Scarface sat in his seat, enjoying the train's fast food. He finished a whole box of rice with scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and even rinsed it with hot water to drink as soup.
After eating and drinking to his heart's content, he wiped his mouth, let out a satisfied burp, and exclaimed, "Brother, that was delicious!"
Zhou Hongsong frowned, "You dare to go out without a single penny on you?"
"What can I do? Your house doesn't have a phone, so I can only sneak over by train to come find you!"
Scarface spoke with absolute certainty.
Wow, so this kid evaded paying for the whole trip by train without spending a single penny.
Li Xiangdong even paid for their train tickets to Yuxian.
Ever since he got his train ticket, Scarface went everywhere with a righteous air. Whenever the train conductor checked tickets, he would slam the ticket on the tray table and say proudly, "Look!"
The train conductor wondered if there was something wrong with this person.
As Zhou Hongsong gazed at the withered trees, low houses, and empty fields flashing by, he silently wondered where Li Xiangdong had gone.
Li Xiangdong bought a ticket directly back to Huichuan County. Along the way, listening to the people chatting on the train, he was surprised to find that other production teams had also been disbanded.
Unlike the large-scale dissolution of people's communes and production teams in later generations, this time a few production teams were selected in certain counties and cities as pilot projects. These production teams included both rich and poor members, and as long as 80% of the members agreed, they could be dissolved and operate independently.
"How come I haven't heard about this before?"
Li Xiangdong muttered to himself, "Logically speaking, he had just spoken to Uncle Liu on the phone a few days ago. He wouldn't have left such an important matter unmentioned!"
Hi!
Li Xiangdong slapped his forehead. Uncle Liu had said that!
"You should go home as soon as possible; some places may have changed a lot..."
At the time, he was preoccupied with how to punish Hou Sanshang, so he didn't pay attention to this sentence.
Li Xiangdong closed his eyes slightly. For him, and even for his family, whether they worked independently or in a production team, it wouldn't make any difference.
Going it alone will definitely affect the future development of the entire Lijiapo Village...
Lost in thought the whole way, he had a general idea in mind by the time he got off the bus.
As soon as Li Xiangdong entered the village, he sensed that something was off; it was a slightly tense atmosphere unlike anything he had experienced before.
Everyone he met on the road had a tense face and was in a hurry.
However, when they saw Li Xiangdong, they seemed to relax suddenly, their eyes lit up, and they came over to talk to Li Xiangdong affectionately. Then, regardless of what they had been doing before, they all crowded around Li Xiangdong and walked home.
At first, it was just one or two people, but then more and more gathered. When they arrived at Li Jin's house, Li Xiangdong was followed by a large group of twenty or thirty people.
Li Xiangdong couldn't help but ask Li Qing beside him, "Why are all the people in our village so idle? Aren't they going to work?"
It's early morning, and people are loitering on the main street one by one.
Li Qing whispered to him, "I'm not free at all. The food factory's instant noodles have been shipping out in huge quantities lately, and the canned goods are also in short supply!"
"Then why don't they go to work? A bunch of uncles and grandpas are catching rabbits in the street."
Li Qing chuckled, "You're the rabbit! We've not only been searching in the village, but we've also sent dozens of people to the county town, the city, and even the capital, all to find you!"
These words made Li Xiangdong's heart tighten. "Our brigade is also being disbanded?"
Upon hearing the word "disband," Li Qing could no longer laugh. "Yes! The county issued a notice saying that the province has directly fenced off our brigade and ordered us to disband the production team, and we must complete the disbandment within twenty days."
"That's what the county said?"
"Yeah, right!"
Li Xiangdong sensed something was wrong and quickly went inside his house.
The house couldn't hold so many people, so those who couldn't squeeze in stood in the yard and looked inside through the glass.
Li Jin has been so worried these past two days that he can't eat or sleep. To make matters worse, his son went to Yanjing and hasn't come back. He called his fourth daughter several times, and they all said that their son had left Yanjing a long time ago.
The higher-ups were pressing him urgently, and he went to see Wang Jianguo several times but couldn't find him. The secretary said that he had gone to Qin Province for research and study and wouldn't be back for ten days to half a month.
Li Jin was trapped in a dilemma; he couldn't very well disband the production team!
It wasn't that he coveted the position of brigade leader; it's just that Lijiapo wasn't like other production teams where a few mules and a few cows were considered a big deal, and it was easier for others to distribute them.
They have a huge food factory, medicinal herbs in the fields that are about to be harvested, a standardized pig breeding base, a giant freshwater prawn and crayfish breeding base, a dozen or twenty vegetable greenhouses, and even aquaculture cooperatives with Quanshui Village, Lanshui Village, and Hamaowo. All of these are money-making treasure troves.
Let us divide it, but how?
There are also plans from the brigade to build a primary school, a middle school, and a Chinese herbal medicine trading market in the village. After the village is divided up, how will these be managed?
Li Jin was so worried that he would sit with his team members and smoke every day.
Several grown men would sit there all day, filling the room with smoke; you couldn't even see them when you entered.
Zhao Sufang couldn't stand it any longer and opened all the windows of the brigade headquarters to let in some fresh air. "What's the use of you just sitting here? Hurry up and send someone to find Xiang Dong!"
The cool air flowed in through the window, and Li Jin's mind cleared up considerably. Yes, finding someone was the most important thing!
So they mobilized a lot of people and dispersed them to county towns, cities, and Yanjing City to look for people.
Li Xiangdong was both amused and exasperated. No wonder everyone held on so tightly when they saw him, as if they had caught a thief.
"Xiangdong, why do you think the county insists on disbanding our brigade?"
Li Jin frowned. He still couldn't understand why Wang Jianguo, who was so supportive of them, would avoid them whenever something happened.
Li Xiangdong inquired about the situation in detail before saying, "This matter is probably not what Secretary Jianguo intended."
"How so?"
"Didn't you say that the disbanding of the production teams was announced by the newly arrived County Chief Xiong?"
"yes!"
Did he say that we need a vote by the members to disband the production team? Can we disband and work independently only if more than 80% of them voluntarily agree?
Li Jin's eyes widened in disbelief, and he shook his head vigorously, "No!"
"Have I explained the difference between the household contract responsibility system and the household production responsibility system to you?"
"No! What does this mean?"
"So what did he say?"
"They said that according to the province's instructions, we need to disband the production team within twenty days and let the members work independently to increase their enthusiasm for production and improve grain output!"
"That's not wrong, but he missed a lot of crucial information."
That statement contains a degree of euphemism.
Li Xiangdong had a better understanding of the situation, but he still sighed deeply, "The tree may wish to be still, but the wind will not cease!"
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