Chapter 21
Naturally, Chen Zhisheng agreed a lot.
Zheng Mei has always been an impetuous person. She immediately put on her clothes, stood up, and paced back and forth on the moonlit ground, thinking about which direction to work towards.
Now the household contract responsibility system is implemented, and it is no longer like the old days of eating from a big pot. The state encourages farmers to do their own work. Zheng Mei originally wanted to rent a few more acres of land and raise a few more pigs. Step by step, she wanted to save some money for her daughters. However, this type of method is too slow.
We still have to think of other ways.
Count the resources available at home. Well, it seems that Chen Zhisheng's carpentry skills can come in handy.
Zheng Mei turned to Chen Zhisheng and asked, "With your current skills, can you make a few tables, chairs, benches, etc. and sell them? Is that okay?"
"Of course there is no problem with my skills, but if someone from the 'Anti-Japanese Office' comes to investigate..." Chen Zhisheng hesitated for a moment, his eyes firmed up, "It doesn't matter, as long as I can make money, if something unexpected happens, it will be worth it for me to stay in the training class for a month or two."
"There is no such thing as a single event, and there will never be a single event."
Zheng Mei said firmly: "I want to think about how to let you do this business legitimately. Nowadays, the way of farming has changed, and there is no big pot meal anymore. There is no reason why you can't do a business properly."
The next morning, after instructing Chen Zhisheng to make breakfast for Chen Lanjun, Zheng Mei went out and headed straight for the brigade office. Although there was a sign saying "production brigade office", it was just a mud house at the entrance of the village.
Zheng Mei had the key. She took the key from her waist and opened the door.
The three gray and white walls are covered with many propaganda posters that harken back to the times, red slogans, and portraits of some leaders.
There were three or four tables and chairs in the middle of the production brigade office, all of which had their paint peeled off. One of the tables belonged to Zheng Mei.
She rummaged through boxes and drawers, turning over all the documents and instructions she had received recently, trying to find policies that supported her behavior and ideas.
I searched for a long time but couldn't find it.
Zheng Mei went to the commune again.
It was the weekend, not a regular working day, and apart from a few people on duty, there were not many people in the commune. Zheng Mei looked at the bulletin board at the door carefully, and read the papers posted on it one by one, but still found no useful information.
She had no choice but to knock on the door of the secretary of Qiao Commune.
The commune secretary is Huang Long, who is considered Zheng Mei's old leader and has a good impression of her. Huang Long worked with Zheng Mei when he was young and sincerely wanted to do something practical for the people, so he likes Zheng Mei, a motivated and capable cadre. However, he has seen too many absurd things in the past ten years, and he is about to retire and has little energy, so he gradually doesn't care about things. He does everything according to the established rules, doesn't stand out, doesn't make mistakes, and is down-to-earth.
Because of this connection, Huang Long didn't get angry even though Zheng Mei came over without any reason. Instead, he listened carefully to what she said about her purpose.
"As for this kind of support, our commune doesn't seem to have received any explicit notification."
Secretary Huang was holding a large teacup, sitting on a recliner near the window, and spoke leisurely.
Zheng Mei smiled and said, "I shouldn't have bothered you with this kind of thing. Secretary Huang knows about my daughters. They are all studying, and my second sister is repeating a grade. After she is admitted to university, she will need money. I hope the old leader will take the trouble to think about it and see if there is any explanation."
Secretary Huang thought about it and said, "Xiao Zheng, it's just you. I don't care about others. I listened to the radio a few days ago and seemed to have heard something. I don't know if it's useful. It seemed to be the 'Decision on Several Issues Concerning the Development of Commune and Brigade Enterprises'."
"It seems to be saying that as long as it complies with economic principles, some products that can be processed in rural areas can be processed by commune-brigade enterprises."
Zheng Mei's eyes lit up when she heard this. This meant that if she had a social enterprise, she wouldn't have to worry about violating the regulations on speculation.
But there were two questions before her. First, was the news accurate? Was there any clear stipulation? It had to be written down in black and white so that she could confront others openly if they came to cause trouble.
The second problem is that the commune does not actually have any enterprises. The old leader is going to retire in the next two years and is not very enthusiastic about this new policy. If you really want to get this done, you will have to run around and use all kinds of connections.
Zheng Mei thanked him and asked, "Old leader, do you have the corresponding official documents?"
Secretary Huang just shook his head and said, "Well, go look for it yourself."
As he said this, he opened the lid of the tea, blew away the tea smoke, and took a sip of tea.
This means serving tea to guests.
After another round of words of gratitude, Zheng Mei said goodbye.
She kept thinking about it on the way back.
Since the old leader said that he heard it on the radio and the document mentioned sounded reasonable, then the news is probably true.
They are far away from home, so it is not uncommon for them not to receive any notification.
We still have to find it, so where should we look?
The newspaper that Lan Jun brought home suddenly appeared in her mind.
When she returned home, it was already afternoon. In another hour or two, Chen Lanjun would have to return to school.
The room was quiet.
Chen Zhisheng brought porridge, sweet potatoes and a plate of fermented bean curd. Zheng Mei quickly finished her meal and asked, "Where's the second sister? She may have gone back to school. Why didn't I hear any sound from her?"
"Inside the house."
Zheng Mei walked over to take a look. Haha, this girl had printed a lot of review points in a day and a night. She was afraid that the ink would not dry well and would stick together, so she spread the printed papers all over the table, floor and cabinet, waiting for the sun to dry the ink marks.
"Don't pack your things yet, it's time to go back to school."
Chen Lanjun turned around, looked at Zheng Mei, and smiled: "Okay, I'll clean it up."
"Don't be afraid of being late. Don't walk at night."
"No," Chen Lanjun explained, "I made an appointment with a classmate of ours named Cao Hongyao. She will take me with her on a bicycle."
Zheng Mei originally wanted to send Chen Lanjun to school and go to the library to check the newspapers to see if there was any news about social enterprises. But when she heard that she had made an appointment with her classmates and would go there by bicycle, she kept her words to herself.
It's better not to tell my second sister about this. It's best not to reveal any clues, otherwise, this clever girl will be distracted from her studies again.
Anyway, it would be the same if she went to the county town by herself later.
At the appointed time, the sound of a bicycle bell was heard from the wheat field outside Chen's house.
Chen Lanjun hurriedly picked up the last two pieces of paper on the ground, folded them carefully, put them into the military green luggage bag, and went out.
Zheng Mei heard the sound and ran out from the kitchen, holding a bag of dried sweet potatoes wrapped in dry lotus leaves. She said, "Hey, take the dried sweet potatoes with you and share some with Hongyao and other students."
"Okay, got it."
Chen Lanjun took the dried sweet potatoes, held them in her hand, and said goodbye to her: "Well, I'm leaving now. You and dad should stay at home and take care of yourself."
"You should also take some rest."
"knew."
Cao Hongyao also said goodbye to Zheng Mei: "Goodbye, Auntie."
"goodbye."
Chen Lanjun sat sideways on the back seat of the bicycle and waved at Zheng Mei.
There were a lot of things on the bicycle and it wasn't very spacious. When Zheng Mei saw Chen Lanjun's little movements, she knew that she must not be sitting comfortably.
Zheng Mei watched the bicycle go farther and farther away on the country road until it was gradually out of sight, and then she withdrew her gaze.
Just wait and see, in the near future, she will buy a bicycle for her second and youngest sister, each of them a bicycle of their own.
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