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After entering 1958, Xiao Li became visibly busy. When he had nothing to do, he attended meetings of all sizes non-stop. He often left the group with Dong Shiyi to attend meetings. After attending so many meetings, Xiao Li felt that perhaps in a few years, his position would be promoted. He just didn't know where he would be assigned to and whether he would be able to return to Beijing.
In response to the leader's words of "voluntarily going to rural areas with difficult conditions to train yourself", a team of more than 30 students came to Huaixian, a poor county, in February. This team is a youth volunteer pioneering team composed of young people from all over the country. They left their hometowns and went to the mountainous areas to open up farmland.
Because China has a large population, there have always been more people than jobs in cities. Most educated youth face the embarrassing situation of being unemployed and relying on their parents at home after graduation. The leaders have repeatedly proposed that educated youth voluntarily go to rural areas with difficult conditions to train and enrich themselves.
Therefore, starting from the early 1950s, many young people in the city began to form youth land reclamation volunteer teams and go to various impoverished areas such as the Great Northern Wilderness to reclaim wasteland. The superiors highly praised this to increase the enthusiasm of the educated youth. In 1957, a large number of PLA soldiers were demobilized and retired, and the work in the city became more intense. The senior leaders once again proposed to go to the countryside, which also led to most students starting to actively participate.
This is also the reason why reclamation teams can come to such a small place as Huai County.
The mayor of Huai County warmly welcomed this and held a grand welcome party for them. At the party, he named them "Huai County's First Youth Volunteer Reclamation Team" and regarded these students as typical model youths and promoted them vigorously in the county and even the province. In a short time, these more than 30 people became celebrities known to everyone in the small county of Huai County.
The 'First Youth Volunteer Reclamation Team of Huai County' was assigned to the poorest mountainous area of Huai County to reclaim land. Xiao Li had the honor of seeing this reclamation team during the troops' regular patrols. The team members were all young people under the age of 20 or just 20 years old who had graduated from school. Although they were all children from the city, they worked very hard.
Especially the girls in the team, they wrapped a towel on their heads while doing it, gritted their teeth and said nothing, and did not care whether their bodies could withstand such high-intensity labor at all. They did not have a trace of the pampered nature of city girls, and they were even more hardworking than men.
When they were tired from work, they would shout slogans like they were injected with chicken blood, "Follow the great leader, everything is for the country and the people, sacrifice ourselves, devote ourselves."
It seems that after shouting slogans, the physical fatigue will disappear.
"That's amazing! I admire you!" What is completely different from the compulsory going to the countryside in the future is that now going to the countryside for training is all voluntary. These young people left their hometowns with the mentality of dedicating themselves to the motherland and went to the poor mountainous areas to volunteer. They did not cheat or complain about the hardship and fatigue as described in the novels. They actually worked with their own hands and dedicated their youth to this country.
Xiao Li expressed his sincere admiration for these people from the bottom of his heart. He even asked himself whether he could devote himself like them. The answer was no.
Seeing this group of passionate young people, Xiao Li even felt like he was about to get excited. That day, he began to notify the group to help the villagers build canals and ponds in the surrounding villages.
Large-scale activities such as building ponds, dams and canals cannot be done just by Xiao Li saying so. He must consult with the surrounding village heads, township heads, town heads and even the county magistrate of Huai County. If the higher-ups do not allocate funds, the ponds and dams cannot be built even if the people are willing.
Dong Shiyi watched Xiao Li jumping around like a monkey, and asked in confusion, "Old Xiao, you're going to sing again? Why did you think of repairing the canals and ponds when you were fine? Have you been idle lately and have nothing to do?"
"Get lost!" Xiao Li raised his foot and tried to kick Dong Shiyi, but unfortunately, he dodged it quickly. "I'm taking precautions. Haven't you noticed that there's been less snow this winter than in previous years? I ran into Old Sun on the road a few days ago and chatted with him. He seemed very concerned about this matter."
There was a spring drought in Huai County this year, which seriously affected the sowing and growth of crops. Old Sun, as an experienced grower, was very concerned about such weather. He happened to be met by Xiao Li when he was chatting with many elderly men and women. After listening to their concerns, Xiao Li scratched some vague memories in his mind. It seemed that he had heard that there was a difficult period, but he forgot the specific time.
No matter when, let's build the water storage equipment first. It can be regarded as a small contribution of my own.
At such times, Xiao Li would ask himself why he had not studied China's modern history well before, which resulted in him having no sense of superiority from the God's perspective of a time traveler or book traveler. However, he still kept the matter in mind and even sent a telegram to the old man in Beijing, hoping that he would take it seriously.
"The rain has gradually become less since last year, and there has been basically no rain or snow since this year." Dong Shiyi thought about it and felt that what Xiao Li said made sense, but this was not something he could do just because he wanted to.
"Don't go out these few days. I'm going to find someone who has some say in Xiahuai County. If you go, I'm afraid they'll reject you and you'll turn the table over." As a comrade-in-arms, Dong Shiyi would agree with Xiao Li as long as he didn't do anything illegal. This time, he even decided to help him when he didn't know whether what Xiao Li said was right or wrong.
Huai County is truly impoverished. Dong Shiyi approached many county leaders, all of whom expressed their inability to come up with the necessary funds. "Commissar Dong, we know you're thinking about the farmers in Huai County, but you've also seen how poor we are. We simply can't afford to contribute. How about this: We'll report the problem to our superiors first. As soon as the funds are in place, we'll definitely complete the repairs."
Unable to raise funds, Dong Shiyi and Xiao Li could only sit at the foot of the mountain and feel the cold wind.
Dong Shiyi looked at his brother sighing and offered him some advice: "Do you remember the family driving the car we met a few years ago? I heard that family returned to the village these days."
Xiao Li certainly remembered the little fat man's family. Not only did he remember them, he was even impressed by the little fat man Qin Yuji. "Why, don't they come back to the village every year? What's so rare about this?"
"Yeah, the little fat guy's family is rich. He's a big boss." Then Xiao Li had an idea and slapped his thigh, jumping up from the ground. "Great, brother, it turns out that the political commissar's brain is faster than others. Let's go visit the little fat guy's family."
"That's not right. We need to think about this matter carefully."
The leaders of the two armies going to someone else to ask for money seemed a little inappropriate, but Xiao Li didn't think so at all. Instead, he pulled up Dong Shiyi, who was still squatting on the ground and looked like he was messing around, and said firmly, "We are doing this for the people. The reason is great. There is nothing wrong with it."
"Brother, we soldiers need to be thick-skinned. You can't do that. You have to learn from me."
Dong Shiyi: “…” It’s so embarrassing to be a partner with this idiot.
Qin Yuji's father is a successful young man. Their Qin family has been a wealthy family since ancient times, and there are many good things left in the family. Later, China was plagued by wars, and Qin Yuji's grandfather was very far-sighted and donated half of his property to the country. Later, because of this reason, their family was safe in the subsequent Landlord game.
Many people in Longgang Village were former slaves and farmhands of the Qin family. After the founding of the New China, these systems were abolished and the people became their own masters. For the sake of everyone's well-being, the Qin family moved to H City. Qin Yuji's father, Qin Xiangrong, started a business in H City. The business grew bigger and bigger, and he made more and more money. In the end, he even married the daughter of a leader in H City. It can be said that the Qin family is a wealthy and powerful family.
Such a family still remembers their roots and goes back to their hometown to stay for a period of time every year. It can be seen that the family has deep feelings for this small mountain village, Longgang Village.
After Xiao Li and his companions approached the Qin family and told them about the pond dam construction, Qin Xiangrong, without even questioning their words, readily nodded and said his family would provide the funds for the village. "We'll be staying in the village for the time being. I'll have the materials, cement, and so on, prepared and delivered to us. You just need to gather the people."
"Okay! I have enough manpower here, all of them are tall and strong young laborers. As long as you bring the materials over, we can start working." Xiao Li admired such straightforward people, and both of them had trendy ideas, which made them hit it off at first sight. As they chatted, they even developed a feeling of mutual appreciation. If Dong Shiyi hadn't been pulling them aside, they would have knelt down and sworn brotherhood on the spot.
Dong Shiyi held his forehead and always felt that something was wrong with the development of things. Aren't those big bosses in his memory always arrogant and looking down on others? Why are Qin Xiangrong and Xiao Li so similar in character, both unreliable? How did such people make it in the outside world?
It's really confusing!
With the strong support of Qin Xiangrong's money and Xiao Li's manpower, the pond and dam in Longgang Village began to be built in full swing. At the beginning, some villagers were reluctant to send their family laborers to build the pond and dam during the busy spring season. Later, when they saw that the soldiers had come out to help, every household symbolically sent a male laborer from their family.
With strength in numbers and all the laborers being men, Longgang Village built several ponds and dams within a month, and also built canals in many places in the village.
It is said that whoever gives you milk is your mother. Now, when people in the village see the Qin family, they no longer ignore them as before. The children are also much more enthusiastic about Qin Yuji. Xiao Li and others often see a group of children taking the fat boy Qin Yuji running around the village.
"Bring Guaiguai and Wenbo here tomorrow and let them play with the children in the village. I think they will be very happy."
"Okay, I haven't met your children yet. Bringing them here will just allow them to get to know each other." Qin Xiangrong felt that he and Xiao Li were brothers and their children were about the same age, so it would be great for them to meet and communicate with each other.
So the next day Xiao Li secretly skipped class with his two kids.
"This is Qin Yuji, the eldest among you. You should call him Brother Qin." Qin Yuji and Dong Wenbo were both born in 1953, but Qin Yuji's birthday is two months later than Dong Wenbo's, so he is the oldest of the three children.
After introducing the children, Xiao Li left them alone to play. After the adults left, Xiao Nuo and Dong Wenbo, who had been acting so well, surrounded Qin Yuji and looked him up and down and said, "Humph, you want to be our boss and our brother? No way!"
The fat boy Qin Yuji was even more arrogant. He spread his hands and said helplessly: "I can't help it. I'm the oldest. But even if you want to be my younger brothers, I still don't want to. Look at how skinny you two are. You can easily resist a fight."
Children like to be the boss when playing together. Xiaonuo is even more obsessed with being the boss. Her favorite thing is to find trouble. After hearing what the little fat boy said, she said to Dong Wenbo beside her: "Dong Wenbo, go ahead. If you beat him, I will admit that you are my boss."
So in the end, Dong Wenbo went up and Xiaonuo also took advantage of the chaos to go up. The two kids who were invincible in the compound were finally defeated by Qin Yuji's tonnage.
None of the three children were squeamish. After the fight, Xiaonuo wiped his face with his dirty sleeve and said generously, "Okay, since you beat us, we will temporarily recognize you as the boss!"
When Xiao Li came to pick up the children after finishing his work, he saw that the three of them were covered in dirt. He raised his eyebrows and looked at Xiao Nuo: "Xiao Nuo, did you have a fight with your brothers?"
Xiao Nuo hurriedly shook his head and took one of them by the hand, smiling sweetly at his father, "No, I love my brothers the most, how could I possibly fight with them."
"really?"
“Really!”
Xiao Li didn't believe it at all, but since the three children looked so harmonious, he finally believed it. He said goodbye to Qin Xiangrong, holding one of them by the hand, and went back. On the way back, he kept asking the two children, "How is it? Do you like your little brother?"
The two children, one on each side, said in unison, "I like it!"
"Will we come to play with Qin Yuji again tomorrow?"
"No, you still have school tomorrow."
"Ah~~~ Why is this happening..."
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