Chapter 152

Arriving at the commune, Zhou Jiani was locking her bicycle when Xu Haihong from the commune radio station came out to look for her: "Comrade Zhou."

Zhou Jiani turned around and greeted with a smile: "Hello, Comrade Xu."

She was just an acquaintance with many of her colleagues in the new unit, and she hadn't gotten to know them all yet. However, she knew the two female comrades at the radio station, and their relationship was a little deeper than an acquaintance, but not yet friends. They were still polite to each other even when they weren't talking.

Xu Haihong looked at the bag she had taken off the handlebars, then at the brand new women's bicycle. She uttered an "Ouch" and asked with a smile, "Did you buy a new bicycle?"

She remembered that Comrade Zhou rode an old 28-inch bicycle.

Zhou Jiani said with a hint of exaggeration, "Yes, I booked it after the New Year, but I just arrived today." She added, "The bike I had before belonged to the Qianjin Brigade. I can't always ride a government bike when I go to work."

Xu Haihong envied: "You are so popular."

Before, when I saw Comrade Zhou riding her bike to and from get off work every day, I thought it was hers.

Bicycles were no exception; the Qianjin Brigade could lend them out whenever they wanted. No wonder many of my colleagues at the commune privately joked that the villagers in the Qianjin Brigade all regarded Comrade Zhou as a lucky charm.

Without a solid mass base, who would let others ride a bicycle like this every day?

But that had nothing to do with her. She had something to ask Comrade Zhou. Pointing at the bag in Zhou Jiani's hand, she said with a smile, "I was just about to ask the price of that woven bag you were carrying before, and you changed it again? This one is also very beautiful. Can I take a look?"

This was the third bag she had seen Comrade Zhou exchange. There was a military green backpack that looked very nice. She had even gone to the supply and marketing cooperative to look, but they didn't have that style. She also wanted to ask if Comrade Zhou had bought it from the south when he went to the Canton Fair.

"Okay." Zhou Jiani handed it over.

Xu Haihong took it and carried it herself, then looked down at it. She then walked back and forth with her head held high, feeling good and praising it profusely. "This bag is nice, the right size. It can hold letters and documents, or small odds and ends. The one-shoulder bag you had before was also beautiful, and the canvas one is nice too. Where did you buy the canvas one?"

"I figured out a pattern myself and asked someone to sew it, and gave the sister-in-law a little labor fee."

Xu Haihong was a little surprised. "You figured it out yourself and asked someone to make it? Wow, you're amazing." She asked about the required dimensions and the labor cost, then said, "Comrade Zhou, can you ask someone to make one for me? I really like it. When I saw you carrying it the other day, I wanted to ask several times but didn't have the courage to do so."

"Well, I'm just speculating." Zhou Jiani waved her hand modestly. "Xiao Zhao in our office is asking that fellow villager to help make it. When her bag is finished, you can take a look at the finished product. If you think it's suitable, you can order it. If not, we can consider other things."

"No need to look, it's definitely suitable. I think it'll look great on you. I've been thinking about it for days..." Xu Haihong simply went back to the office with Zhou Jiani. After getting Zhou Jiani's consent, she opened the new bag to look inside. As expected, she saw the high school textbook Zhou Jiani was reviewing. She was surprised again, "Comrade Zhou, you're really studious. It hasn't even been a year since you graduated, has it?"

"Yes," Zhou Jiani said modestly, "I wouldn't say I'm studious, but I just don't want to throw away the knowledge I've learned." She gave an example, "I didn't have much experience with this before. A while ago, our village was recruiting elementary school teachers. Although I didn't apply, seeing my roommates studying until midnight every day for exams, I suddenly felt that we can never let go of knowledge. You never know when an opportunity will come. If you prepare well in advance, you can grab it when it comes. Otherwise, you can only sharpen your sword at the last minute."

Xu Haihong nodded in agreement. Although she admired Zhou Jiani's spirit of learning, she wasn't inclined to do so. She was still thinking about the bags and asked about their prices. "Wait a minute, Xiao Pang, who works in the same office with me, wants one too. I'll go ask her..."

Then he said shyly, "Can I take your briefcase down and have a look?"

"What's wrong with that?" Zhou Jiani poured out the contents and asked Xu Haihong to take it back and have a look.

"Thanks, I'll bring it back to you later."

After Xu Haihong left with her bag, Zhou Jiani took the thermos and went out to get some hot water. She came back and made a cup of tea. She clicked into the warehouse and poked the dryer. An interface popped up. She took out the dried clothes, folded them neatly, scanned them for recycling, and put them on the warehouse shelf.

I took out a bag of beef-flavored rice crust, ate it with a crunch, sipped a few sips of tea, opened a book and read half a page, when someone knocked on the door.

Xu Haihong came in and handed Zhou Jiani the bag she had bought. She smiled and said, "Comrade Zhou, we need three of these briefcases, plus a single-shoulder woven backpack. I also want a double backpack..."

Zhou Jiani nodded and smiled: "No problem, I'll go to the factory to ask when I get back this afternoon."

Xu Haihong said frankly, "I was just about to mention this to you. We really want the goods from the Qianjin Weaving Factory. The other brigades are all newcomers, but the craftsmen in your Qianjin Brigade are all veterans. Their products are all exported. And Xiao Pang and I just looked at them very carefully. The weaving is so dense and delicate."

Zhou Jiani smiled: "Okay."

She didn't plan to arrange for other teams to make it. This modified women's briefcase only has this one model, and other teams haven't made it yet.

However, the order for the shoulder backpack has been arranged by the Moulan Brigade.

Last month, the provincial department store placed an order for twenty woven bags, which she sent to the Moulan Brigade. She's also working on a revised version of this one, which she'll produce a few more samples for each partner. Since there's a request for one right now, she's had someone from the Moulan Brigade come over to learn how to make it. While it looks similar to the men's version, several small details have been tweaked. A wide fabric trim has been added to the outer pocket opening, adding a richer, more beautiful layering.

Xu Haihong first gave the money for the woven bag, and also asked Zhou Jiani whether the backpack made of khaki canvas would look good, and asked Zhou Jiani to give her opinion.

"I don't have the army green canvas. I only remember having a khaki one."

Zhou Jiani: "It looks good. Khaki looks good too. It doesn't have to be army green." She took out her notebook and flipped back to her previous drawing, adding a few strokes. "You can make a few small changes here... and add a three-dimensional pocket here."

"Okay, I think this looks good too..." Xu Haihong was surprised and impressed. For a moment, their relationship became much warmer. After they finished discussing the package, she casually started to gossip and asked in a low voice, "Hey, did you know that Secretary Wu is being transferred? Everyone says it's to make room for Deputy Secretary Zhai. Once Secretary Wu leaves, Deputy Secretary Zhai will definitely be promoted."

Zhai Xiangqiang is both the director of the commune and the deputy secretary of the party committee.

Xu Haihong is used to calling him 'Deputy Secretary Zhai'.

Secretary Wu is the Party Secretary, his name is Wu Ronghua. He is about to reach retirement age and has rarely been in charge of affairs in the past one or two years. Director Zhai has always been in charge.

Zhou Jiani had only met him a few times and said hello, but they didn't communicate much.

She also didn't know that Secretary Wu was going to be transferred, but if it was true, it wouldn't be a bad thing for her if Director Zhai could bring it up.

After Xu Haihong left, Zhou Jiani flipped through the curled-up notebook in her hand. She compared her earliest drawings with her most recent ones. Drawing more often, even if they were not professional, they would be better than before.

Zhou Jiani felt that she needed to learn more, so she closed the notebook and joined the group to send a red envelope: Please give me a basic sketching tutorial or book!

At 3:30 in the afternoon, Zhao Yuzhen returned, her face flushed and covered in sweat. Even before she could catch her breath, she began gossiping: "The Yuezhuang Brigade was in chaos today."

"What's wrong?"

Zhao Yuzhen gulped down a sip of the water she had cooled that morning before saying, "Three or four men from their village went to the processing workshop and started causing trouble. They occupied the room where the sulfur was being fumigated and wouldn't let the workers use it. They also snatched the processed materials, saying they had left some of the materials there with the brigade and wanted to take them away. They also said they made a mistake in their last settlement with the team and were clamoring for a reconciliation... I didn't understand anything, but anyone with a discerning eye could see they were just being unreasonable."

Zhao Yuzhen asked curiously, "Aren't all the materials public property? Why did they leave them there? How dare they be so arrogant?"

Zhou Jiani guessed the general reason after a quick thought.

In the past, when the weaving industry was not so popular, the rattan strips that grew naturally in the wild could be cut by anyone. If cut by an individual, it would belong to the individual. If cut by the team's members, it would belong to the team. During the slack season, the village craftsmen would weave large and small baskets, and then the people from the trading company would take them out to sell.

The dry goods dealer has this ability. Relying on the fact that he can make money for the team, he usually doesn't even take the village cadres seriously.

Before this, village cadres had arranged for people to follow them out and watch them sell their goods, so as to see how much they could sell the goods for.

Unable to trust others, the village official even arranged for his own nephew to be the one to take over, and he nearly got smuggled to death by the cargo company. Normally, they would go out on their own, stopping and resting, but since they had sent a supervisor, they decided to go all out. They even deliberately arranged for him to travel at night, covering hundreds of miles in one night, getting blisters on his feet, and then falling asleep from exhaustion. By the time he opened his eyes, half of the cargo had already been shipped. He was exhausted from following the company once, but he didn't learn anything, so he didn't follow them a second time.

The team didn't dare to raise the price, as they would quit if the price was raised. They relied on the sales store to generate income for the team, and usually had to treat them like masters.

This is still the case when our own team delivers goods to other teams and negotiates a lower price. If there are no capable people in our team, we can only grit our teeth and accept it.

Didn’t the Qianjin Brigade suffer losses from the cargo store before?

Now, probably because they see that there are businesses in the village and that income no longer depends entirely on those people, they have started to cause trouble.

Zhou Jiani warned Zhao Yuzhen: "This kind of commotion won't end in a short time. Don't watch it again, and don't get involved. Don't let it affect you. We can't afford to suffer this loss."

Zhao Yuzhen nodded: "I know, I won't get involved." She didn't have the courage to get involved in this matter.

Zhou Jiani: "Let's see how they adjust the team."

This is an unavoidable conflict. We cannot stop the development of the village and the commune just for the sake of one or two teams.

Moreover, if they discuss and arrange things with the villagers, they can still make the bamboo baskets and sieves when they don't have many orders. Since the sales don't follow the basket weaving, they still have the opportunity to make money.

It is really unwise to make such a fuss.

Zhao Yuzhen nodded, but Zhou Jiani didn't want the anger to affect her.

That day she went to the Nanwang Brigade for inspection and assigned them a new order. The car was parked at the village committee. She went to the processing workshop to check the goods. After she finished her work and pushed the car, she felt something was wrong. She looked down and found that someone had pulled out the valve core.