Children always look forward to the Chinese New Year because they can eat delicious food and wear colorful clothes during the Chinese New Year. It’s a rare holiday after going to school, so how can they not look forward to it?
Old people don’t really like the Chinese New Year. They appear to be happy, but that’s just an act for others to see. In fact, they still hope that the Chinese New Year won’t happen. What’s so good about it? They are getting older and older, and their health is getting worse day by day.
The mentality of middle-aged and young people during the Chinese New Year is very contradictory. They hope that their children will grow up quickly, but they also hope that the pace of time will slow down and leave time for the elderly and themselves.
On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Sun Zongyuan brought with him a bottle of 53-proof Wuliangye liquor, half a pound of fried peanuts wrapped in paper, and a bag of frozen dumplings. He arrived at the construction site and accompanied the village chief Zhao Yuncheng to inspect the site. There were half as many people on the construction site as on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Then he went to the construction site and ate peanuts and cooked dumplings, one sip of wine, one dumpling, and two peanuts. He ate until his stomach was full.
On the third day of the Lunar New Year, I took Xu Rui to the construction site again. Secretary Shang Heping led the team on duty. After an inspection, there was nothing major. There were just more people working today than yesterday. Some places had been leveled, and some people were already laying potato stones.
After a walk around, we arrived at the pig farm. The more than 260 pig pens were divided into three areas: one for sows, one for piglets, and the other for warehouses and offices.
The sows arrived empty-bellied, with nothing in their bellies. At that time, artificial insemination technology wasn't yet widespread in rural areas, and even the county animal husbandry center wasn't up to par. This batch of sows would have to wait until the 15th day of the lunar month, when teachers and students from the Animal Husbandry Department of the Agricultural College would come in to induce estrus and then artificially inseminate them. Therefore, during this period, they were fed concentrated feed but not fattened.
Piglets are different. Piglets weighing 40 to 50 kilograms are castrated early in life. If they aren't castrated, they won't grow well and their meat will have a strong, fishy smell that makes it difficult to swallow. Historically, before the Song Dynasty, there was no technology for castrating pigs. Pork, with its strong fishy smell, was considered unpalatable and was therefore called "cheap meat."
They found the office in the pigpen. The temporary person in charge, Tian Zengqiang, and Tang Jikuan were inside. The two were preparing to cook, so Sun Zongyuan sat down with Xu Rui. The pigpen, which was no more than two meters high, was covered with a plastic film at an angle. Water droplets from the plastic film flowed down the film to the lower south wall. The temperature inside was as warm as spring. Several people took off their cotton-padded jackets and wore single clothes. After a while, the three breeders who had taken care of the pigs came back. The seven people ate and talked. These people met the boss's wife, Xu Rui, for the first time, and spoke rather reservedly. Sun Zongyuan told them that Xu Rui would come over in a few days to learn about pig farming. The others also understood that the boss was going to strengthen management, and they all expressed their willingness to work hard and strive to feed the pigs well, fast and fat!
After finishing the meal, I looked at several pig pens. The sows or piglets inside were lying comfortably on the hay in the pens, revealing their double-breasted bellies, and basking in the sun lazily.
After looking at the warehouse and the pig pens where the feed was mixed, he found that not much of the feed brought from the Agricultural College was eaten, and the dozen or so pig pens were filled to the brim. Sun Zongyuan emphasized that the feed should be kept away from moisture and spoilage. Tian Zengqiang reported that the bottom was covered with plastic film, and Sun Zongyuan was relieved.
He and Xu Rui went to the meat processing plant, which was still a wasteland. Sun Zongyuan told Xu Rui about the scale, technical equipment and products of the meat processing plant. Xu Rui was surprised:
"Can my family run such a large enterprise? It would require two to three thousand workers."
"Tell me, if a goblin takes a fancy to our family's property, wouldn't you be at a loss?"
"I absolutely will not let a vixen steal our things. On the sixth day of the New Year, I will ask the dean to approve my application for unpaid leave!"
Xu Rui straightened his chest and said firmly.
On the morning of the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, Sun Zongyuan accompanied Li Jianguo and Li Yushan to continue patrolling Zhenxing Road. Except for a few places, the road surface is now basically leveled, and about a quarter of the ground stone has been applied. At 10:30 in the morning, six or seven people came from Ganhe City, pointing at the road as they walked.
Secretary Li Jianguo watched for a few minutes and said, "They look like leaders from higher-ups. How come they're here alive?"
As he spoke, he went to meet him, and Li Yushan and Sun Zongyuan followed.
"I'm Li Jianguo, Party Secretary of Honghua Township. May I ask where you are from?"
A man in his mid-thirties pointed at one of the men, who was about fifty, and said:
"This is the district secretary, Li Chuanyou. Secretary Li, and this is the secretary of Honghua Township, Li Jianguo."
"What's going on in Honghua Township during the New Year? Are you going to let the people have a good New Year?" Secretary Li Chuanyou pointed at three people from Honghua Township and asked.
"Secretary Li, let me report the specific situation to you as follows..."
"Oh, your township is courageous in building this road. You're also thinking about the people and giving them some subsidies so they don't let them work for nothing. I think you're a communist. Why are you letting the people work during the Spring Festival?"
"Secretary Li, as soon as we announced our road construction plan, word of it leaked out. So we distributed it to every village and household in advance. The people, eager to save the stones, volunteered to work on it during the Lunar New Year holiday. That's why our township has assigned cadres to take turns monitoring the construction site and formed seven militia companies to stand guard at night to protect the people's labor and uphold fairness and justice!"
"That sounds great. You guys should go over there in pairs and listen to what the people are saying."
The people in the area quickly divided into three groups and found someone to verify Li Jianguo's words.
"You must have given the people around 400,000 or 500,000 yuan in subsidies. That's a lot of money. Where did you get the money from?"
"Last year, our fiscal revenue was over 2.1 million yuan, and we spent 1.3 million yuan, leaving a surplus of 800,000 yuan. This winter, we also waived the education surcharge for the people. For the 500,000 yuan we collected, we made three increases and five unifications. This time, I'm giving it back to the people through this channel!"
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