The rain kept falling steadily.
Jiang Wanyue went home and started preparing lunch. When she was almost done, she went to her parents-in-law's house.
Her father-in-law was the team leader and was very busy. She sat for a long time before her father-in-law Song Dahai came back. When he saw her, he just nodded slightly.
In the original owner's memory, it seemed that she had never spoken to this father-in-law. They were obviously family members, but they were worse than strangers.
"Dad, I have something to ask you." Jiang Wanyue said directly, "Who owns the annual output of the pond in front of the elementary school?"
Song Dahai frowned: "The pond was within the school before. Although the school wall was demolished later, the pond still belongs to the school. What kind of output do you mean by output? What can the pond have?"
"There are some wild fish in the water." Jiang Wanyue replied, "The school has been in disrepair for a long time, the classrooms are leaking, and classes are often suspended. I want to catch the fish in the pond and sell them. I can use the money to buy tiles to rebuild the roof. What do you think?"
Song Dahai frowned: "You have good intentions, but you should also know that the policy does not allow buying and selling."
"Policy prohibits private transactions." Jiang Wanyue smiled, "Then we can sell it to other groups in the name of the school or the brigade."
"Which collective will buy fish from the village?" Song Dahai's brows were still furrowed. "How about this, when the accounts are settled at the end of this year, I will ask the accountant to save 30 or 40 yuan to re-roof the school."
Jiang Wanyue said, "At the end of each year, when we distribute food and money, there is always not enough to go around, not enough to go around. Why bother making everyone unhappy? I've already made a success of selling fish, and if I sell them, I can use them to build roof tiles for the school. If I can't sell them, there's no loss, right?"
Song Dahai took a few puffs of his pipe and stood up after a long while: "Come with me to the secretary's house."
Xiaojing Brigade has a brigade leader and a branch secretary. The brigade leader manages production, while the branch secretary is in charge of the overall situation. Generally speaking, the branch secretary has slightly more power.
They lived in Group 2, the branch secretary lived in Group 4, and the brigade headquarters was also in Group 4. It only took them more than ten minutes to walk there.
The branch secretary was Tian Youliang, who was looking at the account book at the brigade headquarters. When he heard about their intention, he stood up in shock and said, "No, no, this is too risky. If the higher-ups blame me, I'm afraid I won't be able to continue my job as branch secretary. Old Song, please don't harm me."
Song Dahai took out a pen and paper from the table: "Then sign a document. If the higher-ups blame me, I will take all the responsibility."
Jiang Wanyue couldn't help but be startled.
If private transactions are discovered these days, the worst case scenario is a few days of detention or a prison sentence.
If a cadre like the team leader did such a thing, the consequences would be even more serious.
She said, "Let me sign it. The pond belongs to the school, so it's best for a teacher like me to take responsibility."
"What responsibility can a young woman like you take?" Song Dahai said coldly, "I will come if you say so."
"Enough, you two!" Tian Youliang slammed the table. "You guys are making me feel like a nobody. I'm the secretary of the Xiaojing Brigade. No matter what you do, I can't escape the responsibility. Forget it, don't sign any responsibility documents. You can just take us all down when the time comes."
Jiang Wanyue couldn't help laughing: "Don't worry, Uncle Tian, that won't happen."
Song Dahai nodded: "Yes, let's keep a low profile."
Tian Youliang said coldly: "There are so many people in the team, so many eyes, how can we keep a low profile?"
Normally, the party secretary and team leader of a village would not get along with each other, but I didn’t expect that these two could work together.
After the matter was finalized, Jiang Wanyue and Song Dahai left.
As soon as I walked outside, I saw Lin Jin and Tian Dawei walking together. The two were talking and laughing, and it was obvious that their relationship was unusual.
Lin Jin was smiling at first, but when he saw Jiang Wanyue, the smile froze on his face.
She used to look down on Jiang Wanyue because Jiang Wanyue was afraid of hardship and married a country bumpkin in the village.
And now, she herself has become the person she once looked down upon.
She thought Jiang Wanyue would laugh at her.
But Jiang Wanyue just took a glance and left.
Jiang Wanyue was busy telling Principal Zheng the good news, but instead learned the bad news that she couldn't borrow a fishing net.
There is a big river flowing through Xiaojing Village, and there are dozens of ponds. She couldn't believe that there were no fishing nets in an area with such abundant water resources.
But she soon realized that every year the village caught fish by draining the water first and then picking up the fish directly, so there was no need for fishing nets at all.
"Yes, there is, but it's broken." Principal Zheng said dryly, "It will take some time to repair the fishing net."
Jiang Wanyue had no choice but to wait.
It was still raining the next day and classes were still suspended.
Jiang Wanyue got up early and prepared breakfast, then said to Song Huaizhi: "The principal and I are going to the county today, so you should take good care of your younger brothers and sisters at home."
Song Huaizhi nodded very sensibly: "Don't worry, Mom."
After she replaced the supplies in the treasure bowl, she picked some vegetables from the fields and rushed to school.
When she went there, she saw Principal Zheng and Teacher Wan fiddling with the fishing net. The net was a bit small, but they had to make do with it.
"We need to call a few more people to help." Jiang Wanyue said, "Just call a few fifth-grade students."
Some children who lived nearby saw that there was something going on and came over in the drizzle to join in the fun. When they heard that help was needed, they all came forward enthusiastically.
“Principal, Teacher Wan, you go into the water from both sides and pull the fishing net forward…” Jiang Wanyue stood on the shore and gave orders, “You students, drive the fish into the net. Yes, that’s it… Once you see a fish go in, help pull up the fishing net…”
I struggled with this for a while but still couldn't figure out what was going on.
Jiang Wanyue actually wanted to invite a skilled fisherman to come over, but hiring someone would cost money, and it was obvious that the school had no money, so they had to do it themselves.
Fortunately, after a while, Teacher Wan shouted loudly: "Fish, fish are in the net!"
The children worked together to drag the fishing net to the shore.
There was indeed a fish in the fishing net, but there was only one, and it was even longer than Jiang Wanyue's arm.
Principal Zheng said in disbelief, "I haven't fished in so many years, I didn't expect the fish in this pond to be so smart. This grass carp is quite big, at least 15 pounds!"
"That's it for now." Jiang Wanyue smiled, "Let's use this fish as a stepping stone. Principal, go back and change your clothes and get ready. We'll go to the county town early."
Principal Zheng was already used to her sudden ideas, so without asking any questions, he quickly climbed out of the water and went back to change his clothes.
Teacher Wan quickly borrowed a large bucket from someone he knew well and filled it with water to prevent the fish from dying before they were delivered.
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