Chapter 43

After receiving an anonymous letter of complaint, the subdistrict office began investigating the matter. Upon learning that the parents of the educated youth being reported were employees of the Second Textile Factory, they first went to the factory to find their leaders to find out more about the situation.

I ended up hearing a different version.

——The female educated youth did not stay in the city on purpose and not go back. She came here with a mission.

But now that it has come to this, we still have to ask about the situation. If the work has been completed, we will advise the educated youth to return to the place where she was sent to the countryside as soon as possible. Staying in the city like this will have a bad impact.

Liu Qin also followed over and saw Yu Huifang, and quickly gave her a reassuring look, meaning that it was no big deal, not serious, and that she should talk to her leader and it wouldn't have any impact.

Even if it doesn't have much impact, it's still quite annoying during the holidays.

Moreover, as soon as they arrived, they were followed by a group of onlookers. Who would like to be watched by others?

The subdistrict office sent a director named Ge over. Seeing Zhou Jiani pause, he looked at Yu Huifang and said with a gentle smile, "I'm impressed with this girl. She's quite aware of the situation. You tried to stop her at first, but ultimately, you couldn't stop her from actively responding to the policy."

Yu Huifang was originally holding back her anger, but now she felt a little embarrassed. When she first found out that her daughter had secretly signed up, she actually went to the street office and made a scene and cried. It was Director Ge who did some ideological work on her, and to put it bluntly, gave her a verbal lecture.

He smiled embarrassedly and said, "It turns out to be Director Ge. I'm sorry to trouble you."

“It’s all for work!”

Zhou Jiani felt embarrassed when she thought about the stupid thing she had done. She quickly helped her parents to greet them and prepared to pour them some water.

"Don't worry, don't worry." Director Ge waved his hand and said seriously, "We are here to investigate Comrade Zhou Jiani's long stay in the city. We want to learn a few words."

Director Huang from the factory committee was also there and said, "Comrade Yu Huifang, Comrade Zhou Wanli, don't be nervous. Someone has reported this to the neighborhood committee, and according to customary practice, they have to investigate and visit. Director Ge will find out the reason and then report back."

Yu Huifang's anger rose again after hearing this. She wondered who had the bad luck to stab her in the back, but she couldn't bring herself to vent her anger on her superiors. She hurriedly said, "We will definitely fully cooperate with the leaders, but my daughter is fine. She's staying here to receive the goods..."

The room was small and couldn't accommodate so many people. Liu Qin stood at the door, coughed lightly, interrupted her, and said, "Jia Ni, go get the letter of introduction and let Director Ge take a look."

Yu Huifang understood and shut up, then realized that it was up to her boss to judge whether there was a problem. Liu Qin was afraid that she would get angry and say something she shouldn't, so she quickly stopped her.

However, her daughter had just secured a new job with the commune, so she should stay in the city, and the leaders could not fire her at will.

Zhou Jiani hurriedly went to get the letter of introduction and handed it over, saying with a smile, "Director Ge, thank you for making this trip. It's my fault. This is my first business trip and I have no experience. I should have taken the initiative to inform the neighborhood committee. It's my negligence. I'm sorry for causing trouble for you all."

Director Ge found this very helpful, but he also glanced at her in surprise. He remembered that the last time he saw this girl, she was still delicate and naive, without any opinions of her own, and had to ask the other girl who accompanied her for everything.

It's only been a short time since he went to the countryside, but he already speaks and acts so appropriately.

He looked down at the letter of introduction. The date was correct, but the name on the letter was "Purchasing." He then looked up and asked, "Comrade Xiao Zhou, what are you purchasing in Qiyang?"

The previous investigation revealed that the person came to the provincial capital to help the team sell baskets. What was the reason for the purchase?

Zhou Jiani was about to pick up the remaining samples and prepare to introduce her upcoming work when she was moved by what she heard. She replied, "Director Ge, it's like this. Our brigade sent me and another comrade to Qiyang to purchase plastic sheeting as part of the Plastic Greenhouse Thousand Miles Tour. Speaking of which, while you're here, I'd like to say a few words off topic..."

"Our Qianjin Brigade is a small village near a mountain. From the perspective of the entire commune, it's relatively remote and lacks any natural advantages. The villagers work hard all year, but their income is meager and they can't even afford to eat. Our team leader is worried to death about this. Now, we're risking everything on this greenhouse experiment. But we have no technology, no professional guidance, and no complete documentation. We're essentially navigating this journey by feeling the stones."

"As an educated youth sent to the countryside, I follow the Party's call and should spare no effort to help my fellow villagers build a new countryside. However, my abilities are limited. I don't know how to grow crops or vegetables, let alone greenhouses. These past two days, while I'm still in the city, I've been digging through the scrap heaps at the purchasing station to gather information, which I plan to bring back to improve our local planting standards."

The grandmother was very cooperative and went into her eldest granddaughter's room. She brought out a pile of tattered-looking books. When she looked at the leader, her cloudy old eyes turned slightly red.

The two leaders felt somewhat uncomfortable.

Zhou Jiani continued, her tone heavy, "Now that both leaders are here, I'd like to ask for your help as an educated youth sent to the countryside. Please help me find some information about plastic greenhouses or agricultural planting. I'll bring it back to the villagers when I finish my work here and return to the brigade."

"Here, on behalf of all members of our Qianjin Brigade, I would like to thank the two leaders."

Director Ge: ???

Although I was somewhat moved by the words of this young comrade, I still felt very confused.

Director Huang: ...

Liu Qin: I just… admire you!

Director Ge was stunned for a moment before asking, "Comrade Zhou, I learned from my investigation that you've helped local villagers introduce woven baskets to department stores. Isn't this a great income-generating project?"

Since this line is successful, we should focus on developing the weaving industry. Why do we still need to build plastic greenhouses?

He had some impression of the plastic greenhouse plan, but he hadn't heard of this project for a long time before hearing it again from Zhou Jiani.

How can he find the information?

Zhou Jiani didn't agree with his thoughts. Instead, she said with emotion, "Yes, you don't know until you go to the countryside. There are skilled craftsmen among the villagers. Their rough hands are full of cracks, but even with such rough hands, they can weave such beautiful baskets. I was moved. So when I was preparing to come to the city to purchase, I thought I couldn't come empty-handed. If I can make some contribution to the brigade and my fellow villagers, I will do more."

She smiled wryly and said, "But let's be honest. Food is the most important thing for the people. No matter how much money you make, it's not as important to the villagers as harvesting an extra handful of food. If the plastic greenhouse experiment is successful, the benefits it brings to the villagers will be far greater than the woven baskets in the department store. Leaders, don't you agree?"

Because of the arrival of the neighborhood committee and factory leaders, sensitive people immediately sensed that there was something exciting to watch and many of them gathered around.

People who didn't live in this building, seeing how crowded this place was, came over to watch the fun. They stood on tiptoe and stretched their necks to take a look, whispering, "Is that Zhou Wanli's house? What happened?"

"Isn't Lao Zhou's daughter an educated youth who went to the countryside? She stayed in the city and refused to go back. Someone reported her."

"The one who negotiated a cooperation with the department store?"

"Yes, after the meeting, I didn't go back and stayed too long, so I was reported."

It's just curious.

Some who disliked the Zhou family took the opportunity to start mocking them, "You deserve it, Yu Huifang is always showing off. Every family has a little girl. Hers is the best, but no matter how good it is, it will eventually belong to someone else. Now she's done for, and she's been chased back. Aren't you ashamed?"

The corridor in front of Zhou Wanli's house was crowded with people.

Lu Cuilan also quietly hid at the back, tiptoed to look inside with a gloating look on her face, thinking to herself, chase them back, chase them back quickly, and it would be best if Zhou Wanli and Yu Huifang could be implicated, so that the couple can also write a self-criticism.

"I don't know which kind-hearted person did this good deed." She whispered to Liu Aifang in a low voice, "Yu Huifang is so careless all day that I don't even know her last name. She deserves it."

Liu Aifang poked her, meaning not to say such things outside, in case the Zhou family heard it and thought it was them who reported it, they would cause trouble for them.

Lu Cuilan curled her lips but didn't say anything else. Her husband's self-criticism was still posted in the factory, and it had a significant impact. She had to behave herself for the time being.

She was just really curious about who reported Zhou Jiani.

But this is not important. What is better is to make the Zhou family lose face and let that damn girl Zhou Jiani go back in disgrace and embarrass her.

Inside the room, Director Ge and Director Huang looked at Zhou Jiani expectantly. It was as if their eyes were filled with fellow villagers from the brigade, all looking at them eagerly. The words of refusal were on the tip of their tongues, but they couldn't bring themselves to say them. They gritted their teeth and said, "Ah, yes, Comrade Zhou Jiani is right. I, we will try our best."

Director Huang glared at Zhou Wanli in reproach, but in his heart he also admired his daughter's eloquence. He should have recruited her to the factory to help him deal with those people in the union who were good at talking.

"Thank you, leaders." Zhou Jiani quickly wrote down a string of addresses and said, "By the way, regarding this report and investigation, if our neighborhood committee has any doubts about my work, you can call our commune and ask. I just spoke to them yesterday, and their director encouraged me to stay in the provincial capital and work hard to complete the final work, so as to generate more income for our brigade. If the leaders don't believe me, you can call to confirm."

Director Ge: Thank you so much. I almost forgot I was here to investigate your stay in the city.

"I believe it, of course I believe it. Comrade Xiao Zhou is so frank, it must be a misunderstanding. As for the information you mentioned, I will try my best to mobilize everyone to help you find more." Director Ge sighed.

Zhou Jiani shook hands vigorously with Director Ge and said with a smile, "I'm sorry to bother the leadership and the other comrades in the neighborhood committee. When I return to the brigade, we can write to each other often and keep in touch."

Director Ge: No!

"Director Huang, thank you for taking the trouble to come here. Oh, by the way, I suddenly remembered something." Zhou Jiani said with a smile, not caring whether Director Huang was interested in what she said or not. "In a few days, our team will come to deliver goods, and they will bring a few hundred kilograms of vegetables with them. They are all grown by the members themselves. They are produced and sold by the villagers themselves. We want to help them generate a small income. If it is convenient for us to go to the factory cafeteria, I wonder if you can help our members..."

Director Huang shook his head and smiled, "That's convenient, that's convenient. Just go to the factory committee a day in advance and tell them. I'll talk to the canteen and make sure you can get a transfer."

The daughter of Old Zhou.

"Thank you so much, Director Huang. All the members of our Qianjin Brigade will be grateful to you."

Director Huang: No need, really!

What a lunatic! He took on so many jobs in one trip.

The people blocking the corridor in front of the Zhou family's door didn't see the excitement they wanted to see. Instead, they saw Zhou Jiani escort the two leaders out and said to the neighborhood committee, "The person who reported it must not know the truth and has misunderstood something. Otherwise, we can't let the leaders have a bad holiday and make everyone uneasy."

He then asked in confusion, "Strange! The basket weaving incident has caused quite a stir in our area these past few days. Logically, the person who reported me shouldn't be unaware of my unfinished work. But if they knew... and still reported me, that's incredibly ignorant. Aren't they deliberately trying to prevent the leaders from having a good holiday? Especially since this year, with Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day all coming together, it's a time for universal celebration, and yet they're causing such inconvenience for everyone!"

Director Ge's face also looked unhappy.

Zhou Jiani was working normally, so it was reasonable for her to stay in the city. However, even if it was just a misunderstanding, the impact would be bad after all, so when Zhou Jiani asked them to help find information, they had no choice but to agree.

When he finds out who made the report, he will call the neighborhood committee and let everyone take turns to do ideological work on that person.