Niu Dajun and his colleagues exchanged the letters. Niu Dajun signed another colleague's notebook to confirm that he had taken the letters. He put the letters in his canvas bag and made a note of it.
He Tiantian watched Niu Dajun do things from the side and secretly praised him. Although this man was tall and strong with an honest face, he was also sensitive, righteous and sincere. He was a rare find.
Niu Dajun finally finished and said with a smile, "Let's go eat."
Niu Dajun, worried he didn't have enough tickets, secretly borrowed some from his colleagues and took them to a decent state-run restaurant. Niu Dajun asked Qi Xiaoyan, He Tiantian, and Qi Ergou to order, but they were too embarrassed, so in the end Qi Dajun ordered the food himself.
A plate of braised pork, two crucian carp, a plate of green vegetables, a plate of stir-fried green beans, and a large bowl of tomato and egg drop soup.
Niu Dajun had originally planned to order a Four Happiness Meatballs, but Qi Xiaoyan quickly stopped him, saying that so many dishes would cost Niu Dajun a lot of money. And any more than that, and the four of them couldn't finish it.
There weren't many people eating at the moment, and the food was served in no time.
"Brother Niu, this place is really nice, the food portions are very generous," He Tiantian praised. From Niu Dajun's words, she knew his family wasn't very wealthy, and he was an only child. After finding his letter, He Tiantian gave Niu Dajun some of her family's wild rabbits and pheasants as a token of her gratitude.
Niu Dajun chuckled憨厚ly, winked, and lowered his voice, saying, "My cousin works here; she's the waitress from earlier."
There's a younger sister here, so although we can't charge less, the portions are very generous.
Qi Xiaoyan smiled and said, "No wonder, that lady was so enthusiastic just now, that was really nice."
Qi Ergou swallowed hard. "Oh dear, even if I had the ingredients at home, I couldn't make it taste like this."
No rice was cooked for lunch, only steamed buns; ten steamed buns were served.
"Alright, eat it while it's hot, don't be shy, if it's not enough, we can get more," Niu Dajun said, urging everyone to eat.
He Tiantian and Qi Xiaoyan each ate one and a half steamed buns, totaling three. Niu Dajun ate three, and Qi Ergou ate three, but felt embarrassed to eat any more, so he ate the last steamed bun after being persuaded by Qi Dajun.
"Sister Li, we need to go to the bathroom," He Tiantian whispered. They had been out since early morning and hadn't gone to the toilet yet.
This Niu Lili, Niu Dajun's cousin, quickly smiled and said, "They're in the back; I'll take you there."
"Thank you, Sister Li," He Tiantian said, leading Qi Xiaoyan to the back restroom.
Niu Lili is a warm-hearted person, and in just one meal, she became quite familiar with Qi Xiaoyan and He Tiantian.
After dinner, Niu Dajun and Qi Ergou took He Tiantian and Qi Xiaoyan to the commune to meet with Secretary Qi.
There were many people in the commune's courtyard, making a lot of noise. Secretary Qi stood silently to the side, letting them chatter on. There was also a group of people, dressed in tattered clothes, looking dejected, standing in the courtyard, not daring to move, as if waiting for something.
He Tiantian was taken aback. This was someone who had been criticized and struggled against in the commune, had been tried, and had been sent to the countryside for labor reform for committing a crime.
At that time, Secretary Qi brought back seven people, all of whom were old, weak, sick, or disabled and unable to work, but they lived well in Qijia Village and did not suffer. It was because of these elderly people that after the news of the college entrance examination spread, these people worked overnight to prepare exam questions, helping many educated youth and villagers from Qijia Village to pass the exam and get into university.
He Tiantian and Qi Fangfang were also admitted to university with the help of these people. However, at that time, Qi's family was worried that she wouldn't come back after getting into university, so they said that the family was too poor to support two people. At that time, He Tiantian was naive and took the initiative to give up her place so that Qi Fangfang could go to school.
As for Qi Xiaoyan, she could have taken the college entrance exam, but she was pregnant at the time and couldn't. Li Mingkai took the exam and, incredibly, got accepted. He went to university in the city and didn't want Qi Xiaoyan anymore.
Back then in rural areas, if you weren't of legal marriage age, you couldn't get a marriage certificate. Many people would get married and then hold a small wedding banquet to get a certificate. Li Mingkai abandoned Qi Xiaoyan because they didn't have a marriage certificate. Qi Xiaoyan couldn't bear it and committed suicide by jumping into a river.
After everyone had made their selections, only seven or eight elderly, weak, sick, or disabled people remained in the courtyard.
Director Chen was in charge of settling these people who had "made mistakes." The young and middle-aged, as well as the elderly who were still able to walk, had all been taken away. When it came to Qijia Village, it was all the same people. Director Chen felt embarrassed; did he expect the people of Qijia to take care of him in his old age and see him off in his final days?
"Dazhu, I'm sorry to trouble you," Director Chen said. "We can't leave these people here; what would that look like?"
Secretary Qi wasn't stupid, but he hadn't gone up to argue with those people earlier because his second son had written to him instructing him to treat those sent down to the villages better. He'd also observed them earlier, and many of them didn't seem like bad people. He didn't understand why the government would criticize such people. If they were guilty, they should just be imprisoned and executed!
Although he didn't object to accepting these people, Secretary Qi still looked troubled. When faced with such a situation, expressing his reluctance to his superiors would usually result in the village receiving some benefits. He said, "Director Chen, look at these people, they can't do any work at all in the countryside. Haven't I just invited a bunch of ancestors back home?"
Director Chen understood this principle, but since the people from other villages had all been taken away, there was nothing he could do about leaving them here. He had to force them onto Qi Dazhu no matter what.
Another important reason was that he received secret instructions that three of them must be delivered to Qijia Village. He wanted to ask, but those people said it was not something he should know, and he dared not ask.
“Dazhu, I know it’s hard on you, but look, we can’t just leave these people here,” Director Chen said. “Don’t worry, as long as you take all these people away, I’ll double the number of livestock in your village tomorrow. If we don’t increase the number of oxen, we’ll add it to the number of pigs and sheep, and we’ll put them on the shelves according to this year’s numbers. You can deal with the rest yourselves.”
Secretary Qi was overjoyed to hear this. Apart from the oxen, half of the village's livestock had to be handed over, and the rest could be disposed of by the villagers themselves. After keeping one head to slaughter and distribute to the villagers, the rest would be taken to the purchasing station to be sold. By the end of the year, each family would receive a considerable amount of money.
If the quantity of livestock doubles but the amount of produce handed over doesn't increase, then the village will have a better life next year. These four-legged animals eat grass, not grain; all they need is for people to diligently cut grass.
"Is what Director Chen said true?" Secretary Qi asked rhetorically, worried that they might renege on their promise later, since the village would have to contribute most of the grain to feed these people.
Director Chen assured him, "I mean what I say. I can give you a note right now. These are all elderly people, and they probably can't do heavy work. They can still do some work, like cutting grass, raising pigs, and herding sheep. So I understand your difficulties."
We need to settle the people as soon as possible; Director Chen still has other work to do.
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