When Lao Liu said this, everyone was slightly stunned.
They even thought he was joking.
Only He Ling remained somewhat calmer. She said, "Prices were low back then, and..."
Old Liu shook his head and said, "It's not a price issue. Back then, the minimum wage in Jingzhou was 1,800 yuan per month, while the average income in the village was just over 3,000 yuan."
He went on to say, "Rural people are also human beings and need to live. They need to eat, wear clothes, send their children to school, and get medical treatment when they are sick... But with an annual income of only 3,000 yuan, what can they do?"
Just like the performance of the stars, the comments also seemed shocked.
Even fresh graduates who are earning 3,000 yuan a month think that an annual income of just over 3,000 yuan is too much.
Some comments were popularized:
"I grew up in the countryside, and our income is so low. Fortunately, there are not many places to spend money."
"City people don't understand how much a pound of rice can sell for, right? Have you ever thought about how much farmers can earn with such cheap rice?"
"In the past, we rural people were born and rolled in the soil. We couldn't afford to live, get sick, or die. We relied on hardship for everything!"
…
Old Liu continued, "Why is the income so low? In the past, the village was all mountainous and ravine-like, and grain yields per mu were low, and it was also difficult to grow and harvest.
"The elderly in this village all have problems with their legs or backs. They are the result of hard work and fatigue in their youth.
"Why not use machinery? Machinery can't get in! The field is only the size of a palm, and it would be too crowded if too many people stepped on it, let alone machinery.
"Young people don't want to stay in the village. Farming is tiring and the income is low, so they all go to the city to work. Only the elderly, the weak and the disabled remain in the village.
"At that time, villagers could not afford medical treatment or education, and large tracts of farmland were left fallow.
"Where are the green mountains and clear waters? They are just a bunch of skinny farmers, scraping a living from the soil.
"Look."
He stopped and pointed to a house nearby. He saw an old man sitting at the door. His right trouser leg was empty and his crutch was placed beside him.
Lao Liu continued:
"See that old man? A few years ago, he was lame, but he was still farming. He sat on a bench, plowing the land with a hoe.
"I had been an official in the city for several years and had never been to the countryside. How could I have seen such a scene?
“When I came down and saw this village, my heart sank! Tears started flowing.
"It's so hard. It's heartbreaking to see that there are still people living like this in our country.
"But all of this was changed by Aunt Xu's son."
Qin Yunchu's heart tightened when he heard this. When he heard Chen Ya finally appeared, he hurriedly asked:
"How did he change?"
Old Liu smiled and said, "He first paid the money to level the land, which resulted in more fields, higher yields per mu, and surplus crops, which made the villagers rich.
"He also set up a fund to provide free education to any village children who wanted to learn mechanics and auto repair.
"Nowadays, when the villagers are farming during the busy season, they can rent an excavator and easily cultivate the fields. Children who learn to operate machinery can also make money.
"He also paid for several jobs for the elderly, the weak, the sick and the disabled. They could earn several thousand yuan a month just by cleaning every day."
He walked up to the one-legged old man and asked, "Did you go to work today?"
The one-legged old man stood up and said sullenly, "I've already done it. Now I'll do it again."
After saying that, he picked up the bamboo basket placed beside the bench, and limped forward with a crutch in one hand and a pair of tongs in the other.
He walked to the side of the crowd, picked up a piece of trash on the ground with a pair of tongs, threw it into the bamboo basket behind him, and then continued walking forward.
Old Liu turned around and looked at everyone: "Look, he's taking care of everyone."
Everyone was silent for a long time, and then He Ling said, "Aunt Xu's son is so kind."
Wang Feng nodded and said, "Yes, and he is very thoughtful."
Jiang Xinhai also said: "Everyone is taken care of, everyone has work to do, and everyone can make money."
There is another sentence they didn't say: This is much more reasonable than directly giving money to support lazy people.
Old Liu pointed in another direction and said, "There's another one over there. Let's go check it out."
Not long after they walked, they saw a woman feeding her daughter in the yard.
Old Liu pointed at her and said, "She gave birth to three children, her husband was electrocuted, and she was diagnosed with stomach cancer. It was Aunt Xu's son who paid for her medical expenses, and she had surgery and recovered.
"The tuition and miscellaneous fees of her three daughters were all paid by Aunt Xu's son. Now her eldest daughter works as a caregiver in the city and sends 2,000 yuan home every month."
After seeing Lao Liu, the woman nodded at him with a smile.
Old Liu shouted at her, "Xu Hui, they want to ask about Aunt Xu's son!"
The woman put down her bowl, took her little daughter's hand, ran over and said, "That's my family's benefactor!"
Old Liu waved his hand and said, "Alas, you don't have to come over."
But the woman kept talking non-stop: "That is a great favor, I can never repay it in my lifetime..."
"Alright, alright... Hurry up and feed the child. He's starving."
Old Liu quickly fled with everyone, then turned back and explained in a low voice:
"I shouldn't have called her that. Every time she mentioned Aunt Xu's son, she would talk about him for at least two hours."
Old Liu led everyone to the edge of a pond. The blue sky and white clouds were reflected on the surface of the pond like a mirror.
"He also spent money to dig this pond. The village committee rents it to villagers, who raise fish and shrimp here, and part of the income goes to the village collective. This way, the village collective has money every year to distribute some welfare benefits and do things that benefit everyone."
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