619
Huang Jingli was poised and confident, and took the initiative to greet the embarrassed and shy Wu Youliang.
Wu Youliang wasn't the type to be coy, and he spoke to Huang Jingli politely. After they finished getting their things together, they became much more familiar with each other.
Neither of them mentioned that they were going to meet tomorrow, but they were both thinking about it.
Wu Youliang helped Huang Jingli move her things and took them to the Chinese Department office before taking his own things back to report to his teacher.
The next day, the two officially met through He Tiantian's introduction.
After lunch, on their way back in the afternoon, the two walked and chatted as they went, reminiscing about their past lives.
Upon hearing the reason why Huang Jingli hadn't returned home for so many years, Wu Youliang felt a pang of heartache and said, "Jingli, I'm not good-looking, but I can assure you that I have good character, I'm ambitious, and I'll treat you well in the future. I'll work hard to give you a good life."
Huang Jingli smiled and said, "When I was younger, I might have cared more about external factors, but I'm twenty-seven now, so those things don't matter anymore. As long as someone has good character and ambition, that's enough. No matter how tough things get, as long as we work together, we can always make it better."
"Yes, you're right." Wu Youliang grinned broadly, his expression sincere. "When did you get your train ticket? I'll give it to you!"
"Tomorrow afternoon," Huang Jingli said. "Your home is in Gao County, and mine is in Li County. It's not that far."
"Yeah, with the train ticket, it should only take about two hours," Wu Youliang said. That evening, he treated Huang Jingli to dinner and took her back to her dorm.
They met at He Tiantian's house the next morning, which was considered their formal introduction.
When Wu Youliang saw Huang Jingli off at the train station in the afternoon, he was very thoughtful and bought her some pancakes and eggs to take with her.
Seeing that Wu Youliang and Huang Jingli got along well, He Tiantian decided to leave their affairs alone.
What happens to them in the future is their own business.
Just as Huo Yingjie and He Tiantian were preparing for the New Year, the Huo family welcomed two guests: Niu Dajun and Secretary Qi.
They didn't send a telegram beforehand; they came directly from the address He Tiantian left behind.
When He Tiantian opened the door and saw the two people outside, she was stunned.
"Brother Dajun, Secretary Qi, what brings you here? Has something happened to Grandma?" He Tiantian asked hurriedly, her first thought being that something bad had happened.
Seeing this, Huo Yingjie quickly stepped forward and said, "Tian Tian, don't rush, let them in, and we can talk slowly."
"Hehe, Third Aunt, it's alright. I came to ask your father-in-law and Yingjie for some advice," Secretary Qi said with a smile. "I forgot to send a telegram when I came. I hope I didn't disturb you."
Upon hearing this, He Tiantian quickly said, "Secretary Qi, what are you saying? I'm so happy to welcome you all, I wouldn't be bothering you at all. It's cold outside, please come inside."
Huo Yingjie led the people into the house, and He Tiantian quickly went to cook ginger soup to warm the two of them up.
Dinner had already been eaten, and He Tiantian cooked hot beef noodles for Secretary Qi and Niu Dajun separately, which made the two of them sweat profusely.
Huo Zhekun and Jiang Lifang heard that people from Qijia Village had come, so they quickly put on their clothes and came over.
Upon seeing that it was Secretary Qi, Jiang Lifang greeted him warmly, "Brother Qi, what brings you here? You should have let me know in advance so I could have picked you up."
"Hehe, it's alright. I figured you probably hadn't gone to Yanjing yet, so I came straight here. You have to go to work and school, but we're able-bodied, literate, and know the address. We can just ask around," Secretary Qi said with a smile. "It's just that our sudden visit might be bothering you."
Seeing Secretary Qi say this, Huo Zhekun said, "Brother Qi, you're being too polite. Is there something you need? I'll do my best to help if it's within my power."
When Secretary Qi saw that Huo Zhekun was straightforward and no longer beat around the bush, he realized that if there was nothing wrong, he wouldn't have bothered to come to Nanshi in the freezing cold!
"Hehe, we have encountered some difficulties, or you could say we are confused," Secretary Qi said. "A few days ago, the county party committee leaders convened all the village party secretaries to discuss the distribution of land to individual households in private."
Land distribution to individual households?
Huo Zhekun smiled, having already made up his mind.
They received the documents from above, but didn't require it to be implemented immediately. They suggested starting with a pilot program in a suitable location, so Nanshi selected several relatively remote villages. If the household-based land redistribution system proves unsuitable, it won't have a significant impact.
If the results are good, then it's safer to promote it on a large scale.
“Yes, the land was distributed to individual households.” Secretary Qi took a drag of his cigarette. “We used to live in large collectives, and everyone was used to it. They felt that doing so was individualism and small-group mentality, so many people were unwilling to distribute the land to individual households.”
"Brother Qi, what are your thoughts?" Huo Zhekun asked. It was clear that Secretary Qi had come all this way, which must have been a contradiction, and he must have his own reasons.
"During the collective farming era, I discovered many problems. Most people were still very diligent, but some were lazy and slacked off. You might say those people were lazy, but they weren't like this before. I guess it was working in the collective that made them realize that work was of equal importance, which is why they acted this way," Secretary Qi said. "If the land were distributed to individual households, with each family as a unit, then if a family didn't work and didn't cultivate the land properly, they wouldn't have any food to eat. I believe that even the laziest person, thinking about not having food to eat, would work hard."
Having served as the village party secretary for so many years, and being a thoughtful one at that, Secretary Qi has seen many problems.
"That was the starting point for the land distribution to individual households," Huo Zhekun said. "Long-term large collectives were not conducive to production development, so the higher authorities began to think about reform. However, the pace of reform could not be too large, which is why they suggested that various localities find several pilot sites."
“Brother Huo, you’re an official, so you have a more thorough understanding of these matters,” Secretary Qi said. “Just tell me directly, is there any benefit to distributing land to individual households?”
Huo Zhekun and his son Huo Yingjie had discussed this issue. His son firmly told him that distributing land to individual households was imperative. Only in this way could the relations of production be changed and productivity increased without changing the total land area. The above-mentioned think tank has repeatedly verified the theory to be correct.
Therefore, the distribution of land to individual households was destined to bring about earth-shattering changes to rural areas.
“There are benefits,” Huo Zhekun said. “The policies from above are very flexible. After the land was distributed to individual households, each mu of land only needs to hand over 110 jin of grain, and the rest is all theirs. I also learned before that Qijia Village has a very high yield, 400 jin per mu. If a family has five mu of land, they only need to hand over 500 jin, and they still have 1,500 jin left. This is only one season’s harvest. Your area has two seasons. After deducting the public grain, each family can have 3,000 jin of grain.”
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com