Chapter 349 Our Eastern and Western Europe (Bug Fixing): As expected of the Provincial Party Committee Leader

Compared to the undercurrents at the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Jinning's Spring Festival was eerily peaceful.

Because high school student Chen Jingjing was busy with her studies, her uncle's family did not return to China for the Chinese New Year this year.

Chen Yanqiu and Wang Tiejun didn't have any other close relatives, so Wang Xiao even skipped visiting relatives for the New Year.

Logically speaking, after a busy year, this rare moment of peace and quiet should be very comfortable.

At least Wang Xiao could stay at home and while away the day watching the plum blossoms in the yard.

However, Comrade Chen Yanqiu had been working in the trade union for a long time and couldn't stand it anymore. She felt uncomfortable seeing her daughter doing nothing.

Around this time last year, at least Xiaoxiao brought Ivan home. Even though that dissolute Russian wasn't a good son-in-law candidate, at least he was at least a decent person, right?

This year is over. I'm all alone now. Wu Haoyu is a thing of the past, and the old Russian is in Moscow.

After thinking it over, Chen Yanqiu brought the fruit to her daughter's side.

Wow, I'm really impressed. She can play with a sand painting over and over again without getting bored at all.

Chen Yanqiu peeled an orange and put it in her mouth: "Xiaoxiao, can I talk to you about something?"

Wang Xiao nodded and continued watching the sand fall little by little.

This is a relaxing experience for her, a relaxation where she doesn't have to think about anything.

A carefree little immortal.

Unfortunately, her carefree life was destined to be short-lived, because the next second, Chen Yanqiu dropped a bombshell: "Xiaoxiao, why don't you have a child?"

Wang Xiao's eyes widened. Before she could even choke, her mother launched another attack: "It doesn't matter whether you get married or not. Just have a child. If you don't have time to raise it, we'll raise it for you."

Chairman Chen was full of confidence: "If we can raise you so well, we can definitely raise your children well too."

Wang Xiao really choked. She coughed repeatedly and finally managed to finish drinking the water before she could catch her breath. She was speechless with frustration: "Mom, what's wrong with you again?"

"Oh, what are you afraid of?" Chen Yanqiu assured her, "Don't worry, you won't have to pay a cent. With your dad's and my salaries combined, you're not afraid of not being able to raise a child."

What is the essence of marriage? With her simple wisdom, Chairwoman Chen summarized her experience as—raising children together to ensure the continuation of one's genes.

She poured her heart out to her daughter: "Look, our family doesn't lack money. Your dad and I will help you, and you don't need a man to lend you a hand."

She earnestly advised, "Look how outstanding you are. Wouldn't it be a great pity if this outstanding bloodline weren't passed down?"

Since 1991, President Chen has traveled abroad many times, broadened his horizons, and felt that there was nothing wrong with raising a child alone.

Looking at her carefree and confident demeanor, Wang Xiao could only think two words: Heh.

She was a soul transmigrated into another body, not a physical one; her body still contained the original owner's genes.

As for the ability to raise children, given the original owner's life trajectory, a selfish person like Wang Xiao wouldn't want to suffer the hardship of being a cheap mother for even a moment.

Chen Yanqiu was still going on and on about the benefits of raising a child when Wang Xiao shut her up with one sentence: "I don't want one! Difficult childbirth can kill people!"

The former factory doctor was speechless and exasperated: "Fine, fine, I don't need you to take care of me or give birth to me, I'll give birth to you, okay?"

Wang Xiao was about to say, "Whatever."

Her mother went straight for the nuclear bomb: "I'll get pregnant for you, I'll be your surrogate, okay?"

It's no wonder Chen Yanqiu's actions were so shocking. In 1995, surrogacy in China was considered an assisted reproductive technology, a fashionable and advanced high-tech method.

Chen Yanqiu herself had also seen a foreign news story: a daughter was unable to conceive and have children due to health reasons, so the doctor transferred the embryo into her mother's uterus, and then the grandmother completed the mother's work.

She argued confidently, "You don't even need to worry about mitochondrial inheritance. You inherited my mitochondria, and your daughter will inherit the same."

Wang Xiao stared blankly at the spot.

Who, who said the older generation is conservative? If they were to explode, they could blow up the entire Pacific Ocean.

Wang Xiao quickly stopped her, saying, "Mom, please stop. How old are you to be risking your life like this? Besides, you're going to have my baby? What am I supposed to call her, my sister or my daughter? It'll create all sorts of problems."

"Whatever," Chen Yanqiu said, having come to terms with it. "What you're called doesn't matter; what matters is that your genes are passed down."

Wang Xiao refused without hesitation: "No, no, when humanity was at its most brilliant, there were plenty of people with better genes than me. Society is constantly progressing, so what if these genes aren't passed down? Better genes will always emerge."

Chen Yanqiu got really anxious and slapped her on the shoulder: "You little brat, why are you so stubborn? We don't need you to give birth to us or raise us, we just want you to contribute an egg cell."

“I won’t contribute.” Wang Xiao shook his head vigorously. “I can’t contribute a single drop of my blood.”

Seeing that his wife was about to glare at him, Wang Tiejun was afraid that the mother and daughter would start arguing, and he couldn't afford to offend either of them.

"Okay." Wang Tiejun quickly acted as a firefighter, pulling his wife's arm towards the kitchen. "Look, do you want to stew it again? I feel like it's all mushy."

Chen Yanqiu entered the kitchen, still grumbling, "What am I doing this for? I'm just worried she'll be lonely. Look at your daughter, how lonely she is!"

Sometimes, she would feel a sense of fear, as if Xiaoxiao didn't care about anything deep down and could abandon everything.

If she were to say this to others, they would definitely think she's crazy or has a mental disorder.

She didn't dare to say anything, afraid that people would look at Xiaoxiao with strange eyes.

Wang Tiejun wasn't as perceptive as his wife: "I think your thinking is wrong. How old is Xiaoxiao? How do you know she won't get married in the future? If she does get married, what will well-off men think about her?"

Chen Yanqiu dismissed the question, saying, "What kind of boy could be worthy of our Xiaoxiao?"

Well, one second they were complaining, the next they're all proud.

Wang Tiejun was at a loss for words, and then his wife berated him: "Just stay in the kitchen, I get annoyed just looking at you. I don't know how you manage your daughter."

Wang Tiejun thought to himself: When did my status in the family become so high? I had no idea! I can actually discipline my daughter now?!

There was a sound in the living room; the television was turned on.

This is also a family habit; they watch any news program, whether it's CCTV or a local station.

The news currently playing is from Jiangdong Province. This segment focuses on people's livelihood. It tells the story of how, on the afternoon of the first day of the Lunar New Year, instead of busy visiting relatives and friends or entertaining guests, the entire village, young and old, worked together to repair roads.

It's not that every village has a road; roads are built from the village to the town. Their village has a road leading to the town, but there isn't a main road for tractors to drive into the fields.

This means that during the busy farming season, young and middle-aged people must work in the fields. Otherwise, even the harvested crops cannot be transported out.

But in this village, most of the young and middle-aged people have gone out to work. In order to return home to harvest the crops, they have to ask for leave to go home every summer and autumn.

In the writings of writers and poets, this kind of thing becomes a particularly romanticized expression of longing for one's hometown. But in reality, farmers who go out to work don't need this kind of romance at all.

How much does it cost to travel home from my workplace and back? What if I can't get a ticket? And how much can I earn in the time I lose by taking time off to go home?

Adding all these losses together, they'd probably equal the harvest from the fields. After all, grain prices are low right now.

In the news report, the man being interviewed by the reporter used to be the militia captain of his village. Later, he became a contractor and led the villagers to work in other places.

He felt that this wouldn't work. To achieve agricultural modernization, we needed to use harvesters and tractors, so that agricultural production could be accomplished by the elderly, women, and children.

Simply put, it's not economically worthwhile to call them all back during the busy farming season.

The problem with harvesters is relatively easy to solve; small harvesters are already available. The only problem is tractors; tractors used for transporting grain cannot traverse the field ridges.

So the contractor appealed for road construction, for a road that could accommodate tractors.

This matter is actually not simple, because Jiangdong Province has a large population and little land, with each household owning only three to five acres of land.

Everyone's fields are connected, so how can this main road reach the edge of each family's field?

How will you be compensated for the land requisitioned for road construction? This isn't a one-off deal. Now you have to pay agricultural taxes and various levies, and how much your family needs to pay is directly linked to your land ownership certificate.

Not to mention that road repairs also cost extra money.

Despite the difficulties, the village managed to get this done under the leadership of the contractor.

The problem of how to build roads through the fields has been solved. The problem of how to amend the land use certificates has also been solved. The problem of how to raise funds for road construction has also been solved.

That's why we see scenes on television and in the lens of reporters, on the first day of the Lunar New Year, where the whole village, young and old, are out working together to repair roads.

Chen Yanqiu had originally gone to the living room to continue talking about her daughter, but she was also drawn in by the news and exclaimed, "This village is sure to have great development in the future."

Why? Because there's a capable leader. A ship needs a helmsman to navigate the high seas.

Wang Xiao wholeheartedly agreed.

She used to read a joke online that said any county in China could raise an army capable of conquering the world.

In retrospect, it wasn't an exaggeration.

At least in Wang Xiao's eyes, the contractor who made this happen, and the team he led, were far more decisive and capable of taking action than the Russian government leadership.

As Chen Yanqiu sighed, she suddenly remembered her purpose for coming. Her eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to start nagging.

Thank goodness, the phone rang and saved her at the crucial moment.

Wang Xiao hurriedly picked up the phone and said enthusiastically, "Hello, Happy New Year! Who are you looking for?"

Secretary Fang on the other end of the phone was amused: "Oh, so you're receiving New Year's money this year? I'm not asking anyone else, I'm asking you."

Wang Xiao then smiled and gestured to her mother, indicating that they were discussing serious matters on the phone.

"Secretary, what can I do for you?"

Secretary Fang's tone was relaxed: "It's nothing serious, just a tea party on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year to entertain the social work team that helps with poverty alleviation. Since you're still here, why don't you come and sit down with us?"

Wang Xiao was quite generous: "Just name your price, how much do you want me to donate?"

Secretary Fang was both amused and exasperated: "This time, I don't need you to bring money. Just bring your clever brain with you. Listen carefully and give us some ideas."

Chen Yanqiu was listening intently from the side. After her daughter hung up the phone, she couldn't help but sigh with regret: "If that Xiao Wu were even half as good as his mother, I would accept it."

When a woman marries, she marries into a family. Secretary Fang is such a suitable mother-in-law. Not only does she have status and position herself, but she also supports her female colleague's career.

Wang Xiao yawned, stretched, and stood up to go upstairs to her room, muttering to herself, "Generally, when parents are too capable, their children tend to be weaker. And vice versa."

She had already climbed the last flight of stairs when her mother finally reacted: "You brat, you're still talking about your mother like that. Hey, don't rush to sleep, have you had your milk? Drink your milk before you sleep. You broke your leg, you need to take care of yourself, don't you know that?"

With such a nagging mother, Wang Xiao went to the provincial government's auditorium early on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year.

Ha! There were quite a few attendees; the auditorium was packed with hundreds of people.

Wang Xiao only learned about Jiangdong Province's poverty alleviation work, which began in 1992, after listening to Secretary Fang's speech.

The first poverty alleviation work team of Jiangdong Province was formed by 621 members selected from 97 provincial government departments, 29 colleges and universities, and 46 enterprises and institutions. Oh, at that time they were called the social education work team and were stationed in various impoverished counties in Jiangdong.

In one of the poorest counties, the per capita annual income in 1991 was only 333 yuan. Note that this is annual income, not monthly income.

Isn't that alarmingly low? But this is just the average level of a county, and even within a county, there are differences in wealth.

What were the goals set by the provincial government for the work team stationed in the worst-performing township? The goal was for the average annual income per capita to reach 100 yuan, and for the village-level account to have 5,000 yuan in savings.

This is still in Jiangdong, a province widely recognized as economically developed. In the 1990s, there were still so many impoverished areas and so many impoverished people.

Wang Xiao was deeply moved. She truly admired the painstaking efforts the Jiangdong Provincial Government had made in poverty alleviation.

For example, in this impoverished township where the average annual income per capita is less than 100 yuan, because the area produces silkworms, the main members of the work team assigned to them were from the provincial silk import and export company. This was so that the latter could leverage their strengths to set up a tie-dye factory in the area and help farmers become wealthy.

It is this targeted support that has enabled the targeted poverty alleviation work to achieve immediate results.

Wang Xiao clapped continuously as she listened to the reports from each work team. By the end of the meeting, her hands were numb from clapping.

It was getting late, so Secretary Fang gave a brief concluding speech and then invited everyone to have lunch, after which the seminar would continue.

She beckoned to Wang Xiao, calling him to her side: "So? What are your thoughts after hearing that?"

"That's amazing!" Wang Xiao gave a genuine thumbs up. "Poverty alleviation work is not easy, and I really admire your achievements."

Secretary Fang laughed out loud and turned to greet a man with graying temples wearing black-rimmed glasses: "Director Li, did you hear that? Everyone still recognizes your work."

Director Li looked at Wang Xiao with a complicated expression: "Oh dear, of course our reports only say the good things. The real situation is much more complicated than what we present in meetings."

Secretary Fang urged him from the side, "Then why don't you tell us the real situation? We can have dinner together then."

Lunch was a prepared boxed lunch, one for each person, consisting of one meat dish, three vegetable dishes, and a soup—stir-fried chicken, stir-fried cabbage with vinegar, stir-fried shredded carrots with eggs, and tofu puffs with greens, plus radish and pork rib soup. The taste was alright.

Looking at the stir-fried chicken, Director Li began to complain: "Take this chicken for example. There's nothing special about our place. We just thought we'd give them chicks so they could raise chickens and lay eggs, at least that would be some income. But as soon as the chickens were distributed, they were basically all eaten up."

Wang Xiao burst out laughing.

Director Li immediately felt like he had found a kindred spirit: "Look, look, everyone who hears this finds it unbelievable. But that's how it is over there. I now truly agree with a saying: wealth and poverty are not mainly determined by resources, but by people's mindsets. This kind of poverty of mindset is the most deadly."

Wang Xiao waved his hand: "No, no, no, Director, you misunderstand. I didn't think that far ahead. I suddenly thought of what happened in Russia. I've been doing business there. This phenomenon exists in both Russia and Ukraine: milk is very expensive in big cities, but many dairy farmers would rather dump it."

Director Li found this strange: "That's not right. American capitalists dump oranges and milk into the sea to prevent prices from falling too low and harming their profits. Since prices in Russia and Ukraine are already very high, why are they dumping milk into the sea?"

"Because the transportation costs are too high," Wang Xiao explained. "Dairy farmers have to transport the milk to the city themselves to get a good price. But the costs of transporting the milk themselves, including raising the cows, milking the cows, and the transportation, are higher than the selling price of the milk. So they would rather dump the milk."

She added another example: "Besides milk, other local agricultural products have similar problems. High transportation costs or the inability to find stable buyers have led farmers to slaughter their livestock rather than continue raising them."

Director Li choked, realizing he had been too hasty and now he had been caught red-handed.

Fortunately, Secretary Fang did not take the opportunity to criticize him. Instead, he expressed his understanding: "The work of helping others is indeed difficult. There are many aspects to consider."

Director Li quickly nodded in agreement: "Yes, Secretary, things aren't going well for any of our units right now."

In the spring of 1992, when the provincial social work team was first established, the old man had just delivered his Southern Tour speeches, and economic development was in full swing, with monetary policy also being relaxed.

So back then, people were unrestrained in their actions, and they could find ways to beg for money anywhere to do poverty alleviation work.

Times have changed; things are nothing like they were three years ago.

With monetary policy currently tight, the focus of the national economic work is to curb inflation. However, the government is simultaneously prioritizing large enterprises over small ones, leading to the closure of numerous small and medium-sized enterprises.

But what about these small and medium-sized enterprises? Many of them are street factories belonging to large state-owned enterprises. What will happen to the employees after they close down? The large factories will still have to provide a safety net.

Things are tough at the factory, that's for sure. I'm not just complaining or trying to find fault with the management.

As Secretary Fang listened, he nodded and said, "Yes, there are so many things to deal with right now, and problems everywhere. It's perfect that we've all gathered here for a meeting today, so let's have a good talk about how to continue our poverty alleviation work."

She then instructed Wang Xiao, "Don't rush off, listen in with me."

Logically speaking, Wang Xiao is neither a government official nor a member of a social work team, so she shouldn't have participated in this activity.

But no one at the table expressed any objection.

Secretary Sun, a close confidante of Secretary Fang, was already used to the leader's closeness to her.

And veteran social workers like Director Li also welcome the newcomers to join.

Since the government has already encouraged private individuals to start businesses and make money, it is only natural for them to give back to society after they have made their money.

It can't be that everyone is running a business, and only state-owned enterprises have to be the ones to suffer the losses.

Wang Xiao smiled and nodded in agreement.

She was quite curious about how the leaders planned to continue the poverty alleviation strategy within the province, given the current situation.

As a result, when the seminar started after dinner, Secretary Fang completely stunned everyone present.

The leader's intention was not to reduce poverty alleviation efforts, but to expand the scope of poverty alleviation to a regional level, encompassing all economically underdeveloped areas in the province.

The participants in the seminar were all team leaders and key members, a much smaller number than those in the morning session. They were all seasoned professionals, with no greenhorns among them.

Even so, Secretary Fang's words still caused a huge uproar.

Immediately, someone spoke up: "Leader, we understand the province's thinking. We are all one family. If our brothers and sisters are not doing well, we will naturally help them if we can. But right now, it is already very difficult for us to take care of ourselves and not add burden to the government or society."

The others echoed this sentiment, agreeing that it was indeed true.

When it comes to providing assistance, it can easily turn into a situation where the wealthy are dragged down and the poor are left to die.

Secretary Fang made a gesture: "Let me finish. Strictly speaking, the province's next step plan is not called poverty alleviation; it's just leaving you room for development."

Wow! The leader's speech is really high-level.

What is clearly taking money and resources from everyone's pockets has been packaged into something that, by the way the leaders put it, has become a way of giving them benefits.

It's Chinese New Year, so festive!

Wang Xiao also subconsciously looked at Secretary Fang, wondering what exactly she meant by "leaving room for development."

Secretary Fang took a sip of his large-leaf tea before continuing, "Our work team members are all very knowledgeable; you've heard about the situations in Eastern and Western Europe, haven't you?"

Everyone looked at each other, wondering what the leader meant by suddenly bringing up Europe.

Only Wang Xiao instantly grasped the leader's unspoken meaning.

Eastern Europe and Western Europe.

The less developed northern region is considered the Eastern Europe of Jiangdong Province. The more developed southern region, with its numerous factories, is considered the Western Europe of Jiangdong Province.

When Secretary Fang saw her eyes suddenly light up, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly once again.

If Wang Xiao were to enter politics, she, as his superior, would definitely promote such a subordinate.

How perceptive she was! While a bunch of cadres were still completely clueless, she had clearly already grasped the key point.

"We all know that Western Europe has a developed economy and industry. But as any business owner knows, there are two problems that must be solved to develop industry: one is the site, and the other is the workers."

Secretary Fang raised both hands and flipped them over. “These two key points were originally a big problem for Western Europe. But now that Eastern Europe has changed sides, it has a lot of land, a large number of engineers and skilled workers, which perfectly fill the gap left by Western Europe.”

With the leaders putting it this way, how could anyone who becomes the captain and core member of the social work team be a fool?

Someone immediately realized, "Secretary, do you mean we're in Western Europe, and the north is Eastern Europe?"

My goodness! Now that this thin veil has been lifted, the seminar has exploded even more.

Good heavens! The Party Secretary is indeed a Party Secretary; the standards he sets are truly high.

Although their generation has heard for decades that "in the 21st century, we will catch up with and surpass Britain and the United States."

But when they were chanting slogans, they didn't realize how far behind their country was compared to Britain and the United States.

Otherwise, they would never have had the courage to say such a thing.

But Secretary Fang nodded frankly: "That's the idea. Let's not talk about when we can catch up with the economic level of Western Europe. Just the uneven economic development in our province is very similar to that in Europe."

Her gaze swept across the faces of the social workers, and she emphasized, "I said our work isn't just about poverty alleviation, and that's the point. How big is our Jiangdong Province? How many people are there? It's notoriously densely populated."

"With so many people, we need to cultivate land to grow food and build houses to live in. How much land is left for us to build factories?"

"When Shenzhen was first designated a special economic zone, there was wasteland everywhere, and there was no shortage of land. But how many years have passed? Look at how much land Shenzhen still has available for use?"

“We are in the same boat,” Secretary Fang began to get to the point. “Our southern region seems to have no shortage of land right now, but that’s because we’ve converted a lot of farmland into industrial land. But this isn’t unlimited, and we can’t keep going like this indefinitely.”

"By then, farmland can no longer be converted into industrial land. Our company will need to expand, so what are we going to do? Build the factory in the sky?"

A burst of laughter erupted in the room, lightening the atmosphere considerably.

Secretary Fang laughed along, "There's no Guanghan Palace on the moon. The only hope for businesses in the south is the north. For example, if a machine tool factory has a lot of orders but doesn't have enough space to expand, what can it do? It can build a factory in a region in the north that it has designated for support, provide the technology and specifications, produce the parts, and then transport them to its own factory for assembly and shipping."

She earnestly advised, "That's how Europe is developing now. Western Europeans build factories in Eastern Europe, using their cheap land and labor, which expands their production scale while controlling their own production costs—a win-win situation. If we don't learn from them now, it will be too late to regret it later."

She tapped her hand on the table, reminding the comrades attending the seminar, "We won the Soviet aid project because we won the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. At that time, where was the main focus of the project? Northeast China."

"Because Northeast China is close to the Soviet Union, and it has factories left over from the Japanese occupation, it has an industrial foundation. At that time, it was a planned economy, so the local governments implemented whatever the central government arranged, and there was no issue of competition."

"Things are different now, my comrades. When it comes to attracting investment, we have to compete and fight for it."

Another burst of laughter erupted in the meeting room. Attracting investment is now the main focus of local governments. Who isn't racking their brains to make money?

Secretary Fang laughed along, "When it comes to attracting investment, our country always relies on cheap land and cheap labor. But for European and American countries, there isn't much difference between our provinces. Factories that can be set up in the Pearl River Delta can also be set up in the Yangtze River Delta. Companies that can be attracted to Jiangdong can also be poached by Jiangbei."

The laughter in the room grew even louder.

Snatching food from a tiger's mouth is a common occurrence in local governments. In the pursuit of attracting investment, who cares about appearances anymore?

Secretary Fang continued with a smile, "Under these circumstances, how can we ensure that foreign businesses and investment are attracted to Jiangdong? We must maximize our advantages and make full use of the province's land and human resources. Don't forget—"

Her gaze swept around once more. "Comrades," she said, "our goal in Jiangdong is to become the world's factory and the world's manufacturing capital. We must plan for five or ten years from now, and not just focus on short-term gains."

Wang Xiao gasped. No wonder he's the top leader of the provincial party committee.

In 1995, when the average annual income per capita in the poorest areas of the province was less than 500 yuan, we had to start planning for work in 2005.

————————

The social work team data mentioned in the article is based on Jiangsu Province during the same period. In 1991, the average annual income per capita in Muyang County, Jiangsu Province, was 332.9 yuan. The target of 100 yuan annual income is also real; it was for a township under Muyang. Our country was that poor back then. It's truly remarkable that we've come this far. [Let me see...]