Early in the morning on the first day of the Lunar New Year, he took Xu Rui back to his hometown, set off a string of firecrackers with his third brother Sun Zongming, and ate some vegetarian dumplings. He first took his son out of his mother's bed and put on a cotton coat, then took his younger brothers and sisters, held his son's head and kowtowed three times to his grandparents, then he and his second brother Sun Zongta hurried to his second uncle's house, and kowtowed to the home of a senior and prestigious elder in the village, and went to the primary school teacher's house for five minutes. It was already past nine o'clock. At his mother's instructions, he hurriedly ate some dumplings and rode his bicycle to the construction site of Zhenxing Road in Honghua Township.
There weren't many people at the construction site at this time, as they were all celebrating the New Year at home.
Check the construction quality along the way.
The construction in the past few days has made both sides of the road bumpy. There are piles of stones every few steps on both sides of the road, and the road surface is also uneven. It is the coldest time of the year. Fortunately, there is not much snow in winter, and the ground is not frozen very deeply. People just need to dig up the ground and a large piece of soil will rise. Then they can move it to the road surface or smash it with a hoe, or let it dry in the warm sun for a few days, and the soil will naturally spread into a pile of soil.
He called over a few township and village cadres, and passed cigarettes to each other to wish each other a happy new year. Soon, Sun Zongyu had three or four cigarettes stuck between his ears, and one in his mouth, which he would take out and exhale from time to time.
When we arrived at the command center, we saw Secretary Li Jianguo and Township Head Zhao Yuncheng both there, wearing yellow military coats, each holding a canning bottle in their hands, and a large thermos next to them.
After greeting the two leaders, I sat on a chair with them and talked about the meat processing plant and the farm. Secretary Li Jianguo said:
"We need to speed up. If we don't start construction, I won't feel confident. What else is missing?"
"I have the money ready, and the factory director, Wang Weiguo, has agreed. He should be in charge around the 15th. The foreign exchange quota for equipment payment has also been received from the city. With the foreign exchange quota, I will try to purchase the equipment and try to complete it in the first half of the year. Even if it is completed in the first half of the year, our pigs are not big, and the people will not sell them to me."
"That's right. It will be more difficult for us to improve our economic work this year," said Township Head Zhao.
"We don't have to worry. The cannery didn't start production until September last year. Initially, it had only two production lines, but now it has 16 sets of equipment running year-round. The output should be higher than last year. However, due to the export orders we received at the Canton Fair, I guess other places have heard about it. The technology for canning isn't very advanced, and the equipment investment isn't large. This year, there will definitely be more factories investing in canning, and prices will go up. But I'm still confident about exporting!"
"How are the Landrace pigs doing?"
"I've contacted several pig farmers in recent days, and generally speaking, they're taking their business seriously. I've been feeding them cooked grains lately, and the Landrace pigs are in good spirits. My feed mill will be able to start producing mixed feed in March, so we're basically on track. I've been working overtime to monitor the equipment production schedule. Once the equipment is ready, we'll start producing emergency supplies first, and then build other supporting equipment later."
"When will this road be completed? Don't delay the people's work."
"Looking at how much they've worked these past few days, the roadbed will be basically finished by the sixth day of the Lunar New Year. Most of them can go home, and the remaining ones will dig sand to fill the gaps. After compacting it with a stone roller, they can only lay the cement road surface after the summer rain fills it firmly. We can't rush it, or the quality can't be guaranteed!"
"I know that too, but I'm just anxious!" said Secretary Li Jianguo.
"There's another way. When the ice and snow melt and the Kun River flows, we can use pumps to flood the road several times to press the river sand into the cracks in the rocks. That way, we can pour cement concrete right away and finish the project before Qingming Festival."
"Pumping water from the river for flooding doesn't cost much. I'll go to the Water Conservancy Bureau in a few days to borrow a few large pumps."
"The sooner the road is opened, the sooner the people along the route will have more convenience. If it's completed before the wheat harvest, they can use the road to dry their wheat. On a good day, I estimate that in two days on the cement road, the wheat will be completely dry."
By 10:30, more and more people were arriving to work. After kowtows and New Year's greetings, wasn't there anything else to do? Staying home all day was uncomfortable, so it was better to work on the construction site to stretch my muscles and earn some money.
The three of them walked from east to west, and it took them two hours to cover the seven kilometers. They arrived at the Kunhe Work Area Command Headquarters. Cao Shoubao stewed a pot of pork, tofu and cabbage on a coal stove, cut a plate of pork head meat, roasted a few red peppers, each drank half a bowl of Laobaigan, grunted as they ate two pancakes, and drank two large bowls of boiled water, and their bodies warmed up again.
After another long walk, it was around 3:30 in the afternoon when the construction workers all finished work and went home. They had eaten late in the morning and went home early in the afternoon to fry two dishes, have a few drinks, and cook some dumplings. Life was very good.
On the way back to my hometown, I saw very few pedestrians. I guess they were all squatting at home, warming themselves by the fire and celebrating the New Year.
When I got home, my mother had already cooked two tables of dishes. Wu Shaojie, Wei Dongfeng, Xi Rong, Zheng Chunxia, and others were making dumplings, and my grandmother was cooking in a six-inch pot. I didn't know where my second and third brothers had gone, and my son was pestering my grandfather to buy fireworks and go ice skating in the river.
After making the dumplings, they started drinking. The family members sat at one table, and my second uncle, Wu Shaojie and his four companions, as well as Sun Zongyu, Sun Zongta and others sat at another table. The men each drank two glasses of wine, and the women drank a few glasses of fruit wine. It was very lively.
During the meal, people came to visit from time to time to wish each other a happy new year. The custom here during the new year is that if you meet someone drinking, you have to drink two glasses before leaving. Sun Zongyuan and others had to drink with them. Before they knew it, they had drunk three or four glasses and felt a little dizzy.
After drinking and eating dumplings, the women washed up and leaned over the radio to listen to last night's Spring Festival Gala. The crosstalk performed by Ma Ji and Jiang Kun caused bursts of laughter from everyone. Several men set up the table and gathered six people to start playing Gou Chi. The "pa pa" sound of cards being smashed and the constant laughter could be heard from far away in the yard!
At ten o'clock, everyone dispersed.
Sun Zongyuan pushed his bicycle and walked home with Xu Rui.
On the way, Sun Zongyuan and Xu Rui said:
"Wife, I'm too busy all day long. Don't you support sharing the burden?"
"How can I not support you? I don't know how to share the burden."
"You make 55 yuan a month, and I have to spend 200 to 300 yuan to hire someone else. Do you think we are losing money?"
"Is that so? The point is, I don't know what I'll do. What am I supposed to do?"
"I'm the deputy township head now, and I'll be working in the government from now on. You have to take charge of our factories. If you don't know how to do it, you can learn from me!"
"Do you mean that I should stop working and rely on the factory?"
"Why don't you agree? What if someone steals the money from our factory? Do you think we'll lose money?"
"Okay, after the New Year, I'll give the hospital director a half-term leave of absence and come to our factory. I'll do whatever you ask me to do!"
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