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In the afternoon, Secretary Qi, along with Zhao Hongying and Qi Shugen, arrived at the He family's home.
Wang Shuping brewed tea and poured it for everyone.
"Sweetie, go pick a few cucumbers from the yard," Wang Shuping instructed. Fruit was scarce, so the tender cucumbers became the dessert.
"Okay!" He Tiantian readily agreed and took the small basin for washing vegetables to pick them.
As He Tiantian picked cucumbers, she thought to herself, "The original owner must have been a skilled vegetable grower. This vegetable garden is growing really well."
Over there, Secretary Qi was chatting happily with He Jingyu, and was very interested in the peaches that He Jingyu mentioned.
"Brother He, the meeting tomorrow is about this matter. I'll be the first to agree to invite you and your wife to come to our village to collect soil samples," Secretary Qi said. If the land is suitable, he will definitely try to bring this project to Qijia Village.
“Secretary, I think there will be some people in the village who disagree?” Zhao Hongying said. Every time the village makes a move, there are always people who oppose it.
If things succeed, they benefit; if they fail, they say Secretary Qi abused his power for personal gain.
“Yes, the village isn’t a monolithic entity,” Qi Shugen said, expressing his concerns.
Secretary Qi smiled and said, "As long as the soil is suitable, I will definitely make this happen, not only to increase the villagers' income, but also because of other plans!"
"Secretary, what other plans do you have?" Qi Shugen asked curiously, wondering what Secretary Qi was up to!
Zhao Hongying, He Jingyu and his wife, and He Tiantian were also very curious and stared at Secretary Qi.
Secretary Qi smiled and said, "Build the road!"
"Hiss!" Qi Shugen gasped. "Secretary, our village is dozens of miles from the county seat. This is a huge project!"
"Yes, it's because our village is far from the county seat that it's inconvenient for us to travel there," Secretary Qi said. "Especially during the rainy season, the road becomes impassable when it rains. I'm not just making empty promises; my eldest daughter-in-law's family used to be in the same situation as our village, but they later built a road to the county seat. Why is it that the road is built for Shanyangdaogou Village, but not for our village, which only needs minor repairs?"
"It's because our village is far away!" Zhao Hongying said. "Other villages are closer, more than ten miles away from ours!"
Secretary Qi smiled and said, "That's only one aspect. The most important thing is that their village has hundreds of acres of apple trees. Those apples are big and good, but the roads are bad, which affects the transportation of the apples. So the county built roads for them. What does our village have besides grain? Nothing! In that case, why would the commune spend so much money to build roads for us? If we succeed in growing peaches, peaches have higher transportation requirements than apples. In order to transport these high-quality fruits out, the commune will also build roads for us."
Upon hearing this, the group suddenly realized what was going on.
"Secretary, you've thought of everything!" Zhao Hongying said with a smile. "If we also build roads, it will be much easier to go to the county town in the future, and the time will be reduced by half."
“Yes, even without bicycles, we can walk to the county town,” Qi Shugen said. Because it’s far from the county town, some people who are adults haven’t been there many times. A round trip wouldn’t be possible in one day, and there’s nowhere to stay.
Secretary Qi smiled and said, "Yes, the road is now repaired, making it easier for us to get in and out. This is something that will benefit future generations, and I must do it."
He Tiantian poured tea for the elders and interjected with a smile, "If you want to get rich, build roads first!"
"Haha!" Secretary Qi laughed. "Sweet girl is right. Because the road to Shanyangdaogou has been repaired, all the dried goods picked up on the mountain can be sold to the purchasing station, and the fruit trees planted there can also bring in a lot of money every year. The life in that village is the best in our entire Taoyuan County."
“Yes, we heard about it before, and we were envious,” Zhao Hongying said. “It used to take four or five hours to get from Shanyangdaogou to the county town, but now it only takes two hours on foot. The bridge has been built, so we don’t have to take a detour.”
Taoyuan County has many mountains and rivers, with streams and creeks everywhere. Some are shallow enough to wade or skate across, but the deeper ones are not, and you have to take a detour.
This means that the distance traveled becomes longer.
As dinner time approached, Secretary Qi took his leave, refusing to eat there under any circumstances. They felt it would be unfair to refuse free meals and instead eat the He family's rations.
Since they are He Tiantian's parents, and Secretary Qi has said that He Tiantian can stay here and they can go back to Qijia Village together tomorrow afternoon.
When He Tiantian met her parents, she had a lot to say and kept talking non-stop until she finally mentioned Huo Yingjie.
"Oh, Mom and Dad, my brother Yingjie came to see me a while ago. If only I had known sooner, the three of us could have seen each other more often," He Tiantian said, her voice filled with melancholy.
In this day and age, family reunion is a luxury!
“Yingjie came to Huai City. He was going to see Director Liao of the Revolutionary Committee. When he heard we were here, he came to visit us,” Wang Shuping said. “That boy is so thoughtful. He’s so busy with work, yet he still made time to come see you. That’s really kind of him!”
"Huh?" He Tiantian exclaimed in surprise, "Mom, Brother Yingjie came by? When?"
“It was on that train that day. He got off in Huai City, had lunch with us, and then took the train back that night,” Wang Shuping said. “It was just a coincidence; he didn’t know beforehand. If he had known, he wouldn’t have kept quiet about it.”
“That’s right,” He Tiantian said. “If I hadn’t come to Huai City, I wouldn’t have known you were here.”
The family of three chatted until very late. He Tiantian slept in the bedroom with her mother, while He Jingyu slept in the guest room. The mother and daughter continued chatting in bed, and it's unclear when they fell asleep.
And indeed, Secretary Qi went to attend the meeting, and it was exactly what he had heard from He Jingyu yesterday.
Yesterday's guesses were correct. Many people looked down on these things, considering them unorthodox and therefore not enthusiastic.
Secretary Qi didn't express his opinion. He planned to personally visit Niu Peng after the meeting and speak with him about supporting the city's decision. If it went well, it would be a significant achievement for Niu Peng. Even if Taoyuan County wasn't suitable for growing fruit trees, actively responding to the city's decision would still leave a good impression on the leadership.
After the meeting, Niu Peng was very disappointed with the village party secretaries in Taoyuan County; no one took the initiative.
The village secretary of Shandaogou Village did want to, but the village already had apple trees planted, and there was no spare land to grow other fruit trees.
When Secretary Qi found Niu Peng, Niu Peng was feeling sullen!
Upon hearing Secretary Qi's words, Niu Peng's eyes lit up, and he said, "Come on, I'll take you there. Your village is one of the top villages in the city, and the leaders know about Qijia Village. If you take the initiative to request and respond to the city's decision, it will be of great benefit to both you and Qijia Village."
(To be continued.)
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