Chapter 205

What do you think?

Zhou Jiani also laughed a little when she recalled it.

She didn't think so far ahead at first, and she never imagined that she could develop the weaving industry and even export it abroad. She made steady progress step by step.

Zhou Jiani felt that this was a case of unexpected success. If she had really planned to implement a project, it might not have gone so smoothly. Perhaps her rebirth also brought some luck.

Isn't it good luck? Now I have more than 200,000 yuan in savings in my hands.

However, if you ask her what she was thinking at the time, it was definitely selfishness that prevailed. However, it really boosted the local economy and created income for the village and the commune. She could be said to be very proud of this selfishness.

Obscure things cannot be said. Zhou Jiani also talked about what was reported in the newspaper, but she added some content.

"Most villagers have never been to the city, and many elderly people have never even been to the county or city in their entire lives. Their inherent thinking limits their creativity, but their skills are not bad. I simply help those with excellent crafts break that mindset, letting them know that baskets can be not only practical but also beautiful..."

"If our products are beautiful, why can't they be sold in department stores? As long as our offerings are unique and we show sincere cooperation, we can not only enrich the department store's offerings, but also provide more options for the people of the provincial capital and generate revenue for the local brigade. If the brigade's revenue increases, the villagers can live a better life."

Liang Bing was stunned.

Zhou Jiani is really a low-key student. Apart from her eye-catching appearance during the class meeting yesterday, there wasn't much else she did that stood out. I didn't expect her to achieve such results.

Zhou Jiani didn't know that her brief self-introduction in the class meeting, with a non-competitive attitude, became inconspicuous in Liang Bing's eyes.

Ge Guangming also listened thoughtfully and nodded in approval, especially when talking about people's livelihood, which was a grassroots knowledge that he had not been exposed to before in his unit.

The three of them chatted without interrupting their work, but there was always someone who disagreed and insisted on arguing. A male student nearby said with an indignant look on his face, "Classmates, I think from the moment you step into university, you're all on the same starting line. What's the point of always dwelling on your past qualifications? If you're so reluctant to leave, why bother applying to university?"

Ge Guangming disagreed with this statement and said, "Meng Gang, are you going to deny your previous achievements just because you step into the school gate?"

"I didn't ask you to deny it, but it's really unfair that you're relying on your past achievements to take away other students' opportunities." Meng Gang sneered, "If class leaders are to be selected based on previous qualifications, then just rank them by seniority. Why bother letting the students run for election? Do students without impressive qualifications have to be inferior to you? This simply doesn't give ordinary students a chance."

Ge Guangming frowned: "Meng Gang, the teacher didn't say that we must go by our previous qualifications..."

Was he unhappy that the teacher had nominated him as class monitor because he held the highest position among his classmates before the university entrance exam?

Meng Gang's face flushed. "I didn't say it explicitly, but I can't help but hear you constantly talking about your past achievements. You're so loud in class, and now that everyone's working, you won't even let us have a moment to ourselves. Just because you've achieved something, you're right, right?" He looked at the other students, trying to find a common accord. "Excuse me, how is this fair?"

Lv Minjuan was shouting slogans to encourage her team members to work. She was in a state of urgency. Hearing the commotion, she rushed over and said, "Are you saying that from now on, no one is allowed to mention their grades? You won't publicize your achievements in school? Or will you maintain the so-called fairness and spend your college years in mediocrity? Good grades are a positive thing. Why can't you talk about them to motivate everyone?"

"Before you enrolled, you didn't work hard enough to advance yourself, so you're going to deny the efforts of others? Student Meng Gang, your thinking is wrong..."

During the class meeting, the teacher jokingly said that he might not be as good at managing people as some of his classmates, and when temporarily electing a class monitor, he did choose the one with the best qualifications. But the facts proved that Ge Guangming was good at managing people. He was very smooth at doing things and had the dignity of a cadre.

Moreover, everyone does have this tacit understanding in private. After all, having experienced managers help manage class teachers can save a lot of trouble, so why not use it?

Meng Gang's face turned red and he was unable to refute for a moment.

Ge Guangming: "Meng Gang, if you have any questions, you can report them to me. If I can't make a decision personally, I will hold a group meeting after the work is completed and will try my best to give you a satisfactory answer. If you are not satisfied with the answer, you can report it to the teacher. Now, I don't want to delay everyone's work time."

The dispute was temporarily put to an end, Meng Gang did not respond to the situation, and the class group meeting was aborted.

The campus was dusty and bustling with activity.

After the on-campus labor was completely concluded, the formal vote for class committee elections took place. In reality, experienced managers would gradually emerge, possessing a cultivated confidence that seemed more natural than that of other students. This confidence convinced the majority, and they would be more relaxed when speaking on stage, their speeches conveying a refined understanding. The results were self-evident.

After the formal classes started, Zhang Zhenguang came to the school to find Zhou Jiani.

When the three roommates who had never met Qiu Zeming at the beginning of the school year heard that the person who came to see Zhou Jiani was a gay, they ran out excitedly to see. However, when they heard the gay call Zhou Jiani "sister-in-law", they were immediately disappointed.

Zhou Jiani saw the bicycle Zhang Zhenguang had sent her. Zhang Zhenguang patted the seat of the 28-inch bicycle and said, "Sister-in-law, I took the time to travel all over the city after receiving Brother Ming's instructions. I worked tirelessly to collect these two bicycles. Do you like them?"

Comrade Zhenguang was a bit of a chatterbox, which was apparent when they first met. Look at what he said. He first talked about how hard he worked, and then asked her if she liked him at the end.

Zhou Jiani was amused by him and said with a smile: "Comrade Zhenguang, you have worked hard. This car is well built and your craftsmanship is good. I will give you the money you spent..."

"Don't worry, don't worry. Sister-in-law, just take a walk and try it out. If you find anything wrong, I'll make some adjustments."

Zhou Jiani rode it for a while and found it very smooth. Although it looked tattered on the outside, there was no rattling sound, the brakes were sensitive, the bell sounded crisp, and it was not heavy to pedal.

I don’t know how Zhang Zhenguang got the parts together, but it took him less than fifty to assemble this one.

Zhou Jiani gave him fifty yuan and treated him to a bowl of noodles at the end of the cafeteria.

While eating, Zhang Zhenguang said, "I wanted to paint the car when I got it together, but Brother Ming said no, the more worn out the better."

Zhou Jiani had already eaten when Zhang Zhenguang arrived. She only ordered a bowl of noodle soup to accompany his meal. Hearing this, she nodded and said, "Indeed, it's not good for a new car to be too eye-catching."

The car that was saved up also had to be registered. Zhang Zhenguang also helped to get a complete set of procedures. Zhou Jiani just needed to find time to register it.

She only had one class in the afternoon. After class, she rode her bike to register her residence, and she became a car owner again.

The bicycle arrived just in time, and a few days later I received a package from the Qianjin Brigade.

It was mailed here, but the reason they didn't send it by truck was because Zhou Jiani was in school and had limited time. The villagers were embarrassed to ask the truck driver to accommodate Zhou Jiani's location in terms of route and time, so they went through the post office.

Zhou Jiani went to pick up the package at noon. When the post office staff carried the package out for her, they asked her how she got there. Knowing that Zhou Jiani was riding a bicycle, they helped her move the package onto the back seat of the bicycle.

Zhou Jiani didn't expect the package to be so big and heavy. Fortunately, she was used to carrying a backpack as a cover. She found a rope from the warehouse to seal the package and rode back to the dormitory. When she arrived at the bottom of the dormitory, she was about to call a roommate to help her carry it. She met Liang Bing, who helped her carry it back to the dormitory.

The girls in the dormitory had just returned from lunch and were reading in the dormitory.

"Are these the things your family sent you?" Tian Yuan was originally mumbling to himself while studying. When he saw her carrying things in, he quickly stood up and came over to help. Others also came over to help and asked curiously.

"It was sent by the brigade I used to work for." Zhou Jiani was also a little touched. She didn't expect that the village would send her something.

Lu Minjuan clapped her hands and said, "You have such a strong base among the masses. I think being a team leader is really a waste of your talent. If you can't be a squad leader, you should at least be an organization committee member. At the very least, you're qualified to be a propaganda committee member!"

The roommates nodded.

When electing class committee members, Zhou Jiani did not participate in the competition. She just sat there, feeling the energy of the college students and actively voting for others.

I originally wanted to quit as the group leader, but the teacher insisted that I keep the position.

Lv Minjuan was successfully elected as the study committee member. This girl not only actively plays her role in the class, but also strictly manages everyone's studies in the dormitory.

She had worked at the grassroots level and felt that she had worked diligently during her tenure and led the development of the entire village. However, she didn't dare to think that she was as popular as Zhou Jiani, and felt a little disappointed for a moment.

Zhou Jiani smiled and comforted her, saying, "We have different personalities. Managing people means offending them, especially since you're so young. I can only imagine the pressure you must be under to hold that position."

Many villages are accustomed to family-style cliques. How many people would be dissatisfied with Lü Minjuan's appointment as village party secretary? Dissatisfaction means they will create obstacles for her, and Lü Minjuan has been furious and scolded countless times in the process of resolving these obstacles. Even if she devotes her heart and soul to the brigade, it is not certain that many people will truly see her good qualities.

Zhou Jiani's words hit the nail on the head, and Lv Minjuan's eyes were slightly tearful. Yes, as a village branch secretary promoted from educated youth, how could the job be so easy?

Many people disobeyed her and wanted to oust her. They formed groups and refused to obey orders. During meetings, she spoke at the top while the villagers gathered in small groups to gossip about other people's affairs. To boost production, she slammed the tables with the team leaders and personally visited the farmers one by one...

It was only after he made some achievements that he was gradually accepted by the villagers.

But it was indeed as Zhou Jiani said, managing people means offending people. Even though she allowed everyone to have more full meals than in previous years, some people were still excited when she was admitted to university and left.

The encouragement was not to celebrate her admission to university, but that she had finally vacated that seat.

Lv Minjuan sniffed. Fortunately, as a village cadre, she didn't expect much reward from the villagers. As long as she had a clear conscience and lived up to the trust of the organization, that was enough. She cut off her sighs and smiled, changing the subject. She urged Zhou Jiani, "Hurry up, let's see what good things the local villagers sent you..."

Zhou Jiani opened the package, which contained thirty kilograms of wheat, ten kilograms of vermicelli, ten kilograms of rice paper, two pairs of embroidered insoles, two pairs of cloth shoes, a new woven schoolbag, a pile of straw folding wallets, and some fried peanuts, dried dates, and dried walnuts.

The letter was written by Liu Tong, and Zhou Jiani knew Accountant Liu's handwriting.

The content was very simple. It just asked Zhou Jiani whether she was adapting well in college. The villagers were worried that she would not have enough to eat, so they sent her some food and asked her to carry it to the cafeteria to exchange it for food coupons so that she could eat more.

The vermicelli and rice paper were given by Zhao Mei, and she was asked to take them to her in-laws' home. Zhao Mei also made two pairs of cloth shoes for Zhou Jiani.

When Grandma Wu heard that the villagers were going to send something to Zhou Jiani, she quickly dug out her previous embroidery patterns and embroidered two pairs of insoles, and asked them to send them to Zhou Jiani.

The woven schoolbag was made by the factory technicians themselves. It was a combination of the briefcases produced by the factory and the traditional woven vegetable basket, with some adjustments made to the size and style, so that Zhou Jiani could use it to carry books.

The folding small wallet was invented by several young craftsmen based on the leather wallets they bought from the south. It was successfully woven after several failures and adjustments.

As for why a lot of them were put away at once, Liu Tong said in the letter that they were collected by trainees in the factory for practice, and he asked Zhou Jiani to give them to close classmates and friends. They were worthless little gadgets, and he had no plans to sell them for the time being. He was going to study and replace them with better materials before releasing them.

The fried peanuts, dried dates, dried walnuts and other things were provided by the villagers for Zhou Jiani to eat as snacks.

Zhou Jiani's eyes turned red with emotion and she carefully put the letter away.

The roommates once again marveled at Zhou Jiani's mass appeal.

Zhou Jiani didn't rush to look at the schoolbags, but first looked at the folding wallets they made.

This is different from large briefcases and backpacks. Small wallets are more particular about material preparation and workmanship. The folding part must be durable and cannot break or have burrs after a few uses.

Zhou Jiani checked it over and it seemed that the workmanship was fine, but it was difficult to judge its durability.

This is made of corn husks. The bottom of the wallet is fine and feels very sturdy, but I don’t know how long the fold in the middle can last.

But the idea is good and it is worth writing a letter to praise it.

She gave one to each of her roommates and said, "Have fun with it. It might get damaged soon, so don't be disgusted."

"No, no, I miss it so much, Jiani. The folks there are so nice. Thank them for me." Tian Yuan and the others were very happy. They couldn't let go of the woven wallet. Knowing that Zhou Jiani was going to write back to the village, they asked Zhou Jiani to convey their gratitude.

As for the backpack, everyone naturally found it curious, but after seeing the shoulder backpack, storage box and briefcase that Zhou Jiani brought and asking about the approximate prices, they guessed that this new backpack was not cheap, so they gave up the idea for the time being.

Zhou Jiani counted and found that there were about twenty small wallets in the pile. How many corn husks were used?

I also gave everyone some fried peanuts, dried dates and walnuts, and saved the rest.

During the afternoon class, she gave one to each of the other girls in the class and packed a small paper bag of peanuts and dried dates for Liang Bing.

The atmosphere in the classroom was lively for a moment, but then a discordant voice interrupted: "Student Zhou, you are sugarcoating your words. Don't accept it."

Zhou Jiani was speechless. Her classmates were very energetic and university life was busy and fulfilling, but... some people really loved to argue. They would argue about everything. Even when the teacher was lecturing, if someone disagreed with what he was saying, they would stand up and interrupt the teacher to argue.