessary part of every village meeting - praise and criticism.

Praise is naturally given to those who are down-to-earth, capable, excellent, advanced and have outstanding performance.

The list of people being praised naturally includes Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan, who recently completed the enrollment process and allowed the school to reopen smoothly.

There are many reasons for those who are criticized.

Some were lazy and didn't work, some fought and made trouble, some engaged in speculation, and some stole things. Those with minor offenses were only criticized on stage, while those with serious offenses were sent to the commune's human resources group or sent to labor camps.

Not many people were criticized this time, so the ten educated youth became the main targets of criticism.

Liang Youtian spoke in a stern voice, which was amplified by the loudspeaker beside the threshing floor. He used Han Ting's name to denounce the ten educated youths for being lazy and shameless.

Han Ting never cared about these things and didn't mind being criticized.

Han Ting, who was scolded by name, didn't care, and the other educated youth who were protected by him didn't care even more. They are still the same as before, listening in one ear and letting it out in the other.

Liang Youtian also knew their character, so he didn't waste too much time talking about them.

After denouncing Han Ting and the others, he adjusted his expression and tone, spoke a few simple words, and then put the microphone in front of the brigade secretary, asking him to start the important content of today's meeting.

Secretary Liu took the microphone and found a suitable position. He looked at the members and started talking. He first talked about the recent situation in the village, and then talked about the arrangements and goals for the coming year.

For farmers, a year's plan begins in spring.

Only if we do a good job of spring sowing now can we have a good harvest and life this year.

In addition to growing crops, he also encourages everyone to start side jobs and work hard to make their lives better.

The side job is naturally raising pigs and chickens, and growing crops and vegetables in private plots.

Secretary Liu said into the microphone in a stuttering voice: "Everyone should know that our brigade did not meet the target for pig production last year. This year, no matter what, we must meet the target. We must raise pigs according to the standards for both ends if we can take care of them at home. In order to enable everyone to do a good job in sideline business to supplement their lives, we have invited experts from the county today. The experts will tell you how to raise pigs to make them fat, how to raise chickens to lay more eggs, and how to take good care of the crops and vegetables in the fields. Increase the yield for me!"

The reason why all ten educated youth were called to the meeting today was not to let them attend the opening ceremony, but mainly to let them learn how to do side jobs.

These days, life is not easy if you just work without doing a side job.

These educated youth were young people who had just graduated from high school and did not know how to make a living.

They grew up in the capital and have no idea about raising pigs, chickens, farming or growing vegetables, so they must all be called over to listen to the county experts.

After Secretary Liu finished speaking, he handed the microphone to the expert invited from the county.

The expert took the microphone and without further ado, he started talking directly about what he had prepared.

Naturally, the members listened very carefully.

Who doesn't want their hens to lay more eggs, their pigs to grow more meat, and their private plots to produce more vegetables and grains? All these cost money and can make life better.

Chuxia and Lin Xiaohan also know the importance of having a side job for people in rural areas. Although they are teachers now, they still need to have a side job so that their lives can be better.

So they went to the office to get notebooks and pens, and wrote down the key points while listening.

Han Ting, on the other hand, was still nonchalant and didn't take it too seriously.

Living an honest life is the most boring thing for him, and he is not that kind of person.

At this stage, there are no daily necessities in his mind, only the passion and romance of youth.

The other nine educated youth all revolve around Han Ting, and they have not yet completely transformed from their identities as city dwellers and middle school students. They have no sense of adaptation and identity with their identities as rural people, and are confused and naturally don't care at all.

When the meeting was over, they were the most active in leaving, picking up their benches and leaving in groups.

They returned to the educated youth point in groups, complaining that the meeting lasted too long and their buttocks were numb from sitting there.

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan naturally did not leave, as they still had to clean up the venue and desks.

After Liang Youtian collected the red silk and the microphone, they called a few children who were playing nearby and asked them to help move the desks and benches back to the classroom.

A few children moved their desks into the classroom. When they turned around and saw the blackboard at the back of the classroom, they all widened their eyes and exclaimed "Wow!", each louder than the last.

Chu Xia smiled and said to them: "I drew this to welcome you to school. How about it?"

Several children looked at Chu Xia and said, "Comrade educated youth, you are really amazing."

Chu Xia smiled and said, "Don't call me educated youth anymore. My last name is Tang..."

Pointing at Lin Xiaohan, he said, "His last name is Lin. From now on, you can call us Teacher Tang and Teacher Lin."

Several children responded in unison: "Okay! Teacher Tang! Teacher Lin!"

The children couldn't sit still, so they played in the classroom for a while and then ran away again.

Chuxia and Lin Xiaohan stayed in the classroom and carefully adjusted the desks and chairs, arranging them neatly in rows and as close to the blackboard in front as possible.

After adjusting themselves, the two left the classroom and happened to meet Liang Youtian.

Liang Youtian held a black horse-head clock in his arms, walked up to Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan and said, "I found the clock, but it won't work, even if I turn it on."

Lin Xiaohan reached out and took it, "Let me take a look."

Liang Youtian handed over the bottle that was half the size of his middle finger. "This is the watch oil I borrowed from the secretary's home. You can use it if you need it, but you must use it sparingly and not waste it. If you can't fix it, I'll find someone to take it to the county town to repair it. There is no watchmaker in our commune."

Lin Xiaohan took the watch oil and nodded, "Okay, Captain Liang, I'll give it a try."

Liang Youtian added: "If you need any tools, go to the brigade and see if there are any that you can use. This stuff is really complicated and I can't understand it."

Lin Xiaohan naturally nodded, "Okay."

Liang Youtian did not leave after saying this, and called Lin Xiaohan again: "Don't rush to fix this, put the clock in the office first, and follow me with Comrade Xiaoxia. The team has marked out a private plot for you, I will take you to see it."

After answering, Lin Xiaohan hurriedly took the horse-head clock back to the office and put it away. Then he and Chuxia put on their schoolbags and followed Liang Youtian out of the school.

Liang Youtian naturally did not take Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan directly to see the land.

The land was distributed to the twelve educated youth together, so they had to take all twelve of them together to see it.

On the way to the educated youth point, Liang Youtian said to Chuxia and Lin Xiaohan, "The private plots are divided according to the number of people. Our brigade has one plot per person, and the twelve of you have one mu and two plots. You came late, and there is no real land in the village to be distributed to you. The villagers will not give you the land they have taken good care of. So you need to spend more time on your own to clean up the weeds and stones in the land, and try to dig deeper when plowing and loosening the soil, so that the land is loose and breathable. Add fertilizer and level it, and plant some seasonal things, and it won't be a problem. How to plant these things and how deep to plant the seeds have all been explained by the experts just now, so I won't go into details."

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan listened carefully to Liang Youtian's words and memorized them all.

As they were talking, they arrived at the educated youth camp. Liang Youtian was too lazy to see what Han Ting and the others were doing. He was in no mood to care about their lives. He entered the yard and shouted, "Everyone, come out!"

The ten educated youth were all in the boys' dormitory, and they came out together when they heard the noise.

When they got outside, Gu Yuzhu said, "Captain Liang, what do you want from us again?"

There was a hint of impatience in the words.

Liang Youtian ignored the past and said directly: "The experts taught you how to farm and do sideline business at the meeting just now. The brigade has marked out private plots for you. Now I will take you to have a look. The private plots are allocated to you to farm. No one will control you whether to farm or not, what to farm and how to farm."

Land has a special meaning for farmers. Many people will break their heads over land boundary issues, and a finger's width may mean their life. But for these ten young men from the city, distributing land to them does not make them excited, and they do not care how much they get.

They went to see the land with Liang Youtian with an indifferent attitude.

This piece of land is in very bad condition. It is on the bank of a river, facing the water and is on a slope covered with dead and newly grown weeds.

A dozen people stood on the river bank, looking at the wasteland next to the river.

Li Qiao frowned and said, "Captain Liang, you are kidding us, right? Can we grow anything here?"

Liang Youtian turned to look at her and said, "As long as it's land, you can grow things. We don't have any other vacant land in our village that we can give you to grow crops. This is the only piece of land left."

After saying this, he didn't give anyone else a chance to talk nonsense and directly took the prepared hemp rope to measure the ground.

Measure 6.7 meters vertically from the river bank, and then along the river bank, ten meters is one acre of land. Twelve people will naturally draw twelve ten-meter sections, for a total of 120 meters.

The ground was mapped out, and the boundaries marked.

Liang Youtian added: "This is one mu and two mu of land in total. Whether you want to plant them together or plant them separately, we don't care. It's up to you."

Before anyone else could speak, Chu Xia decisively said, "I want the easternmost acre of land, and I'll plant it myself."

Lin Xiaohan immediately spoke up: "I'll plant some crops myself, on the plot of land next to Tang Chuxia's."

Han Ting and the others looked at Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan together without saying anything.

Liang Youtian naturally did not get involved, and just said: "That's it, you guys should do what you need to do next. If you don't understand anything, go find someone to ask."

After saying this, Liang Youtian no longer stood there.

He didn't bother with it anymore, just turned around and left, going about his own business.

There were other things to do in school, and the land didn't need to be cleaned up right now, so Lin Xiaohan didn't stand by the river for long.

He naturally didn't say hello to anyone and just turned around and left.

Chuxia saw him leaving, so she turned around and caught up with him and followed him.

The other ten people turned to look at Lin Xiaohan and Chu Xia.

Gu Yuzhu said speechlessly: "Has she really become Lin Xiaohan's follower?"

Han Ting turned his head and watched Chu Xia walking away side by side with Lin Xiaohan, his eyes gradually darkening.

He felt suffocated. The tall and short figures disappeared from his sight, but he did not look away.