Shen Annian's first stop was Gaoshan Village, a well-known poverty-stricken village in the town.
The mountain road here is really difficult to walk on. It is a narrow path with many potholes. The bumps made her butt hurt.
By the time she arrived at Gaoshan Village by bike, her forehead was covered in sweat.
The village is full of adobe and thatched houses.
A few dusty children were playing at the entrance of the village, their little faces covered in dust and their noses were runny.
The clothes on their bodies were patched up, and one child was wearing clothes made from a sack.
Just by looking at it, Shen Annian felt that the sack was very prickly. How could the child's delicate skin bear it?
She had seen on TV before that a family only had one pair of pants, and only whoever went out had the right to wear them.
She thought it was too exaggerated when she saw it, but now it seems to be true.
Those children, like refugees, looked at her with wide eyes, or more precisely, at the bicycle she rode.
She went to the brigade office.
The office is a mud-brick house, and the paint on the door panels has peeled off, making it look a bit mottled.
The door was locked and there was no one in the office.
Shen An Nian asked the children, "I am the secretary of the commune, and I have come to visit Gaoshan Village. Can you call the team leader over?"
The kids looked at each other with confused eyes, none of them having any idea what the commune secretary meant.
But they heard that this sister wanted to see the captain.
The child in the sack ran out like the wind.
Shen Annian stood under the shade of a tree waiting for someone.
The children were playing games nearby, glancing over here from time to time.
The children thought they were being very discreet, so Shen An Nian pretended to know nothing and let them look at her.
Half an hour later, the captain of Gaoshan Village, Zhao Yongshi, finally arrived.
He looked a little weathered, with a deep wrinkle between his eyebrows, and looked much older than his actual age.
From the information Shen Annian had read, Captain Zhao was only in his thirties this year, but he looked like he was in his forties.
Zhao Yongshi originally thought that some important leader from the commune had come, and that a group of people would come to inspect. However, he only saw a delicate girl who didn't look like a member of the commune.
"Girl, you are really a commune secretary. I went to the commune for meetings before, but why didn't I see you?"
Shen Anyian took out her work ID, and Zhao Yongshi apologized to her repeatedly, "I'm so sorry, I haven't seen you before and didn't recognize you at first.
Secretary Shen, you've worked hard all the way. Come in and sit down."
Zhao Yongshi took out the key and unlocked the office. The office didn't look like an office at all. There was only a table, a few chairs, and a cabinet in the corner.
Zhao Yongshi felt a little embarrassed when he saw the young clerk looking around the room.
“Secretary Shen, the conditions in our Gaoshan Village are too poor, please don’t mind.”
"It's okay, tell me about the situation here."
"Please sit down for a while. I'll get you a glass of water."
There is a thermos in the brigade office, but the water was filled several days ago.
Their brigade office is just a decoration, and people only come to sit here when someone from higher up comes.
Few people have come here in recent years, and this place is essentially abandoned.
He could only take his enamel cup and go to the house next door to borrow water.
Shen Annian sat in the room. After about three minutes, Zhao Yongshi came back with a glass of water and a plate of red dates in his hand.
"Director Shen, drink some water. Eat some red dates. These are grown by the brigade. They are crisp and sweet."
Shen Annian picked up the enamel cup and took a sip. It was cold water, probably not boiled.
She was too embarrassed to spit it out, so she swallowed it.
She put down the cup, picked up a red date and ate it. It was indeed crispy and sweet, and tasted very good.
"These dates are very sweet."
A hint of pride appeared on Zhao Yongshi's face. "Of course, the red dates from our Gaoshan Village are famous in the surrounding area."
"Since you're so famous, have you ever thought about selling red dates to generate income?"
Hearing her words, Zhao Yongshi's smile became a little bitter.
A few years ago, they followed the commune's call and planted fruit trees on the mountain, with red date trees being the most common.
The red dates have borne fruit, and they are very good. But what’s the use of them being so good? The supply and marketing cooperative won’t buy them.
Since the villagers couldn't finish eating all the dates, they left them on the ground and turned them into fertilizer.
“If there were a way, who wouldn’t want to sell it? But the supply and marketing cooperatives won’t accept it.
The villagers couldn’t finish eating all the dates, so they could only watch them rot on the trees…”
He stopped mid-sentence.
If he said that, Secretary Shen wouldn't think that he was deliberately taking out something worthless to entertain her.
He really didn't mean that.
"Secretary Shen, I just thought these dates were sweet, so I brought them to you to try. I have no other intentions."
"I know, Captain Zhao, don't be nervous, tell me about the situation in the village."
Zhao Yongshi was a little nervous, not knowing what else she knew, so he could only bite the bullet and introduce to her how many households there were in the village and how the team usually allocated work.
Shen Annian looked at the red dates on the plate, listening to his introduction while thinking of a solution in his mind.
There are quite a lot of red dates here, but they can't be sold at much price. The situation is the same in Hengshi.
After deducting labor and transportation costs, these red dates actually don’t make much money.
Is there any way to sell these red dates?
Her eyes suddenly lit up and she thought she could ask the mooncake factory to make red date mooncakes.
Dried red dates are very durable. As long as they are well dried and stored in a dry and ventilated place, they can be kept for a year or two without any problems.
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